Cornbread

Ingredients 1 1/2 cups Rachel's Organic Greek yoghurt, 1/2 cup butter,1 cup polenta, 3/4 cup self-raising flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp bicarb of soda, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 eggs

2 bell peppers, 100g sweetcorn, 1 small red chilli or 1/2 tsp chilli flakes (optional)

Serves: 5 Preparation: 30 minutes

Cornbread is a fabulous example of mixing the best of both worlds in one dish. Savoury with sweet nuggets of corn and pepper, a little spicy if you like that sort of thing with a fluffy yet grainy texture on the inside and a fabulous toasty crust on the outside. I like this with my Mexican mole soup, or part of a fried breakfast but it can be eaten cool just as a snack on its own. 

1) Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6 and grease a baking tray.

2) Melt the butter in a pan and whisk in the eggs and Greek Yoghurt.

3) Add the polenta, flour, baking powder, bicarb of soda to a bowl and mix thoroughly. Pour the wet ingredients from the pan into the dry ingredients and mix together until a smooth batter is formed.

4) Dice the bell pepper and add, along with the sweetcorn (frozen is fine) to the batter and transfer to the baking tray.

5) Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top begins to turn golden and a skewer in the centre comes out clean. Cornbread can be eaten when cool, but is best toasted on a griddle.

Mediterranean tart

Ingredients Pastry: 4oz plain flour, 2oz butter Filling: 4 eggs, 75g marscapone, 75g sun dried tomatoes, 75g artichokes, 3 bell peppers, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp dried basil.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour (plus pastry chilling)

I adore tarts. Crammed with vegetables and set in a creamy egg filling with melt in the mouth pastry, they are a meal in themselves or great with salad. This tastes of pure sunshine and is super quick to prepare.

1) To make the shortcrust pastry, cut the butter into small cubes and drop along with the flour into a food processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Drip in 2-3 tablespoons of cold water until the mixture quickly forms a ball. Wrap this in clingfilm and put in the fridge for 15 minutes. Once chilled, roll out and press firmly into a buttered pastry case. Bake blind for 10 minutes and set aside to cool.

2) Whisk the eggs and marscapone together, then stir in the oregano and basil.

3) This tart can be made quickly by using sun dried tomatoes and artichokes from a jar, drained well to remove the oil, but I would recommend roasting the peppers yourself as the longer they are marinated, the less sunshine sweetness they tend to have. Slicing around the core to remove the seeds, I roast these for 15-20 minutes and then peel off the blackened skin. 

4) Layer the vegetables in the tart case and pour over the egg and marscapone mix, then bake in a pre-heated oven at gas mark 5 for 30-40 minutes. The tart should be solid, rather than wobbly in the centre with a golden surface just beginning to form.

5) Serve hot or cold.

Harissa rice with grapes

Ingredients Grapes, rice, bell pepper, Smoked chillis, garlic salt, paprika, mint, rose petals, cumin, caraway seeds, olive oil.

Preparation: 20 minutes

Harissa is one of those ingredients that I just can't live without. Stir it into yoghurt for an instant dip of GLORY, spread it on sandwiches, thin with a little oil for a fabulous marinade... it is just altogether yummy. The sweet refreshing pockets of juicy grape in this otherwise spicy dish are absolute perfection.

To Make Harissa:

1) Remove the core and seeds from the bell pepper, then grill until the skin is almost completely blackened. Allow it to cool, then peel off the charred skin carefully.

2) Blitz the dried, smoked chilli in a blender, then add to a mortar and pestle and grind into a relatively fine dry paste. The ratio of spices is relatively simple for my recipe, though of course you can adjust for taste. Add 1 tsp garlic salt, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp caraway seeds and grind into the chilli. Add a teaspoon of oil.

3) Add the bell pepper, 2 or 3 mint leaves and the rose petals (about half the petals from a single red rose) into a blender and pulse, then combine the rose, mint and pepper mixture into the spice and oil paste.

4) Stir into boiled rice, adding halved grapes and serve. Beautiful hot and cold!

