Dukkah: nut, seed and spice blend

Dukkah is an Egyptian and Middle Eastern spice and nut blend that adds a massive flavour injection when sprinkled on many different types of food. I love it on any kind of eggs, roasted veggies, labneh dip, houmous, roast chicken, or grilled fish.

I’ve tweaked the traditional recipe a little, adding more sunflower, pumpkin, and sesame seeds and switching hazelnuts (as I didn’t have any!) for almonds, so this is my take on dukkah, and I hope you like it.

You’ll be doing your gut a favour by adding fibre and a few more plants to your weekly total, as each ingredient counts as one of the 30 you are recommended to eat by @zoe @timspector. Happy microbes!

Ingredients

Fills a 0.5 litre Kilner jar (medium-sized)

• 2 ½ tbsp coriander seeds
  2 tsp cumin seeds 

• 2 tsp fennel seeds

• 40g black and white sesame seeds

• 40g sliced almonds, toasted

• 40g sunflower 

• 40g pumpkin seeds

• 1 tsp dried oregano 

• 1 tsp paprika

• ½ tsp salt

Method

• Toast the nuts, sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds for a few minutes in a hot frying pan until they pop a little and start turning golden, then remove and set aside in a bowl. Separate 1/3 of this mix into another smaller bowl.

• Add the coriander, fennel, and cumin seeds to the pan for about a minute, followed by the paprika and oregano for 30 seconds.

• Mix all the ingredients and leave to cool in a bowl.

• Put the mix into a small blender and blitz for a few seconds until you have a rough texture.

• Mix in the remaining nuts, sunflower, pumpkin, and sesame seeds.

Red pepper & hazelnut pesto

I love any kind of pesto as I think it goes with so many things. Pasta is an obvious one, but a spoon on top of a risotto, roasted vegetables, fish or chicken works so well too. I particularly like this pesto with salmon as the red pepper and hazelnuts really compliment it.

In this recipe I have used jarred red peppers as they have a great flavour and texture, so I always use them rather than cooking my own. This saves quite a bit of prep time, but you can blacken your own if you prefer (here’s how in Step 3 of this recipe).

ingredients

Serves 6-8

• 4 roasted red peppers, deseeded

• 40g parmesan, roughly chopped

• 80g toasted hazelnuts

• 25g fresh basil leaves

• 1 tsp sea salt

• Juice of ¼ lemon

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

method

• Put all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz until you have a rough paste. You’ll need to stop and scrape the sides down a couple of times.

tip

• If you don’t have a food processor you could use a hand blender or a pestle and mortar - if using a pestle them you would need to finely chop the red pepper with a knife and add to the mix at the end.

Garlic ciabatta

Crunchy garlic ciabatta is the perfect starter served with antipasto, or delicious with a main like risotto or pasta.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1 ciabatta loaf, cut into about 10 slices

• 40g salted butter, very soft room temperature

• 2 garlic cloves, grated

• Chopped chives, optional

Method

• Mix the garlic into the butter with a fork and spread on once side of each slice.

• Place under a hot grill (non buttered side first) for a couple of minutes a side.

• Sprinkle with fresh chives.

Sweet spicy almonds

Tasty snacking nuts! Great to have with drinks or as a low carb snack that’ll keep you feeling fuller for a longer as almonds are high in protein and fibre. Plus you get all these additional nutritional benefits:

• Vital antioxidants and Vitamin E are concentrated in almond skin (try to avoid blanched) - these protect your cells from oxidative damage which contributes to aging and disease.

• Magnesium rich, which helps to convert food into energy, lowers blood pressure, assists in the contraction and relaxation of muscles and regulates neurotransmitters.

• Almonds also help to lower the levels of LDL lipoproteins in your blood, or ‘bad’ cholesterol, which is a well-known risk factor for heart disease.

Ingredients

• 200g whole almonds

• 2 tsp olive or rapeseed oil

• 2 tsp honey or maple syrup

• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

• A good pinch of salt

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc.

• Put the almonds on a foil lined baking tray.

• Drizzle / sprinkle over all the ingredients evenly and mix to coat well.

• Put in the oven for 6-7 minutes and then allow to cool, so they go crunchy.

Roasted red pepper pesto

I’ve been experimenting with different pesto combinations recently as there are so many variations you can make and I love how it works with so many things: pasta, gnocchi, roasted veggies, sandwiches and fish or meat too.

