Romesco sauce

Romesco is such versatile sauce that you can make a tub and keep in the fridge to add to lots of different things. It’s great with any roasted vegetable: especially cauliflower and aubergine, grilled meat or fish, halloumi wraps or other sandwiches, bread or crackers as a dip, roast potatoes, crudités… do you need me to go on?!

It’s dead easy to make and delivers a big smoky sweet flavour hit - which in my book makes romesco a winning addition to your plate.

Ingredients

Makes enough for 6-8 to share with a portion of veggies, fish or meat

• 2 red peppers (from a jar)

• 1 tsp smoked paprika

• 1 small clove garlic

• 60g breadcrumbs

• 60g ground almonds

• 1 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar

• 80-90ml water - depending on how thick you like the sauce 

• 1/4 tsp table salt

• 50g toasted flaked almonds, optional to serve scattered on top - they look nice and add crunch!!

Method

• Put all the ingredients, except the water and toasted flaked almonds, into a food processor.

• Add only 70ml of water at first and then increase if needed - if some of the red pepper water has gone into the mix, you probably won’t need as much.

• Blitz until you have a rough paste.

• Store in an air tight container for up to 10 days.

Tip

• I like to roast a whole cauliflower to serve with romesco or pan fried sea bas with mini roast potatoes and salad.

Basil pesto

This is my go-to basil pesto recipe that I’ve made countless times. This will make a big batch so you can freeze half of it to use another time. Half is enough to serve 4-5 with pasta. I also like to use pesto on any kind of roasted veggies, grilled fish, risotto - loads of things as it’s so versatile and adds a spike of flavour to make a dish more interesting.

Ingredients

• 90g fresh basil

• 1 small clove garlic

• 2 tbsp lemon juice

• 6 tbsp olive oil

• 60g pine nuts

• 15g grated parmesan

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Method

• Put the parmesan in the food processor and blitz for a few seconds until crumbled, then add the pine nuts and repeat.

• Put in the rest of the ingredients and pulse until you have a rough paste-like texture.

Cashew nut butter

Once you've made your own, you'll never go back! I'm a complete convert to making my own nut butters, they're so much smoother, cheaper and tastier. Try them stirred into overnight oats (recipe here), porridge, smoothies or on toast.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of cashew nuts

• Pinch of sea salt

Method

• You'll need a 'proper' food processor like a Magimix, or Heston Sage to make any kind of nut butter as the small ones aren’t powerful enough unfortunately.

• Put all the nuts and salt into the processor and blend for around 4-5 minutes, or until smooth.

• Store in an air-tight jar.

Hummus

I think making houmous is a bit like homemade pesto. It's all a bit imprecise and down to personal taste. You can tweak both recipes to suit your tastes and there is no right, or wrong end result (within reason!), but here is my version.

Ingredients

Serves 6-8 as part of a mezze

• 1 x 400g tin chickpeas

• 1/2 clove garlic, minced

• 1 tsp fine sea salt

• 5 tbsp tahini

• juice of 2 lemons

• To finish: parsley, sprinkle of paprika, coriander, olive oil

Method

• This could not be more straightforward: place all the ingredients into a blender and whizz up until a smooth paste!

• Decorate to look pretty once the hummus is in a bowl.

• Serve with homemade pittas, crudités, or as part of a Moroccan feast.

Cous cous & chickpeas in ras el hanut

Cous cous can be a bit boring unless you really work on the flavourings and this recipe certainly does that. Usually consigned to side dish status, here the long suffering cous cous gets a chance to shine. Great with any kind of tagine, but also it works really well for lunch the day after topped with a poached egg.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1 small onion

• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon ras el hanut spice

• 200g cooked chickpeas

• 1 tomato

• 120g cous cous

• 360ml boiling water

• Handful chopped coriander, to taste

Method

• Fry the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes until they begin to soften and colour. I use a large skillet for this dish and serve the cous cous in the pan on the table.

• Add the salt and ras el hanut, mixing well to release the flavours.

• Next add the chickpeas and chopped tomato and cook for a minute or so. Tip in the cous cous followed by the boiling water, bring to the boil and then turn off the heat and cover.

• Leave to stand for about 10 minutes while the cous cous absorbs all the water. When ready break up with a fork and serve with chopped coriander.