Orzotto: roast vegetable & goji berry

Ingredients 1 cup pearl barley, 1 pint vegetable stock, 3 sun dried tomatoes, 1 bell pepper, 1 courgette, 1/4 cup goji berries, rosemary, thyme, butter, white onion.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 1 hour

All risottos (no matter what the ingredients) can be made in 3 simple stages. The first is called tostatura - coating the rice in fat, the second involves cooking off some alcohol and the third involves releasing the starch from the rice one ladle of stock at a time. Using spelt or pearl barley as an alternative to rice makes a wonderful change to the Italian classic but pearl barley, unlike spelt and rice can be left to cook with the whole pint of stock making it less high-maintenance to cook. This flavour-packed combination of roast courgettes, peppers, sun-dried tomatoes and juicy goji berries is perfect to fight Winter lurgy.

1) Dice the bell pepper and courgette and roast in a little olive oil for 15 minutes in a covered dish. Dice the sun-dried tomatoes and add them along with the goji berries to the roasting dish to allow them to rehydrate in the roasting juices.

2) Finely dice the white onion and sautee until soft in a little butter. Season to taste with rosemary and thyme and add the pearl barley. Stir through until coated in fat, then add the roast vegetables and vegetable stock.

3) Leave to simmer with the lid on for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally until the stock has almost all been absorbed, leaving a wonderful silky, fragrant sauce.

Halloumi & roast vegetable cous-cous

Ingredients 1 bell pepper, 1 courgette, 1/2 lemon, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 50ml passata, 100g halloumi, 1/2 cup giant cous-cous (I bought mine from Millie's Organic in Leeds).

Serves: 2 Preparation: 20 minutes

Cous-cous is made using semolina which has been sprinkled with water, hand rolled and then passed through a sieve, dusted with more semolina and rolled and passed through again to form the granules that you can buy in the shops. Cous-cous in Israel has a much larger granule and personally I prefer it, the texture is more like the bubbles in a tapioca pudding and it's absolutely delicious, absorbing flavour more intensely than the smaller grains do.
This recipe is a fabulous mixture of soft textures and strong flavours.

1) Pour the cous-cous into a pan of boiling salted water and stir through for 6-8 minutes before straining in a sieve and setting aside to cool.

2) Slice the tops from the bell peppers and remove the seeds. Remove the portions of flesh from between the membranes and slice into strips. Cut the courgette and halloumi into chunks and roast with the pepper on the top shelf of the oven for 15 minutes at 200 degrees.

3) Stir the vegetables and cheese into the cous-cous along with the paprika and passata and a squeeze of lemon juice, then serve.

Bean and feta chachouka

Ingredients 1 white onion, 1 can cannellini beans, 2 red bell peppers, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 100g feta, 2 eggs, passata.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 25 minutes

Chachouka is a North-African casserole - I remember strings of melting soft onion, spices and the sharpness of the saffron and tomato under creamy egg yolk the first time I tried it in Paris, years ago. This version contains cannellini beans and feta and is flavoured with smoked paprika flavour.

1) Slice the tops from the bell peppers and remove the seeds. Remove the portions of flesh from between the membranes and slice into strips. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes at 200 degrees, drizzled with a little oil.

2) Peel and slice the onion, then break into rings. Sautee in a little butter along with the spices on a medium heat for 15 minutes, then stir in the beans and enough passata to just coat the beans in sauce. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes

3) Stir in the feta and pepper, then transfer to an ovenproof dish. Press wells into the surface with a tablespoon and crack the eggs into them. Bake in the oven until the egg white has just turned opaque, then serve.

Roast pepper, tomato & mozzarella linguine

Ingredients Linguine, mozzarella pearls, basil, parsley, olive oil, plum tomatoes, red bell peppers, 1 garlic clove.

Preparation: 25 minutes, plus marinating time

I can understand the concept of convenience food - opening up a jar of something and tossing it with some pasta, but shop-bought sauces make my soul and tastebuds wither away to nothing. I quite often make pesto or pasta sauces ahead of time to keep in the fridge, ready for a quick meal - and this luscious concoction of marinated peppers and tomatoes makes a wonderful quick supper.

1) Slice the top from the bell peppers, remove the core and seeds and slice between the membranes. Cut each pepper quarter in half.

2) Slice the tomatoes into quarters and remove the seeds. Roast the tomatoes and peppers in the top of the oven for 20 minutes until the skin begins to blacken. 

