BROCCOLI CAKE

This is great for a weekend lunch. You need:

- 250 g flour
- one teaspoon of baking powder
- 150 ml sunflower oil
- 4 eggs
- 150 ml buttermilk (or 100 ml milk with 4 spoonfuls of yogurt)
- 5 medium size florets of broccoli (cut the base in a straight line)
- 150 g of cubes or small stripes of bacon
- 100 g feta cheese
- salt (not much as you have both bacon and feta)

Preheat the oven at 185 degrees and grease a loaf cake tin. Mix the flour, salt and baking powder. Separately mix the oil, eggs and buttermilk. Then mix the dry and wet ingredients. Fry the bacon, get rid of the fat and add it to the mixture. Put half of the mixture in the greased pound cake tin, then line up the florets of broccoli in the center. Cover with the rest of the mixture and sprinkle the feta on top. Bake for 40 minutes - it is nicer when it is served warm.

PICKLED RED ONIONS

I am addicted to these, love them in salads, with smoked salmon, fresh salmon, lentils, cured meats... I even like them with burgers. And could not be simpler to make. You need:

- a red onion (sliced very thinly)
-  a bay leaf
- 10 black peppercorns
- half a teaspoon of salt
- 100 ml vinegar
- 200 ml water

Heat the water, vinegar, salt, bay leaf and peppercorns in a pan. Put the onions in a jar. When the liquid starts to boil, pour it over the onions, close the lid of the jar and wait for at least one hour. They last for a week and a half or so in the fridge.

BROCCOLI AND RICOTTA CAKE

It has taken us so long to get back to this blog - totally underestimated how much effort needs to go into relocating elsewhere - but one of my sons is keen we do not drop it altogether. Anyway, we are back to it now that have been a whole year in California and got a better hand of the routine here (bar the endless trips!)

You need:
- a tub of ricotta cheese (425 g)
- 6 eggs
- 300 g of broccoli (riced or chopped into small bits - just put it in the food processor and blitz it a couple of times) 
- two handfuls of spinach (chopped)
- a teaspoon of chopped mint
- a handful of grated parmesan cheese
- salt (a generous pinch)
- black pepper
- butter and flour for the tin

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Butter the baking tray (we bake this in a ceramic one, but pyrex works well too. Then sprinkle a bit of flour on top and move around so that the whole tray is coated in flour). Mix the eggs, ricotta, broccoli, spinach , mint, salt and pepper. Put the mixture in the tin. Add the grated parmesan on top. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden. That is all there is to it.

This is a great simple lunch with a green salad. Notice the broccoli flowers in the picture, my latest culinary discovery. Edible in salads, bitter and mustardy, delicious. 

CORIANDER SAUCE

Been for a couple of days in Mexico, really short time, but enough to sample the delicious Mexican food. This is a sauce that works with pretty much everything: grilled chicken, grilled fish (both white and blue), salads, most raw veggies, boiled potatoes, or just as a dip with plain tortilla chunks or, as they do in La Mar in San Francisco, as a dip with chips (addictive), in which case you should make it more spicy by adding a few drops of tabasco sauce.

You need:
- two handfuls of fresh coriander (leaves and stalks)
- 200 g greek yogurt
- 200 g sour cream
- juice of one and a half limes (I love acidic flavours, but if this is two much for you just cut down on it)
- a good pinch of salt (I prefer sea salt for this, probably because it reminds me of margaritas, but fine salt works well too of course)
- one and a half green chile peppers (without seeds)
- a tiny pinch of ground cumin
- one and a half cloves of garlic
- 5 tablespoons of (not too strong) olive oil

Just put it all in a blender and blend until you get a smooth sauce. You can keep this for 5-7 days in the fridge.

COURGETTE FLOWERS

There are a delicacy. Totally seasonal, so if you see them just buy them. In California where I now live you can get a big bag of them for five dollars, which is not bad (together with petrol about the only thing relatively cheap here).

