Baked ratatouille

Ratatouile is an old fave in our house as it’s one of those stew/sauces that you can use in lots of different ways. We like it with cous cous, rice, pasta, on baked potatoes with lots of cheddar or feta, in wraps, with halloumi, fish or roast chicken - anything! If you have kids who don’t like large pieces of veg, then use a hand blender to blitz part of the sauce a bit (not fully or you’ll never get them used to a chunkier texture!).

Ingredients

• 2 aubergines, 1cm slices cut in quarters

• 2 red onion, half moon slices

• 2 courgette, 1/2 cm slices

• 2 red pepper, 2-3cm chunks

• 2 large garlic cloves, unpeeled 

• 1 tsp coriander 

• 2 x 400g tins of tomatoes (best quality you can afford)

• 1 tsp aged balsamic vinegar

• Handful of fresh basil leaves, torn roughly

• Sea salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºc. Get one roasting tray with deeper side and a baking trays.

2. Spread the veggies out on two trays, one with aubergine, onion and garlic, the other with courgette and red peppers. Sprinkle each with ½ tsp coriander, a good drizzle of olive oil and pinch of sea salt.

3. Put both in the oven for 15 minutes, turn and repeat.

4. Take both trays out and scrape all the veggies into the deeper tray.

5. Pour in the tomatoes and mix well, roast for a further 20 minutes.

6. Drizzle over the balsamic and add another good pinch of sea salt, mix well and serve.

Red pepper, tomato & lentil soup

This was lunch today; it was so quick and easy that I thought I’d share straightaway to help you with Lockdown lunches. My daughter initially refused to have anything to do with the soup, but after I suggested she just try a bit by dipping her toastie in, she decided she really liked the flavour. She ended up dipping before every bite! So she liked the taste but wasn’t prepared to eat red peppers - I’m saying that’s a partial win. It’s good to introduce kids to new flavours and diverse food groups as early as possible, even if they’re not quite ready for some of the textures though. Hopefully that will come…. after all she’s only 10, I’m going to let her off for another 6 months ;-)

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped finely

• 2 red peppers, chopped in small pieces

• 1 large garlic glove, grated

• 2 tsp sweet smoked paprika

• 2 tbsp rose harissa

• 2 x 400g tins plum tomatoes

• 200g red lentils, rinsed well

• 1L water

• 1 ½ tsp sea salt

• A handful of fresh coriander, chopped

Method

• Heat ½ tbsp olive oil in a large pan, add the onions and fry on low for 8 minutes.

• Next add the peppers, turn the heat up a little to get them sizzling, then reduce the heat and cook for a further 10 minutes.

• Add the garlic, stir well and cook for 1 minute, then the paprika, mix and allow to warm for 30 seconds.

• Then add the rose harissa, tomatoes, lentils and 1L of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes. Take the lid off and allow to bubble for 5 minutes.

• Chop the coriander leaves roughly and the stalks finely, then add to the soup just before serving.

Tip

• Rose harissa might not be an ingredient you use much, but I made a lovely Roasted butternut squash & spelt salad and used it in the dressing last week, so you might want to give it a try. In any case the harissa will last at least 4 weeks in the fridge, if not longer. Plenty of time to try it in other dishes! I’ll keep linking them all on my website too.

Aubergine & chickpea tagine with spiced cous cous

Aubergines are one of my favourite vegetables. I know this is a bit controversial as people seem to love or hate them, but my theory is that a lot of the haters have tried aubergine that is under-cooked when it’s hard, spongy and tasteless. Aubergines need to be cooked for quite a long time to soften and release their sweet slightly smoky flavour. They’re best when you roast or fry them to caramelise the outside, or roasted whole so the inside becomes soft enough to turn into a smokey dip. This tagine has an equal amount of red pepper and red onion in it, so although aubergine is in the title, the flavour is comprised of a mix of all 3 vegetables. So this recipe is ideal for someone who isn’t completely convinced about the wonders of the mighty aubergine (to reference Mr Ottolenghi), although I can’t begin to imagine why! Did I mention that I bloody love them?!

