Spatzle

Ingredients 2 cups flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup milk or water.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 45 minutes

As part of the World Cup Food Challenge 2014, this recipe represents a traditional meal of Germany. Spatzle are a sort of cross between a noodle and a dumpling - thicker and fluffier than pasta - and are served tossed with butter and sausage, sometimes lentils and vegetables. I served mine with spinach and cheese because SCREW YOU IT'S MY BLOG! I should also warn you that should you have had the impression I did, that pushing something through a potato ricer or colander would make actual noodles, well you'd be wrong. Spatzle translates to "little sparrow" which (aside from being highly disrespectful to Edith Piaf in my humble opinion) apparently explains why this is supposed to look like little gobbets of chewed up bubblegum, scraped off the bottom of your Docs. Looks aren't everything though, and this tastes delicious!

1) Sift the flour and salt into a bowl if using a hand mixer, or into your stand mixer if you have a Kitchen Aid (bastard.)

2) Whisk the eggs together, make a well in the flour and add the eggs and milk/water. Get your dough hook out and let it going for about 20 minutes, until you see holes in the dough as it pulls away from the sides.

3) If you're mixing this by hand... I have no advice for you except that you're probably mad and or have terrific arm muscles.

4) Squidge the dough through a colander or potato ricer and into a pot of boiling water. Once the noodles float to the top they're done! Strain them and transfer into a bowl of ice water to cool down, then dry off and either put them in the fridge to use later or toss them in a little butter before serving with meat or cooked in the sauce of your choice!

Pastel de nata

Ingredients Custard: 3 tbsps plain flour, 1 ¼ cups milk, 1 ⅓ cups caster sugar, ½ tsp vanilla essence, 6 egg yolks, 1 tsp cinnamon.

Dough: 220g plain flour, 7g yeast, 160ml milk, 2 1/2 tsp caster sugar, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbs vegetable oil, 150g butter.

Serves: 9 Preparation: 2 hours (plus overnight)

As part of the World Cup Food Challenge 2014, this recipe represents a traditional meal of Portugal. Pastel de nata are stunning little cinnamon custard tarts, with a gorgeous flaky croissanty crust that has to be tasted to be believed. It's a LOT of work to make these, but they're well worth it and they freeze well.

1) To make the dough for the pastry case, please see up to step 5 of my croissant recipe.

2) To make the custard, bring the sugar and cinnamon to the boil in a pan with 2/3 cup of cold water until a syrup forms- don't stir it!

3) Separate the milk with 1/4 in a bowl and 1 cup in a pan. Whisk the flour in with the bowl of milk until smooth and set aside. Meanwhile, scald the milk in the pan, then whisk in the flour-milk mixture.

4) Add the cinnamon sugar syrup into the hot milk and flour whilst whisking furiously (you might want to ask someone to help!) then take off the heat once it is a smooth, just pourable consistency. Stir in the vanilla and set aside.

5) When the mixture has cooled just enough for you to comfortably touch it without swearing (about the temperature of a cup of tea if that helps!) whisk in the egg yolks and set aside to cool.

6) Pre-heat the oven to 290 degrees celcius and grab your pastry from the fridge. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 1cm thickness and cut it into squares the approximate size of your chosen muffin tin dimples. Wet your fingers and press the dough into the muffin tin, moulding with your fingers until you've created a "lip" about 1/2cm above the muffin tin surface and pour in the custard.

7) Bake until the edges of the pastry are brown and the custard has a good wobble on. Serve warm, sprinkled with icing sugar and cinnamon.

Peanut butter & honey fudge

Ingredients 100g butter, 475g muscovado sugar 125ml milk, 200g peanut butter (I used Whole Earth 3 nut butter), 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, 400g icing sugar, 3 tbsp honey.

