Put the oil in a pan over a medium/low heat. Add the mustard seeds, the sausages and the onion. Cook for five minutes to soften the onion and colour the sausages.

Stir occasionally. Add the chilli and garlic:

Add the lentils, the chopped tomatoes, and 100ml of water. Stir in and bring to the boil. Then turn the heat down and cover. Cook for 10 minutes.

Add the sage, and then cook uncovered for about 10 minutes, maybe a bit longer, until the liquid has reduced enough.

Serve with boiled potatoes, baked potatoes, or, as in this instance, mustard mash.

Wine with that? Why not a Portuguese Alentejo Tinto?

Here’s what you need:

Chop the onion and the chilli (I left most of the seeds in, if you want less heat, take the seeds out), finely chop the ginger (I used about a quarter of the piece in the photo), crush the garlic.

Chop the paneer into chunks, and then fry in the oil until golden. Be careful to separate the paneer chunks as it goes into the pan.

Once they’re done, scoop out and set aside on kitchen roll:

Turn heat right down under the oil. Add the onion and chilli to the pan, and soften for 5 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic and the spices (or curry paste if you’d prefer). Fry for a further minute.

Add the tomatoes and stock, bring to the boil, then turn down to simmer. Mash the tomatoes down a bit if they’re too chunky (I use a potato masher):

Simmer for at least ten minutes, until quite thick – but not quite as thick as it needs to end up:

Add the peas and the paneer, cover and simmer for at least 5 minutes. If you can turn the heat right down and simmer for longer, then that’s better:

Uncover, and simmer for another 5 minutes – if needed – to thicken it up a bit more. Roughly chop the coriander and sprinkle over.

Serve with yoghurt and naan bread, and a medium – full bodied Portuguese red wine (preferably an Alentejo).

Prep Time: 5 | Cook Time: 25-35 mins | Serves: 4
Nutritional info: 429 kcal, 9g carbs, 36g fat, 18g protein

Ingredients pic:

Using half the oil, soften the garlic, then add the tomato, basil, seasoning, and a pinch of sugar, simmer.

Meanwhile… season and brush the aubergine slices on both sides with the rest of the oil. I salt and pepper first, then brush with oil. You don’t need much oil, and that mean the season rubs in and sticks. Grill for 2-3 mins on a high heat on both sides

And now, layer up! Preheat the oven to 200’c, and layer 3 times with aubergine, tomato, parmesan and goats’ cheese, finishing with cheese, and sprinkling with a touch of oregano if you like. Bake for 2o-35 minutes until the cheese is browned and bubbly.

Serve with a good lot of peppery salad. Rocket is recommended, and a strong good tomato. One of the expensive kind. Enjoy!

Serves: 4 | Prep Time: 5 mins | Cook time: 15 mins
Nutritional Info: (I think this includes chapatis) 452kcal, 45g carbs, 4g fat, 8g protein

Ingredients:

First off, use the oil to soften the onion and garlic

Add 1/2 a tbsp of the curry powder to some salted boiling water, and then boil the diced potatoes until tender

meanwhile, add the remaining curry powder to the onion/garlic, stir for a minute or so, then add the tomato, season, and simmer.

meanwhile 2: add the tsp of mint sauce to the yoghurt and stir in, another cheaty thing, but tastes well nice, actually. You might want to grate in some cucumber too, that would be nice.

Once the potatoes are tender, add to the tomatoes with 2 tbsp of mango chutney, stir and heat through

heat the chapati as per instructions, then serve the potatoes (2 wraps per person, about 350g of potato mix for 2 wraps) on a bed of shredded lettuce, or maybe some spinach, or just on their own. Scatter with chopped coriander, drizzle with minty relish and a bit more chutney if you want, fold and eat!

Prep time: 5 mins | Cook time: 15 mins | Serves: 2 (1 pictured)
Nutritional Info: 271 kcals, protein 12g, carbs 18.1g, fat 17.2 g, sat fat 1.4g, fibre 7.5g, salt 0.85 g

Ingredients pic:

soften the onion and garlic for 3 minutes or so

Add the curry paste, stir for 2-3mins until fragrant

Add the cauliflower, stir to coat, then add the chopped tomatoes and water, stir to mix

Then cover, and cook for 10 minutes. Put the rice (50g per person, well rinsed, 120ml water per person, cover and DO NOT UNCOVER, heat until all the water has boiled away and then set aside, still covered, to steam until the rest is ready)

Then, when the cauliflower is cooked, or about 10 mins in, stir in the spinach, and just before serving, the chopped coriander:

Serve with rice, or a naan or pitta instead. Tasty, quick, cheap. Awesomeness.