You need:
20 courgette flowers
a tub of ricotta cheese
salt and pepper (to taste plus half a teaspoon for the batter)
a bunch of mint leaves
zest of half a lemon
75 g plain flower
two eggs
half a teaspoon of bicarb
125 ml very cold fizzy water
A generous amount of oil to fry the flowers (I use 50% soft olive oil and 50% sunflower oil)

Wash the flowers carefully so that you do not break them. Combine the ricotta, salt and pepper, mint leaves and lemon zest. Put the mixture into a pipping bag and stuff the flowers with it. Separately prepare a batter by combining the eggs, fizzy water, half a teaspoon of salt and bicarb. Heat the oil in a small deep pan (medium heat). When the oil is hot dip the flowers into the batter so that they are completely covered with it (a bit messy, but not difficult) and fry them in the oil for one to two minutes on each side or until golden. It is easier to do this in small batches of 4-5 flowers at a time.
Eat them immediately.

 

ARROZ A BANDA

This is very similar to a paella, but without any of the paella distractions: no need to peel prawns,  open mussels, suck bones, clams or anything like that.  It is typical from the area of Alicante, where I spent most of the summer holidays during my childhood. The chef that cooks this best in Spain is Maria Jose San Roman from the wonderful restaurant Monastrell in Alicante. This recipe is slightly adapted from one of hers. If you are into cooking rice watch her videos in You Tube - she is not only a superb chef but also a great defender of cooking simply and focussing on the a quality of products, which I totally agree with.

You need: 

- 2 large tomatos

- half and onion

- half a red pepper

- 2 ñoras - or alternatively a teaspoon of sweet paprika

- 3 cloves of garlic

- 7 prawns

- 300 g squid 

- around 400 g 'bomba' rice, ideally Calasparra

- salt

- fumet: made with fish bones (a couple of bones of flat fish) and a litre of water. You can get a huge amount of fish bones for very little money - indeed most fishmongers would normally give it to you for free) 

- saffron 

- olive oil

Start by preparing the 'fumet' (which I normally prepare well in advance and freeze): roast the fishbones, a tomato cut into quarters and two cloves of garlic with a couple of table spoons of olive oil at 250 degrees. It takes around 40 minutes until the fish bones are brown with black edges. Put it all in a big pan with two litres of water and boil for 2 hours (or just 20 minutes in you do this with a express cooker) 

Separately, fry the ñoras and remaining clove of garlic with a tablespoon of oil, blend it and reserve it. If you are not using ñoras just grate the garlic and mix it with the tablespoon of paprika.

Fry the tomato (no need to add oil) in a small pan until it gets mushy, almost liquid.

Finally fry the onions and peppers (both cut into small cubes) over very low heat with a table spoon of olive oil for 18-10 minutes until the peppers are soft and the onions translucent.

Up to this point you can prepare it all well in advance or even the previous day.

45 minutes before you are going to eat, boil a little bit of water (half a glass), add the saffron and let it infuse. 

Cut the squid and prawns into small pieces. Take a paella pan, fry the prawns until they get pink with a tablespoon of oil (one or two minutes) take them out and reserve. In the same oil fry the squid for 3-4 minutes, then add the rice (a handful per person) a tablespoon of the ñora or paprika mixture, three tablespoons of the tomato pure and three to four tablespoons of the onion and peppers mixture. Stir it for a minute or so, then add the saffron liquid (put it through a colander to get rid of  the saffron stems). Finally add the fumet (for each volume or rice, three times the volume of fumet).

Let it bubble over high heat for 8 minutes. Then lower the heat and wait for another 8 minutes. Finally (and take note because this is a secret trick) add a tiny drizzle of oil all around the edge of the pan and increase the heat for 3 minutes. This is to create what is called 'socarrat', the burn bit at the bottom of the paella, which is something that every Spaniard would fight for at the table.

