Black bean quesadillias

I'm sorry to say that I've been lazy and used bought tortillas for this recipe. My last attempt to make tortillas was a disaster - I went for corn flour and not wheat as an experiment - it kind of put me off making my own for now.  It's silly, really, as I have made wonderful tortillas in the past. But the next try can wait for another day.
Anyway, bought tortillas are nothing like homemade ones, they are more flexible and therefore much easier to roll. Justification begins...

A pack of tortillas (usually 8)
1 (400g) can of black beans
1 red pepper
200g tinned sweetcorn
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
A splash of red wine vinegar
A handful of jalapenos (or to taste)
Salt and pepper
A couple of handfuls (to sight) of cheddar cheese, grated
Fresh coriander leaves, torn

1, Start by covering your tortillas in foil and placing in the oven on the lowest heat possible - the warmth will make them easier to roll.
2, Saute the onion until soft, then add the garlic, beans, pepper, jalapeno and sweetcorn.
3, When the mixture has come together, season it with salt and pepper.
4, Mash the beans in the mix with a fork to create more of a paste - this will make it easier to deal with when you flip the quesadilla.
5, Stir in the red wine vinegar and remove from the heat.
6, In a frying pan, heat a small amount of oil (sunflower or rapeseed preferably). Meanwhile, remove the tortillas from the oven.
7, Take a tortilla and put a rounded tablespoon of the bean mix in the centre. Spread it out, leaving a gap of about an inch around the circumference. Then sprinkle some cheese on top, add a few coriander leaves, and fold in half.
8, Place the tortilla in the pan with oil and check after a couple of minutes for browning. When the tortilla has started to crisp and turn golden brown, take a spatula and flip it onto the other side.
9, When the other side is crisp, remove from the pan. You can use a heat-proof plate and some foil to keep this warm in the oven if making all 8, or serve them as they come out of the pan.

These are a great fast and filling meal. Serve them with a yummy red cabbage coleslaw and some spicy guacamole for a balanced and interesting dinner.

Marrow 'pasta' with tomatoes, mozzarella and pesto

Shame on me! I haven't been into my garden in... 3 weeks! I've been so busy that whenever it has been on my schedule of things I must do today, I either collapse with exhaustion or life gets in the way. It's been a tough couple of weeks at work, but I've survived and things should start to return to normal throughout the next week.

I've also not posted anything for a while. Could there be a better way to quell my guilt than combine the two?

When I finally hacked my way through the overgrown ferns and made it to the garden, I was surprised to see that my neglected courgette plant held a solitary marrow -albeit slightly nibbled. It had produced more, but only their stumps remained. (I feel very guilty.) At least they're organic! I was also faced with a lot of weeding...

When faced with a marrow so many people have no idea what to do with it. I understand, I really do. Marrows are, alone, quite watery and bland in taste. However, they are also a quite versatile vegetable, and deserve a second chance. With the correct treatment, seasoning and accompaniment, the humble marrow can be transformed into something exciting and unusual. A few years ago I made a lasagne using marrow instead of pasta, and today I have followed the same principle.

1 marrow

4 tbsp pine nuts
Pinch of salt
250g fresh basil leaves
50g Parmesan, grated
300ml extra virgin olive oil
A few handfuls of cherry tomatoes, halved
A ball of mozzarella


1, Slice the marrow lengthways, about 1 cm thick. Heat a griddle and colour the marrow, taking care not to overcook, until al dente.
2, Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan, and then cool completely. Lightly crush half of them in a pestle and mortar, along with a pinch of salt (if you don't have a pestle and mortar, a blender or food processor will work, if it is small enough to catch the sauce)
3, Add the basil leaves to the pestle and mortar, and working as quickly as possible, pound them into the mixture until you have a thickish paste.
4, Mix in the cheese, and then gradually incorporate the oil. Taste to season.
5, Slice the marrow into chunks, about 2 inch long, then add them to a large bowl.
6, Add the tomatoes, pesto and mozzarella to the bowl, then leave for ten minutes for the flavours to infuse.
7, Garnish with basil leaves and a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts, and serve with crusty bread.

Baked rice pie

I love a rice pie. There's something very homely about it, and it's not even something I remember strongly from childhood food. It's just comforting and warming, whilst being healthy. One great thing about it is that it's fantastic served warm from the pan or cold the next day - and I do mean the next day. Make sure you put it in the fridge as soon as possible - rice is notorious for causing food poisoning if not cooled correctly. The longer it is stored the more likely the bacteria will grow and make you sick. Please be aware, I normally ignore these notices, but I've witnessed it - thankfully not first hand. It's really not worth risking.

