Jamie: What to Eat This Week - Autumn: release date, recipes, episodes, interview and everything we know

“Autumn is a wonderful season. As a gardener, I get really excited at the beginning when I’m rushing to harvest, cook and preserve the end- of-summer glut, like aubergines, tomatoes, peppers, beans and sweetcorn. 

"At the same time, I’m already thinking about pumpkins and squash, and the mighty world of mushrooms coming to the fore – I want to cook it all! It’s a real period of transition, echoed in the food we eat, as we naturally lean towards more comforting, warming dishes to match the darker, wetter days. My tomato & ricotta galette is a real representation of this transition period, when I’m still cooking the last of those ripe tomatoes, but they’re layered up in a rustic buttery pastry that’s all about comfort.”

“Oh, so much. Pumpkins and squash are really the epitome of autumn, and each variety tastes so different, yet you’ve also got blackberries and orchard fruit at their best, which go so beautifully together in crumbles (you’ll love my Autumn blackberry cobbler). 

"Then there are mushrooms, which are truly their own kingdom – they fascinate me. We all know chestnut, button and Portobello mushrooms; but there’s also lion’s mane, which taste almost like fresh crab, and golden oyster mushrooms that you can roast in whole clusters, and so many more. In the show, I hero mushrooms’ meaty-yet-delicate flavour in a soul-warming mighty mushroom curry – it’s a true celebration of mushrooms with all their weird and wonderful shapes, sizes and textures. Cooked down into layers of caramelly, smoky, sweet, fragrant flavours, this dish is Autumn for me.”

“I remember the first time I grew aubergines in my garden in Essex – I couldn’t believe it! The smaller varieties do really well here. In the show, I make a North African-style roast chicken, served with gnarly squash and smashed aubergine, which I’ve charred over a flame until silky, then whipped up with tahini, garlic and lemon. It’s a twist on a Sunday roast that’s full of colour and surprise. 

"Fresh figs grow well in Essex, too, but they have a really short season. What is more readily available is fig leaves. Fig trees grow in parks, back gardens and side streets, and their leaves are well worth using. In the show, I bake a block of feta, wrapped in fig leaves until oozy and molten. As the fig leaves blacken and burn in the oven, it infuses the feta with phenomenal figgy flavour – it can be surprising to think of the fig as a British-grown ingredient, but it definitely is!”

“I would say yes, and no. With all the recipes in the show I wanted to put seasonal veg and fruit at the centre of the plate, sharing tips and inspiration on how to maximise their potential, rather than leaving them as an afterthought to meat or fish. 

"Sometimes it’s all about the veg, whether that’s charring sweetcorn until blackened all over for gorgeous smokiness in my sweetcorn & feta burger, or cooking onions really, really slowly until super caramelised and sweet in my cheesy onion soup. 

"That said, meat and fish also have seasons, which is why a lot of the recipes include those, too. I invited London’s Cobble Lane charcuterie onto the show – they cure meat that can match and surpass the popular cured meats we get from Europe. The UK has a long tradition of animal husbandry and in recent decades people have relearned the craft of curing.”

“Eating the seasons means eating food that hasn’t had to travel halfway around the world to get to our dinner table, which in most cases means it’s going to be fresher, more nutritious, more flavoursome, and probably better for our planet, too.

“It is also about looking around you and seeing what ingredients and produce are available locally, then using and championing them. If you don’t use it, you lose it!”

“Runner beans are one of my favourite things to have at this time of year. Fresh from the pod, they’re not just delicious; they’re full of fibre, and they’re great for our gardens, too. Beans take nitrogen from the air and fix it into the soil, which helps veggies like corn and pumpkins to grow alongside them – nature is unbelievably clever like that. It just makes sense that what grows together also tastes good together, but it also makes sense that food that’s grown near to where we live is going to be more nourishing for our bodies and for the soil that grows it, too.”

“If you watch the show, you’ll laugh at how my celeriacs turned out – it was not the best year. That’s the joy of gardening, though. Sometimes I’ll get a bad crop or something doesn’t turn out quite how I expected, but those disappointments are far outweighed by the pleasure of planting, nurturing, then cooking something I grew with my own hands.”

“If I had to choose one right now, based on the weather outside and how I’m feeling today, I’d go with my cheesy onion soup. It’s a nod to French onion soup, but using British ingredients that make it, in my opinion, quite a different dish. I’m rather proud of the cheesy croutons, made with good sourdough bread, topped with a mix of melty, oozy British farmhouse cheeses and a hint of English mustard, then clanked up and layered on top of the soup. A really humble, warming, delicious dish, just perfect for Autumn.”