Truffled carrot & pumpkin soup

Ingredients 1 can pumpkin puree, 1 cup pearl barley, 5 carrots, 1 tbsp truffle oil, 1/2 pint vegetable stock, 1 tsp sage.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour 30 minutes

There is very little more comforting than pumpkin soup. Whether sweet or spicy, it has such a lovely thick, creamy texture. I like to add pearl barley or beans to thick soups and I think this works So well.

1) Peel and roughly chop the carrots, then add to a roasting dish with the truffle oil. Toss to ensure the carrots are evenly coated, then roast for 45 minutes at gas mark 7.

2) Add the pearl barley to the veg stock and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.

3) Puree the carrots in a food processor and add to the veg stock along with the pumpkin puree. Simmer on a low heat for a further 20 minutes and serve hot, drizzled with truffle oil.

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.

Kohlrabi & carrot stew

Ingredients 4 carrots, 1 kohlrabi, 1 white turnip, 500g mixture of pearl barley, haricot beans, split peas, red split lentils, marrowfat peas, 1 pint vegetable stock, 2 white onions, olive oil.

Serves: 6 Preparation: 2 hours (plus overnight for soaking)

As Autumn sets in, my time in the kitchen is often spent soaking beans and roasting roots for rich, hearty stews to comfort me in the cold damp months ahead. Reluctant as I am to put the freshness of summer behind me though, this clean, simple stew is the perfect way to link the seasons together.

1) Rinse the dried pulses thoroughly in cold water, then soak overnight until they have rehydrated. Drain away the excess water.

2) Peel the carrots, turnip and kohlrabi and slice into half inch sized chunks. Drizzle with a little oil and roast in a covered dish for an hour.

3) Peel and dice the onion and sautee in a little oil until soft, then add the carrots, turnip and kohlrabi along with any roasting juices.

4) Add the pulses and vegetable stock and stir through. Simmer for an hour, season well and then either serve or save! Personally I always prefer stew the day after it's made, but if you can resist dunking some fresh bread into your stock pot then you're made of stronger stuff than I!