Tuna pepper pitta pockets recipe

Serves 4

120g (½ a tin) chickpeas or kidney beans
120g (1 tin) tuna
3 heaped tbsp cream cheese
A handful of olives, sliced (optional)
Leftover bits of veg – eg peppers (red and yellow – good for colour), cucumber, tomato, grated carrot, lettuce etc
4 small or 2 large pittas (if you're using big ones, cut them in half)

1. Tip the chickpeas or kidney beans into a mixing bowl and mash well.

2. Add the tuna and cream cheese and mix well. If you're using olives, stir them in now too.

3. Warm the pittas just a little bit, so that they are easier to open up, but not so much that they go hard once cooled.

4. Line the pittas with a few pieces of whatever kinds of veg your kids like, then stuff with the tuna mixture.

Savoy and apple coleslaw

Serves 4

DRESSING

• 4 tbsp single cream
• 1 heaped tsp dijon mustard
• sea salt

SALAD

• 25g hazelnuts halved or thickly sliced

• ½ savoy cabbage (about 150g)
• 70g manchego or
• ossau iraty cheese
• 1 crisp red-skinned apple
• a handful of watercress sprigs or pea shoots

1. For the dressing, blend the cream with the mustard and a little salt in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6, scatter the hazelnuts
3. over the base of a small baking dish and toast for 12-15 minutes until lightly golden. Leave to cool.
4. Quarter the savoy cabbage and slice it very finely into 5cm-6cm lengths, discarding the core. Cut the cheese into fine slivers. Quarter, core and very finely slice the apple. Toss the dressing with the cabbage in a large bowl then fold in the apple and the watercress or pea shoots. Divide among four plates or pile on to a serving dish. Scatter over the hazelnuts and cheese.

Baked cheesy spinach gnocchi

Serves 4

• 500g gnocchi
• olive oil
• 2 banana shallots peeled and finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves peeled and
• finely chopped
• 250g spinach washed

• sea salt and black pepper
• 1 x 150ml tub sour cream
• freshly grated nutmeg
• 75g freshly grated parmesan
• a small handful of sage leaves

1. Have ready a medium ovenproof dish (for example, an oval gratin dish measuring about 25cm at the top and around 20cm at the base). Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil for the gnocchi. Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a large pan over a medium heat and gently fry the shallots for a couple of minutes until softened, stirring frequently, and adding the garlic halfway through.
2. Add the spinach, season and stir until it wilts and starts to exude juices. Tip the contents of the pan into a blender and liquidise with the sour cream and a grating of nutmeg. Return the sauce to a small saucepan, stir in two thirds of the parmesan, taste for seasoning and gently reheat.
3. Preheat the grill, add the gnocchi to the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes or as instructed, then drain them in a colander. Return these to the pan and toss with the hot sauce, then tip everything into the gratin dish. Scatter over the remaining parmesan, toss the sage leaves with just enough oil to coat and scatter these over, then pop under the grill until lightly golden and sizzling. Serve straight away.

ON THE SIDE A crisp green salad complements this perfectly. 

Potato rosti with avocado and red onion salsa

Comfort food: Potato rosti with avocado and red onion salsa

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

For the rosti:

• 800g (1lb 12oz) potatoes (King Edward or Maris Piper)
• 6 spring onions, very finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 4tbsp sunflower oil
  

For the salsa:

• 2 plum tomatoes, deseeded and roughly chopped
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 small red onion, halved and very thinly sliced
• 4tbsp finely chopped coriander
• 2 avocados, peeled, stoned and roughly diced
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1tbsp avocado oil
• Lime wedges to serve

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 190°C/ gas 5. First, make the salsa by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl. Season well and set aside.

Peel and grate the potatoes, then dry in a clean tea towel, gathering the corners together and squeezing out any liquid. Place the potatoes in a mixing bowl and season. 

Add the spring onion, garlic and egg and combine evenly. Heat a large, non-stick frying pan over a high heat and add half the oil. Working in batches, divide the potato mixture into 8 and spoon 4 portions into the pan.

Pat into small pancakes. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side, then transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining mixture to make 8 rostis in all. 

