Pasta shells with ricotta and spinach

This is a useful veggie dish if you’re having a crowd around and need to prepare in advance.  You can keep this in the fridge once it’s prepared and do the final cooking step in the oven at your leisure.

For 2 adults and a little one you will need:

Beef casserole

 

When you’ve got a big crowd around, it’s great to be able to prepare your meal in advance.  Using a cheaper cut of meat means that a great quality casserole doesn’t have to cost the earth either. This braised beef casserole  is a simple but tasty option which takes less than half an hour to prepare before popping it in the oven.

For 4 adults and a 2 children you will need:

Salmon and Spinach cakes

Little potato cakes are a great way of using up leftovers. They are also a brilliant way to wean little ones as they can eat it from their hands and it’s already mashed up inside. We will post a few recipes here on the blog over the coming weeks.

Makes 8-10

Mushroom and Barley Soup

The last time I was home, I cut this recipe out of a weekend supplement in the paper.  It’s a deceptively simple soup that is wholesome and nourishing.  The carrots add a surprising sweetness that little ones will love.  The barley transforms it into a filling vegetarian treat.

For 4 bowls of soup:

Lamb, bean and barley casserole

Beans are a great source of protein for all the family.  Bean and sausage casseroles are common in family cook books and often loved by little ones. For a change, why not try cooking beans with lamb and barley?

Pearl barley is full of fibre and a cheap and easy way to bulk up a casserole or stew.  It works really well with lamb. This recipe is a favourite in our house.  We like to pop it in the oven to cook while we head out for a walk on a crisp and chilly Sunday afternoon.  It warms us right up when we get in!

For 4 large portions you will need: 

The best chickpea curry in the world….

We absolutely love curry.  We have a silly number of spices in our kitchen!  You know we try to keep our recipes simple but this one involves quite a few speciality curry ingredients.  Buy as many as you can find.  We promise you’ll get to use them again for future recipes on this blog.  If you can find fresh curry leaves, these make all the difference.  You can put them in the freezer and use them from frozen.

For and enormous vat (8-10 portions) of spicy curry (this freezes really well)

Oxtail stew

We were recently asked for new ways to use up Star Anise and I found this tasty Nigel Slater recipe in a weekend newspaper supplement. I’d never had oxtail before so this was a good chance to try it for the first time.  It was amazing.  So soft and sticky and delicious – a massive success in our house.  Everyone loved it.  It only took 15 minutes to assemble.  We cooked it a few days in advance to let the flavours come out.

For at least 3 large portions and a little one

Minestrone Soup

A great winter warmer.  Use whatever vegetables you have – it’s a bit of a veggie jamboree but really good when you’re cold and just in from an outdoor adventure.

For 4 bowls of soup:

Butternut squash and cashew nut curry

A simple curry is quick to make if you already have a curry paste.  Feel free to use a shop bought one, or make one using our recipe. This curry features butternut squash and cashew nuts but could equally be done with some beef, chicken or pork if you preferred (just brown the meat in the paste before you add the rest of the ingredients).  For Molly, we took out a portion of the curry before adding the fish sauce at the end and didn’t give her any of the cashew nuts.

Ham Hock Soup

This recipe takes a little bit more effort than our normal recipes but is really worth it!  Using ham hock is a cheap way of making great meaty stock and makes a wonderful filling winter soup.  To bulk up the soup we used ‘soup mix’ from Waitrose which is a mixture of dried pulses and grains.  If you can’t get this, we recommend using a mixture of pearl barley, lentils or any dried pulses you have.