St Albans woman in final of Linda McCartney veggie food competition

A FUNDRAISER for St Albans School is within touching distance of winning a national cooking contest.

Kate Ford, of East Common, Redbourn (pictured), will be competing against two other amateur chefs in the final of the UK’s Tastiest Meat Free Dish competition, organised by Linda McCartney Foods.

A panel of judges hosted by Mary McCartney and including celebrity chef Aldo Zilli and former Celebrity Masterchef winner Liz McClarnon, chose Kate’s mushroom, ale and puy lentil pie from hundreds of entries to reach the last leg of the inaugural event.

All three finalists won a Baumatic oven and if Kate wins the competition outright then her dish will be used as the inspiration for a new product that will hit the shelves this August. The winner was also be invited to the Linda McCartney test kitchen to re-create the dish, and will receive a handmade kitchen table from English oak furniture makers Titchmarsh & Goodwin.

Kate commented: “I entered on a bit if a whim, never thinking for a second that I’d make the top ten, let alone the top three, so I am delighted.

“Being a vegetarian for over 20 years I am a fan of Linda McCartney Foods so it would be bizarre but brilliant for my pie to become one of their ready meals.”

The overall winner of the competition will be decided by an online public vote which will be announced on April 11.

Before the poll closes a mini-documentary which charts Kate’s creation of the dish will be shown on ITV’s This Morning between April 4 and April 11.