Aubergine Tart with Tapenade and Mozzarella

Serves 4

Ingredients
• 1 aubergine
• freshly ground salt and pepper
• 1 sheet of ready made puff pastry
• olive oil
• 4 tbsp tapenade
• 250g mozzarella cheese, sliced thinly
• mixed salad leaves and herbs
• red pepper reduction

For the tapenade dressing
• 1 tbsp pureed black olives
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 6 basil leaves chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• drop of truffle oil

Method
1. Salt aubergine to draw out excess water. Preheat oven to 220C/Gas 7
2. Cut puff pastry into four rounds and pick all over with a fork.
3. Bake in oven for about 5 minutes until golden, put to one side.
4. Slice aubergine into rounds about 3mm thick. Season with pepper.
5. Heat some olive oil in a pan and pan fry the aubergine slices until lightly coloured and soft.
6. Spread tapenade over the pastry discs and lay slices of mozzarella on top. Overlap rounds of aubergine on top of the mozzarella.
7. Bake in oven until the mozzarella begins to melt.
8. Make the dressing by mixing all the ingredients together.
9. To serve place a tart in the centre of each plate. Dress the leaves and herbs lightly and place on top of tart. Drizzle around the red pepper reduction and tapenade dressing.


Classic Pipérade

Serves 4

Ingredients
• 4 warm soft-boiled eggs, halved
• 100ml olive oil
• 1 large courgette, sliced at angle
• 1 medium aubergine, sliced at an angle and each half halved
• 12 small shallots, peeled
• 8 baby fennel, trimmed
• 2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into large strips
• 2 yellow peppers, deseeded and cut into large strips
• 1 head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
• 100ml sun dried tomato juice (recipe below)
• salt and black pepper
• good handful of black olives
• 20 basil leaves
• handful of mixed herbs, to serve

Sun Dried Tomato Juice
• 200g shallots
• 1 ½ heads of garlic
• 20 ripe tomatoes
• 2 red peppers
• 115g sun dried tomatoes
• 50g basil leaves
• 25g thyme leaves
• 25g tarragon
• 50g caster sugar
• 100ml white wine vinegar
• 500ml water

To make the Sun dried tomato juice:
• Peel and slice the shallots and garlic, slice the fresh tomatoes and peppers and put all of these into a pan with the sun dried tomatoes, herbs, sugar, vinegar and water. Season, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Take from the heat, cover and leave in a warm place for 12 hours.
• Sieve into a clean bowl through muslin, bottle and refrigerate for 2-3 days.

Method
• Prepare the pipérade vegetables, heat the olive oil in a pan, add the vegetables, garlic and sun dried tomato juice and season. Cover with a tight fitting lid and leave over a low heat until the vegetables are just soft to the touch.
• Remove the vegetables from the heat and add the olives and basil to warm through.
• Carefully arrange the vegetables on 4 plates with the soft-boiled eggs and serve garnished with fresh herbs.


Couscous with Seven Vegetables

Serves 6/8

Ingredients
• 150 g dried chickpeas, soaked for 10 hours
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• small bunch of fresh coriander sprigs
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• pinch of saffron threads or saffron powder
• small bunch of parsley sprigs
• 4 small onions, cut into 8
• ¼ white cabbage cut into 5 pieces
• 5 small carrots
• 5 small courgettes
• 1 turnip cut into 8
• 1 medium aubergine
• 6 pieces of pumpkin about the size of a ½ carrot
• 4 medium tomatoes, halved
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 400 g couscous
• 1.7 litres water

Method
• Place drained and rinsed chickpeas in a deep pan with water, cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Bring to boil and skim off any froth on the top for about 7 minutes. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Add coriander, parsley, ½ oil, ginger, saffron, and onion and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add cabbage, turnip and carrots and simmer for 8 minutes
• Cut aubergine into quarters lengthways with stem attached. Add to pan with tomatoes, courgettes and pumpkin. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Add paprika and turmeric. Simmer till vegetables are tender.
• Meanwhile, cover couscous wit warm water. Rake through grains with a fork a few times to loosen up and aerate them, leave for 15/20 minutes until water in absorbed and couscous is relatively dry.
• Rake with a fork to break down any lumps. Steam in a top of a steamer, or sieve over boiling water for 15 minutes.
• Remove and place in a large tray, season with salt and drizzle with remaining oil and 1 or 2 ladles of stock from vegetables. Stir gently with fork.
• Serve topped with vegetables.


Gnocchi with a Goats Cheese Sauce

When I can afford it, I love this recipe with black truffles. Also great with ham. 4 portions

Ingredients
• ½ recipe of potato gnocchi dough*
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 4 tbsp milk
• 175g soft St Maures goats cheese, broken into small pieces.
• Small bunch chives, half chopped and the rest into batons
• 2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan

Method
1. Warm the milk in a sauté pan, add the goats cheese and let it melt gently to form a thick sauce. Grind in black pepper to taste.
2. Bring large pot of salted water to the boil. Cook gnocchi and stir until they rise to the surface, then lift out with a slotted spoon and place into sauce.
3. Sprinkle in the chopped chives and toss the gnocchi around carefully, just to coat them in sauce.
4. Add the parmesan and a little of the cooking water if you think the sauce is a little thick. Sprinkle with batons of chive and serve immediately.