This time I decided to use roasted red peppers with cashews, but you could swap for hazelnut or pine nuts if you prefer. You can also add a tablespoon or two of crème fraîche to make it creamy, which is especially good with gnocchi, as I always find it needs a bit more sauce than pasta.

The other great thing about pesto is that it freezes really well; I usually divide some into small portions that defrost quickly to make a tasty pasta when the fridge is empty!

Ingredients

Serves 6-8

• 4 red peppers

• 50g parmesan

• 60g cashews

• 1 clove garlic

• 50g basil

• 1 tsp sea salt

• Juice of ½ lemon

• 2 tbsp olive oil, optional

Method

• Put the whole red peppers on a sheet of tin foil and place under a hot grill, blacken on all sides - this should take about 12-15 minutes, turning every 2-3. Wrap in the foil once cooked and leave to cool for 5 minutes, then peel and deseed. Allow to cool completely before making the pesto.

• Start by putting the parmesan into a food processor and pulse a few times so it is a very rough crumble, then add cashews and repeat.

• Next add the garlic, blitz and then put in the basil, lemon and salt. Pulse until you have a rough paste and there are no large bits of any of the ingredients.

• Add a little olive oil to loosen if needed, this will also help the pesto bind with pasta or gnocchi.

tip

• You can use jarred red peppers to save time.

• Roast the red peppers a day or two beforehand, so they don’t have to cool and you can use them straightaway.

• If you don’t have a food processor you could use a hand blender or a pestle and mortar - if using a pestle them you would need to finely chop the red pepper with a knife and add to the mix at the end.

Chapati

This recipe makes simple chapatis to go with almost every curry. I can’t think of anything they wouldn’t work with, apart from may be potato-heavy dishes = carb overload! I’d always say make the dough before you start cooking the curry, so it can rest which you chop and prep, then you can roll out while the pan simmers away for half an hour.

Ingredients

Makes 8 x 15cm chapatis

• 120g wholemeal flour

• 120g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

• 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing

• 120ml hot water

• 1 tsp sea salt

Method

• Weigh the flours into a large bowl, add the salt and then gradually add the water and oil, stirring well to combine.

• Once most of the water is mixed in, use your hands to kneed the dough for 5-10 minutes until smooth. I make mine in a mixer with the dough attachment, reducing the kneading to 5 minutes.

• Next divide the dough into 8 and roll into balls on a floured surface and leave them to rest for 5 minutes. Make sure they’re well floured or the outside will dry out.

• Use a rolling pin to flatten the balls into thin discs.

• Put a frying pan on a medium to high heat and then start cooking the first chapati.

• Cook for about 30 seconds and when it until it starts to brown and bubble up, turn and repeat. Just make sure there are no uncooked darker patches before you wrap in tin foil wrap or a clean tea towel.

tip

• If you don’t eat all the chapatis, you can turn them into tortilla crisps the next day - follow the same instructions as for my homemade tortillas here.

Spinach & cashew pesto

Spinach pesto is a bit lighter and less aromatic than straight-up basil and works really well with the delicate flavour and texture of homemade gnocchi.

Now I realise that making gnocchi from scratch is probably not exactly at the top of your job list in the middle of lockdown when we’re all juggling a million things, so you could easily just use shop-bought or any kind of pasta as a sub - it’ll still be really delicious. The cooking method I recommend for shop-bought gnocchi is frying with olive oil in a hot pan for about 5 minutes, no need to boil. I think you get a better taste and texture that way.

As I haven’t actually made much gnocchi until recently (thank you Lockdown 1 & 3), I haven’t developed my own recipe as yet, so I’ve been using a really reliable one by The Smitten Kitchen if you fancy giving it a go. I’m not quite sure how I could improve on it to be honest, but I’ll experiment with a few different methods over the next few weeks and then develop my own version.

You’ll be pleased to know that the pesto is super easy to make as long as you have a food processor (I know, Nonna would turn in her grave), if not, it’s the traditional Italian way with elbow grease and a pestle and mortar.. way more authentic, but a little more time-consuming!

Ingredients

Serves 8

• 60g cashews

• 1 clove garlic

• 30g parmesan

• 4 tbsp olive oil

• 80g spinach

• 20g basil

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

• Juice of ½ lemon

Method

• Preheat the oven to 160ºc and toast the cashews on a baking tray for 6-7 minutes until slightly browned.

