CAPRESE SALAD

Very simple salad, but a good way for the children to taste different kinds of tomatoes (and they do taste differently). There is indeed an incredible variety of tomatoes in the market.  I read recently that there is more technology in a tomato  than in an i-phone - fancy the thought!

You need:
- various kinds of tomatoes, sliced thinly
- basil leaves
- mozzarella cheese (cut in cubes or teared into small pieces)
- olive oil (plenty)
- balsamic vinegar
- salt

Arrange the tomatoes first, the salt, then the basil leaves and finally the mozzarella. Pour the oil first and finally the balsamic vinegar. Eat it immediately (if you are preparing this in advance do not pour the oil and vinegar until you are just about to eat the salad)

 

PASTA BAKE

This works really well if you have to feed a crowd (especially kids and teenagers, but it is great for adults too). You need:

- 1 kg dried pasta (penne or similar)
- salt
- 3 red or yellow peppers
- one aubergine
- 2 courgettes
- 2 onions
- four table spoons of olive oil
- 6-8 basil leaves (this is just for decoration really)
- a mug of tomato sauce
- three handfuls of grated cheese

Cut all the vegetables in chunks. Put them on a baking tray. Add salt and the olive oil and mix well so that each chunk is coated with the salt and oil. Bake (200 degrees) for 45 minutes until the edges get brown. Meanwhile boil the pasta according to the packet instructions. Drain the pasta. When the veggies are ready toss them with the pasta and the tomato sauce. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top, dip the basil leaves in olive oil and put them on top of the cheese and grill for 3-4- minutes until the cheese is golden.

Tossing the veggies with the oil and then with the tomato sauce and dipping the basil leaves in oil  is what children like most in this recipe.

CHARLOTTE RUSSE

My birthday was yesterday and this was my cake. The charlotte russe dates back to the 18th century when a French female chef prepared a lady fingers and custard cake for the Russian Tsar Alexander I, whose sister was called Charlotte. You need:
- 30 lady fingers
- 150 ml water
-12 g of gelatin powder
- 2 tablespoons of strawberry jam
- 5 eggs
- half a litre of milk
- a teaspoon of corn flour
- a teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons of sugar
- a handful of strawberries

You also need a (not too big) cooking ring.

Put the cooking ring on the dish where you are going to serve the charlotte.

Make a syrup by heating the strawberry jam and the 150 ml of water. When the jam is completely diluted let it cool down. Then start dipping the ladyfingers in the syrup and cover the sides of the ring as well as the base with them.

Heat the milk with two tablespoons of sugar and the gelatin powder (while you whisk it) until it is about to reach simmering point. Take a bit of the milk in a cup and mix it with the cornflour. Separate the egg yokes from the whites. Mix the egg yokes with the remaining two tablespoons of sugar. Then slowly mix the milk with the egg yokes and finally pour the cornflour mixture in.  Put the milk mixture back in the pan and heat it (slowly) while you whisk it until it becomes thick (it should coat the back of a spoon). Add the vanilla extract and then put it in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Whisk the egg whites until you get stiff peaks. Mix the custard with the egg whites (fold it in carefully so that you do not loose any air). Pour half of this mixture inside the ladyfingers mould. Then put more ladyfingers (dipped in the strawberry jam syrup) on top of the custard mixture and finally add the rest of the custard mixture on top of the ladyfingers layer. Put the cake in the fridge and let it rest for 5 hours or ideally overnight until the gelatin sets.

Before serving it get rid of the ring and cover with strawberries.

This cake is a bit fiddly for the children, but at the end of the day it is like making a slightly complicated version of a tiramisu. You can simplify it by using shop bought custard. I think my children prefer the tiramisu though.

PRESERVED LEMONS

I have recently been in the North of Africa and had utterly delicious food (including dromedary, which  - provided you eat it without thinking about the actual animal- is not at all bad). Preserved lemons is a staple ingredient of the North African and Middle East cuisine. This is how you make them:
- 6 lemons, preferably unwaxed (otherwise just clean them with a brush to get rid of the wax)
- a big jar
- 300 gr coarse salt
- water

Cut the lemons in fourths but leaving one of the sides un-cut so that they still hold together (see picture). Put a teaspoon of salt inside each lemon. Arrange them in the jar, add the remaining salt on top and cover with water.  Keep in a dark place for 6 days and then in the fridge for 2 weeks. The children are looking forwards to the recipes we will do with them.

FRIED EGG

This is my middle son's favourite weekend breakfast: crispy egg fried, white bread toast and Iberico ham. He is happy to eat this at any time of the day though.

To make a fried egg crispy just fry it in very hot oil. Garcia Lorca, a very famous Spanish writer ('The House of Bernarda Alba' is his most famous play in the UK, but you should really try the poem "Lament for the Death of Ignacio Sanchez Mejias' or the theater play 'Yerma') used to call these 'eggs with lace' ('huevos fritos con puntilla').

You just need: an egg, a pinch of salt, five table spoons of oil  and a small frying pan. Put the oil on the pan, heat it until it gets smoky, crack the egg on the oil, add salt, get a spoon and pour some of the hot oil on top of the egg. It should take barely 30 seconds (though it depends on how runny you like the yoke). Eat it immediately.

GOAT CHEESE AND ONION PASTRIES

Quick lunch or snack recipe. We just did not know what to do with a jar of onion jam that we had in the cupboard. The result is very nice as the sweetness of the jam works well with the acidity of the goat's cheese. You need:

- a sheet of puff pastry
- a jar of onion jam
- one slice of goat's cheese per person

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees. Cut the puff pastry into squares. Put one spoonful of onion jam on top of the pastry and the slice of goat's cheese on top. Bake in the oven for 18 minutes.

PORRUSALDA

This is a very simple (and very cheap) Basque recipe. This is its vegetarian version, though it is even better is you add salt cod to it (not easy to get it in the UK)

You need:
- 5 leeks (in thick slices)
- three potatoes (in medium size chunks)
- 3 carrots (in thick slices)
- half an onion (chopped thinly)
- 750 l water
- a pinch of sweet paprika
- olive oil (2 tablespoons)
- salt

Heat the olive oil in a pan. Fry the onion (low heat)  for 5 minutes until it is translucent. Then increase the heat to medium and add the leeks. Fry for another 7 minutes. Add the carrots and potatoes and continue frying it all for 8 more minutes. Add the salt, paprika and then the water and let it all simmer for 25 minutes (do not stir it or you will break the potatoes).

Do not be tempted to add stock as the whole point of this is that you taste the leeks. This is actually something good for the children to learn: a tomato soup should taste of tomatoes, a leek soup of leeks, a potato soup of potatoes, not of chicken or any other vegetables…the current obsession to add stock to everything and make it 'packed full of flavours' is fine for a special meal at a restaurant but absurd at home. Keep the flavours clean and they'll learn to recognise what they eat.