The key to any Spanish rice dish is not to overcomplicate it with too many ingredients. And to be really precise about timing. As soon as the rice is done you need to eat it immediately or it will become 'pasado' (mushy)... yuck...       

FENNEL SALAD

This is a very simple summer salad - great with blue grilled fish.
You need:

- two fennel bulbs
- 1 orange
- a handful of black olives (pitted)
- pink pepper (to taste)
- 3 tables spoons of (good) virgin olive oil
- 1.5 tablespoons of vinegar
- salt

Cut the fennel in really thin slices (ideally with a mandoline). Add the olive oil and vinegar and let it rest for 20 minutes or so. Then cut the orange in chunks (getting rid of the white skin) Half the olives. Mix the oranges and olives with the fennel. Add salt and sprinkle with the pink pepper.  Done!

ARTICHOKES WITH HAM

Most of you are already familiar with my obsession with artichokes and their truly exorbitant price in the UK. But this is my new discovery: frozen artichokes fom the French company Picard. In the UK they are only sold by Ocado (Asda, you are meant to have the lead on frozen veggies, what happened?) and they do not come cheap: £7.99 for a Kg, even though you can buy exactly the same product for £6.17 if you cross the Channel tunnel (or less if the pound was not underperforming due Brexit). But put it in context: at Sainsbury's you get three small artichoke slices (250g) for £1.90.  And at Waitrose you pay £2 just for an artichoke! You can feed 8-9 for starters with just a packet of frozen artichokes. And the wonderful thing is that is it just the really good bit of the artichokes,  the 'creme de la creme',  the  'fond d'artichaut': no leaves, no waste...and of course good bye to those black nails when you clean the artichokes to get just the cores - simply open the bag and that is all.

For this you need:
 - a packet of frozen artichokes (put them in hot water for two minutes and then cut them in slices)
- 200 g of cubed serrano ham ( if you are lucky enough to leave in london near a Casa Manolo you can buy this already pre-cut)
- 1.5 gloves of garlic
- two tablespoons of wine vinegar (I add 2.5 because I am addicted to vinegar)
- three tablespoons of olive oil
- and half  glass of water
- salt (not much as the ham is naturally salted)

Heat the oil in a shallow pan ( I use a paella pan). Add the ham and the artichokes and wait for 5 minutes or until the edges of the artichokes get golden. Add the salt. Grate the garlic and add it to the artichokes (tossing them well so that the garlic does not get burnt). Add the water, sprinkle it all with the vinegar, wait for 2-3 more minutes and done.

MARINATED CARROTS - ZANAHORIAS ALIÑADAS

This is called 'zanahorias aliñadas' or 'aliñás' if you happen to be in Andalucia, which is where this dish comes from. A bite of this on a sunny day and you will feel as if you are in Sevilla, my favourite town in Spain and a truly happy place. 

You need:
- 3 carrots
- a teaspoon salt
- a teaspoon of sweet paprika or pimenton
- a clove of garlic
- a teaspoon of ground cumin
- half a glass of olive oil
- a glass of water

Boil the carrots until they are 'al dente'. Cut them into thick slices and let them cool down. Ground the garlic with the salt in a pester and mortar. Add the pimenton, cumin and oregano, then the olive oil and finally the water. Put the carrots into a plastic container (with a lid), cover them with the marinade and keep them in the fridge over night. Serve this cold (if you want to do this authentically serve them as a snack, with  toothpics on the side and a glass of cold 'fino' sherry) . I normally dry the carrots with kitchen paper before serving them as the marinade can be too strong, but that really depends on your taste... 