Serves: like, an army Preparation: 10 minutes plus chilling time

Fudge is just one of those things which is good in small doses... yet in order to make it one must make an awful lot of it. Even with the addition of peanut butter to cut the intense sweetness, this is still awfully rich. Therefore in the run up to Christmas - why not make some treats for the people that you love?

1) Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the muscovado sugar. Once it has melted completely, add the milk and bring to a rolling boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

2) Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter, vanilla essence and honey.

3) Fill a bowl with the icing sugar and pour in the fudge mixture. Beat until all of the icing sugar has melted, then pour into a baking dish and chill in the fridge until firm before cutting into squares.

Peanut butter bread

Ingredients 500g strong white bread flour, 7g yeast, 100ml apple juice, 200ml milk, 2 tbsp peanut butter (I like Whole Earth peanut butter), olive oil.

Preparation: 3 hours minimum

That phrase "the best thing since sliced bread" is such a misnomer. Anyone who makes their own bread will agree that the worst thing to happen to bread was the Chorleywood bread press. Processed bread has no soul and if you care about what you put in your body you will be horrified to read the ingredients on your shop-bought bread and discover that it's not just flour, yeast, salt and water but a whole host of preservatives, rising agents, bleached flours and even bread flavourings! It makes a person wonder if the reason we are the generation of food intolerances that you never heard about from our ancestors is because the food we eat bears such little resemblance to actual food.
But hippie rant over... this recipe makes utterly delicious bread. Fact!

1) Warm the milk gently in a pan, stirring the peanut butter into it until melted, then add the apple juice. If you want to use chunky peanut butter, this will leave you with a bit of texture in your bread - but sieve the chunks from the milk to add back in later.

2) By hand: Sift together the flour and yeast in a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Slowly add the milk mixture, stirring with a spoon until a sticky mass has formed. Tip out onto a work surface and rub your hands with olive oil. Work the dough - kneading and stretching out the glutens in the flour until you have a silky, smooth ball of dough that is no longer sticking to the work surface. By processor: add your dough hook attachment and add the ingredients. Personally I still think this dough benefits from being hand manipulated but if you prefer to use a machine that's up to you! If you are using chunky peanut butter, at this stage add the chunks back to the mixture by flattening out the dough a little, tipping them on and then working the dough back into a ball to spread them out evenly

3) Rub your hands and a clean bowl with a little olive oil, stroke the surface of the dough until lightly oiled and then add to the bowl. Cover with cling film or a plastic bag and leave somewhere warm for about 45 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

4) Turn the dough out onto a work surface and "knock it back" - this doesn't mean pummel it violently, it means deflate it gently with your fingertips and then form it back into a ball for a second rising in a proving basket.

5) After knocking back the dough, you can leave this for a third or fourth rising (this gives it a better texture and flavour, but honestly this means staying in the house almost all day!) or get baking. Slash the top of the bread twice to allow it to rise, then boil a kettle of water and pour it into a roasting dish. This needs to go on the bottom of your oven to keep it steamy and moist. Now pre-heat the oven to 9 or 10 (basically your highest setting!) with a tray or baking stone in the oven and quickly transfer your ball of dough onto the baking tray/stone and shut the door.

6) After 8-10 minutes, turn down the oven. If a dark crust is forming quickly then bake for 40 minutes at gas mark 3. If it has just begun to colour bake it for 30 minutes at gas mark 4. If the dough looks the same colour then your oven is rubbish (sorry! Buy an oven thermometer and this will really help) and you will need to bake it for 40 minutes at gas mark 6.

7) When your time is up, carefully take the bread from the oven and shut the door to keep the heat and steam in, in case it needs further baking. You'll know it's ready if there is a firm crust on the top and the softer bottom sounds hollow when you tap it. Transfer to a cooling rack and don't be tempted to carve straight into it because you'll squish it and the remaining moisture in the dough will create a soggy layer at the bottom which will never go away. Sad bread. SAD BREAD! Once the bread has cooled for 20-30 minutes and is no more than a little warm to the touch you can dig in!

