creamy green pea pasta

Here’s a gorgeous vibrant green pasta with a fresh delicate flavour and lots of the good stuff! Green peas have a delicious sweet flavour and work really well with fresh herbs such as parsley or basil. I’ve have added some optional marscapone cheese for extra creaminess, but you can just add parmesan if you prefer as the peas have a naturally creamy flavour when pureed anyway. I also used fresh chicken stock to boost protein and flavour, but a good vegetable stock, preferably fresh, would also be great. And if you want to make the sauce plant based, you can leave out the dairy and add some fried firm tofu, or top with cashew nuts.

Peas are a great source of vitamin C (around 66% of your RDA in 100g), and protein (5g per 100g), which may be important for supporting your immune system, collagen formation and wound healing. This sauce is also high in fibre, especially if you use wholemeal, lentil or spelt pasta, to keep your gut microbes happy.

ingredients

Serves 4

• ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• Large knob of butter

• 1 large onion, chopped finely

• 1 large garlic clove, grated finely

• 500g frozen peas

• 500ml chicken or vegetable stock

• Handful of fresh parsley or basil, or both!

• 3 tbsp mascarpone cheese, optional

• 2 handfuls of grated parmesan

• Good pinch of salt and grind of black pepper

• Squeeze of lemon

• Pasta: which ever kind you prefer!

method

• Heat the olive oil and butter in a large saucepan and then fry the onions gently for around 15 minutes until browned. 

• Next add the garlic and fry for a minute before adding the frozen peas.

• Start cooking the pasta now.

• Pour in the stock and simmer for 5 minutes.

• Add the herbs and then blitz the sauce with a hand blender.

• Add the mascarpone if you’re using it, and stir well.

• Put in the parmesan, salt, and pepper and stir.

• Add the drained pasta to the sauce and serve with a squeeze of lemon, extra parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil.

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.

Creamy tomato orzotto

This is a great crowd pleaser dish that doesn’t take long to make. It’s perfect for mid-week as it’s easy to throw together and if our household is anything to go by, everyone will love it - even if they do pick out the courgettes!

If there are other veggies that you prefer, you could also switch the pepper or courgette for spinach, peas, broccoli or sweetcorn - all would work really well . I would add any of these with the roasted tomatoes towards the end, apart from broccoli as it would need slightly longer to cook.

Ingredients

Serves 4 generously

• 250g baby plum tomatoes, halved

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped

• 1 red or yellow pepper, sliced

• 1 small courgette, half moon slices

• 1 large clove garlic

• 400g orzo

• 1L boiling water

• 2 tsp vegetable bouillon (low salt)

• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, or ½ tsp dried

• 4 tbsp (heaped) or 120g mascarpone cheese

• 50g parmesan

• ½ tbsp red wine vinegar

• 1 ¼ tsp sea salt

• A good grind of black pepper

• Large handful basil, leaves roughly chopped

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc

• Spread the tomatoes on a large tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Roast in the oven for 25 minutes.

• Heat ½ tbsp of olive oil in a large pan and fry the onion gently for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and pepper, cooking for a further 5 minutes.

• Next add the courgette slices and cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly.

• Add the orzo, boiling water, tinned tomatoes, vegetable bouillon and thyme, stirring well. Simmer with the lid off for 20 minutes, stirring regularly to stop the orzo sticking to the bottom of the pan.

• Then add the roasted tomatoes, carefully scraping all the residue from the bottom of the tin for extra flavour.

• Stir in the mascarpone, 30g parmesan, vinegar, salt, pepper and finish with the basil.

• Serve with a green salad, the rest of the parmesan and garlic ciabatta (if you have time).

Creamy broccoli pesto pasta

Summery veggie pasta that we love in our household. The kids will even put up with wholewheat pasta in this one! I’m usually a bit ambivalent about brown pasta, but this fusilli from Sainsbury’s is really tasty - nutty flavoursome without tasting too ‘healthy’.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1 small onion, finely chopped

• ½ head broccoli

• 1 small or ½ large courgette

• Handful of spinach, optional

• 2-3 tbsp crème fraîche

• ½ tsp sea salt

• 80g wholewheat fusilli

  Pesto

• 40g basil / parsley

• ½ garlic clove

• 15g parmesan

• 30g pine nuts

• Juice of ¼-½ lemon

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

• Heat ½ tbsp olive oil in a large pan and fry the onions gently for 5 minutes.

• Next add the broccoli and courgettes for approx 15 minutes until soft. Turn up a bit a bit to brown

• Cook the pasta as per the packet instructions.

• Make the pesto by adding all the ingredients to a food processor and blitzing to a rough paste

• Add the spinach to the broccoli for the last couple of minutes, stir well and let it wilt.

