Giant cous-cous with roast aubergine

Ingredients 150g Giant (aka Israeli) cous-cous (I bought mine from Millie's Organic in Leeds), 2 limes, basil oil, 10g freshly chopped mint, 100g passata tomatoes, 3 baby aubergines, salt.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 10 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. The sauce contrasts so beautifully with the flavour of roast aubergine and it just melts in the mouth.

1) Slice the tops from the baby aubergines and slice into quarters, first lengthways and then widthways. Arrange skin side down in a roasting dish and sprinkle with salt to draw out the bitter juices. Drizzle with basil oil and roast in the oven at 220 for 30 minutes.

2) 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.

3) To make the dressing, squeeze the juice of 2 limes, a tablespoon of basil oil and the passata tomato into a pan and stir through.

4) Add some finely chopped mint, then stir through the cous-cous and aubergine.

Giant cous-cous with cucumber and king prawns

Ingredients 150g Giant (aka Israeli) cous-cous (I bought mine from Millie's Organic in Leeds), 1/4 cucumber, 2 limes, basil oil, 10g freshly chopped mint, 150g cooked and peeled king prawns, 100g passata tomatoes.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 10 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.

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.

2) To make the dressing, squeeze the juice of 2 limes, a tablespoon of basil oil and the passata tomato into a pan and stir through.

3) Add some finely chopped mint and the prawns, then stir through the cous-cous.

4) Serve with chunky pieces of cucumber for a contrasting crunch. 

Fettuccini with poached egg yolk

Ingredients 8oz pasta flour, 1 tsp olive oil, 5 eggs, 1 lemon, 100g pancetta, 1 tbsp basil oil, 1 tbsp parmigiano.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour (+5 hours pasta preparation)

I adore pasta and thankfully love making it almost as much as I love to eat it - there's nothing quite like freshly made pasta, fresh from the pot. I also adore poached eggs, the creamy gold egg yolk flowing makes the most beautiful pasta sauce and recently I decided to do away with the faff of poaching a whole egg and just stick with the yolk!

1) Pour 8 ounces of grade 00 flour (pasta flour), 1 teaspoon of olive oil, a good pinch of salt, 3 whole 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) Dust a worktop with pasta flour and roll out the dough into a sheet 1/3 of a centimetre thick. Cut out squares of pasta with a knife and roll these through a pasta machine (or using a rolling pin if you don't have one) until you have a thin rectangle of pasta. Slice into 1cm wide strips.

3) Add a little basil oil into a frying pan and sizzle the pancetta for 2 minutes.

4) Drop the pasta into salted boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Once it rises to the top of the pan it's done! Strain and toss with freshly squeezed lemon juice, a glug of basil oil, the pancetta and some freshly grated parmeggian.

5) Separate an egg yolk from the white and drop it into a pan of boiling water for 45 seconds, then spoon it onto the fettuccini. Once you cut into it the yolk will mix with the pasta to form the most stunning sauce. I served this with poached chicken breast and steamed asparagus.

Brussel sprouts with pancetta

Ingredients      200g brussel sprouts, 100g pancetta, butter.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 10 minutes


Brussel sprouts came into season yesterday and I am determined to bring sexy back to these underrated teeny cabbages. Growing up most of us associate Christmas lunch with being forced to eat soggy, bitter sprouts but done well, sprouts can be an indulgent treat. A little butter to glaze them and the salty warmth of pancetta provides the perfect compliment to these beautiful fresh vegetables.


1) Brussel sprouts take 6 minutes to cook - drop them into a pan of salted, boiling water, checking first to discard any which smell bitter and peeling off any leaves which look old or scarred.


2) Whilst the sprouts are cooking, heat a teaspoon of butter in a pan and add in the pancetta cubes. Stir well and allow to sizzle for about 2 minutes.


3) Strain the sprouts and add into the pan of pancetta. Stir through until they are coated and serve.

