We welcome you to a cosy Q&A session with fellow Bold Bean icon and renowned recipe creator, Hannah Wilding, also known as @hans.hungry!
Get ready to dive into the world of culinary creativity with Hannah as she shares her insights, tips and mouth-watering recipes that will inspire your kitchen adventures.
Hey Hannah! We’re big fans of your (seriously) delicious recipes that you whip up across socials. Tell us, how did @hans.hungry come about?
It all started with a bowl of porridge. Yup!
It’s a bit of a rollercoaster story – but I’ll try and keep it short and sweet.
I actually grew up in the musical theatre industry, with big ambitions of being on the West End. But the year I graduated from drama school was the year of the dreaded covid. I was getting no auditions, theatres were put into blackout and I was truly lost.
So, I turned to my other passion – FOOD! I pretty much took over the kitchen in lockdown, experimenting with different flavours, ingredients, ended up taking pictures of everything (as us foodies do) and decided to document it all on an Instagram page, and so @hans.hungry was born. I kept it pretty consistent, posting a bunch of different recipes and overtime grew a following of fellow foodies – which still to this day makes me do a double take!
Oh yes, the porridge – I became a bit of a porridge-fanatic over lockdown. We’re talking seriously “pimped up” bowls of hearty, creamy oats, loaded with the works – different nut butters, seeds, fruit, fancy flavours (lets face it, we had all the time in the world) and so a bowl of porridge was my first ever post, presented oh so elegantly on my..radiator. You’ll still find the odd porridge bowl on my feed but I’d say my cooking style is very veg-centric, feel good and homely.
Can you share a memorable cooking experience that influenced your culinary journey?
I guess it was during lockdown, really! I’ve always been into the “eating” part of food but the “cooking” part only came towards the end of university. And so lockdown gave me that creative freedom and time to experiment in the kitchen. I’ve been incredibly lucky to have met such amazing food writers, stylists and brands within the industry who have shared such great knowledge with me and have been a huge influence to my culinary journey – and so weirdly, I’m very grateful for that time.
Are there any culinary trends or techniques that you’re excited about?!
This isn’t a trend as such, but there’s a small but mighty handful of cookbooks that have just been/are soon to be released – Kitty Coles’ ‘Make more with Less’, Ed Smith’s ‘Good Eggs’ and Sophie Wyburd’s ‘Tucking In’ – these 3 INCREDIBLE food writers have been huge inspirations in my own writing and food creativity and so I can’t wait to get my hands on these books.
Your ultimate comfort food dish?
It has to be something beany. Usually a Queen Butter Bean stew using my trusty Bold Beans simmered in a rich tomato sauce, any veggies I’ve got going in the fridge, probably some olives, a good showering of parmesan and a generous glug of olive oil.
What advice would you give to aspiring food creators who are just starting out?
Do it because YOU love it. Don’t go posting content that you “think” people will want to see, post content that YOU love, as that genuine passion will shine through and will generate a following of lovely, like minded people. Our uniqueness is what makes us brilliant, so although it’s natural to compare ourselves with others, trust the process and be yourself!
Name three things in the kitchen you can’t live without!
A trusty non-stick pan, a good quality olive oil + silicone spatula!
What’s one dish you ALWAYS use Maldon Sea Salt for?
My go-to dish for when I’m in a rush or need a quick lunch is always eggs (in some form) on toast, and I’m always sprinkling a pinch of Maldon Sea Salt on top for that extra hit of flavour – it’s such a winner when you want to jazz up the flavour a little, say with chilli, garlic or a hint of smokiness.
Looking for some recipe inspo?
Check out Hannah’s socials where she shares delicious recipes weekly that will certainly inspire you to get creative in the kitchen! We’ve shared one of our current favourite; creamy whipped Garlic Salt Ricotta with Spring Peas on Toast. The ricotta is infused with Maldon Garlic Sea Salt for a flavour burst of wild and roasted garlic!
Ingredients: (serves 2)
- 90g peas, fresh if you can get them, frozen will work just as well
- 100g ricotta cheese
- 1 lemon
- A good pinch of Maldon Garlic Sea Salt
- Sourdough or bread of choice
- Extra virgin olive oil, to serve
Method:
- Blanch the peas in a pan of boiling salted water for just a couple minutes until tender.
- To a mixing bowl, add the ricotta, zest of the whole lemon and a good pinch of Maldon Garlic Sea Salt and whip to a soft and pillow consistency.
- Toast your bread. Slather the whipped ricotta onto the toast and tumble over the peas. Finish with a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and cracked black pepper.
Make sure you have your Maldon Salt ready for these recipes! If you are running out, please feel free to browse on our Where to Buy Page to find your nearest store in which stocks our beloved Maldon Salt.
Lastly, we LOVE seeing your creations – please tag us on Instagram using the #maldonsalt so we can share your own take on Hannah’s recipes!