CRAB CHICORY BOATS

This is a good way to get children to get used to chicory. You can vary the fillings (tuna mayo, shrimps and cocktail sauce,  a mixture of cream and blue cheese…) but it works particularly well with crab. You need:

- a chicory (separate the leaves)
- 100 gr crag meat (I normally use white meat as it is a softer flavour)
- half a chill chopped very thinly
- a teaspoon of chopped coriander
- 2.5 tablespoons mayonnaise (home made really works best on this as shop bought mayo is far too strong for crab) - see our two minutes mayo recipe: http://www.mumandsons.com/2011/04/2-minutes-mayonnaise-sauce.html
-juice and zest of half a lime


Mix the crab, mayo and lime juice. Put the mixture in the fridge for 20 minutes or so. Then put a bit of the mixture on top of each chicory leaf. Sprinkle with the chile, coriander and lime zest. That is all there is to it.

SUMMER CHICKEN

I thought I would post a 'proper' summer roast chicken as I am in the US for a few days and all we can get here is the chlorinated chicken (surrounded by mountains of fries) that the UK Government seems so keen to allow into the UK as part of their desperate attempt to agree a deal with the US at any cost. Pity that otherwise perfectly sensible people, like the head of the UK administration, seem to have fallen for that nonsense too. The thing is this:  if the UK government  allows US chlorinated poultry into the UK, no UK poultry will be allowed in the EU. That will mean we will have plenty of chlorinated chicken to eat in the UK, but  we may need to cross the channel to eat a proper chicken. Apparently in fantasy planet Brexitland this is called 'taking back control'… taking control of all but your chicken that is!

You need:
- one chicken
- half a glass of water
- two table spoons of olive oil
- salt
- four sweet potatoes
- 200 gr butternut squash
- three onions
- a jar of pesto (see our recipe http://www.mumandsons.com/2011/03/green-pesto.html)

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees. Cut the onions in six chunks (vertically). Cut the sweet potatoes and butternut squash in big chunks. Put both the onions and sweet potatoes on a roasting tray. Add a bit of salt and the two tablespoons of olive oil. Toss it all well.  Salt the chicken (including inside) and put it on top of the onions and sweet potatoes. Add the water (not on top of the chicken, just on the side of the roasting tray). Roast for 1.30 minutes. Serve it with the pesto and a salad. Simple and wonderful.

MELON GAZPACHO

Gazpacho is traditionally made with cucumber and tomatoes. Over the last few years it has become fashionable to make gazpacho with fruits such as strawberries and watermelon. I am not too keen, but this melon gazpacho builds on a classic seventies' combination of flavours, melon and serrano ham.  When I was a teenager there wasn't a Spanish wedding that did not feature this in the menu. Then came the melon with king prawns (a great recipe which I will give you later this Summer). Avocados did not manage to reach the Spain of the 70s, but prawn cocktails and pineapple with cheese on toothpicks were as popular there as in the UK.

You need;
- a canteloupe melon (or half a Spanish 'piel de sapo' melon)
- 1 cucumber
- a quarter green pepper
- a clove of garlic
- half a glass of good olive oil
- half a glass of water
- two tablespoons of vinegar
- salt
- 100 gr of good serrano ham (it would be better with Iberico ham; and, with the permission of my Italian friends, worse with parma ham) into very small cubes.

Blend the melon, cucumber, pepper, garlic and olive oil. Get this mixture through  a 'chino' colander so that you get a smooth soup. Add the water vinegar and salt and stir. Taste it as, if the melon is very sweet, you may need to add a bit more vinegar. Keep it in the fridge until you are going to serve it. Serve it in bowls with the ham sprinkled in the centre of the bowl.

SPRING PASTA

This is a really nice and quick way to prepare pasta.
You need:
- a packet of long dry pasta (spaghetti is best)
- a mug of peas
- a bunch of asparagus (chopped in bite size bits)
- half  mug of pesto sauce ( preferably home made, which is really easy to prepare and lasts for 5-6- days in the fridge - see our recipe http://www.mumandsons.com/2011/03/green-pesto.html)
- salt
- parmiggiano cheese (or equivalent)

Boil the pasta in salty water according to packet instructions  (it tends to be 12-14 minutes) 6 minutes before you take the pasta out add the peas, and two minutes afterwards add the asparagus. when the pasta is boiled put it all in a colander, add the pesto ( with a couple of tablespoons of the water that you have used to boil the pasta) and grate a generous amount of parmiggiano on top. It could not be more simple, but it is heavenly.