 Ingredients

Serves 6-8

• 3 aubergine, chopped into 2cm cubes

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• 3 red onions, sliced

• 3 sweet peppers, sliced

• 3 large cloves garlic, grated (I use a Microplane)

• 1 dried ancho chilli, chopped (makes about 1 tbsp)

• 2 tsp ras el hanout spice mix

• 2 x 400g tinned cherry tomatoes

• 1.5 tsp vegetable bouillon

• 60g sultanas or raisins

• Handful of coriander, stalks chopped, leaves reserved

• 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained. If you use dried, soak and cook 130g

• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

• 1 tbsp honey or maple

• 1.5 tsp sea salt (if you’re using fine grain table salt reduce by half and go from there)

Cous cous

• 1/2 onion, chopped finely

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 100g cherry tomatoes, small dice

• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

• 180g cous cous

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 1 tsp vegetable bouillon

• 800ml boiling water

• 200g crumbled feta, optional topping

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180°c

• Spread the chopped aubergine on a couple of large baking trays and drizzle with the olive oil, plus 1/2 tsp sea salt, mixing well.

• Roast for 25 minutes, turn then put back in the oven for 8 minutes until at least one side is browned and the pieces are soft all the way through.

• Meanwhile add 1 tbsp of olive oil to a large pan or casserole, heat and cook the onion and pepper together for 15 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.

• Mix in the ancho chilli and ras el hanout spice blend and stir, allow to warm through for a minute.

• Put the aubergine pieces into the pan with the tinned tomatoes, vegetable bouillon, sultanas, coriander stalks and a full tin of water. Leave to simmer with the lid half on for 20 minutes, stirring regularly. Then add the chickpeas, red wine vinegar and honey simmer for 15 minutes without the lid..

• While the tagine is cooking start to make the cous cous. First heat 1/2 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan and fry the chopped onion on a low heat for 15 minutes before adding the tomatoes and garlic, cook for 10 minutes.

• Add 1/2 tsp ground cumin and warm for about a minute.

• Turn off the heat and add the cous cous, vegetable bouillon and boiling water to the onions and tomatoes when the tagine has about 10 minutes left to cook. Put the lid on and leave the cous cous to absorb the water for 6-8 minutes. Fluff with a fork when ready.

• Serve the tagine and cous cous with crumbled feta and coriander leaves.

Tip

• I like to roast the aubergine pieces as I find it easier than frying them all in batches, plus it means I use a lot less oil. But you can pan fry if you prefer.

• Dried ancho chilli - I bought mine from Waitrose.

• Ras el hanout - I get my blend from local supplier Spice and Green, but they do mail order so it is probably worth asking if they can send to you. If not you’ll find a version stocked in most supermarkets. Ottolenghi do their own that you can order too - here or make your own using this Epicurious recipe.

• I have used tinned cherry tomatoes for their sweetness and extra flavour, but tinned plum would work fine as a sub.

• If you’re using dried chickpeas cook as per the instructions and then add to the sauce with the tinned tomatoes as they will be firmer and need a little more time to soften.

Sweet potato, mozzarella, chilli & basil

This is a lovely easy recipe that you can make quickly and either eat at home if you're not in the office, or put in Tupperware to take with you. I absolutely love the fresh flavours of this dish - I could eat it everyday!

Ingredients

Serves 2

• 1 sweet potato

• 100g buffalo mozzarella, sliced

• 1/2 red chilli, thinly sliced, or chopped finely

• Juice of 1/2 lemon juice

• Drizzle of olive oil

• Basil leaves, ripped

• Salt and pepper

• Salad leaves & / roasted red pepper slices

  Method

• Roast a sweet potato on a baking tray in the oven at 180ºc for about 45 minutes depending on size. You can test with a skewer to see if is soft right the way through.

• Prep and plate the salad - have any combination you like, I like leaves and roasted red pepper (from a jar - easy!), but you could add grated carrot, red onion, raw peppers, cucumber - any salad you like.

• Cut the potato in half lengthways and top with mozzarella and chilli, then add a drizzle of olive oil and finish with a good squeeze of lemon.

Tip

• Keep a jar of roasted red peppers in your cupbaord as they’re great for quickly improving a salad or making sauces or dips like romesco or muhammara.