Mmmm, just seen this recipe for nettle pesto on Joanna's Food. It looks amazing! I almost wish I was back at home to try it out. Nettles are packed full of healthiness, they grow everywhere (you could say like weeds...) and yet I've still not managed to get into cooking them myself despite being told years ago how good they are and how easy they are to cook with. This recipe looks really simple, so I'm thinking it must be a good one for anyone looking for an introduction to wild food. It is the best time for nettles in the UK right NOW. For the best nettles pick the young fresh green tips of the plant. Be careful not to pick from anywhere that is likely to have been sprayed with chemicals and pick as far from paths as possible (to avoid dog pee). I'm slightly gutted I can't do this myself this year, so can someone please make it for me and let me know how it is?... Nettle Pesto Nettles Mint (if you've got it, or other herbs, or none) Garlic Wholemeal bread Cheddar Oil Pick a colander full of young nettle tops (you'll need gloves). Rinse them, then plunge them into boiling water for one minute ...

Last week when I went to do my shopping at K+N in Birkenhead (top veg shop!) I saw they had a couple of crates of English tomatoes for sale at £2.99 each. £2.99!! The box was over 5kg! So that's less than 60p per kg or about £1 less per kg than normal price. I knew it was good, but I'd never normally get through so many before they went squidgy.  And then a flash of inspiration, I remembered seeing Hugh making tomato sauce for the year from his home grown yearly glut and decided this was my chance to do the same (shame they weren't home grown though). This is really good. K+N probably buy from wholesale market in Liverpool, which I assume works a bit like a normal market, only bigger. Often at the end of the day you'll get people practically giving things away, and they pass this on to their customers. Reminds me of I was walking through Kirkgate Market in Leeds a couple of weeks ago and a guy was shouting "Bag of bananas a pound! As many bananas as you can fit in a carrier bag a pound!" He had a hoard of ladies surrounding ...

My new student is flying! Last week we made this amazing roast vegetable lasagne. I'd never made a roast vegetable lasagne so I was a little nervous about how it would turn out, but all went to plan and it was very tasty indeed. I'm a little worried I could be out of a job soon though, apart from putting together the recipe and a bit of advice on making sure the cheese sauce was smooth, she did the whole thing. Gonna have to do something really tricky next time or I'll be out! It could probably do with a bit more cheese, there wasn't quite enough saved for over the top, I like it  when you get a nice crispy cheesy topping. It still got 8 out of 10 Andy points, so a potential 9 I recon with this adjustment. Roast Vegetable Lasagne 4 cloves garlic, chopped Olive oil 1 red onion, cut into chunks and separated 1 aubergine, cut in half and sliced 3 courgettes, sliced 1 red and 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and sliced 15 mushrooms, sliced 2 x 400g tinned tomatoes, chopped 2tsp paprika 3 tbsp oregano Salt and freshly ground black pepper 8 lasagne sheets 8oz cheddar cheese, grated 2 oz butter 2 oz plain flour 1 pt milk nutmeg Pre-heat oven to 190°C, ...

Leanne has allowed me to guest post on her blog for which I thank her. This is probably due to the fact that I actually made dinner for the first time in a long time... So what did I make. Well the title above sums it up... Gnocchi. This is something I've never made before but probably eaten a couple of times in the past. However I didn't really know much about what was in it. Well it's actually pretty simple. Basically it's mashed potatoes and flour for the gnocchi and it's best served with a simple tomato sauce for which you just need an onion and some garlic. And luckily for us we have a lot of potatoes in the UK in October. Which is sort of why I chose to make this meal. It's actually based on a recipe from a book called the Boxing Clever Cookbook.  This was produced a few years ago by some of the people involved in the EarthShare CSA scheme. . No, this isn't something to do with the Child Support Agency. It's actually Community Supported Agriculture . This is a new-ish (well new in the UK at least) way of linking the community with the ...

It's soup time, yipeeee! One bonus of it getting colder and darker is that it makes soup suddenly seem like a brilliant thing, which of course it is! I've already started cooking up a huge vats of lovely fresh soup and am very much looking forward to more to come. It really is so easy to make and far, far tastier than the gloopy gunk that comes in tins. Years ago when I was working I used to eat tinned soup quite often and Marzena, a Polish girl who came to work with us was astounded that you could actually buy soup in tins. "Soup comes in tins?... Really?... I can't believe it.... but why?". At the time I thought she was bonkers, now I feel exactly the same (about the soup/tin thing, not her being bonkers. Although actually she is a bit). Most simple soups follow the same basic idea, cook your onions off in a a little oil, or butter (nicer), add the chopped vegetables, cover to sweat for ten minutes or so, then cover with stock and leave to simmer until all veg are soft and then blitz it, maybe add a bit of cream. Lovely jubbly. While I'm on ...