Sausage and bean soup

Watch recipe17 mins

This punchy chorizo and bean stew from Nigel Slater makes a perfect storecupboard supper for a winter evening.

Ingredients

• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 large onions
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 large or 2 medium carrots
• a rib of celery
• a tablespoon of fresh oregano leaves, plus extra to serve
• 3 chorizo sausages (about 400g/14oz)
• a couple of pinches of crushed dried chillies
• a pinch of fennel seeds
• 3 or 4 strips of orange zest, plus extra grated zest, to serve
• a glass of dry sherry
• 5 or 6 decent-sized tomatoes
• 2 x 400g/14oz tins cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• salt and black pepper

Preparation method

1. Warm the olive oil in a deep, heavy-based pan. Peel the onions, roughly chop them and add them to the oil, stirring to coat them, then let them cook at a moderate heat until they start to soften.
2. Peel the garlic, slice it thinly and stir it into the onions. Scrub and finely chop the carrots, chop the celery and add to the pan together with the carrots. Leave to cook, partially covered by a lid, until the onions are soft and pale gold. Stir in the oregano leaves.
3. Cut each chorizo sausage into about four fat chunks. Mix these in with the softened onions then add the crushed, dried chillies, fennel seeds and strips of orange zest. Pour in a glass of dry sherry, vermouth or white wine and bring the mixture to an enthusiastic bubble.
4. Chop the tomatoes roughly, add them to the pan and bring them to the boil, then add the drained beans, and a canful of fresh water. Season with salt and black pepper. Bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and leave to cook, slowly, half-covered with a lid, for 45 minutes.
5. Just before serving add a little more oregano and some grated orange zest. Serve in shallow bowls, making certain everyone gets a fair bit of sausage.

Lamb Beetroot and Bulghar Wheat Patties

Ingredients

• 75g/3oz fine or medium cracked wheat
• 250g/9oz raw beetroot
• a small to medium onion
• 400g/14oz minced lamb
• 2 large garlic cloves, or even 3, crushed
• 2 heaped tbsp chopped dill
• a small handful parsley, chopped
• salt and black pepper
• a little groundnut oil

For the dressing

• about a third of a medium cucumber
• salt and black pepper
• the leaves from 4 or 5 mint sprigs, chopped
• 200g/7oz plain yoghurt

Preparation method

1. Put the cracked wheat in a bowl, pour over enough boiling water to cover, then set aside to swell.
2. Peel the beetroot and onion and grate them coarsely into a large bowl. Add the minced lamb, garlic, dill, parsley and a generous grinding of salt and black pepper.
3. Squeeze any water from the cracked wheat with your hands and add the wheat to the meat. Mix everything together thoroughly, then squish the mince into little patties about the size of a flattened golf ball. Cover with cling film (I do this tightly because the chopped garlic will taint everything in the fridge), then chill for at least an hour.
4. Set the oven at 180C/350F/Gas 4.
5. Make the dressing by grating the cucumber coarsely and leaving it in a colander, lightly sprinkled with salt, for half an hour. Squeeze it dry then mix it with the chopped mint, and yoghurt. Season with salt and black pepper.
6. Heat a non-stick pan, brush the patties with a little groundnut oil and fry until golden on both sides. Try not to move the meatballs very much when they are cooking; you risk them falling apart. Once they are lightly browned on both sides, carefully lift them into a baking dish and finish in the hot oven for 15-20 minutes (incidentally, you can only tell if they are done by tasting one, as the beetroot gives them a rich red colour, making it impossible to gauge by sight whether they are cooked).
7. Drizzle with the cucumber dressing and eat.

good old chilli con carne

Serves 6
method 

What a classic this dish is. Most of my mates love the chickpeas, but butter beans or even cubed potatoes will work well in their place. Feel free to pep up this dish with more chilli depending on your taste. This will make enough for six portions, so simply freeze the extra if you’re only cooking for four – it’s so damn good the next day, even on a jacket potato!

