Smoky bean chilli with quinoa.

This delicious and nutritious bean stew gets its smoky flavour from chipotle paste, made from smoked jalapeno peppers.

This meal provides 501 kcal, 18g protein, 71g carbohydrate (of which 18g sugars), 16g fat (of which 3g saturates), 17g fibre and 1.4g salt per portion.

Ingredients

For the chipotle stew

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 1 yellow pepper, deseeded, cut into chunks
• 1 medium sweet potato (approximately 300g/10½oz), peeled, cut into chunks
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp chipotle paste (available at larger supermarkets and delicatessens)
• 400g tin cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 400g tin red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• soured cream, to serve (optional)

For the coriander quinoa

• 150g/5oz quinoa, rinsed
• 1 ripe but firm avocado, halved, stone removed, flesh scooped out
• 1 lime, juice only
• 4 spring onions, finely sliced
• 1½ tbsp chopped fresh coriander, plus extra to garnish
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onions and fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring well. Add the pepper and sweet potato and fry for 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle over the coriander and flour, stir to combine, continue to fry for 30-40 seconds.
2. Add the chopped tomatoes, chipotle paste, beans and 600ml/20fl oz cold water to the saucepan. Stir well to combine and season with salt and pepper.
3. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 18-20 minutes, stirring more and more regularly as the cooking time progresses, until all of the vegetables are tender. Add water if it starts to dry out.
4. Meanwhile, for the quinoa, half-fill a saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Add the quinoa, stir well, then simmer for 12-15 minutes, or until just tender.
5. Cut the avocado into chunks and drizzle over the lime juice.
6. Drain the quinoa and put in a large bowl. Set aside to cool for 3-5 minutes, then fluff with a fork. Stir in the avocado, spring onions and coriander. Season with salt and pepper and mix well.
7. Spoon the quinoa onto plates and top with a ladleful of the stew. Serve a dollop of soured cream alongside. 
   
   

   Recipe Tips

   Tip 1: This stew will work well with any canned beans.
   
   Tip 2: If preferred, substitute the quinoa with 200g/7oz rice.
   
   Tip 3: If you can’t find chipotle paste, season the stew with 1 teaspoon of paprika and 2 tablespoons of tomato purée.
   
   

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Kidney bean curry (rajma)

One of the surprising things I discovered on my journey through India and staying, I have to confess, in nice hotels, was that the cooking in such places was actually very good, even the buffets, where you are presented with, say, twenty curries, the majority of them vegetarian. Rajma would be included in the buffet of every one of those hotels in the north of India, and with dishes like these I would have no problem being a vegetarian.

This meal, if served as eight portions, provides 221kcal, 11g protein, 24g carbohydrate (of which 5g sugars), 7g fat (of which 1.5g saturates), 10g fibre and 0.7g salt.

Ingredients

• 350g/12oz dried red kidney beans, soaked overnight with cold water to cover
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 50ml/2fl oz vegetable oil
• 3 medium onions, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 75g/2½oz fresh root ginger, finely chopped or grated
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 125ml/4fl oz thick Greek-style yogurt

To serve

• boiled basmati rice
• lime wedges

Method

1. Drain the soaked beans, put them in a heavy casserole pot, cover with fresh water and sprinkle in the turmeric. Place over a medium heat, bring to a simmer, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 1-1½ hours, or until the beans are tender, topping up with water if the pot starts to look dry.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan or karahi over a medium heat and fry the onions, garlic and ginger for 10 minutes or until tinged golden-brown. Add the salt, chilli powder and garam masala and fry for 30 seconds, then stir in the yogurt and cook for five minutes.
3. Add the drained cooked beans to the onion mixture, along with enough of the cooking liquid to just cover the beans (topping up with water if necessary) and simmer for 10 minutes, mashing a few beans against the side of the pan with the back of a spoon to thicken the gravy. Serve with basmati rice and wedges of lime.

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Spaghetti with broccoli pesto

Boost your five-a-day by swapping pine nuts for broccoli in this tangy pesto pasta. It’s ideal as a quick midweek supper that even the kids will eat.

Equipment and preparation: You will need a food processor for this recipe.

Ingredients

• 300g/10½oz dried spaghetti
• 350g/12oz broccoli (about one head), broken into florets
• 30g/1oz fresh basil leaves
• 30g/1oz Parmesan, finely grated, plus extra to garnish
• ½ garlic clove, finely grated
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Cook the spaghetti in a large saucepan of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions.
2. Meanwhile, steam the broccoli over a pan of boiling water for 6 minutes, until it starts to soften but is still a vivid green.
3. Place the broccoli in a food processor bowl, add the basil, Parmesan, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice and pulse until just blended. Taste and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. Drain the pasta and return to the pan, then add the pesto and stir through to combine.
5. Serve with some extra Parmesan grated over the top.