3) Add to a bowl with the olive oil, mozarella pearls, crushed garlic, parsley and herbs and leave to marinate for at least 1 hour but ideally overnight.

4) Toss with cooked liguine and serve

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.

Greek stuffed peppers

Ingredients 2 bell peppers, 1 can cannellini beans, 75g feta, 2 salad onions, 1 tbsp chopped mint, 125ml passata tomatoes.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes

As you can probably tell, I'm still obsessed with Greek food. It is entirely possible that I shall be naming my son Stavros at this rate, because I seem to have craved nothing but Greek food since the day I became pregnant! A stuffed pepper is a thing of beauty - the healthy alternative to a pie in my opinion. You can fill them with just about anything successfully, and without pastry most fillings are healthy, delicious and super low maintenance to prepare. A pepper is a marvellous thing. I like to pre-roast them before stuffing them and roasting them again until the skin is almost completely blackened and has infused the centre with luscious tangy juices. There is a special place in my heart for this wonderful tangy mint and bean combination. So simple, so satisfying, so low-carb! 

1) Slice the top from the pepper (do not discard the lid) and scoop out the core and seeds. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes at a high heat.

2) Drain and rinse the cannellini beans and add to a milk pan along with the passata, mint and finely sliced salad onions. Heat for 5 minutes, stirring regularly until the beans are cooked. Season to taste.

3) Dice the feta and set aside.

4) Layer the beans and feta in the pepper, packing it down tightly until it is full to bursting. Replace the lid and return to the oven to roast for a further 10 minutes at 200 degrees, then serve!

Cupcake Burgers: Roast pepper & goats cheese

Ingredients Burger: 400g beef mince, 1/2 white onion, 2 portobello mushrooms, butter Frosting: 150g goats cheese, 1 bell pepper

Serves: 6 Preparation: 30 minutes

This is possibly one of the weirdest of my creations, but I'm actually really proud of the way it has worked out! Cupcakes persist in being ridiculously hot in popular culture and ever more elaborate flavour combinations and decorations come flooding in. But what about people who don't like cake, or can't have sugar? Why should they suffer? Enter... the Cupcake Burger.
I have done a series of different "frostings" - this roast pepper and goats cheese being the richest. Just be warned, the heat of the burger will begin to melt the "frosting" if you don't let it stand just a little before serving. If you'd rather try a different burger, including one of my vegetarian or vegan options... check out these ideas.

1) Finely dice the onion and mushroom and fry off in a very little butter until the juice from the mushrooms has evaporated. 

2) Add the mixture to a blender along with the beef mince. Pulse to combine and then separate into rough patties.

3) Press firmly into the cupcake tins, remembering the burgers will shrink a little when cooked, so be generous and pack it in tight.

4) Slice the top from a bell pepper and remove the core and seeds. Slice into slivers and roast on a foil tray at the top shelf of the oven, with the burgers on the middle shelf at 200 degrees for 15 minutes.

5) Take out the peppers and leave to cool for 2 minutes, turning off the oven to keep the burgers warm, but not allowing them to overcook.

6) Add the peppers and goats cheese to the blender and pulse until a mousse is formed. Spoon into a piping bag and top the burgers with a swirl of "frosting" just like a cupcake!

Aubergine timbale

Ingredients 1 aubergine, 2 red bell peppers, 4 cherry tomatoes, 1 camembert, butter, 3 eggs

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour

I recently bought some new pudding moulds and have been going timbale crazy lately. These aubergine timbales are absolutely lovely - meltingly soft aubergine, juicy roast tomatoes and peppers and succulent, gooey Camembert.

1) Slice the aubergines to half centimetre thick discs and sprinkle with salt. Leave to rest until you see dark juices beading the surface, then wipe away with kitchen towel.

2) Slice the top from a bell pepper and remove the core and seeds. Slice into slivers.

3) Slice the tomatoes in half and then into quarters. Slice the core and seeds from the tomato and then roast in the oven along with the peppers for 20 minutes at 200 degrees.

