Rather than a simple creamy soup I thought I’d add the beans to add some texture and interest. it wored well and just the thing to warm you up on a snowy February weekend.

This makes about 4 bowls
Knob of butter
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion – chopped
1 teaspoon dried or fresh thyme
2 3- small potatoes – peeled and diced
1 head of celery – remove the leafy parts and roughly chop the rest
Vegetable stock
100 ml single cream
1x 400g tin cannellini beans – drained
Salt and black pepper to taste

Heat the oil and butter in a large pan. Add the onion and fry gently until starting to soften. Add the thyme, celery and potato and fry for a minute or two, stirring to make sure everything is nicely coated in the oil and butter.

Add enough stock to just cover the vegetables. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes until everything is soft.

Blend until smooth then sieve to remove the stringy bits of the celery.

Put the sieved soup back in the pan, add the cream and beans then heat slowly. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Serve hot.

Serves 3 – 4 people

2 tablespoons olive oil
Small knob of butter
1 onion – chopped
1 clove garlic – finely chopped
4-5 courgettes – cut into rough chunks
2 teaspoons pesto
100g creamy blue cheese – gorgonzola or dolcelatte work well
Vegetable stock
Salt and pepper

Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan. When the butter has melted add the onion and fry gently until soft and translucent. Now add the garlic and continue to fry for a further 2 minutes. Add the courgettes, stir, cover and cook for 5-6 minutes until the courgettes are soft. Now add the pesto and just enough stock to come to the top of the vegetables. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until everthing is very tender. Remove from the heat and add the cheese. Blend the osup until smooth. I use a stick blender but you could transfer everything to a food processor, blend and put back in the pan – it all depends on how much you like washing up.

Heat gently and season to taste.

This makes enough soup to feed four or five.

1 medium pumpkin or butternut squash – peeled, deseeded and diced
oil for frying – I used raw coconut oil
2 oinions – peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic – finely chopped
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 red chili – chopped – deseed it if you don’t like the fire
175g pudding rice
1 litre vegetable stock
2-3 slices stale bread
1 tablespoon za’atar
3-4 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large pan then add the onion and fry until soft (about 5 minutes) then add the garlic, chili and spices, fry for a further 2 minutes then add the pumpkin or butternut. Add the stock and bring to the boil. When boiing add half the rice, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for half an hour.

While the soup is simmering, cook the rest of the rice in boiling water for 15 minutes. Drain and set to one side.

When the soup is done and the pumpkin cooked through, remove from the heat and blend. Add the drained rice and return to the heat to keep warm.

Take a large frying pan, add some more oil then fry the diced stale bread. When the bread starts to colour add the pumpkin seeds and za’atar. Fry for a further minute or two stirring all the time.

Serve the soup with hot croutons.

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2 large handfuls of chana dal (or yellow split peas)
2-3 cloves garlic – finely sliced
2 tomatoes – diced
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon chili powder – vary the amount depending on how hot it is and how hot you like it
1 teaspoon salt
Large bunch fresh coriander – chopped

Soak the chana dal in cold water for a few hours – this is not essential but it reduces the cooking time a little.

Rinse the dal then cover with water, add a teaspoon of ground turmeric and bring to the boil. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for half an hour or so until the dal is soft and soupy. If too wet, take the lid off and let some of the water evaporate off while cooking. If dry, add more water, a little at a time.

When the dal is done, heat a little oil in a small frying pan. When hot add the garlic and chili powder and fry until just starting to brown. Now add the tomatoes and salt. Fry until the tomatoes start to break up then tip the contents of the frying pan into the dal. Add the chopped coriander, stir well and serve hot.

This dish is made in three stages, but in spite of this it still quite simple.

Start with the green paste

bunch Coriander
bunch Mint
2-3 green chilis
2-3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
juice of 1 lime

Roughly chop all the solid ingredients and place in a blender/food processor with all the other ingredients. If the mixture is a little dry add some olive oil. Once blended into a paste, put to one side.

Now cook the purple sprouting

Take a few stems of purple sprouting and simmer in boiling water for about 10 minutes until tender. Drain and put to another side.

For the main dish

60g butter
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
400g basmati rice
2 medium onions – finely chopped
400ml vegetable stock
1x400g can of coconut milk
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons of the green paste above
3 spring onions finely sliced
zest of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 180C.

Heat butter and olive oil in a large saucepan. When hot and melted add the onion and fry until soft and staring to brown. Now add the rice nd stir to coat the rice with the butter and oil. Now add the stock, coconut milk and lemon zest. Bring to boil then remove from heat, cover and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the rice has absorbed the liquid. Take out of the oven, add the green paste, salt, pepper, finely sliced spring onion and cooked purple sprouting, stir well and put the lid back on. Leave for about 10 minutes then serve.

