Ingredients (serves 4-6)

For the topping

4-5 large baking potatoes

3 eggs

25ml/1fl oz double or single cream

Pinch of ground nutmeg

1-2 green bird’s-eye chillies, chopped (seeds removed if you like)

1/2 tsp cumin seeds, lightly toasted and crushed in a pestle and mortar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the filling

1 tbsp vegetable oil or rapeseed oil

4 bay leaves

8cm/3 1/4in piece cinnamon stick

15g/ 1/2oz butter

500g/1lb 2oz lamb mince

2-3 onions, finely chopped

5 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tbsp freshly grated root ginger

1 tsp tumeric

2 tbsp ground coriander

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tsp garam masala

2 heaped tbsp tomato puree

2 heaped tbsp chopped fresh coriander

Salt

Method

1. First prepare the topping. If you’re in a hurry, cut the potatoes into chunks, boil them in salted water for 20 minutes, then drain and mash. But for the best results, bake the potatoes: preheat the oven to 200c/400F/gas mark 6, place the potatoes directly on the oven shelf and bake for about 1 hour. Remove the baked potatoes from the oven, and while they are still warm cut them in half and scoop the flesh into a bowl. Push the flesh through a fine sieve or potato ricer into another bowl. (We boiled our potatoes and just mashed them – we don’t do puree mash! So just do whatever you prefer.)

2. Once the potatoes are mashed, mix in the eggs (just use yolks if you prefer), along with some cream to loosen the mix. Season with a pinch or two of ground nutmeg, some finely chopped green chilli, crushed cumin seeds and salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly.

3. No prepare the filling. Heat a large casserole dish (or pan if you don’t have a hob-proof dish), add the oil, and when it’s hot add the bay leaves and cinnamon, then fry on a medium heat for a couple of minutes. Turn the heat off, add the butter and let it melt.

4. Put all of the remaining filling ingredients except the fresh coriander in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Turn a medium heat back on underneath the casserole dish (or pan) and add the filling mixture, along with 100ml (3 1/2fl oz) water. Stir and cook for 5 to 6 minutes with the lid on.

5. Stir once more and then cook for another 10-15 minutes, then remove the lid and cook until the mixture is nearly dry. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200c/400F/gas mark 6.

6. Stir the chopped coriander into the cooked mixture and pour into a baking dish. Discard the bay leaves and cinnamon stick and level the surface. Cover the mince with the spiced mash topping and cook on the top shelf of the oven for 15-20 minutes or until nicely browned. Serve with some crusty bread or green veg.

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A couple of weeks ago, me and my friend Daria had a little catch up in town – we were meant to be doing LGMC errands but ended up spending most of our time having lunch…and then cake! We both had some really yummy roasted tomato and mascarpone soup for lunch, and I decided to have a look and see if I could recreate it at home because it was THAT good.

I found this recipe on the BBC Good Food website and it’s pretty close to what we had for lunch – yay! I’ll definitely be making this again.

Ingredients

1kg very ripe tomatoes
pinch golden caster sugar
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
sprig of thyme and 2 fresh bay leaves, tied together
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp sundried or normal tomato purée
600ml vegetable stock
2 tbsp mascarpone cheese (or use double cream as alternative)

Method

1. Heat oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3 – 4. Bring a pan of water to the boil and get a bowl of iced water at the ready. Cut a small slit in the bottom of each tomato then plunge into boiling water in batches for 10 secs then lift out into the iced water.

2. Drain and peel the tomatoes then halve and place on a baking tray cut side up. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and the sugar. Drizzle with the vinegar and 1 tbsp of the olive oil. Roast the tomatoes for 1hr until semi-dried and set aside.

3. Heat the remaining oil in a large saucepan and cook the onion and carrot gently for about 10 mins until very soft. Add the tied herbs and garlic and cook for a minute more.

4.Stir in the tomato purée then tip in the roasted tomatoes and any juices from the tray. Pour over the stock and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and simmer for 10 mins.

5.Remove the tied herbs and discard. Add the mascarpone then take off the heat, blitz well with a hand blender. If you want a smoother soup then it can be sieved but this isn’t really necessary.

6. The soup can now be cooled and kept for 3 days in the fridge or frozen for up to 1 month. For a dinner party, serve the soup with a sprig of thyme and a drizzle of good quality olive oil. Enjoy with some delicious bread – you can find my tried and tested bread recipe here.