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Baked pappardelle with pancetta and porcini

Bake pasta for a bubbling sharing-at-the-table dish. Can you resist the aroma of cheese, pancetta and porcini?

Ingredients

• 500ml/18fl oz milk
• 20g/¾oz dried porcini mushrooms
• 40g/1½oz butter
• 25g/1oz plain flour
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 100g/4oz pappardelle
• 50g/2oz pancetta, cut into 2cm/1in pieces
• 4-5 tbsp freshly grated parmesan

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
2. Warm the milk in a saucepan, add the porcini mushrooms, remove from the heat and soak for 10 minutes. Strain through a sieve suspended over a bowl, pressing lightly on the mushrooms with the back of ladle to extract all the milk.
3. Heat the butter in a clean saucepan, add the flour and stir over a low heat for 2-3 minutes without colouring the roux.
4. Pour in the porcini-flavoured milk all in one go and whisk together vigorously until smooth. Cook the sauce for a further 10 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened. Season lightly with salt and freshly ground black pepper and set aside.
5. Bring a large pan of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain in a colander, tip into a roomy bowl and carefully stir in the sauce, porcini and pancetta until well combined.
6. Place the pasta into a lightly buttered oven-proof dish. Smooth the surface and cover with two tablespoons of the parmesan. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until bubbling around the edges and golden-brown.
7. Serve the dish piping hot at the dinner table and have extra cheese at the ready.

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Italian Christmas Pudding Cake

This recipe is my own but at the same time a conflation of a couple of Italian Christmas must-haves: the glorious, fruit-studded panettone and crema di mascarpone, which is best described as tiramisu without the Savoiardi biscuit layer, and sometimes with pieces of chocolate stirred through the mascarpone mixture. I have brought in a cassata element, which means I add, along with the chocolate, some crumbled marrons glaces (though any candied or dried fruits could do) and chopped pistachios. The pomegranate seeds I tumble over the top at the end are there for their beauty as well as to add a further seasonal touch but, importantly, are thought to bring luck and should therefore be an indispensible part of the Christmas table.

If you would like to make this cake without the uncooked eggs, then simply omit the eggs and caster sugar. Then whisk 50g/½ cup icing/confectioner's sugar into the mascarpone and double/heavy cream carrying on with the recipe as normal. You could add 2 tablespoons of Advocaat along with the Marsala if you would like to emulate the original's eggyness

Ingredients

• approx. 625 grams panettone (or pandoro)
• 6 tablespoons tuaca liqueur
• 2 large eggs (at room temperature)
• 75 grams caster sugar
• 500 grams mascarpone cheese (at room temperature)
• 250 millilitres double cream (at room temperature)
• 125 millilitres marsala
• 75 grams marrons glacés (pieces)
• 125 grams mini chocolate chips (or regular chocolate chips or finely chopped chocolate)
• 100 grams shelled pistachios (chopped)
• 2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds

Method

1. Using a serrated knife, cut the panettone roughly into 1cm / ½ inch slices, then use about a third of these to line the bottom of a 22 or 23cm / 9 inch springform cake tin. Tear off pieces to fit so that there are no gaps; panettone is fabulously soft and mouldable, so this isn’t a hard job. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the Tuaca (or other liqueur of choice) over it so that the panettone lining is dampened. It looks like a beautiful golden patchwork made out of cake.
2. Now get on with the luscious filling. Whisk – using a freestanding electric mixer for ease – the eggs and sugar until very frothy and increased in volume and lightness.
3. More slowly, whisk in the mascarpone and double cream, then gradually whisk in the Marsala and carry on whisking until the mixture is thick and spreadable. Remove 250ml / a good cupful to a bowl or other container, cover and put in the fridge; this is for the top layer, which is not added until you serve the cake.
4. Crumble the marrons glacés into the big bowl of mascarpone cream mixture, followed by 100g / ¾ of the chocolate chips and 75g / ¾ of the chopped pistachios, and fold in. Use half of this creamy filling to top the panettone layer that is lining the cake tin.
5. Use another third (approx.) of the panettone slices to cover the cream filling, again leaving no holes for the cream to escape through. Dampen with another 2 tablespoons of liqueur.
6. Spoon on the other half of the cream mixture and spread it evenly. Then top with a third and final layer of panettone, covering the cream as before, and drizzle over it the last 2 tablespoons of liqueur.
7. Cover tightly with clingfilm, pressing down on the top a little, and put in the fridge overnight or for up to 2 days.
8. When you are ready to serve, take the cake out of the fridge, unmould and sit it on a flat plate or cake stand, then spread with the reserved mascarpone mixture. Don’t try to lift the cake off the base, as the panettone slices at the bottom are too delectably damp.
9. Scatter the top – and all around the cake, if wished – with the remaining chocolate chips and chopped pistachios and your pomegranate “jewels”. These sprinklings also provide beauteous camouflage for any less than aesthetically uplifting edges of the springform base which may be visible.

 

 

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