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Known for their bold and bright food, Lucy Carr-Ellison and Jemima Jones are the pair behind Tart London: boutique caterers, pop-up kitchen pros and ES Magazine columnists.

Here they share their ultimate vibrant, fresh and wholesome recipes – dishes that are a pleasure to make and a pleasure to eat.

Whether you’re looking for a weeknight one-pot wonder, a splendid brunch, or the perfect menu for a long and lazy lunch, this book is about honest, full-flavoured and effortlessly enjoyable eating.

Lucy Carr-Ellison and Jemima Jones are the founders of Tart London, a boutique-style catering company that provides high-quality, healthy and delicious on-site cooking for fashion and film shoots and private events. Previous clients include Stella McCartney, Gucci, Lancôme and Tim Walker, and magazines such as Vogue, GQ and LOVE. Lucy and Jemima also write a weekly ES Magazine column in which they share some of their best-loved recipes, and are planning the opening of their own restaurant following a successful pop-up.

When I first met Lucy she must have been in her teens. Like all teenagers she was trying to figure out her path in life and was considering taking up photography. She came and helped out on an Italian Vogue fashion shoot where I was taking a picture of Lily Cole dressed as bait and tackle on a giant fishing hook suspended over a Northumbrian river.

Lucy soon started to take a lot of pictures of her own which she kept in a box. She photographed friends, family and boyfriends. The pictures were good and really seemed to be going somewhere, but to support yourself as a young photographer starting out is hard, so she decided to help out in the kitchen, catering for the crew on photographic shoots. One thing led to another and eventually she met Jemima; they joined forces and cooked for all my crew, who were always hungry after the very early starts fashion photography demands. Jemima was the perfect addition to the tarty duo, chattering away serving spicy eggs for breakfast or slow cooked lamb for lunch on chilly days out on location. The two working together have come from cooking dishes on a camp stove out on a location shoot, to the recipes in this book.

My mother used to write cookbooks so I grew up constantly trawling through the market hunting for the right this, or the right that. We’d go a long way to get Seville oranges or whatever the target of the ingredient hunt was and I remember my Mum’s utter joy in that quest. Once we had found what she wanted, it was swung round and round in a brown paper bag, dropped in the wicker basket and hauled back to the kitchen for grating, squeezing, boiling then reducing, or whisking, mixing, folding then baking…

Cooking is all about the right ingredients… And taking photographs is very much like cooking.

I obsess about sniffing out the ingredients that combine to create a photograph. I’ll go a long way, get up very early, and stay up very late, to seek out a specific light, colour, backdrop, animal, mineral or vegetable that I see as part of a magical combination that articulates a mood in my belly.

The book you are now about to read is a love letter to that universal joy of seeking out the right ingredients. That same discernment, obsession and taste that lies behind a great photograph is just as relevant here, freshly baked in Lucy and Jemima’s oven and served as a Tart.

In 2010 we were both in our early twenties and living in the East Village in New York – Lucy was studying photography and Jemima interning at Vanity Fair. We were having a great time: working hard and taking full advantage of the incredible restaurant culture there. We were put in touch by a mutual friend and met for the first time on the Lower East Side – Lucy was running late from having a piercing done and caught Jemima in the nick of time – we immediately got on… not least because of our shared obsession with food. We would venture all over the city to try out new restaurants, pop-ups, shops and markets, captivated by the constantly evolving scene, and taking every opportunity to try new dishes and ingredients.

When we came back to London a few years later, we were buzzing from our experience. Happily, we found that a food revolution was taking place in the UK. People had begun to put more thought into the quality of the food they ate, and good food was more popular than ever. But we realised that one thing was missing. When we’d been together on photoshoots in New York, we were always struck by the amazing, fresh, healthy food on offer – it was proper food, made by hand, and a long way from the dry sandwiches and wilted salads you would be faced with in the UK. We realised that what was missing was a boutique-style catering company that made wholesome, attractive food that people actually wanted to eat – and we were the people to do it. We decided to set up Tart.

