Prep: 5 mins | Cook: 30 mins | Serves: 2

Nutritional info: 514kcal 63g carbs 20g fat 15g protein

Obligatory ingredients pic:

First up, set a pan of salted water on the boil. Then pop the oil and butter in a pan, melt together, add the mushrooms and fry until brown and yummy.

Add the pasta about half way through browning mushrooms

Add the thyme, garlic and balsamic vinegar to the mushrooms, cook for a couple of minutes

When that’s reduced, add the wine and do the same

Then add the cream and half the parsely

reduce until nice and thick, and add the pasta when al dente, keep cooking until it’s… well, risotto texture. Damn.

Serve with the rest of the chopped parsley on to. It’s not half bad. And tastes lighter than risotto.

So, how to:

Prep: 10 mins | Cook: 25 mins | Serves: 4
Nutritional info: 494 kcal, 32g carbs, 28g fat, 12g protein

Ingredients pic (less the wine, and pictured for one)

Prep the onion, garlic, weigh out the other things, make the stock, and cube the butternut squash to approx 1cm cubes. Be careful not to slip with the knife on the squash. I do this all the time. Unfun.

And then, before you start, toast your pine nuts, watch them carefully in a dry pan and brown all over, then tip out.

Next, melt the butter in a large pan, add the onions, soften, and then add the garlic and stir for a couple of minutes. Here are some pictures in case you can’t imagine how that looks:

Next, add the cubed squash, stir around for a couple of minutes, then add a good splash per person of white wine. Let that reduce a little, then add the veg stock (it should just about cover the squash), add the nutmeg (to taste), bring to the boil, and simmer gently until the squash is soft. MEANWHILE

Start the water boiling for the tagliatelle, and about 5 minutes in chuck it in the water with a bit of salt. When the squash is soft and lovely, blend it with 1/3 of the chives, and return to the pan with the cream, stirring through. (NB. I later discovered it was better to blend with the cream and then heat through)

Once the sauce has warmed through, hopefully the pasta should be done, add it to the pan, with 2/3 of the pine nuts, and 1/3 of the chives. Mix together

Then dole it onto plates, scattering the remaining chives and pine nuts over the top.

Doesn’t look mega appetising, but it’s warm and filling and tasty. So, y’know, whatevs.

Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook Time: 20-40 mins (depending on patience) | Servings: 4
Nutritional Info: per serving: 178 kcal, 10g carbs, 35g fat, 7g protein

Ingredients:

First up, cover the porcini in boiling water and leave to hydrate. Then put the olive oil in a large pan, heat, then chuck in all the sliced mushrooms, fry quickly for a minute or so…

Then add the onion, butter, garlic, and thyme, season, stir together, cook for a few minutes until the mushrooms start to sweat

Then chop and add the rehydrated porcini, and add the soaking liquid (strained if you’re fussy about grit)

Cook down until most of the liquid has evaporated, then add the stock, simmering for 10-20 minutes more.

Nearly there! Roughly blend the soup with a hand blender. Season to taste.

Add most of the the parsley and all the cream, and blend a bit more. Then add the last bit of the roughly chopped parsley, stir through.

Serve! Eat. Die of TASTY.

The only thing to mention before we start: soak the barley, that’s the key. Seriously, this makes all the difference. Chuck some water over it as you slosh milk over your cereal and leave it until dinner. I’ve always shied away from prep before you actually cook but this isn’t prep, it’s watering some grain. It makes the stuff edible. Please do it. You don’t need to make the same mistakes I did.

Prep time: 10 mins (1 of  which happens a few hours in advance) | Cook time: 35 mins | Serves: 2
Nutritional info: 297kcal 45g carbs 18g fat 12g protein

Ingredients pic:

First off, at least an hour before, and ideally in the morning, chuck some cold water over the pearled spelt. It will eventually look like this:

Then before everything else, pour boiling water over the porcini mushrooms and allow to rehydrate

meanwhile, prep all the veg. Then heat the oil over a medium heat, and add the onion and garlic and soften for 5 minutes or so.

Then add the mushrooms, and cook stirring often for 2-5 minutes more.

Then, drain the barley, and add to the mushrooms, stir for half a minute or so, then add the wine, stirring as it reduces

quickly pick out the porcini from the soaking liquid, and add 50ml or so to the mushrooms/spelt. Add more of this to taste along with the stock (next bit) if you like.

Then chop the porcini and add to the mix

Then, like you would with a regular risotto, add the hot stock in batches until it’s all been absorbed

Season, if needed. Then add the creme fraiche and a splash of soya cream (or just about 80ml pp soya cream if you’re vegan), then 2/3 of your chopped chives, stir through, serve.

garnish with the rest of the chives, and maybe a bit of veggie parmesan if you want. (Not included in nutritional info)

Serves: 4-6 | Prep: 10 mins | Cook: 40-50 mins
Nutrition per portion (1/4): 151 cals, 8g fat, of which 1g saturated fat, 12g added sugar, 2g salt

Ingredients:

Pop the oil in a large pan, heat it then add the curry paste and fry until fragrant

Add all the veg. And the the cooking apple. Not the regular apples yet. Them’s garnish. Stir well to coat the veg, and cook until softened, about 15 mins

Then add the stock, wine, soya cream, and coriander. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20-30 mins or until the veg is very tender.

Blend. Season well.

Serve! Garnish with chopped eating apple (not pictured, I forgot to picture that bit, and then I ate it) and a bit of coriander. Also, check out the vintage soup bowl my mum let me have. From the Actual Seventies.

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: 10 mins | Cook Time: 15 mins | Servings: 4

Nutritional info: (per 1/4, 350g approx) 138 kcal 18g carbs 6g fat 3g protein

Ingredients:

For a change, soften the onion in a large pan in the sunflower oil.

While this is happening, quarter all your lovely tomatoes

When the onions are softened, add the tomatoes, passata, and stock.

bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Then blend. Mmm. Blendy.

Add the sugar to taste (3 was just right for me)

Tear in your basil and simmer for 5 minutes more

Then, just before serving, stir through the cream.

Mmm… creamy.