Stewed Blueberries and Walnuts With Rosemary and Olive Oil

Recipe, words & photography by Harriet Davidson

It’s a very exciting time of year when berries start making an appearance. A true sign of the long warm days being right around the corner. I find this recipe to be a lovely shake-up from the heavier porridge breakfasts I’ve been eating all winter, but is still perfect for those cooler spring mornings. Equally, it’s a great dessert option with some fresh ricotta, lemon zest, honey and olive oil.

I first started making this after seeing a recipe in The Saturday Paper by brilliant chef David Moyle who was preparing blueberries and walnuts in a similar way for a savoury dish. Blueberries and walnuts are on high repeat for my breakfasts during the season and this recipe has been a nice way to combine the two. The blueberries bleed the most amazing rich syrup and the walnuts bring a lovely crunch. Add in the flavours of rosemary, honey and olive oil and it’s a wonderful time.

It takes me back to the days in Sweden where we would pick blueberries off our trees and top our granola with them while they were still warm from the sun. I’ve been having this on Frederik Bille Brahe’s honey and olive oil granola recipe from his cookbook, All the Stuff We Cooked (would highly recommend a purchase), and his pancakes, but it’s also perfect simply spooned over Greek yoghurt with a little drizzle of honey, olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt and rosemary. I hope this recipe adds to that lovely spring-is-here feeling.

Ingredients
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup walnuts
1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve
1 tablespoon rosemary, plus extra to serve
Sea salt
Honey to serve
Yoghurt to serve

Method

Start by toasting those walnuts in a cast iron pan over a medium heat, making sure to keep an eye on them so they don’t catch. Once they’ve got a bit of colour, remove from the pan and add in the washed blueberries, 1/4 cup of cold water and 1 tbsp of olive oil. Stir together and bring to a simmer then add in the chopped rosemary leaves before turning the heat down, allowing the flavours to meld, cooking for eight to 10 minutes, stirring every now and again. The blueberries will start to bleed and breakdown pretty quickly.

Remove from heat and let cool slightly. To serve, add a dollop of Greek Yoghurt to your bowl of granola before topping the bowl with the stewed blueberries and walnuts. Add a drizzle of honey and olive oil (go heavier than you think) before sprinkling with sea salt and a few more pieces of rosemary.

Harriet uses our IN BED 100% linen teatowel and napkin in french blue and placemat in blue & white stripe. All other props are Harriet’s own.