Ingredients (serves 2):

• 4 flour tortillas
• 3-4 eggs
• Dash of milk
• 3 spring onions – finely sliced
• 2 tomatoes – seeds removed and cut into chunks
• 50g of grated cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon of cider vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together the chunks of tomato and 1/2 of the sliced spring onions and season with salt and pepper (you can add 1/4 teaspoon of chilli flakes if you like).  In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs and milk.

Heat the oil up in a frying pan and gently fry the remaining spring onions for 30 seconds or so before adding the eggs.  Scramble the eggs and make sure that you move the mixture around the pan so that it incorporates the spring onion.  Cook to your liking then stir in the cheese briefly before removing the pan from the heat.

Divide the mixture between the tortillas then fold them up and slice in half to serve.

Serve up with a side salad and the tomato salsa on the side.

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 150g lemon curd
• 1/2 lemon – zest
• 150ml pot whipping or double cream
• 1/2 punnet of blueberries

Put 2/3 of the lemon curd into a large mixing bowl with the cream and lemon zest and whisk until consistent and thickened.  You may want to use an electric whisk!  Once the mixture can hold it’s own shape pour over the remaining 1/3 of lemon curd.

Take your serving glasses and add a spoonful of the mixture to the bottom then add several blueberries and then another layer of the parfait.  Continue this until you’ve divided the mixture equally between the glasses, or they’re full! 🙂

Top off with any remaining blueberries and put into the freezer for 30 minutes before serving up.  Add some lemon shortbread biscuits on the side if you like.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 large onion – finely sliced
• 200g of cherry tomatoes
• 100g of spinach leaves
• 1 teaspoon of dried basil
• 100g of ricotta
• 50g of grated chedder cheese
• 3 eggs

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C.

Heat the oil in a pan and fry off the onions for a few minutes.  Add the tomatoes to the pan and toss with the onions for 30 seconds or so.  Add the basil and then the spinach leaves and stir it all together.  Pour it all into an oven dish.  Place spoonfuls of the ricotta randomly around the dish and top with the grated cheese.

Whisk together the eggs in a separate bowl and season well then pour evenly over the tomatoes, spinach and cheese.  Cook in the oven for about 20 minutes or until just going golden on the top.  Serve up with some salad or fresh bread.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 red onion – chopped
• 140g of red split lentils
• 850ml vegetable stock
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 can of chickpeas – rinsed and drained
• Small bunch of coriander – roughly chopped

In a large pan dry fry the cumin seeds and chilli flakes for around a minute until they release their aromas.  Next, pour in the oil and onions and fry for 3-5 minutes until the onions soften, stirring regularly.  Pour in the lentils, tinned tomatoes and vegetable stock.  Bring to the boil and then simmer for 15 minutes or so until the lentils have started to soften and the soup has reduced a little.

Use a hand blender to blend the soup to a smooth mixture and then add the chickpeas.  Bring back to a gentle simmer and stir in the chickpeas well before leaving to simmer for five minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and stir through the coriander, saving some for decoration if you like.

Serve up straight away with some crusty bread!

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

• 1 pack of puff pastry
• Mixture of cherry tomatoes and normal tomatoes (multiple varieties) – cut in half
• 150g of cheddar cheese – grated
• 2-3 cloves of garlic – finely slicely
• 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary
• 1 egg
• Freshly ground pepper

Pre-heat the oven to around 200 degrees C.

Roll out the pastry so that it will fully cover an oven tray.  Once rolled out, transfer the pastry to the tray.  Take a butter knife and mark a perimeter in the pastry about 1″ thick all the way around, being careful not to cut through the pastry!  Then make a criss-cross lattice over the middle of the pastry.

Scatter the halved tomatoes over the pastry along with the garlic and a good drizzle of olive oil.  Lightly whisk the egg and brush a coating of it all around the perimeter of the pastry.  Place the tray into the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the pastry just starts to rise as in the third picture below.

Once it’s reached that stage remove it from the oven and grate over the cheese along with a scattering of rosemary and a good grind of pepper.  Return to the oven and cook until the cheese is all melted and bubbling and the pastry is golden brown.

Serve up straight away with a simple side salad! 🙂

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

• 8-12 lasagna pasta sheets
• 250g of ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 6 balls of frozen spinach
• 1 x tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 small onion – chopped
• 3-4 garlic cloves – finely sliced
• 50g of grated parmesan
• 1/4 teaspoon of dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon of basil
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
• Salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees C.

Heat some oil in a pan and fry the garlic and onion for a couple of minutes before adding the nutmeg and spinach.  Continue to cook in the pan over a low to medium heat, with the lid on to help steam the spinach.  Cook until the juices have been mostly soaked up by the spinach.

While that is slowly cooking pour the tinned tomatoes into another pan and add the basil and oregano to it.  Bring it to the boil and then simmer for ten minutes or so.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

While those two pans are cooking away mix together the ricotta and egg along with a grind of salt and pepper.