I settled on a giant mushroom, filled with garlicky spinach and pine nuts and a slice of roasted butternut squash. Then encased the whole thing in a big sheet of puff pastry and bake until crisp and golden.

1 butternut squash
6 large flattish mushrooms
1 pack boursin garlic and herb cheese
100g or so pine nuts
2 big bunches of spinach
3 packs of ready rolled puff pastry

Start by roasting the butternut. Take the thin end (without the seeds), peel and cut into six slices about 1cm thick. Drizzle with a little olive oil, season then roast in the oven at 200C for about 20 minutes.

While the squash is roasting, wash the spinach then wilt in a large pan. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can, then chop roughly.

Take a small frying pan and place over a medium to high heat. Add the pine nuts and toss them gently until toasted. remove from the heat and add to the spinach. Now stir in the pack of Boursin, season with salt and black pepper. Leave to cool.

Peel the mushrooms and remove the stems. Divide the spinach mixture evenly between the six mushrooms then top each with a slice of butternut.

Now take the puff pastry. If using ready rolled, cut each sheet in half then place the filled mushroom, mushroom side down, in the middle of half a sheet. Now carefully fold in each corner in the middle ensuring there are no gaps. Turn the filled ball over and place on a foil or parchment lined baking tray.

When all the mushrooms are wrapped, brush the pastry with a little milk, cut a small steam slit in each then bake for about 25 minutes at 200C until browned.

I served this with a platter of mixed roasted vegetables (beetroot, turnip, parsnip, carrot), roast potatoes, peas, sprouts, brocolli and a gravy made from caramelised onions, vegetable stock, marmite and conrflour.

To make four mushrooms – which is enough for four people…

4 large flattish field or portobello mushrooms – peeled and the stem cut out
2 medium leeks – cut in half lenthwise then cut into thin slices
3 spring onions – finely sliced
100g or so of Gruyere cheese – grated. You could use a strong Cheddar here too or Emmenthal would probably work quite well
a few glugs of olive oil – about 4 tablespoons
2 large handfuls of fresh breadcrumbs – about 3 slices worth
a pinch of nutmeg
black pepper
assorted seeds for sprinkling

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan then add the leeks and spring onion, put the lid on and sweat down until tender. This should take about 10-15 minutes. Take the lid off, remove from the heat and allow to cool. Add a pinch of nutmeg, some pepper. Salt isn’t really needed as the cheese has a saltiness about it. Add the grated cheese and mix well.

Place the mushrooms round side down on a lightly oiled oven tray. Divide the leek and cheese mixture equally between the mushrooms, pressing the stuffing down well. Sprinkle some seeds over the top – I used pine nuts and sesame. You could also use pumpkin, sunflower, flax. Drizzle with a little oil then place in the oven at 200C for about 20 minutes until the mushrooms are cooked through and the tops are browning.

You can find za’atar in any Arab or Middle Eastern grocers. There are several different versions around but most are based on thyme, sesame seeds and sumac.

250g cooked (roasted or boiled) beetroot – peeled and cut into chunks
1 clove garlic – chopped
1 red chili – chopped (remove the seeds if you don’t want it too spicy)
125g or so of grrek yogurt
75g mashed potato – not essential but takes a bit of the edge off the earthiness of the beets
1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon za’atar
a little black pepper
salt to taste
2 spring onions to garnish – finely sliced

Place the beetroot, chili, garlic and yogurt in a food processor and blend until smooth. Don’t worry if you have a few smallish lumps of beetroot. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the potato, vinegar, olive oil, maple syrup, za’atar, salt and pepper.

Transfer to a flattish plate and spread evenly. Top with sliced spring onion. You can also add some chopped hazelnuts and crumbled goat of feta cheese.

This should feed about 4-6 depending on how much running around you’ve been doing.

2 tablespoons coconut or sunflower oil
Approx ¾ of a smallish pumpkin – peeled, deseeded and cut into 1cm dice
1x400g tin of coconut milk
2 red chillies – finely sliced
About a 1cm piece of ginger – finely chopped
3 cloves garlic – finely chopped
1 teaspoon each of ground coriander, ground cumin, sugar and salt
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Juice of 1 lime
Handful of mange tout
Large bunch coriander – chopped roughly
Vegetable stock
Ramen noodles
3 spring onions – finely sliced

Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottomed saucepan then add the ginger, garlic and chili and fry gently until starting to soften. Now add the coconut milk salt, cumin, ground coriander, sugar and soy sauce. Add vegetable stock – about the amount that would fill the empty can of coconut milk. When starting to boil add the diced pumpkin. Simmer for 10 minutes then add the mange tout, lime juice and chopped coriander. Simmer for a further 10 minutes. Then add the ramen noodle which need only a minute. Check the seasoning and adjust as necessary. Serve in bowls while piping hot and sprinkle a few chopped spring onions over the top.