You can use any vegetables at hand for this main, it's a dish that suits so many flavours and textures. It's a good one for using up the odds and ends in the fridge, and still comes out tasty and fresh.

Serves 4, with salad or side dish

150g white long grain rice
1 bunch spring onions
2 carrots
1 courgette
1 small pot natural yoghurt
2 large, free-range eggs
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6/400°F
1, Start by washing your rice. Put it in a large pot and cover it generously in cold water. Swirl it with your hands and drain. Repeat this process until the water runs clear - the cloudy water contains starches that will make your rice sticky.
2, Put the rice in a large pan and cover with cold water, the traditional method is to cover with water up to the first knuckle on your pinky above the rice. Add a pinch of salt, stir, and put on a medium heat with a lid.
3, While the rice is cooking, prepare the vegetables. It's really down to personal choice how you do this, I cut the cut it into varying sizes and then either steam or saute it all together in a pan until almost cooked.
4, When the rice is al dente (tender but with bite) drain and leave to cool for about five minutes.
5, Tip the rice into a large pan and add the vegetables. Stir in the yoghurt.
6, Whisk the eggs and add these when the rice mix is no longer hot, just warm.
7, Season to taste with salt and pepper.
8, When it is all throughly mixed, transfer to a greased baking tray and cook in the oven for about 30 mins, or until the middle of the bake is no longer gooey.

Awesome vegetable lasagna

Mr. Fox and my nemesis had a face off this evening through the garden gate. Unfortunately it was all over before I could take any pictures, as they were scared off by a couple exploring the gardens backing on to the cliff. If this continues I'll have no more cat shit in the gravel! Go Foxy!


MM came back this weekend from his holidays - he's been away for two months - so I made an epic vegetable lasagne based on Green Kitchen Stories lasagne, which looked so beautiful I couldn't resist. It was lovely, very fresh and full of flavour. I upped the pepper and would recommend a little more seasoning in general - the huge amount of basil doesn't really come through, so don't be afraid to add more, even though it seems excessive to start.

Serves 4 generously and 6 normal appetites.

N.B. I have a generous appetite, and this was too much for me!

A generous glug of olive oil
1 medium size onion (finely chopped)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tsp chilli sauce
A couple of handful green olives (pitted)
2 tbsp capers (drained)
4 large ripe tomatoes (cut in quarters)
2 tins plum tomatoes
A good handful of fresh basil
Salt & pepper
1 package of spelt whole wheat lasagne

For the ricotta cheese:
500 g ricotta cheese
Zest and juice of one lemon
A good handful of fresh basil
A pinch of sea salt
A pinch of lemon pepper

For the grilled vegetables:
Olive oil
A few pinches of sea salt
2 courgettes
1 aubergine
300 g chestnut mushrooms
300 g fresh kale or spinach
1 clove garlic

I ball of mozzarella, torn roughly.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4/350°F. 

1, Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the onion and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute before adding the chilli sauce.
2, Add olives, capers and fresh tomatoes and cook it a couple of minutes more before adding the rest of the ingredients. Cook for 10 minutes, lower the heat and let it simmer for half an hour more under a lid.
3, Finely slice the courgette and aubergine lengthways. Heat a griddle until smoking. Brush the slices with olive oil and lay them on the grill, a set at a time, until soft and coloured. If you don't have a griddle you could use the grill, or even oven roast them.
4,  Fry the mushrooms and the kale/spinach in a pan for 5 minutes with olive oil, salt and garlic. Do this is batches if necessary as the greens will take up a lot of space until they wilt down.
5, Empty the ricotta cheese into a large bowl and add the lemon zest and juice to the bowl. Tear the basil roughly, add salt and lemon pepper and mix together.
6, Begin to assemble the lasagne by starting with a layer of tomato sauce, then a layer of lasagne sheets. Next, smear the ricotta cheese mix over the sheets - this take a bit if work as it is quite sticky. Don't worry about being too precise, it's all going in the oven at the end and will work into itself.
7, Next, lay about one third of the griddled vegetables and then the mushroom and green mix down as evenly as possible. Spoon another layer of tomato sauce on top.
8, Add a layer of lasagne, and repeat these steps until you run out of space of lasange sheets.
9, Make sure you top the lasagne with ricotta mix  - in spread dollops because there's no way of creating an even layer - and then sprinkle the mozzarella over.
10, Bake for about 45 mins - 1 hour.

Linguine with Mediterranean vegetables and ricotta

The vegetables I cooked for this dish were originally meant to go with milestone lentils - a sort of green puy lentil. My plan for the evening was slightly altered when I got home and discovered Mr. Fox asleep in my garden.