In a whirlwind of early mornings and long days of planning and preparation, we went from enthusiastic foodies who loved to cook delicious feasts for friends and family, to professional cooks running on site catering kitchens – everywhere from a horsebox in the countryside to a tiny minimalist studio in the city. But even though we were now cooking for bigger groups (around 40 or 50), it was important to us to create a cosy atmosphere for everyone to come together, eat and enjoy their time off. We have always made everything fresh from scratch, in situ, and this really helps not only to create great tasting food, but to inspire a sense of togetherness too. We think hard about the variety and presentation of our food. Models want to eat well, feel good and look good, but we also cater for a whole crew who need something satisfying and sustaining. We plan our menus with this in mind, providing an assortment of sharing platters that are well balanced and seasonal, but nourishing too. We are constantly inspired by our travels, always picking up ideas from the ingredients, techniques and dishes we encounter on trips and holidays, the things that make food delicious and unusual. At Tart our ethos is to take the flavours and vibrancy characteristic of our home cooking and translate it into something bigger in scale, but applying the same thought and care that makes sharing a meal together so special.

More recently, we have created a two-month pop-up restaurant in west London, started a weekly recipe column in the Evening Standard’s ES Magazine and are looking at opening a more permanent venue soon. These new ventures have been amazing experiences. Writing our column each week is a gift – it’s a fantastic opportunity to practise and develop our dishes, but it has also allowed us to understand how to write good, simple recipes that work well. Getting them down on paper and putting ourselves in the place of the home cook means we really think about all of their different components – the ingredients, techniques, how things can be made simpler or easier, or where a recipe needs a little final something.

Running the pop-up gave us an opportunity to learn, too. It was a completely different space to cook in and gave us insight into how a busy restaurant works. We had to look at presenting individual plates and providing a changing menu, and this made us recognise even more the need for delicious and interesting food that was also easy to make. Running a catering company and a restaurant has enhanced our love of seasonal and local produce, and recognition of how much tastier, more economical and environmentally responsible it is. When you are buying ingredients to cook with on a regular basis, it’s not a luxury to buy seasonally – it just makes sense. It’s something that has been central to our way of eating for a long time. We are both based in London, but a significant amount of our time is spent in the countryside – Lucy having grown up in Northumberland on her family farm and Jemima having a little farm in Somerset. We often come back from nurturing family weekends with baskets of fruit and vegetables. Using fresh produce at its peak, especially if it has been picked nearby (or by us!), is something we love to do, and the people who eat our food love it too.

However, while our experiences and background have been hugely important in the creating of Tart, and have helped to form our ethos, most of all we just want cooking to be fun and easy. It doesn’t need to be taken too seriously! Whether making something quick at home for yourself or whipping up a feast for hordes of people, it should be enjoyable, not stressful. We work long, hard days and when we come home we want to cook easy, healthy, feel-good recipes that are also affordable. This is where a lot of our one pot wonders come in. We want to feel satisfied, without making a whole lot of mess, so being able to whack a lot of things from the fridge into a pot, pour wine and stock over it and then go and have a bath is an easy treat. We approach cooking in a light-hearted way, because we want to enjoy what we do and to enjoy our lives. For this reason we don’t condemn alcohol, cheese or puddings: everything in moderation is our motto.

This book is about our approach to cooking. It is about the joy of sharing and interacting and the excitement of new flavours, about the beauty of colour, texture and simplicity, and the importance of seasonality and good produce. More than anything it is about the pure pleasure of creating a delicious meal, simply and easily, for yourself and those you love.

Putting a menu together can seem daunting, sitting at the kitchen table in a sea of open cookbooks with a blank notepad. Where do you start?

We have never been a catering company that has a generic list of dishes to send to clients – we create every menu especially for each client, and we have never done the same menu twice. We have to deal with menu planning on a daily basis and we find it much easier to formulate a plan if we go through our ‘Tart checklist’. Whether we are catering for a team of 100 or for six friends we approach it in the same way – creating a colourful and delicious spread of mix and match dishes that people can dig into. We like to look at all of our menus in this way whether at work or at home, rather than using the same old formula of starter, main and dessert. Though even if you do have those elements, perhaps for a more formal dinner party, you can build the menu in the same way – looking at the meal as a whole and making sure you tick off each part of the checklist at some point. Hopefully taking these same steps will help you to put together terrific menus, too.

