Come summer I become a sucker for all things “dip”.

To be fair, I’m a sucker for all things “dip” pretty much all year round and I have been ever since I discovered a food processor in the recesses of a cupboard in one of the many flats I have rented over the years.

I mean, you have people coming over for dinner/a barbeque/general “doing nothing” and you need to prepare nibbles to welcome them, so what better than just putting a few selected ingredients in one place, whiz them together and then dip warm pitta strips into it?

Exactly my point.

This particular one has a lovely colour and freshness deign of the barbeque season.

• 200g broadbeans cooked
• leaves of 5 fresh mint sprigs
• 1 tbsp tahini
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp lemon rind
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt to taste

Put all the ingredients in thee food processor/blender.
Press the button.
Whiz for 3-4 minutes.
Put in a bowl.
Dip in.

One of the many things I’ve wanted to bring back from a holiday in Marrakesh is their breakfasts. For us it consisted of strong coffee, a boiled egg, bread, fresh fig jam, honey and a delicious soft and tender pancake called a beghrir.

Coming up with an authentic tasting recipe has resulted in a lot of trial and error. Some wouldn’t rise, some would taste too yeasty, or they’d stick to the pan. Finally though I’ve cracked it, so I give you one of the most delicious pancakes you will ever eat. Perfect with a little melted butter and runny honey drizzled on top!

Serves 2 \ Makes 6

• 350ml hot tap water
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 ½ tsp fast action dried yeast
• 4oz ground semolina flour
• 2oz plain or self raising flour
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking powder
• vegetable or sunflower oil for cooking

Pour the hot water into a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar and stir before sprinkling the yeast on top. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave in a warm place for 20-30 minutes.

Check on the yeast, which should now be slightly frothy on top of the water. If it isn’t try and find a warmer place and leave it for a little longer.

Combine the semolina, flour, salt and baking powder and slowly whisk it into the yeasty water. Continue to whisk until all the lumps are gone.

Cover the bowl with a tea towel and return to the warm spot for a further 20-30 minutes.

Place a small non stick frying pan on a medium heat. Pour in a little oil and wipe away any excess with some kitchen roll. The batter should have risen and be much thicker. Give it a good stir and ladle in enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Tilt the pan to ensure an even spread.

Once all the bubbles on top of the beghrir have burst and the batter is cooked, it’s ready! You can either flip it over and cook on the other side for a minute, or serve.

Tip: I make them to order, but if you want to cook them all at once, keep them warm on a plate in the oven. It’s a good idea to oil the pan after every pancake to stop them from sticking.

Lentil & basil savoury pate is made from brown lentils and despite it looking somewhat bland, it screams with flavour. I wanted to share this to dispel that myth of lentils being boring veggie food for ageing hippies.

It is easy to make and full of protein and fibre. Absolutely fab on homemade crusty bread or as a sandwich filler.

I have never replicated a ratatouille as they are all different depending on the proportions of what vegetables are available. If I am in a hurry and vegetables are abundant I will saute the onions and garlic and then put all the prepared vegetables in a pot and simmer slowly until the ingredients have cooked and the flavours have mingled.

But if I have time I prefer to use a more classical method of preparation that involves slicing and salting the aubergines and courgettes before frying in olive oil and then combining together. This produces a lush succulent dish that can be enjoyed hot or cold and merits a crusty baguette to mop up the juices.

Serves 10

• 3 aubergines, cut into ½ inch slices
• 1 ½ courgettes, cut into ½ inch slices
• 2 red onions, finely sliced
• 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• ¾ red pepper, sliced
• 3-4 tbs olive oil
• 1lb tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 tsp Herbs de Provence, or fresh rosemary, thyme and oregano
• salt and pepper
• tomato puree is an optional extra that thickens the sauce

Place the aubergine and courgette in a large bowl and sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of salt, stir and transfer to a colander. Allow to stand for 30 minutes.

Fry off the onion in a small amount of olive oil for about 4 minutes until soft but not coloured. Add the garlic and cook together for a minute. Transfer into a large pan, cast iron is perfect. Add the red pepper.

Rinse the aubergines and courgettes and dry with a tea towel or kitchen roll. In small batches fry off the aubergines, adding additional olive oil as it is soaked up. Allow them to colour but only turn once (turning more frequently makes the aubergine give up the oil). Next fry the courgettes.

Add the aubergine and courgettes to the pan with the onions, sprinke over the herbs and add the tomatoes. Simmer with the lid on for 10 minutes, then take the lid off and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes to drive off excess juices. Stir occasionally to stop burning on the bottom.

Taste and season before serving hot, reheated or cold. Any spare can be frozen!

Tip: Salting inevitably tastes the dish even after rinsing so wait until the sauce had thickened before adjusting the seasoning.

Yesterday, with an hour to go before lunch, I looked in the fridge to see what was available. After buying in bulk for Tagliatelle with Roast Vegetables last week there remained an aubergine, a courgette and a half of red pepper. I also had some rubbed up short pastry.

There was enough to create a memorable flan, which we ate straight from the oven and have finished cold today. I topped ours with Goats Cheese but with slight adjustments this could be a vegan recipe; it is definitely a lovely vegetarian mix of colours, flavours and textures.

