Katie’s Carrot & Courgette Soda Farls

One of our regular volunteers - Katie made these delicious soda farls, after our Wednesday morning harvesting session last week. They were genuinely & utterly delicious.

(For those of you outside Northern Ireland, soda farls are a very traditional non-yeasted bread that are very popular here. They are cooked on a flat griddle over a fire (or on a hob) rather than in an oven, and they use a combination of buttermilk (acid) and bicarbonate of soda (alkaline) to create the rise in the bread. Ever since we started our Wednesday morning harvesting sessions back in 2022, we have enjoyed freshly-cooked soda farls at the end of every session.)

Katie has kindly donated her recipe so you can all share this mouth-watering joy. We cooked our farls over the open fire, and topped with lashings of butter - they were fantastic! You have got to try them, easy, delicious and nutritious!

1 carrot grated (approx 60 grams)
1 courgette grated (approx 60 grams)
100 grams grated cheese (we used half pecorino for the extra cheese hit and half strong cheddar for the melty gooeyness, but any cheese would work)
1.5 tablespoons chopped scallion greens or chives
1 tablespoon finely chopped herbs (we used rosemary and parsley, but lovage/chervil/sage/basil would all be good)
350 grams plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Buttermilk or homemade kefir (200ml to 250ml)
Mixed seeds

1. Grate carrot & courgette. Wrap and squeeze in a clean tea towel to remove the excess liquid.

2. Grate the cheese and chop the scallions & herbs.

3. Put the plain flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the salt, pepper and bicarbonate of soda and give it a good whisk to break up any lumps (alternatively you could sieve them). Add in the carrot, courgette, herbs and scallions. Mix the ingredients together.

4. Slowly add in the kefir (or buttermilk) until you have a moist but firm dough.

5. Pat out into a circle, flouring well so it doesn’t stick, and pressing some seeds into the top. Cut the round into quarters or 1/6ths or 1/8ths.

6. Cook on a griddle over a low-moderate heat (preferably around the fire pit at Laurelbank). They take a wee bit longer than plain soda farls - at least 5 minutes on each side, perhaps more.

7. Enjoy with friends and family!

Enjoying soda farls around the fire after a volunteer session at the farm!