Lancashire leek tart

Ingredients Pastry: 4oz plain flour, 2oz butter Filling: 3 eggs, 1 large leek, 2 tsp French mustard, 100g Lancashire cheese.

Serves: 4-6 Preparation: X

My husband loves a good tart. Fnar fnar... And he has very exacting standards, so when I say that this tart made it into the top 5 meals that I have made for him during our years together, that should tell you just how savoury and scrumptious it is. It aint so much to look at, but it really tastes like heaven.

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) Slice the top and tail from the leek, slice in half and then slice thinly. Sautee in a pan with a little knob of butter until soft.

3) Whisk the eggs and mustard together and crumble in half of the cheese.

4) Spoon the leeks into the tart case and pour over the egg and cheese mix, adding the remainder to the top 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.

5) Serve hot or cold.

Pumpkin Mac & Cheese

Ingredients 1/2 can pumpkin puree, 1 clove garlic, 1/4 leek, 250g macaroni, 1 pint vegetable stock, 1 tsp truffle oil, 100g cheese, 1/4 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp sage, 1/4 tsp thyme, 1/4 tsp smoked paprika, 1/4 sweet potato.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 30 minutes

I absolutely adore mac and cheese. So much so that despite it's obvious perfection, I am constantly re-inventing it in order to have it more often, without being bored. This version is about as far as the traditional roux-based cheese sauce as you can get, but it's healthy, can be made lactose intolerant or vegan-friendly by using a wheat-free pasta or substituting the layer of cheese with a dairy-free alternative respectively. As Autumn rolls in, I go pumpkin crazy and this truly is an out-of-this world dish.
Check out some of my other favourite versions: avocado mac and cheese using my roast garlic and avocado puree, cauliflower mac and cheese, broccoli mac and cheese and of course mac and peas.

1) Use 3/4 of the vegetable stock to put the macaroni on to boil, reserving the remaining 1/4 for the sauce.

2) Slice and dice the leek finely (discarding the root and leafy ends) and add to a pan with the truffle oil. Sautee gently, adding the garlic (crushed) once it begins to soften.

3) By the time the garlic begins to sizzle the macaroni should be ready - drain and set aside, reserving a ladle of the vegetable stock to add to the leek and garlic. Reduce this by about 50% and add the pumpkin puree, herbs and spices.

4) If the sauce is too thick, add a little more vegetable stock to thin it out (or cream if you want to be REALLY decadent), then stir in the drained macaroni.

5) Transfer to an oven-proof dish and grate the sweet potato and cheese onto the top. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes (until the cheese is gooey and golden and the sweet potato is just beginning to crisp) and serve hot.    

I very rarely add salt as standard to a dish, advising only to season to taste, but in this case I found a tiny bit of salt and black pepper to be a nice touch once I'd removed a portion for my toddler.

Spinach, feta & beetroot cannelloni

Ingredients 1 beetroot, 200ml passata, 1 leek, 1 small white onion, 1 carrot, 400g spinach, 150g feta, 50g cheddar, 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg, 12 cannelloni tubes, olive oil, 1/2 tsp rosemary, 1/2tsp basil, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 glass red wine.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 30 minutes (plus overnight)

Words fail me to describe just how luscious this dish was. Spinach, as you know, is my absolute favourite and I would genuinely eat it three times a day without ever getting remotely bored of it. Mmmm spinach. But even those without my passion for it, will love the combination of tangy feta and fresh juicy spinach, smothered in a rich tomato and beetroot sauce. For best results, prepare a day in advance. By allowing the pasta to rest overnight, the juices from the spinach will begin to soften it, meaning it can cook for less time in the oven and avoid that horrible "leathery" texture that can happen when the sauce isn't sufficient enough to "boil" it, as dried pasta really does require this.

1) Combine the fresh spinach, nutmeg and feta in a food processor until a thick puree has formed. Fill the cannelloni tubes using a teaspoon and a little patience and transfer to an ovenproof dish. 

2) Use the grate option on your food processor to blitz the onion, leek, carrot and beetroot together, then transfer the soffrito/mirepoix to a pan with a glug of olive oil and allow to sizzle for 5 minutes until soft and juicy. I like to add a glass of red wine for extra flavour and cook it off at this stage, but this is entirely optional.

3) Add the herbs and passata, then simmer for a further 10 minutes and set aside to cool down to room temperature before pouring over the cannelloni. Allow to rest in the fridge overnight.

4) Top with the cheddar cheese, cover with foil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 200 degrees. Remove the foil for the last 5 minutes, then serve hot.