• Allow the nuts to cool while you get all the other ingredients weighed out.

• Put the parmesan in a food processor and blitz to a crumble, then add the nuts and pulse a few times.

• Add all the rest of the ingredients and continue to pulse until you have a paste-like texture. You will need to scrape down the sides at least a couple of times to ensure that all the ingredients are mixed evenly.

tip

• You can substitute the cashews for pine or hazelnuts if you prefer.

Guacamole

Ingredients

Serves 2-4

• 1 avocado, mashed

• 1 slice of red onion, chopped finely

• ½ red pepper, chopped finely

• 2-3 stems of coriander, leaves chopped roughly

• ¼ tsp sea salt

• Juice of ½ lime

Method

• Mix all the ingredients together!

Red onion & bay chutney

We (Ralph) polished off all the tomato chutney from last week, so I thought I’d make some more as it’s quickly become an essential item for us to have in the fridge! This one is absolutely delicious with a toastie, but you can also use it with the same combinations as the tomato relish I made a few days ago: halloumi wraps, quiche, (veggie or meat) sausages/hot dogs or ANY cheese!

When you think of making chutney you probably imagine lots of chopping, a huge pan, faffing about sterilising lots of little jars and then leaving it to mature for a month, but not with this recipe. It’s quick and easy to prep and you’ll end up with a couple of medium sized jars that you can just keep in the fridge for a month.

If you’re feeling more ambitious, you can double or triple the recipe, sterilse and store for a month to mature, but make sure you follow the jar cleaning guide I have linked below though.

Ingredients

Makes 2 medium sized jars

• 6 medium red onions finely sliced

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 100ml balsamic vinegar

• 100ml red wine vinegar

• 180g soft brown sugar

• 2 bay leaves

Method

• I like to use a food processor slicing attachment to save my eyes from onion chopping, but if you don’t have one, it’s easy to slice in thin half moons.

• Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and then add the onions, cook for about 30 minutes on low until they are all softened.

• Next add the sugar, bay leaves and vinegar, bring to the boil and then simmer for 40 minutes.

• I keep mine in the fridge, so I don’t bother sterilising the jars, but if you want to store at room temperature you’ll need to follow these instructions on BBC Good Food.

Roasted red pepper hummus

I love hummus and I love it even more when it’s flavoured with roasted vegetables. Red pepper is one of my favourite combinations as I think it really compliments the hummus, bringing a sweet and slightly smokey note from the charring. Make some at the beginning of the week and your future self will be thanking you every lunchtime. Well, may be not every, but quite a few ;-)

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 1 tin 400g chickpeas - drain well, reserve a little of the water

• 1 red pepper, from a jar or roasted if you prefer - pat dry with kitchen roll

• 2 tbsp tahini

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 small clove of garlic

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• ¾ tsp sea salt

• Optional: crumbled feta & a sprinkle of paprika, crudités to serve.

Method

• Put all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz to a smooth paste. If the hummus is too thick you can add a spoon of aquafaba (chickpea water) to loosen.

• Serve with crudités, homemade tortilla chips, crackers, wraps, baked potato or sourdough toast with feta and roasted pumpkin/sunflower seed on top.

Tomato & red onion chutney

As we’re all spending a lot more time at home right now, I thought it would be useful to share a recipe that will help you liven up your lunches. I don’t know about you, but I feel like the kitchen has turned into a revolving door canteen providing endless meals for everyone, so at the moment I want to keep things as simple (and tasty) as possible. Simple - to cut back on time spent meal prepping and tasty - well obvs, but especially at the moment because food is the highlight of everyone’s day right now!

I’m hoping this chutney might bring a spark of joy to your life, by injecting flavour into your lunch or dinner! We’ve added it to our burgers and halloumi wraps this week (see below), but it also works really well with cheese (and ham?) toasties, hot dogs, quiche, sausages or any kind of cheese. Alternatively you could mix a little chutney with mayonnaise and add to a sandwich or try mixing a spoon into a salad dressing.

This recipe takes about 10 minutes to prep and the rest is cooking time, so it’s pretty simple to throw together.

