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.

Lemon, chill & garlic courgettes

How good is seasonal veg? It's the courgette's turn to be ready for picking at the moment and these beauties from my friend's allotment tasted amazing. I griddled them and made a simple dressing as they really don't need many additions when they're this good. Below is a very straightforward recipe that you can either eat as a side dish, or add to pasta to make a main.

Ingredients

• 4 large courgettes, cut in half and slice reasonably thinly

• Juice of 2 lemons

• 1 small ish clove garlic

• 1 fresh red chilli or 1/2-1 tsp dried depending on how you like your heat levels

• seasoning

Method

• Brush one side of each courgette with olive oil and season.

• Get the griddle very hot.

• Place the courgettes on rows along the pan and sizzle for a few minutes until they have griddle lines and are partially softened. You'll need to do a few batches as they wont all fit in the pan.

• Brush the side facing up with olive oil and turn to cook.

• Place in a warmed dish while you cook the rest.

• Meanwhile make the dressing by putting all the ingredients in a bowl and mixing together. couldn't be easier. Once all the courgettes are cooked, dress and serve.

Tip

• We had this dish with BBQ roast chicken and minted new potatoes, which was delicious on a hot Sunday evening. Great alternative roast dinner!

• Another great alternative would be to cook some tagliatelle, make a bit more dressing, mix with the courgettes and a big handful of parmesan.

Courgette & spinach soup

I actually had no recipe plan today, just a need for an energy boost, so finding several courgettes and a bag of spinach that needed eating I decided to make a soup. I also had some homemade chicken bone broth ready and waiting in the fridge too, which makes my version of the recipe non-veggie, but you could easily substitute with vegetable stock.

Ingredients

Makes about 1.4L, or 4-5 servings)

• 4 courgettes, sliced

• 1/2 clove garlic, grated

• 1.5L Chicken, or vegetable stock

• Handful of parsley, extra to garnish

• 100g spinach

• Seasoning

Method

• Get a large saucepan and add a couple of big glugs of olive oil. Add the sliced courgettes and fry gently for around 15 minutes, or until soft. Some might be slightly browned, but that's fine, it'll add extra flavour.

• Once the courgettes are cooked, add the grated garlic and stir, cook for a couple of minutes.

• Next pour in the stock and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and add the spinach.

• Cook for 5 minutes, then add a handful of parsley, including the stalks.

• Blend using a food processor, or a hand-held.

• Sprinkled on some thinly sliced chilli, plus some extra parsley leaves to finish if you have some. Season.

Spiced sweet potato, red lentil & tomato soup

I do love a chunky, spicy soup and this vegan recipe ticks both those boxes. It's gently spiced and thoroughly warming on a cold day, of which we seem to have many in Leeds! I love anything with lentils in and I've put in some red ones to add extra protein, flavour and to make the soup nice n hearty. It's straightforward to make and you can whip up a large batch and freeze a few portions. 

Ingredients

Makes about 6 servings, depending on how big your bowl is ;-)

• 1 medium sweet potato, roasted in it's skin

• 2 medium onions, chopped roughly

• 1 large clove garlic, minced

• 1 tsp ground cumin

• 1 tsp ground turmeric

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes, or 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

• 1 x 400g tin of tomatoes

• 1 low salt vegetable stock cube (I like Kallo's) dissolved in 1L of boiling water

• 100g dried red lentils

• 3/4 tsp fine ground sea salt, or 1 tsp sea salt flakes

• Big handful of kale, spinach cavolo nero and/or coriander

Method

• Put the oven on 180℃ and roast the sweet potatoes until nice and soft.

• While the potatoes are cooking, gently fry the onions in a large pan for 10-15 minutes until they're soft.

• Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes, then add the spices and warm through for a couple of minutes.

• Put the tin of tomatoes and the dissolved stock in the pan with the onions and heat through.

• Use a hand blender to turn the mix into a smooth sauce.

• Add the lentils and simmer for 20 minutes.

• Season and add a big handful of greens and coriander.

Chana masala / chickpea curry

I made a big pot of this curry the other night so I have some tasty lunches over the next few days.

This is a recipe from Meera Sodha’s wonderful debut cookbook Made in India. Apparently I’m not alone in loving this dish as as she says in her description that, “right now, millions of Indians are probably tucking into a chana masala: it’s the dish that sustains a nation, the coals of India’s engine room.” Well, I can understand why – it’s full of protein-rich chickpeas, delicious aromatic spices and low in fat. What’s not to like?

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 200g dried chickpeas (or 2 x 400g tins)

• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

• 3cm ginger, peeled and grated finely

• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and grated finely

• 1 fresh green chilli, finely chopped

• 3 tablespoons of rapeseed oil

• 2 onions, slicces

• 1 x 400g tinned plum tomatoes

• 1 tablespoon tomatoe puree

• 1 teaspoon garam masala

• ¾ teaspoon ground cumin

• ½ teaspoon chilli powder

• ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

Method

• If you are using dried chickpeas then soak in cold water with the bicarbonate of soda over night, or at least 6 hours. Rinse, drain, then cover with more cold water and boil for 30-45 minutes until soft, discard the scum if it appears when boiling.

• Grate the ginger and garlic, then chop the chilli, mix together with a pinch of salt.

• Put the oil into the pan and heat, when it is hot add the onions and cook for 10 minutes or until they become golden. Keep stirring!

• Add in the ginger, garlic and chilli mix into the pan and stir, then the tomatoes and squash them once in the pan, followed by the tomato puree. Cook the sauce for 8-10 minutes.

• Add the garam masala, 1 ½ teaspoons of salt, cumin, chilli powder and turmeric, cooking for a few minutes before adding the chickpeas. Add up to 5 tablespoons of water to thin the sauce if it is quite thick at this point. Stir well and cook for another 5 minutes.

• Serve with chapattis and a tomato and sweet onion salad dressed with rapeseed oil and fresh lime. 

Chapattis

Ingredients

Makes approx 5

• 300g Chapatti Flour 

• 100ml - 200ml water

• 2tbs sunflower or rapeseed oil (optional)

Method

• Place flour in a large bowl, make a well in the centre and stir the

• water in stages.

• Add the oil and work into a soft dough by hand. Knead for

• approximately 5 minutes.

• Divide the dough into 5 equal pieces and make into small balls by hand.

• Roll out each piece on a floured surface, with a rolling pin, into a thin round circle.

• Place a frying pan on a medium heat.

• Put the chapatti into the pan until blisters appear, then turn and cook the other side.

• Cook until golden brown on both sides and serve hot.

Tip

• Sodha's original recipe says to bash up the garlic, ginger and chilli using a pestle and mortor, but my method cuts out a lot of bashing time. I use a parmesan cheese grater or a Microplane to get a fine texture.

• Rapeseed oil – why use it ? It’s versatile, healthy, and is one of the only oils grown and bottled in the UK along with linseed. Rapeseed oil is high in mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fats omega 3, 6 and 9, so can help you maintain healthy cholesterol levels. It also has less unhealthy saturated fat than all other cooking oils and fats.