Lorraine Pascale - Lorraine Pascale’s Fast, Fresh and Easy Food

+ Snip the skin off the sausages and then peel it off or squeeze the sausage meat out. Break the sausage meat into small pieces.

+ Spread the harissa paste all over the pizza base. I like to leave a 1cm border, for aesthetic purposes only! Scatter over the onions, chilli, sausage meat and fennel seed and season with a little salt and pepper.

Goat’s cheese & sweet pepper pizza with chorizo

50ml passata

50g mild or hot Peppadew peppers (jars are available from most supermarkets, near the capers and vinegars!)

3 sprigs of fresh thyme

1 garlic clove

75g goat’s cheese

10 chorizo slices

Small handful of fresh basil leaves

Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Goat’s cheese & sweet pepper pizza with chorizo

+ Put the passata and Peppadew peppers in a blender. Run your fingers down the length of the thyme sprigs to release their leaves, peel the garlic and add both to the blender. Blitz until smooth and then spread over the pizza base, leaving a 1cm border.

+ Break the goat’s cheese into small pieces and scatter over the pizza base along with the chorizo slices. Season with a little salt and pepper.

Feta, hummus & courgette pizza with balsamic drizzle & mint

100g hummus

100g feta cheese

½ small courgette

6 cherry tomatoes

Drizzle of balsamic glaze (found in the supermarket)

Extra virgin olive oil

Small handful of fresh mint leaves

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Feta, hummus & courgette pizza with balsamic drizzle & mint

+ Spread the hummus over the base of the pizza and crumble the feta on top. Use a vegetable peeler to slice the courgette into long, thin strips. Keep going until all is used up and arrange these also. Halve the tomatoes, scatter them over and season with salt and pepper.

+ When you have topped the pizzas, bake each one in the oven for 8–10 minutes or until crispy and the sausage on the harissa, chilli & sausage pizza is cooked. Once cooked, scatter the rocket over. Scatter the basil leaves over the cooked goat’s cheese pizza and drizzle with a little oil. Drizzle the balsamic glaze over the feta pizza with a good drizzle of olive oil, then scatter over the mint leaves. Serve the pizzas immediately.

Aussie sweetcorn breakfast fritters with avocado & rocket salad & sweet chilli jam

Peppadew peppers, which are used in this dish, are generally found in a jar near the capers in the supermarket. However, if you can’t find them, just use 100g of cherry tomatoes in their place (in addition to the cherry tomatoes already in the recipe), along with a bit of Tabasco.

Time from start to finish: 20 minutes

Serves: 2

Equipment: Colander, blender or food processor, medium pan, large frying pan, medium bowl or jug

Chilli jam

375g jar of mild or hot Peppadew peppers

125g cherry tomatoes

½ bag of fresh basil

6 tbsp caster sugar

Fritters

Sunflower oil

50g self-raising flour

50ml whole milk

1 egg

425g tin of sweetcorn

50g half- or full-fat crème fraîche, to serve

Avocado & rocket salad

1 ripe avocado

½ bag of rocket

Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Drizzle of balsamic vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

+ First, prepare the chilli jam. Drain the Peppadew peppers well and put them in a blender or food processor with the cherry tomatoes. Rip the leaves from the basil stalks, add them too and blitz until smooth. Then tip into a medium pan over a medium heat. Add the caster sugar and bring to the boil.

+ Meanwhile, start on the fritters. Put a big drizzle of oil into a large frying pan over a medium to high heat. Put the flour, milk and egg in a medium bowl or jug with a big pinch of salt and some pepper. Beat the mixture hard with a wooden spoon to get rid of any lumps. Drain the sweetcorn well, stir into the batter and set aside for a moment.

+ Once the chilli jam is boiling, turn down the heat and leave it to simmer away for 8 minutes, stirring it from time to time so that it does not catch on the bottom.

+ Once the oil in the frying pan is nice and hot, put four dollops of the fritter mix into the pan. Each one should be about 10cm in diameter and this uses all of the mixture up. Cook for about 3 minutes.

+ Meanwhile, cut the avocado in half and remove the stone. The easiest way to get the stone out is to put the blade of a sharp knife into the stone as if you were going to cut it in half. Then twist the knife a bit and the stone should just pop out. Peel off the skin and slice the flesh into long, thin strips. Arrange to one side of two serving plates and set aside for a moment.

+ The underside of the fritters should now be crisp and golden brown, so flip them over and leave to cook for another 3 minutes.

+ Pile the rocket into the centre of each plate, drizzle with a little oil and balsamic vinegar. Once the fritters are crisp and golden on the bottom, remove them from the heat and arrange two of them on each plate opposite the avocado. Dollop the crème fraîche beside them. Remove the now-reduced chilli jam from the heat and spoon a little onto each plate. Give a little twist of black pepper over everything and serve.

+ Any remaining chilli jam can be stored in a sterilised jar in the fridge for up to one month. See the limoncellorecipe for how to sterilise jars. It is also delicious served with meats and cheeses.

Simple salmon ceviche with tortilla chips

Use the freshest, freshest fish that you can find for this dish. Even go to the fishmonger if you have one near you and ask him for his finest catch. This is a wonderfully summery South American-style dish with lots of tang and spice. Sea bass, tuna, salmon, even scallops, can all be used here. You can either just buy a big bag of tortilla chips or, if you fancy making your own, they are very, very easy and I have included the recipe below.

Time from start to finish: 30 minutes if making your own tortilla chips (you actually only save 2–3 minutes if using shop-bought!)

Serves: 4

Equipment: 1–2 large baking sheets

Ceviche

3 × 125g (approx) really fresh, skinless, sustainably caught salmon fillets

3 spring onions

2cm piece of fresh ginger

1–2 red chillies (depending on how hot you like them)

1 avocado

1 squidge of honey (optional: a bit of sweetness for those with a sweet tooth!)

1 lime

½ orange

A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (optional)

Small handful of fresh mint leaves

Tortillas

4 corn or wheat tortillas, if making homemade tortilla chips

or

200g bag of tortilla crisps, if not Vegetable oil or oil spray (optional)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

+ If home baking your own tortilla chips, then preheat the oven to 200°C, (fan 180°C), 400°F, Gas Mark 6.

+ Pull any bones from the salmon fillets and, using a sharp knife, remove any brown flesh from underneath. Cut them up as thinly as possible (no thicker than about 5mm) as if you were cutting a loaf of bread into slices. Arrange them in a single layer on a large serving platter.

+ Trim and finely slice the spring onion (both the green and the white bits), peel the ginger and chop it into thin sticks and then halve and finely slice the chillies, discarding the seeds. Scatter all three ingredients over the salmon.

+ Halve the avocado, discard the stone and carefully peel the skin off. Then turn each half cut side down and slice them really thinly lengthways. Arrange them over the salmon and drizzle the honey over, if using.