This makes amazing toast, lovely bacon and fried apple sandwiches but personally I like it spread with a good chocolate hazelnut spread.

Lavender-almond croissants

Ingredients Croissants: 220g plain flour, 7g yeast, 160ml milk, 2 1/2 tsp caster sugar, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbs vegetable oil, 150g butter.

Glaze: lavender jam Filling: 2 eggs, 100g ground almonds, 100g caster sugar, 100g butter, 1/2 tsp lavender

Serves: 12 Preparation: we're talking well over 8 hours...

Croissants aux amandes were invented, I believe, to revitalise day-old/stale croissants so you could buy croissants and just glaze and fill them if you prefer. Lord knows making croissants is a labour of love, one which will leave a sheen of butter on your table and leave you with aching hands from the lamination (layers of butter and dough which produce that magical flakiness - if your croissants don't fill your bra with crumbs, you aint doing it right!). Whether you bake or buy your croissants, my lavender jam makes the perfect glaze and the lavender almond cream in the centre is OUT OF THIS WORLD. Just look at those lovely shiny crescents, the effort is so worth it!

Baking the croissants

1) Combine the yeast, 3 tsps of warm water and 1/2 tsp sugar in one jug and set aside until it begins to froth. Add the vegetable oil. In a separate jug, dissolve 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp salt in the milk.

2) Sift the flour into a bowl and add the two jugs of liquid. Mix thoroughly and then kneed for approximately 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover with cling film and leave in a warm room for approximately an hour until it has TRIPLED in volume.

3) Knock the dough back, gently with your fingertips, cover and set aside again to double in volume. Finally knock back the dough again and chill for 20 minutes in the fridge.

4) Now comes the fun part... roll out the dough into a rectangle (about 30 x 20 cm in size) and using room temperature butter, spread liberally over the left 2/3 of the centre of the dough, leaving a half centimetre unbuttered border. With the unbuttered 1/3 at the left, fold to the right, and then fold again. Roll back out then dust with flour, cover with cling film and chill for 2 hours in the fridge.

5) Roll dough back out and repeat the buttering and folding, dust with flour, cover with cling film and return to the fridge to chill for 2 hours.

6) Finally, roll out to a rectangle approximately 50 x 10 cm and slice in half lengthways. Return one half to the fridge to chill and roll the other out to approximately 40 x 10 cm, then cut into 3 squares and cut these squares diagonally to leave 6 triangles of dough. Repeat with the dough in the fridge.

7) Roll the dough into croissants by rolling each triangle gently from the long side towards the point at the top, thus creating the classic layer pattern, and then bring the two edges together to form almost a circle. Allow to sit for a few minutes until the dough begins to puff back up a little, then bake in the oven at the highest setting (mine is 240 for 15 minutes)

Preparing croissants aux amandes

1) Cream the equal parts of butter, sugar and almonds together, then beat in the eggs. Grind lavender in a mortar and pestle and stir in. (If you wish, you could substitute the sugar for lavender jam in order to get the flavour)

2) Poke a small hole into the croissant at the side of the central layer and use a piping bag to fill with the lavender almond cream.

3) Dip a pastry brush into your lavender jam and glaze the outside of the croissant. From here, you can also scatter with slivers of almonds but personally I find this a little bit overkill! Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 5-8 minutes, until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Blackberry lavender clafoutis/flaugnarde

Ingredients 200g blackberries, 200ml milk, 1 tbsp lavender, 1 lemon, 50g caster sugar, 30g plain flour, 2 eggs.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour

Not a day goes by when I don't crave lavender. There is nothing that brings me such pleasure as when my house is filled with the scent of it infusing, or when I discover yet more flavours that it will enhance. Blackberry and lavender is by no means a stranger to this blog, but I do believe this is my first clafoutis post!
Technically a flaugnarde unless cherries are used, this is essentially a fabulous wibbly custard set with fruit and as desserts go, contains very little fat and sugar. So go for it!

