Easily tweaked to be vegetarian, too.

As mentioned in Day 67 of The Challenge This was a pre-night shift dinner for me by my husband and went over very well with all of us, including Little One who has started making definite preferences known. It is a bit of a multi-step process, but so worth it! Warm and filling, it is the ultimate comfort food. Ingredients: 2 eggs 500 g of ziti, penne or other tubular pasta 1 head of garlic, crushed 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tins (800g) tomatoes 2 c (800g) of cottage cheese 600g mozzarella, shredded 1 c milk 1 tsp sugar 2 tsp basil 2 tsp oregano 3/4 tsp cornstarch 1/2 c red cooking wine Salt and pepper to taste 1) Heat olive oil with garlic in a heavy bottomed sauce pan, allowing the garlic to infuse gently. Add tomatoes and wine and bring to a simmer. Add basil and oregano. 2) Once the sauce has thickened, add the sugar. 3) Beat eggs, and add cottage cheese and half the mozzarella to them, whisking again. 4) Cook pasta 3/4 of the way there - it still must have some bite to it as it will continue cooking in the oven! Put in a casserole dish and set aside. 5) In a saucepan, combine cornstarch and milk, stirring and heating slowly until they thicken, then remove from the heat. 6) Add the cottage cheese mixture and 1 c of tomato sauce to the milk mix. Add this resulting triple mix to the pasta and stir well to coat all of those little tubes in gooey goodness. 7) Mix remaining tomato sauce with the pasta gooey-ness, and stir in the mozzarella to melt through. 8) Bake at 180°C for 45 minutes until the top is golden (and has a few crispy bits as these are amazing!) So tasty, and almost better as leftovers. I definitely recommend this. Hubby's been promising/threatening to make this for years, and never having even heard of this until he mentioned it, I had no idea what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least, and (after the challenge) this will be making it into regular rotation!

After my earlier attempt at a tomato ketchup, I was inspired to play around with other ketchup varieties. One that I wanted to try, thinking that the vegetable would lend itself well to this, was beetroot. The challenge in making this ketchup was to make it taste properly ketchupy and not like borscht. I think I managed! Try it out for yourself and let me know what you think! Ingredients: 4 beets, peeled and chopped 1/2 head garlic, minced 1 onion, chopped 7 tbsp red wine vinegar 3 tbsp light brown sugar 1 tsp oregano 1 - 1 1/2 tsp thyme 1/2 - 1 tsp salt 1 - 1 1/2 tsp tandoori powder 1) Place beets in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, cooking, covered, until beets are tender. Add other ingredients, and continue to simmer, uncovered for about 20-30 minutes. 2) Cool the beets slightly then pour the contents of the saucepan into a blender and blitz well. Taste test, adjust, then transfer back to the saucepan and cook further until reduced to the desired gloppiness. 3) Meanwhile, boil clean jars for 15 minutes, completely submerged in water, thus sterilising them. While the ketchup is still hot, spoon into the jars one at a time (canning tongs come in handy here to fish the jars out of the boiling water), then wipe the rim, seal and place upside down on a clean towel to cool. I made my ketchup last week, and then we pulled it out this evening to have some, and I am really quite pleased with it. It tastes like ketchup, but it also still tastes like beet. And to my great relief, it does not taste like cold borcht!

It was going to be vegetarian, but then I figured that bacon makes everything better, so threw some on

I've avoided making spring rolls for years, assuming them to be difficult. I don't know why I decided that these were too daunting as I quite happily make other similar things like dumplings and ravioli... Then a few weeks ago, I bought rice paper on a whim, thinking it was about time I tried to make these. This was my first attempt, and though not perfect, they came out very tasty and I was very happy with them. The main thing that needs work is our frying technique, as the rice paper seemed to almost melt away in some places. If anyone has tips on that, please do share! Ingredients: 15-20 sheets of rice paper (depending on how full you stuff them) 1 carrot julienned 2 spring onions sliced 1/2 head of garlic, crushed a knob of ginger, peeled and grated 1/3 c of shitake mushrooms, rehydrated and sliced 1 c beansprouts 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar 1 tbsp soy sauce 3/4 - 1 c peanut oil for frying For the sauce: 3 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp honey 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar 2 tsp chili flakes 1) Sauté carrot and spring onion in oil for 1 minute. add mushrooms, bean sprouts and garlic, and cook for a further 4-5 minutes. 2) Remove from the heat and add ginger, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar, mix and leave to cool. 3) Soak each sheet of rice paper in warm water for about a minute (make sure it is properly submerged or only one side will get wet and it will roll up!) Place a sheet on a piece of damp paper towel or a dish cloth. 4) Place 1 tbsp of filling in the centre about 2 cm from the bottom edge. Fold up the bottom edge and then fold in each side and roll up to the top. Place each spring roll on a plate with a damp paper towel and cover with another damp cloth. Do not let them touch or they will stick. 5) Heat oil (about 1 cm deep for shallow frying) in a deep frying pan over medium heat. Gently place each spring roll in the oil and using two forks, cook them evenly , turning them in the oil after about two minutes. When they are crisp and golden, take them out and drain them on dry paper towels. Don't let the spring rolls touch in the oil, or they stick together! 6) For the sauce, mix all ingredients together and let sit until the spring rolls are ready. Enjoy! They came out crispy with fresh tasting crunchy veg in the centre. They paired wonderfully with the sauce we mixed up and with the Tom Kha Gai soup. It made a light but very flavourful dinner.