• Drain pasta, reserving a little water.

• Add the pasta, pesto and crème fraîche, if you’re using, to the vegetables, mix gently.

• Add a little pasta water to loosen if necessary - about 4-6 tbsp pasta water

Summer pea & asparagus pasta

If you’re looking for a light and easy summer pasta dish, this is it! The peas and asparagus make a lovely change from tomato based sauces, especially at this time of year.

I’ve used asparagus as it is still just about in season (and I love it), but going into the summer you could swap for courgettes. I would chop and add them to the pan 5 minutes after the onions, so they’re almost cooked before adding the peas.

Another addition would be a sprig of mint, although I would probably use half the amount of the other herbs, so as not to dominate. A back-note of mint would be really nice and fresh.

I’ve used trofie pasta (posh!) this time as I happened to see it in my local deli, but you can use any kind of dried or fresh pasta. I also love this sauce with wholemeal if you’re feeling virtuous!

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1 small onion, chopped finely

• 300g frozen peas

• 4 large stalks of basil, chopped

• 4 large stalks of parsley, chopped

• 2 tsp vegetable bouillon in 250ml water

• 250g asparagus, stalks chopped, top 2” reserved

• 60g parmesan, grated finely

• 1 tsp sea salt

• Juice of ½ small lemon

• 2-3 tbsp half fat crème fraîche or double cream, optional

• 450g pasta - whichever you prefer

Method

• First heat ½ tbsp extra virgin olive in a medium sized saucepan then fry the onion gently for 10 minutes.

• Cook the pasta as the packet instructions - usually around 10 minutes in boiling water. Put a steamer on top of the pasta pan and cook the asparagus tips. Or you can gently pan fry in butter for extra flavour.

• Next add the garlic, 250g peas and chopped asparagus stalks, fry gently for approx 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until defrosted.

• Pour 250ml of boiling water in a jug and stir in the vegetable bouillon, pour into the pea mix with the basil and parsley (including stalks). Blitz with a hand blender thoroughly until smooth, this will take 5 minutes or so.

• Next add the remaining peas, 40g parmesan and salt. Heat the sauce gently so the peas warm through.

• Add the crème fraîche at this point, If you’re using it.

• Serve with the remaining parmesan, top with the asparagus tips and a good crack of black pepper.

Orzo, sweet pepper, spinach & toasted almond salad

It’s all about salads for me at the moment! I love the warmer weather and the food it brings, out with soup and in with lots of colourful plates of grains, veggies, cheese and fresh herbs. This is a Italian-style plate with a lovely combination of pasta, roasted peppers, spinach, basil and toasted almonds in a garlic red wine vinaigrette. The salad is vegan, but if you want to top with crumbled feta, that would work really well too.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 3 sweet peppers (red, orange or yellow)

• 250g orzo

• 150g fresh spinach

• A handful of ripped basil leaves

• 50g almonds

Dressing

• 60ml olive oil

• 20ml red wine vinegar

• 1/2 tbsp maple or honey

• ½ small garlic clove, grated

• 1 thinly sliced half moon of red onion, finely chopped (see photo below)

• ¼ tsp sea salt

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc.

• Make the dressing by mixing all the ingredients in a salad shaker (I love this one by Oxo)

• Spread the almonds on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 6-7 minutes. Allow to cool and then chop roughly.

• Cook the orzo as per the packet instructions, usually simmer for 8-12 minutes, depending on the brand. Drain and rinse in cold water to stop it cooking further. Once thoroughly drained put in a bowl and drizzle with a little of the dressing to stop it clumping. Add a good pinch of sea salt too.

• While the orzo is cooking, roast the peppers: put them 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, deseed and cut into strips. Reserve the juices from the peppers and pour over the salad before serving for extra flavour.

• Steam the spinach for approx 3 minutes until it has just cooked, then spread out on a plate to cool.

• Mix the peppers, spinach and basil leaves into the orzo and pour over 2/3 of the dressing. Spread the salad onto a large serving plate, drizzle over a little extra dressing and the juice from the peppers. Finish by scattering over over a few basil leaves and the toasted almonds.

Tip

• Avoid green peppers as they’re unripened and bitter.

• Save the rest of the red onion to chop thinly in salads.

• This salad tastes even better for lunch the next day! I think because the flavours from the dressing have more time to permeate the pasta. Or may be it was because I didn’t have to actually make anything!

5 ingredient tomato & mascarpone sauce

Here’s a quick mid-week recipe that always goes down well in our house. It’s made from 5 ingredients (excluding the salt and pasta!) and is a lovely creamy tomato sauce that works with any pasta. You can also easily adapt the recipe for meat-eaters by changing the sausage or switching for crispy bacon pieces.