1) Infuse the milk with lavender for 30 minutes. In the meantime, lightly butter your baking dish with a smear of butter on a clean cloth or piece of kitchen roll and tumble the blackberries over it.

2) Sift the flour and sugar together, zest and juice the lemon and beat together with the eggs. 

3) Add the lavender milk through a sieve to separate out the flowers and whisk thoroughly.

4) Pour over the fruit and bake at 180 degrees for 40 minutes and serve hot or cold.

Strawberry & mint Scotch pancakes

Ingredients 100g Self Raising Flour, 50g Caster Sugar, 1 egg, 1 tbsp chopped mint, 5 strawberries, 1/2 cup milk.

Makes: 6 pancakes Preparation: 1 hour

I adore making pancakes. There's something so soothing about the ritualistic rolling of batter in a pan and whether you see these as Scotch pancakes or American style stacks, they are always a favourite breakfast treat in this house. I love to stand at my cooker, ladling slow bubbling circles of fluffy batter laced with different flavours. Speaking of flavour - what could be a more perfect summer breakfast combination than strawberry and mint?

1) Hull the strawberries and slice into quarters, then quarters again. Add to a bowl along with the chopped mint and add the sugar. Stir through and leave to macerate for 20 minutes until a beautiful strawberry syrup begins to seep out.

2) Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and egg into a bowl and whisk into a batter. Leave to puff up as the milk cools, then whisk in the milk and minted strawberry syrup and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes.

3) Stir through and ladle a spoon full of batter into a hot pan. Using a spatula, work round the edges, then when bubbles begin to appear in the surface of the pancake batter, flip over.

4) Each side should cook in about 2 minutes, giving you light, fluffy pancakes with juicy strawberry pieces. I served with a little of the leftover strawberries but these work perfectly with my Pimms (strawberry, orange cucumber & mint) jam.

No bake cake: Raspberry & white chocolate mousse

Ingredients 150ml double cream, 30g white chocolate, 75g raspberries, 1 pancake.

Serves: 1 Preparation: 10 minutes

I was recently sent some of the lovely Abra-ca-Debora pancakes for a foodspiration challenge and had a lot of fun with the concept of "no bake cakes." My interpretation was to quarter the pancakes and layer with white chocolate mousse and raspberries, topped with whipped cream to form a single slice of cake. Abra-ca-FABULOUS.

1) Melt the white chocolate in a Bain Marie, then set aside to cool a little.

2) Whisk the double cream for approximately 2 minutes until soft peaks form. Separate a little out into a piping bag, then fold the chocolate in with the trest and continue to whisk until the peaks are stiff.

3) Using a spatula, spread the white chocolate mouse onto the pancake layers and stud with raspberries. Serve with a dollop of the whipped cream.

No bake cake: Strawberry ice-cream

Ingredients Ice-cream: 500g strawberries, 175g caster sugar, 500 ml full fat milk, 500 ml double cream, 10 egg yolks. (makes 1 pint) 1 pancake.

Serves: 1 Preparation: 1 hour (+ 4 hours freezing)

I was recently sent some of the lovely Abra-ca-Debora pancakes for a foodspiration challenge and had a lot of fun with the concept of "no bake cakes." My interpretation was to quarter the pancakes and layer with strawberry ice-cream and strawberries, topped with whipped cream to form a single slice of cake. Abra-ca-FABULOUS.

1) To make the ice-cream, halve the strawberries, sprinkle with a little sugar and leave to macerate in a bowl. Pour the milk and cream into a saucepan and bring almost to the boil. Set aside to cool. and then take it off the heat and leave to infuse for 20 minutes.

2) Whisk the egg yolks and In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar until thick, then pour in the milk and cream whilst whisking. Return to the heat and stir the custard until it thickens. Set aside to cool.

