Recipes

STEP 1

Blend the onion, garlic and oil in a blender jug or with stick blender. Then add other ingredients and some cold water until you have the taste, colour and consistency you want . if you want to boost the flavour/ colour of the tomatoes, add a little puree but not so much as to overwhelm the flavour of all your fresh ingredients.

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STEP 2

Either refrigerate, or blend in ice if you want to serve immediately . Stir ice cubes into the soup so everyone gets one in their bowl when you serve. 

STEP 1

Blend cooked chickpeas ( soaked overnight in plenty of cold water, then boiled and simmered until soft ) with your other ingredients. Hummus - or Homous - is VERY personal, hence no quantities on the recipe. Make it to your own taste and hold some chickpeas back in reserve so you can adjust it if you go over the top with any one ingredient. Water helps to get it going at the beginning and for those of us who like a runny hummus, to stop it from getting too thick. Keep tasting and be careful and judicious with salt. (It's often impossible to bring an over-salted dish back to something tasty and better just to make a new batch. ) 

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STEP 2

Refrigerate until needed and serve garnished as you wish with olives /paprika/pomegranate ,but always with a splash of olive oil .

STEP 1

Cut the leaves off just above the bulbs. Cook the beetroot until just soft; 35 - 45 mins. Keep all stalks and long leaves. Cut into 2 or 3 sections and float in a sink full of water to allow grit to fall to the bottom. Transfer leaves into a pan using slotted spoon /skimmer/ spider. Cover with boiling water and cook for 10 minutes ( longer if stalks are thick ). 

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STEP 2

When the stalks are softened, drain and return to pan. With a garlic press, crush 2 cloves of garlic and stir through the leaves with a glug of vinegar, oil and black pepper to taste. Sea salt if you wish.  When the bulbs are ready rub off the skin under running water , cut and arrange on a dish surrounded by the leaves. Serve while still warm . 

STEP 1

Sautee chopped garlic and onions in a good glug of olive oil in your biggest cooking pot. Wash and chop leek and add to the pan. Float and agitate the the spinach in a sink of water to wash and get and rid of any grit/sand. Tear handfuls in 2 as you add into the sink if the stalk are long or leaves large. Spider out into a colander and weight to remove as much liquid as possible. Add to the pan in handfuls, stirring into mixture. Chop in parsley and dill, stalks and all. As your mix starts to release liquid add a tablespoon chia seeds to absorb.

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STEP 2 

Oil your oven tray and quickly line with filo, making sure you have plenty to go up the side, brushing all over with oil. Overlap sheets to ensure you have a good watertight base. Use 3 or 4 layers for the base and sides. Sprinkle semolina flour over the base to absorb excess liquid. Spoon in mix - not too deep and bring down the first sheet of filo from the side of the tray. Fill the exposed area of filling with a slightly overlapping sheet of filo. Oil and repeat until you have at least 4 complete filo layers on top. Oil the surface of your pie well. With a (paring) knife cut your pie surface, taking care not to cut through the sides or bottom ( and allow liquid to escape ). Bake in lower part of oven at 180. Check after 25 mins. Once the top is nicely light brown, put on the bottom of the oven for a further 10/15 mins. Serve while still warm . 

STEP 1

Set oven to 180. Heat a good glug of olive oil in your oven tray. Add the chopped onions and garlic and stir. While your tray is back in the oven, dice the aubergines into small cubes and throw into a large container or pan of salted water. Swish around and drain in colander to get rid of any bitter juices. Once the onions are turning translucent add your aubergine and mix in quickly so everything is coated. Return to the oven .

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STEP 2

Check after 15 mins and add  a glug of balsamic vinegar. If the aubergines are becoming succulent stir in a whole jar of tomato puree, ( or a small tin/tube and rinse out the jar with water and add that too. ( Aubergines can absorb a lot of liquid and we want them really nice and succulent. ) Another 10- 15 mins in the oven should be enough. Stir in torn basil, dried oregano and black pepper to taste. Sea salt if you wish. For a feta-topped bake, spoon some of the mix into dish and crumble chunks of feta all over the top to completely cover the mix. Slightly brown on the top shelf of the oven for 10 mins.