Roasted romanesco with chilli and soy

This makes a nice side dish, or can be served with rice for a quick mid-week supper. The vegetables take about 15 minutes to cook, which is just long enough to get some water on and cook the rice. The recipe (Annie O'Carroll's Roast Calabrese with Chilli and Soy) appears in the Riverford Farm Cook Book and works equally well with romanesco.

Cut the romanesco (or broccoli) into florets, toss in olive oil, and roast in a 200℃ oven. After 10 minutes, add 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced, a hot red chilli, finely chopped, and a teaspoon of sesame seeds. Roast for a further 5 minutes, remove from the oven, season generously with soy sauce, and serve immediately.

I find this works best with smaller florets (so you get more crunchy bits). If the vegetables aren't cooked enough for your taste, you could increase the initial cooking time to 12-15 minutes, but don't cook for more than 5 minutes after the garlic has been added as it will burn and become bitter.

A dinner party for vegetarians

A couple of months ago I bought Yotam Ottoletghi's "Plenty" with a view to broadening my vegetarian cooking repertoire. It came in handy last weekend when Eran and Melanie came to dinner. We started with a beetroot, goat's cheese, orange and watercress salad dressed with freshly squeezed orange juice and olive oil.

Next came roasted winter vegetable cous cous from the Ottolenghi book. There aren't many recipes in this book for which I have all the ingredients in the house. For this one, I had to buy preserved lemons and harissa paste (I know they could both have been made at home, but I had left it too late deciding on the menu). Carrots, parsnips, shallots, and squash are tossed in spices (cinnamon, star anise, bay, ginger, turmeric, paprika, and dried chilli flakes) and olive oil, and roasted. Then dried apricots, chick peas, and preserved lemons are stirred through. It's finished with a couple of spoons of harissa paste and topped with chopped fresh coriander. The spices give an interesting twist to what might otherwise be boring winter vegetables. It went down a treat with my guests.

To finish, I served chocolate fondants with parsnip ice cream.

The idea was that the parsnip ice cream would contrast with the bitter chocolate in the fondant. It didn't work for me and, although Eran liked it, I don't think I'll be making it again.

Winter Vegetable Crumble

This is based on a recipe I found in an anonymous vegetarian cookery book; I have been making it for more than a decade. The original recipe calls for carrots, parsnips, celery, onion, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, and black-eye beans. Don't worry if you don't have all the ingredients (or don't like some of them), the recipe works well with most root vegetables. You can omit the cauliflower or broccoli or - as I did today - substitute romanesco. Diced turnips or swede work well, and fennel adds an interesting twist.

The vegetables are cooked in cider and the cooking liquor thickened with a roux to make a sauce. Chopped fresh parsley and chopped tomatoes (fresh or tinned will do) are stirred through, then the lot is topped with a cheesy, oaty crumble and baked in the oven.

The crumble can be served on its own, with a green salad on the side, or - for a hearty supper - with roast potatoes and a steamed leafy green. It makes a great vegetarian main course, and is a fantastic way to use up any vegbox leftovers.

Beetroot

If you get a weekly delivery from an organic vegbox scheme, you will probably have seen beetroot on your doorstep over the winter. Beetroot is harevested between July and November but, if kept at the right temperature, can be stored until April - so we might see more before the season is out.

I love the colour and the sweet, earthy flavour of beetroot. Beetroot can be eaten raw, grated into salads, but for an interesting twist try Hot Raw Beetroot: peel and coarsely grate the beetroot; melt some butter in a shallow pan, then toss the beetroot in the hot butter for 2 minutes, until it is hot; season with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice (from Leiths Cookery Bible). Here it is pictured accompanying smoked trout.

Beetroot should not be peeled before cooking - just rinse in warm water, and try to avoid damaging the skin and thin root. It can be boiled in a large pan of salted water for 1-2 hours, but if you're short of time 10 minutes in the pressure cooker is long enough for small beetroot, 20-25 minutes for large. Recently I have taken to baking beetroot, which gives it a sweeter, more intense flavour: simply wrap the washed beetroot in tin foil and bake for 3-4 hours in a 140℃ oven. The beetroot is cooked when the skin near the root wrinkles and comes away easily. Wait until the beetroot is cool enough to handle, then peel by rubbing gently.

The cooked beetroot can now be used in a number of dishes. There is the classic beetroot and orange salad, but Jane Grigson, in her Vegetable Book also has recipes for beetroot and potato salad, beetroot and apple salad, beetroot salad with anchovy dressing, Italian beetroot salad (onions and herbs), and Scandinavian beetroot and herring salad. It also goes very well with goats cheese and peppery leaves like watercress and rocket.

