Rosemary lemon curd

Ingredients 4 Lemons, 4 eggs, 350g caster sugar, 8oz butter, rosemary.

Serves: 1 pint Preparation: 30 minutes (plus overnight)

Lemon curd is already glorious, so thick and silky with that most mouthwatering flavour, but adding rosemary to the mix gives it an almost undetectable extra dimension that seems to make it even more lemony somehow without being too tangy or bitter. This makes a wonderful present, as rosemary is a symbol of love and loyalty. (yes, I meant to post this before Valentine's Day...)

1) Measure out the sugar and pour over three sprigs of rosemary. Leave to macerate overnight.

2) Juice the lemons, pour into a pan then pluck the rosemary sprigs from the sugar and allow to infuse with the lemon juice for 5 minutes. 

3) Whisk the 3 eggs and one yolk together in a mixing bowl and set the bowl over a pan of boiling water to make a bain marie.

4) Add the rosemary infused caster sugar to the eggs with the rosemary infused lemon juice. Whisk until you cannot see any sugar grains, then add half of the butter and stir through.

5) Leave on the hob, whisking occasionally 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, then pour into hot, sterilised jars and allow to cool completely before consuming.

Chestnut gravy

Ingredients 1 1/2 pints vegetable stock, 1 tsp rosemary, 1 tsp thyme, 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg, 1 tsp nigella seeds, 2 onions, 1 tbsp garlic salt, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 can chestnut puree.

Serves: 10 Preparation: 30 minutes

Vegetarian gravy. It is what it is but it rarely competes with a "proper" gravy in terms of colour, texture and flavour. This Christmas, treat your vegan and vegetarian guests to a beautiful, fragrant sauce that isn't bulked out with thickening agents and flour that compromise the flavour. Speaking of flavour - what could be more Christmas than chestnut and nutmeg? Bring it on! (Mashed potato snowmen optional)

1) Peel and thinly slice the onion, then pop out the rings. Add to a pan with the olive oil and nigella seeds and sizzle until soft.

2) Add the rosemary, thyme and garlic salt, then stir in the chestnut puree.

3) Add the vegetable stock and bay leaf and stir until the chestnut puree has dissolved.

4) Season to taste with salt pepper and freshly grated nutmeg and serve.

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.

Butternut squash & rosemary chips

Ingredients 1 butternut squash, rosemary, salt, pepper, olive oil

Serves: 2 Preparation: 2 minutes (fried) 15 minutes (baked)


I love butternut squash - from risottos, to salads to soup it's so versatile. It makes a great alternative to chips. The texture is of course different - squash is a moister vegetable than a potato but they're still delicious!


1) Chop the top from the butternut squash and slice off the skin. Cut in half, remove the seeds and slice into french fries.


2) You can fry these for 2 minutes and then toss with salt, pepper and chopped rosemary, or drizzle the squash with olive oil, toss with salt, pepper and chopped rosemary and then bake for 15 minutes.

Leek, potato & lavender soup

Ingredients 4 purple potatoes, 1 medium leek, 1/4 cup lavender, 1 pint vegetable stock, butter, rosemary.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 45 minutes

I love soup. I find all the chopping, stirring and pureeing very soothing, the warm smells that fill the house comforting, and I love ladling out steamy bowls of soup for people to dunk hot crispy bread into, dressing it with ever more creative croutons or swirls of cream and yoghurt. This winter I have created 10 new soups to warm you through on a cold day. This soup is velvety smooth with the most incredible flavour. Purple potatoes give this a spectacular colour (the picture does not do the bright violet hue any justice!) and the hint of lavender in the stock really brings out the sweet flavour of the leek.
1) Slice and dice the leek and add to a pan with a generous knob of butter and about a teaspoon of finely chopped rosemary. Allow to soften and then set aside.

2) In a seperate pan, bring the vegetable stock and lavender to the boil, and then strain into the leeks, discarding the lavender flowers.

3) Peel and chop the potatoes and add to the stock, allowing to simmer for 20 minutes until the potatoes have softened. Strain the leeks and potatoes from the stock and puree in the blender until completely smooth.

4) Add the pureed potatoes and leeks back into the stock and stir until it has been completely incorporated. Season with salt and black pepper to taste and then serve.