Serves 4

Filling

• 1 onion, finely sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 aubergine, diagonally sliced
• 1 courgette, diagonally sliced
• ½ red pepper, sliced
• ½ tsp herbs de Provence
• Salt and pepper
• 2 – 3 tbs olive oil
• goats cheese (unless cooking Vegan version)

Short crust pastry for an 8 – 9” flan case

• 4oz plain flour
• 4oz wholemeal flour
• 2oz butter
• 2oz white fat or lard
• A pinch of salt
• 8 tsp cold water

Turn the oven on to 200ºc and pre-heat a large frying pan or wok.

Fry the onions in the oil for 5 minutes until golden before reducing the heat. Add the garlic and fry for a futher minute.

Add the remaining vegetables to the frying pan, plus a little extra olive oil, if necessary, to lightly coat the vegetables. Add the herbs and seasoning. Sauté gently whilst you make the pastry.

To make the pastry rub the butter and fat into the flour until it has the texture of fine breadcrumbs. Add the water and fold in with a knife. Make into a ball and roll out into a circle (I put the flan tin over the pastry and roll it out to allow for the base and sides).

Place in a greased tin, and shave off any excess and fill in any missing places. Pinch the pastry, index finger between finger and thumb, to provide an attractive edge. Crumple up some aluminium foil and line the tin and hold the pastry down with dried beans or peas. (I have a bottle of beans kept solely for “baking blind.”)

Cook at 200°C for 20 minutes and then remove the foil and beans. Reduce the heat to 190°C and cook for 5 – 10 minutes more.

When the case is dry and golden fill it with the vegetables and top with slices of goats cheese, return to the oven for 5 – 10 minutes to melt the cheese. Serve immediately.

Tip 1. At this time of the year (January) garlic is starting to shoot and the green shoots can be bitter, I remove them before chopping.

Tip 2. Rubbed up pastry can be very useful, as it keeps for a couple of days. In fact mine had been in the fridge for a week! The amount of water can be easily calculated: weigh the crumbed pastry divide weight (in ounces) by 3 and multiply by 2 to give the number of teaspoons of cold water required. It may need a little more but try to add the minimum so that the pastry rolls easily whilst maximizing the shortness of the eating quality.

In France this is called the lovely sounding Potage au Potiron, but we’ll just call it Pumpkin soup! We harvested only one potiron, but with it weighing 16lbs I decided to use just a quarter of it. If you can’t get your hands on pumpkin I think you could successfully replace with carrots. The smell when cooking this is wonderful.

This is one of my favourite ways of cooking red cabbage. It is an amalgamation of two recipes from “The Joy of Cooking”, an American cookery bible that gives recipes for cooking everything and anything, though I draw the line at skinning and cooking a squirrel!

The colour enhances any main course but it goes particularly well with roasts and can be cooked, at the same time, in a casserole on the bottom shelf. It is very temperature tolerant and can even be gently simmered on top of the stove, providing you are there to stir it occasionally. As red cabbages can be large you may have more than you need; any leftover freezes well and can easily be reheated in a microwave.

Comes January everyone is talking about New Year resolutions that involve dieting, detoxing, healthier eating habits. A lot of unnecessary deprivation in my opinion.

Instead I have decided to be more experimental and try out as many new ingredients as I can and try to eat as seasonally as possible.

So it was with baited breath that I concocted this dish a couple of evenings ago. The curly kale represents the season and the squash the new and it’s perfect to take to work in your lunchbox as it works reheated too.

Believe it or not, potatoes can be sexy and here’s a great Swedish recipe to prove it!

Hasselback potatoes are one of those dishes that look like they’ve taken a long time but in reality you could have done it with your eyes closed.  The end result adds a bit of sparkle to the Christmas/dinner table. They look so tasty and the thyme, garlic, and avocado oil combination is melt in your mouth magic.

Ok, so the avocado oil was my idea…well and the thyme and garlic …..but there are so many variations of this recipe floating around that I’m sure the Swedes won’t mind my changes! I had this with sautéed salmon but again you can eat it with pretty much whatever you want.

Enjoy and pop over to my blog for more delicious recipes at thecuriousbaker.wordpress.com!

I cooked mine in the oven but when I took them out, they weren’t as soft as I wanted them to be so you might want to parboil them for about 15 minutes or till they are just cooked before slicing.

Balancing the quantity of squash with the other ingredients I wished to experiment with I ended up with a considerable amount of filling. 1/3rd of it went into this pie. So I also made a family version that filled a 9″ steel bowl and would serve at least 8. As a result I made two different hot water crusts and this particular recipe was easier to mould. The crust quantity below is for this pie.

Hot water pastry requires long baking, and with this in mind I took the chance that the squash and potatoes would be steamed inside the pastry. Wanting to avoid too much moisture I precooked the aubergine and courgette.

Two of us sat down for lunch and have almost demolished my first effort, it was colourful, succulent and tasty but we think it could be improved by adding an ingredient with crunch as the cashew nuts could be clearly seen but lacked texture. Bearing all this in mind I have posted a follow up recipe that I think may remedy this deficiency and use up the spare filling.