Category: Lockdown

Based on a BBC Good Food recipe
Serves 3
Takes about 45 mins

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 1 aubergine, cut into chunks
• 150g mushrooms cut into large chunks (leave whole if small button)
• 1 red pepper, cored and cut into large chunks
• 1x 175g pack grilled artichoke hearts
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 200g arborio rice
• 750ml veg stock
• 1x 400g tin pulses of choice, drained (chickpeas and red kidney beans both work well)
• Lemon juice (opt)

Method:
1. Place the aubergine, mushrooms and pepper on a baking tray, mist with oil and cook for 20 mins at about 180C.
2. Meanwhile, sauté the onion and garlic until softened, stir in the spices and rice, and cook for 2 mins.
3. Add half the stock; simmer, uncovered, for 20 mins (stir every so often).
4. Add the other half of the stock, the veg (including artichokes) and pulses, and simmer (uncovered) for another 20 mins – stir every so often and you might need to add a little water to stop it sticking.
5. Add a little lemon juice to taste, and serve.

(Is also v nice cold for lunch the next day!)

Serves 2; takes 5 mins to cook both batches, plus 20 mins prep and an hour to bake the potatoes

Ingredients:

• 500g medium-sized floury potatoes (Maris Pipers work really well)
• 75g plain flour

Method:

Bake the potatoes for about an hour at 200C. When a knife goes into them easily, take them out, cut them in half, scoop out the potato and mash well (if you have a ricer, great – if not, a sieve will do – don’t add butter or any liquid).

Add the flour – cut it in with a knife, then work it in with your hands and knead lightly until it’s a non-sticky dough. (You might need a little more flour if it’s still sticky.)

Divide the dough into four and roll each piece into a sausage about 2cm thick; cut off slices about 1.5cm thick and roll into an oval. Place a fork on your work surface, so the tines are sticking up; hold the handle of the fork with one hand, and with your other hand roll your gnocchi up the tines and flip it over the edge (so you get ridges on one side and a light thumbprint on the back).

Drop half the gnocchi into a large pan of boiling water. When they rise to the surface (about 2 mins), they’re done. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep warm while you cook the second batch.

Serve with whatever sauce you like – the classic sauce is melted butter with fried sage, but we used an arrabbiata sauce (aka passata, garlic, onion and a bit of chilli) mixed with roasted Mediterranean veg.

Based on a WeightWatchers recipe. Could swap the beans for 300g cooked diced chicken; and add Parmesan at the end when you serve. Is also nice cold with salad for lunch the next day.

Serves 4
Takes 35 mins + prep

Ingredients:

• 1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• About 2cm of red chilli pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and diced
• 1 medium courgette (zucchini), diced
• 150g mushrooms, diced
• 275g arborio rice
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes in juice
• 1 x 400g tin aduki beans, drained and rinsed
• 350ml stock
• A little oil

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Heat the oil, saute the onions for 5 mins until soft, add the garlic and chilli and cook for another minute.
3. Add the rice, and stir for a minute.
4. Add the tomatoes, stock and vegetables.
5. Bring to the boil, add the beans, then transfer the lot to a casserole dish, cover, and bake for 25 mins until the rice is tender and liquid absorbed.

Easy and quick! Takes about 2 mins + 10 mins soaking for the cashew cream, then up to 20 mins, depending on what you do with sauce…

Serves 1 (easy to change quantities)

This is a very tweakable recipe. The basic cashew cream can be made sweet by adding a dash of vanilla extract; or you flavour it however you like to use with pasta (it’s very bland on its own!). You will need a blender (a stick blender will do).

Ingredients:

• 80g (1/3 cup) cashews
• hot water to cover
• half a red pepper, deseeded
• About 2 cm of red chili, deseeded and finely sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• a little oil

Method:

To make the basic cashew cream, tip the cashews into a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to soak for 10 mins, then tip the lot into a blender and whizz until smooth. (If you’re making it sweet, add vanilla extract to taste and whizz again; if savoury, see below…)

Put the red pepper on a plate and microwave for about 3 mins (if you don’t have a microwave, spray lightly with oil and roast for 20 mins). Leave to cool slightly and remove the skin.

To make the cashew cream, tip the cashews and water into a blender and blend until smooth. (Keep it in the blender for now as we’ll add more ingredients in a second!)

Heat the oil in a small pan, add the chili and garlic and sauté until soft. Add to the blender with the red pepper, and blitz again. (If you’re serving with pasta, start cooking the pasta at the same time as you heat the oil.)

Pour the sauce back into the pan and heat through – you might need to add a little water, depending on how thick you like your sauce. Serve with the pasta.

Tweaks: 

• Alfredo: omit the chilli and red pepper, swap the oil for sunflower margarine and sauté 125g of sliced mushrooms with the garlic; then add the cashew cream and heat through)
• Omit the red pepper and chilli, add a teaspoon of prepared wholegrain mustard to the garlic, add the cashew cream and then stir in some roasted veg and heat through