Cauliflower mac & cheese

Ingredients 1 cauliflower, 100ml double cream or almond milk, 1 leek, 200g cheddar and gruyere, 2 cups macaroni, 1 tsp mustard, 1 leek, 1 tbsp butter.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes

Mac and cheese and cauliflower cheese are both, individually, comfort foods of glory. In typical fashion for this greedy, cheese-obsessed foodie, I like to have my cake and eat it too, but this dish is surprisingly light and needn't be too cheese heavy, for those who may wish to cut down on their fat intake and it's a genius way of getting vegetables into children or adults who may be fussy about vegetables for reasons best known to themselves.
Cauliflower and almond are perfect partners, the nutty flavour of the almonds goes so beautifully with the cheese and by ramping up the savoury notes with leek and mustard, less cheese is necessary to achieve the desired results. Oh if you wish you can use double cream, but seriously - the almond milk gets a massive thumbs up from me here!

1) Prepare the cauliflower by removing the leaves and slicing the stem to the base. Slice around the stem to release the florets and add to a pan of boiling water. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until the cauliflower is soft and yielding, but do take care not to overcook it or the taste will be impaired and let's face it - you're killing off the nutrients!

2) Slice the leek, add to a pan along with the butter and sizzle until soft. Transfer to a blender and pulse thoroughly, adding the almond milk, mustard and drained cauliflower bit by bit until a smooth puree is formed.

3) Simmer the macaroni for 6-8 minutes in boiling, salted water, then drain and return to the pan.

4) Pass the cauliflower, leek and almond mixture through a sieve and into the pan, adding half of the cheese (grated) to stir through the mixture.

5) Transfer to and ovenproof dish and top with the remaining grated cheese. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes at 200 degrees and then serve hot. I personally prefer a gooey cheese topping to a crispy golden one, and besides you don't want the gorgeous, unctuous macaroni to dry out, but this is of course a matter of taste. Should you be the sort of person who prefers a solid slab of pasta, then by all means cook it for longer! (I'm afraid I must judge you just a little though, especially if you also like mac and cheese pies... *rolls eyes*)

Twice baked potatoes: leek & cheddar

Ingredients Potato, leek, butter, cheddar.

Preparation: 2 hours

Cooking the perfect baked potato is an art form, and filling it is an exercise in creativity that I never get tired of. Twice baked potatoes are glorious - a crispy shell filled with fluffy potato overlaid with gungey, creamy swirls of yumminess. I love the combination of leek and cheddar in so many dishes and it's scrumptious here.

1) To make the perfect baked potato.

2) Slice the leek and sautee in a pan with a knob of butter. Slice open the potato and scoop out as much of the potato as possible without compromising the integrity of the structure. (Oh yes, I went there!)

3) Grate the cheese and stir into the potato along with the leek, and spoon the filling back into the potato.

4) Bake for a further 10-15 minutes and serve.

Celeriac, spinach & cannellini bean soup

Ingredients 1 celeriac root, 200g spinach, 1 can cannellini beans, 1/2 pint vegetable stock, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp dill, 1 leek.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 30 minutes

I find that most soups benefit from slow, gentle cooking and being left for a day for the flavours to mature. Some soups however, are seriously quick to put together and this is certainly one of them! The husky flavour of the celeriac is brought out gloriously by the surprise perfection of nutmeg and dill. A definite winner.

1) Peel the celeriac with a sharp knife by cutting about a centimetre off both ends and sides, leaving a squareish core. Dice and add to a pan along with the leek, finely chopped and cover with the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil.

2) After 15 minutes, add the spinach and stir until it wilts. Puree thoroughly in a blender, then add back to the pan along with the beans.

3) Season with the nutmeg and dill, simmer for at least 5 minutes to cook the beans then serve hot.

Tequila, lime & avocado risotto

Ingredients 1 cup risotto rice, 1 pint vegetable stock, 1 lime, 1 avocado, 1 leek, 1/2 cup tequila, 30g cheddar, butter. dried chilli flakes to garnish

Serves: 2 Preparation: 45 minutes

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. This risotto is one of my favourite new summer recipes. The sharp tang of lime and tequila, the creamy texture of melting cheddar in combination with soft avocado... it's scrumptious and so different.

1) Zest the lime and cut in half. Squeeze the juice and stir into the tequila.

2) Slice the avocado in half and use a tablespoon to scoop it from the shell. If the avocado is ripe enough the stone will pop out with a spoon but another good method is to prick it with a knife and pull it out. Slice the avocado into chunks, and cut the cheddar into chunks roughly the same size.

