bring on yer recipes then!

Ingredients: 3 tomatos, 8 or so smallish potatoes (about 3-4 inches long though you could use bigger ones and cut them up, 2 thin green chillies (birdseye prob), 3 large cloves garlic, paprika, salt, garam masala, curry powder, oil.

plus and a pyrex dish/baking dish with a lid, v important.

Parboil the potatos - takes about 5 minutes, and cut up quite large/in half. put in the dish. cut each tomato into six slices, also put in dish. chop up the chili and garlic together v finely. over the potatoes and tomatoes sprinkle: the garlic and chili, 1tsp paprika, 1tsp curry powder, 1 1/2 tsp garam masala. mix it all together so the veggies are coated and then drizzle oil on top and put salt on as if you were making roasties.

put lid on dish and bake for 45 mins or so on 150 degrees c, but after half an hour, take the lid off, baste the pots in the juices (the tomatoes will have disintegrated) and return to the oven without the lid so the potaties will crisp up and roast a bit.

i found this v tasty. it's quite hot though so you could try with less chili, or different spices (mine is havey on cinnamoney/clovey garam masala).

using as pasta sauce = also optional!

Katies potato curry thing IS very nice by the way.

Same amount of fresh/frozen peas as green lentils (about 100g per person). Cook the lentils in boiling water for ten minutes. Drain. Meantime fry the peas in a bit of olive oil with some spring onions for about 5 mins. Add to lentils - mix thoroughly then squeeze over the juice of a lime.

Num. (Goes well as a side dish to fish).

What?

pasta with blue cheese and cream and butternut squash (this is ace!). firstly you have to grate the flesh of a butternut squash. this is a bit of an arse but they aren't too expensive s it's best to just be v wasteful. you then cook this gently in a frying pan for about 10 mins in butter or olive oil until it has "melted" (yhou'll see what i mean) (oh and you can use pumpkin instead of squash if you want). then add single cream and chopped up blue cheese (dolcelatte (sp) is a good bet here), plus (of course) pine nuts and chopped parsley. stir this around until blue cheese has melted (prob a couple of minutes?) and then add to pasta. et voila! this is v rich btw.

pasta with parma ham/sundried tomatoes/cream: chop up some parma ham (i used 200g for 2 ppl last week but this was way more than we needed: prob 100g wd have done), and then lightly fry it for a minute or two in olive oil, before putting it aside. then gently fry some garlic/onion with some sundried tomatoes (ones from a jar quite a good bet here; bit under half a jar?) for a few mins. meanwhile in another pan gently heat single cream + ricotta/marscapone (prob 300ml between the 2 for 2 ppl?) until melted together, then add to sundried tomatoes and throw in parma ham + some grated parmesan and stir up a bit. then serve with pasta! alternatively (i did this last week and it was v nice) just stir a pot of extra thick dbl cream into sundried toms and heat through instead of messing rond with extra pan.

carbonnara (for one): beat together an egg and an egg yolk with a spoon of creme fraiche (i used to use 2 yolks+egg, or even once 5yolks+egg(!) but am healthier now). fry pancetta/bacon for a few mins until as you lke it. meanwhile cook linguine. then drain pasta, put back in pan, throw in pancetta + then egg mixture, and stir until egg had just about cooked but not quite (we're not looking for scrambled eggs here, but raw egg not too nice either). it shd cook from heat of pan but you can put it back on stove for a min (or less) if really neccesary. then serve with grated parmesan + black pepper.

(this is my fave supper ever prob and really does take 10mins from walking into kitchen to eating - 10 frantic mins, but still... also it is GRATE when drunk, and easy to cook when drunk, although i did smash an egg in my hand when cooking after 6 pints the other week)

umm more in a sec...

pasta with goats cheese + grilled peppers is pretty nice (and in no need of a recipe).

pasta with tomato and ginger: can't quite remember the details for this one, but i have them in an email from my mum at home so will post next week. basically pasta with a tomato + garlic sauce with grated root ginger too. lovely.

pasta with cabbage + pancetta: ditto. it sounds horrible but really is one of the nicest things ever.

pasta with sausages: i have two recipes for this. my one is: grill 2 sausages, chop them up, put in frying pan with a little olive oil + tin of tomatoes + galric + chilli flakes (lots!) and cook. lovely. or the one i nicked from a nigel slater book and can't quite remember but involves skinning the sausages + mixing with cream and frying. lovely.

ooh, aubergine + mozerella pasta is another fave! cut aubergine into small cubes and fry with garlic in olive oil for ages (well, 10 mins or so)(it absorbs loads of oil). then add tin of tomatoes and simmer for 5/10mins, then add cubed moz + pine nuts + basil and stir until cheese has meted. then put on pasta. lovely.

err that will do from for now i think. i do have some good non-pasta ones too, honest!

side q: what other grate food shops are there in the soho area?

2. Go down nearest chip shop and buy something.

3. Cheese on toast: put some cheese on some bread. Put it in the toaster. Toast it.*

*Martin Skidmore can take no responsibility for any toaster repairs necessitated by such action. It's best you turn your toaster on its side, actually.

interestingly over in Frank's APA we've all gone recipe mad, and many zines are taken up primarily with mouthwatering food recipe things rather than with inane discussion of music. thus continues the march of progress.

Anyway, Pasta with smoked salmon and broccoli (serves 4)

Finely chop an onion and gently fry it in a hefty skillet with generous amounts of butter and EV olive oil. When it's golden, add 20 or so smallish florets of broccoli and fry for another 5 minutes. Add a small pot of cream, and season to taste. Cook for a couple of minutes. Then add chopped smoked salmon (trimmings are cheaper and ideal - I can't remember the size of the pack, maybe 210 grams or so) and cook for another 2 minutes. Serve over 400-500 grams of al dente (natch) pasta. Heavenly, I promise.

Yes it's a really good idea honestly and won't completely fuck your toaster up or anything, and if you position your plate correctly the pieces of cheese on toast will pop out right into position, saving the effort of lifting and carrying them.

I would be very interested in any alternate recipes for this sauce.

heat olive oil, add three cloves of garlic, fry for 30 seconds, add a good splash of red wine and cook until 50% of the wine has evaporated, then add a jar of passata and simmer very lightly for 10 minutes. Add a pinch of brown sugar, salt pepper and grated parmesan and simmer for another 10 mins, until sauce has thickened slightly and the sharp taste of the passata has lessened. Add some chopped cilantro and serve on pasta.

oh how i sympathise with you there! i have never heard of those things you mention apart from passata. what are they? i guess you could use (gasp) tinned tomatoes, or a mixture of tinned toms and passata, but make sure they're PREMIUM or plum and preferably organic - no tescos economy brands!

salsina is a mush of roughly chopped tomatoes with seeds etc still there - it's thicker and a bit more sour tasting

sugocasa may be the same as salsina, I only put it in to look good.

sounds just like tinned chopped tomatoes! grrr rip-off Britain ect ect... i love tomatoes.

And can I just say that putting a toaster on its side to make cheese on toast is about the WRONGEST of WRONG things EVER! Rediscover the joy of the grill, go on.

I have 1+ portobello sliced into strips, 8 oz of baby bellas, and a small had of pesto sauce that I just opened and which I want to finish before it should. Preferably I'd avoid pasta, though I'm not adamant about it (noodles would be ok), but it should definitely be vegetarian. Any ideas? Can I do some kind of stir fry?

Oh and I already made a mushroom, pepper, and pesto pizza that was great, but am looking for variety to use up the rest of my supplies.

Risotto.