Personally I think the sauce is really nice used on it’s own with just a little parmesan, if you want to leave out the sausages completely, or stir in a couple of handfuls of spinach to change things up.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 6 veggie sausages, 1 cm slices

• 1 large onion, chopped finely

• 1 large garlic clove, grated

• 2 x 400g tinned tomato

• 100g mascarpone cheese

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 400g rigatoni

Method

• Heat ½ tbsp rapeseed or olive oil in a large shallow pan and cook on a medium heat for around 8-10 minutes until browned.

• Remove from the pan and set aside in a covered bowl.

• Heat a little more oil in the pan and then add the onions. Cook on a low heat for about 10 minutes until softened.

• Next add the garlic and stir in well. Allow to cook for about 1 minute.

• Pour in the tinned tomatoes and ½ a tin of water (swill out the remaining tomato juice) then simmer for 20 minutes.

• Cook the pasta after the sauce has been bubbling for 10 minutes, so they’re ready at the same time.

• At this point you can either break the tomatoes up with a wooden spoon or blitz the sauce with a hand blender. I prefer to do the latter, then add the mascarpone, salt and sausages. Stir well and make sure the cheese has completely melted and the sausages have warmed through.

• Serve with plenty of grated parmesan and a green salad.

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.

Family favourite veggie lasagne

I’ve been working on this veggie lasagne on and off for a while now as I wanted to get exactly the right balance of tomato and cheese sauce to pasta. I think I went through five different versions, each with slight tweaks to the sauce and a streamlining of the ingredients to keep things as simple as possible, without compromising on taste obviously! Finally, I think I’ve cracked it, so here’s the recipe for you guys to try, let me know what you think.

As there are two main elements to making a lasagne, the way I do it is to cook the tomato sauce the day before (or even two), so all I need to make is the cheesy béchamel and then assemble. This cuts the work time to 20-30 minutes on the day as lasagne can sometimes seem too time-consuming. A bonus is that this recipe serves 6-8, so you should have dinner sorted for a couple of days too.

When we are finally allowed to socialise, lasagne is a great dish to make for friends (roll on June!!) as you can do all the prep ahead, pop it in the oven when your guests arrive and serve with a big green salad. I’d be pretty surprised if you got any complaints from meat-eaters as this lasagne is full of flavour, from the umami of the tomato sauce to the lovely rich cheesy béchamel. It’s certainly a favourite in our multi-diet house!

Ingredients

Serves 6-8

• 1 aubergine, ½ cm slices

• 2 large onions, finely chopped

• 2 celery sticks, finely chopped

• 2 large cloves of garlic, grated

• 2 red peppers, small dice

• 1 courgette, sliced

• 1 vegetable stock cube

• 800g tinned tomatoes

• 2 tbsp tomato purée

• ½ tbsp red wine vinegar

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 1 handful of basil, stalks chopped, leaves torn

• 500g fresh lasagne sheets

Cheese sauce

• 90g butter

• 90g flour

• 1L milk

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 150g Gruyère or Comte cheese

• 150g gouda, grated or sliced

• 50g parmesan, grated finely

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc. Brush a large tray with oil and spread out the aubergine, turning to make sure both sides are coated in oil. Sprinkle with sea salt. Roast for 20 minutes turn and cook for 5-8 minutes more. Cut the slices in half and set aside.

• While the aubergine is roasting, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in large pan and cook the onion and celery for 10 minutes.

• Next add the peppers for 5 minutes and then repeat adding the garlic and courgettes.

• Pour in the tinned tomatoes, tomato purée, basil stalks and ½ a tin of water (swilling out to get the last bits of tomato juice). Simmer for 20 minutes.

• Then add the aubergine, red wine vinegar and sea salt for another 5 minutes. Finish by stirring in the basil leaves.

• Cheesy béchamel sauce: while the tomato sauce is bubbling away, melt the butter in a large non-stick saucepan and then tip in the flour, use a silicon whisk to mix thoroughly and allow to warm through for a minute.

• Start pouring the milk in slowly, 50ml at a time, so you don’t get lots of splashing as you whisk it in.

• Quickly add the next 50ml, whisk rapidly and repeat until you’ve used about 300ml, then you can start adding 100ml each time. Once you’ve poured in all the milk leave on a low heat for a further 10-12 minutes to thicken, but whisk or stir regularly so you don’t get lumps.

• Add 100g of Gruyère or Comté, 25g parmesan, sea salt and a good grind of pepper; stir well and allow to melt for a couple of minutes.

