You will need:

• 200g risotto rice
• a large mug full of frozen peas
• half a large onion or 1 small onion
• 1 large clove of garlic
• 1 stick of celery
• 1 glass of dry white Vermouth
• optional: a thimbleful of pastis / Pernod
• optional: a homeopathic quantity of shrimp paste
• a large mug full of prawns – I used frozen cooked ones, just use whatever your budget allows
• a handful of fresh mint leaves, washed
• a few dried porcini mushrooms
• 1 Sainsbury’s Basics chicken stock cube (or veg stock if you must)
• parmesan cheese
• salt, pepper, olive oil, water
• half a lemon

This is what you do:

In a small saucepan, simmer the stock cube, frozen peas, porcini, shrimp paste (and prawns if they are frozen) with half a litre or so of water. Chop half the mint and add to the stock.

Finely chop the onion, garlic and celery. In a large frying pan with a lid, fry in olive oil on a low heat until soft & translucent.

Chuck in the risotto rice and turn the heat up. When the rice is starting to go translucent, but before it burns, throw in the vermouth. Inhale deeply. Life doesn’t get better than this.

Add the pastis at this point if you have some. Turn the heat down and stir. You’ve gotta keep stirring. As the liquid gets incorporated, add stock a ladleful at a time. If a few peas, mushrooms or prawns get in, no matter. Keep stirring. I know the phone’s ringing. Ignore it. Keep stirring.

When you run out of stock and added all the prawns & peas, taste the risotto. Adjust seasoning with some sea salt and plenty of pepper. If the rice isn’t cooked, add a bit of boiling water from the kettle. Keep stirring. You want the rice and celery to have a little bit of crunch left.

When it’s cooked, add big shavings of parmesan cheese using a vegetable peeler. Stir. Put the lid on and leave for 5 minutes.

Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice and the rest of the mint leaves, whilst listening to fip and drinking cold white wine. Then watch Jules et Jim.

Fry some basmati rice in some vegetable oil. Add some garlic, a bit of onion if you like, and a teaspoon of cumin and cook for a minute or two. Then add water or chicken stock – at least twice the volume of liquid compared to the rice, some chopped red pepper or chillis and tomatoes if you like – I squeeze is a slug of tomato ketchup at this point. Cover and simmer gently until cooked.

This is adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi’s vegetable paella recipe, using what we had to hand. It was a big hit. Well, I call anything the children eat 4 portions of a hit, especially as William decided picking the vegetables out was too much bother, and it was so tasty, so he just ate the lot. Well, not the prawns, but I’m not complaining.

Served 2 adults and 3 children.

• Olive oil
• Large onion, finely chopped
• 1 or 2 long red peppers cut into long, thin slices
• 1 fennel bulb, sliced
• 4 chopped garlic cloves
• 4 bay leaves
• half teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• half teaspoon cayenne pepper (I overdid this, which may have been the secret of its success).
• some saffron threads
• 400g or 450g rice – I used risotto rice
• 200ml sherry
• 500ml or more of stock – I used chicken stock
• salt and pepper
• a few handfuls of frozen peas
• 23 mini plum tomatoes, halved (should have been 24, but I went with 23… again maybe the secret of its success…)
• small tin of pitted black olives
• packet of prawns
• parsley

Heat the oil in a big, flat pan and gently fry the onion for 5 minutes.
Add the peppers and fennel, fry for 6 more minutes on a medium heat.
Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add the spices (aside from the saffron) and the rice and cook on a medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Chuck in the sherry and the saffron. Inhale deeply.
Boil for a minute and add the stock and a good pinch of Maldon sea salt.
Turn the heat right down and simmer for 20 minutes, adding extra water or stock if needed. During this time add the olives, prawns, peas and tomatoes. When cooked chuck some parsley on top.

• 450g broad beans, shelled. Peel the skins off the bigger beans.
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 glass Noilly Prat vermouth
• 2 or 3 big fat cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 500g risotto rice
• 1.7 litres of hot chicken stock (or vegetable stock if you prefer but I’m afraid this really does taste a squillion times better with chicken stock). Best if you make your own chicken stock, it’s really easy and makes you feel good. I’ll post my highly scientific method soon.
• 1 tablespoon fresh mint
• Sea salt and pepper
• Fresh parmesan shavings

Gently heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan. Cook the onion until it has softened but do not let it brown. Add broad beans and the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in the rice and continue to cook until the grains have become translucent and glossy. Throw in the glass of Noilly Prat and inhale deeply. Life doesn’t get better than this.

Turn the heat down and add the stock, one ladle at a time. All the liquid must be absorbed before adding more. Stir all of the time. This will take no less than 20–25 minutes. Add half the mint with the last ladle of liquid. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Take the pan off the heat, cover and leave of stand. Serve hot on warmed plates and sprinkle with the last of the mint and shavings of Parmesan.

- Smoked haddock (preferably undyed)
- milk
- Onions
- Turmeric
- Curry powder (such as Garam Masala)
- lemon juice
- Basmati rice
- eggs

Put the basmati rice on to cook, and chuck an egg in the pan, one for each person. Poach the haddock in some milk (or milky water).

Fry the onion with the turmeric and curry powder, adding the juice of at least one lemon when it’s really sizzling. This should smell great. When the rice and the haddock are cooked, add them to the frying pan, stirring as you go. Check seasoning, chop the eggs and add them, serve. Tastes great with George Watkins’ Mushroom Ketchup.