Before really getting into the specifics of the menu, we always start with ‘what, where and when’. Quickly answering these questions will pave your way.

What: what is the event you’re cooking for? What’s the reason for getting together? Is it a relaxed and intimate family gathering, a more formal event such as an anniversary, a fun brunch or a big birthday bash? Thinking about this first will help you focus on the style and atmosphere you want to go for – whether you want it stylish and refined or loud and fun.

Where: where are you going to be? Are you hosting in your familiar kitchen or eating at someone else’s home? Is it perhaps outside – with a barbecue, or a picnic by the sea? Think about the practicalities of where you will be – whether you have the use of a kitchen, how big your prep area will be, what the weather might be like and if the food will have to keep outside of a fridge for a long time.

When: what time of day will it be? Which season? Will you be eating al fresco on a balmy June evening or snuggled by the fire on a drizzly autumnal afternoon? Think about the weather, temperature, light and mood. How will people be feeling at that time of day, or time of year?

Once you have thought about all of these elements, it’s time to get to work on the plan.

You know the what, where and when for your event, occasion or meal. Now you need to think about your culinary vibe. Of course you can mix and match, but we always find it helps to have an idea of the kind of cooking you want to do. Will it be modern British? Japanese, Korean, Thai…or even Asian fusion? Italian, Indian, Mexican…perhaps something new you’ve been wanting to try, like Eastern European or Greek? Thinking about this will clear your head and help you hone in on which dishes to choose. Pick one as the starting point, and then you can think about the individual components of the meal.

We usually base our menus on 5–7 dishes for sharing, even for small numbers, as it is nice to have a variety. If the menu is simple, just make the smaller dishes super simple too. They could be something as easy as bowl of lightly spiced yoghurt, a cucumber salad or a crunchy seed topping. However, even preparing 3–4 components rather than your usual two can make such a difference. Don’t overstretch yourself by planning too much.

Depending on the answer to the ‘where’ question we usually go for 1–2 hot ‘main’ dishes, with the rest room temperature or cold dishes. Even if your location is outside you could still provide a hot option – just pack a camping stove, plan something easy to heat up and make it in advance.

Otherwise, think of something that is going to be the star of the show. For the main dishes, we usually have a meat or fish dish and a vegetarian option, so everyone can have a bit.

After choosing your hot main dish (or dishes), think about what will go with them.

Hearty: make sure there’s something carby and filling on the menu – you want to keep those empty tummies happy! Grains, pasta, beans, pulses, rice and potatoes all fit in this section.

Crunchy: now think about the texture of your meal. You have hot and you have hearty, so you want something fresh and crunchy, too. Perhaps a raw salad or some crisp steamed vegetables.

Soft: you have your crunchy component, so go for a softer element too – maybe something roasted? Roasted food doesn’t have to be hot – you can easily do this in advance and serve it cold with a delicious dressing.

Colour: review your choices so far. Are all your dishes looking the same? Pick something that is going to be loud and colourful to pull your spread together.

By now you will be up to 6 dishes. What could be the final cherry on the cake? A simple garden salad? A dip or sauce? A small bite such as a croqueta? A fun bruschetta?

Take a look at your plan as a whole – does it feel balanced and have a nice flow? You might want to start tweaking, thinking about the following:

Creaminess: do you want to add a spiced yoghurt or a crumbled cheese for a mellow tang?

And now you’re done! Have a glass of wine, relax and write your shopping list.

We’re all about putting on a big, colourful spread that’s fun to cook and fun to eat, so we would encourage you to mix and match from whichever recipes take your fancy, to create whatever type of menu you need. That being said, we know that sometimes you just need a little inspiration, so we’ve put together a few sample menus here that you might like to try. These are well balanced, providing a good variety of tastes, textures and colours.