• Now assemble the lasagne in a large oven proof dish (I used 24 x 33cm) by first adding a big spoon or two of the tomato base, a ladle of cheese sauce (drizzle over the tomato generously), gouda and then 2 lasagne sheets. Repeat until the last layer of pasta and then cover with cheese sauce and the rest of the Gruyère/Comte and parmesan.

• Bake in the oven at 180ºc for 35-40 mins. If the top still needs a little browning then place under a hot grill for a minute or so, but watch like a hawk so it doesn’t burn!

tip

• There’s no need to pre-cook fresh lasagne sheets, although the packet will tell you to do so.

• Cut any leftover lasagne into thick strips and use like pappardelle.

• Stir a couple of handfuls of spinach into the tomato sauce to add some greenery.

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.

Tomato, red pepper & pasta soup

The inspiration for this recipe was my kids, as neither are particularly keen on soup, so I thought I would try and come up with one that they might eat. Using pasta and tomatoes seemed like a good starting point - as show me a kid that doesn’t eat that combination?? I’ve added some veggies, kept it pretty simple, but with a sneaky tin of chickpeas to make it more interesting for me. Obvs the kids will probably pick them out, but you never know, the odd one might get past their strict filtering systems! You can always leave them out if you prefer, but they’re a decent source of protein.

It took me just over 30 minutes to make, so it’s quick to get on the table, or a good one to make in a batch for lunches over a few days. I also think this soup is a nice one to have for dinner as the pasta makes it quite hearty and you could serve it with big wedges of fresh bread or cheese on toast. Who’s going to complain about that?!

And one last thing - the soup is vegan if you leave off the cheese or sub for a vegan variety.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 1 red onion, chipped finely

• 1 stick of celery, chopped finely

• 1 clove garlic, grated

• 1 red pepper, sliced

• 2 x 400g tinned tomatoes, 1.5 tins of water

• ½ vegetable stock cube

• Handful of parsley, stalks chopped finely, leaves reserved

• 100g small pasta

• 1 x 400g tinned chickpeas

• ¾ tsp sea salt

• ½ tbsp red wine vinegar

• Handful grated parmesan, cheddar, gruyere or parmesan, optional

Method

• Heat ½ tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan and add the onions and celery for 10 minutes.

• Next add the garlic and red pepper, cooking for a further 5 minutes.

• Pour in the tomatoes, plus 1 ½ tins of water, the stock cube, parsley stalks and pasta.

• Simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes and then add the drained chickpeas.

• Cook for a further 10 minutes and then add the salt and red wine vinegar. Simmer for another couple of minutes.

• Stir in half the parsley leaves and sprinkle the rest on top along with the parmesan to serve.

• Serve with cheese on toast, toasted sourdough or fresh bread and butter.

Fresh tomato & basil sauce

In our house we eat a lot of pasta, so I’m always trying to make different kinds of sauces to change things up a bit. I often make a big batch of tomato sauce using tinned as it’s is good solid classic that is great vfm, but I like to use fresh sometimes as you get quite a different result. Roasting fresh cherry tomatoes with onion and then blitzing gives a creamier and sweeter taste to the sauce, which in my opinion is the posh sister of the tinned version! It’s a bit more expensive as you’re using fresh tomatoes, but the total cost for 4 portions should be around £2, depending on where you shop, so it’s still pretty good value.

Serve with any kind of pasta, fried or roasted gnocchi, grilled/breaded chicken or fish, veggie/meat balls, courgetti, mix with rice and cheese for stuffed peppers or courgettes, mini roast potatoes, or as a French bread pizza (tomato base topped with cheese). Lots of choices!!

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1 large onion, sliced in thin half moons

• 500g baby plum tomatoes

• 1 garlic clove

• 3 stems of basil, stalks chopped finely, leaves ripped

• ½ tsp sea salt

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200ºc.

• Put the onions, whole tomatoes and unpeeled garlic cloves on a large baking tray, drizzle with oil and then space out so they’re not too crowded

• Place in the oven for 20 minutes.

• Check and turn with a spatula and put back in for a further 10 minutes.

• Squeeze out the cooked garlic on to the tray and then scrape all the tomato mix into a large saucepan.

• Pour about 100ml of water onto the tray and deglaze to get all the lovely flavour from roasting the vegetables of it and add to the pan along with approx 100ml of water, salt, the basil stalks and cook gently for 5 minutes.

• Next add the basil leaves and salt, blitz the sauce with a hand blender until it has a smooth consistency but leaving some texture.

