Another recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Veg Everyday! cookbook. One thing I’ve noticed about this cookbook is that it has no approximate cooking or preparation times in it (not that I ever take any notice of the preparation times; I’m so slow, I take about four times as long as it states). This is annoying as I like to know roughly how long something’s going to take so I know when to start cooking (or if it’s not a meal to make when I’m late back from uni) and if there’s something to go with it, what time to start making that. Reading the recipe doesn’t give you much of an idea either as he doesn’t often state timings in minutes (rather, giving instructions such as ‘cook until the liquid has evaporated).

Still, I didn’t really need cooking times tonight and so made this recipe, which I knew was nice and fairly faff-free, as I made it a week or so ago.

I’m not going to type out the method but I’ll give you the ingredients and you can probably work out what to do with them yourselves (by the way, it takes about 30-40 minutes to make).

Mushroom risoniotto (serves 2)

2 tablespoons rapeseed or olive oil
A knob of butter
500g mushrooms, thickly sliced
150g risoni or orzo pasta
2 garlic cloves, chopped
A few sprigs of thyme (leaves only)
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
About 175ml dry white wine
About 50ml double cream or creme fraiche
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
A good handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped, to serve

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The Meat Eater gave me a copy of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s ‘River Cottage Veg Every Day!’ cookbook for Christmas and tonight I gave one of the recipes a try. It’s a great book, packed full of tempting recipes and gorgeous colour photos. After a week of wine- and cheese-based indulgence, I only wanted something light, so went for the pasta with greens, chilli and garlic recipe.

Hugh’s recipe called for spring greens, kale or Savoy cabbage, but my local Tesco had none of these in, so I used some spinach instead.

The following method and ingredients aren’t exactly as stated in the book, but this is what I used and how I did it.

Pasta with greens, chilli and garlic (serves 2)

100g spinach
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 tbsps olive oil
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 onion
150g pasta shapes
salt and pepper

Fry the onion in the olive oil for about 10 minutes (put the pasta on to boil in a separate pan when appropriate for timing)
Add the garlic and chilli to the onion mixture and fry for a couple more minutes
Add the spinach to the onion mixture and fry until wilted
Season with salt and pepper
Drain the pasta and mix with the spinach and onion mixture

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I thought this was a bit bland, didn’t really taste of much and could be improved by adding cheese (then again, I think everything can be improved by adding cheese). The Meat Eater thought it was really nice and subtle and didn’t need anything else. Then again, he has tastebuds and can taste everything, whereas I can’t taste anything unless I pour chilli flakes all over whatever I’m eating.

I’m not going to post the recipe this time, as I’ll probably get into trouble if I keep posting all the recipes from the book, but you can find it in The Quorn Kitchen cookbook.

The original recipe calls for making your own pastry (not sure what type, just your average pie-pastry, I suppose) but I used ready-made filo.

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After last week’s spicy enchiladas, I had some meatfree mince to use up, so had a looked through the Quorn Kitchen cookbook and decided on these. I thought they’d be like the enchiladas, but in a lasagne-style, rather than rolled up. It was nice, but not as nice as the enchiladas. The Meat Eater said they needed less cheese and more sauce.

Quorn Tortilla Stack

300g Quorn Mince (I used Sainsbury’s own)
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
2 tsp ground paprika
1 tsp mild chilli powder
400g chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp vegetarian Worcestershire or brown sauce
3 tbsp freshly chopped coriander leaves
4-6 flour tortillas
200g mature Cheddar cheese, grated

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C (400F/Gas Mark 6)
2. Heat a large, shallow, non-stick frying pan until hot and cook the onion and garlic for 5 minutes. Then add the Quorn Mince, paprika, chilli powder, chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, Worcestershire or brown sauce. Season to taste.
3. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Stir through the coriander.
4. Place a tortilla on a large non-stick baking tray and spoon over a portion of the mince mixture evenly and a handful of cheese. Repeat with the remaining ingredients and top with the remaining cheese.
5. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts. Cut into quarters and serve.

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I saw this recipe in the May 2011 issue of Vegetarian Living, then while I was looking to see if it was on their website, I saw the exact same recipe on Runner’s World, who credited www.wholegraingoodness.com. I asked Vegetarian Living on their Facebook page whose recipe it was, so I could credit the right people, and they said that it was www.allaboutoats.com’s recipe and they had given Vegetarian Living permission to use it. You can see the recipe here.

It may be a bit confusing as to whose recipe it is, but don’t worry about that, just go and make it as it’s very nice (and very healthy, too).