3) Blitz the strawberries until pureed, then fold into the cool custard and freeze in your ice-cream maker (or in the freezer, whisking every hour to avoid crystals forming.

4) Slice the remaining strawberries and sandwich the pancakes between alternate layers of ice-cream. I cut out a block of ice-cream and sliced it to fit. Top with whipped cream and serve immediately.

No bake cake: Banoffee

Ingredients 200ml double cream, 30g butter, 60g muscovado sugar, 1 banana, 1 pancake.

Serves: 1 Preparation: 1 hour 15 minutes

I was recently sent some of the lovely Abra-ca-Debora pancakes for a foodspiration challenge and had a lot of fun with the concept of "no bake cakes." My interpretation was to quarter the pancakes and layer with toffee and banana, topped with whipped cream to form a single slice of banoffee cake. Abra-ca-FABULOUS.

1) Melt the sugar in a pan, then add the butter and 100ml of the cream. Stir continually until a caramel sauce has formed. Set aside to cool, then chill in the fridge for an hour to form the thicker toffee.

2) Peel and slice the banana into 1/2cm discs, then spread the toffee sauce onto the pancake and top with slices of banana. Layer with more pancake, toffee and banana.

3) Whip the remaining 100ml cream and pipe onto the top.

No bake cake: Lemon curd mousse

Ingredients Mousse: 1 lemon, 150ml double cream, 1 tbsp icing sugar. Curd: 4 Lemons, 4 eggs, 350g caster sugar, double cream, 8oz butter. 1 pancake.

Serves: 1 Preparation: 1 hour

I was recently sent some of the lovely Abra-ca-Debora pancakes for a foodspiration challenge and had a lot of fun with the concept of "no bake cakes." My interpretation was to quarter the pancakes and layer with lemon curd and lemon mousse to form a single slice of cake. Abra-ca-FABULOUS.

1) To make lemon curd, see my previous recipe.

2) Zest and juice the lemon and whisk with the double cream and icing sugar until stiff peaks form. This takes about 2 minutes in a food processor with a whisk attachment or using an electric whisk.

3) Sandwich the layers of pancake with lemon curd and lemon mousse, "grouting" the edges to keep the shape when pressing down.

This can be served immediately or chilled for later.

Earl Grey & chocolate chip pancakes

Ingredients 1 1/2 cup plain flour, 3 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp caster sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1 egg, 2 Earl grey teabags, 1 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 bar dark chocolate

Makes: 6 Preparation: 1 hour

Whether you see these as Scotch pancakes or American style stacks, they are always a favourite breakfast treat in this house. I love to stand at my cooker, ladling slow bubbling circles of fluffy batter laced with different flavours. This recipe was inspired by Choc Affair's bergamot chocolate, which is available for my Leeds readers from the fabulous Millie's. I envisioned the bergamot being further enhanced by Earl Grey, which gives these pancakes a wonderful depth.

1) Add the teabags to a milk pan along with the milk and bring it to the boil. Allow it to cool back to room temperature before removing the teabags.

2) Chop the chocolate into chips, sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar along with the chocolate and egg into a bowl and whisk into a batter. Leave to puff up as the milk cools, then whisk in the milk and leave to rest for at least 20 minutes.

3) Stir through and ladle a spoon full of batter into a hot pan. Using a spatula, work round the edges, then when bubbles begin to appear in the surface of the pancake batter, flip over.

4) Each side should cook in about 2 minutes, giving you light, fluffy pancakes. These can be eaten immediately or toasted later.

Sausage & smoked cheese lasagne

Ingredients Layer 1) 10 cherry tomatoes, 1 tsp butter. Layer 2) 4 Quorn sausages, 50g smoked cheese, 50ml buttermilk. Layer 3) 1 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp flour, 50ml milk, 1 egg.