Post updated 17th February 2020.

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This recipe is taken from the July 2014 edition of BBC Good Food magazine, and I’ve used our tried-and-tested recipes for the pizza dough and pesto. The magazine says to use half a quantity of dough for 2 pizzas, so you could make some rolls with the rest of it or make thicker pizzas if you’d rather. It also says that you can cook this on a barbecue – but to be honest, living in Newcastle means that we don’t really get to have one very often…! So I’ve adapted this recipe to be cooked in an oven.

Ingredients (serves 4, makes 2 pizzas)

For the pizza dough
400g strong white bread flour
1 sachet quick yeast
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
300ml hand hot water (150ml cold topped up with 150ml boiling water)

For the pesto
60g fresh basil leaves
50g pine nuts
1 garlic clove, peeled
130ml olive oil
Zest of an unwaxed lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

For the topping
1 small aubergine, thinly sliced lengthways
1 medium red onion, thickly sliced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
75g/2 1/2oz firm goat’s cheese (I used Snofrisk goat’s cheese from Waitrose)
Chilli flakes (optional)
Basil leaves, to serve

Method

1. To make the dough, mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the oil to the water before pouring over the dry ingredients. Mix together until a dough is formed and then knead for five minutes.

2. Leave the dough in the bowl. Wet a clean tea towel with cold water and wring out so that it isn’t dripping, before placing over the bowl. Leave to rise.

3. Whilst the dough is rising, prepare the pesto. Place the basil, pine nuts and garlic in a food processor. Add the olive oil and blitz until smooth, before mixing in the lemon zest. Place in the fridge (covered) until needed.

4. When the dough has at least doubled in size, ‘knock back’ and knead again for a few minutes. Roll it out to fit a large, greased baking tray (use a bit of olive oil to grease the tray). Heat the oven to 220°c/425°F/Gas mark 7 whilst preparing the topping.

5. Heat some olive oil in a pan and then cook the aubergines until browned on each side (you could do this on a griddle if you have one, but we don’t!). You’ll need to do this in batches, so placed the cooked ones on some kitchen paper to drain.

6. When the aubergines are cooked, add a little more oil to the pan and then cook the onion until softened. Spread some pesto onto the pizza base and then add the aubergine, onion and goat’s cheese (broken into chunks). Add some chilli flakes if you want a bit of a kick!

7. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes and then serve with the basil leaves sprinkled over.

Enjoy!

The goat’s cheese that we used for the pizza worked so well with the other flavours – and apparently the goats are fed on mountain grass in the fjords, so they must be super happy goats! You might not need to use all of the pesto, but it keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days, so you could use the rest another time. If you’d rather have a tomato base on your pizza, try making your own low-fat tomato sauce!

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This gorgeous recipe takes quite a long time to cook, but it is honestly worth every minute! It comes from the March 2014 issue of BBC Good Food magazine, and the quantities here will serve 6 people (you could always freeze the rest for another day). Why not make it this weekend?

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
4 duck legs
2 onions, finely chopped
2 fat garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp plain flour
250ml/9fl oz red wine
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
1 chicken stock cube, made up to 250ml/9fl oz stock
3 rosemary sprigs, leaves picked and chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp milk
600g/1lb 5oz paccheri or pappardelle
Parmesan, grated to serve

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the duck legs and brown on all sides for about 10 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside, before adding the onions to the pan and cooking for 5 mins until softened.

2. Add the garlic and cook for another minute, then stir in the cinnamon and flour and cook for a further minute. Return the duck to the pan, and add the wine, tomatoes, stock, herbs, sugar and seasoning.

3. Bring to a simmer and then lower the heat, cover with a lid and cook for 2 hours. Stir every now and again.

4. Carefully lift the duck legs out of the sauce and place on a plate (trying not to lose any meat as they are very tender). Pull off and discard the fat, then shred the meat with two forks and discard the bones. Add the meat back to the pan, along with the milk, and simmer (uncovered) for 10-15 minutes while you cook the pasta.

5. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions, adding a little oil to the water so it doesn’t stick. Drain when cooked, reserving a little of the water, and add the pasta to the ragu. Stir to coat all of the pasta and cook for another minute, adding a splash of the water if it looks a little dry.

6. Enjoy with a dash of grated parmesan and the left over red wine

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