I made this delicious tart for tea; it was easy to make as I used ready rolled puff pastry. If you can’t get taleggio you can use fontina or Camembert.
Serves: 2
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes
Ingredients
3 medium leeks, sliced
50 g butter
200 g puff pastry
120 g Taleggio cheese
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
Method
Melt the butter in a shallow pan and add the sliced leeks. Cook the leeks slowly intil they are soft but not browned, this can take up to 30 minutes. Roll out the pastry until no thicker than a 10 p coin and place on a floured baking sheet. Score a border 2 cm from each edge and prick with a fork. Tip the leeks on to the pastry, pushing them almost, but not quite, to the border. Brush the rim with some of the leek butter. Slice the cheese thinly, then break it up into small pieces, tucking it in amongst the leeks. Scatter over the thyme. Bake in the oven at 220°C/Gas Mark 7 for 15-20 minutes until the pastry is golden and puffed and the leeks are browning.
The Guardian Cook supplement had the 10 best pumpkin recipes this weekend. I am going to try this delicious-sounding curry from Ivor Peters at urbanrajah.com.
Serves 4
Preparation and cooking time: 40-45 minutes
Ingredients
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion
2 garlic cloves, grated
3cm of fresh ginger, grated
2 green finger chillies, sliced lengthways
1kg pumpkin, diced
½ tsp salt
A dash of sugar
200ml water
1 tsp ground coriander
12 fresh curry leaves
2 sprigs thyme
Method
In a large, lidded pan, heat the oil over a medium heat, fry the onion until blonde, tip in the garlic, ginger and chillies until they sizzle a little, browning at the edges.
Add the pumpkin chunks, season with salt, a touch of sugar and add the water. Cover and cook for 15 minutes until the pumpkin flesh has yielded.
Remove the lid and sprinkle in the ground coriander, curry leaves and thyme sprigs, cooking uncovered for another 10 minutes, reducing the pumpkin stew a little.
Eat with rice or a flatbread such as faratha or chapatti.
This recipe is taken from Madhur Jaffrey‘s Eastern Vegetarian Cooking. It is a tasty side dish for a curry.
Serves 2-4
Preparation and cooking time: 20-30 minutes
Ingredients
4 tbs vegetable oil
1/2 tsp whole black mustard seeds
140g peeled, diced potatoes (1.5 cm cubes)
115g diced aubergine (1.5 cm cubes)
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp ground cumin seeds
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/8 – 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs fresh green coriander (optional)
Method
Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. When hot, put in the mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds begin to pop put in the potatoes and aubergine. Stir once then put in the rest ot the ingredients, apart from the fresh coriander, stir and fry for one minute. Add 3 tbs water, cover and turn the heat to low and simmer gently for 10 – 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender, stirring every now and then. If the vegetables seem to catch at the bottom of the pan, add another tablespoon of water. Serve garnished with the fresh coriander, finely chopped.
This is an old family recipe – much loved and much used, I think it probably came off the side of a porage oats box many years ago.
Serves 4
Preparation time: 15-20 mins
Cooking time: 30-40 mins
Ingredients
100g porage oats
100g butter
75g sugar
4 medium apples, peeled and thinly sliced
for decoration:
1 apple, peeled, cored and quartered
golden syrup
Method
Melt the butter and sugar then mix in the oats. Fill a greased 2 litre baking dish with alternate layers of sliced apple and oat mixture, finishing with a layer of oats. Thinly slice the apple quarters and arrange on top of the dish and glaze with the golden syrup. Bake in the oven Gas Mark 4/180°C for 30-40 minutes until golden brown. Serve with pouring cream or custard.
I have been waiting for fresh borlotti beans to try this recipe again! If you don’t have fresh beans use 300g dried borlotti beans soaked for at least 12 hours.
Serves: 4
Cooking and preparation time: 1 hour
Ingredients
Fresh borlotti beans (podded)
3 cloves garlic unpeeled
a few sprigs fresh thyme
a sprig fresh rosemary
3 bay leaves
1 stick celery, trimmed
1 small potato, peeled and halved
2 cherry tomatoes
extra virgin olive oil
red wine vinegar
a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 slices sourdough bread
Method
Place the beans in a deep pan and cover them with cold water. Throw in the garlic, herb sprigs, bay leaves, celery stick, potato and tomatoes. Place the beans on the heat and slowly bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and simmer very gently for about 45 minutes or until the beans are soft and cooked nicely. When the beans are cooked, drain them in a colander, reserving enough of the cooking water to cover them halfway up when put back in the pot. remove the garlic, herbs, celery, potato and tomatoes from the beans. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins and pinch the skin off the tomatoes. Put the garlic, tomatoes and potato on to a plate, mash them with a fork and stir back into the beans. Season well with salt and pepper and pour in three generous glugs of extra virgin olive oil and a few splashes of vinegar. Stir in the parsley and serve on some toasted sourdough bread.
This is a brilliant way to use up a surplus of tomatoes. Once made it can be frozen for later use as a pizza topping or with pasta. It is from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Veg every day.