To make your chilli
• Peel and finely chop the onions, garlic, carrots and celery – don’t worry about the technique, just chop away until fine 
• Halve the red peppers, remove the stalks and seeds and roughly chop 
• Place your largest casserole-type pan on a medium high heat 
• Add 2 lugs of olive oil and all your chopped vegetables 
• Add the chilli powder, cumin and cinnamon with a good pinch of salt and pepper 
• Stir every 30 seconds for around 7 minutes until softened and lightly coloured 
• Add the drained chickpeas, drained kidney beans and the tinned tomatoes 
• Add the minced beef, breaking any larger chunks up with a wooden spoon 
• Fill one of the empty tomato tins with water and pour this into the pan 
• Pick the coriander leaves and place them in the fridge 
• Finely chop the washed stalks and stir in 
• Add the balsamic vinegar and season with a good pinch of salt and pepper 
• Bring to the boil and turn the heat down to a simmer with a lid slightly askew for about an hour, stirring every now and again to stop it catching

To serve your chilli
• This is fantastic served with fluffy rice 
• Just divide the rice and chilli into big bowls or serve in the middle of the table and let everyone help themselves 
• If you don’t fancy rice it’s equally good with a nice hunk of fresh crusty bread, over a jacket potato or with couscous 
• Put a small bowl of natural yoghurt, some guacamole and a few wedges of lime on the table, and sprinkle the chilli with the coriander leaves 
• I love to add a nice green salad to round it off


• from Jamie's Ministry of Food

ingredients

• 2 medium onions
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 medium carrots
• 2 sticks of celery
• 2 red peppers
• olive oil
• 1 heaped teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 heaped teaspoon 
• ground cumin
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 x 400g tin of chickpeas
• 1 x 400g tin of red kidney beans
• 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
• 500g good-quality minced beef
• 1 small bunch of fresh coriander
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 400g basmati rice
• 1 x 500g tub of natural yoghurt
• 1 x 230g tub of guacamole
• 1 lime

Pumpkin Muffins

Serves 12

Ingredients

• 250g plain flour
• 2 tsps baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp all spice
• Pinch of salt
• 160g soft brown sugar
• 60ml milk/buttermilk
• 200g pumpkin pureé made from leftover scoops of pumpkin flesh – *see below for method
• 2 eggs
• 30g apple sauce
• 120g melted butter
• Few drops of vanilla extract
• Pumpkin seeds for garnish

Method:
Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius / gas mark 6.

To make the pumpkin pureé, scrape out the flesh of a medium pumpkin – this is a great way of using up leftover pumpkin when you carve your Jack O Lantern!  Cut the flesh into small cubes or pieces and simmer with a splash of water in a hot pan until soft. This should take around 15 – 20 minutes.  Drain, then blitz the pumpkin to a pureé. Weigh out 200g for the muffin mix.  You can either freeze any leftover to make these muffins again another time or use it in soups.

Sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger and all spice into a bowl, add salt and sugar and set aside.  In another bowl whisk together the milk or buttermilk, pumpkin pureé, eggs, apple sauce, melted butter and vanilla extract. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet to create a smooth batter.

Fill up your muffin tin or cases and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds.

Bake in the pre heated oven for 20 - 25 minutes until just cooked.  To check the muffins are cooked through insert a cocktail stick into the centre, if it comes out clean when removed the muffins are cooked.

Leave to cool on a wire baking rack. Then serve plain for a savoury muffin or if you want to make them sweet ice with frosting and more cracked pumpkin seeds if desired.  (I’ve included my maple cream cheese frosting recipe below if you want to frost them.)


Maple cream cheese frosting

Covers 12 muffins

• 100g icing sugar
• 100g cream cheese
• 45g butter
• 1 tbsp maple syrup

Method

Blend all of the ingredients together and spoon over the cooked muffins.

Chicken tagine with onions & tomatoes

(Djej Matisha Mesla)

A tasty Moroccan supper dish.