4) Melt a little butter in a frying pan and add the aubergine slices (I cook 4 at a time), turning immediately to allow them to soak up the butter evenly. Sizzle until the butter browns and is completely soaked up by the aubergine before turning again - then continue turning until the surface of the aubergine colours and the skin changes to a vibrant, shiny purple. Set aside to cool.

5) Rub the inside of the pudding moulds with a thin layer of butter, and then line the pudding moulds with the aubergine slices, starting with the base, then working up to sides. If you press firmly, the aubergine will stick together well.

6) Fill the cases with tomato, aubergine and globs of Camembert.

7) Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk thoroughly, then pour over the other ingredients until each pudding case is full.

8) Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes at 180 degrees, then turn out the timbales from the cases carefully and serve.

Roast pepper & goats cheese timbale

Ingredients 4 red bell peppers, 3 eggs, 150g goats cheese, basil

Serves: 4 Preparation: 45 minutes

Roast pepper and goats cheese is a combination that I will never get tired of, and these adorable little timbales make such a lovely supper.

1) Slice the tops from the bell pepper and remove the core and seeds. Slice between the membranes and then cut half the peppers into slivers, and leave the remaining two peppers as they are.

2) Roast the peppers for 15 minutes at 220 degrees until the skins just begin to blacken, then remove from the oven and allow to cool.

3) Lightly butter the 4 moulds and line the sides and bottom with the larger pieces of pepper.

4) Whisk the goats cheese roughly with the eggs and add a little chopped basil. Stir in the remaining slivers of pepper and then pour the egg, cheese and pepper mix into the moulds.

5) Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 200 degrees and serve.

Spanish-style potatoes

Ingredients 5 small potatoes (I used Exquisa), 1 tbsp paprika, butter, 1 bell pepper, 2 tomatoes

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour


Potatas bravas, with that base of paprika and tomato, is the ultimate taste of Spain for me. Since becoming pregnant I have had to reduce my obsession with spicy food in order to avoid the dreaded heartburn, but I was surprised that taking away the heat of the chilli really didn't detract from the warmth and comfort of this wonderful dish. I served my leftovers the next night stirred through with kale and a dollop of Rachel's organic Greek yoghurt, and it was absolutely marvellous.

1) Slice the potatoes to 1/2 centimetre thickness, skins and all, then sautee in a little butter for 5 minutes.

2) Slice the top and core from the bell pepper, then cut into slivers. Slice the tomato into quarters, remove the seeds and core, leaving just the flesh and cut into slivers.

3) Stir the paprika, peppers and tomatoes in with the potatoes, season with a little salt, then transfer to a casserole dish with a lid. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 180 degrees, then serve.

Roast peppers with lavender goats cheese

Ingredients 1 Bell pepper, lavender goats cheese, lavender vinaigrette, spinach, rocket, watercress

Serves: 2 preparation: 30 minutes

This recipe uses two of my recent lavender recipes - lavender goats cheese and lavender vinaigrette. It might sound like a whole lot of lavender... but you can never have too much. This is absolutely delicious, and such a lovely twist of the classic roast pepper and goats cheese combination.

1) Slice the tops from your bell peppers, remove the core and seeds, then slice between the membranes to leave 3 or 4 slices of pepper flesh. Discard the core, seeds and membranes. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes at 180 degrees.

2) Top a slice of bread with the roast pepper, and add the lavender goats cheese balls. Roast in the oven for a further 5 minutes, then dress with the salad and eat hot.

Pork & roast pepper risotto

Ingredients 400g sausage meat, bell peppers, ham stock, cayenne pepper, butter, 1 cup risotto rice, paprika, lime, oregano, 1 glass white wine, 1 white onion.

Serves: 2 Preparation: X

All risottos (no matter what the ingredients) can be made in 3 simple stages. The first is called tostatura - coating the rice in fat, the second involves cooking off some alcohol and the third involves releasing the starch from the rice one ladle of stock at a time. For this dish, I took my inspiration from Cajun flavours to create the perfect comfort food.

1) To make the meatballs, put a tsp paprika, a tsp oregano, a squeeze of lime and a pinch of salt and cayenne pepper in a blender along with the pork mince, and pulse until combined. Form small meatballs by rolling in your hands and seal them in a hot pan with a little butter. Set aside.

