Roasted aubergine rolls with feta and almond stuffing and a Turkish pepper sauce

Origins: Paradiso seasons by Denis Cotter.

Serves:2

Ingredients: for the sauce
1 red sweet peppers
1 teaspoons sweet paprika
2 dried bird’s eye chillies
1 cloves garlic
100ml olive oil
50ml water

Ingredients: for the main dish
1 large aubergine
olive oil
1/2 red onion
1 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
15g breadcrumbs
30g almonds
100g feta or sheep’s cheese
a small fist of fresh coriander

• Blacken the skins of the sweet peppers with a blow torch or a gas hob. At a pinch, stick them under a high grill. Once the peppers are cool enough to handle, peel off the skins and scrape out the seeds.
• Chop the flesh into small pieces along with the chillies and garlic and place in a pan with all the other sauce ingredients.
• Boil for two minutes then blend until emulsified.  Dilute to a pouring thickness if too thick.
• Cut the aubergine into long thin slices down its length – see picture below.  Discard the two edge bits which have the skin along one side, so you have four remaining slices per aubergine.
  
• Brush the slices lightly with oil and roast until soft and lightly coloured.
• Finely chop the red onion and garlic, then fry with the cumin in the olive oil til soft.
• Add the breadcrumbs then fry for a minute more.
• Finely chop the coriander then add to the mixture, and crumble in the cheese.
• Place the four smallest slices of aubergine on a baking tray lined with parchment.  Place some filing down the centre of each, piled about 2cm high but leaving around 1cm at the edge.
• Cover each slice with one of the remaining slices, pressing down around the edges to make a sealed parcel.
• Bake at 180C for 10-15 minutes then serve with the pepper sauce, hot or at room temperature.

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Stuffed peppers with halloumi

Origins: Lost in the mysteries of time

Cook’s Notes: Dead simple, always impresses and, thanks to the God Cheese, always delights. Endlessly remixable: use feta and basil instead of halloumi and cumin.

Serves: 2

Ingredients
2 medium-large red peppers
30g couscous
1/4 tsp bouillon powder
80g halloumi
1/2 red onion
a handful of tomatoes (c80g)
a handful of fresh parsley or coriander
1 tsp cumin seeds

• Cut the peppers in half, rub with olive oil inside and out, crack over some pepper and grill in a tin or on a baking tray for 10-15 under high heat.
• Mix the couscous and bouillon in a shallow bowl. Pour over just enough boiling water to cover, then cover with a plate.
• Chop the onion finely, and the tomatoes and cheese into 1/2cm cubes. Chop the herbs semi-roughly.
• Mix the couscous with the vegetables, then add the cumin.
• Spoon the couscous mix into the peppers and then return them to the grill for 5-10 minutes, until bits are just starting to brown and the cheese has started to melt.

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Spiced vegetable biryani

Origins: BBC Good Food, that curate’s egg of recipe sites

Serves: 2 hungry, or 3

Ingredients
vegetable oil
1/2 small cauliflower
1 sweet potato
1/2 onion
500l hot vegetable stock
4 tsp curry paste
1/2 small red chilli , seeded and finely chopped
large pinch of saffron strands
1 tsp mustard seeds (black or white)
250g basmati rice
100g trimmed green beans
juice of 1 lemon
a handful of fresh coriander leaves
50g packet salted roasted cashew nuts

• Glug enough oil into a roasting dish or other oven-proof dish to cover the base.  Set the oven to 220C/200C fan and put the dish in.
• While you wait for the oven to reach temperature, chop the sweet potato into dice, and break the cauliflower into small florets.  Chop the onion.
• Put the chopped vegetables into the dish, stir them to coat with the oil, salt lightly and roast for 15 mins.
• Mix up the stock and spices.  Chop the beans in half.
• When the 15 minutes are up, add the rice and beans to the dish, pour over the stock/spice mix and cover tightly with foil.  Return to the oven and cook for another 30mins, until the rice is tender and all the liquid has been absorbed.
• Before serving, stir through the lemon juice and scatter the coriander and nuts over the top.

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<9-veg vegetarian chilli

Origins: A BBC/Vegetarian society germ, expanded and tweaked.

Cook’s Notes: Upscale or downscale all the veg, but keep something firm and something soft.  Remember to up/downscale the spices depending on the bulk.  The mince gives the chilli the proper texture, which non-mince chilli lacks. Serve with sour cream.

Makes: 4 servings without rice or 6 with rice

Ingredients
1 or 1.5 large red or white onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic
1-3 tsp chilli powder
1-3 tsp cumin seeds
Firm veg:
3 or 4 carrots, chopped into discs
4 sticks celery, chopped
150g meat-free mince
800g/2 cans chopped tomatoes
1 heaped tbsp tomato puree
1-2 tbsp pesto
300ml vegetable stock or bouillon
4 to 8 squares dark chocolate
Soft veg:
100g frozen peas
8-10 mushrooms, chopped
1-2 peppers, chopped into squares. 1 red and 1 green is nice
2 courgettes, chopped into discs
a handful or two of spinach

• Chop the onion, garlic, carrots and celery.
• Put a tablespoon or two of oil into a large pan. Fry the garlic, onion, cumin and chilli over a medium heat – don’t burn the garlic!
• Add your firm veg and fry a minute or two longer.  Then add the beans, stock, tomato puree, tinned tomatoes, pesto and mince.
• Simmer this for 10-15 minutes.  Check by poking a sharp knife into the veg: they should be just getting tender.
• Add the chocolate and your choice of the soft veg and simmer for 5 or so minutes longer.  Add some more water if necessary.  Consider giving the pepper, if you’re using it, a bit of a headstart.

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