Limoncello & rosemary tempura battered courgette

Ingredients 2 courgettes, 1 cup plain flour, limoncello, black pepper, rosemary, 1/2 cup ice water.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 10 minutes

Since my good friend Leo gave me a present of some cream of limoncello for catsitting The Major, I have been determined to create some interesting uses for this Italian liqueur. Tempura batter was the first thing that came to mind (a fabulously light, crispy batter which you'll remember me using for tempura avocado and tempura bacon in previous recipes) and this combination of lemon, rosemary and black pepper is absolutely classic with lovely, fresh courgette.

1) In preparation, put a jug of water into the freezer to ensure it's as cold as possible without actually being frozen, and heat your deep fat fryer to 170 or bring a pan of oil to the boil.

2) Wash the courgettes and slice off the tops and bottoms, slice them in half widthways and then lengthways and finally slicing each piece into three wedges by angling the knife towards the centre of each piece.

3) Mix the flour with 1 tsp of finely chopped rosemary, black pepper and salt and then roll the courgette pieces into the dry mixture to coat them in flour. (this will help the wet batter stick to them) Remove the courgette and set aside.

4) Mix about 1 tsp of limoncello into the batter and then top up with ice water until a batter thick enough to coat a spoon is formed. Don't stir it too well - lumps are good here!

5) Dip each piece of courgette into the batter and drop into your deep fat fryer/boiling oil. The secret to good tempura is the combination of icy cold batter and hot oil so mix the batter at the last possible second.

Once the batter is crispy and golden it's ready to serve - absolutely perfect with good old ketchup but if you want to try some of my other dips check out the following recipes: cheese & chive, Wensleydale & cranberry, Basil dip, roast pepper & goats cheese, spinach dip, rose tzatziki, avocado tzatziki, aioli, baked camembert, basil hummus and hummus.

Lavender glazed rack of lamb

Ingredients  Rack of lamb, 3 cloves garlic,   rosemary, red wine, lavender jam, salt, pepper, butter

Serves: 4 Preparation: 40 minutes

Continuing with my series of lavender themed recipes - this makes a perfect Sunday lunch - especially with my lavender roast carrots, some mustard mash and some pea & mint puree for it to rest upon. As I've mentioned in previous recipes, rosemary and lavender are perfect partners and both of them go wonderfully with lamb.


1) First trim the lamb. A rack of lamb comes as a solid piece of meat with the bones sticking out of it and a thick piece of fat at the back of it. You need to score this fat with a sharp knife and slice in between each bone, leaving about 2cm of lamb at the base of each piece so that it remains one joint.
If like me you're a vegetarian, you may wish to ask someone to help you here - I bought this lamb from Swillington Organic Farm and it was a beautiful cut of meat but it didn't half smell of death! (unlike water-injected inferior supermarket meats which don't give off much of a smell) Fainting and waking up with your face in a plate of pureed peas is no fun for anyone.


2) Peel and crush 3 cloves of garlic and mix them with a teaspoon of butter. Spoon the garlic butter onto an ovenproof dish and rest the lamb upon it, pressing firmly so that the garlic is released slowly into the gravy as the lamb juices begin to flow, rather than burn in the oven and become bitter.


3) Finely chop a stalk of rosemary and stir in a good pinch of salt and black pepper. Brush the lamb all over (including the incisions you made) with the lavender jam (you may need to melt it down a little if it's come straight from the fridge) and then dust with the salt, pepper and rosemary mixture.


4) Pour a glass of red wine around the base of the lamb to keep the lamb moist and enrich the gravy. Roasting times will vary depending on the weight of the lamb and on whether you like the lamb rare or well done. Generally, an 8 bone rack will take about 30 minutes at 200 degrees to be cooked medium rare. The picture above is of a medium-rare rack. Rare = 20 minutes, Medium Rare = 25 minutes, Medium = 30, Well Done 35-40 minutes.


5) To carve the lamb, just remove the fat (it should slice right off the meat) and then slice through the remaining 2 centimetres of meat between each bone. Stir the gravy well and spoon over the lamb to serve.

Lavender & rosemary glazed carrots

Ingredients 3 carrots, 1 tbs butter, 1 tsp rosemary, Lavender Jam

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes


Continuing with my series of lavender themed recipes - this is a perfect side dish for Sunday lunch. As I've mentioned in previous recipes, rosemary and lavender are perfect partners and glazing carrots with my Lavender Jam really brings out the natural sweetness of this vegetable.


1) Peel the carrots, top and tail them and slice into batons.


2) Parboil them in hot, salted water for 8 or 9 minutes.


3) Strain the carrots and pour into an ovenproof dish.