Beetroot gratin

If you prefer your beetroot hot, cut the cooked beetroot into cubes and layer it in an ovenproof dish with some grated cheese (a mixture of Gruyère and Parmesan works well, but any piquant cheese will do); pour over fresh double cream, and top with more cheese and breadcrumbs. Bake in a 190℃ oven until the cream is bubbling and the top nicely browned.

Beetroot risotto

For a colourful risotto, add diced beetroot for the last 2 minutes of cooking (just long enough to warm through), and top with a slow-cooked egg.

Of course, there is always Borscht; Grigson gives two recipes in her vegetable book, but I usually make this quick, vegetarian version from  Cranks Recipe Book:

Cranks Russian Borscht

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 small potato, peeled and diced
• 450g raw beetroot, peeled and diced
• 25g butter
• 1.2lt vegetable stock
• 1tsp yeast extract
• 45ml cider vinegar
• salt, pepper and grated nutmeg to taste
• soured cream and chopped parsley to garnish

Melt the butter and cook the onion, without colouring, until soft. Add the potato, beetroot and stock, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently, with a lid on the pan, for 1/2 hour. Blend in a liquidizer until smooth, add the cider vinegar and yeast extract, and season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg. This soup can be served hot or chilled. Garnish with a dollop of soured cream and some chopped fresh parsley.

Riverford Organic have more beetroot recipe ideas, but I think I'll be trying something sweet next time beetroot appears in my vegbox: beetroot chocolate cake.

Comfort food: macaroni cheese with leeks

There is something especially comforting about macaroni cheese: the smooth, creamy sauce contrasting with the bland, slightly chewy pasta pieces. I am also a big fan of leeks, particularly leeks in cheese sauce. What could be more satisfying than a supper of maraconi cheese with leeks?

This is easy to make. First, put on a large pan of salted water for the pasta. Add the macaroni as soon as the water comes to the boil.

In another pan, warm some milk with half an onion studded with a bay leaf and two cloves (onion cloué - the French call cloves clou de girofle, from the verb clouer, "to nail", making them ideal for our purposes). Leave the milk on a gentle heat, allowing the flavours to infuse, but keep an eye on the pan to make sure it doesn't boil over.

In a third, heavy-based pan, melt a good knob of butter and add a medium leek, cleaned and thinly sliced. Put a lid on the pan and cook the leek gently, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or so. Sprinkle over a tablespoon of plain flour and stir well. Continue cooking for 2-3 minutes, then gradually add the hot milk, stirring until smooth after each addition. Bring to a boil and cook until the sauce thickens. Season to taste with salt, pepper, grated nutmeg, and a pinch of dried mustard. Now stir in some grated cheese (I used a mixture of Gruyère and Parmesan, but a good strong cheddar would work just as well).

Drain the pasta and add to the sauce, stirring to combine. Transfer to an ovenproof dish, top with more grated cheese and some breadcrumbs. Dot with butter, and bake in a hot oven until bubbling and browned on top. The breadcrumbs add a good crunch, a nice contrast to the smooth texture of the pasta. Leeks and mushrooms go together well, so I also tried a topping made by blitzing up dried wild mushrooms with the breadcrumbs. This was good, but the mushrooms were a bit of a distraction - I prefer the comforting blandness of the plain breadcrumbs, so will stick with that in the future.

Best laid plans beaten by the weather

The return of the cold weather will not be welcomed by our farmers. Last week's newsletter from Riverford, best laid plans beaten by the weather, complained that their cauliflower, cabbage, leeks, and purple sprouting broccoli have hardly moved on, so they are having difficulty balancing the root vegetables in the weekly boxes. Instead, last week's box contained aubergines and red peppers from Spain and broccoli from Italy.

Although unseasonal, these made a refreshing change: should I dip aubergine slices in flour and fry in olive oil? what about aubergine fritters, coated in a light batter? or an Italian-style aubergine Parmigiana? In the end I opted for this baba ghanoush recipe from Riverford. Right now, some dough is proving for flat breads to be cooked under the grill tomorrow.

As for the peppers, I made a batch of pepperonata, following a recipe from Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book. Thinly slice an onion and finely chop 1 or 2 cloves of garlic; cook in olive oil until just starting to colour. Deseed and finely slice the pepper and add to the pan; cover with a lid and allow to stew gently for 10-15 minutes, stirring from time to time. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes and simmer gently, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes, by which time most of the liquid will have gone. Season to taste with salt, pepper, sugar, and a splash of red wine vinegar. This is delicious hot or cold - I used half of this batch to make some individual tartlets (pictured).

Of course, there were root vegetables to be used up too, and the parsnips went into another of Grigson's recipes:  curried parsnip soup - sweet and spicy, and the perfect way to counter the winter weather.