You can do this with beans or broccoli, but the peas and asparagus combination works really well.

OMELET 'A LA MENTA"

I went to Milan earlier this week to launch Inspiring Girls Italy with our partner there, the business association ValoreD. What an amazing day! You can see pictures in my instagram (miriamgonzalezdurantez) but  I could have stayed for hours listening to the volunteers telling their life journeys to the girls. So utterly inspiring. I came back mesmerised by the professionalism, energy and strength of Italian women - the kind of strength that comes from the inside, a 'serene strength'. Thanks so-so much to ENI, Intesa Sanpaolo and Courriere de la Sera, who sponsored our event there and also to the Minister of Education for backing us. We are already in four countries and we set all this up from scratch, fancy that!

The night before the event I was taken to a restaurant, where they served omelet 'a la menta', which I had never tried beforehand  It was the kind of moment when you wonder: why, oh why, didn't I think about this beforehand?! so simple but so very gorgeous. The freshness of the mint with the warmth of the egg and the parmesan - a revelation. I am prone to liking any recipes with eggs, but this... I just love it.

All you need is:

- 2 eggs
- a couple of spoons of olive oil (use a small frying pan)
- a pinch of salt ( not too much as the cheese is salty)
- a tablespoon and a half of grated parmesan cheese
- two teaspoons of finely chopped mint leaves

Heat the oil in the frying plan. Beat the eggs (not too much) with the salt and the mint. Pour the egg mixture onto the pan. After 30 seconds stir it a couple of times so that you get 'folds' in the omelet. Sprinkle the parmesan on top. wait one more minute and fold the omelet in half as you normally do with any omelet. It should all take barely 2 minutes so that the omelet is moist inside. Eat it immediately. Just heavenly.

ARTICHOKES WITH SERRANO HAM

Artichokes are one of my favourite vegetables, together with aubergines and swiss chard. I bought these beauties last week at the truly exorbitant price of £1.99…per artichoke! For that price you can buy a whole kilo of artichokes in Spain (taking into account the depreciation of the pound after Brexit et all) Out of curiosity I searched the prices in different supermarkets  during one of my daily commutes - difficult to find artichokes in the UK for less than 1.40-1.50 per unit at the very best. Insane. How much of that goes to the farmers pockets? as the granddaughter and niece of farmers I can tell you that very little indeed. Perhaps when governments spend money on marketing to convince us all to increase the number of fruit and vegetables we eat per day, they could think of how to work with supermarkets so that  raw vegetables and fruits go down to a more normal prize. How can they possibly justify that the price of one single artichoke is the same as the prize of not one, but twelve packets of salt and vinegar crisps? or eight Mars bars?

For this dish you need:
- one artichoke for two people (or if you are in the South of Europe, as many as you wish)
- two cloves of garlic sliced
- 50 gr serrano ham  (or parma, etc…cut it in little cubes)
- 80 ml water
- a tablespoon of white vinegar
- half a lemon
- salt
- three tablespoons of olive oil

Clean the artichokes: get rid of all the outer leaves and peel the base as well. Cut them in slices and put them in a bowl of water with the juice of half a lemon.  Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a pan. Dry the artichokes and add them to the oil. Let them fry over medium heat for 3-4- minutes until them get golden. Add salt to the artichokes.