Brussel sprouts with olive pesto

Ingredients    200g brussel sprouts, basil oil, 30g basil, 30g kamalata   olives,1/2 clove garlic, 30g parmigiano.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 20 minutes


Brussel sprouts came into season yesterday and I am determined to bring sexy back to these underrated teeny cabbages. Growing up most of us associate Christmas lunch with being forced to eat soggy, bitter sprouts but done well, sprouts can be an indulgent treat. Genovese olive pesto is one of my favourite flavour combinations and I think it's just savoury enough to bring out the natural sweet, fresh taste of sprouts.

1) Genovese style pesto is incredibly fine and involves pulverising the basil literally one leaf at a time in your mortar and pestle - if you don't have the patience then you could use a blender but nothing will release the basil juice and create that silky Genovese texture like the traditional method. 


2) Once the basil is crushed to a fine pulp, add finely diced kamalata olives, minced garlic and parmeggian. Add a glug of basil oil until it has reached the desired consistency.


3) Brussel sprouts take 6 minutes to cook - drop them into a pan of salted, boiling water, checking first to discard any which smell bitter and peeling off any leaves which look old or scarred.


4) Once cooked, strain the sprouts and add back into the hot pan with a few spoonfuls of the pesto. Stir through and serve.

Brussel sprouts with lemon and mustard butter

Ingredients     200g brussel sprouts, grainy mustard, 1 lemon, butter

Serves: 4 preparation: 10 minutes


Brussel sprouts came into season yesterday and I am determined to bring sexy back to these underrated teeny cabbages. Growing up most of us associate Christmas lunch with being forced to eat soggy, bitter sprouts but done well, sprouts can be an indulgent treat. They're perfect partnered with a little lemon juice and butter with mustard bringing out the sweet natural flavour.


1) Brussel sprouts take 6 minutes to cook - drop them into a pan of salted, boiling water, checking first to discard any which smell bitter and peeling off any leaves which look old or scarred.


2) Strain the sprouts and add back into the hot pan with a tablespoon of butter, half a teaspoon of grainy mustard and a squeeze of lemon juice.


3) Stir until the sprouts are coated and serve.

Brussel sprouts with artichoke vinaigrette

Ingredients   200g brussel sprouts, 1 artichoke, basil oil, 1 lemon

Serves: 4 Preparation: 45 minutes


Brussel sprouts came into season yesterday and I am determined to bring sexy back to these underrated teeny cabbages. Growing up most of us associate Christmas lunch with being forced to eat soggy, bitter sprouts but done well, sprouts can be an indulgent treat. I love them served with artichokes, drenched in lemon juice and glossy basil oil.


1) To prepare the artichoke vinaigrette: Break the stem of the artichoke as close to the base as you can, then put the artichoke head first into a pan of hot, salted water and keep it submerged with an upturned pan lid (or plate). It will take 20-30 minutes to cook until tender - test the base with a knife - if it goes in smoothly it's ready! Slice the artichoke leaves and mix into equal parts of basil oil and lemon juice.


2) Brussel sprouts take exactly 6 minutes to cook - it's important to cook them from as fresh as possible and to check for any that smell bitter so you can discard them. Peel off any leaves that look scarred or old and then drop the sprouts into boiling, salted water.


3) Once cooked, stir the artichoke into the sprouts and serve.

Baked potato: roast pepper & goats cheese

Ingredients 1 bell pepper, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, goats cheese, potato.

Serves: 1 Preparation: 45 minutes - 1 hour

Once you have made your perfect baked potato, you need to fill it! Sometimes only goats cheese will do and this tangy, creamy filling is the most indulgent thing I can think of to put on a baked potato (except for caviar and truffles, obviously!)

1) Slice the top from the pepper and remove the seeds. Slice into small pieces and lay skin side down on a baking sheet. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil and grill on a high heat for 10 minutes.

2) Turn the peppers over and continue to grill until they begin to blacken. Remove from the grill and stir into the goats cheese and spoon the glorious, gungy mixture onto the potato.

Baked potato: tuna, peach & gherkin

Ingredients Tuna, mayonnaise, gherkin, peach, potato, 4 eggs, lemon juice/white wine vinegar, salt, pepper, 1 pint vegetable oil, mustard.

Serves: 1 Preparation: 45 minutes - 1 hour

Once you have made your perfect baked potato, you need to fill it! I have a pathalogical loathing of fish but The Boy absolutely loves it and he swears on peach and tuna as a taste-senstion combination!