I had meant to do some gardening but didn't want to disturb sleeping beauty. The opinion of many is that foxes are vermin, and although I understand that it isn't pleasant to find your rubbish strewn across the street because the hungry animals have broken into them, I also feel incredibly sad when I see the thin animals roaming the streets in the evenings. This fox has been visiting the garden for the last few months, but I've never seen him so comfortable.

So, I ended up cutting back the ivy on the street and became so engrossed that I completely forgot about the lentils simmering away on the stove top. Needless to say, they burnt and I had to re-think my dinner.

Serves 2-3

One red onion

One aubergine

One courgette

A handful of ripe tomatoes

A handful of mint

Juice of one lemon

Cold pressed rapeseed oil/olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

One tub of ricotta cheese

Enough linguine to feed you

1, Begin by slicing your onion finely and add to a frying pan with a tablespoon of oil. 

2, Cube your aubergine and add it to the cooking onion, and sprinkle with a pinch or two of salt. Fry these together until the aubergine is browned - don't be afraid to add more oil if necessary. 

3, Slice your courgette and add it to the pan, fry until soft.

4, Add the pasta to a large pan of salted boiling water and drizzle a small amount of oil into the pan to stop it sticking together. After a minute or so stir the pasta.

5, Chop the tomatoes into chunks and add the frying pan. Keep this on the heat for a few minutes, stirring, then take it off and squeeze over the lemon juice. 

6, When the pasta is close the ready, chop the mint finely and add it to the vegetables. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.
7, Drain the pasta when ready and return to the pan. Mix the ricotta through and then add the vegetables.

You may want to season this further on the plate, or add a grating of parmesan cheese. Personally, a drizzle of olive oil was enough.

Buffalo bolognese

This recipe is based upon my recipe for bolognese sauce, which originally uses beef mince. I've used chunks of beef instead of mince before, which gives a more textured, meatier sauce. It makes a beautiful, tasty bolognese sauce for pasta...


This Saturday I made a trip to the farmer's market and purchased some Puddledub farm buffalo braising steak. The meat is very lean but also extremely tender – not chewy at all. It also has an amazing flavour, with more personality than beef but not as flavoursome as game. I've had buffalo at restaurants before, but this was my first experience of cooking it myself. 


1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stick, diced
1 tblsp rapeseed or olive oil
A packet of lardons or diced pancetta (70g)
2 cloves of garlic
1lb of buffalo steak/beef steak

A glass of dry white wine

500ml beef stock

1 tin chopped tomatoes
a handful sage leaves and a bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste


Preheat the oven to gas mark 2/150°C/300°F


1, In a oven proof pan (cast iron, such as le creuset is perfect) heat your oil and add the onion, carrot and celery. Cook, stirring regularly, until softened. If the onion starts to burn, add a pinch of salt - magic trick!
2, Add the lardons or pancetta and cook until the fat turns translucent.
3, Mince the garlic and add it to the pan, stirring continuously to make sure it doesn't burn. Remove from the heat after two minutes.
4, If using steak, dice it into the desired size - I go for about 1 inch cubes, but you can go bigger or smaller depending on taste. 
5, In a hot, heavy bottomed pan, heat a small amount of oil and add the meat to it. Sprinkle with salt and stir. The buffalo seems to let off a lot of water, I drained this off. Cook the meat until browned.
6, When you are happy that the meat is browned, add it to the vegetable pan. Mix well and leave on the heat to absorb the flavours for a few minutes.
7, Add the glass of wine and stir until it has evaporated. Tear the herbs and add them to the pan.
8, Add the stock and the tomatoes, then cover and place in the oven. It must cook for at least 2 hours, and up to 4. The longer you leave it, the more the flavour will develop and the better the dish.


You can serve this with pasta, potatoes, rice or bread. It's so, so good, and easily converted to being vegetarian - simply replace the mince and stock with veggie alternatives.

Cannelloni with wilted greens, ricotta and a rich tomato sauce

In my veg box this week I received some 'greens' - mustard, rocket, pak choi, spinach and other, unknown green leaves. MM leaves for the Schumacher college tomorrow so this will be the last meal I cook for him in a month - and cannelloni is so much fun. As I've mentioned before, the temptation to eat spinach every evening is strong, but I decided to push the boat out and replace the traditional spinach and ricotta cannelloni with the mixed greens. MM has got used to me trying out recipes on him - and this one was no failure. Filling, impressive and flexible - you could put anything in the cannelloni.