• You might need to add another 50ml of water to get the right consistency though - the same as a normal tomato sauce for pasta.

simple mushroom spaghetti

This is a super easy, but very tasty dish, that you can knock up in about 15 minutes. The secret is getting all the ingredients mise en place, so they’re ready to go and you can just chuck them together at the last minute.

I’ve written the recipe for two people as the kids aren’t that keen on mushrooms, so it would usually be something I’d make for me and Ralph. As it’s quick to cook I don’t mind making a different meal for the kids or it might be a night where I just stick a pizza in the oven for them!

Having said that, this time I fried some sliced broccoli in butter instead of mushrooms for Ella-Rose, so she had virtually the same as us. So you can adapt it to everyone’s vegetable tastes without too much extra work.

It’s another one of those back pocket recipes that you can cook anywhere anytime and adapt to your taste. You might fancy adding more parmesan, a little chilli, switching the veggies to greens, changing the pasta, or roasted tomatoes and basil. It’s one I keep returning to as it’s so delicious and I love the simplicity of the ingredients.

Ingredients

Serves 2

• 230-250g spaghetti

• 20g unsalted butter

• ½ tbsp olive oil

• 250g mushrooms, sliced

• 1 large clove of garlic, grated

• 40g parmesan, grated

• A handful of chopped parsley

• ½ tsp sea salt

• A good grind of black pepper

• Juice of ½ lemon

Method

• Heat a large pan of salted water and start cooking the pasta.

• Heat the butter and olive oil in a large pan and then add the mushrooms, frying on a medium heat for 8 minutes.

• Next add the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes.

• Drain the pasta reserving a little water to add to the mushrooms.

• Stir 10g of butter into the mushrooms, allow to melt before adding 4-5 tbsp of pasta water, spaghetti, parsley, salt and 30g parmesan into the mushrooms.

• Squeeze over ¼ lemon and mix well.

• Serve with rest of the parmesan, ¼ lemon, a green salad and a glass of crisp white wine.

Easy sausage & tomato pasta

This is a very simple pasta dish that won’t take you long to prepare. It’s one of those dinners that is just an easy crowd pleaser on any night of the week and is super flexible as it can be vegetarian, vegan or meaty!

I’ve kept the ingredient list short and the method straightforward, so it can become one of your back pocket recipes that you can just throw together without referring back here.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 6 vegetarian or pork sausages

• 1 large onion, chopped finely

• 1 garlic clove, grated or chopped finely

• 2 x 400g tins of tomatoes

• 1 tsp balsamic or red wine vinegar

• ½ tsp sea salt

• A good grind of black pepper

• A small handful of basil leaves, torn

• A handful grated parmesan

• Your choice of pasta

Method

• First cut the sausages into 2cm thick slices. Defrost thoroughly first if you’re using frozen, if you’re using pork I would squeeze the meat out of the casing and roughly roll into small balls.

• Whatever kind of sausage you’re using, preheat ½ tbsp of olive oil in a large pan and fry the pieces until browned on all sides. This will take about 5-6 minutes for vegetarian sausages and a little longer for meat (check the inside middle temperature is at least 63ºc with a meat thermometer).

• Remove the sausage pieces from the pan and put in a covered bowl. Set aside.

• Add ½ tbsp olive oil to the pan, heat and then put in the onions. Fry on low for about 15 minutes until softened and beginning to brown.

• Then add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring well.

• Next pour in the tomatoes and simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes.

• Break up the tomatoes if they not already chopped, add 1 tsp balsamic vinegar and the sausage pieces. Allow the sauce to bubble for a further 5 minutes (making sure the sausage has heated through properly) and then add the basil leaves, salt and pepper.

• Serve with any kind of pasta you like!

Tip

• I actually didn’t have any basil in when I made this, so don’t worry if it’s missing, the sauce still tastes great!

• Add a blob of mascarpone cheese or crème fraîche to make it creamy, chilli flakes for heat, slices of jarred (so no extra cook time) red pepper for sweetness, spinach leaves for greenery! All these additions would go in for the final 5 minutes with the sausage.

• Make the sauce vegan by leaving out the parmesan and use plant based sausages.

• Meat-eaters could switch sausage for small pieces of crispy bacon.