1) To make your own mayonnaise - separate 4 egg yolks from the whites (discard the whites) and put in a large clean bowl to whisk (or use the whisk attachment on your blender if you have one). Add the lemon juice/vinegar, salt and pepper and a touch of mustard and whisk thoroughly, adding the oil ONE DROP at a time until the mayonnaise is thick and glossy. You don't have to use all the oil - I like it quite thick but if it's too thick you can always add a little warm water to thin it back down again.

2) Peel the peach and slice in half, around the stone. Pull apart and cut into slivers and then small cubes. Cut the gherkin into equal sized cubes and stir into a can of drained tuna.

3) Stir in a tablespoon of mayonnaise and rough up the mixture with a fork, adding black pepper to taste.

4) Spoon onto the potato and serve!

Baked potato: leek, pistachio & parmeggian

Ingredients Leek, pistachios, parmigiano, butter, potato.

Serves: 1 Preparation: 45 minutes - 1 hour

Once you have made your perfect baked potato, you need to fill it! Traditional fillings are all well and good but if you eat a baked potato every day for lunch then sometimes you need to mix it up! This has a wonderful flavour and texture and is great for using up leftover leek!

1) Slice the leek and finely chop. Sautee in a little butter for 2 minutes, and then add about a teaspoon of crushed pistachio nuts. Toast in the pan for a further minute and spoon onto the potato.

2) Top with grated parmeggian and serve!

Baked potato: jalepeno, pineapple and cream cheese

Ingredients Jalepenos, pineapple, cream cheese, cheddar, potato.

Serves: 1 Preparation: 45 minutes - 1 hour

Once you have made your perfect baked potato, you need to fill it! I love spicy food and jalepenos and cheese are perfect partners. This filling manages to be cool and creamy, yet tangy and spicy all at the same time.
1) Finely slice the jalepeno and pineapple (I used about 1 tsp for every 1tbsp of cream cheese) and stir into the cream cheese.

2) Stir in some cheddar, spoon onto the potato and serve!

Baked potato: pancetta, beans & cheese

Ingredients Baked beans, cheddar, pancetta, potato.

Serves: 1 Preparation: 45 minutes - 1 hour

Once you have made your perfect baked potato, you need to fill it! Baked beans and cheese are a gorgeous, classic baked potato filling but I've, as usual, given it a bit of a twist...

1) Pour your can of beans into a milk pan and add 130-150g pancetta. As you stir the beans on a medium heat for 2 minutes, the juices from the pancetta will thicken the sauce and provide a wonderful, salty rich flavour.

2) Layer the cheese and beans  onto the potato and serve!

Perfect baked potatoes

Ingredients Baking potatoes (Maris Piper or King Edward are pefect - you want a floury potato rather than a waxy one), rock salt

Serves: 1 Preparation: 45 minutes - 1 hour (depending on the size!)

Baked potatoes are, in my eyes, an institution. Healthy, versatile and delicious they are a regular lunchtime favourite. This recipe shows you how to make the perfect baked potato and will be followed by a number of topping suggestions. Thanks to everyone on Facebook and Twitter yesterday for sharing their favourite toppings. In case you're wondering - mine is usually cheese, beans and hummus!

1) Prepare your roasting tin with a generous layer of rock salt. The rock salt has two purposes - firstly to conduct heat, evenly cooking the potato, secondly to draw out the moisture, allowing the skin of the potato to crisp wonderfully and leaving nothing but fluffy textured, beautifully flavoured potato.

2) Arrange your potato(es) onto the rock salt and put in the oven at 220 degrees for at least 45 minutes.

3) As the legend goes, the quicker you cut into the potato, the quicker the remaining steam escapes and the fluffier the inside will be. Personally I hack into it with a cleaver, quick and dirty and then rough the inside up with a fork and a little butter or milk.

4) Load with your filling of choice... here are some recipes for you...
Roast pepper & goats cheese
Tuna, peach & gherkin
Leek, pistachio & parmeggian
Jalepeno, pineapple & cream cheese
Pancetta, beans & cheese
Mexican Mole

Poached chicken

Ingredients Chicken breast, milk, butter, parsley.