1 onion, finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

300g mixed greens

200g ricotta

Juice of half a lemon

Cannelloni tubes

1 tin tomatoes - I use Cirio tetrapaks (they are the best I've ever found)

1 clove garlic

Dried oregano

1 tsp honey

Preheat the oven to 180/gas mark 5

1, Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a deep pan over a low heat. Add half onion and cook gently for fifteen minutes until soft and golden, stirring occasionally.

2, Add the chopped garlic and dried oregano and cook for another five minutes, taking care not to burn the onions. Add the tomatoes and honey into the pan with the onions, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

3, In a frying pan, add the other half of the onion and cook gently, then add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.4, Wash and chop the greens, then add them to the pan - there may be too much for the pan so wait until a handful has wilted then add more.

5, When all the greens are cooked, remove from the heat and put them in a large bowl. Add the ricotta and lemon juice, then season to taste. 

6, Take the cannelloni and, using a couple of teaspoons, push the green mix inside. I find it helpful to use the handle end of the teaspoon to push the mixture inside, otherwise you get loads of filling at one end and none in the middle.

7, Place the filled cannelloni in a baking tray and pour the tomato sauce on top. You need to make sure the sauce isn't too dry, otherwise the pasta has no juices to cook in.

8, Bake for about half an hour (or follow packet instructions) and serve with a side of more green veggies.

Broad bean and courgette spagetti

It's the start of summer vegetables! The first ones I've got my hands on are broad beans, hopefully next week there'll be some organic UK asparagus available - watch this space. It's really starting to feel like summer is making itself known in Edinburgh. We've had a good two weeks of glorious weather, in the garden I can't weed fast enough, and all those delightful veggies are coming back!

Tip: When selecting broad beans, gently feel the pod to test how large and firm the beans inside are. It's always a bit of a guessing game, but in general you can feel the beans themselves and the size.

Tonight, I didn't want to do anything too taxing, so pasta was on the cards. I decided to make a broad bean and courgette pasta with ricotta and a lemon dressing.

Serves 2
1 courgette
500g broad beans in their pods
Juice of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic, finely diced
Salt and pepper to taste
Enough spagetti to feed you
A good couple of glugs of quality olive oil
100g ricotta cheese

1, Peel your bean pods and collect the beans in a bowl, then put into boiling water and simmer for 5 minutes.
2, While the beans are simmering, cut your courgette halfways, then cut into 1/2 cm slices.
3, When the broad beans are ready, drain and leave to cool a little before peeling. In this time you can start to fry your courgette in a little olive oil until lightly browned. Remove from the heat.
4, Put the pasta in a pan of boiling, salted water until al dente.
5, When the pasta is close to being done, add the lemon juice and garlic to the broad beans and courgetters, and mix well.
6, When the pasta is ready, drain and then mix all of the veg and juices with it, then sprinkle the ricotta over and stir. Give it a final taste, and serve.

Potato and leek crumble

My veg box arrives fortnightly from East Coast Organics. When I was growing up in Edinburgh my family used to get their large box every week - which includes more variety and obviously a greater volume of produce. I receive a "normal" veg box fortnightly and it serves me fine. I still have to buy the odd bit from shops, but in general I find that the staples last me and I can make several meals from the other veg that arrives.

Today I decided to use the leeks. It's cooking for MM tonight, and I always try to make something veggie-tastic. Leeks are so easy to use, and tonight I had the idea of making a savoury crumble. It'll be crunchy and also soft; the classic combination of leek and potato in a crumble.

Serves 4
Filling:
4 large floury or 'everyday' potatoes
6 small or 3 large leeks
2 bay leaves
Veggie stock
Salt and pepper
Topping:
2 oz butter
2 oz plain flour
2 oz porridge oats
2 oz cheddar cheese, grated


Heat the oven to 200°C, 400F, gas mark 6


1,  Peel and cut your potatoes into 1 inch sizes. Put them in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil and cook until soft, then drain.
2, Trim and clean your leeks, then slice at about 1cm intervals.
3, Heat a frying pan with a knob of butter and fry the leeks until soft.
4, Add the leeks to the potatoes with the bay leaves, veggie stock, and water to cover. Put on a low heat and season after about 15 minutes.
5, To make the topping, rub the butter and flour to form bread crumbs. Add the oats and continue rubbing. Finally mix in the grated cheese, taking care not to damage any of the "bread crumbs".
6, When your filling is the consistency of thick soup, pour into a dish and then shake the topping over.
7, Put in the oven for about 30-40 mins, or until lightly golden on top.


Serve with seasonal veggies of your choice, I did carrots and purple sprouting broccoli drizzled in lemon juice and butter with a sprinkling of black pepper. It was delicious!