London lunch box: a recipe inspired by Camberwell Arms

When I first moved to London from Ireland I spent most of my time hanging around central London. I was obsessed with being at new openings. If I heard about a new opening I made sure I hot-footed it to the place to be. Except that gets a little tiring you see.

And then you realise that the beauty of London is in its outliers. Those places beyond zone 1. This is where the real Londoners, not the tourists eat. Since I’ve realised this I’ve spent a lot of time getting to know zone 2. It's here that you will find some of the finest London restaurants. One such place is the Camberwell Arms. A local (to me) pub with plain straight forward furnishings (no ‘stressed’ chairs, I don’t like my chairs being distressed, or open brick façade or vintage feel). It is a proper pub that does proper food, rather well. The Head Chef, Mike Davies, previously worked at the Anchor and Hope in Southwark.

I don’t get many Saturdays off work, so when I do, I start the day full of glee that I get to see how people with Monday to Friday jobs live. A part of me yearns for this lifestyle again, but I wouldn’t give up this cooking life for anything. Even a rather excellent lunch.

On a recent Saturday we went to the Camberwell Arms. I’ve read and heard a lot about it and want to spend my Saturday in the suburbs too. A pub restaurant that prides itself on the providence of its ingredients and where everything is homemade from the soda bread to the charcuterie and sausages. Using a small supply of local butchers and vegetable suppliers the Camberwell Arms provides a daily changing menu.

We begin with a starter of aubergine and homemade pitta breads, followed by a piping hot chicken pie, meatballs and orzo, all for a reasonable price. London, I love your fancy West End restaurants, but for today I’m extremely happy with real home cooking in a relaxed atmosphere and feel smug that I’ve not had to trek into town for this.

For our lunch box inspired by The Camberwell Arms we’re having roast aubergine and tomato with pitta breads and Greek yogurt. The Camberwell Arms do, of course, make their own pitta breads but we’re cheating by using ready made ones. And so what. After all, life is too short and it will give you extra time to make the most of the beautiful stunning place that is London, whether it be zones 1 or 2.

What you will need:

½ aubergine

1 tomato

1 tsp. cumin seeds

Sea salt, black pepper to season

1 tbsp. olive oil

2tsp. Greek yogurt

2 pitta breads

Small pinch smoked paprika

Equipment

Baking tray

Knife

Cost to make per portion:

Preparation time: 5 minutes. Cooking time 10 minutes.

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 200c. Slice the aubergine into small dice and place on a baking tray, drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the cumin seeds and sea salt and black pepper. Roast in the oven until golden brown, approximately ten minutes. Meanwhile toast the pitta breads. Assemble your lunch box

Follow Laoise Casey on Twitter @cuisine_genie