Recipes

Three cheese risotto

Serves 6 Ingredients

1 litre organic chicken or vegetable stock, hot 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped 3 sticks celery, trimmed and finely chopped 400 g risotto rice 2 glasses dry white wine sea salt freshly ground black pepper 75 g Appenzeller or Gruyere cheese, roughly chopped 75 g Taleggio cheese, roughly chopped 1 knob butter 40 g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Method Heat the stock in a pan over a moderate heat. Heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the onions, garlic and celery, and fry gently for about 5 minutes until softened. Add the rice to the pan and turn up the heat. Cook for a minute or so, stirring constantly, until the rice looks slightly translucent. Add the wine and keep stirring - any alcohol flavours will evaporate. Once the wine has been absorbed by the rice, add your first ladle of hot stock and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Turn the heat down to a simmer so the rice doesn't cook too quickly on the outside. Add the stock, a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next, until the rice is cooked but still holds its shape - this takes about 15 minutes. Stir in the Appenzeller and Taleggio. Remove the pan from the heat and season to taste, then beat in the butter and Parmesan. Place a lid on the pan and leave to rest for 2 to 3 minutes - your risotto will get nice and oozy. Enjoy!

Toffee and apple tart

Ingredients

1 vanilla pod, optional 125 g butter 100 g icing sugar sea salt 255 g flour lemon 2 free-range egg yolks 2 tablespoons milk or water, cold For the filling 2 tins condensed milk, or 2 jars Merchant Gourmet Dulce de Leche toffee 4 medium-sized cooking apples 2 heaped tablespoons icing sugar

Method Put your unopened tins of condensed milk in a high-sided pan, covered with water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer constantly for about 3 hours with a lid on top. It's very important to remember to keep checking the pan, as you don't want it to boil dry otherwise the tins will explode. It will give you the most amazing toffee. Put the tins to one side and allow to cool. First of all you need to make your pastry. Score down the length of the vanilla pod, if using, and remove the seeds by scraping a knife down the inside of each half (keep the pod for making vanilla sugar). Cream together the butter, icing sugar and a small pinch of salt and then rub in the flour, vanilla seeds, zest of the lemon and egg yolks you can do all this by hand or in a food processor. When the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs, add the cold milk or water. Pat and gently work the mixture together until you have a ball of dough, then flour it lightly and roll it into a large sausage shape don't work the pastry too much otherwise it will become too elastic and chewy, not flaky and short as you want it to be. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and place in the fridge to rest for at least an hour. Remove it from the fridge, slice it up and line a 28cm/11 inch tart mould with the slivers. Push them together, then tidy up the sides by trimming off any excess. Place the tart mould into the freezer for an hour. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Take the pastry case out of the freezer and bake blind in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Peel and quarter the apples and remove the cores, then slice finely and toss in the icing sugar. Remove the pastry base from the oven and smear the caramel from both tins of

condensed milk over it. Place the apples on top and pour any remaining juices over. Cook at the bottom of the preheated oven for about 40 minutes, to give you a crispy base and bubbling toffee over the apples. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Beautiful!

Bourbon and chocolate cake

Ingredients Melted butter, to grease 200g pkt dark cooking chocolate, coarsely chopped 125g unsalted butter 5 eggs, separated 120g (2/3 cup, lightly packed) brown sugar 2 tsp vanilla essence 125g almond meal 180ml (2/3 cup) bourbon whiskey 100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar 45g butter 185ml (3/4 cup) thickened cream 100g dark cooking chocolate, extra, coarsely chopped

Method 1. Step 1 Preheat oven to 180C. Brush a 23cm (base measurement) springform pan with melted butter. Line the base with non-stick baking paper. 2. Step 2 Stir the chocolate and unsalted butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan half-filled with simmering water until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool. 3. Step 3 Use an electric beater to beat egg yolks and brown sugar in a large bowl for 3 minutes or until thick and creamy. Beat in the vanilla. Fold in the chocolate mixture, almond meal and 1 tablespoon of bourbon. Beat the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form. Fold one-third of the egg white into chocolate mixture. Fold in the remaining egg white.

4. Step 4 Spread over the base of the prepared pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out almost clean. Set aside in the pan to cool. 5. Step 5 Meanwhile, place the caster sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, swirling the pan, for 5-10 minutes or until golden and the sugar dissolves. Set aside to cool slightly. 6. Step 6 Add the butter, cream and remaining bourbon to the saucepan. Cook over low heat for 5-10 minutes or until the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Add the extra chocolate. Place the mixture over low heat and whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly. 7. Step 7 Cut the cake into wedges and serve with the sauce.

