Beetroot, olive & broccoli bolognaise‏

Ingredients 1 small onion, half a stick of celery, a handful of fresh or oil marinated olives - never the rubbery brined ones! 1/2 a head of broccoli, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1 small beetroot, spaghetti, red wine, 100ml passata, 1 clove garlic.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 20 minutes

I have always been rather excited by raw foodism. Partly due to OCD (the idea that I am not getting EVERY SINGLE POSSIBLE nutrient from my food ALL THE TIME can be somewhat crippling during my wiggier moments) and partly because HEY SO DELICIOUS. Baby Led Weaning meant that my son had a good grounding in the individual flavours of different ingredients before he experienced more complex meals and I learned to appreciate how gorgeous simple food could be. This isn't actually a raw recipe, but it's inspired by no-fuss, simple flavours working so very well together.

1) Blitz the celery, onion and garlic in your food processor and tip into a pan. Add a little olive oil and sizzle until soft) 

2) Add the broccoli and olives to the food processor and blitz until reduced to the size of breadcrumbs. Grate the beetroot (I just pull out the blade spindle and add the grater blade to my food processor so it's all contained in one bowl.) and then add to the pan of softened onions and celery.

3) I like to add a little red wine along with the passata tomatoes and herbs, but this is entirely according to taste. Cook for just as long as it takes for your spaghetti to boil (8-12 minutes depending on the type of spaghetti) and drain.

4) Add the pasta to the pan and stir through. Serve hot (with a sprinkle of parmesan if you aren't vegetarian)

Cream of broccoli & stilton soup

Ingredients 1 Broccoli, 1 potato, 1/2 pint vegetable stock, 1 onion, 20g stilton, 50ml cream, 1 tbsp butter, nutmeg, black pepper.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 30 minutes

Stilton is a little like marmite in that people often either love blue cheese or hate it. For those who are a little squeamish about strong, stinky cheese - adding it to soup is a great way to unlock the flavour without it being too intense. This creamy, filling soup has the perfect balance of tangy cheese and fresh broccoli.

1) Peel and finely dice the onion and sizzle in a pan for 8-10 minutes with a tablespoon of butter until completely soft. 

2) Add half a pint of vegetable stock and half a finely diced potato. Simmer on the hob for 15 minutes and then add the broccoli florets.

3) After 5 minutes strain the broccoli, potatoes and onions and blend, adding the soup liquid a little at a time until pulsed smooth. Season with a litt nutmeg and black pepper and return to the hob.

4) Crumble a generous handful of stilton into the soup and a good glug of cream before serving.

Broccoli & pepper pasta

Ingredients 1 broccoli, 2 bell peppers, pasta, gruyere

Serves: 4 Preparation: 20 minutes

This recipe is achingly simple, and very satisfying. Sweet, meltingly perfect peppers, gooey nutty gruyere and the freshness of the broccoli are a lovely combination.

1) Slice the top from the pepper and scoop out the core and seeds. Slice between the membranes and roast in the top of the oven for 15 minutes at a high heat.

2) Cut the florets from the broccoli stem and add to a pan of boiling water along with the pasta. Simmer for 8 minutes, then strain and set aside.

3) Grate the cheese and stir into the pasta, broccoli and bell peppers and serve.

Broccoli & cheddar potato cakes

Ingredients Broccoli, 1 potato, 200g cheddar, old bread, 1 egg, 1/2 cup sweetcorn

Serves: 6 Preparation: 40 minutes

Comfort food comes in different guises for me. Sometimes it's about something warm and cosy, sometimes it's about something sinful and indulgent which will cheer me out of a funk. And sometimes it's about something quick and satisfying. This recipe falls into the latter category - these potato cakes are so quick to throw together and have a great texture. A crispy outer shell, soft fluffy potato, gooey cheddar and crunchy sweetcorn.

1) Peel and dice the potato and broccoli. I like to use just the florets and save the stem for pasta sauce or a pasta ingredient. Boil the potato for 8 minutes, add the broccoli with 6 minutes to go and the sweetcorn with 2 minutes to go. One pan... less washing up! Strain and set aside

2) Whisk an egg into a shallow bowl and make breadcrumbs in a blender by adding old bread and blitzing. Put the breadcrumbs into a separate shallow bowl.

3) Mash the potato roughly with a fork, or if you prefer, separate it from the broccoli and sweetcorn and mash using a ricer. Stir the ingredients together and grate in the cheese.

4) Form into patties with your hands, then dip in the egg mix and roll in the breadcrumbs.

5) You can deep fry for 1 minute, but I prefer to bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 200 degrees.

Linguine with burnt butter‏, broccoli stem & parmeggian

Ingredients Broccoli stem, 20g butter, parmigiano, linguine

Serves: 2 preparation: 10 minutes


Following on from my recent recipe using broccoli stem, I wanted to create something a bit lighter and cleaner tasting as a platform for the full flavour of the parmeggian. Broccoli stem has a slightly cabbagey flavour, sweet and nutty which makes it the perfect accompaniment to the burnt butter sauce.


1) Put the pasta on to boil in hot, salted water for 8-10 minutes


2) Slice the stem from the broccoli and peel away the tough outer layer of skin. Slice the stem into thin pieces and set aside.


3) Melt the butter in a pan and keep on a medium heat for at least 5 minutes, until the butter begins to turn brown. Add in the broccoli and sizzle for a further 2-3 minutes on a lower heat.


4) Strain the pasta and stir into the butter, then serve with shaved parmeggian.