Lamb Koftas with Smoky Tomato Sauce and Mint Yoghurt

Flatbreads

Roast Sweet Potatoes with Marsala Wine, Orange and Sumac Yoghurt

Saffron Roasted Peppers and Tomatoes, Crispy Chickpeas and Buckwheat with Labneh

Crunchy steamed green beans with Sweet Tahini Ginger Dressing

Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Pine Nuts and Goats’ Cheese

Casual Dinner

Truffle Polenta Balls

Flattened Griddle Lamb Chops with Rosemary Borlotti Beans and Wilted Spinach

Baked Ricotta with Mixed Tomatoes

Crispy Artichoke Salad with Capers and Parmesan

A simple rocket salad with a lemony dressing

Fun Entertaining

Flatbread Pizzas

Raw Courgettes with Broad Beans and Mint

Smoked Tomatoes, Burrata and Basil Oil

Artichoke Dip

A fresh garden salad

Restorative Shiitake Mushroom Broth

Easy Chicken and Pickled Ginger Gyozas

Seared Fillet of Beef Carpaccio with Crunchy Greens, Crispy Shallots and Garlic and a Vietnamese Dressing

Crispy Kale with Tahini and Honey

Pickled Cucumbers (see here)

Smoky Harissa or Sichuan Oil

Breakfast is most definitely our thing.

Adelle Davis, America’s iconic author and nutritionist, insisted that we ought to ‘eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper’. We’re told by dieticians and yogis alike that our digestion is most fired up first thing in the morning. What better justification for our love of a delicious, extravagant breakfast?

We met in our early twenties in New York – the city that opened our eyes to how good breakfast and brunch really can be – and as two morning people, we spent the next few months cultivating our love of this most important of meals. At that time London had not properly cottoned on to brunch, and the best you could hope for was a greasy spoon fry-up of the Withnail and I variety. Whether jaded from the night before or shining our halos after a yoga class, breakfast is always a joyful moment in the day for us, and missing it is a gloomy prospect.

But we don’t only take breakfast inspiration from New York. All of America does breakfast extremely well – classic pancakes stacked high and dripping with maple syrup, the best crispy streaky bacon in the world and fresh orange juice by the pint. The French have a different take, preferring delicate buttery croissants, pastries and fresh fruit washed down by excellent coffee. Breakfast in India is something special, too, with sizzling hot chapatis, spicy eggs cooked any which way with chilli, coriander and tomato, and soothing mango lassies.

Breakfast is most definitely our thing. Our job has consisted of many mornings getting up early and preparing breakfasts on fashion and film shoots – one big long table with fantastic spreads, from interactive egg stations and warm pastries to bircher muesli, granola pots and compotes. We love the endless (and often overlooked) possibilities of breakfast. We have even been written about in the press as ‘the girls popular for their eggs’, so this chapter was a pleasure for us to put together. We always buy eggs from free-range (or, better, organically raised) hens. We love the Cotswold Legbar eggs in particular – we are possibly biased due to their pretty blue shells, but these always seem to have the brightest, most delicious, rich golden yolks as well.

There is something for all different starts to the day in this chapter – for a more relaxed leisurely one you can try our Goan Baked Eggs or indulgent Tarragon, Ricotta and Parmesan Dippy Eggs, or for quick on-the-go breakfasts there are sweet and sharp bowls like our signature granola or poached rhubarb. Breakfast is simply an unmissable opportunity to start the day well.

Recipe List

Morning Shots

The Lemony One

The Berry One

The Green One

Tart’s Granola

Golden Mylk Porridge

Poached Rhubarb with Elderflower

Poached Plums with Star Anise and Cinnamon

Goan Baked Eggs

Tarragon, Ricotta and Parmesan Dippy Eggs

Quinoa and a Poached Egg

Celeriac and Smoked Ham Rösti

Mexican Green Eggs

Turkish Poached Eggs

Spring Green Bruschetta

Spiced Sweet Potato Pancakes

Banana and Oat Pancakes

Pumpkin, Cinnamon and Pecan Muffins

Morning Shots

These pack a punch and will most certainly wake you up in the morning – brilliant for getting the metabolism going. If you would prefer to have one of these recipes as a wake-up juice rather than a shot, add freshly squeezed orange juice to The Lemony One, coconut water to The Berry One or a few apples to The Green One.

All these recipes serve 4.

The Lemony One

Lemon, cayenne and apple cider vinegar are a top alkalising combo as well as a metabolism booster, plus ginger aids digestion. Turmeric helps the immune system and is anti-inflammatory. Honey is antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and a good source of antioxidants, as well as being a much-needed hit of sweetness when combined with the rest of the ingredients. Mix all the ingredients together and serve.