I wanted to make a mushroom sauce today - preferably with a bunch of different mushrooms. Sadly, all we could find were white or brown button mushrooms, but I still wanted to make my sauce. The next step was to decide what to pair it with - pasta, rice, potatoes? In the end I decided on a creamy garlic mash (using some of my failed mozzarella curds) and a poached egg. It all came out very nicely, simple but filling and tasty. Ingredients: 500g mushrooms (preferably mixed) 1-2 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, chopped 1/2 head of garlic, chopped 1 - 1 1/2 c red cooking wine 1 tsp thyme salt and pepper to taste 1) Heat the oil in a deep pan. Sauté onions and garlic until soft and fragrant, and allow a few to char a little. Add mushrooms and sauté for 10 minutes or so until mushrooms. 2) Add the thyme and wine, reduce heat and cover, simmering gently for an additional 10 - 15 minutes until the wine is reduced and mushrooms have absorbed the wine. Place over mashed potatoes and a poached egg topped with sumac. This was satisfying and balanced, a comfort food if there ever was one. The creamy mash really allowed the mushrooms to shine and the red wine contrasted nicely with the egg.

Growing up, sahlep, ground orchid root used in a Turkish milk-based hot drink, was a special treat, only after my dad had been on a trip to Istambul. I have discovered a shop here in Switzerland where I can find it now though, so while I like it as much as ever, it is less special and no longer a scarce commodity. Since discovering this, I have decided to start playing around with Sahlep as an ingredient in my cooking (Sahlep pancakes for example). As part of this, I decided a while back that I wanted to try Sahlep puddings. I tried a first iteration of these months ago, without baking. I simply chilled sahlep infused custard before serving. It was tasty, but the flavour needed some work, it was too sweet, and it never set. Summer was then crazy busy, and then there was the whole episode with the arrival of the Littler Bit, so I only revisited the idea in the last few weeks. We had been making macarons so I had egg yolks to use, so it seemed the logical thing to do. This time I decided to try baking the custards and tweaked the flavouring and sugar combo to boot. I also included whey, leftover from making ricotta to help balance out the sweetness. Ingredients: 2 tbsp flour 2 tbsp sugar 2 c milk 1 c whey 1 tsp cinnamon 2 tsp sahlep 2 1/2 tbsp maple sugar 2 tbsp butter 6 egg yolks 1 tsp mix spice 1 tbsp maple sugar 1) In a small saucepan, heat 1c of the milk over medium-low heat. stir in the sahlep, cinnamon and maple sugar. Stir until combined and thickened slightly, never allowing the milk to come above a simmer. Set aside. 2) In a saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and flour. Stir and allow to cook for a couple of minutes, then stir in 1c of the milk and the whey. Bring to a boil and immediately lower to a simmer. Cook until thickened so that a finger dragged across the back of a spoon dipped in the pot leaves a trail. The Parting of the Milk! 3) Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks in a bowl. Once the milk mixture has thickened, stir in a spoonful of it into the egg yolks to temper them until about 1 to 1 1/2c of the milk mixture has been incorporated into the eggs. Turn the heat off and stir the egg-milk mix into the pot. 4) Add the sahlep mix from step 1 and stir. Add the butter, allowing to melt and incorporate. Taste test, and add milk or cinnamon as necessary. 5) Spoon the resulting custard into a shallow baking dish or ramequins. Sprinkle over the remaining maple sugar and the mix spice. Bake at 180°C for 45-50 minutes, until set but still slightly jiggly. Serve warm or chilled. We all very much enjoyed this, but even more so on day 2 when it was cold, with lekerli (Swiss German gingerbreads) dipped in the custards. Definitely pleased with this, especially as it is quick and easy to make and can be prepped ahead if entertaining.

