Nawra Rizvi

Butternut squash and sweet potato soup
Method
STEP 1
Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Put the sweet potato and butternut squash on a baking tray and add the honey and a drizzle of olive oil. Roast for 40-45 mins until soft and starting to caramelise at the edges, stirring occasionally.

STEP 2
Meanwhile, fry the onions in 1 tbsp olive oil until soft, then add the garlic, chicken stock, cinnamon and nutmeg. Bring to the boil, and simmer for 5 mins.

STEP 3
Remove the sweet potatoes and butternut squash from the oven and add to the pan with the stock. Blend everything until smooth using a stick blender. Stir in most of the cream and bring back to a gentle simmer, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

STEP 4
To make the lemon & garlic toasts, gently warm the olive oil and garlic in a pan over a low heat for a few mins; the garlic should be softened but not browned. Remove from the heat and mix in the butter and lemon zest until smooth. Leave to cool, then stir in the chives and thyme.

STEP 5
Toast the ciabatta slices, and top each with a spoonful of garlic butter. Serve with the soup, drizzled with the remaining cream, and some black pepper.

Croque madame traybake
Method
STEP 1
To make the sauce, heat the milk in a saucepan with the onion, cloves and bay leaf. When boiling, turn off the heat and leave to infuse for 30 mins, then strain.

STEP 2
Melt the butter in another pan and add the flour. Cook for 4-5 mins until sandy. Gradually whisk in the milk, then cook over a medium heat, stirring, until you have a thick sauce. Stir in the mustard and season. Set aside to cool. Can be made up to two days ahead.

STEP 3
Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter a baking tray large enough to fit 3 slices of bread, then butter and toast the bread, and make 3 sandwiches with 2 slices of ham and cheese in each. Spread the white sauce on top, and make a small well in the sauce on each sandwich. Crack the eggs into the wells, then scatter over the parmesan. Bake for 20 mins or until the whites are just set.

Chicken with pomegranate & Brazil nuts
Method
STEP 1
Put the whole Brazil nuts in a food processor with the ginger, garlic and lime juice. Blend to a paste, then add the coconut yogurt and molasses. Blitz briefly to combine, then tip into a large bowl along with the chicken. Mix well to coat in the marinade, cover the bowl with cling film and leave in the fridge overnight.

STEP 2
The following day, heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Spread the chicken out in a deep roasting tin, skin-side up, and cook in the oven for 45 mins-1 hr or until golden brown and the juices run clear.

STEP 3
While the chicken cooks, brush the aubergine slices with the oil and cook on a hot griddle pan for 3-4 mins each side or until tender and patterned with char marks. Lay the aubergines on a serving platter, add the cooked chicken and scatter over the chopped Brazil nuts and the pomegranate seeds.

How to make guacamole
Method
STEP 1
Use a large knife to pulverise 1 large ripe tomato to a pulp on a board, then tip into a bowl.

STEP 2
Halve and stone the 3 avocados (saving a stone) and use a spoon to scoop out the flesh into the bowl with the tomato.

STEP 3
Tip the juice of 1 large lime, a handful of roughly chopped coriander, 1 finely chopped small red onion and 1 deseeded and finely chopped red or green chilli into the bowl, then season with salt and pepper.

STEP 4
Use a whisk to roughly mash everything together. If not serving straight away, sit a stone in the guacamole (this helps to stop it going brown), cover with cling film and chill until needed.

Spicy chicken couscous
Method
STEP 1
Prepare couscous with reduced salt chicken stock, according to the packet instructions. Heat olive oil in a pan and cook the onion for 2-3 mins until softened.

STEP 2
Toss in chicken breast fillets and stir fry for 5-6 mins until tender. Add the blanched almonds and, when golden, stir in the hot curry paste and cook for 1 min more.

STEP 3
Add the couscous along with the apricots and the coriander. Toss until hot then serve with plain yogurt if you like.

Lemon & coriander hummus
Method
STEP 1
Put everything but the coriander into a food processor, then whizz to a fairly smooth mix. Scrape down the sides of the processor if you need to.

STEP 2
Season the hummus generously, then add the coriander and pulse until roughly chopped. Spoon into a serving bowl, drizzle with olive oil, then serve.

Quick crêpes Suzette
Method
STEP 1
Tip the sugar into a microwaveable bowl and stir in 3 tbsp orange juice to dampen. Microwave on High for 3-4 mins until you have a bubbling caramel. Remove the bowl from the microwave (watch out – it will be very hot indeed), then add the rest of juice, zest and butter. Return to the microwave and blast for 1 min, stir, then cook for 1 more min until the caramel has dissolved into the juice and you have a syrupy sauce. Set aside.

STEP 2
Heat pancakes in the microwave according to pack instructions. Serve each folded into quarters with sauce poured over, a spoonful of crème fraîche and orange wedges, if you like.

Beef wellington
Method
STEP 1
Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7.

STEP 2
Sit the 1kg beef fillet on a roasting tray, brush with 1 tbsp olive oil and season with pepper, then roast for 15 mins for medium-rare or 20 mins for medium. When the beef is cooked to your liking, remove from the oven to cool, then chill in the fridge for about 20 mins.

STEP 3
While the beef is cooling, chop 250g chestnut (and wild, if you like) mushrooms as finely as possible so they have the texture of coarse breadcrumbs. You can use a food processor to do this, but make sure you pulse-chop the mushrooms so they don’t become a slurry.

STEP 4
Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil and 50g butter in a large pan and fry the mushrooms on a medium heat, with 1 large sprig fresh thyme, for about 10 mins stirring often, until you have a softened mixture.