Ingredients

• 1 large red onion, halved and sliced thinly

• 8 vine tomatoes, chopped into small cubes

• 60g soft brown sugar

• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

• ½ tsp sea salt

Method

• Heat ½ tbsp olive oil in a medium sized pan and add the onions. Fry for 15 minutes and then add the tomatoes, sugar and red wine vinegar.

• Heat until bubbling and then reduce to a simmer for 40 minutes until you have a jammy texture.

• Add the salt and stir well. Mash any larger pieces of tomato with a fork.

• Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.

Spiced roast cauliflower

Cauliflower became a whole new vegetable once I discovered roasting it a few years ago. It takes on a completely different taste - none of the farty flavour you might remember from soggy school dinners - especially as you can add different spice combinations. This time I went for spices that work best with Indian style dishes, but if you leave out the turmeric and switch for dried chilli or cayenne then the cauliflower is lovely with Middle Eastern and Mexican food.

Ingredients

• 1 whole cauliflower, chopped into small florets

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp coriander

• ½ tsp turmeric

• 1 tsp sea salt

• Juice of ½ lemon

• A few spoons of natural yoghurt

Method

• Pre-heat the oven to 180ºc.

• Tip the cauliflower on to a large tray and gather it up at one end.

• Mix the oil, spices and salt in a small bowl and drizzle over the cauliflower, mixing well. Now spread out the florets evenly with small gaps in between them.

• Place in the oven for 15 minutes and then check and turn. One side should be browned before you turn. Put back in the oven for 8 minutes.

• Serve with a squeeze of lemon and natural yoghurt. Vegan coconut yoghurt works really well too.

Sweet potato hummus with homemade tortilla chips

Having a tub of homemade hummus in the fridge is really handy for making lots of different tasty lunches or dinners through the week. It’s simple to make and a great source of plant-based protein. My daughter is vegetarian and up until now as refused to eat hummus, but I added some to her wrap yesterday with fried red onion, sweetcorn and halloumi (pictured below) - she loved it! Major break-through as I want to expand her range of veggie protein sources. I had some with a baked potato, feta and a quickly thrown together salad, which was also lovely; but there are so many ways you can use hummus to make dishes more interesting. I’ve listed a few in the Tips section below.

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato (500g raw unpeeled)

• 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained & liquid reserved

• 1 clove garlic

• 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice

• 2 tbsp tahini

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tsp pimentón (or paprika)

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 4 tbsp aquafaba (chick pea water)

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc, put the potato on a tray and bake for about 50 minutes. Test with a knife to make sure it is soft all the way through before cutting in half, mashing and allowing to fully cool (I put mine in the freezer to speed it up).

• Put all the other ingredients in a food processor and blitz until really smooth.

• Next add in the cooled sweet potato and blitz thoroughly.

Tip

• Bake the sweet potato a day or two before you make the hummus, so it takes you even less time to prep. If you’re making dinner and have the oven on, then put the potato in as well. Save time and electricity! Just store the cooked potato (unpeeled) in the fridge over night and bring up to room temp, if possible, before adding to the hummus mix.

• Serve with homemade tortilla chips, wraps, baked potato, crudités, grain or rice salad, roasted veggies… the list is endless if you’re a hummus fan!

Veggie gravy

This is a rich hearty vegan gravy that goes really well with just about any traditional British comfort food. It’s perfect for my chestnut, mushroom and pecan roast; veggies sausages and mash; Yorkshire puddings; roasted vegetables; anything you would normally have gravy with basically!

It’s simple to make and can be frozen for up to 3 months; I like to make a big pan and keep a stock in the freezer so I don’t have to make a meaty version for the boys and a veggie one for my daughter when we have a Sunday roast. I do the same thing with nut roasts as they divide into about 6-8 slices and as only 3 of us eat it at a time, I can freeze the rest and use it next time.

Ingredients

Makes 1.3 L

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 2 onions, chopped

• 2 sticks of celery, chopped finely

• 2 carrots, chopped

• 8 g dried porcini mushrooms

• 2 fresh bay leaves

• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme

• 2 tbsp Marsala wine

• 2 tsp dijon mustard

• 1 tbsp tomato purée

• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

• 1.5 L vegetable stock

• 4 tbsp cornflour

• ½ tbsp red wine vinegar

• 1 tsp sea salt

Method

• Heat the olive oil in a large deep pan. Fry the onion, celery, carrot, porcini, bay and thyme gently for 20 minutes.