Fall is here! And with it all those deliciously autumnal fruits like plums! What better way to celebrate the season on still-warm days than a plum smoothie, a marriage of the end of summer with early fall? Cool but warmly spiced, this smoothie hit the right notes. I don't usually share smoothie recipes as they are so basic, but I really liked the flavours in this one and couldn't resist! Ingredients: 2 c whey 1/2 c hazelnut yogurt 1/3 c raisins 1/2 c oats, 6-8 plums, pitted and roughly chopped 1 fig, quartered 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp Aloha Spiced Cacao A pinch of fenugreek 1/4 c chia seeds Place ingredients in a blender and whiz until smooth. Serve with gingerbread and enjoy! Enjoyed by all of us, although Little Bit was too busy sucking on his gingerbread to finish his smoothie until later...

I'm not sure exactly where this one came from. Perhaps from my cookbook Eggs by Michel Roux which features poached egg on creamy mashed potatoes. Except we had sweet potatoes on hand. And Miso paste, and I figured, why not try that out to balance out the sweetness of the sweet potatoes? With crispy garlic and onion for texture, and spring onions for crunch? And maybe some rice, to round it all out? And, well, in case it isn't green enough, how about some roast fennel? Somehow, all these random bits came together into a tasty meal despite coming together piecemeal and not being born of one inspiration. Here it is. Ingredients: About 250g wild rice 3-4 sweet potatoes, chopped 1 1/2 - 2 tsp miso paste 3 tbsp soy sauce 1 1/2 tbsp butter 1/2 head garlic, crushed 8 cm ginger, minced 2 tbsp peanut oil 1/2 head fennel, sliced 1 tbsp peanut oil 1 tbsp soy sauce 1 tsp black sesame seeds Spring onions, sliced Eggs, 1 per person Sesame oil 1) Slice up the fennel, drizzle with oil and soy sauce, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Place in an oven-proof dish and roast at 180°C for about 25-30 minutes until cooked. 2) Cook rice as per instructions. Boil sweet potatoes until soft enough to mash. Drain and stir in miso paste, mashing as you go. 3) In a small frying pan over medium heat, heat the oil and add garlic and ginger. Fry until crispy, stirring regularly. Set aside. 4) Poach eggs to desired doneness. Plate up, layering rice, mash, egg, sprinkled garlic and ginger crumbs, sliced spring onion and a drizzle of sesame oil. Add a couple of wedges of fennel on the side and serve. This came out surprisingly well. I made a silly and added the miso before draining the sweet potatoes, which made them take rather longer than planned as I had to cook off the water so as not to drain the miso (recipe amended accordingly. Learning from mistakes! Woo!). Other than this, it all came together nicely. There are a number of bits to have on the go at once, which was a bit of a challenge with Little Bit under foot, but that is par for the course these days unless it's just cornflakes for dinner. Let me know what you think if you try this!

After how good the Ginger and Pear Blondies were, the idea of trying a variant using rhubarb immediately came to mind when I had a load of some of the biggest rhubarb I've ever seen (thanks to my dad and this year's freak weather conditions). These were beauteous. The acidity of the rhubarb played off against the sweetness of the blondies and apple like that was its sole purpose on Earth. I'm loving the flavour possibilities of blondies! Ingredients: 1/2 c butter, melted 1 c brown sugar 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/8 tsp baking soda 1 c flour 1 1/2 apples, diced 2 sticks rhubarb, diced 1/4 c milk 1) Place the diced rhubarb in a saucepan and cover with water. Simmer gently, reducing the liquid. Stir regularly! 2) In a large bowl, cream the brown sugar and butter together. Beat in egg and vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix well. 3) Stir in the apples and rhubarb. Add enough milk or whey to make the batter thick but pourable. 4) Bake in a prepared baking tin at 175°C for 30-35 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. I loved these! The flavours played well and they were moist and caramelly and beautiful! You must try these while rhubarb is still in season! Even Little bit liked them and he is not always a cake person. Maybe a little on the cakey side, but that isn't a bad thing. They were moist and caramelised and beautiful.