Masterclass: Make Your Home Cooking Easier

75g (3oz) French beans, topped and tailed and cut into 4 pieces

100g (3½oz) frozen peas

Salt and black pepper

1 handful of basil leaves, to garnish

FOR THE PISTOU

60g (2½oz) fresh basil leaves

4 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 skinned, deseeded and chopped tomato (reserved from step 5)

75g (3oz) grated Parmesan cheese

135ml (4½fl oz) extra-virgin olive oil

1. Score a cross in the bottom of each tomato, place in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 45 seconds, then drain and peel off the skin. Cut the tomatoes into quarters, remove the seeds and chop the flesh. Blanch the broad beans for 2–3 minutes in boiling water, then refresh in cold water and peel off the skins.

2. Place a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat, add the olive oil and all the chopped and diced vegetables except the tomatoes and fry, without browning, for 4–5 minutes.

3. Add the haricot beans, fill with enough water to cover, and bring to the boil.

4. Meanwhile, wrap the spaghetti in a clean tea towel and crush it on the edge of a worktop, pressing it backwards and forwards to break it into small pieces, then add these to the soup.

5. Add all but one of the chopped tomatoes (reserving this last one for the pistou), bring back up to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the pasta is cooked. After 10–11 minutes, add the French beans, broad beans and peas. (It’s best to add these at the end of cooking in order to preserve their fresh colour.)

6. While the soup is cooking, place all the pistou ingredients in a blender and purée to a paste.

7. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the pistou. Season well with salt and pepper and serve straight away.

CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP WITH ROASTED VINE TOMATOES (#ulink_8514851a-c347-5955-ad0b-ed9013af1c2e)

It was tomatoes that got me interested in food in the first place; as a kid, the smell of them growing in my grandad’s greenhouse intoxicated me. I still love them so much and the first thing I did when I last moved house was to build my own greenhouse in which to grow them. Every time I open the door the smell sends me back 30 years. For this soup, the tomatoes must be the best you can get, and vine tomatoes are ideal because they are usually the freshest.

SERVES 4

VEGETARIAN

1.5kg (3lb 4oz) vine tomatoes

100g (3½oz) butter

½ large onion, peeled and chopped

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

1 stick of celery, trimmed and chopped

2 tbsp tomato ketchup

2 tbsp tomato purée

1 sprig of thyme

200ml (7fl oz) double cream, plus extra to serve (optional)

Salt and black pepper

FOR THE ROASTED VINE TOMATOES

4 bunches of 3–4 small vine tomatoes

2–3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F), Gas 6.

2. Remove the 1.5kg (3lb 4oz) of tomatoes from the vines and chop each tomato into 6, keeping the vines.

3. Melt half the butter in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat, then add the onion, tomatoes, garlic and celery. Add the ketchup and tomato purée, cover with a lid and bring to the boil.

4. Strip the thyme leaves from the stalks and add the leaves to the pan, reduce the heat to a simmer, then place the vines from the tomatoes on the top, cover with the lid and simmer for 15 minutes. (Be careful not to let it boil, as the vegetables may catch on the bottom of the pan.)

5. Meanwhile, place the 4 bunches of small vine tomatoes (keeping them on the vines) on a baking tray, drizzle with the olive oil and the vinegar, season with salt and pepper and roast in the oven for 5–6 minutes or until softened.

6. Remove the lid from the saucepan, discard the vines and pour in the cream. Remove from the heat, transfer to a blender and pulse until smooth, then pass though a sieve to remove the tomato seeds. Pour the soup back into the pan and reheat gently, trying not to let it boil, then season well with salt and pepper.

7. Serve the soup with a bunch of roasted vine tomatoes in the bottom of each bowl and, if you like, a spoonful of cream swirled on top of the soup.

MUSHROOM SOUP WITH CORIANDER CRESS (#ulink_71326911-dec0-52d6-a4d5-7c8656f98121)

I remember going mushroom picking in the New Forest when I was a junior chef. The head chef said it was an inspiring exercise – looking back now, I can see his point, but I also reckon it was cheap forced labour! Fast forward 20 years however, and I’m still doing it. Most recently I went with Nick Nairn up in Scotland. Rowing across the loch on our way to find mushrooms, neither of us exactly looked like Captain Jack Sparrow, but the treasure we came back with was much better than pirate gold – delicious fresh wild mushrooms with a great intense flavour.

SERVES 4

1kg (2lb 3oz) field mushrooms

100ml (3½fl oz) rapeseed oil

2 large shallots, peeled and chopped

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

Juice of ½ lemon