#17 - Vegetable Lasagne

This dish is the perfect way to use up vegetables which have been left lying around a bit too long, or just to get your "five a day" the easy way.

Roughly chop your selection of vegetables - in this case I used courgettes, aubergines, butternut squash, mushrooms, onions, garlic, broccoli and spinach - and add to a large saucepan with up to 4 tins of tomatoes, some tomato puree, a healthy glug of red wine, some bayleaves and some mixed herbs. Stir well, cover and leave to simmer for an hour or so until it's well reduced. If you like you can also add some lentils for some extra bite.

Make a basic white sauce as in the start of the whisky sauce in this recipe, but instead of adding whisky and cream, add cheese to the sauce and make it nice and thick. Then layer a large dish with alternating layers of the vegetable mixture, cheese sauce and lasagne sheets, until the dish is full. Finish with the cheese sauce and top with some grated cheese.

Bake in a medium-low oven (around 140°C) for 30 minutes, finishing off in a hot oven for 10 minutes before serving to brown the top of the lasagne. Perfect served with a green salad and garlic bread.

#16 - Leek and Parmesan Risotto

I love risottos. Contrary to popular belief they're very easy to cook, very tasty and are extremely adaptable. You can pretty much chuck anything you like into a risotto.

Start with around 100g of arborio rice (or risotto rice) per person. Measure that out and keep to one side. Next decide on what kind of stock you're going to use - vegetable or chicken would be my preferences - and put a pan of stock on the hob. Once it boils reduce the heat and keep it simmering. Next get a large pan (I find my casserole dish is perfect for cooking risottos) and put in your risotto "flavouring". You can use just about anything - mushrooms are lovely, as is asparagus when it's in season, parsnips make a surprisingly tasty dish or even leftover chicken from the Sunday roast.

In this case I fried some leeks and garlic in some olive oil until soft. Then added the rice. Stir the rice into the vegetables to ensure it's well coated and mixed together. Then add in a glass of white wine (optional) and stir until the liquid has been absorbed into the rice. Then add a ladle of stock and stir until it's incorporated. Keep adding the stock in small quantities and stirring until the rice looks soft and creamy and still has a little bite when tested.

To finish, add a knob of butter and some parmesan cheese (or whatever hard, full-fat cheese you have to hand) and a liberal sprinkling of fresh black pepper. It's the ultimate comfort food!

#11 - Pizza

Pizza has to be the ultimate comfort food, and is perfect for a quiet Friday night in. I like to use Delia's recipe for pizza base as it comes out consistently well.

Make sure and use a dusting of polenta on the work-surface when rolling out the pizza base. It makes a huge difference to the base and makes for a lovely end result. Also, cooking the pizza on a pizza stone or pizza tray which helps the air circulate makes for a lovely crust.

For a quick tomato base for the pizza, soften a finely chopped onion, then add some garlic, oregano and a tin of tomatoes. Simmer until the sauce has thickened and spread on the pizza. This can be made in advance and will keep for a couple of days in a tupperware in the fridge.

Everyone has their own favourite pizza toppings so chop and add whatever takes your fancy to the top of the pizza. Tear some mozzarella (buffalo mozzarella is the best if you can get it) for the top, then cook in the oven at around 180° for 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbling.

It doesn't take long and tastes a lot better than anything from the supermarket!