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I was looking for something hot for lunch, that would be satisfying but not heavy or overly caloric. With a head of broccoli in the fridge, I hit on this when I saw pastry in the store. I picked up some fennel to pair with it and quark for a base. Once home again, I popped the veg in to start roasting while I made the pastry dough and then assembled it. The whole thing took 20 minutes to prep and then a few more to finish baking, and we had a quick easy lunch ready to go. It would have been quicker still had I bought the pastry, but I rather like making my own. This one I made with whole meal flour too, so it came out of the oven with a rather rustic look to it. Things would have been even quicker had I not had help from someone in an observation tower... Ingredients: Crust: (you can use a store bought crust if you want, but this is also very quick and easy, I promise! It is better if you have a half hour to let it chill before rolling it out, but it still works if you don't) 3/4 c flour 1/2 c cold butter, cut into pieces pinch of salt 1/4 (approximate) milk Tart: 1 head broccoli, floretted 1 head fennel, roughly chopped 1 tbsp vinaigrette of your choice (we used one from a local monastery using vin cuit, a local molasses made from boiling down pear juice) 1 egg 1/3 c quark 1 tsp sumac Salt and pepper to taste 1) Place broccoli and fennel on a baking try and drizzle with the vinaigrette. Bake at 200°C 15 minutes. 2) In the mean time, place flour in a large bowl. Add the butter and mix with finger tips until a crumb like mix is achieved. Add milk and salt and mix with a fork to form dough. Let rest (if you have time) 30 minutes in the fridge. Knead briefly and roll out on a floured surface. 3) Line a tart plate with the pastry. Mix the quark and egg and spread on the bottom of the pastry. 3) Spread the veg over the quark and egg and then sprinkle with sumac, season, and bake at 200°C for a further 15 - 20 minutes until the crust is brown and the veg tender. I was very happy with this. It was tasty and hit the spot perfectly. The only tweak I would make in future would be to crumble feta or ricotta salata over the top of the tart before baking. Book Pairing: I was listening to the tail end of Jane Austen's Lady Susan while I assembled this. It is the first Austen I have strongly disliked. The main character was manipulative, conniving and egocentric. The epistolary form of the novella doesn't leave a huge amount of room for other characters to be fully developed and I can't claim to have enjoyed it. The reader also probably played a role in my dislike as I found the American accent rather jarring. Despite loving Austen generally, I cannot recommend this one and I'm glad it was only three hours long! As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

tubular pasta 1 head of garlic, crushed 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tins (800g) tomatoes 2 c (800g) of cottage cheese Add basil and oregano. 2) Once the sauce has thickened, add the sugar. 3) Beat eggs, and add cottage cheese milk, stirring and heating slowly until they thicken, then remove from the heat. 6) Add the cottage cheese

case though, I cooked them in another traditional dish, Käsespätzle, where they are mixed with grated cheese tsp (generous) baking powder 2 c spinach (or 2 large cubes of frozen spinach) 1 apple, sliced 150g cheese the other ingredients and mix well. 5) Place in the oven at 180°C and bake 20-25 minutes or until the cheese

6-8 potatoes, sliced 1 onion, sliced 1 leek, sliced 1 c milk 1 c cream 2 - 3 tbsp breadcrumbs 100g cheese Place on the hob and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes until the veg is beginning to cook. 2) Sprinkle cheese

Mix well. 2) Place in a preheated oven at 180°C until the tops are crispy and the cheese is melted.

I know, I know. I post a lot of tarts. That is because we genuinely eat a lot of tarts though. They are quick and easy to assemble, (especially if you use store-bought crust, although I rarely do), endlessly versatile, and make a great light lunch or side for something... and I like them. This one was a case of "what do we have in the fridge?" and taking as little time out from decorating the Christmas tree with the family as possible. I also liked that, completely by accident, the colours were Christmasy. For the crust, I used some of my home-made lemon vinegar instead of water as the liquid, feeling that the flavour would go well with the courgette. Ingredients: 1 1/4 c whole wheat flour 1/2 c butter, cold 1/4 c vinegar 1 tsp zaatar 1/2 leek, cut in rounds 1 courgette, sliced 1 red pepper, sliced 1 1/2 - 2 c ricotta 2 tsp sumac 1 tsp thyme salt and pepper to taste 1) Place flour in a large mixing bowl and cut the butter into it. Rub the flour and butter together with fingertips until a crumby consistency is achieved. Add vinegar and mix, without kneading, to form a dough. Chill for about a half hour. 2) Roll out the crust and line a pie plate with it. Spread with a layer of ricotta and sprinkle with half the sumac. Lay rounds of leek over the ricotta, then arrange courgette and pepper over that. Spoon the remaining ricotta over the whole, and sprinkle the remaining sumac, thyme, salt and pepper over the tart. 3) Bake at 180°C for about a half hour. This made an excellent, easy and tasty lunch. I didn't have as long as I would have liked to drain the ricotta, and was worried that the tart would come out too wet as a result, but it didn't. It was lovely and light, with beautiful distinct flavours, all playing nice together. Definitely a keeper!

