Place the fruit in a bowl, sprinkle over the icing sugar, lemon juice and elderflower cordial. Stir and leave to macerate for 1 hr.
Whisk the Greek yoghurt and crème fraîche together with the vanilla extract if using.
Mix the fruits and yoghurt mixture together and spoon into 6 serving dishes or glasses.
Serve topped with the almonds and some fresh fruit
Notes:
If you don’t have ripe fresh fruits, use frozen fruits from the supermarket.
Alternatively, try a passion fruit fool. Sieve the pulp of 2 passion fruits and whizz the juice with ½ a ripe mango. Mix with the yoghurt & crème fraîche mixture and spoon into the serving glasses and top with the passion fruit seeds.
Minestrone soup is a joy to make and although there are recipes, the beauty and fun part is that you can make it up as you go along using whichever vegetables you have to hand. The most important thing is to use a good olive oil and we always use Filippo Berio for perfect results.
Ingredients:
6 rashers streaky bacon, cooked
1 onion, finely chopped
2 celery stick, finely chopped
2 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 large courgette, chopped
2 large mushrooms, chopped
1 tsp dried basil or herbs of your choice
1 400g tin cannellini beans
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato purée
1.2 litre vegetable stock
Filippo Berio Olive oil
Fresh basil
Step by step:
Chop the bacon and fry until slightly crispy.
Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the fresh vegetables. For a thicker soup, stir through 2 tbsp of plain flour
Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree and vegetable stock, bring to the boil and simmer until vegetables are cooked to your liking.
Add some dried basil
Add the cannellini beans without their liquid and cook for another 5 minutes
Serve piping hot with a good drizzle of olive oil and chopped basil
Notes: We like the vegetables with crunch, hence the short cooking times. If you prefer the vegetables softer just cook a little bit longer.
We haven’t used garlic or extra greens in this soup, but kale and cavolo nero go well added towards the end of cooking.
We also drained the cannellini beans as their liquid can be salty
Did you know, you can buy Filippo Berio products on line. Check out their Special Offers HERE
Packed with vitamins, this is the ideal way to get your 5 a day in one delicious soup.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 sticks celery, thinly sliced
2 carrot, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tin tomatoes
1 tin cannellini beans
1 vegetable stock cube
100g pasta
large mug of peas or petit pois
fresh basil or parsley
4 tbsp grated parmesan
Quick and easy – only one pan to wash up!
Step by step:
Put 1 tsp olive oil in your pan, add the vegetables and cook for about 10 minutes. Rinse the cannellini beans and add them to the pan with the flour. Stir through well while you add the tomatoes.
Rinse the tomato can twice adding the water to the soup. Crumble in the stock cube and add the pasta. Simmer until all the vegetables are softened, then add your peas for the final few minutes.
Serve with a swirl of extra virgin olive oil and a good helping of chopped basil or parsley.
Notes:
We use Kallo® organic vegetable stock cubes and a splash or two of Maggi® seasoning.
£1.50 for 8 cubes – Waitrose Special Offer
£1.40 from Asda
Did you know, you can buy Filippo Berio products on line. Check out their Special Offers HERE
Peas, pesto and pasta with spinach and basil make this a tasty, colourful vegetarian dish. We have added some chopped bacon to the meat eaters portions.
Ingredients:
200g tagliatelle, or pasta of your choice
4 rashers streaky bacon
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup of peas
50g pesto sauce
100ml single cream
1/2 bag baby spinach
handful fresh basil
2 tbsp parmesan
Step by step:
Step 1
Cook your pasta in a pan of well salted boiling water and grill or pan fry the streaky bacon.
Step 2
Meanwhile, add the olive oil to a sauté pan and fry off the onion until translucent. Add the peas and stir through the pesto sauce, add the cream, stir and cook until the peas are cooked. Now add and stir through the spinach.
Step 3
Drain off your pasta and add it to the sauce. Serve with the chopped bacon for meat eaters, plenty of chopped basil, and grated parmesan.
A quick, easy, and delicious salad with homemade vinaigrette.
Maille Wholegrain Mustard £2.75 – Sainsbury’s
Ingredients:
For your vinaigrette
125ml extra-virgin olive
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, 1 chopped or pressed
sea salt and black pepper
For your salad:
1 garlic clove, halved (optional)
1 bag mixed salad leaves
1 bag baby spinach
1 large ripe avocado, peeled and chopped
big handful of black grapes, halved
1/2 block feta (we used M&S Greek Feta)
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 slices streaky bacon, chopped
Step by step:
Step 1
Make your vinaigrette. Pour the extra-virgin olive oil into a glass jug or jar. Add the white wine vinegar and mustard.
Add the garlic and whisk it all together in the jug, or shake it in the jar.
Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.
The vinaigrette will keep in the fridge for a week.
Step 2
Make the salad. Take a large salad bowl and wipe the sides with the halved garlic clove. Tip in the salad leaves and baby spinach and toss the leaves so they pick up a hint of the garlic.
