RECIPES

Far be it from me to tell anyone how to make a Victoria Sponge Cake although I impressed myself with this one. The only tip I can give, which was passed on to me many years ago, is to always weigh the eggs and then use the equivalent weight of butter, sugar and flour - apparently it is a fail safe way of making a sponge cake and it did work this time! It was yum!

Large bunch wild garlic leaves (washed), 60g toasted pine nuts, 60g grated parmesan, 150ml olive oil, dash lemon juice, salt, freshly ground black pepper Finally we found wild garlic! Yippee! So today Ben has made this yummy wild garlic pesto and we had pesto pasta for lunch - such fantastic comfort food. This is how to make it. Put all the ingredients except the olive oil in to the whizzer and whizz for a minute or two. Then gradually add the olive oil until blended - enjoy! It will keep in a jar in the fridge for at least a week....

  2 medium sized courgettes, olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper, handful of mint leaves, 180g philadelphia cheese, lemon juice, (we used crumbled feta and pistachios to decorate) Firstly chop the courgettes into chunks and place on a roasting tray - drizzle with Fino Olive Oil and season with salt and pepper - place in the oven at 180C and bake for 20 mins until they are slightly softened. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before placing in the whizzer (do scrape all the delicious juices in too) along with the mint leaves and the philadelphia. Whizz everything...

Serves 4  Olive oil, 1 onion, 300g frozen peas, 1.5ltr vegetable stock, 350g risotto rice, 200ml white wine, asparagus, grated parmesan  Pour a glug of olive oil in to a heavy bottomed pan and place on a gentle heat - add the chopped onion and sweat for 10 mins. Meanwhile put 100g of the peas into a food processor with a ladleful of warm stock and whizz into a puree. At this point also prepare the asparagus by breaking off the woody ends of each stalk, placing on a roasting tray and drizzling with olive oil and rock salt. These need to...

1 large cauliflower, olive oil, 80g pistachios, 1-2 handfuls of rocket, pomegranate seeds, white balsamic, salt and freshly ground pepper Serves 4 Firstly toast the pistachios in a dry pan for a few minutes - keep an eye on them so they don't burn - they are done when they smell toasty. Remove from the heat and roughly chop when cooled. Use all the cauliflower,  florets, stalk and leaves. Chop it all in to bite sized chunks, place in a roasting tin and drizzle with olive oil so it is all covered. Season with salt and pepper and oven roast at 180C for...