3) Slice the leek and sautee the discs in a little butter until soft strands remain. Add the risotto rice and stir until the rice becomes transparent, revealing a white dot in the centre and pour in the tequila and lime juice. Once the alcohol cooks off, add the first ladle of stock, the lime zest and stir through.

4) Continue adding the stock to the risotto, one ladle at a time, adding the avocado with the second to last ladle of stock.

5) When the rice has fluffed up and has become soft, stir through the chunks of cheddar, sprinkle with the chilli flakes and serve. Remember, risotto should be soupy, not solid.

Leek & garlic sauteed carrots

Ingredients 3 carrots, 1 leek, 2 cloves garlic, butter.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 25 minutes

Sometimes, the greatest dishes are the simplest. This is the perfect side dish to  a roast dinner - meltingly soft carrots infused with the sweetness of leek and savoury garlic notes.

1) Peel the carrots and slice very thinly - about the width of a 10p coin. Slice the leek and then peel and roughly chop the garlic.

2) Melt a tablespoon of butter in a milk pan and add the garlic. When it begins to sizzle, turn the heat down low and add the carrot and leek. Stir through periodically and leave on a low heat until the carrots and leeks are soft, then serve!

Nettle soup

Ingredients 1 leek, 1/2 pint vegetable stock, 1 potato, 200g nettles, butter

Serves: 2 Preparation: 20 minutes

When I first started making nettle soup, it took me literally 10 minutes of blanching and blending nettles with vegetable stock before I was eating my lovely fresh bowl of soup. These days I like more depth of flavour and a thicker texture which only adding leek and potato brings to the table. 20 minutes for soup is still great in my opinion, and nettles are freely available so this is certainly easy on the pocket.

1) Dice the leek and sautee until soft in a knob of butter.

2) Peel and dice the potato and add to the leek. Stir through and then add the vegetable stock.

3) To prepare the nettles, pick them carefully by cutting through the lowest part of the stem with secateurs or good scissors, then pick them up by the stems and pop them in your foraging bag/basket. Pour into a colander and run under cold water until any bugs have been washed away. You can use rubber gloves to protect your hands when picking the leaves from the stems but years of cooking burns have given me asbestos fingers and a few stings in you really don't much notice the tingle any more.

4) Once the potatoes are soft (about 15 minutes) add the nettles to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and pulse in the blender before serving.

Butterbean croquettes

Ingredients 400g butterbeans, 1 tbsp Rachel's Organic Greek Yoghurt, 1 leek, butter, parsley, 1 lemon, 1/2 tsp mustard, old bread, 1 egg

Serves: 6 preparation: 45 minutes

Greek cuisine is magnificent. I love the combination of fresh herbs and citrus flavours with savoury ingredients. These croquettes are so simple but they're packed with flavour and the beans make a nice change from potato.

1) Simmer the butterbeans in hot, salted water for 5 minutes, then strain in a colander.

2) Pulse in a blender and then parse through a sieve, leaving the shell behind and a thick almost pate like consistency in the bowl below.

3) Chop the leek and sautee in a little butter until completely soft. Stir into the bean paste along with a squeeze of lemon juice, salt, freshly chopped parsley and a little mustard and Greek yoghurt.

4) Roll the mixture into croquettes. At this stage, if you're preparing ahead you can refrigerate them until you're ready to cook.

5) Whisk an egg into a dish and pulse some stale bread in the blender to form breadcrumbs. Dip the croquette in the egg, then roll in the breadcrumbs until thoroughly coated.

6) The traditional Greek method of cooking is to fry them until the breadcrumbs crumbs are crispy. Personally I find baking them in the oven for 20 minutes at 200 degrees to be more than satisfactory and certainly more healthy!

Pancetta, leek & gruyere risotto

Ingredients 1 cup risotto rice, 1 cup cider, 1 white onion, 1 pint ham stock, 1 leek, 100g pancetta, 100g gruyere

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes

Piggy bits, leek and some sort of cheese have been combined many times in this blog. There is a good reason for this - it's delicious comfort food for people who eat meat, and what is more comforting than a risotto?! 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.

1) Dice the leek 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 cider.

2) Once the alcohol cooks off, add the first ladle of stock and stir through.

3) Continue adding the stock to the risotto, one ladle at a time, adding the pancetta with the second to last ladle of stock.

4) Stir through the grated gruyere and serve.