Lasagne sheets/8 oz pasta flour, 4 eggs, 1 tsp olive oil, 10g cheddar.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 1 hour (plus 2-5 for chilling the pasta dough)

Smoked cheese is something that I rarely cook with. The heady flavour can easily overpower the other ingredients, but if you get it right it's a fabulous addition to meat dishes or in my case, being a vegetarian - Quorn!
This twist on lasagne (for my classic lasagne recipe, click here) uses the sharp freshness of cherry tomatoes to cut through the smoked cheese.

1) To make the lasagne sheets: Pour the flour, olive oil, a good pinch of salt, 3 eggs and 1 egg yolk into a bowl and kneed with your hands until you have a firm dough. Wrap this in cling film and chill in the fridge for 2-5 hours. 

2) Slice the Quorn sausages in half lengthways and roast in the top of the oven for 10 minutes at 200 degrees. Set aside.

3) Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and then into quarters and shuck the seeds with your thumb. Discard the seeds and add the tomato flesh to a pan along with a teaspoon of butter and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Spoon into your lasagne dish.

4) Dust a worktop with pasta flour and roll out the dough into a sheet 1/3 of a centimetre thick. Cut out rectangles of pasta and roll these through a pasta machine (or continue using a rolling pin if you don't have one). Add your first layer to the top of the tomatoes and press down to ensure that each part of the pasta is in contact with the tomatoes. Add the Quorn sausages, cut side down on top of the pasta.

5) Grate the smoked cheese and add to a pan with the buttermilk. Stir through until a smooth sauce has formed and pour over the Quorn sausages. Top with a layer of pasta, pressing down to ensure that each part is on contact with the sauce.

6) Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a pan and stir a tablespoon of plain flour into it to form a roux. Take off the heat and whisk the egg into the roux along with the milk. Whisk through for about 5 minutes and pour over the lasagne. Top with grated cheddar and bake the lasagne in the oven for 10 -15 minutes until the cheese is golden and bubbly.

Peanut butter & banana porridge

Ingredients Porridge oats, milk (I like almond milk), peanut butter (I like Whole Earth Foods), honey (or agave syrup), banana

Preparation: 10 minutes

This hardly seems worth writing as a recipe as there really isn't much cooking involved, but as a combination that everyone should try... my god yes!
The salty, heady flavour of peanut butter, the gooey banana which melts into the porridge and that extra sweet contrast of the honey makes this the ultimate breakfast for me. Especially on a snowy day like today.

1) Add the milk and oats to a pan and stir on a low heat for 5 minutes, allowing the oats to swell with milk and form porridge.

2) Slice 1 banana per person and add to the porridge along with a tablespoon of peanut butter per person. Stir through and serve drizzled with honey.

Blueberry cheesecake scones

Ingredients 225g self raising flour, 50g butter, 50g sugar, 50g cream cheese, 1/2 cup blueberries, 1/4 tsp vanilla essence, milk

Serves: 10 Preparation: 30 minutes

The sweet burst of blueberries, the rich tang of cream cheese and vanilla - unlike the dense texture of cheesecake, this scone is so light and fluffy that the flavour almost doesn't make sense. They're seriously moreish.

1) Sift the flour and sugar together, then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Pour in the blueberries.

3) Whisk a little milk and vanilla essence with the cream cheese to make it more liquid and mix with the dry ingredients until a dough has formed. It's best to work scones with cool hands so if yours are warm, run them under the cold tap first (and dry them) before working it.

4) Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and then fold it in half and roll again. Cut out rounds of pastry with a scalloped cutter and brush with a little milk to help the surface colour.