Serves: 1 Preparation: 30 minutes

I have noticed in the last year or so a real return to what I call "nursery food" - those delicately flavourted, nurturing dishes that we ate as a child. Not so much bland food as simple, comforting food and it doesn't get much simpler than poached chicken. Chicken or fish can of course be poached in water but I have always favoured milk with a little parsley. This will make the most tender, moist, succulent chicken you've ever eaten.

1) Put your chicken breast skin side down in the pan and fill it with enough milk to cover it completely (I used a milk pan and about 3/4 pint of milk) and a little chopped parsley.

2) Allow the milk to come to the boil and then turn down the heat (do watch the pan because milk boils over very quickly and is not much fun to clean up!) allowing it to cook in the boiling milk for a further 10 minutes.

3) Turn off the heat and put a lid on the pan, allowing the chicken to rest in the hot milk for a further 10 minutes before serving - perfect just brushed with a little salted butter.

I served this with Mediterranean vegetables - peppers, courgette and tomatoes roasted in olive oil.

Baked donuts

Ingredients 1/2 pint milk, 7g yeast,  85g sugar, 2 eggs, 600g plain white flour, 1 tsp salt, 65g butter 1/4 tsp vanilla essence, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp icing sugar, cranberry & orange curd.

Serves: X Preparation: 2 hours


I'm not a big fan of fried food, mostly finding it too greasy and unhealthy - I'd rather save those extra calories and fat grams for cheese quite frankly! I recently made a batch of cranberry & orange curd though and thought that it would be fabulous in baked donuts. Even better than vanilla custard. They're so fluffy and scrumptious and you get to make a big mess in the kitchen too!


1) Warm up the milk and dissolve the yeast into it. Allow it to rest for 2 minutes before stirring in the melted butter, sugar and vanilla essence.


2) Beat together the two eggs and stir into the milk which should by now be room temperature.


3) Pour the mixture into a blender and using your dough hook setting combine it with the flour and salt, bit by bit until a bread-like batter has formed. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl easily but be a bit sticky.


4) Oil a bowl and pour in the batter, leaving it to rise in a warm place for an hour (I put it on top of the oven whilst the oven pre-heats)


5) Punch down the dough and roll it out to about half an inch thickness. Cut out circles of dough and allow them to rise for another 45 minutes.


6) Using a teaspoon poke a hole in the side and fill with the curd. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 190 and dust with a mixture of cinnamon and icing sugar.


They're best eaten fresh so invite lots of people round to share them!

Spinach & aubergine curry

Ingredients  8 baby aubergines, 2 tbsp garam    marsala, 1 tbsp cumin, 1 tsp mustard    seeds, 2 tbsps ghee or vegetable oil, 200g spinach, 1 white onion, 1 bulb garlic, passata, salt, olive oil, 1 red chilli pepper.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 45 minutes


I love curry, the scent of toasting spices, the gentle bubbling inside my enormous cast iron wok and that delicious high one gets from the exotic heat of the chillies. This dish is rich with flavour and has the most amazing buttery soft textured aubergines. Give it a try - perfect with my peshwari naan - this is the ultimate winter warming comfort food.


1) Slice the tops from the baby aubergines and slice in half lengthways, then horizontally. Arrange in an ovenproof dish with the skins down and sprinkle with salt to draw out the bitter juices. Drizzle with olive oil and roast in the oven at 200 degrees for 30 minutes.


2) At the same time, put an entire bulb of garlic into an ovenproof dish and roast in the oven for 30 minutes.


3) Put the mustard seeds and spices in the wok and toast for about 2 minutes - once the mustard seeds begin to pop, it's time to add the ghee (about 2 tablespoons) and stir through.


4) Peel and dice the onion and finely chop the chillies, then add to the spiced ghee and stir through until the onion has softened completely (5-10 minutes).


5) Once the aubergines and garlic are cooked, add the aubergines to the pan along with just enough passata to bring the ingredients together.


6) Peel the garlic and mince through the press until you are left with the puree. Stir into the curry and add the spinach leaves.


