Tired of supermarket 'Frisbee style' pizzas? It’s true that in the last few years, the standard of shop-bought pizza has improved, let's face it, we've all eaten some really truly terrible ones in our lifetime...
This simple vegan recipe packs so much flavour - you'll never want to cook aubergines any other way. This is a classic Japanese dish known as Nasu Dengaku and it's incredibly easy to make. Serve this with some sticky Japanese rice, spring onions, a few pickles and a sprinkling of Japanese seven spice...
Baba Ganoush is a wonderful smoky aubergine dip from the Middle East - it blows the socks off houmous. I love it with grilled pitta breads but often struggle to find the time to make it, that is until I discovered this new aubergine puree.
Growing up, cauliflower was generally presented to me smothered in cheese sauce and baked in the oven. It's delicious and still is a real family favourite. However, the wonderful nutty flavour that a simple cauliflower develops when roasted is a joy that I didn't discover until a few years ago. Cauliflower is widely available all year round, although they are at their peak in spring and autumn, they are a real workhorse during those drab months when not much seems to be in season.
Mexican Huevos Rancheros (ranch eggs) is a real celebration of simple flavours that combine to taste amazing. We have all the ingredients you need to make this popular dish, great for breakfast, Sunday brunch or a perfect light lunch. I’ve embellished this classic dish slightly with the addition of the black beans.
I have a number of 'go to' noodle sauces - ones that I can throw together really quickly, generally from store cupboard ingredients and this is one of them. Gochujang provides the base for this sauce and also the Korean vibe...
If you've ever thought vegetarian food is slightly dull, hold on to your hats... this simple one-pot dish based on the humble chickpea absolutely packs in the flavour. The soft creamy chickpeas are cooked in a richly flavoured tomato sauce with a good splash of Fino sherry, dried chilli and smoked paprika. The dish is finished with roasted peppers, creamy aioli made with olive oil, a scattering of fresh parsley and a chunk of grilled sourdough.
Ready for a cauliflower renaissance? No more soggy, over-cooked mush, cauliflower deserves to be a dinner-plate hero! This humble vegetable is simply transformed when roasted - it's sweet and nutty with hints of smoky charring on the edges.
I guess broccoli isn't the first ingredient that springs to mind when considering 'things to go on my toast' but a friend of mine raved about this recipe, it's from the brilliant Thomasina Miers - a chef, writer and TV presenter who won MasterChef in 2005.
It's sometimes hard to get excited about cucumber, particular when they are 'straight from the fridge cold' and sliced into slightly uninspiring rounds. Cucumbers are 96% water, they have a lovely clean, crunchy texture but need a little helping hand to bring out their best.
I just love the fresh vibrant flavours of a noodle salad, a riot of textures and flavours - brought together with a zingy, aromatic dressing. Year-round versatility, you can incorporate whatever fresh veg or salad happens to be in season at the time, or lurking in your fridge and needs using up.
The idea of a dressing is to enhance the flavour of the food you are eating. The acid from the vinegar contrasts with the sugar, salt and oil to heighten the pleasure we get from eating. Dressing hot, cooked vegetables is just as gratifying as dressing cold salad leaves, almost more so.
Orecchiette is a pasta shape that hails from the Southern Italian region of Apulia and is perfect for this beautiful pasta dish. Pangratatto is effectively just fried breadcrumbs but it's a great addition to this dish as it adds a brilliant texture. There are lots of different squashes now widely available from good green grocers. We got ours from a fantastic local organisation called Root Connections www.rootconnections.co.uk - a charity that helps homeless people. They have a small farm where volunteers and residents grow fabulous produce to supply homes and restaurants with the fruits of their labour, check it out, it's amazing.
In the last few months I've been experimenting with different ingredients and in particular, different sugars and syrups. Although fuel is the main purpose, flavour is equally as critical. My cycling buddies have been enthusiastic candidates for my flapjack taste-test trials, and in the last few weeks, I think I'm getting close to the perfect recipe.
There is something primal about making your own pasta, a bit like making your own bread. I don’t always have time to do this (or the organisational ability), but when I do, it's deeply rewarding and tastes just SO GOOD. You need just two ingredients for this recipe...00 Pasta flour and fresh eggs.
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