Serves: 2 | Prep Time: 5 mins | Cook Time: 30-35 mins
Nutritional info: 445 kcal, 61g carbs, 16g fat, 14g protein

Ingredients sans parsley and beans (sneaking in at the corner)

Soften those onions!

Add the spices and stir for 10 seconds or so

Then add the tomatoes, raisins, chickpeas, aubergine and stock. Simmer for 20-25 minutes until the veg is soft and juice has reduced. If adding beans, halve them and pop in about 8-10 mins before serving and put a lid on the pan.

Season well, stir through parsley. JUST LIKE THAT.

For pizza topping you can of course just use passata or tomato puree – this is a little more work, but much tastier – and makes enough to save for the following week.

For the sauce:

Gently heat 2 – 3 tbsp of olive oil in a large non-stick pan. Add the mustard seeds:

Peel and crush the garlic, add to the pan:

Warm for 3 or 4 minutes. Don’t let the garlic burn.

Add the tomatoes to the pan, plus the oregano (and dried basil if using).

Stir the herbs in.

Mash the tomatoes down in the pan – gently – with a potato masher, until the mixture is smooth:

Maybe add a couple of dashes of Henderson’s relish. Simmer for 20 minutes or longer, until the sauce is thick and oily. Turn off the heat and allow to cool.

For the base…if you’ve got a bread maker then pizza dough is an absolute doddle, and the best option. If not, a bought base or a french stick cut down the middle is also very good.

Spread the sauce on the pizza base using a table spoon – don’t completely cover it or it will get too soggy – but you know how saucey you like your pizza. Scatter with basil leaves:

Chop up your other toppings. In this example it’s peppers all over and half mushroom, half jalapenos:

Grate or cube some cooking mozzarrella – you know how cheesey you like you pizza but probably about 150g per person. Maybe replace some of that with cheddar. Remember to photograph it before you put it in the oven:

Refer to cooking instructions for the base, but generally about 12-15 minutes at 200c / Gas Mark 6 ish. You know your oven, and how browned you like your pizza, etc. Check it after 5 – 8 minutes. If it is looking soggy, CAREFULLY pour off excess liquid. When it looks something like this…

…it’s done. Serve with green salad and shaved parmesan.

Goes very well with a medium-full bodied red wine, such as a Portuguese Alentejo.

Prep Time: 20 mins | Cook Time: 30-35 mins | Servings: 2
Nutritional Info: 235 kcal 19g carbs 11g fat 9g protein

Preheat the oven to 220’c, brush oil very thinly on the sliced aubergine, season well with salt and pepper, and spreading out on the baking dish, bake for 20 min (ignore the potato).

Melt the butter in a large pan and soften the onion and garlic,

increase the heat, add the mushrooms and a pinch of oregano, and stir continuously for 2-3 mins until soft.

Splash in the wine, reduce, then add the tomato and a pinch of cinnamon, reduce the heat and simmer for 8 mins until reduced, set aside.

Then melt the sauce butter in a large pan over a low heat, add the flour and whisk for 1 min,

slowly add the milk and stir continuously, simmer unit thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the cream and parmesan, and a pinch of nutmeg.

When the aubergine is done, reduce the oven to 180’c, pop half the mushroom mix in the baking dish, cover with half the aubergine, then the rest of the mushroom, a layer of the rest of the aubergine, and pour the cheese sauce over the top.

Sprinkle the sauce with the remaining parmesan, bake for 30-35 mins. Stand for 10 mins before serving with an ace side salad.

Prep Time: 5 mins | Cook Time: 25 mins | Servings: 2
Nutritional Info: 538kcal 77g carbs 16g fat 20g protein (this doesn’t include the splash of red wine or parmesan)

Ingredients (not pictured, chopped toms, parsley, wine, sugar)

OK, it’s time to SOFTEN THAT ONION. About 5 minutes

Add the garlic, mushrooms, celery and carrots, fry until tender, about 10 mins

At this point add a splash of wine if you’re going to, let it reduce by about half before adding chopped tomatoes (not pictured), drained lentils, puree, basil. Season. Simmer.

I’m going to go ahead and assume you can cook spaghetti. The nutritional info on this’un uses wholewheat spaghetti so, about 10 minutes all in all. Salted oily water. Set that to go, all the while simmering the bolognaise, top up liquid with water if it’s drying up (or wine) add a pinch of sugar to taste, and towards the end adjust the seasoning.

Drain the spaghetti, add a bit more salt to it, some chopped parsley if you’ve got any to hand and are feeling fancy, and scrunch some black pepper into it, toss, pop on your plate, and serve the bolognaise on top with a nice bit of parmesan and remaining scraps of basil:

It’s better than Rose’s, I reckon. But, y’know, shoulders of giants and all that.