4/5starsAv. customer rating

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 5 Minutes

Cooking time: 40 Minutes

Nutrition per serving: 660 cals, 40g fat, of which 10g saturated fat, 23g added sugar, 0.6g salt

Skip to recipe information

Share, print & save245u will need4 chicken quarters

• 3 tablespoons oil
• 3 onions, grated
• 1kg tomatoes, peeled and cut into pieces
• Freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon saffron powder, optional
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, optional
• lemon slices to serve

Method

1. Put all the ingredients, except the honey and sesame seeds, in a large pan and cook gently, covered, turning the chicken pieces over occasionally, until the flesh is so tender it can be pulled off the bone easily.
2. Remove the chicken and reduce the sauce to a thick sizzling cream.
3. Stir as it begins to caramelize and be careful that it does not stick or burn.
4. Stir in the honey, return the chicken pieces to the suace and heat through. Serve the chicken covered with the sauce and if you like, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds toasted and lemon slices.

How to Cook Cannellini Beans

• Email

Cannellini beans are a kind of kidney bean.  If you've eaten Great Northern beans or Navy beans, cannellini taste VERY similar.  Cannellini beans shown here are the size of red kidney beans.  There are other varieties that are smaller.

I found these cannellini beans in the bulk bin section at the foodie mart.  They were $3.19 per pound compared to Great Northern and Navy at $1.19 per pound.  Seeing that I wanted to explore and compare them to the others, I bit the bullet and brought them home.  I have to say, I enjoy how well they held up during the cooking process.  I can't say they have MORE flavor. But because of their size, there's more bean to the bite.

Cannellini beans are hardy enough for soups, stews, anywhere you need beans in a recipe.  Commonly associated with Italian cooking, however, I think they'd make a great filling for white bean burritos.  Refried cannellini beans, sauteed onions & bell pepper, jalapeno jack cheese, drizzled with a little adobo sauce...mmm, mmm!

*POOF!* What was I talking about before? oh yea...

Here's two methods to cooking cannellini beans: the long way & the short way.  One method is not better than the other, nor does one produce a better flavor over the other.  It comes down to how much time do you have and how your schedule works out.

Both methods call for the same amount of ingredients.

• 2 cups dried cannellini beans
• 2 to 4 bay leaves
• 4 whole garlic cloves
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Pick over the beans carefully, discarding any stones or other particles.

LET'S START WITH THE LONG METHOD

Soak the beans in a large bowl of cold water overnight.  Drain.  Place the beans in a large sauce pan of water, bring to a boil, and cook for 20 minutes.  Drain.  Return the beans to the pan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil again.  Add the bay leaves, garlic, oil, salt & pepper and cook until the beans are tender, 1-2 hours.  Reserve the bean stock for soups. Discard the bay leaves.

Small pasta with salami

Although this started off as a last-minute children’s supper, it has turned into a bit of a house special. I always have beans, tomatoes and pasta in the cupboard and my fridge is piled high with packets of salami, bought for filling toasted sandwiches and general grazing.

Ingredients

• 300g/10½oz ditalini or mezzi tubetti pasta
• 75g/3oz Milano salami slices, (about 15 slices), scissored into strips
• 1 x 400g/14oz can chopped tomatoes, plus ½ can water
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 bouquet garni
• 1 x 400g/14oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

Preparation method

1. Bring some water for the pasta to the boil in a pan and salt generously – or to taste – then put in the ditalini or mezzi tubetti, which will probably need around 10 minutes (though check the packet instructions).
2. Meanwhile, get on with making the sauce. Warm a fairly wide, heavy-based pan and toss in the salami strips, not worrying if they clump together. Stir with a wooden spoon over a medium heat for a minute or two.
3. Tip in the tomatoes and slosh about ½ can water around in the empty can, then add that, too.
4. Drop in one tablespoon of the butter and stir well with your wooden spoon, then add the bouquet garni and the drained beans. Stir well, then leave it to bubble away – firmly but gently – while the pasta finishes cooking.
5. Just before draining the pasta, lower in a small cup and take out a little of the cooking water. Drain the pasta well.
6. Stir the drained pasta into the sauce, then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the remaining butter. If you think the sauce needs loosening a little, splash in some of the reserved pasta cooking water and stir again with your wooden spoon. Leave to stand for 2 minutes before serving, then remove the bouquet garni.

Less than 30 mins

preparation time

less than 10 mins

cooking time

Serves 3-4