Arepas

Makes 4 arepas

1 cup  PAN flour
1.25 cups water
Pinch of salt
1 dsp olive oil

Put the water oil and salt in a bowl and stir. Gradually add the PAN flour and stir until it forms a ball. If too stiff add a little more water. Knead for a min by just grabbing and squeezing the dough. Cover and leave to rest for 10 mins.

While the dough is resting heat a black frying pan on 6 for at last 5 mins to warm through.

Form 4 balls from the dough and flatten into about 1.5-2cm disks. Add a little olive oil to the pan and brush around to cover the base. Fry for 7-8 mins each side until golden.

Rest for 5 mins  before cutting open like a pitta bread and fill.

Chorizo, Kale and Chickpeas (quick)

Serves 3 normals or 2 Jamies

10-15cm piece of skinny chorizo chopped into small pieces

Pinch chili flakes

Jar of good chickpeas

3 large handfuls of kale, stalks removed and chopped well

Lemon juice

Eggs

Fry the chorizo on a medium heat until golden, add the chilli flakes and chickpeas and a pinch of salt and cook for 5 mins stirring often.

Warm some oil in a frying pan.

Add the kale to the chickpea mix and wilt (not too much, keep some crunch) and add squeeze of lemon juice and season well. 

Quickly fry the eggs and serve on top of the kale and chickpea mix.

Kale Pesto

2.5 cups of kale (no stalks)

0.5 cup olive oil (good quality)

0.25 cup either toasted pine nuts or almonds

juice one large lemon

1 tsp Maldon salt

Put everything except the nuts in the food processor and blitz, scrape down the sides and repeat. Add the nuts and blits until broken up but not totally smooth. 

Check the salt.

Done

Coconut Biscuits

150g butter or margarine

1 tbs honey

130g caster sugar

70g self raising flour

90g desiccated coconut

100g oats

You will make about 30 biscuits, ready to scoff in 20 mins. 

Preheat oven to 170C fan. Get two large non-stick baking sheets ready and grease with a little butter.

In a large pan melt butter, honey and sugar together on heat 5 until all liquid. Don’t allow to bubble/boil.

Add the flour, coconut and oats and mix until all combined. 

Put heaped teaspoonfuls of mix onto the baking sheets well spread out, flatten the mounds a little. You will get about 8 per sheet (you will need to do 2 runs in the oven) if they are spaced out enough. 

Bake for no more than 10 mins – the lower tray might need a min longer than the top. They should be golden but not a dark brown.

Leave to cool for a few mins on the sheet and then lift off with a pallet knife onto a cooling rack. 

Turnip & Kidney Bean Curry

2 medium turnips, peeled and cut into 12 wedges each

1 medium red onion, finely diced

2 gloves of garlic (minced or grated in when directed)

Thumb sized piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 tin of good quality chopped tomatoes, juice drained and kept for something else

1 tin of kidney beans

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp ground turmeric 

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp paprika or dried chilli flakes

1/2 tsp garam masala

1tbs chopped coriander

Cook the turnips in boiling water until soft, about 5 mins. Once cooked add the kidney beans and boil for a minute and then turn off the heat.

Heat 1 tbs olive oil in a wide frying pan on #6 (green Le Creuset is best) and fry the spices (except the garam masala) for a minute or until they start smelling (good not burned!). Add the onion and a pinch of Maldon and cook until soft/golden brown. Add the fresh ginger and garlic and fry for a minute and then add the chopped tomatoes and cook for a few minutes on a medium heat (it shouldn’t boil too hard).

Drain the turnips and beans but keep the cooking water. Add the veg to the tomato spice paste and add a few spoons of the retained water. Simmer for 10 mins. If it goes too thick add a little more water but not too much as should be quite a thick curry. Add the garam masala and coriander and check the seasoning just before serving.

Serve with cauliflower or normal rice with a spoon of thick natural yoghurt on top.

