Rachel Allen - Entertaining at Home

5 Put the dish in a bain-marie (a roasting tin filled with just enough boiled water to come halfway up the side of the dish). Place in the oven and bake for about 1 hour until the top is golden and the centre set.

This can be prepared in advance and left in the fridge overnight, uncooked. If making it this way, don’t heat up the milk and cream but add them cold to the whisked eggs and sugar.

Citrus honeyed fruit

Skirt steak with spicy potatoes

Lazy weekend Bloody Mary

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Spinach soup with rosemary oil

Venison sausage with celeriac purée

Apple snow with shortbread biscuits

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Clams marinara

Penne with asparagus and Parma ham

Almond meringue with apricot purée

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Salade Niçoise

Oven-baked courgette tortilla

Polenta, orange and almond cake

Sometimes you just want to get together with your friends for no reason in particular. It might be a spontaneous thought, and next thing you know you’re on the phone to all your friends asking if they can come over. Poker night? Movie night? Just because it’s Friday? There are so many reasons just to get a big pot of something on the go. Here you’ll find great ideas for simple but delicious meals that you can serve at any time and to just about anyone — including many which kids love. You won’t find starters here because this is ‘tuck-in’ food. Instead you’ll find plenty of hearty and comforting mains and desserts!

This vegetarian chilli is so bursting with flavours that even the most ardent meat lover will be impressed. Make sure to serve it with all the traditional chilli accompaniments, rice, guacamole and tomato salsa, sour cream and tortilla chips.

SERVES 8–10 VEGETARIAN

4 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

8 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

4 carrots, peeled and finely chopped

4 sticks of celery, trimmed and finely chopped

Salt and ground black pepper

2 large red chillies, deseeded and finely diced

2 tsp coriander seeds, ground

2 tsp cumin seeds, ground

200g (7oz) soya mince or TVP (textured vegetable protein), covered in cold water and soaked for 45 minutes

2 × 400g tins of red kidney or pinto beans, drained and rinsed, or 125g (4½oz) dried beans, soaked and cooked (see right)

2 × 400g tins of chopped tomatoes

200ml (7fl oz) vegetable stock

150ml (5fl oz) red wine

3 tbsp chopped coriander, to serve

Large casserole dish or saucepan

1 Pour the olive oil into a large saucepan or casserole dish on a medium-low heat and add the onion, garlic, carrots and celery. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until the vegetables are softened and golden. Stir in the chillies and spices and cook for a further 5 minutes.

2 Add all the remaining ingredients and taste for seasoning. Increase the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, for about 30 minutes or until thickened. Scatter with the chopped coriander and serve.

To cook dried beans and pulses, soak them overnight in plenty of cold water, enough to cover the beans by a few centimetres, then drain and cook in fresh water until soft. It is best not to add salt to the cooking water as this toughens the beans.

Cooking time varies according to the type of bean and also how old they are:

Chickpeas = 45–75 minutes

Haricot or cannellini beans = 40–60 minutes

Pinto or kidney beans = 45–60 minutes

Note: 1 × 400g tin = 250g (9oz) drained, cooked beans or 125g (4½oz) dried beans.

I absolutely adore this vegetarian tagine recipe; it has a spicy, sweet complexity that might be bullied out of the way were any meat added. Chickpeas are better friends with the canning process than any other pulse, though they are also delicious cooked from dry (see tip opposite).

SERVES 4–6 VEGETARIAN

2 sweet potatoes (about 650g/1lb 7oz)

5 tbsp olive oil

Salt and ground black pepper

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

3 tbsp olive oil

1 large (300g/11oz) onion, peeled and thinly sliced

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

3 tsp peeled and finely chopped root ginger

2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground

2 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground

2 tsp paprika

1 × 400g tin of chickpeas, drained, or 125g (4½oz) dried chickpeas, soaked and cooked (see tip opposite)

100ml (3½fl oz) vegetable stock

1 tbsp honey

3 tbsp chopped coriander

75g (3oz) blanched almonds, toasted and roughly chopped

1 Preheat the oven to 230°C (450°F), Gas mark 8.

2 Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into 2cm (¾in) cubes. Put them in a bowl, mix with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread the potato pieces out in a large roasting tin, place the whole peppers at one end, on the same tin, and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the sweet potato is tender. When cooked, transfer the sweet potatoes to a bowl and set aside.

3 The peppers will need an additional 10–20 minutes to roast, depending on their size. They are ready when the skin has slightly blackened and the flesh feels soft underneath. When cooked, remove and place in a bowl covered with cling film — this makes the skins easier to remove. When the peppers are cool enough, peel off the skin. Cut the peppers in half and remove all the seeds, then chop the flesh into roughly 2cm (¾in) pieces.

4 While the sweet potatoes and peppers are cooking, pour the remaining olive oil into a casserole dish or large saucepan and place on a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, ground cumin and coriander and the paprika, and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 10–12 minutes or until the onions are soft and beginning to brown.

5 Add the drained chickpeas with the vegetable stock, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Next add the cooked sweet potatoes, roasted peppers, honey and half the chopped coriander, stir gently to combine and taste for seasoning.

6 Transfer to a warmed serving bowl, scatter over the remaining coriander and toasted almonds and serve with couscous.

The creamy coconut milk and myriad spices grant these vegetables both elegance and luxury. Roasting the vegetables in the paste really brings out their sweetness. Making your own curry paste only takes a few minutes and the complex depth of flavour means it’s always worth doing.

SERVES 8–10 VEGETARIAN

2 × 400ml tins of coconut milk

600ml (1 pint) vegetable stock

4 large carrots

6 parsnips

700g (1½ lb) sweet potatoes

4 onions

150g (5oz) spinach (any large stalks removed before weighing)

400ml (14fl oz) natural yoghurt

For the paste

1 tbsp coriander seeds

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp chana masala

50g (2oz) root ginger, peeled and chopped

12 cloves of garlic, peeled

4 red chillies, deseeded