2) Remove the core and seeds from your bell peppers and slice between the membranes. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes at 200 degrees and set aside.

3) Dice the white onion and sautee in a little butter until soft. Add the risotto rice and stir until the rice becomes transparent, revealing a white dot in the centre and pour in the white wine.

4) Once the wine cooks off, add the first ladle of stock and stir through.

5) Continue adding the stock to the risotto, one ladle at a time, adding the meatballs and roast pepper with the second to last ladle of stock.

6) Serve, seasoned with paprika.

Tinkerbell poppers

Ingredients Tinkerbell peppers, cream cheese, jalepenos, cheddar.

Preparation: 30 minutes

When I was a teenager, my father worked for a gourmet food company which provided ultra posh frozen foods - people used to buy catering packs of beef wellington when having a dinner party. Their jalepeno poppers were my first experience of this Americanised version of the Mexican classic chile relleno. Any time I have had them since, my lingering impression has been greasy breadcrumbs, cheap cream cheese and jalepenos that have lost all their heat. Very sad. When I saw these adorable little Tinkerbell peppers, I knew that they'd be the perfect ingredient for me to reinvent the popper. Cool, creamy oozing cheese with a fiery bite contrasts wonderfully with these sweet, juicy peppers. Cheeky Tinkerbell would be very proud to be associated with these saucy minxes.

1) Slice the tops from the peppers (but do not discard) and remove the seeds.

2) Dice jalepenos, grate cheddar and stir into cream cheese at a ratio of two parts cheese and jalepeno to two parts cream cheese.

3) Pack tightly into the peppers and replace the lids. The cream cheese works as a sort of mortar and will seal the lid if you smooth a little around the join. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes on a medium heat, then serve hot. Magnificent.

Roast pepper stuffed with spinach, feta & puy lentils

Ingredients La 1 bell pepper, 100g spinach, 10g puy lentils, 50g feta, nutmeg

Serves: 1 preparation: 30 minutes


When I became a vegetarian all those years ago, I needed to seek new protein sources which did not involve soya or mushrooms, both of which I'm horribly allergic to. Puy lentils are packed full of protein and soluble fibre, iron, potassium and zinc. They're low in fat and for the newly pregnant (me! By the way I did a pregnant!), they're high in folic acid too. A definite super food and like spinach, they needn't be boring just because they're virtuous. The stuffed pepper is the healthy alternative to a pie in my opinion. You can fill them with just about anything, and without pastry most fillings are healthy, delicious and super low maintenance to prepare. A pepper is a marvellous thing. I like to pre-roast them before stuffing them and roasting them again until the skin is almost completely blackened and has infused the centre with luscious tangy juices. In this case the tang of the feta, the melting soft spinach and the texture of the lentils makes this a real power-lunch for me, hot or cold!

1) Slice the top from the pepper (do not discard the lid) and scoop out the core and seeds. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes at a high heat.

2) Steam the spinach for 4 minutes, then carefully squeeze out as much as the liquid as possible.

3) If you use dried puy lentils - these will need to be cooked first for about 45 minutes (personally it's one of those ingredients I'm quite happy to buy canned. Merchant Gourmet's are FANTASTIC), to prepare canned - strain away the brine and combine with the spinach along with a little salt, black pepper and freshly grated nutmet.

4) Layer the feta, spinach and puy lentil mix into the pepper, packing it down tightly until it is full to bursting. Replace the lid and return to the oven to roast for a further 10 minutes, then serve!

Butter roast pepper & aubergine al forno

Ingredients 1 aubergine, 1 bell pepper, 75g passata tomatoes, butter, pasta, cheddar, 1 white onion, 1 glass red wine.

Serves: 4 preparation: 30 minutes

It's possible to make a fabulous pasta sauce with little more than tomatoes and butter - thick and glossy with little need of seasoning. I've taken those principles and applied them to make this unbelievably wonderful, indulgent pasta sauce. Words cannot describe the combination of pepper, tomato, butter and aubergine - made richer with wine and onion this is a feast for every sense.

1) Slice the aubergines to half centimetre thick discs and sprinkle with salt. Leave to rest until you see dark juices beading the surface, then wipe away with kitchen towel.