Separately fry the garlic on low heat on the spare tablespoon of oil (this takes only 1.5 minute or so), add the ham and let it fry for another minute, then the vinegar and finally the water. Pour all this over the artichokes and let it simmer for 5-8 minutes until they get soft (the exact amount of time depends on how tender the artichokes are of course - I prefer them a little al dente, but children normally like them soft)

BROCCOLI MAYO

You can make mayonnaise with any food rich in lecithin: from eggs to milk, brussels sprouts of broccoli. My children like this as a dip, or on the side of grilled chicken and salad, as a sauce. It also goes well with boiled eggs and white fish.  You need:

-500 gr broccoli

- 200 ml sunflower oil (or a very mild olive oil)

- salt

- two or three tablespoons of lemon

Boil the broccoli for 15 minutes until it is really soft. Put the boiled broccoli in a tall beaker and add the oil on top.  Blend it all with a hand held blender - start with the blender at the bottom of the beaker without moving it for a 40 seconds or so and then bring the blender very slowly up while keeping a steady hand. Then add the lemon and salt and blend for a couple of seconds again. You can also do this with a normal blender by blending the broccoli first and then adding the oil little by little.

PARTRIDGES ESCABECHADAS

This is a really great way to cook partridges. I was recently served this at a dinner and decided to try gain this recipe with the help of my mother.

You need:
- 3 partridges
- 2 carrots - cut in big chunks
- 2 onions - cut in half moons
- 4 bay leaves
- 5 garlic cloves
- 80 ml olive oil
- 150 ml white wine
- 50 ml water
- 2 springs of thyme
- 10 black peppercorns

Put half of the olive oil in a frying pan. Salt the partridges and fry them in the olive oil for a few minutes on all sides (they should not get golden).

Take the partridges out. Add the rest of the oil and fry the onions for 5-6- minutes over medium heat until soft. Then add the garlic, carrot, thyme and peppercorns. Add the water and wine. Put back the partridges in the pan. Cover with a lid and let them bubble oven low heat for 35 minutes. Put the partridges, vegetables and sauce in a glass jar and let it rest for one or two days before eating them.

Before you serve the partridges just heat them a little (not too much) . In the summer you can also eat them cold with a salad.

PATATAS BRAVAS

This is a very typical Spanish tapa. The name means 'brave potatoes' and it consists of fried potatoes with a hot sauce. Children normally like this because it is hot but not outrageously so. It is meant to be eaten at around 13.00 or so with a cold little beer  ('un cortito' ) just to stretch yourself until lunch at around 14.00… or 14.30… or even 15.00… Crazy, I know: when Spanish people finish lunch some British people start their tea.

 

Whether you add tomato sauce or not to the 'bravas' is a matter for national debate in Spain -  half Spain does and half does not. Just as half adds onion to the 'tortilla' and half does not; half prefer Cola-Cao and half Nesquik, half of us were brought up with Nocilla, and the other half with Tulicrem…people in a country disagreeing about trivial things is part of life - and it is also very healthy indeed! 

You need:

- half a potato per person

- lots of olive oil

- salt

- an onion ( dice thinly)

- a teaspoon of sweet paprika

- a teaspoon of hot paprika

- 2  tablespoons of plain flour

-  500 ml of chicken, beef or vegetable stock

- I normally add 5 tablespoons of tomato sauce,just because in my view tomato sauce with any simple carbohydrate is one of the very best pleasures in life. But try the sauce with and without the tomato and make up your own mind…

Cut the potatoes in chunks. Put them on a dish  in the microwave for 3 minutes. Then add a bit of salt.

Separately fry the onion over low heat on a couple to tablespoons of olive oil. Wait for 8 minutes until the onion is soft. Increase the heat, Add the paprika (both sweet and hot), then add the flour, stir well for a minute or so and add the stock. Let it all simmer for 8 to 10 minutes (over medium heat). Add the salt and the tomato sauce (if using it) and blend it all (with a hand blender is best)

Heat well a very generous amount of olive oil in a deep pan. Fry the microwaved potatoes for two to three minutes so that they get crispy. Pour over the sauce - or serve it separately as a dip. And enjoy.