Pumpkin and ricotta pasta bake

Ingredients

olive oil 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced 1 bunch fresh basil, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped 2 x 400 g good-quality tinned plum tomatoes 1 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped into 2.5cm pieces 1 litre organic vegetable stock sea salt freshly ground black pepper 3 tablespoons ricotta cheese 500 g dried penne 1 handful Parmesan cheese, freshly grated 150 g mozzarella ball 2 sprigs fresh sage, leaves picked

Method

Preheat your oven to 200C/400F/gas 6. Pour a couple of lugs of olive oil into a large frying pan, add the garlic and basil stalks and fry for a couple of minutes. Add your tomatoes to the pan, breaking them up with a wooden spoon and bring to the boil. Drop in the chopped squash and simmer for 30 minutes. Check if the squash is cooked by inserting a knife into a piece of squash, if it is not quite ready simmer for a further 10 minutes. Tear up the basil leaves and sprinkle into the pan with some salt and pepper. Stir in the ricotta and the stock. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, add the penne and cook for a couple of minutes less than it says on the packet. Drain, then toss with the sauce. Rub a baking tray, ovenproof pan or earthenware dish with olive oil and spoon in all the pasta and sauce. Tear over the ball of mozzarella and top with the Parmesan. Rub the sage leaves with a little olive oil and put on top. Pop it into the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes or until golden and bubbling. Serve with a crisp green salad. Tip: If you're a chilli freak like me, try adding a chopped fresh chilli to your tomato sauce.

Onion soup
Ingredients

1 good knob butter

olive oil

1 good handful fresh sage leaves, 8 leaves reserved for serving

6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

5 red onions, peeled and sliced

3 large white onions, peeled and sliced

3 banana shallots, peeled and sliced

300 g leeks, trimmed, washed and sliced

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 litres organic beef, vegetable or chicken stock, hot

8 slices good-quality stale bread, 2cm thick

200 g Cheddar cheese, freshly grated

Worcestershire sauce

Method

Put the butter, 2 lugs of olive oil, the sage and garlic into a thick-bottomed, non-stick pan. Stir everything round and add the onions, shallots and leeks. Season with salt and pepper. Place a lid on the pan, leaving it slightly ajar, and cook slowly for 50 minutes, without colouring the vegetables too much. Remove the lid for the last 20 minutes your onions will become soft and golden. Stir occasionally so that nothing catches on the bottom. Having the patience to cook the onions slowly, slowly, gives you an incredible sweetness and an awesome flavour, so don't be tempted to speed this bit up.

When your onions and leeks are lovely and silky, add the stock. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. You can skim any fat off the surface if you like, but I prefer to leave it because it adds good flavour.

Preheat the oven or grill to maximum. Toast your bread on both sides. Correct the seasoning of the soup. When it's perfect, ladle it into individual heatproof serving bowls and place them on a baking tray.

Tear toasted bread over each bowl to fit it like a lid. Feel free to push and dunk the bread into the soup a bit. Sprinkle with some grated Cheddar and drizzle over a little Worcestershire sauce.

Dress your reserved sage leaves with some olive oil and place one on top of each slice of bread. Put the baking tray into the preheated oven or under the grill to melt the cheese until bubbling and golden. Keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't burn! When the cheese is bubbling, very carefully lift out the tray and carry it to the table. Enjoy.

Mac & cheese

Ingredients

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

45 g butter

3 heaped tablespoons plain flour

10 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced

6 bay leaves

1 litre semi-skimmed milk

600 g dried macaroni

8 tomatoes

150 g Cheddar cheese, freshly grated

100 g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

a few sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked

2 splashes Worcestershire sauce, optional

1 grating nutmeg, optional

3 big handfuls fresh breadcrumbs

olive oil

Method

Get a large pan of salted water on the boil. Melt the butter in a large ovenproof saucepan over a low heat, then add the flour and turn the heat up to medium, stirring all the time, until you get a paste this is your roux. Add all the sliced garlic don't worry about the amount because each slice will caramelise like toffee in the roux. Keep cooking and stirring until golden and the garlic is nice and sticky. Add the bay leaves and slowly whisk in the milk a little at a time to ensure you get a nice smooth sauce. Bring the mixture to the boil, then leave it on a low heat to simmer and tick away, stirring occasionally. Preheat your oven to 220C/425F/gas 7.

Add the pasta to the pan of boiling salted water and cook according to the packet instructions. Meanwhile, roughly chop the tomatoes on a board and season them well with salt and pepper. Drain the pasta and add it immediately to the sauce. Give it a good stir and take the pan off the heat. Stir in your grated cheeses, chopped tomatoes and thyme leaves. A little Worcestershire sauce added now is nice, and so is a little grating or two of nutmeg. Now work on the flavour taste it and season it until it's hitting the right spot. You want it to be slightly too wet because it will thicken up again in the oven, so add a splash of water if needed.

If you've made your sauce in an ovenproof casserole-type pan, leave everything in there; if not, transfer it to a deep earthenware dish. Bake it for 30 minutes in the oven, until golden, bubbling, crispy and delicious.

While it's cooking, put your breadcrumbs and thyme into a pan with a few drizzles of olive oil over a medium heat. Stir and toss the crumbs around until crunchy and golden all over. Remove from the heat and tip into a nice bowl. Serve your macaroni cheese in the centre of the table, with your bowl of crispy breadcrumbs for sprinkling over, and a lovely green salad.