Rachel Allen - Entertaining at Home

To peel root ginger, try using the tip of a teaspoon rather than a peeler; this is not only easier, but you also remove less of the ginger flesh in the process.

Celeriac has a surprisingly subtle celery-like flavour considering its aggressively gnarled appearance. The hazelnuts in this soup provide a gorgeous crunchy contrast to the smooth creamy finish.

SERVES 6 VEGETARIAN

25g (1oz) butter

1 onion, peeled and chopped

1 potato, peeled and chopped

1 celeriac, peeled and chopped

Salt and ground black pepper

About 900ml (1 pint 12fl oz) vegetable stock

75ml (3fl oz) single or regular cream

Handful of chopped mixed herbs

To serve

Handful of roasted, peeled (see Rachel’s tip below) and roughly chopped hazelnuts

2–3 tbsp chopped parsley

1 Melt the butter in a large saucepan on a low–medium heat, add the chopped onion, potato and celeriac and season with salt and pepper. Place a butter wrapper or piece of greaseproof paper on top, cover with a lid, reduce the heat to low and cook for 7–8 minutes, stirring regularly.

2 Pour in the stock, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for a further 10 minutes or until the vegetables are completely soft. Add the cream and the chopped herbs and blend the soup in a blender or using a hand-held blender until it is smooth and velvety. Taste for seasoning.

3 To serve, ladle into warmed bowls and sprinkle with the roasted hazelnuts and parsley.

To roast and peel hazelnuts, preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F), Gas mark 6. Place the hazelnuts on a baking tray and cook for about 10 minutes or until their skins have darkened, then remove from the oven. To remove the skins, wrap the nuts in a clean tea towel while they are still warm (I find this tends to slightly stain the tea towel, so don’t use your favourite!) and rub together. The skins should come off easily.

This is the best ever beans on toast that you can imagine. But there’s no tomato sauce here, just lots of delicious sweet pungent garlic, fresh lemon juice and lashings of chopped parsley. Serve on your favourite kind of toast.

SERVES 6 VEGETARIAN

400g (14oz) dried haricot or cannellini beans

1 bay leaf

8 large cloves of garlic, peeled

6 slices of bread

Butter, for spreading

6 tbsp chopped parsley

2 tbsp lemon juice

4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

Salt and ground black pepper

Lemon wedges, to serve

1 Soak the beans overnight in enough cold water to cover by several centimetres. Drain the beans and place in a large saucepan filled with fresh cold water. Add the bay leaf and garlic and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer for 1–2 hours or until very soft, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface.

2 Just as the beans have finished cooking, toast the bread, spread with butter and place on individual plates.

3 Meanwhile, drain most of the liquid from the beans, leaving a few tablespoons with the beans in the pan. Take out one-third of the beans and the garlic and mash together to form a rough paste.

4 Discard the bay leaf and stir the paste into the cooked beans, along with the parsley, lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and serve on the slices of hot buttered toast with some extra oil drizzled over and lemon wedges.

If you are being spontaneous and want to make this immediately, instead of the dried beans you could use 3 × 400g tins of cooked haricot or cannellini beans. Drain and rinse the beans, then place in the saucepan with the bay leaf and garlic, peeled and crushed, and simmer on a low-medium heat for about 5–10 minutes (or until the beans are soft enough to mash), then proceed as above.

This fish pie is so easy to make. You don’t need to mash the potatoes and pipe them over the top as they are layered into the pie. Leeks and mushrooms are a classic combination, but the fairly unusual inclusion of cucumber gives this pie a lovely set of textures.

SERVES 6

8 potatoes (about 1.2kg/2lb 10oz) potatoes, unpeeled

Salt and ground black pepper

50g (2oz) butter

500g (1lb 2oz) button mushrooms, sliced

600g (1lb 5oz) round white fish, such as haddock, pollack, cod or hake, cut into 6 portions

½ cucumber (about 200g/7oz), peeled (optional) and cut into 1cm (½in) cubes

250g (9oz) trimmed and finely sliced leeks

275ml (9½fl oz) single or regular cream

250g (9oz) Gruyère cheese, grated

30 × 20cm (12 × 8in) pie dish or 6 individual dishes about 10cm (4in) in diameter

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4.

2 Fill a large saucepan with enough water to cover the potatoes, add 1 teaspoon of salt and bring to the boil. Add the potatoes and cook for about 10 minutes or until half cooked (but not soft all the way through). Drain and allow to cool, then peel and cut into slices 5mm (¼in) thick.

3 Meanwhile, set a large frying pan on a high heat and add the butter. When it melts and starts to foam, add the sliced mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, for 3–4 minutes or until lightly golden.

4 Place half of the potatoes in a layer in the single pie dish or individual dishes, followed by a layer of the sautéed mushrooms then the fish (one portion per dish if using individual dishes). Add the cucumber and leeks, season with salt and pepper, then top with a final layer of potato slices, and season again with salt and pepper.

5 Divide the cream between each dish, or if making a large pie then pour all the cream in the one dish — it should come about halfway up the layered ingredients. Finally, sprinkle each dish (or the single large dish) with the grated cheese.

6 Bake in the oven for 15–20 minutes for individual pies or 20–30 minutes for a single large one, until the top is golden and bubbling, by which point the fish should be cooked all the way through. Serve hot and bubbling.

Rich and velvety, this simple dish is easy to throw together, yet with the avocado and smoked salmon it retains a degree of luxury. It should be served immediately as the avocado will quickly brown.

SERVES 6

600g (1lb 5oz) dried tagliatelle

25g (1oz) butter

50ml (2fl oz) olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed or finely grated

3 tbsp chopped herbs, such as chives, tarragon or basil

300g (11oz) smoked salmon, cut into 1cm (½in) pieces

Salt and ground black pepper

1 tbsp cream cheese

2 ripe avocados, peeled, stones removed and flesh diced

Juice of ½ lemon

1 Cook the tagliatelle following the instructions on the packet.

2 While the pasta is cooking, place a saucepan on a medium heat and add the butter and olive oil. When the butter has melted, add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes, then add the herbs and smoked salmon, season with salt and pepper and cook for a further minute.

3 Remove from the heat and stir in the cream cheese, followed by the diced avocado. Drain the pasta and toss with the smoked salmon mixture, squeeze over the lemon juice, taste for seasoning and serve immediately.