4) Stir through a tablespoon of butter until the carrots are coated, then stir in about a teaspoon of finely chopped rosemary.


5) Stir in a teaspoon of lavender jam until the carrots are completely coated in the glaze, then roast in the bottom of the oven for 15 - 20 minutes.

Lavender lamb stew

Ingredients 3 tablespoons Lavender Jam/2   teaspoons dried lavender, 2 onions, 3 stalks of rosemary, 900g lamb, 2 carrots, 2 sweet potatoes, salt, 1 pint beef/lamb/venison stock, red wine, butter/rosemary oil, Worcestershire sauce.

Serves: 6 Preparation: 2 hours


My favourite ingredient is lavender. It has an incredible flavour and scent, medicinal properties and is perfectly partnered with rosemary which makes this stew sinfully rich and fragrant. You can use my Lavender Jam to caramelise the onions which gives this stew that wonderful dark French Onion glaze and hint of sweetness, or keep it savoury and make your own lavender essence to add to the stock.


1) Peel and dice your onions and add to a stock pot with 2 tablespoons of butter or rosemary oil. As the onions begin to soften, crush 4 or 5 cloves of garlic into the pan along with the rosemary stalks (chopped finely) and stir through.


2) At this stage add the lavender jam and caramelise the onions if you're taking this approach. If not, peel and dice the sweet potatoes and carrots as the onions and garlic begin to soften, then set aside.


3) Add the chunks of lamb and stir through until the meat begins to colour then add 1/3 of a bottle of red wine and stir through. Allow to simmer on a low heat.


4) If you are not using lavender jam, infuse the beef stock with the dried lavender by simmering on a low heat in a separate pan for about 10 minutes. Strain the stock through a sieve into the stock pot and discard the lavender.


5) Add the carrots and sweet potato and stir through. Leave on the hob for at least 30 minutes to allow the sauce to reduce and the carrot and potatoes to soften. Taste the sauce and season according to taste with salt, pepper and worcestershire sauce.

Grape & feta calzone

Ingredients 3 stalks Rosemary, handful of pistachios, basil oil, feta, handful of   spinach, cinnamon, sherry, grapes, 200g very strong white bread flour (grade 00), 1/4 tbs salt, 1/2 a sachet of yeast, 1/4 tsp honey, 1 tbs olive oil, 130ml warm water.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour


I can remember the first calzone I ate as a little girl; a thin crisp shell dusted with flour that released a cloud of fragrant steam when I hacked into it, followed by an ooze of cheese and tangy tomato sauce. This particular recipe was inspired by a filling Jamie Oliver made for a breakfast pastry which I knew would be enhanced, like anything, with cheese.


1) For a quick pizza dough: sift the flour and salt together and pour onto a clean work surface. Make a well in the centre and after dissolving the yeast, oil and honey in warm water, pour into the centre and mix with a fork until it is gradually combined. Dust your hands with flour and kneed until a smooth, elastic dough has formed. Set aside.


2) Finely chop the rosemary and "bruise" in a mortar and pestle with a handful of pistachios until the nuts are crushed. Season with salt and pepper and about half a teaspoon of cinnamon, then stir in a tablespoon of basil oil and a teaspoon of sherry.


3) Roughly chop a good handful of spinach and quarter a good handful of grapes (I used seedless flame red grapes). Stir in the rosemary "pesto" and set aside.


4) Roll out the pizza dough to about half a centimetre thickness and cut out circles of dough (I used about 8cm diametre circles). Roll the circles a little thinner and dust one side with flour.


5) Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the filling onto each circle, adding cubes of feta (I used a 25 year barrel aged feta - the stronger the better for this recipe!) and then fold in half, ensuring the filling is evenly distributed.


6) Pinch the edges of the dough until it is sealed like a cornish pasty and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

Butternut squash arancini

Ingredients Leftover Butternut squash risotto, sausage meat, old bread, egg.

Risotto is rubbish when reheated - it tends to congeal and lose the lovely soupy-ness so I like to put that to good use and once it's cool, roll it into risotto balls or arancini di riso if you speak Italian.


1) Pulse old bread in your blender to form breadcrumbs. In this case I used some mediterrean rustiques - garlic, tomato and herb bread.


2) Roll out the sausage meat and form it around the risotto ball. Dip in whisked egg and roll about in the breadcrumbs.


3) Deep fry until golden and crispy - or sizzle for 1 minute and bake in the oven for 4 minutes if like me you're not a fan of fried food.