5) Bake at 200 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Lavender marshmallow scones

Ingredients 225g self raising flour, 50g butter, 50g sugar, 150ml milk, 1 tbsp lavender. To make the marshmallow: 5 sheets gelatine, 225g caster sugar, 100ml water, lavender, 2 large egg whites, icing sugar and cornflour for dusting

Serves: 10 Preparation: 30 minutes (plus 1 hour 30 minutes for marshmallows)

The last time I made marshmallow, I swore to myself that I would actually bake with it instead of eating it all out of the tray in an orgy of sugary fluffy glory. Well it's important to test that every part of it is perfectly made you see... *looks guilty*
Because I love to make scones and lavender scones in particular, it struck me that combining my lavender marshmallows with my lavender scone recipe would be seriously cool. It was indeed - but you can always just buy the marshmallows if you don't have the patience to make them. I tested my first batch of dough with mini marshmallows that I use for hot chocolate to check they wouldn't just caramelise in the oven - thankfully they left beautiful gooey pockets in the dough. Success!

1) First infuse the milk with the lavender by setting it to steep for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then strain away the lavender.

2) Sift the flour and sugar together, then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

3) Mix the milk and marshmallows in with the dry ingredients until a dough has formed. It's best to work scones with cool hands so if yours are warm, run them under the cold tap first (and dry them) before working it.

4) Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and then fold it in half and roll again. Cut out rounds of pastry with a scalloped cutter and brush with a little milk to help the surface colour.

5) Bake at 200 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Kale Pesto Caprese Pancake Cannelloni

Ingredients 120g plain flour, 2 eggs, 210ml milk, 90ml water, 1 tbsp vegetable oil, butter, 100g pine nuts, 1 lemon, 30g parmigiano, mozzarella, tomato, Rachel's Organic Greek Yoghurt, Cheddar

Serves: 4 Preparation: 45 minutes

I adore making pancakes. There's something so soothing about the ritualistic rolling of batter in a pan. When I created my recipe for kale pesto, I instantly envisioned it in contrast to oozing cheese and pasta. But then after using it as a pancake filling, I couldn't resist making cannelloni using my leftover pancake batter and borrowing the incredible yoghurt sauce that I created for enchiladas to smother my stuffed pancakes with. It's a delicious, yet light dish... coming soon kale pesto pasta. Om nom nom. 

1) Mix the flour with a pinch of salt in a large bowl, make a well in the centre and crack in the eggs.

2) Measure 90ml water in a pyrex jug, then top it up to 300ml with milk.
Beat the eggs into the flour with a wooden spoon and gradually beat in the milk and water mixture until smooth.

3) Stir in the vegetable oil and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes but preferably an hour.

4) To make the pesto - Add the basil leaves to a mortar bowl along with a pinch of salt and the pine nuts. Grind thoroughly, adding a squeeze of lemon juice and grated parmigiano to taste. Tear the leaves of the kale from the woody stalks and add to a blender along with the pesto. Blend thoroughly, drizzling oil at the same time until the desired consistency has been reached.

5) Heat a non-stick frying pan until very hot, then add a small knob of butter. Pour in one ladle of batter, quickly turning the pan off the heat to coat the base evenly with the batter. Return to the hob and cook for about one minute, until the base is lightly browned. I like to use a spatula or palette knife to just loosen the edges of the pancake - once the air gets under it you will find it does not stick to the pan but slide about which helps it to flip!

6) Flip over the pancake (if you have a clumsy wrist, slide the pancake onto a plate, then tip the pan over the plate and turn it upside down. No one will ever know!

7) Once the pancake has cooked on both sides, repeat until you have 6 pancakes. Spread the kale pesto onto the pancakes and add a line of mozzarella in the centre. Roll up the pancakes and set them in an ovenproof dish.

8) To make the sauce, grate the cheddar into the yoghurt and spread over the pancakes. Top with an extra layer of cheese and bake for 15 minutes.

Pancakes - kale pesto caprese

La	Ingredients 120g plain flour, 2 eggs, 210ml milk, 90ml water, 1 tbsp vegetable oil, butter, 30g basil, 200g kale, 100g pine nuts, 1 lemon, 30g parmigiano, mozzarella, tomato, olive oil

Serves: 6 Preparation: 20 minutes

I adore making pancakes. There's something so soothing about the ritualistic rolling of batter in a pan and who says that pancakes have to be sweet? When I  created my recipe for kale pesto, I knew that I wanted to make a warm version of a caprese salad (basil, tomato and mozzarella) and with pancake day coming up... what better way to serve it?! 

