Mat Follas of the Bramble Café and Deli in Poundbury shares a perfect seasonal recipe that can be made using natural produce found in Dorset

AS part owner of a daytime café, I really enjoy the bustle of a busy day, coffee machine steaming, cake baking and the lunch rush.

We've got regular customers who it is lovely to see and chat to. Being in Poundbury we get the usual visitors to the area too who admire the architecture and surroundings and we do take a little pleasure in their bafflement over the lack of parking restrictions or street markings.

It's nice to have a place that people come back to for the coffee and cakes, the food and, I hope, the friendship and atmosphere.

It takes longer to establish for evenings but customers are starting to find us now at Bramble Cafe too and we've just launched our spring menu with two courses at £14.95 (three courses at £19.95).

We try and achieve a balance between offering local produce, cooked on-site and being well priced and competitive.

My challenge as chef to achieve these prices and making some profit is pretty easy really, the key is to stay seasonal and use cost effective cuts of meat, our 24hr cooked pork belly always leaves happy and satisfied customers and we try to have a whole fish on the menu too, locally caught, not farmed in some far off country.

One of the most cost-effective ways to produce great food is to pick it yourself, of course ,and while I have yet to make our own butter I do get a lot of pleasure in making our own jams for the cafe, I'll give you some simple recipes as we head into fruit picking season.

We are now in wild garlic season so I will be making some wonderful wild garlic pesto this month, it's great in a simple vegetable soup or serve with some roast lamb.

Do not keep it more than a couple of weeks in the fridge though, freeze it in ice cube sized portions for future use but make sure it has at least two bags sealing it in or everything in the freezer will small of garlic!

Wild garlic pesto

Makes one small jar

  • 50g Wild Garlic leaves
  • 50g Spinach
  • 100g Hazelnuts
  • 1 tsp English Mustard
  • 2 tsp Honey

First press Rapeseed oil Salt 1/2 lemon Using a food processor, blend the leaves, spinach and hazelnuts until smooth. Add the honey and mustard then drizzle the oil in while blending, until the mixture forms a paste the consistency of smooth peanut butter. Add a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon juice to finish.

This pesto complements spring lamb beautifully, serve approx 1 dessert spoon per person as it is strongly flavoured.

The pesto can also be added to a bowl of spring vegetable soup, approx 1 teaspoon per bowl, or a similar amount, can be stirred into a portion of spaghetti for a simple delicious supper.