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The only enchiladas I’ve ever made before were the spicy bean enchiladas from Anita Bean’s Food for Fitness, which are made with beans. Going through another back issue of Vegetarian Living, I stumbled across this recipe which used veggie mince, so thought I’d give it a go. I’m glad I did, as I think I prefer it to the other one.

Vegetarian spicy enchiladas

Spicy enchiladas (serves 2)
Taken from the November 2010 issue of Vegetarian Living

400g canned chopped tomatoes
150ml tomato juice [I didn’t have any tomato juice, so swirled some water about in the empty chopped tomato can and used that]
50g tomato puree
1 large red onion, finely chopped [I used a white onion]
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried or frozen oregano
2 mild green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp lemon juice
pinch of unrefined sugar [I left this out]
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
1-2 tbsp vegetable oil
150g Linda McCartney Vegemince^TM [I used Sainsburys own brand meat-free mince]
150g vegetarian mature Cheddar, grated
4 soft corn tortillas

1. Place the chopped tomatoes, tomato juice and puree in a medium-sized saucepan. Add half the red onion, cumin, oregano, chillies, lemon juice, sugar and coriander. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Heat the oil in a small frying pan and sauté the mince for a few minutes until lightly browned. Keep to one side.
3. Spread 4-6 tbsp of the tomato sauce in the base of an oblong ovenproof dish. Spread one of the tortillas with 2 tbsp of sauce, sprinkle with cheese, top with a quarter of the mince and sprinkle with chopped red onion, reserving some cheese and onion for garnishing. Roll carefully into a tube.
4. Place in the dish on top of the sauce, seam-side down. Repeat with the other tortillas and spoon over the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with the reserved cheese and the chopped onion.
5. Bake the enchiladas at 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 for 15-20 minutes, when the cheese should be bubbling and starting to brown.

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Vegetarian Living magazine was launched about a year ago. I bought the first few issues and loved it, but stopped buying it after a few months when my local Tesco stopped selling it. I did, however, keep all the back issues so I could try out their amazing looking recipes.

It’s taken a while, but I flicked through my old copies the other day and came across this aubergine lasagne recipe.

My picture isn’t very elegant (there’s a much better picture in the October 2010 issue) but it was cheesy and gooey and delicious.

Aubergine lasagne (serves 4)

2 large aubergines, sliced lengthwise into slices 1cm thick
6 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
400g canned tomatoes, chopped
1/4 tsp dried chilli
1 tsp dried oregano
200g vegetarian mozzarella, sliced
50g vegetarian Parmesan-style cheese, grated

1. Make the tomato sauce: heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and gently fry the onion for about 5 minutes until translucent. Add the garlic and fry for another 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, chilli and oregano and cook over a very gentle heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt.
2. Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.
3. Heat the remaining oil in a wide pan and gently fry the aubergine slices in batches until golden brown; you may need to add more oil. Drain on kitchen paper.
4. Layer the aubergine slices, tomato sauce and sliced mozzarella in an ovenproof dish 25 x 20cm, finishing with a layer of tomato sauce. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top and bake for approx 20 minutes or until lightly browned

NB: The original recipe called for salting the aubergines and leaving to drain for 30 minutes, but I never bother with that.

I also used Cheddar instead of Parmesan-style cheese (only because I didn’t have any).

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The basil I got from the greenhouse was a bit smeggy, so I threw it in the compost, the photo is rubbish, but this dish was lovely. Perfect for a summer’s evening in the garden.

For a better photo and for the recipe (which includes basil), go to the BBC Good Food website.

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Mushrooms, spinach, potatoes, crème fraiche and filo pastry. Yes, it’s as nice as it sounds.

Mushroom, spinach and potato pie

You can see the recipe at the BBC Good Food website

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A quick and easy dish from Food for Fitness by Anita Bean. I served it with Quorn Salmon Style Dill Crispbakes, from their new fish-free range, which I’ll blog about tomorrow.

Vegetable paella

Vegetable paella (serves 4 as a main dish, 6 as a side dish)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 celery sticks, chopped
1 red pepper, sliced
1 tsp paprika
350g rice
1 tin (400g) chopped tomatoes
900ml vegetable stock
225g frozen peas (or mixed veg)
salt and pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the onion, garlic, celery and peppers for 5 minutes.
2. Add the paprika and rice and stir for another 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes and stock, bring to the boil, then simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the liquid has been absorbed.
4. Add the peas, season to taste, and heat through for a few more minutes.

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