Picnic recipes: From marmite sausage rolls to coronation chicken potato skins

Coronation chicken potato skins

Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 30-40 minutes

Makes 24

12 small charlotte potatoes
1tbsp olive oil
2 x 170g packs coronation chicken deli filler
1 red or green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped, optional
Fresh coriander leaves, to garnish

Preheat the oven to 190C, gas mark 5. Rub the potatoes with a little of the oil. Transfer them to a baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until tender. Set aside until cool enough to handle.

Halve the potatoes and scoop out most of the flesh (see cook’s tip), leaving a thin layer. Brush the inside of the potato skins with the rest of the oil and sit them cut side up on the baking sheet. Return them to the oven for 10 minutes until golden.

Leave the skins to cool for 10 minutes, then fill each one with a little of the coronation chicken. Sprinkle the chilli over the top (if using) and garnish each with a coriander leaf.

Cook’s tip: use the scooped out potato to make a batch of homemade fishcakes. Mix with some drained canned tuna, salad onions, horseradish and a little beaten egg, then pan-fry until golden.

Marmite sausage rolls

Prep: 20 minutes, plus cooling and chilling
Cook: 25 minutes

Makes 16

15g salted butter
150g chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
1tbsp Marmite
400g pork sausages, skins removed
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp chopped thyme leaves
Plain flour, for dusting
215g sheet all butter puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg, beaten
1tbsp sesame seeds

Heat the butter in a large frying pan until foaming; cook the mushrooms over a high heat for 3-5 minutes, until browned and all the liquid has evaporated. Stir in the Marmite. Cool, then mix with the sausage meat, onion and thyme; season.

On a floured surface, unroll the pastry, halve lengthways and roll each half out about 2-3cm wider. Halve the sausage meat and place in a cylinder along the middle of each pastry strip. Brush one side of each strip with egg, then fold over the other side tightly. Roll so that the seam is underneath. Trim the ends and cut each roll into 8 pieces. Chill on a parchment-lined baking tray for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200C, gas mark 6. Brush the rolls with more egg; sprinkle on the sesame seeds. Bake for 20 minutes.

Blueberry Victoria sponge

Make this the centerpiece of your picnic spread. The hint of zesty lemon, and floral and fruity blueberry jam make a delicious flavour combination.

Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes, plus cooling

Serves 10

250g golden caster sugar
250g Stork With Butter
4 medium free range eggs
250g self-raising flour
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1tsp vanilla extract
170ml pot double cream
4-5tbsp blueberry jam or conserve
Icing sugar, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180C, gas mark 4, and grease and line two 20cm sandwich tins with baking parchment. Place the sugar and Stork in a large mixing bowl. With an electric whisk or wooden spoon, beat together until pale and creamy. Next add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl down after each addition.

Fold in the flour in two additions, then lastly fold through the lemon zest and vanilla. Pour into the prepared tins and place in the oven for 22-25 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the cakes are completely cool, pour the double cream into a mixing bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Spread the cream over the bottom of one of the sponges, spread the other sponge with jam, and sandwich them together. Finish with a dusting of icing sugar just before serving.

Cook’s tip: instead of whipped cream, a vanilla-scented buttercream is a lovely alternative and is great if you want your cake to keep until the next day. Simply cream together 150g Stork With Butter with 150g icing sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

For more entertaining ideas, please visit Waitrose