• Then add the Marsala and cook for 2 minutes, before adding the tomato purée, stock, Dijon mustard, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar and simmer for a further 45 minutes or until the carrots are really soft.

• At this point I used a hand blender to blitz the veggies before passing through a sieve, but you could just mash them through with a fork. Obviously you’ll have quite a bit of left over veggie matter, but you’ve squeezed out most of the good stuff!

• Mix the cornflour with a little water so it is all dissolved into a thick paste.

• Pour the gravy back into the pan and heat to a gentle simmer.

• Add half the cornflour mix, but make sure you whisk it in quickly with a fork or you’ll get lumps. Allow the gravy to thicken and add the rest of the cornflour gradually until you get the right consistency. It will take about 3-5 minutes for the cornflour to work. You may not need to use all of it, or you might want to add more depending on how thick you like your gravy!

• Add red wine vinegar, salt and simmer gently for 5 minutes.

Tip

• If you don’t have Marsala, you could switch for sherry, vermouth, madeira or port.

Homemade tortilla chips

Ingredients

Serves 4-6 with dips

• 3 tortilla wraps (I use Mission Deli 50:50 wholemeal/white)

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• Generous pinch of table salt

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc.

• Pour the olive or sunflower oil into a small bowl.

• Place the tortilla wraps on a baking tray, brush well with the oil on both sides, then use scissors to chop in half and then into rough triangles.

• Spread evenly on two large trays, sprinkle with sea salt and place in the oven for 5-6 minutes. Check and remove any that have browned on both sides (usually the ones on the outside of the tray), turn the rest and place back in the oven for 2 minutes

• Serve with any kind of dip you like! Try my roasted tomato & red pepper, pea & broadbean or romesco.

  Tip

• Use any kind of tortilla you prefer - seeded works really well.

Roasted red pepper & tomato salsa

This is a really versatile salsa that works with lots of different dishes, I made it to go with butternut squash and leek fritters last week, but it would also be great with mini roasties, homemade tortilla chips, avocado on sourdough toast or roasted aubergine slices. It would also work really well with griddled fish or chicken if you want a non-veggie option.

Photo was taken last week on the one occasion that I’ve seen the sun recently! Where’s all the bright autumn sunshine gone? Bit fed up with the bloody lockdown fog in Leeds! Anyway this salsa is an antidote to the weather, bringing some colour and a good hit of flavour into your kitchen.

Ingredients

• 2 red peppers

• 1/2 tbsp rapeseed oil

• 350g baby plum tomatoes, halved

• 1 large garlic clove

• 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1/4 tsp sea salt

• 2 tsp red wine vinegar

• Small handful of chopped parsley or coriander

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc

• Put the tomatoes and garlic on a tray and coat with approx 2 tsp olive or rapeseed oil. Roast for 20 minutes, checking half way. 

• Put the peppers on a tray lined with tin foil and place under a hot grill. Allow each side to blacken, but not char. Turn about every 4-5 minutes until the skin of every side is black. This should take about 10-12 minutes in total. Once they’re done, wrap the tin foil around the peppers and allow to cool.

• Peel the skin off the peppers and remove all the seeds. Chop roughly into 1 cm dice and drain the juice from the peppers into a bowl.

• Add 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, squeeze out the roasted garlic from it’s skin and mash into the oil, then pour in the red wine vinegar and salt, mixing well.

• Add the tomatoes, red peppers and whichever herbs you’re using.

Cumin & chilli butternut squash wedges

Butternut squash is one of my favourite vegetables to eat, but only roasted! I love the way it sweetens and caramelises when cooked in this way, as opposed to the blandness of when it is just added it to a sauce and cooked in it. When roasted the cooking process itself adds flavour and improves the texture, plus you can really make it interesting by spiking with different spices.

Cumin and chilli is definitely a go-to combination for me, but I also like to use harissa blends or ras el hanout. Honestly, I could just eat a plate of roasted squash for dinner, but if you don’t quite feel the same way as me then it’s great with my vegan protein or lentil and bean chillis and guacamole.

Ingredients

Serves 6-8

• 1 butternut squash

• 2 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil

• 1.5 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp chilli

• A good pinch of sea salt

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc.

• Chop the squash in half length ways, or thirds if it is particularly large, and peel.

• Next chop each section in half down the middle and then into approx 3cm wedges (at the widest point). The length should be about 8cm as a rough guide.