1) Mix the flour with a pinch of salt in a large bowl, make a well in the centre and crack in the eggs.

2) Measure 90ml water in a pyrex jug, then top it up to 300ml with milk.
Beat the eggs into the flour with a wooden spoon and gradually beat in the milk and water mixture until smooth.

3) Stir in the vegetable oil and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes but preferably an hour.

4) To make the pesto - Add the basil leaves to a mortar bowl along with a pinch of salt and the pine nuts. Grind thoroughly, adding a squeeze of lemon juice and grated parmigiano to taste. Tear the leaves of the kale from the woody stalks and add to a blender along with the pesto. Blend thoroughly, drizzling oil at the same time until the desired consistency has been reached.

5) Heat a non-stick frying pan until very hot, then add a small knob of butter. Pour in one ladle of batter, quickly turning the pan off the heat to coat the base evenly with the batter. Return to the hob and cook for about one minute, until the base is lightly browned. I like to use a spatula or palette knife to just loosen the edges of the pancake - once the air gets under it you will find it does not stick to the pan but slide about which helps it to flip!

6) Flip over the pancake (if you have a clumsy wrist, slide the pancake onto a plate, then tip the pan over the plate and turn it upside down. No one will ever know!

7) Once the pancake has cooked on both sides, serve filled with slices of mozzarella, tomato and the pesto.

Cinnamon scotch pancakes

Ingredients 100g Self Raising Flour, 50g Caster Sugar, 1 tbsp cinnamon, 1 egg, splash of milk

Serves: 6 Preparation: 30 minutes

I have recently become obsessed with the combination of cinnamon and black cherries, and this recipe has been the ultimate Saturday morning breakfast for me. Thick, fluffy pancakes, loaded with the warmth of cinnamon and layered with the sticky sweetness of my black jerry jam - what could be better?

1) Crack an egg into a bowl and whisk thoroughly.

2) Sift the flour, sugar and cinnamon into the bowl, adding a splash of milk until the batter is thick, but smooth. Leave to rest for at least 10 minutes, preferably an hour.

3) Stir through and ladle a spoon full of batter into a hot pan. Using a spatula, work round the edges, then when bubbles begin to appear in the surface of the pancake batter, flip over.

4) Each side should cook in about 2 minutes, giving you light, fluffy pancakes. These can be eaten immediately or toasted later.

I served these layered with my black cherry jam.

Macaroni Peas

Ingredients 1 1/2 cups macaroni, 2 cups garden peas, 150ml milk, cheddar cheese

Serves: 4 preparation: 30 minutes

I can't believe that after almost 500 recipes, I have never shared this with you. Macaroni Cheese is one of those comforting childhood dishes that almost everyone loves (unless of course you've only ever had it out of a packet. Poor thing). Rather than the traditional roux-based sauce (flour + flour? Nonsense poopypants!) I prefer to make mine out of just milk and cheese so that there's less butter involved, though you could use cream if you're feeling super indulgent. The addition of wonderful, sweet, fresh garden peas to this pasta makes it feel far less naughty.

1) Cook the macaroni for 10 - 12 minutes in hot salted water, adding the peas during the last minute (frozen) or the last 4 minutes (freshly podded).

2) As the pasta is cooking, add the milk in a milk pan along with at least 150g grated cheddar (if you prefer your sauce thicker or stronger flavoured, add more) and stir through as the milk warms. Do not allow the milk to boil, but keep it at an even temperature.

3) Strain the pasta and peas, then stir into the cheese sauce. Decant into a casserole dish and top with another layer of grated cheese (I like to add a little parmigiana to).

4) Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 5 minutes, until the cheese is golden bubbly.