7) Once the spinach has wilted it's ready to serve.

Vegetable crisps

Ingredients Sweet potato, carrot, beetroot, parsnip, olive oil

Preparation: 20 minutes

I'm not much of a crisp person - I tend to only eat them if I've made dips and need something to scoop up the gloriousness with, and since I discovered Fudge's I've been straying from what I call "posh crisps" (Kettle chips) and been using their nummy flatbreads instead. Now that it's autumn I'm very into flame coloured foods and root vegetables in particular and these vegetable crisps just make me feel like a kid kicking through crunchy leaves in wellingtons.

1) It's entirely up to you whether you peel the vegetables or not. I'm not a big fan of carrot or parsnip peel but I love potato peel so as you can see, mine are a mixture. You do need to peel the beetroot...
To get those thin, ribbons I use the potato peeler to peel the vegetables into strips. You could use a mandolin slicer if you wish but for best effect - go for the peeler.

2) Pat the vegetables dry with some kitchen roll, tedious I know but it really does make all the difference.

3) Either brush the strips with olive oil or pour a little in a bowl and toss them until coated and arrange them on a baking tray.

4) Bake in the oven for 5 - 10 minutes at 200 degrees. Carrot and beetroot will only need 5 minutes but the potatoes and parsnips will need 10.

5) Serve! These are fabulous as croutons in soup or to scoop up some dip. Some suggestions are: cheese & chive, Wensleydale & cranberry, Basil dip, roast pepper & goats cheese, spinach dip, rose tzatziki, avocado tzatziki, aioli, baked camembert, basil hummus and hummus.

Carrot & cranberry soup

Ingredients 250g cranberries, 5 carrots, 1 pint vegetable stock, 1 can coconut cream, 1 white onion, 1 clove black garlic, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp cumin, handful of coriander.

Serves: 5 Preparation: 1 hour

I love cranberries - whether the sweetness is brought out or whether the dry taste is enhanced I think they are a fabulous ingredient in sweet and savoury dishes. This is a hearty winter soup with a velvet texture and rich flavour.

1) Peel and finely dice the white onion and sautee in the olive oil in a stock pot.

2) In a seperate pan, put the cranberries on to cook in hot water for 5-10 minutes.

3) Peel and slice the carrots into chunks and add into the pan of onions along with the vegetable stock and the black garlic, peeled and finely sliced.

4) Once the cranberries have softened, strain the water and parse them through a sieve, leaving the skins behind and forming a smooth puree.

5) Once the carrots have softened, strain them from the stock (do not discard this, return it to the stock pot!) and mash or pulse in the blender before passing them through a sieve.

6) Combine the carrot and cranberry puree and add to the vegetable stock along with the cumin and finely chopped coriander. Turn the heat down to allow this mixture to simmer for about 30 minutes.

7) Season with salt and pepper and stir through the coconut cream before serving. This is perfect with my carrot and coriander bread, or with my vegetable crisps.

Carrot & coriander bread

Ingredients  1 carrot, handful of chopped coriander, 500g wholemeal flour, 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 150ml  cream cheese, 125ml milk.

Serves: 8 Preparation: 1 hour


This bread has a wonderful flavour and makes great toast because the carrot makes it a bit "stodgy" so it gets a fabulous crunch to it. Gorgeous to dip into my carrot and cranberry soup.



1) Sift the flour with the bicarbonate of soda and grate the carrot into it. Stir well until each piece of carrot is coated in flour.

2) Finely chop the coriander and stir in to the flour mix.

3) Stir through the cream cheese and add the milk little by little until a soft, sticky dough is formed.

4) Form a rough ball with the dough and dust with flour, or set in a loaf tin. Slice a line down the top with a knife and bake on a baking sheet for 30 minutes or until a good crust has formed which sounds hollow when you tap it.

Kale crisps

Ingredients Kale, olive oil, salt

Preparation: 10 minutes


When a dear friend of mine, Ashley mentioned she had been craving these ever since she'd tried them, I had to give it a go. I must admit that they were a little salty for me but they were a big hit with The Boy who adored them. The second batch I made I omitted salt and used pepper instead which suited my tastebuds much more! Give them a try and let me know what you think.