Stuffed Pumpkin: Leek & cheddar

Ingredients 1 leek, cheddar, munchkin pumpkin, breadcrumbs, butter

Preparation: 45 minutes

Halloween is a comin' and I'm filled with festive ideas for serving food. These TEENY PUMPKINS are adorable but there's not a lot of good eating in them, so they're merely a receptacle for the savoury, sweet ooze of brioche, cheese and leek. Mmmmm.

1) Slice the top from your munchkin pumpkin and carve out the flesh and seeds.

2) Roast in the oven for 25 minutes and set aside.

3) Slice your leek and sautee in butter until completely soft. Grate some cheddar and combine until the cheese is incorporated.

4) Spoon into the munchkin pumpkin, layered with breadcrumbs (I used brioche because I love the contrast of sweet and savoury), then replace the lid and bake for a further 15 minutes.

Beetroot, apple & feta tart

Ingredients 2 Beetroots, 100g feta, 1 apple, 1 leek, 3 eggs, 50ml double cream, 4oz plain flour, 2oz butter.

Serves: 6 Preparation: 1 hour

To describe this tart, oh where do I begin!? Is it the salty, creamy tang of feta and leek, the earthy beetroot or the sweetness of the apple that makes it so utterly delicious? Chances are it's all of them! Just trust me when I say that the combination of crisp, buttery pastry and the silky tang of the filling makes this one fabulous autumn treat.

1) To make the shortcrust pastry measure 4oz of plain flour and 2oz of cold butter. 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 pastry case. Bake blind for 5 minutes and set aside to cool.

2) To prepare the beetroot, wash it and slice off the stalks and leaves. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Carefully peel the beetroot with the nick of a knife and set aside to cool.

3) Slice the leeks and peel, core and dice the apple. Sautee in a little butter for 5 minutes until soft, then spoon onto the pastry case and spread evenly.

4) Slice the beetroot and feta into even chunks and arrange over the leeks and apples.

5) Whisk the eggs and cream and pour over the other ingredients, then bake for 12 minutes on a medium heat. Serve hot and cold.

Pancakes - chestnut, leek, pear & cheddar

Ingredients 1 cup plain flour, 1 tbsp baking  powder, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup chestnut puree, 1/2 cup milk, 1 pear, cheddar, 1 leek, butter

Serves: 4 Preparation: 40 minutes

I adore making pancakes. There's something so soothing about the ritualistic rolling of batter in a pan, and whilst traditional pancake batter is perfectly lovely - I can't help but love to experiment. Some of my favourites have been rose and pistachio and banana.

1) Whisk the eggs with the milk, chestnut puree and pour over the dry ingredients, whisking until they are combined. Leave the batter to rest for at least 30 minutes and then stir through

2) To make the filling, peel the pear and slice the flesh from the core. Dice it, along with the leek and sautee in a little butter until soft.

3) Heat a non-stick frying pan until very hot, then add a little butter. Pour in one ladle of batter (if you want crepes, quickly turn the pan off the heat to coat the base evenly with the batter, then 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!

4) 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!

5) Once the pancake has cooked on both sides, stuff with the leek and pears mixture, and crumbled cheddar.

Quinoa burgers

Ingredients 1 cup quinoa, 1 leek, cheddar, 1 egg, 1/2 courgette, butter

Serves: 4 preparation: 30 minutes

I've been working on a number of fritters and burgers recently for those with intolerances and this quinoa burger turned out beautifully. So much so that I ate two last night and considered making more. Little piggy...

Quinoa is cooked like a cereal, but is technically a seed. It's high in lovely amino acids like lysine and a good source of calcium, phosphorus, and iron. Plus... it's yummy. I often eat it like a porridge but it makes a great burger too. Give this fabulous leek and cheddar mixture a try.

1) 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!

2) 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.

3) Chop the leek and grate the courgette before sizzling in a little butter. Add the quinoa and stir through before setting aside to cool.

4) Whisk an egg and stir through the quinoa mixture, then cut small cubes of cheddar and stir through the mixture.

5) Form patties with your hands or by pressing into a circle mould, then bake in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes at 180 degrees.

French leek & potato soup

Ingredients 1 Leek, 1 maris piper potato, butter, sourdough bread, cheddar, parmigiano, 1 pint vegetable stock

Serves: 3 preparation: 1 hour

Leek and potato soup is so wonderfully comforting, but it can tend to be just a little bland. Adding the sharp richness of cheese transforms this into an indulgent delight. Much like French onion soup - with a layer of bread soaking up the soup yet crispy on top - this is a firm favourite.