Once the tomato sauce and spinach is all cooked, switch off the heat from the pans.  Get an oven dish and pour a little of the tomato sauce on the base then place 2 or 3 lasagna sheets over the sauce.  Pour a third of the spinach mixture and a third of the cheese mixture over the pasta sheet.  Place another 2 or 3 pasta sheets over the mixture and repeat the process.  Pour the final thirds of both the spinach and cheese mixtures over the top of the dish and then top with the remaining tomato sauce.  Finally, grate over the parmesan cheese.

Cover the dish with tin foil and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.  Remove the tin foil and continue cooking for a further ten minutes or so until the top goes nice and golden.

Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes before serving up with some salad and/or crusty bread.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 1):

• 1 x ribeye or sirloin steak
• 50g of unsalted butter
• 2 shallots – finely diced
• 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons of red wine
• 1/2 tablespoon of brandy
• 2 tablespoons of double cream
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried parsley
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Season the steak with salt and pepper, rub with a little oil and fry in a hot pan with half of the butter for a minute or so on each side then remove from the pan and wrap in tin foil while you make the sauce.

To make the sauce, start by melting the other half of the butter and saute the shallots for five minutes or so on a low heat until they have softened.  Add the Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce to the shallots and stir in well.  Then add the wine and simmer until reduced by half; probably a minute or so.  Add the brandy and carefully set alight then simmer until the flames go out, again probably another thirty seconds to a minute or so.

Add the peppercorns, parsley and cream to the sauce and stir in until consistent.  Taste and season with any salt if required.

Now return the steaks to the pan with the sauce in and warm through, basting the steak with the sauce.

Serve up the steak along with some fries and vine tomatoes, simply roasted in the oven with a little olive oil and top the steak with the diane sauce.  Enjoy with a glass of red! 🙂

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

• 3-4 chicken thighs – cut into bite sized chunks
• 50ml of soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 50ml of pineapple juice
• 1 clove of garlic – very finely sliced
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of sherry
• 20 or so chunks of pineapple
• 2 apples – cored, peeled and cubed
• 2 large potatoes – cut into wedges
• 1 heaped teaspoon of dried rosemary
• Salt and pepper for seasoning

Start by marinating the chicken.  In a large bowl mix together 1 tablespoon of the oil, the soy sauce, pineapple juice, garlic, sugar, vinegar and sherry along with a grind of salt and pepper.  Add the chicken, apple and pineapple to the marinade, cover with cling film and allow to marinate for 20 minutes or so.

When you ready to cook, pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C ready for the wedges.  Toss the wedges in the other tablespoon of olive oil along with the rosemary.  Place them onto an oven tray and put them into the oven for about 30 minutes or until cooked and crispy.

While the wedges are cooking take the marinated mixture and alternate pieces of the chicken, pineapple and apple onto wooden or metal skewers.  Lay the completed kebabs onto a foil lined tray as you go.  Cook them under the grill on a medium to high heat until the chicken is cooked through.  Baste whenever you turn them over.  They should take 6-10 minutes per side dependant on the heat of your grill.

Serve the kebabs with the wedges and enjoy this different combination of flavours!

Ingredients (makes 4):

• 200g of dark chocolate (75-85% cocoa solids)
• 120ml of warm water
• 3 large eggs – separated
• 40g of golden caster sugar

Start by melting the chocolate in with the water.  You do this by getting a pan and bringing about 2 inches of water to the boil then reducing to a simmer.  Then get a glass bowl that’s big enough to sit over the pan but not touching the water.  Place the chocolate and water in the bowl and reduce the heat on the pan to the minimum and stir the chocolate and water until melted and consistent.

Once fully melted, remove the bowl from the pan and place it to one side to cool for 2-3 minutes.  Separate the egg whites from the yoks, and stir the egg yolks into the chocolate with a wooden spoon.

In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until soft peaks hold, then whisk in the sugar a little at a time until it’s all mixed in and the mixture is white and glossy.

Using a normal spoon, take a spoonful of the egg white mixture and stir it into the chocolate mixture.  Slowly fold the rest of the egg whites into the chocolate a few spoonfuls at a time.  Be gentle when you’re doing this as it will keep the mixture light and airy.

Once all the egg whites have been combined with the chocolate mixture and the whole mix is lovely and consistent, divide it between ramekins or serving glasses and then cover them with cling film and chill for a couple of hours.

You can have the mousse with some fruit or cream or just enjoy them on their own!

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 onion – finely chopped
• 2 celery sticks – finely chopped
• 2 carrots – diced
• 4 garlic cloves – finely sliced
• 1 tablespoon of tomato purée
• 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
• 250g of mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon of dried basil
• 2 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes
• 250g tagliatelle
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Grated parmesan to serve

Heat a pan up over a medium heat and add the oil along with the onion, celery and carrots.  Fry for 3-5 minutes until the vegetables start to soften.  Add the garlic, tomato puree and balsamic vinegar, give it all a quick stir and then pour in the tinned tomatoes along with the basil and mushrooms.  Bring to the boil and then simmer for 15-20 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper as you go.  If the mixture starts to dry out at all, add some water to it.

While the sauce is simmering away, put the pasta on to cook as per the instructions and drain once done.

Serve up the pasta in nice big bowls followed by a good portion of the ragu and grate a little parmesan over the top to finish to dish off.  Enjoy!