Dining off the fruits of your labours all year round

In 1995 she founded her company, Manna Catering, which had a client list that included celebrities, fashion magazines and photographers, as well as big-name companies such as Nike and L’Oreal.

In 1999 she expanded her company with the opening of a stylish café in the heart of London’s Notting Hill, “Manna Café”.

Since 1999, Caroline has made numerous guest appearances on cooking shows including Channel 4’s Light Lunch, UKTV’s Great Food Live and Great Food Bites.

From early 2009, Caroline has worked increasingly in print, becoming a regular contributor to The Times on its Saturday weekend supplement as their family food writer.

The Allotment Cookbook is her first cookery book, with the second A Complete Guide to Baking set to follow by the end of that year.

The Allotment Cookbook Through The Year, is the ideal recipe book for those gardeners who would like to know how to cook delicious seasonal dishes to help make the most of their home-grown produce.

Featuring over 200 recipes for popular crops such as apples, berries and herbs, this is packed with imaginative and inspiring ideas to turn your produce into healthy, fresh meals.

Including techniques and expert advice to help you harvest, preserve and prepare your crops successfully, this is the perfect veg-grower’s kitchen companion.

Tomato Chutney with roasted red peppers

1 red pepper, 1 orange pepper,1 yellow pepper, 1.35kg (3lb) ripe tomatoes, plunged into boiling water for 1 minute, then skinned, 2 onions, roughly chopped, 450g (1lb) granulated sugar, 600ml (1 pint) white wine vinegar

By the end of the summer you may be left with lots of slightly imperfect tomatoes from your allotment. Chutneys and relishes are an ideal way to use up every last bit of your precious crop.

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F/Gas 6). Put the peppers in a roasting tin and cook in the oven for 25–30 minutes until they begin to char.

Remove from the oven, put in a plastic bag, and leave to cool before removing the stalks and skin, deseeding, and roughly chopping.Put the tomatoes, peppers, and onions in a food processor and pulse briefly until chopped, but not mushy.

Tip the mixture into a preserving pan, or large, heavy, stainless steel saucepan, with the sugar and vinegar. Cook on low heat, stirring continuously, until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for one to 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally, until the mixture starts to thicken and turn jammy. Ladle into warm sterilized jars with non-metallic or vinegar-proof lids, making sure there are no air gaps. Cover each pot with a waxed paper disc, seal, and label. Store in a cool, dark place. Leave to mature for a month. It will keep for up to nine months unopened.

Courgette fritters with dill tzatziki

Serves 4

200g (7oz) courgettes, coarsely grated, sea salt and freshly ground, black pepper, 100g ricotta cheese, 1 large egg, 2 tbsp plain flour, 3 garlic cloves, crushed, small handful of basil, chopped, small handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped, light olive oil, to fry, 2 tbsp finely chopped dill, 200g greek-style yogurt, juice of 1⁄2 lemon

Lovely when picked young, this member of the concurbit family soon resembles the marrow if left to grow larger than your hand. To offset any wateriness, salt larger courgettes before use.

Srinkle the courgettes with one tsp of salt and leave to drain in a sieve for one hour. rinse and squeeze dry in a clean tea towel. In a bowl, whisk together the ricotta cheese, egg, and flour. Add two of the crushed garlic cloves, the basil, and parsley, and season well. Mix in the courgettes.

Fill a frying pan with olive oil to a depth of 1cm and fry tablespoons of the courgette batter over medium heat for two to three minutes on each side, until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper.

To make the tzatziki, mix the last clove of garlic with the dill, salt and pepper, and the yogurt. Add a squeeze of lemon juice, and serve immediately with hot fritters.

Blackcurrant and rosemary cheesecake

Serves 8

For the cheesecake: 85g (3oz) butter, plus extra for greasing, 200g (7oz) digestive biscuits, 1 tbsp chopped rosemary, 675g (11⁄2lb) cream cheese, 225g (8oz) caster sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tsp natural vanilla extract

For the topping: 225g (8oz) blackcurrants, caster sugar, to taste, 1 tsp arrowroot 1 Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F/Gas 2). Grease a

Home-grown blackcurrants are one of the treats of the allotment and are often expensive to buy. Here, the delicate fragrance of rosemary enhances this sweet, sharp, and creamy dessert.

Put the biscuits in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. Melt the butter in a pan, then add the biscuit crumbs and rosemary, and stir until well coated. Press the crumbs into the base of the tin.

Beat the cheese with the sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract, spoon into the prepared tin. Level the surface. Bake for up to 1¼ hours, until set. Turn off the oven and leave until cold. Chill. Stew the blackcurrants in 4 tbsp water until the juices run, but the currants still hold their shape. Sweeten to taste. Blend the arrowroot with 1 tsp water and stir in.

Cook, stirring until thickened and clear. Leave to cool.

Remove the cheesecake from the tin and place on a serving plate. Spoon the blackcurrant topping over so that the fruits trickle down the sides a little.

The Allotment Cookbook Through the Year, Caroline Bretherton, DK, £16.99, Available from dk.com. To order a copy from the Yorkshire Post Bookshop call free on 0800 0153232 or go online at www.yorkshirepostbookshop.co.uk. Postage and packing is £2.75.