1) Dice the leek and sautee in a little butter until soft. Peel and dice the potato and stir into the leek and butter.

2) Pour in the vegetable stock and simmer for 45 minutes until the potato is soft. Season according to taste.

3) Either mash the potato into the soup or pulse in a blender until smooth.

4) Transfer the soup into bowls and top with layers of sourdough bread, grated cheddar and parmeggian and grill until golden bubbly.

Chestnut & pancetta soup

Ingredients    1 can chestnut puree, 175g     pancetta, 1/4 leek, butter, pumpkin oil, truffle oil 1/2 pint ham stock

Serves: 2 Preparation: 20 minutes

Chestnuts are currently having a revival in my kitchen and this rich, velvet textured soup had my husband all but licking the dregs from the pan. This will be going on my list of ultimate Christmas soups but as our British summer is so miserable right now, why not try it early?

1) Dice the leek and sautee in a pan with a little butter. Once soft, add the pancetta and chestnut puree and turn the heat down to a simmer.

2) Dilute the soup with the ham stock and simmer for a further 15 minutes.

3) Season to taste with salt and black pepper and serve with a drizzle of pumpkin and truffle oil.

Pea & lemon risotto with parmeggian tuiles

Ingredients     2 lemons (juice and zest), 100g peas, 1 pint vegetable stock, 1 cup risotto rice, leek, butter, parmigiano, peashoots to garnish,

Serves: 2 Preparation: 25 minutes


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. My only possible complaint about this fresh, summery risotto is that the damn lemons bleach the colour of the peas! That's it - this is a wonderful dish that I can return to time and time again. Parmeggian tuiles are a great way to introduce a savoury note and despite being the easiest thing to make in the world, they always seem to impress!


1) To make the parmeggian tuiles, spoon a fine layer of grated parmeggian onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment, using a circular stencil. Bake for 5 minutes until a golden biscuit has formed, then as they begin to cool, peel away the baking parchment from underneath.


2) Slice the leek and sautee in a little butteruntil soft. Add the risotto rice and stir until the rice becomes transparent, revealing a white dot in the centre and pour in the juice of 1 lemon.
3) Once the lemon cooks off, add the first ladle of stock and half of the lemon zest and stir through.

4) Continue adding the stock to the risotto, one ladle at a time, adding the peas with the second to last ladle of stock.

5) Serve garnished with lemon zest, peashoots and the tuiles.

Melon gazpacho with feta

Ingredients     2 cantaloupe melons, 1/2 pint vegetable stock, 1/2 leek, 1 chilli pepper, butter, feta

Serves: 4 Preparation: 20 minutes

Traditionally gazpacho is made from raw ingredients, "salsa soup" I used to call it when I was little and because I'm an onion-wuss, only able to stomach them when they're chopped small and cooked so that I barely know they're there I was never much of a fan. My gazpacho uses the oniony flavour of cooked leek, and the sweetness of canteloupe to make a truly refreshing yet spicy summer soup.

1) Halve and de-seed the canteloupe, then excise the flesh from the tough skin.

2) Fry off 1/2 a leek and the chilli pepper in butter, then rinse them both clean of butter. Add to a blender with the canteloupe flesh and puree. I like to add a little vegetable stock to make this more savoury, but this is entirely to taste.

3) Parse through a blender to remove any remaining chunks, then serve chilled with crumbled chunks of feta.

Carrot & coconut soup

Ingredients   10 carrots, 1 pint vegetable stock, 1 can coconut milk, coriander, 1 leek, butter

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour

"The carrot has mystery. Flowers are essentially tarts. Prostitutes for the bees. There is a certain je ne sais quoi - oh, so very special - about a firm, young carrot." ~ Uncle Monty (Withnail & I)
He may be a terrible... but he's right you know! Carrots are wonderful, so sugary sweet and surprisingly juicy for such a firm, woody vegetable and are perfect combined with the sweetness of coconut milk and the savoury leek. A definite comfort soup!

1) Peel the carrots and dice - the smaller the chunks the quicker it cooks obviously, but the less cooking time, the more colour and nutrients are kept in the carrots so put in a bit of extra prep!

2) Slice the leek and fry off in a little butter, stir in the carrots to glaze a little before adding the stock.

3) Simmer until the carrots are soft, then strain the carrots from the stock and puree thoroughly in a blender.
Pass the carrot flesh and leeks through a sieve and back into the stock.

4) Return to the hob, adding the can of coconut milk and some chopped coriander and warm through. Season to taste and serve.