Makes about 500ml
Cooking/preparation time: 1-1hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
1.5-2 Kg ripe tomatoes, larger ones halved
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
a few sprigs of thyme
A couple of sprigs marjoram (optional)
2 tbs rapeseed or olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4. Lay the tomatoes, cut side up if halved, on a baking tray. Scatter over the garlic and herbs and trickle over the oil. Season with salt and pepper. Put the tomatoes in the oven for about an hour until the tomatoes are completely soft and pulpy and starting to crinkle and caramelise on top. Leave to cool then tip them into a sieve and rub through with a wooden spoon. Your tomato sauce is now ready to use.
This recipe is inspired by Ken Hom but instead of deep frying the tofu, Frank just braises it at the end to heat it through.
Serves 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
300 g broccoli
300g firm tofu, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbs coarsely chopped garlic
3 tbs thinly sliced shallots
1 tbs Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
1 tbs light soy sauce
2 tbs dark soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
3 tbs water
1 tbs sesame oil
Method
Separate the broccoli into small florets and peel and slice the stems. Blanch the broccoli pieces in boiling water for three minutes and then immerse them in cold water before draining thoroughly. Heat the olive oil in a wok, add the pepper, garlic and shallots and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add the broccoli, rice wine, soy sauces and sugar and stir fry for 1 minute. Now add the water, cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the tofu and heat through, stirring gently as the tofu is delicate and breaks up easily. Add the sesame oil and serve at once.
This is from Jamie Oliver’s The Return of the Naked Chef. I use it as a pasta sauce but it can also be used as a spread on toasted bread or as a ravioli filling if mixed with ricotta cheese.
Serves 6-8
Preparation time – 10 minutes
Cooking time: 35-40 minutes
Ingredients
olive oil
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1-2 small dried red chillies, crumbled
6-8 small courgettes roughly sliced
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 handful mint, chopped
juice of 1 lemon
Method
Put a couple of lugs of olive oil in a hot pan and fry the garlic and chillies for a couple of minutes. Throw in the courgettes and stir round to coat with the oil. Turn the heat down to low and cover with a lid. Give the pan a shake and a stir every 5 minutes for around 35 minutes, making sure the courgettes don’t catch on the bottom. Cooking with the lid on will ensure a bit of moisture in the pan. When the courgettes are really soft, with some chunky pieces and the rest almost pulped, remove from the heat and season to taste. Add the mint and lemon juice and serve as required. If using as a pasta sauce it is best to mix it with the cooked pasta before serving with grated parmesan cheese.
My husband made this delicious salad for tea yesterday. Instead of red pepper we used the green peppers out of our veg box.
Serves: 2-4
Cooking and preparation time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
2 small or 1 large aubergine, sliced into 1cm (½in) rounds
2 tbsps olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 red pepper, cut into quarters
1 tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 tbsps parsley, chopped
2 tbsps mint, finely chopped, plus 2 tbsps of small leaves for garnish
For the dressing:
1 tsp honey
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp paprika
4 tbsps olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper
Method
Brush the aubergine slices with olive oil, season lightly then cook them on a very-hot ridged grill pan until nicely coloured on each side with char-grilled lines. Do the same with the red pepper. Once these are cooked, allow them to cool. Whisk together the honey, cumin, cinnamon, paprika, olive oil, lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. In a large bowl, combine the dressing with the chickpeas, chopped red onions, parsley and mint, then toss together to dress the salad. Top the salad with the aubergine and pepper slices, garnish with a few mint leaves and serve.
I made this for tea on Friday – it has to be said that swiss chard is not one of my husband’s favourite vegetables but after he had polished off a second helping he said I could make it again! I cheated and used ready-made and ready rolled pastry! It is from the Riverford Farm cook book.
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
300g shortcrust pastry
50g butter
3 small onions, finely sliced
leaves from 1 sprig of thyme
300g swiss chard
10 olives, chopped
3-4 tbs creme fraiche
1/2 tbs freshly grated parmesan cheese
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and place on a baking sheet, prick with a fork in several places and chill for 15 minutes (it doesn’t need to be a uniform shape). Place in a pre-heated oven 200°C/gas mark 6 and bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown. Once the pastry is rolled out you can start to prepare the topping. Heat the butter in a pan, add the onions and thyme and cook gently for about 10 minutes until soft but not coloured. Meanwhile, separate the chard stalks from the leaves and chop both leaves and stalks roughly, keeping them separate. Add the stalks to a pan of boiling water and cook for 2-3 minutes, until tender. Remove the stalks with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the leaves to the boiling water and blanch briefly. drain well, refresh under a cold tap and then squeeze to remove as much water as possible. ( I actually cooked the chard stalks with the onions and wilted the leaves in the microwave.) Add the chard stalks and leaves to the onions and reheat gently. Season to taste and mix well. Spread the mixture over the pastry base and sprinkle with the chopped olives, parmesan and a few blobs of creme fraiche. Bake in the oven 190°C/gasmark 5 for about 15 minutes, until lightly browned.