• Put the squash in a large tray or two making sure the wedges have enough space around them. If not they will steam, not brown.

• Drizzle the squash with the oil then sprinkle over the spices evenly and mix to coat, sprinkle with salt and put in the oven for 15 minutes.

• Open the door just an inch to let out the excess steam from the oven and close again for another 5 minutes. *A note on why I do this below*.

• Now turn the squash so it browns on the other side, put back on the oven for a further 15 minutes. Turn one more and put back in the oven for a final 5 minutes.

Tip

• By opening the oven door an inch, you release the excess steam so the squash will brown and have a lovely sweet caramelised flavour. I use this trick when roasting any vegetable as my oven isn’t great at venting excess steam, but you might not need to do this if yours if more efficient. Just check next time you’re roasting a tray of veggies - if you get a face full of steam then that could be why you’re not getting that tasty caramelisation.

• Try to chop your wedges to a similar size as stated above so they cook according to the recipe. If they’re smaller there is a risk they’ll over cook, but if you keep an eye on them and reduce the times accordingly then they’ll be fine!

Coconut & lime quinoa

This makes a great alternative to rice in tacos or with my Vegan Protein Chilli. It’s super simple and full of nutrients as quinoa is protein rich (making up 15% of the grain), B vitamins, magnesium and iron. I’ve used tri-coloured quinoa here, but you could use any single colour if you prefer.

Ingredients, serves 4 as a side

• 200g quinoa

• 1 x 400ml tin coconut milk

• 1/2 lime, zest and juice

• 3/4 tsp sea salt

Method

• Start by rinsing the quinoa throughly to get rid of all the husky bits and also the bitter earthly flavour that you get if you just cook it straight from the packet.

• I put the quinoa in a pan and cover with lukewarm water, swizzle with my hand, allow to settle and drain as much water off as I can without pouring the quinoa down the drain. I find this easier than passing through a sieve. Repeat a further 3 times until the water runs clear and there are hardly any bits in the water.

• Keep the wet quinoa in the pan and don’t worry about draining all the water off, there will be some left. Add 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, the coconut milk - use a little water to rinse out the tin and pour in as well.

• Simmer for 25 minutes.

• Add 1/4 tsp sea salt, lime zest & juice

Coconut quinoa with vegan chilli, coconut yoghurt, avocado & homemade tortilla chips

Shown here with vegan bean chilli, avocado, coconut yoghurt & homemade tortilla chips.

Pea, broadbean & avocado dip

This is one of my fave spring / summer dips to make. It’s light, fresh, soooo green and always seems to be the star of any plate or spread. Everyone always loves it and the good news is that it’s another easy one to whip up quickly.

Ingredients

• 200g frozen broad beans

• 200g frozen peas

• 1 avocado, mashed roughly

• 10 mint leaves

• 15 basil leaves

• 4 tbsp olive oil

• 2 tbsp lemon juice

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

• A good few grinds of black pepper

Method

• Cook the broad beans in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then take off the heat and pour in the peas. Let then stand for 2 minutes until the peas have defrosted.

• Drain well and put in a food processor along with the rest of the ingredients, except the avocado. Blitz until you have the texture you want, I like mine to be a little rough so I don’t mix it for too long, but if you keep going you’ll get more of a puree.

• While you’re blitzing the peas, scoop out the avocado into a medium sized bowl and mash leaving a few chunks for texture.

• Scrape out the mixture from the food processor into the avocado and mix well.

• Serve!

Yorkshire puddings

The is the ONLY Yorkshire pudding recipe that has ever worked for me! I found it on BBC Good Food a while ago to my great relief as not being able to make a decent Yorkshire is somewhat of an embarrassment for a ‘proper’ Yorkshire lass.

Ingredients

Makes 12 muffin cases or 8 pudding sized

• 140g plain flour

• 4 eggs

• 200ml milk

• sunflower oil, for cooking

Method

• Set the oven to 230°c fan.

• Drizzle the oil into the tins, making sure there is enough to just cover the bottom of each mould. Place in the oven for 5-10 minutes to get very hot.

• Make the batter by measuring the flour into a large bowl, add the eggs and whisk to a thick paste. I use a mixer to save my arm going dead.

• Add the milk gradually and mix until smooth.

• Pour into the tins and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

  Tip

• Once they’re cooked, you can freeze them for a month