Vegan bolognese

I’ve been working on a good vegan bolognese sauce for a while now as it’s harder to really get a rich flavour into a soya mince sauce. I tried again last night, thinking carefully about which ingredients would bring the right depth of flavour and it turned out really well. My veggie daughter loved it and my carnivore son begrudgingly admitted it was ‘decent’, although this was partly due to the fact that it didn’t have any lentils in it! He is a very reluctant ‘flexitarian’ ie. forced to eat more veggie food than he’d like because that’s what I cook all the time! So if he likes something then it’s a big win for the veggies ;-)

Ingredients

Serves 6-8

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 2 onions, chopped

• 1 red pepper, chopped

• 2 large garlic cloves, grated or minced

• 1 kg soya mince (I used a mix of Plant Pioneers / Vivera)

• 350ml red wine

• 100g sun dried tomatoes, chopped

• 2 tbsp tomato purée

• 2 x 400g tinned tomatoes

• 1 vegetable stock cube

• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tsp celery salt

• ½ tbsp red wine vinegar

• 1 ½ tsp sea salt

• A good grind of black pepper

Method

• Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the onions and cook for 10 minutes on low. Then add the red pepper for a further 10 minutes.

• Next add the garlic and cook for 1 minute before putting the soya mince into the pan. Mix well and then turn up the heat and pour in the wine. Allow to bubble and cook off any harsh alcohol flavours and then add the sun-dried, puréed and tinned tomatoes, crumbled stock cube, Worcestershire sauce and celery salt.

• Fill both empty tomato tins with water and pour into the pan. Mix well and cook with the lid off for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally.

• Add the red wine vinegar and seasoning and cook for 5 minutes.

veggie sausage, mushroom & spinach rigatoni

This is a family favourite in our house and as it only takes about 20 minutes to make it’s a recipe I keep returning to when I want a tasty mid-week meal. We’ve also been trying to gradually reduce our meat intake as a household and this is a dish that my carnivore middle son and my vegetarian daughter both devour. I’d say it’s a vegetarian meal that even the keenest meat eater would (perhaps begrudgingly!) enjoy.

It’s a good one for students too; my son is at uni and he makes this quite regularly as it’s a nice alternative to the classic student tomato pasta - I think that’s all he ate in his first year!

The recipe is flexible in that you can switch (or remove) the vegetables if you don’t like them or want a change. Leeks, carrots, broccoli, kale, peas, sweetcorn or even roasted butternut squash would all work really well, but you would need to adjust the cooking times accordingly. I would sub leeks, carrots, broccoli or other veggies that need a longer cooking time for the mushrooms and then add frozen peas, sweetcorn or roasted squash at the last minute instead of spinach. Kale would need a little longer to cook properly.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil

• 6 Quorn sausages, chopped into diagonal slices

• 1.5 tbsp butter

• 1 clove garlic, grated

• 400g chestnut mushrooms, sliced

• 1.5 tbsp plain flour

• 1/2 vegetable stock cube ( I like Kallo low salt)

• 400ml water

• 200ml crème fraîche (I use half fat if I can find it)

• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

• Juice of 1/4 lemon

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

• 60g grated parmesan

• 100g spinach

• 320g rigatoni

Method

• Warm 1/2 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil in a wide bottomed pan and add the sausage slices, cook on a medium heat for 3-4 minutes so that they start to brown.

• Then melt the butter and 1/2 tbsp oil in the same pan, before adding the garlic, stir well and then add the mushrooms. Cook on a medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

• Fill a large lidded pan of salted water and bring to the boil ready for the pasta.

• Next sprinkle the flour on to the mushrooms and sausage, stir well to coat and then add the stock cube (crumbled), mustard and 400ml of water. Stir and allow to thicken, simmering on low for 5 minutes.

• Start to cook the pasta while the sauce is thickening.

• Add the crème fraîche, and 30g parmesan to the sausage mix, stir and warm through gently on low for 5 minutes while the pasta cooks. For the last minute mix in the spinach allowing it to wilt then finish with the lemon and salt.

• Drain the pasta (reserving a little cooking water) and add to the sauce.

• Loosen with 1-2 tbsp of the cooking water if needed. Serve with a good grind of black pepper and the remaining parmesan.

Tip

• Have all the ingredients prepped and ready to go as the overall cooking time is about 10 minutes so you need to go quickly once you start cooking the sausages.

• If you prefer to use pork sausages then just use the same method, but squeeze the filing out of the casing to create mini meat balls as the skin becomes tough and stringy if you just chop them up.

• I use Quorn sausages or Linda McCartney’s , but they do break up a little bit more than Quorn.

• Vegetable combinations to try: roasted butternut squash & kale, leek & spinach, mushroom & kale, broccoli & sweetcorn (to keep the kids happy!), peas & spinach.

Tomato & basil sauce

This is my everyday tomato sauce that I make regularly to go with pasta or use on homemade pizzas. Tt’s is good solid classic that is great vfm costing approx £3.40 for 8-10 portions. I usually make a big pan of it so I can freeze half and use the rest in various ways throughout the week. It’s a great way to get ahead in the kitchen and reduce the time you spend cooking after a busy day at work.