Add the avocado, grapes and feta cheese.
Meanwhile cook your bacon so it’s nice and crispy. Set it aside on kitchen towel.
Top the salad with the chopped bacon and serve with a drizzle of oil and your own vinaigrette.
M&S Feta Cheese £1.80
Notes:
Experiment with the dressing. Try red wine vinegar which will give a stronger flavour. Balsamic vinegar make a sweeter dressing and goes well with salads containing fruit.
The old classic of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and chopped garlic with crusty bread for mopping up is hard to beat.
Just add radish, cucumber and celery to the salad if you want extra crunch
Inspired by the flavours of the famous Greek pie, this pasta is quick and easy to make. The spinach and feta are a great combination, simply double or quadruple the quantities of ingredients to feed more than 1 person.
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the pack instructions. After 5 minutes, heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the garlic and salad onions over a low-medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring well. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, pop the lid on the pan.
Step 2
Stir in the soft cheese, basil and the lemon zest and juice. Gently heat through until piping hot and season well with black pepper.
Step 3
Add the pasta to the creamy spinach mixture. Spoon into a shallow bowl and crumble over the feta cheese to serve
This soup is made with leftover mushroom and celery pasta and has a fabulous flavour after being steeped in the pasta sauce.
Take the leftover mushroom and celery pasta, whizz it in a blender or, 10 seconds in a thermomix. Be careful not to over blend, you want to retain a chunky texture. Simply add a few chopped boiled potatoes and slices of chopped ham if you like.
1 x 250g jar Filippo Berio grilled vegetable pasta sauce
parmesan cheese
fresh parsley
Have your ingredients ready
Step by step:
Step 1
Add the olive oil to a pan and fry off the onions, celery, leeks and mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes. Meanwhile put your pasta in a pan of boiling, salted water and cook according the pack instructions.
Add 2 tbsp water to the vegetables and continue cooking for another 5 minutes, stirring regularly so they don’t stick.
Step 2
Add the pasta sauce, stir thoroughly and cook for another 5 minutes. Add extra water if you want to thin the sauce.
Step 3
When the celery is softening, add the olives and parsley and cook for another minute or so.
To serve
Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and stir through well. Serve in one big preheated bowl for everyone to dive into, or individual bowls.
Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil £8.60 / 500ml
Add a good drizzle of olive oil over the pasta and have a bowl of parmesan on the table with some crusty bread for mopping up the delicious sauce.
Sainsbury’s Parmigiano Reggiano £3.40 / 200g
Notes:
The quantities in the recipe here are ideal for 4 people. If there is only 2 of you, keep the leftover pasta, it makes a wonderful soup and you get two meals for £5.
Filippo Berio pasta sauce is gluten and lactose free. Made using only natural ingredients with no artificial flavourings or preservatives, the sauce has a traditional Italian flavour and tastes just like homemade.
We used Tilda Jasmine rice from Tesco 250g / 95p. Chestnut mushrooms at Tesco or LIDL 69p 300g punnet 06/10/22
Ingredients:
2 spring onions, halved and sliced lengthways
100g savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
250g chestnut mushrooms, halved
2 tbsp olive oil
50g mint leaves
200g jasmine rice
For the dressing:
2 tbsp chilli oil
2 tbsp runny honey
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp teryaki sauce
Filippo Berio chilli oil £3, Lee Kum Kee 85p, and Amoy light soy sauce £1 with Tesco clubcard
Step by step:
Cook the rice as per the packet instructions.
Meanwhile heat 2 tbsp oil in a large deep non stick frying pan (or wok) over a high heat, and stir fry until the vegetables are just tender (approx 5 mins). Stir occasionally to prevent them sticking.
When the vegetables are just starting to brown, add the mint leaves. Whisk the dressing ingredients together or shake them in a clean, sealed jam jar.
Serve on a bed of rice or mixed through the rice, as you prefer. Serve with the dressing drizzled over or served in a small jug.
Use dried porcini mushrooms to make this flavoursome soup. Remember to strain them before adding them to the soup as they can be gritty. You will need a blender and the Braun range of stick blenders start at just £20.
Ingredients:
1 handful of dried porcini mushroom
1 medium size onion, finely chopped
300g chestnut mushrooms, chopped
1 vegetable stock cube
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp single cream
Chopped parsley
Have all you ingredients ready
Step by step:
Soak the porcini mushrooms in hot water
Place the onion in the pan with the oil and sauté for 3 mins
Add the chopped chestnut mushrooms and sauté for about 5 mins. Stir occasionally so they don’t stick
Add 1 litre of hot stock
Add your (strained) porcini mushrooms and cook for another 10-15 mins
Blend the mushrooms and then add your cream and optional porcini liquid
Check the seasoning
Serve in hot bowls, with chopped parsley
Tips:
When you strain the porcini mushrooms, set aside the liquid, so you can add that later if you like a slightly stronger, mushroomy flavour
Add two thirds of packet rice during the last 5 mins of cooking time for a thicker, crunchier soup
HEAL 