pumpkin, sliced 2 onions, sliced 4 tbsp butter 1 c milk 1/2 - 3/4 c mushrooms 4 carrots, grated about 3 c cheese beginning to go tender. 2) Add the carrots, mushrooms, milk, herbs and spices and all but about 1 c of the cheese Mix the remaining cheese with the rest of the stuffing and place it on top in the casserole dish. 4)

Rich, moist and packed with flavour with a layer of creamy mash and melted cheese on top, it was perfect of whey these days I mixed mine up with whey and butter, but normally I use milk.) 100g/ 1/2 - 1 c cheese an iron skillet, then simply layer the potatoes over the top of the meat mix and scatter the diced cheese Place in a preheated oven at 200°C for 25-30 minutes, until the cheese is melty and bubbling and the

I wanted to play around with using fresh rose petals and thought a risotto might be a way of playing around with the flavours. It didn't come out quite as well as I had hoped, and the rose flavour was fainter than I had intended, but it was a tasty dinner and an interesting experiment, so I thought it worth sharing. Interestingly, the flavours came out more once I added some honey. Ingredients: 3 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, chopped 1 sweet potato, chopped 3 c fresh rose petals, mostly yellow 1 1/2 c Arborio rice 3/4 c whey 2 1/2 c rosé wine 1 c parmesan 1 tbsp honey 1) Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a saucepan and add the Arborio rice. Sauté until translucent then add the whey. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. 2) Meantime, heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and sauté onion until translucent. Add sweet potato and cook until tender. 3) Gradually add the rosé to the rice as the liquid is absorbed, and continue stirring. 4) When sweet potatoes are tender and just beginning to brown, add rose petals and cook, stirring, until they wilt. Set aside. 5) When the liquid has been absorbed into the rice and it is tender, add parmesan and stir in. Add honey and then vegetables. Serve hot. This one had mixed results. It may be that the combined whey and rosé were too acidic. Or it may be that the parmesan was too strong a flavour for the poor rose petals. Either way, initially, it was a little disappointing. Once we added the honey, it tasted nice, but not spectacular and the rose flavour was not very strong. I'd like to try rose petals in a water-based infusion next as they don't seem to be very lipophilic. In neither the oil nor the milk have they given up particularly strong flavours when fresh. Still a tasty dinner though, and as far as failures go, very definitely edible, although not what I had been aiming for.

So this one is from a while back when we were preparing to move. I needed to use up food from the freezer, and found a container of pumpkin from when they were in season last autumn. Being in the mood for lasagna, this is what I came up with. Given the nature of pumpkin, I went for warm flavours. It was going to be vegetarian, but then I figured that bacon makes everything better, so threw some on the top. Ingredients: 4c roast pumpkin 1 red pepper, chopped 2 onions, chopped 1 carrot, diced 1/2 head garlic, minced 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp sage 1 tsp thyme 1 tsp basilic 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1/2 tsp herbes de provence 1/2 tsp cumin Salt and pepper to taste 2 tbsp butter, melted 1 1/2 - 2 c ricotta Lasagna sheets 1/2 c Gruyère, grated (Optional: 6 ish bacon rashers) 1) In a large saucepan, heat the oil. Sauté the onions until translucent, add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds, then add the carrots, red pepper and herbs and vinegar. Cook for a few minutes then add the pumpkin. Reduce heat and cook on low for about 15 minutes. Add a little water if needed. 2) Brush a deep oven-proof dish with melted butter. lay down a layer of lasagna sheets, brush with butter then spoon over a layer of sauce then ricotta. Begin with a new layer of lasagna sheets and repeat. When you have gotten to the top of the dish or the end of the sauce, whichever comes first, lay the bacon over the top (if using), and then sprinkle over the Gruyère. 3) Bake at 180°C for about 30 minutes. Serve hot. Very tasty, and less heavy than a traditional lasagna. I was also very happy to have decided to add the bacon. It would have been tasty without, but the addition took it to another level. I was particularly happy with how this all came out, and I am very tempted to make it again this week... hmmm...