Broccoli Boursin mac & cheese

Ingredients Broccoli, Boursin, Macaroni

Serves: 4 Preparation: 30 minutes

By some freakish coincidence, my fabulous friend Ewan and I both experimented with Broccoli stalks during the same week, though due to life insanity I have only just got around to sharing this! I have a series of recipes coming using the stalk in pasta - don't neglect it, it's a wonderful ingredient that most of us just toss away. This pasta is super simple to make and really gorgeous.

1) Slice the stalk from the broccoli, peel the tough outer layer and discard. Slice the stalk into chunks and simmer for 20 minutes until completely soft. 

2) Meanwhite boil the macaroni in hot, salted water for 10 minutes, steaming the broccoli florets over the pan for the final 5 minutes.

3) Puree the broccoli stalk in a blender and stir in the boursin. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss with the broccoli before serving.

Turkey, stilton & broccoli burgers

Ingredients 400g turkey mince, 200g white stilton with apricots, 1/2 head of broccoli

Serves: 6 preparation: 40 minutes


Since I made The Boy my turkey and stilton meatballs he has been completely addicted to the combination (and to making jokes about eating balls with his friends on Facebook...) so I decided to treat him and make him a meat version of the plantain, stilton and broccoli burger I created recently.


1) Steam or boil the broccoli for about 20 minutes - this recipe needs it to be soft rather than al dente but there should still be some nutrients left in there!


2) Drain the broccoli and pulse in the blender until it resembles breadcrumbs, add the crumbled cheese and turkey mince and pulse until it has come together into a ball.


3) Divide into 6 patties, pressing firmly into your hands and rolling into a ball - these need to be relatively solid or when they cook, the turkey juices and steam will separate.


4) Sear the outside in a pan with a little olive oil before baking in the oven for about 20 minutes

Plantain, stilton & broccoli burgers

Ingredients 1 plantain, 100g white stilton with apricots, 5 broccoli florets

Serves: 2 preparation: 1 hour

Plantains are fabulous. They're a kind of savoury banana that grow in tropical climates and are used quite a lot in Caribbean and Mexican cooking. When shopping for plantain please remember that the best ones are the ripe, almost completely black ones. Don't cook with unripe ones as the flavour and texture will probably put you off for life! This burger has a gorgeous thin crust, a slightly sticky soft centre and the gorgeous classic flavour combination of stilton and broccoli enriched with the sweetness of plantain and apricot.


1) Bring a pan of water to the boil and drop the entire plantain into it. Boil for 25-30 minutes. You will know it is ready as the skin will split and virtually peel itself! I like to steam the broccoli florets over the pan of boiling plantain but if you don't have a steamer, boil the broccoli in a separate pan for 20 minutes until soft.


2) Pulse the plantain in a blender, then add the crumbled cheese and drained broccoli.


3) The mixture should look a little like breadcrumbs but be moist enough to press together into patties with your hands. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until a golden crust has formed

Chicken satay

Ingredients   Chicken, broccoli, bell pepper,     noodles, peanut butter (I like Whole Earth Foods), sherry, dark soy sauce, white wine vinegar, basil oil, cayenne pepper.

1) Scoop 3 tablespoons of peanut butter into a pan and allow it to melt. Stir the chicken pieces into the peanut butter and leave to marinate for 20 minutes.


2) Add 2 tablespoons of basil oil, a tablespoon of sherry, a tablespoon of dark soy sauce and a tablespoon of white wine vinegar to a wok. Add the chicken and stir through for 10 minutes.


3) Cut the florets from the broccoli stalk and put in some water to boil.


4) Slice a bell pepper and a handful of mushrooms and add to the pan with the chicken. Stir fry for a further 10 minutes then add the noodles. Stir fry for 5 minutes, drain the broccoli and stir it through before serving.

Breaded broccoli

Ingredients Broccoli, breadcrumbs, black pepper, coriander, egg

I love breaded broccoli with dipping sauce - I ordinarily make Thai sweet chilli sauce, or plum sauce but in this case I served it with Levi Roots Fiery Guava dipping sauce.

1) Using old, slightly stale bread - pulse in the blender until fine crumbs are produced.

2) Add in some finely chopped coriander, freshly ground black pepper and tip out into a shallow dish.

3) Whisk an egg and dip the your broccoli florets into the egg, ensuring the head of the broccoli is covered, then roll in the breadcrumbs.

4) Bake in the oven for 15 minutes (or deep fry if you really must) until golden brown and serve.

Sweet chilli soba noodles

Ingredients Soba noodles, broccoli, goji berries, sweetcorn, rice vinegar, garlic, salt, lime, lemon, honey, 2 serrano chillis, 2 birds eye chillis.

1) To make the sweet chilli sauce: deseed and finely dice the chillis then add into a pan with a good splash of rice vinegar, 3 cloves of minced garlic, a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil, stirring frequently and then turn down the heat and simmer until the sauce thickens.
Squeeze in some lemon and lime juice to taste.


2) Steam some broccoli florets


3) Drop the soba noodles into into hot water and add a handful of goji berries and sweetcorn. Goji berries taste repulsive when dried, but once they have rehydrated they become sweet and delicious. After 7 minutes strain the water from the noodles and stir in the sweet chilli sauce and broccoli.


Serve!

Broccoli and stilton soup

Ingredients Broccoli, potato, vegetable stock, onion, stilton

1) Finely dice half a white onion and soften in a pan with a little olive oil.

2) Add half a pint of vegetable stock and half a finely diced potato. Simmer on the hob for 15 minutes and then add the broccoli florets.

3) After 5 minutes strain the broccoli, potatoes and onions and blend, adding the soup liquid a little at a time until pulsed smooth.

4) Crumble a generous handful of stilton into the soup - I used mango and ginger stilton to give this gorgeous fresh soup a little extra zing and served with a few baby basil leaves.