London lunch box: a recipe inspired by Brick House Bakery & Cafe in East Dulwich

Chef Laoise Casey creates cheap, easy-to-cook lunch boxes inspired by things she has eaten in some of London's best restaurants #BrickHouselunchbox
Laoise Casey20 July 2015

Brick House Bakery lunch box: courgette, asparagus and cherry tomato on sourdough.

I meet Sharmin and Fergus Jackson, owners of Brick House Bakery on my day off. They don’t seem to have many (any) days off between running their award-winning bakery and now café in East Dulwich, looking after their little son Ludo and everything else in between. When I meet them, Fergus has been 'on the bake' since 2.30am but he looks happy and relaxed. They tell me their tale of how they left their jobs in advertising and moved to San Francisco where Fergus studied slow fermentation sourdough at the San Francisco Baking Institute. When they moved back to London they opened a small bakery in East Dulwich and started supplying local businesses. That’s the extremely short version.

What Sharmin and Fergus have created would have us all moving to San Francisco. When you taste their bread it’s one of those ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts moments’. A few simple ingredients – flour, water, salt and naturally occurring yeast being combined to create beautiful chewy sourdough. Except it’s their care and attention that makes their bread so good. Their Peckham Rye loaf is the current holder of the Real Bread Campaign’s London Loaf.

Sharmin and Fergus Jackson, owners of Brickhouse Bakery

A few months ago they opened their first café in East Dulwich, which offers a simple breakfast and lunch menu as well as a range of breads, pastries and extra treats like sausage rolls and homemade nutella. They also make their own granola and jams which you’ll find on the tables in their café. The café is around the corner from where I live and I love being able to pop in for some ‘real’ bread.

They describe themselves as the ‘anthithesis of the mass-produced, machine made bread you’ll find in most supermarkets’. Picture a happier bread with a dark crust, a chewy crumb and that distinctive sourdough flavour. Now imagine a thick slab of this bread filled with molten cheese (Ogleshield, Mull and Lancashire cheddar) - Brick House’s cheese sandwich is perfect for a Sunday brunch after a late Saturday night. There are sandwiches that fill you up and then there are sandwiches which change your life and make you believe that the world is a tastier, if not better, place. So go to Brick House and make your life a tastier place.

After chatting to them I walk away excited and buzzing. Perhaps that’s the sugar rush after eating their sweet morning bun. Or maybe it’s feeling inspired by people who genuinely love what they do. I buy some sausage rolls, sweet pastries and an almond tart fully intending to keep them for dinner that night for my partner and I. Dear reader, between you and me that dinner never happened. It was a solo lunch and I loved every bite.

This week’s lunch box is inspired by Brick House’s tartine of the week. For our lunch box we’re using marinated courgette ribbons, juicy cherry tomatoes, lots of fresh basil, finished with ricotta, flaked almonds and some extra virgin olive oil. All served on toasted sourdough bread. Use the best ingredients you can in this sandwich and you’ll thank yourself for it. Enjoy.

Find it: Brick House Bakery, 1 Zenoria Street, East Dulwich, SE22 8HP. Open Tuesday – Sunday. brickhousebread.com

Brick House lunch box:

What you will need:

1 thick slice sourdough bread, I used Brick House Bakery’s Peckham Rye sourdough. Ciabatta would also be nice.

½ a small courgette

3 asparagus spears

3 ripe cherry tomatoes

Small handful fresh basil

Small handful salad leaves

1 tbsp. flaked almonds, toasted

Extra virgin olive oil, to taste

Sea salt, black pepper to season

Brick House Bakery - in pictures

1/9

Equipment

Knife

Peeler

Bowl

Cost to make per portion: £3.40

Preparation and cooking time: 10 minutes

How to make it:

Drizzle the sourdough bread with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until lightly toasted. Meanwhile, using a peeler, peel the courgette into thin ribbons lengthways. Slice the cherry tomatoes horizontally. Place the tomatoes and courgette ribbons in a bowl and mix with olive oil, sea salt, black pepper and basil. Leave to marinate. Peel thin ribbons of the asparagus. If you place the asparagus in a bowl of iced water it stays fresh and crispy and curls up. Assemble your sandwich however you fancy. I like to layer the courgette ribbons on top of the salad leaves. Then dot the ricotta along the bread so you get a taste with every bite. Finish by layering with the tomatoes, asparagus and sprinkle the flaked almonds on top. Finally, add another generous glug of olive oil on top.

Follow Laoise on Twitter @cuisine_genie and Instagram @Laoisecooks

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