2) Slice the top from a bell pepper and remove the core and seeds. Roast in the oven until the skin has almost completely blackened and pulse thoroughly - skin and all - in the blender.

3) Peel and finely slice a white onion and sautee with a little butter until completely soft. Add the red wine and cook off, then transfer to the blender with the pureed roast pepper and blend to incorporate.

4) Put the pasta on to boil - the sauce can take 2 cups to serve 4 or 3 cups to serve 6 if you add an extra 15g passata.

5) Melt a little butter in a frying pan and add the aubergine slices (I cook 4 at a time), turning immediately to allow them to soak up the butter evenly. Sizzle until the butter browns and is completely soaked up by the aubergine before turning again - then continue turning until the surface of the aubergine colours and the skin changes to a vibrant, shiny purple. Repeat for all the aubergine slices, then cut them in half.

6) Transfer the roast pepper and onion mixture to a pan along with the passata and stir through on a low heat. When the pasta is cooked, strain and stir into the sauce along with the aubergine slices.

7) Spoon the pasta and sauce into an ovenproof dish and top with a layer of grated cheddar. Personally I think a sharp vintage cheddar is perfect here, if you preffer those milder, waxy cheddars this will leave you with a greasy layer on the pasta once it is cooked so I would use grated mozzarella and a sprinkling of parmeggian instead. Bake for 5-10 minutes on a medium heat until the cheese is golden bubbly and serve with salad.

Quinoa & aubergine salad

Ingredients 1 cup Quinoa, 1 aubergine, 1 bell pepper, 4 baby plum tomatoes, paprika, kamalata olives, salt, rapeseed oil

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes

I love aubergines, simply love them. They soak up flavour like majestic sponges and when cooked well, just melt in your mouth. This salad can be served hot or cold and is simply fabulous.

1) Remove the top and core from a bell pepper and shake out the seeds. Slice finely, drizzle with a little rapeseed oil and roast in the oven along with the baby plum tomatoes for 20 minutes.

2) Slice your aubergines and lay the slices in a colander. Sprinkle salt on the aubergines and set aside.

3) Soak the quinoa for 5 minutes and rinse well in a sieve. Depending on where you buy it, it naturally has an acrid coating called saponin which you don't want flavouring your food!

4) Cover the quinoa in salted water and bring to the boil for about 15 minutes, stir continually as it soaks up the water and fluffs up, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool

5) The salt will have drawn the bitter liquid from the aubergines, rinse the liquid, pat the aubergines dry and brush with rapeseed oil. Dry fry in a very hot pan for about 5 minutes per slice, turning frequently. When the aubergines are ready the skin will have turned violet and the flesh will have darkened in colour and become meltingly soft.

6) Stir the tomatoes and peppers into the quinoa, seasoning well with salt, black pepper and paprika. I also like to add some finely diced black kamalata olives but this is entirely to taste.

7) Layer the aubergine and quinoa mixture using a circle mould, pressing each layer firmly. Serve hot or cold.

Red rice burgers

Ingredients 1 cup Red rice, 1 bell pepper, white onion, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp coriander, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp chilli powder, butter, 1 garlic clove, 1 egg

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour

I went to London as a teenager on a theatre trip with some school friends, and on the final night, I ordered a brown rice burger for dinner. It was the first time I'd ever had one and to this day it remains one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten. It took me 14 years to dare to recreate it (with my own spin, naturally) as I was worried that it would never live up to the glorious burger of my memory. I'm pleased to say that this spicy, juicy burger is even better. Give it a try.

1) Cover the rice with salted boiling water and, stirring frequently, simmer for 30 minutes, adding more water if necessary.

2) Remove the core and seeds from a bell pepper and finely dice it. Peel and finely dice a white onion, and crush a clove of garlic.

3) Fry off the onion in a little butter, then add the pepper and garlic along with the spices and sizzle on a low heat for 20 minutes until completely soft.

4) Add the cooked rice, straining off any remaining water in the pan and stir to incorporate. Set aside to cool just enough for you to be able to handle the mixture.

5) Whisk an egg and stir into the rice, then form patties with your hands, or by pressing into a circle mould. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 200 degrees and serve with salad and the condiments of your choice in a bread bap.