 

 

MALTESE OCTOPUS

This is a typical Maltese dish. I came to look into food from Malta after a prominent member of the UK Conservative party insulted the Maltese by saying that their  Prime Minister 'should go back to his tiny little island'. How sad is it that members of the UK governing party now feel free to insult other Europeans gratuitously like this - and without the government offering any apologies for it?

On the positive side this has led to me talk to the children about Malta, its geographical position, history, size and culture. It has not been difficult because my bother was on holiday there a few months ago and he could not stop praising the island. We have looked into Maltese recipes, which are great. I have found many good blogs, including a superb one called www.amaltesemouthful.com. So utterly yummy. I tell you, the island may be small...but boy they know how to eat well!!

Best is obviously to follow the authentic recipe in any of the numerous blogs. The best we saw is here: http://www.amaltesemouthful.com/octopus-stew-stuffat-tal-qarnit/ But we  made a few changes as we went along. You need:

- an octopus, cut into mouth-bite chunks. If the octopus is fresh you need to tenderise it by hitting it everywhere many times for 3-4 minutes. This is a bit off putting, because normally octopus are sold with their eyes on, so you risk looking like a sadistic person while the eyes of the octopus beg you to stop. The easier alternative is to freeze the octopus when you buy it (when it freezes the muscles contract and then let go, so it becomes tender and there is no need to torture the poor octopus anymore)
- 3 onions, chopped thinly
- 4 garlic cloves (grated)
- 1glass of tomato sauce (see our recipe http://www.mumandsons.com/2011/03/tomato-sauce.html- alternatively used a good passata, or 2 tins of chopped tomatoes )
- 2 handfuls of olives
- 2 teaspoons of small capers
- lemon zest and juice of a lemon
- a glass of white wine
- a tablespoon of parsley, a tablespoon of basil, and the leaves of three springs of thyme.
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- salt
- a glass of frozen peas.
- more parsley and basil to garnish
- a tin of chickpeas (drained)

Fry the onions in the olive oil under low heat until they are tender. Then add the garlic and after a minute or so the tomato sauce. Then add the octopus, increase the heat to medium and wait for 15 minutes and add the olives, capers, lemon zest,  wine and lemon juice. Add the salt, reduce the heat, cover with a lid and let it summer for 40 minutes. Add the peas, let it cook for a further 10 minutes, and finally add the chickpeas, wait for a further 5 minutes, sprinkle the basil and  parsley and serve.

COURGETTES WITH BASIL

This is a super-quick and really healthy lunch or starter for a dinner.  I cook very often as it is a good way to make children eat courgettes. And the children like to help with the pestle and mortar.

You need:
 - three courgettes and a spiralizer (or you can buy the courgettes already cut into 'spaghetti' in some supermarkets. I have seen them at Sainsbury's but sure others have them too)
- a handful of pine nuts
- 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
- two handfuls of basil leaves
- a clove and a half of garlic (or more if you are into garlic and are not going out that night)
- parmesan cheese (as much or as little as you wish - my children like lots of it)
- salt

Take a shallow pan. Heat the oil. Add the courgettes and let them fry for 5-7 minutes depending on how 'al dente' you like them). Te key to this wish is not to add any salt to the courgettes at this stage as otherwise they will release water and get boiled. While the courgettes are cooking, crush the garlic and salt with a pestle and mortar. Then add the pine nuts to the garlic and leap crushing them. Finally add the basil leaves to the mortar and mash them with the garlic and pine nuts. Do not mind too much if some pieces are bigger than others - it actually adds texture to the dish, so it is a good thing.  Add all this mixture to the courgettes (while you are still heating them). Mix well and add some grated parmesan cheese on top of it all (at this point you can also add some dried tomatoes, or bits of mozzarella or both)  Wait for a minute while the parmesan mellows. Take it off the heat and serve it promptly.

If you do not have time you can replace the garlic, pine-nuts and basil with a jar of pesto. Still good, but not the same…