Pasta with smoked mackerel, cherry tomatoes and avocado

I usually make this with cold left over pasta but it's nice with hot pasta as well.

250g of cooked pasta, hot or cold
200g smoked mackerel, flaked
1 ripe avocado, cubed (with a spoon)
250g cherry (plum) tomatoes, halved
freshly ground black pepper
a drizzle of olive oil

Roasted Aubergine Soup

This is a wonderfully sumptuous soup that is great as a starter or for lunch. Next time I'll try using ground cumin instead of the herbes.

2 large aubergines, halved lengthways
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
1 banana shallot, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, very finely chopped
Herbes de Provence
1 l vegetable (or other) stock
1 handful of bread crumbs

1. Season the aubergines with pepper, place them cut side down into a roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil and roast for 45 minutes to an hour in a very hot oven until they have softened. Take out and leave to cool before roughly chopping them up.
2.Heat a little olive oil in a saucepan and sauté the onions, garlic and herbs until softened but not brown. Add the aubergines, bread crumbs and stock. Season with a little black pepper. Bring to the boil, then simmer till hot. Blitz and serve.

Parsnip and Spinach Soup

On Sundays in winter, we usually make a large pot of soup that'll serve us for lunch throughout the week. Today, my partner had a look in the fridge and came up with this stunner!

2 largeish onions, chopped
1 whole clove garlic, chopped
dried basil
1.5 kg parsnips
750 g carrotsSend
200 g spinach leaves
2 medium potatoes
2 l low-salt stock
black pepper
1 chilli, chopped and deseeded
olive oil

1. Sauté the onions, garlic, chilli and basil until the onions become translucent. Add the parsnips, carrots and potatoes and mix together until the veggie are coated (2-3 minutes).

2. Add the stock and season with black pepper. Bring to the boil and add the spinach.

3. Simmer for 20 minutes or until all the veg are soft, stirring from time to time as the spinach tends to float to the surface. Blend when ready.

Variation:
For a less sweet flavour, try this with fewer parsnips and more potatoes.

Home-made baked beans

These taste a lot nicer than shop-bought baked beans and you have control over the amount of sugar you add (if any – I don’t). I make this dish in two different ways: really thick with practically no sauce or with sauce by adding passata.

1 440 g-can of beans, no salt or sugar added, (e. g. Cannelini, black-eyed, )
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ tsp. dried basil
2 tbsp. tomato puree
freshly ground pepper
sea salt
extra virgin olive oil
tomato passata (optional)
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan that can be placed in the oven and sauté the onions and garlic until softened. Add the herbs and stir for a minute, then add the beans and tomato puree. Season with salt and pepper and mix well. Add a little water or (if used) the passata.
Cover with a lid and bake at 200 °C/gas mark 5-6 for 15 – 20 minutes.

Mushrooms Stuffed with Aubergine and Black-Eyed Beans

4 flat mushrooms
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
dried herbs (e. g. oregano, basil)
1 tin of organic black-eyed beans
2 tbsp. tomato purée
extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt

1. Wipe the mushrooms and remove the stalks. Coarsely chop the stalks.

2. Using a speed peeler cut a stripe of skin off two opposite sides of the aubergine. Cut the aubergine lengthways in 5 mm thick slices and chop into small chunks.

3. Heat some olive oil in a pan and fry the aubergines and mushroom stalks until they begin to brown. Drain on kitchen paper and set aside.

4. Heat a little olive oil in the same pan and sautée the onion, garlic and chilli until softened. Add the aubergines, and beans. Season with pepper and salt.

5. Using just over half of the vegetables fill the mushrooms.

6. Add the tomato purée to the remaining vegetables and transfer the mix into a roasting tray. Sit the mushrooms on top. Cover with tin foil and bake at gas mark 6/200 °C for 30 minutes or until the mushrooms are cooked.

Serve with mustard mash or warm crusty bread.

Vegetarian Carbonara with Courgette

I can't believe that in all my years as a vegetarian/pescatarian I never tried this. But it's never too late and this is going to be a firm favourite from now on. Also, I've substitued the spaghetti with fettucine and, OMG, this is luxury comfort food!!!!

Normally my pasta to veg ratio is about 50:50 but here the pasta definitely domintates so it's a great idea to have a salad on the side, as a starter or afterwards.

This recipe serves 2 as a main course, 4 as a starter.

200-250 g fettucine
1 large or 2 medium courgettes
2 medium eggs
50 g parmesan, grated
1 garlic clove
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt
extra virgin olive oil

1. Cook the fettucine in salted water according to packet instructions.

2. Using a speed peeler remove the skin on two opposite sides of the courgette, slice the courgette lengthways into 4 strips and julienne. Crush the garlic clove with a knife - no need to peel it.

3. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan. Add the garlic and courgettes and sauté the courgettes until browned. Remove the garlic.

4. Beat the eggs, season with pepper and salt and add about half the parmesan.

5. Warm a large bowl with boiling water. Empty and dry. Drain the pasta keeping some of the cooking liquor. Pour the pasta into the bowl, add the courgettes and slowly pour in the the egg-cheese mix using tongs to mix without scrambling the eggs. Add a couple of tablespoons of the cooking liquor from the spagetti to make the dish more moist but not wet.

6. Serve immediately in heated plates sprinkled with the remaining parmesan.

Thrice Cooked Tomato Sauce

You need:
vine tomatoes
freshly ground black pepper
salt, optional
demerrara sugar
dried oregano or basil
extra virgin olive oil
garlic

Halve the tomatoes and sauté cut side down for a few minutes in an non-stick pan until browned - try not to disturb them during this time.

Place cut-side up into a roasting tray, season with pepper (and optionally salt), sprinkle with oregano, demerrara sugar and finely julienned garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and cook at 200° C/gas mark 5 for about 45 minutes or until softened.

Leave to cool, then remove the skins, chop the tomatoes and transfer everything (juice included) into a heavy saucepan, e.g. Le Creuset. Simmer for at least an hour until the sauce has thickened. Check the seasoning and serve.