1) Toss the kale leaves in a drizzle of oil and spread out on a baking tray.


2) Season with salt/pepper and bake in the oven for 10 minutes on 220.


3) Serve! I found them too fragile to dunk in anything but I really enjoyed using them as croutons for my Spinach & goji berry broth.

Cranberry & orange curd

Ingredients     500g cranberries, 4 oranges, 4 eggs, 350g caster sugar/4 tbsp honey, 8oz butter

Preparation: 1 hour


Whilst October is all about pumpkins, November is all about cranberries for me, they've just come into season so now is the perfect time to begin making cranberry curd, a luxurious alternative to cranberry sauce for Christmas turkey and absolutely fabulous with cheese. Look out for more cranberry recipes coming soon.


1) Zest one of the oranges and then juice all four of them.


2) Put the cranberries in a pan and add the orange juice and orange zest. Boil for 5-10 minutes, until they are soft.


3) Pulse the cranberries in a blender and then pass through a sieve until you are left with a smooth puree.


4) Separate the egg yolks from the whites, discard the whites and whisk the 4 yolks together in a mixing bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of boiling water to make a bain marie.


5) Whisk the caster sugar or honey into the eggs and add the cranberry and orange puree. Continue to whisk until you cannot see any sugar grains, then add half of the butter and continue to whisk until the lemon curd is thick enough to draw a line through it with a spoon. Take from the heat and whisk through the remaining butter to make it glossy.


6) Pour into hot, sterilised jars and allow to cool completely before consuming.

Leek and courgette stuffed conchiglioni

Ingredients 8 Conchiglioni shells, 1 courgette, 1/2 a leek, 15g pine nuts, 15g mozarella, 10g parmigiano, 100ml cream, basil oil.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes

I have despaired of late at the cost of pine nuts. Due to their popularity over the past 5 years they have steadily risen in price to a level which has caused me to stubbornly escheq them completely and bring you recipes using a range of more reasonably priced nuts. I'm not going to suggest that I have anything to do with the price going down but go down it has so let us one again embrace the pine nut!

1) Cook the conchiglioni shells in hot water for 10 minutes, strain and set aside to cool just enough for you to be able to handle them (go go gadget asbestos fingers!)

2) Whilst the pasta is cooking, finely dice half a leek and sautee in a tablespoon of basil oil until soft. Grate the courgette into the pan and stir through, adding a little more basil oil.

3) Remove from the hob after 2 minutes and transfer to a bowl. Add the grated mozarella and pine nuts and stir through.

4) Using the same pan, pour in the cream and grated mozarella and whisk rapidly over a low flame until the mozarella has been completely incorporated and the cream has thickened a little.

5) Stuff the pasta shells with the leek and courgette mixture (they should take a good tablespoon at least) - again be careful not to burn yourself!

6) Ladle the parmeggian cream onto a dish and set the shells in the sauce. If the shells are still hot, serve, otherwise this could be heated in the oven for a few minutes (not too long or the sauce will curdle and the pasta will dry!)

Lasagne

Ingredients    Quorn mince (or beef mince), passata tomatoes, 1 white onion, basil oil, butter, basil, oregano, parsley, garlic, red wine, double cream, white flour, salt, 8oz pasta flour, 1 tsp olive  oil, 6 eggs, mozarella, cheddar.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 1 hour (+5 for preparation)


Lasagne is amazing, you don't need Garfield to tell you that! Layers of delicious bolognaise and creamy bechamel, all topped with golden bubbling cheese... this is comfort food at its best.



1) Pour 8 ounces of grade 00 flour (pasta flour), 1 teaspoon of olive oil, a good pinch of salt, 3 whole 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) Put half a bulb (yes that's bulb, not clove!) of garlic into a roasting tin and roast in the oven for 30 minutes.

3) Finely dice one white onion and sautee in a tablespoon of basil oil and a teaspoon of butter until they have completely softened. Add a glass of red wine, some finely chopped basil, oregano and parsley and stir through.

