Tag: vegetarian

Cheese and onion rolls

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A delightful alternative to sausage rolls and the perfect retro party food for the vegetarians in your life.

  • 150g dried breadcrumbs
  • 200g strong cheese of your choice, grated
  • 1 onion, grated
  • 1 tsp veg oil
  • 4 tbsp double cream
  • Around 4 tbsp herbs of your choice (suggest parsley, chives and sage), finely chopped
  • 2 tsp dijon mustard
  • Pinch hot smoked paprika
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 sheet ready made puff pastry (320g)
  • Milk or beaten egg to brush over
  • Sesame seeds
  1. Pre-heat oven to 200C fan (220C)
  2. In a small pan, heat the oil and cook the onion for 5 mins until soft
  3. Mix all the filling ingredients, adding the cooked onion
  4. Form into sausage shapes and roll in the pastry
  5. Cut into 3-4cm lengths, brush with milk or egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds
  6. Place on a lined baking tray and bake for 20-25 mins until puffy and golden

Black bean and avocado quesadilla

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Spicy, cheesy and beany. Crunchy and toasty on the outside, oozy and soft on the inside. Also very quick and very simple to make – the perfect midweek lunch. Make as many as you like, this recipe makes 1.

  • 2 large plain wheat tortillas
  • 3 tbsp tinned black beans
  • Cheddar cheese
  • 1 tsp chipotle ketchup – try the one from Pitt Cue’s book, it’s a game-changer
  • ½ avocado, sliced – squeeze over a tiny bit of lime after you cut it up
  1. Cut around 8 thin slices of cheese, enough to distribute across the wrap, spaced out evenly with some gaps in between
  2. Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat. Don’t add any oil
  3. Spread a substantial tsp of chipotle ketchup onto one wrap, add the cheese and avocado slices and evenly scatter over the black beans
  4. Lift the wrap into the pan and top with the other one, pressing down lightly
  5. Leave to toast underneath until it turns golden round the edges – it only takes a couple of mins – then use a fish slice to flip it onto the untoasted side
  6. Give it another couple of mins and it should be done. The outside crunchy and brown, the cheese all melty and gooey, sticking the 2 sides and all the fillings together
  7. Leave it to sit for a minute before cutting it into quarters and scoffing it all up

Stick some pickles and slaw on the side to make a meal of it

Green minestrone soup

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A wholesome, springtime, green version of the traditional tomato-based soup. Feeds 4.

  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 leek, washed and finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 800ml veg stock
  • 200g mini soup pasta shapes
  • 150g green beans, cut into 1 cm pieces
  • 100g frozen peas, defrosted (just pour some hot water over them)
  • 100g spinach, chopped
  • 1 tin haricot beans, drained and rinsed
  • Salt and pepper
  • Squeeze of lemon
  • 4 heaped tsp pesto
  • Handful pinenuts, toasted
  • Parmesan, grated
  1. Melt the butter in a large pan
  2. Add the leek and garlic, and cook over a low heat until soft and translucent
  3. Pour in the stock, bring to the boil, season and add the pasta and green beans
  4. Bring back to the boil and cook at a bubble for 5 mins
  5. Add the peas, spinach and haricot beans. Cook for another 2 mins. Add a bit of boiling water if all the liquid has disappeared
  6. Once piping hot, add a squeeze of lemon, taste and adjust the seasoning
  7. Serve in deep bowls topped with a tsp of pesto, a sprinkle of pine nuts and a small cloud of parmesan

Use other greens if you have them – diced courgette, broad beans, baby kale. Bring your steaming soup to the table with a loaf of fresh bread for dunking. This will make everyone happy.

Sweet potato, red onion, lentil and halloumi salad

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A delicious combination of textures, colours and flavours. Eat it on its own or as part of a spread to delight friends and family.

  • 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunky pieces
  • 1 red onion, cut into 8 wedges
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • ¼ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • Pinch chilli flakes
  • Salt and pepper
  • 225g block halloumi, cut into pieces about the same size as the sweet potato
  • 250g cooked green lentils
  • Handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  1. Pre-heat oven to 180C fan (200C)
  2. Mix the olice oil with all the spices
  3. Dump the sweet potato and red onion into a roasting tin, pour the spiced oil over the top and season well. Mix with your hands until it’s all thoroughly coated
  4. Roast for around 25 mins, then add the lentils and halloumi and give it a gentle mix around
  5. Return to the oven for a further 15 mins until the sweet potato is soft and caught around the edges, the halloumi is soft, the lentils have absorbed all the delicious juice and everything is good
  6. Remove from the oven and stir through the lemon juice and a bit more olive oil
  7. Arrange on a platter, sprinkle with parsley and eat!

Loubyeh b’zeit

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

AKA one of the nicest ways you’ll ever find to eat runner beans. Warm, comforting and wholesome. Feeds 2.