‘Bubble & Squeak’ Pasta

Serves 2

100g dried pasta shapes of choice

1 large sweet potato

1 small red onion, finely diced

12-15 Brussel sprouts, any old outer leaves removed

1 tsp chili flakes

Juice from half a lemon

150g feta cheese

Peel the sweet potato and cut into 1cm cubes. In a large pan (which you will later cook the pasta in) bring to a boil and cook until just soft, remove with a slotted spoon into a colander and let them air dry a bit. 

Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook.

Fry the onion in a little olive oil on number 6 with a pinch of salt. Remove once soft and add the chilli flakes. While the onion is frying finely slice the Brussels (as fine as possible).

Put the potato cubes into the frying pan with around 1tbs olive oil and fry until crispy and then add the Brussels and sauté for a couple of minutes, and add back in the onions as well as a couple of tbs of the pasta water.

Drain the pasta and add to the veg mix combining well. Crumble in the feta, add the lemon juice, check the seasoning and mix gently then serve.

Kidney Bean, Lentil & Chickpea Burgers

Serves around 6-8

1 white onion finely chopped

1/2 jar chickpeas

1/2 large tin of kidney beans

200g dried green lentils or a full jar

1tsp chilli flakes

1 egg, beaten well with a fork

Breadcrumbs (optional)

2 tbs olive oil

Cook the lentils in at least 500 ml of water, do not add salt, for 25 mins and drain.

In the meantime, fry the onion in a little of the olive oil with a tsp of salt.

Mash the kidney beans and chick peas together, add the chilli flakes and season. Taste and add more seasoning if necessary.

When the lentils are soft add them to the mix and mash again and mix together, check the seasoning again and once ok add the beaten egg and stir well.

Oil your hands and make little burgers from the mix, is using the breadcrumbs coat the burgers in them. The mix will be better if in the fridge for a couple of hours but not essential, just might be a bit sloppy when you make the burgers. If you have some breadcrumbs left over just stir them into the mix when finished. 

Heat the remaining oil in the pan on #7 and when you drop a small piece of the mix in and it sizzles add the burgers and fry for 4-5 mins each side until cooked through.

Serve with salad, wrap, grated beetroot etc or sweet potato chips. Make as many as you need for the meal and keep the rest of the mix and make it up into burgers when you are ready to eat them. Will keep 48h in the fridge. 

Spinach, Chorizo and Cream Cheese Pasta

1tbs olive oil

Half white onion, finely chopped

8-10cm piece of chorizo, skin off cut into small cubes (5mm)

Pinch of chilli flakes

Half a 180g tub of Philadelphia (cream cheese)

4 large handfuls of spinach

180g of pasta (something like Cava Tappi or Fusilli)

Parmesan

Put a pan of water on to boil for the pasta

Heat the olive oil in wide frying pan on #6 (green Le Creuset is best) and add a large pinch of salt and fry the onion. After a few minutes add the chorizo and fry until cooked (don’t let the onion brown, add more oil if necessary).

Cook the pasta as soon as the water is boiling.

Chop the spinach and wash thoroughly and add to the pan with the onions and chorizo and stir until wilted. Add the cream cheese and chilli flakes and stir with the heat off.

Drain the pasta and add to the pan with the spinach mix. Grate in around 2tbs of parmesan and  season and stir.

Serve with a little more parmesan.

(The spinach could be replaced with any greens like chopped kale or chard and the cream cheese could be replaced with feta but if using feta retain a couple of tbs pasta cooking water to stir in to loosen the sauce).

Vegetable Soup with Chickpeas

Serves 4

1 large white onion

5 large sticks of celery

4 large carrots

2 medium potato

2 chicken stock cubes

1 parmesan rind (optional)

1 bay leaf

1 jar of chickpeas

Grated parmesan and olive oil

Peel and roughly chop the onion. Wash the celery, carrots and potato and chop into chunks. Put everything in a large pan and cover with enough boiling water to just cover the veg. Add the stock cubes and bay leaf (and the parmesan rind if using). Season with pepper, no salt at this stage and cook until the veg is soft. 

Remove the bay leaf and parmesan rind.

Using a stick blender, blend until smooth and if too thick add some more water. 

Add the jar of chickpeas and allow to warm though. 

Serve in pasta bowls and grate over fresh parmesan and drizzle with a little good quality olive oil.