Place in the preheated oven and cook for 10 minutes until golden-brown. Serve straight away topped with the salsa. 

 

Country terrine

This freezes well if wrapped in baking paper, then tin foil.

Hearty: Country terrine with celeriac remoulade

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

• 300g (10½oz) boneless rabbit (or lean shoulder of pork)
• 300g (10½oz) skinless and boneless belly pork, fat left on
• 2 boneless pheasant breasts (or use guinea fowl) 
• 200g (7oz) unsmoked lardons 
• 3tbsp white wine 
• 5tsp green peppercorns in brine, drained and rinsed 
• 15 juniper berries, crushed, plus extra whole ones for decoration 
• 1tbsp rapeseed oil 
• 1 large shallot, finely chopped 
• 2tbsp brandy 
• 18 thin rashers smoked fatty bacon 
• 3 garlic cloves

For the celeriac remoulade

• 1½tsp sea salt
• Bay leaf sprigs for decoration  
• 550g (1lb 4oz) peeled celeriac 
• 5tbsp mayonnaise 
• Juice of ½ a lemon 
• 3tsp capers, rinsed

METHOD

Chop the rabbit, pork, pheasant and lardons into very small cubes (or put through a mincer). Add the wine, brandy, peppercorns and crushed juniper and leave to marinate. 

Meanwhile, gently heat the oil in a small pan and sweat the garlic and shallot under a sheet of baking paper for 5 minutes until soft. Allow to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4. Stretch each piece of bacon with the back of a cook's knife. Use each piece as you stretch it to line the terrine on the bottom and sides, leaving a good overhang. 

Add the cold shallot mix to the meats, add salt and squeeze together with your hands before filling the terrine. Fold the bacon overhang over the mixture and tuck in the ends. Decorate with bay and whole juniper berries and cover with oiled tin foil. 

Put the terrine in a deep roasting tin and fill to halfway up the sides with hot water. Bake for 1 hour. Uncover and bake for a further 25 minutes. Remove from the tin and cool for 30 minutes. 

Cover with baking paper and leave in the fridge overnight. 

To make the celeriac remoulade, shred the celeriac thinly using a mandoline or sharp knife. Fold in the mayonnaise, lemon juice and capers.

caramelized onion hummus

ingredients:

• 1 large vidalia onion [or what you have on hand], sliced into rings
• 4 cups chickpeas (2 cans)
• 1/3 cup olive oil + 2 TB
• 2 TB tahini
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 TB lemon juice
• kosher or sea salt
• pepper
• 1 TB parsley

directions:

1. caramelize onion [in oven or on stove] until soft and brown. set aside.
2. combine ingredients [chickpeas through parsley] in cuisinart and blend until smooth.
3. add onions and blend until desired smoothness.
4. put into serving bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil, sprinkle with parsley.
5. serve with pita bread, pita chips, fresh veggies or use as a condiment on black bean burgers and marinated tempeh sandwiches. or just eat it with your fingers. [you get the idea, right?]

pumpkin PanFry

Ingredients

• 650g/1lb 7oz pumpkin or butternut squash
• olive oil
• 6 rashers of streaky bacon
• 2 bushy rosemary sprigs
• 3 large garlic cloves
• half a teaspoon of dried chilli flakes
• a small ciabatta loaf
• a handful of parsley leaves

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven at 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. Peel, seed and roughly chop the pumpkin (or butternut squash). The pieces should be roughly 2cm/1in square. Steam the pumpkin over boiling water until soft enough to take the point of a knife with ease (a matter of 15 minutes or so depending on the age of your pumpkin). Drain and set aside.
3. Warm a shallow layer of oil in a heavy-based pan. Cut the bacon into small pieces, about the size of a stamp, and fry until the fat is pale gold. Stir in the leaves of the rosemary sprigs.
4. Peel and lightly crush the garlic cloves and add to the frying pan with the chilli flakes.
5. Tip the cooked pumpkin into the frying pan and leave to colour lightly.
6. Tear up the ciabatta and add to the frying pan, adding more olive oil if necessary (there should be a thin layer in the bottom of the pan.) When the bread is golden in patches, roughly chop the parsley and add it to the pan. Serve hot.