4) If you are making this with meat - brown the mince and strain off all of the meat juices before adding it to the pan. If you are making this with Quorn - add the Quorn mince from frozen and stir through.


5) Stir the passata tomatoes through the Quorn mince and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.


6) Stir through on a low heat for a further 2-3 minutes and then remove the roast garlic from the oven. Once roasted, it can be squeezed from the skin like a puree and stirred through the sauce.


7) Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan and stir a tablespoon of plain flour into it to form a roux. Whisk 2 eggs into the roux and finish with a generous dash of cream or milk. Whisk through for about 5 minutes and set aside.


8) Roll out the pasta on a floured surface and level out with a rolling pin. Either feed it through a pasta machine or with the rolling pin until you are left with a thin sheet. Cut sheets to the size of your lasagne dish.


9) Spoon a layer of bolognaise into an ovenproof dish and top with a sheet of pasta. Continue to layer the bolognaise and bechamel sauce until the dish is filled. Top with grated mozarella and cheddar.


10) Bake covered for 10 minutes and uncovered for 5 to allow the top to crisp and then serve.

Spinach & asparagus ravioli with sage & pistachio butter

Ingredients  400g spinach, 20 fine asparagus    stalks, 8oz pasta flour, 1 tsp olive oil, 4 eggs, handful of pistachio nuts, 1 tbsp sage, 2 tbsp butter

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour (+5 hours pasta preparation)

I adore pasta and thankfully love making it almost as much as I love to eat it - there's nothing quite like freshly made pasta, fresh from the pot. The combination of flavours in this dish is quite frankly insane but somehow it really works. Sage butter is something that I love with pumpkin or butternut squash ravioli but in this case I made it into more of a pesto using pistachio nuts to balance out the intensity of the sage. This sweetness really brought out the flavour of the asparagus and the spinach provided a freshness that balanced everything out.

1) Pour 8 ounces of grade 00 flour (pasta flour), 1 teaspoon of olive oil, a good pinch of salt, 3 whole 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) Steam the asparagus and 200g of the spinach for 4 minutes, strain as much of the water from the spinach as possible and then completely pulverise in the blender, leaving a thick puree.


3) To prepare the "pesto" finely chop the sage and stir into some gently warmed butter. Finely chop the pistachio nuts/ grind in a mortar and pestle or pulse in the blender. Stir the nuts through and set aside for the flavours to infuse.

4) Dust a worktop with pasta flour and roll out the dough into a sheet 1/3 of a centimetre thick. Cut out squares of pasta with a knife and roll these through a pasta machine (or using a rolling pin if you don't have one) until you have a thin rectangle of pasta. Add a teaspoon of the spinach and asparagus mixture to the centre of the rectandle and fold in half, pinching the ends together firmly like a cornish pasty until each piece is completely sealed.


5) When all the pasta shapes are stuffed, drop them into a large pan of hot, salted water. The pasta will sink to the bottom initially but when it is ready (2-3 minutes maximum unless your pasta is too thick) it will float to the top.

6) Remove the ravioli from the pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl. Stir through the pesto and serve on a bed of steamed spinach with additional asparagus if you wish.

Mediterranean balsamic roasted vegetables

Ingredients 3 Baby aubergines, 1 pointed pepper, 5 baby plum tomatoes, mozarella, basil oil, salt, basil, oregano, balsamic vinegar.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 30 minutes

Served hot as a side dish, or served cold as a salad, this delicious combination of flavours is one I come back to again and again.

1) Slice the tops from the baby aubergines and slice in half, lengthways. Set skin side down around the edges of an ovenproof dish and sprinkle with salt.

2) Slice the tops from the pointed peppers, remove the core and seeds and arrange in the centre of the roasting dish. Drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar, taking care to avoid the aubergine for now.

3) Prick the baby plum tomatoes to allow the juices to escape rather than split the skin and rest on the peppers. Drizzle the entire roasting dish with basil oil and sprinkle with a good pinch of finely chopped basil and oregano.

4) Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, stirring after 15 to allow the basil oil, tomato juices and balsamic vinegar to glaze all of the vegetables.

5) Stir in the mozarella (I used little pearls of mozarella) and serve.