Rosemary fougasse

Ingredients Cream, lemon, garlic, bell pepper, passata, basil, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, yeast, strong white flour, salt, olive oil.

1) To make the fougasse, mix 1 teaspoon of yeast in 300ml tepid water.


2) Mix 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt with 500g strong white bread flour and make a well in the centre of the flour. Pour in the water along with 3 tablespoons of olive oil bit by bit as your mix the dough together. 


3) Transfer to a well floured surface and knead firmly for 10 minutes. Once the dough is no longer sticky, and is elastic transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and leave to rise somewhere warm for an hour to an hour and a half or until it has doubled in size.


4) Knock it back and kneed for 2 minutes, then form a flattened triangle with the dough and slice through the middle like the spine of a leaf. Cut 3 slashes in both edges and transfer to a pizza stone. Sprinkle with chopped rosemary and rock salt and bake for 20 - 25 minutes with a bowl of water in the edge to form a nice crust. Tear off pieces of bread and dunk into the dips.


To make the dips


1) Roast a bulb of garlic in the oven for 30 minutes, squeeze the garlic from the skin and crushing it in a garlic press. Stir into soured cream and chill.


2) Roast 2 bell peppers for 30 minutes and blend along with a tablespoon of passata tomatoes, a splash of balsamic vinegar and a handful of chopped basil.

Butternut squash risotto

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Ingredients Risotto rice (arborio, carnaroli or vialone nano - I would recommend carnaroli), vegetable stock, white onion, garlic, sage, rosemary, butter, butternut squash, brandy.

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 (white wine, brandy or vermouth produce the best flavours) and the third involves releasing the starch from the rice one ladle of stock at a time.

1) Peel the butternut squash, slice it in half and remove the seeds before cutting it into chunks. Melt a little butter and chopped sage leaves and stir the butternut squash into it. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

2) Separate 5 cloves of garlic from the bulb and roast in the oven for 30 minutes (within the skin) Squeeze the garlic from the skin and stir into a pint of vegetable stock.

3) Melt a knob of butter in a pan and add some chopped sage and rosemary leaves and half a finely diced white onion. Soften the onions for about a minute and then stir in the risotto rice. Stir until the rice becomes transparent, revealing a white dot in the centre and pour in a glass of brandy.

4) Once the alcohol has cooked off, stir through the stock one ladleful at a time, adding the roasted butternut squash with the second ladle of stock.

5) Serve once the rice has softened and the starch has created a creamy sauce.

Moussaka

Ingredients Aubergine, rosemary, parmigiano, cheddar, cream, eggs, cinnamon, passata, flour, butter, basil oil, onion, garlic, lamb/Quorn mince, salt, red wine

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

2) Dice the onion, crush 2 garlic cloves and add into a pan with a drizzle of olive oil and some finely chopped rosemary. As the onions begin to soften add a glug of red wine and stir through. Leave on the hob until the liquid reduces.

3) If you are using Quorn mince, add straight into the pan with the other ingredients. If you are using lamb, brown the mince in a seperate pain, drain and then add to the onions.

4) Add a teaspoon of cinnamon and stir in some passata tomatoes, then spoon the mince into an oven-proof dish.

5) The salt will have drawn the bitter liquid from the aubergines, rinse the liquid, pat the aubergines dry and brush with a little olive oil. Dry fry, turning frequently until the aubergines are meltingly soft. Layer onto the mince.

6) Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan and stir a tablespoon of plain flour into it to form a roux. Whisk 3 eggs into the roux and finish with a generous dash of cream. Pour the sauce over the aubergines and sprinkle with grated cheese.

7) Bake in the oven for 20 minutes and serve, sprinkled with parmeggian

Cinnamon, apple and parsnip soup

Ingredients 1 Pint of water, grated cinnamon, 3 parsnips, two pears, four apples, honey/maple syrup, red wine, black peppercorns, rosemary. Optional - to garnish 1 cinnamon stick blueberries double cream

1) Peel the parsnips, apples and pears, remove the cores from the fruit and slice.

2) Bring to the boil one pint of water in your pan. Add the fruit and vegetables along with the ground cinnamon, finely chopped rosemary and 1 glass of red wine.

3) Cook until the fruit is soft, then separate from the liquid with a colander and puree in a blender. Gradually add the water back into the puree until the soup reaches the desired consistency.

4) Flavour with a good dollop of honey or maple syrup, season with freshly ground black pepper and serve.