STEP 5
Season the mushroom mixture, pour over 100ml dry white wine and cook for about 10 mins until all the wine has been absorbed. The mixture should hold its shape when stirred.

STEP 6
Remove the mushroom duxelle from the pan to cool and discard the thyme.

STEP 7
Overlap two pieces of cling film over a large chopping board. Lay 12 slices prosciutto on the cling film, slightly overlapping, in a double row.

STEP 8
Spread half the duxelles over the prosciutto, then sit the fillet on it and spread the remaining duxelles over.

STEP 9
Use the cling film’s edges to draw the prosciutto around the fillet, then roll it into a sausage shape, twisting the ends of cling film to tighten it as you go.

STEP 10
Chill the fillet while you roll out the pastry.

STEP 11
Dust your work surface with a little flour. Roll out a third of the 500g pack of puff pastry to a 18 x 30cm strip and place on a non-stick baking sheet.

STEP 12
Roll out the remainder of the 500g pack of puff pastry to about 28 x 36cm.

STEP 13
Unravel the fillet from the cling film and sit it in the centre of the smaller strip of pastry.

STEP 14
Beat the 2 egg yolks with 1 tsp water and brush the pastry’s edges, and the top and sides of the wrapped fillet.

STEP 15
Using a rolling pin, carefully lift and drape the larger piece of pastry over the fillet, pressing well into the sides.

STEP 16
Trim the joins to about a 4cm rim. Seal the rim with the edge of a fork or spoon handle.

STEP 17
Glaze all over with more egg yolk and, using the back of a knife, mark the beef Wellington with long diagonal lines taking care not to cut into the pastry.

STEP 18
Chill for at least 30 mins and up to 24 hrs. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.

STEP 19
Brush the Wellington with a little more egg yolk and cook until golden and crisp – 20-25 mins for medium-rare beef, 30 mins for medium. Allow to stand for 10 mins before serving in thick slices.

Beef salad with caper & parsley dressing
Method
STEP 1
Scatter the salad leaves, tomatoes and red peppers over a serving platter, then arrange the beef slices on top.

STEP 2
Put all the dressing ingredients into a small bowl with some salt and pepper, then whisk vigorously with a fork until thickened. Drizzle over the beef and salad and serve.

Sticky pork belly with Vietnamese-style salad & smashed peanuts
Method
STEP 1
Remove the rind from the pork and put the meat in a large sealable food bag or casserole dish. In a bowl, mix the hoisin, honey, vinegar, soy, ketchup and ginger, then pour over the pork and massage well. Seal the bag or cover the dish and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hrs, or overnight.

STEP 2
Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Transfer the pork and its marinade to a snug roasting tin, lined with foil. Pour over 50ml water, cover with foil and roast for 2 hrs, or until tender, basting halfway through. Take the pork out and increase oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Remove the foil and pour the sauce into a small pan. Bring the sauce to the boil and let it bubble until thick and syrupy. Brush some of the sauce all over the pork and pop back in the oven, uncovered, for 20 mins until sticky and caramelised in places. Transfer to a chopping board, cover lightly with foil and leave to rest for 20 mins.

STEP 3
Meanwhile, prepare the salad. Toss all the ingredients, except the peanuts, together in a bowl. To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients and set aside. Reheat the remaining sauce, adding a splash of water if it has become too thick. Toss the dressing through the salad and divide between 2 plates, then top with the smashed peanuts. Cut the pork into thick slices, arrange alongside the salad, then drizzle over the sauce. Serve with Coconut rice (see tip, below).

Ultimate spaghetti carbonara recipe
Method
STEP 1
Put a large saucepan of water on to boil.

STEP 2
Finely chop the 100g pancetta, having first removed any rind. Finely grate 50g pecorino cheese and 50g parmesan and mix them together.

STEP 3
Beat the 3 large eggs in a medium bowl and season with a little freshly grated black pepper. Set everything aside.

STEP 4
Add 1 tsp salt to the boiling water, add 350g spaghetti and when the water comes back to the boil, cook at a constant simmer, covered, for 10 minutes or until al dente (just cooked).

STEP 5
Squash 2 peeled plump garlic cloves with the blade of a knife, just to bruise it.

STEP 6
While the spaghetti is cooking, fry the pancetta with the garlic. Drop 50g unsalted butter into a large frying pan or wok and, as soon as the butter has melted, tip in the pancetta and garlic.

STEP 7
Leave to cook on a medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the pancetta is golden and crisp. The garlic has now imparted its flavour, so take it out with a slotted spoon and discard.

STEP 8
Keep the heat under the pancetta on low. When the pasta is ready, lift it from the water with a pasta fork or tongs and put it in the frying pan with the pancetta. Don’t worry if a little water drops in the pan as well (you want this to happen) and don’t throw the pasta water away yet.

STEP 9
Mix most of the cheese in with the eggs, keeping a small handful back for sprinkling over later.

STEP 10
Take the pan of spaghetti and pancetta off the heat. Now quickly pour in the eggs and cheese. Using the tongs or a long fork, lift up the spaghetti so it mixes easily with the egg mixture, which thickens but doesn’t scramble, and everything is coated.

STEP 11
Add extra pasta cooking water to keep it saucy (several tablespoons should do it). You don’t want it wet, just moist. Season with a little salt, if needed.

STEP 12
Use a long-pronged fork to twist the pasta on to the serving plate or bowl. Serve immediately with a little sprinkling of the remaining cheese and a grating of black pepper. If the dish does get a little dry before serving, splash in some more hot pasta water and the glossy sauciness will be revived.