  • 1 heaped tbsp salted butter
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced into half moons
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 250g runner beans
  • 3 ripe tomatoes
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp allspice
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tsbp extra virgin olive oil
  1. Cut little X shapes through the skin on the bottom of your tomatoes and pop them in a bowl. Boil the kettle and pour boiling water over the tomatoes until they’re covered. Leave for 1 minute then drain the hot water and re-fill the bowl with cold water from the tap. After a minute, the skin should peel off the tomatoes easily, without taking any tomato with it. Then just chop them roughly. Careful, they’ll be slippery!
  2. Top the runner beans, remove the strings (weirdly satisfying) and cut them into chunky pieces
  3. Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat
  4. Add the onions and garlic, cover and cook for 5-7 mins until translucent but not browned
  5. Add the cut-up beans, cover and cook for 5 mins
  6. Then add 2 tbsp water, the chopped tomatoes, cinnamon and allspice. Season with salt and pepper
  7. Cover and cook over low heat for 20 mins until the sauce is thickened and the beans are cooked through (they should be soft but with a gentle bite)
  8. If there’s any extra liquid, remove the lid and turn up the heat for a minute or so until it has evaporated
  9. Remove from the heat, add the olive oil and stir to combine. Leave to sit for 5 mins with the lid on before consuming hungrily because it has made your kitchen smell so good

Sweet potato falafels

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Not real falafels, but falafel-shaped, nutty, gently spiced and very tasty. Perfect stuffed into a toasted pitta with a bit of lettuce, some smoked hummous and a couple of green olives

  • 2 large sweet potatoes
  • 2 handfuls fresh coriander, finely chopped
  • 1 large carrot, grated
  • 3 spring onions, finely chopped
  • 125g gram flour
  • 100g shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Prick the sweet potatoes and heat in the microwave for 5-10 mins until soft
  2. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl
  3. Scoop the sweet potato flesh out of its skin and mix in thoroughly
  4. Scrunch the mixture together into a large ball with your hands, and then place in a covered bowl in the fridge for 30 mins
  5. Pre-heat oven to 180C fan (200C) and line an oven tray with baking paper
  6. Take the falafel mixture out of the fridge and, with your hands, roll pieces into golf balls then flatten slightly into falafelly shapes
  7. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 18-20 mins until crisp on the outside. Of course you could also shallow fry these if you’d prefer, or of course deep fry
  8. Serve at room temp

Cauliflower cheese fritters

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Warm, cheesy and immensely comforting. And beautifully easy to make. A great Sunday supper

  • 1 small cauliflower
  • 4 spring onions, finely chopped
  • 100g mature cheddar, grated
  • 200g plain flour
  • 1 heaped tsp grain mustard
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • Milk
  • Half tsp salt
  • Veg oil
  1. Trim the cauliflower and cut into small florets.
  2. Steam the cauli over boiling water for 7 mins, leave to cool for 10 mins and then chop into small pieces (approx half a cm).
  3. Mix together the flour, mustard, eggs, salt and enough milk to make a stiff batter
  4. Mix in cauliflower, cheese and spring onions.
  5. Fry large spoonfuls in veg oil over a medium heat until brown on both sides and cooked through

Makes 6 fritters

Here’s a version with green beans too, as we only had half a cauli and there were green beans that needed using up

Broccoli and blue cheese soup

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Happily simple and quick to make, softly green and deeply tasty. If you don’t like blue cheese, just leave it out – it’s still delish as a plain old broccoli soup.

  • 1 head of broccoli
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 stick celery, chopped
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tsp garlic oil (or 1 clove garlic, chopped)
  • Around 400ml stock
  • 200g blue cheese
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Chop the broccoli into small bits, including the stalk
  2. Melt the butter over a low heat, add the garlic oil and dump in the onion and celery
  3. Stir together and cook gently for 7 or 8 mins until soft but not brown
  4. Add the broccoli and stir in
  5. Pour in the stock until just covering the vegetables, turn the heat up and bring to the boil
  6. Simmer for 7 or 8 mins until the broccoli is soft
  7. Take off the heat and use a wand blender to whizz up the soup until thick and mostly smooth
  8. Heat gently until piping hot, take off the hob and crumble the cheese in. Stir until melty but not completely blended – it’s nice to come across some slightly cheesier bits as you eat. Taste it and season. You probably don’t need salt, but black pepper is good.

Serve straight away with some lovely fresh walnut bread to dunk in it

New potato, asparagus and broad bean salad

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A fresh, lovely spring salad. Pretty, pale green and so tasty.

  • 500g new potatoes, halved
  • 350g bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 300g shelled broad beans
  • 6 spring onions
  • 1 packet feta
  • Fresh mint
  • Fresh dill
  • Handful spinach
  • 1 tbsp dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Boil a pan of water and salt it. Cook the potatoes until tender, around 15-20 mins. Then drain and set aside
  2. Cook asparagus in boiling, salted water for 3 mins. Remove with tongs and refresh in cold water
  3. In the same water, blanch the broad beans for 2 mins, drain and refresh, then remove the outer skins
  4. Chop the herbs and spring onions then mix with the cooled potatoes, asparagus and broad beans
  5. Whisk the mustard, lemon juice and oil, season and dress the potato salad
  6. Scatter the spinach across a platter or wide bowl, and spread the potato salad across the leaves
  7. Crumble over the feta just before serving and adorn with a few whole mint leaves

Use jersey royal potatoes if you can get them. If you’d rather, don’t use feta and instead add curls of beautiful pink prosciutto on top

Traditional tortilla

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Old school Spanish tortilla. No sweet potatoes, spinach or cheese (not that I don’t love these!) This is a classic for a reason. Feeds 6 or more as part of a tapas.

  • 600g large waxy potatoes
  • 2 onions, finely sliced in half moons
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 10 eggs, whisked well
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Peel the potatoes and cut into 2mm slices. Pat the slices dry with paper towel.
  2. Heat oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat
  3. Add the onion and potatoes, turn in the oil to coat
  4. Turn the heat down to low and cook for 20-30 mins (until the potato is cooked through and the onions are meltingly soft). During cooking, turn over gently a couple of times with a fish slice or spatula
  5. Season the eggs with salt and pepper and then pour them into the pan over the potato and onion
  6. Cook over a low heat for about 20 mins, then under a medium grill for a further 10 mins so it puffs up and turns golden and the egg is set
  7. Turn out onto a board to serve at room temp