Tomato sauce is simple to make and super versatile as you can add lots of different ingredients to switch it up to make a whole new meal. These are a few of my favourite ways to serve it:

• go classic with grated parmesan or crumbled feta

• stir in some spinach at the last minute and top with feta

• roast aubergine slices with olive oil and sea salt (approx 35 minutes on 180ºc, turn half way) add to the sauce and cook for 5 mins, feta works really well here.

• blacken a red pepper under the grill, peel, chop, add to the sauce and cook for 5 mins, serve with parmesan

• add a pinch of chilli for arrabbiata

• Fry some chopped (veggie or meat - but take out of the casing) sausage or meatballs and load with any kind of cheese (cheddar for kids obviously)

• stir in a dollop of mascarpone cheese

• And for the meat eaters - crispy bacon is always a winner (especially with mascarpone) or my kids also absolutely love chicken parmigiana on top.

  Ingredients

  Serves 8-10

• 3 onions, chopped

• 1 red pepper, chopped

• 4 large garlic cloves, grated

• 4 x 400g tinned tomatoes

• 1 handful fresh basil, stalks chopped, leaves torn and set aside

• 1/2 tbsp balsamic

• 1 tsp sea salt

Method

• Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large deep pan and then add the onions. Fry gently for about 10 minutes until softened and then add the red pepper and cook for a further 15 minutes on low.

• Next add the garlic, stir and cook for 2-3 minutes before pouring in the chopped tomatoes and adding the basil stalks. Heat through and then reduce to a gentle simmer for 30 minutes.

• Add the balsamic vinegar simmer for a further 5 minutes and then add the basil leaves.

• Use a hand blender to blitz the sauce.

Tip

Ideally you need a hand blender for this particular recipe, but if you don’t have one or would prefer a chunky sauce then chop the onions and basil stalks finely and the pepper whatever size you prefer. Use a fork or potato masher to break up the tomatoes at the end.

Creamy aubergine & tomato spaghetti

This is a classic combination that makes a great family friendly vegetarian dish - as the kids can pick out the aubergine . I’m hoping that one day, after feeding this to them 500 times, they might start trying it… who knows … anyway for now it’s one dish we can all enjoy in our various ways!

🌱Vegan option: replace the crème fraîche with @oatly cream, it tastes amazing!

Ingredients

• 2 aubergines, cut into 1 cm slices

• 2 large cloves garlic, minced

• 2 tins 400g plum tomatoes

• 2 tbsp crème fraîche or Oatly cream

• Handful fresh basil, stalks chopped, leaves ripped and set aside

• 350g spaghetti

• 200g feta, crumbled

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180°c.

• Lightly drizzle the tray with rapeseed or olive oil and spread out the aubergine slices evenly.

• Drizzle the top side of the aubergine and sprinkle with sea salt.

• Place in the oven 30-35 minutes until golden brown, turning halfway to colour both sides.

• While the aubergine is roasting, heat a couple of lugs of olive oil in a wide bottomed pan and add the garlic, allow to gently brown without burning.

• Pour in the tomatoes and heat through, add the basil stalks and turn down to a simmer for 20 minutes.

• Cook the spaghetti while the sauce simmers.

• Add the cooked aubergines to the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes and then spoon in the crème fraîche and basil leaves. Warm through adding 1/2 tsp sea salt and a good grind of pepper, plus some dried chilli flakes if you want a bit of spice.

Tip

Alternative vegan option: just leave out the crème fraîche and add a little balsamic vinegar to the sauce at the end, cook for 5 mins and sprinkle toasted pine nuts on top to serve.

Crunchy cauliflower mac ‘n’ cheese with garlic breadcrumbs

I have to admit that I’d consigned mac ‘n’ cheese to a kid-only carb fest a good few years ago, but I after revisiting this classic combo I might just have changed my mind. My main motivation was to trick the kids into eating cauliflower, but I’m also trying to build a stock of recipes for my eldest to cook at uni. Questionable success on the former, let’s see about the latter - I’ve sent him a dish, a whisk, scales and a measuring jug.

So despite not really intending to eat this mac n cheese I actually surprised myself by really enjoying it! Good to know that I like to eat my own dishes eh?! It’s not that I have anything against mac ‘n’ cheese, but having eaten it a lot over the years I guess I just wasn’t feeling that excited about it. However, after adding roasted cauliflower and a crunchy topping I’m a born again fan.

Ingredients

Serves 6, or 8-10 as a side

• 1 med cauliflower, chopped into florets

• 2 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil

• 350g macaroni

  Cheese sauce

• 60g butter

• 60g flour

• 900ml milk

• 200g mature cheddar cheese, grated

• 1tsp sea salt

  Bread crumbs

• 100g bread crumbs - see tip below on how to make them yourself

• 1 small clove garlic, grated

• 20g parmesan, grated

• 50g mature cheddar, grated

Method

• If you haven’t got the bread crumbs ready to go, then prep them first - scroll down to my Tips section on how to make them quickly.

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc

• Put the cauliflower florets on a tray, drizzle with the oil and place in the oven for 15 minutes. Check and turn putting them back in the oven for a further 5 minutes. Once they’re cooked through, but not too soft, slice the florets into small pieces so you don’t get big chunks in the final dish.

• Mix the minced garlic into the bread crumbs, using your (clean!) hands to really make sure it is spread evenly then add the parmesan and grated cheddar.

• Cook the macaroni as per the packet instructions, drain and set to one side. I rinse mine under cold water to stop it over cooking and to get rid of some of the starch so it’s less sticky. Once it has drained properly, put the cooled pasta into a large (approx 35x25cm) oven-proof dish and mix in the cauliflower.

• While the pasta is cooking make the cheese sauce; use a non-stick pan and a silicone whisk if you have one to prevent lumps, but a non-metal spoon or spatula will do otherwise - you’ll just need to stir a bit faster!

• First add the butter to the pan, melt and then tip in the flour, whisk thoroughly and allow to warm through for a minute.

• Here is where you need to do things quickly as the roux will thicken up rapidly each time you add more milk, but don’t panic, you can almost always whisk out the lumps at each stage if you’re vigorous enough. Start pouring the milk in slowly, 50ml at a time at first so you don’t get lots of splashing as you whisk it in. Quickly add the next 50ml and repeat until you’ve got to about 300ml and then you can start adding 100ml at a time. Once you’ve poured in all the milk leave on a low heat for 15-20 minutes to cook through and get rid of the floury taste, but whisk or stir regularly so the bottom doesn’t stick and cause lumps.

• Add the grated cheese and salt; stir, allow to melt and then pour over the pasta mixing well.

• Spread the bread crumbs evenly over the top and put in the oven for 20 minutes until the top is browned

  Tips

• I like to make my own bread crumbs by dry out a few slices of sourdough that are a bit past their best, so they don’t get wasted. You can leave them out on the side for a few hours, or speed up the process by breaking them up on a tray and placing in a low 50ºc oven for 20 minutes. Remember you don’t want them browned, just dried out. Then leave to cool and harden. I like to smash them up in a bag or teacloth with a rolling pin as you get a more varied texture than in a food processor. For this recipe just dry out 100g - about 2 slices.

• When roasting any vegetables, I always open the oven (just an inch) after about 10-12 minutes to let out excess steam so that they brown more easily. Your oven might be better at venting the steam out, so this might not be necessary, but double check one time when you’re roasting high water content ingredients like veggies. I always get a face full of steam! I usually repeat this once more.

• You can prep the cheese sauce earlier in the day to save time later, but make sure you place a piece of buttered clingfilm or baking parchment directly on top to prevent a skin forming. When you reheat, stir regularly to keep it smooth.

Courgette, tomato & orzo salad with feta & pumpkin seeds

This is a tasty summer salad, which can be eaten on it’s own for lunch or as part of a spread of sides. Personally I love it just as it is, but it would be great with roasted chicken, or any kind of fish.

Ingredients

Serves 4 or 6 as a side

• 350g orzo, cooked as per packet instructions

• 1 large courgette, sliced diagnonally

• 200g baby plum or cherry tomatoes, halved

• 100g feta, crumbled

• 2-3 tbsp pumpkin seeds

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• Juice of 1/2 a lemon, increase if you like it tangy

• Small handful of basil leaves

Method 

• Preheat the oven to 180°c, arrange the tomatoes on a tray and drizzle with 1 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil. 

• Put the tray in the oven and roast for 20-25 minutes, allow to cool once cooked.

• Put a griddle pan on the job to heat and brush the courgette lightly on one side with rapeseed oil. 

• Place the courgette, oiled side down, into the pan in neat rows, don’t overlap.

• Griddle on a med/high heat until you have nice dark lines. Don’t move the slices before you have a line or they won’t be as distinct. You might need to press each slice of the courgette into the pan to help get the lines. 

• Turn the courgettes and repeat. You might need to do this in batches if there isn’t enough room in the pan. 

• Put the cooked orzo into a large bowl and mix in the tomatoes and courgettes.

• Pour in the oil and lemon juice, plus a sprinkle of salt and grind of pepper, mix well and then add the basil.

• Crumble over the feta and add the pumpkin seeds, taste and add a little more lemon juice if needed.