Tasty & hearty

MUSHROOM AND WALNUT RAGU

ELLA is a big fan of recipes like this mushroom and walnut ragu, which “you don’t need to have strict timers on. When you’ve got a crawler trying to go for every electrical socket – that really, really helps,” she adds with a laugh.

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves 4, with a little left over)

20g dried porcini mushrooms 250ml boiling water

100g walnuts

1 onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, finely diced

2 celery stalks, finely diced Olive oil

400g chestnut or button mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 red pepper, deseeded and diced 1tsp dried thyme

1tsp dried oregano

1tsp dried rosemary

1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes 1tbsp tomato puree

2tbsp tamari

1-2tbsp nutritional yeast

4 portions of pasta (about 80g per person)

Salt and pepper

Handful of chopped parsley, to serve

METHOD:

1. Start by soaking the dried mushrooms. Put them into a bowl with the boiling water and leave for 20 minutes. Once soaked, drain well (but keep the liquid), then cut the mushrooms into small pieces.

2. While the mushrooms are soaking, chop the walnuts into tiny pieces – they need to look like large breadcrumbs. Place them in a large, deep frying pan over a medium heat and toast for about five minutes, until golden, stirring every now and again. Once toasted, remove from the heat and spoon into a bowl. Place the frying pan back on the heat.

3. Add the onion, garlic and celery to the frying pan, along with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Cook for five to 10 minutes.

4. Add the fresh mushrooms and red pepper, with the thyme, oregano and rosemary, and cook for about five minutes, until soft.

5. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, tamari and dried mushrooms with their water. Leave to simmer for 10-15 minutes – you want the ragu to be thick and have lost the excess liquid. Stir in the walnuts and nutritional yeast and leave them to cook in the sauce for a final five minutes.

6. While the ragu is simmering, cook your pasta in a pan of boiling water, following the instructions on the packet. Drain well then stir into the ragu once both are ready. Serve with a sprinkling of chopped parsley.

ELLA can’t stress enough how “super, super, super easy” this curry is.

“These big pot things are the things I make the most, I love them,” says Ella.

“You can freeze them and it’s easy to make four or five times the amount, as long as you’ve got a big pot – you just need to chop a bit more onion and that’s all the work involved. You can then defrost for the next meal, which is an absolute dream.”

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves 4

with rice)

1tbsp coconut oil

1 onion, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 celery stalks, finely chopped 250g spinach

1 x 400g tin of coconut milk A 2.5cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1tsp mustard seeds

1tsp ground coriander

1tbsp medium curry powder 1tbsp ground cumin

24 cherry tomatoes, sliced

2 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

½ lemon

2tbsp plain yoghurt (we use a pure coconut yoghurt)

Pinch of chilli flakes (optional) Salt and pepper

METHOD:

1. Put the coconut oil into a large saucepan with the onion, garlic and celery, and some salt and pepper, and let them cook on a medium heat for five to 10 minutes, until the celery and onion have softened.

2. In a separate pan, wilt 100g of spinach with a splash of boiling water.

Once wilted, add half the coconut milk and use a hand blender to blitz the spinach, so that it’s smooth.

3. Once the celery and onion have softened, add the ginger, mustard seeds, coriander, curry powder and cumin. Let the spices toast for a minute or so before adding the pureed spinach, cherry tomatoes, chickpeas and the rest of the coconut milk, plus a big sprinkling of salt and lots of pepper.

4. Turn the heat up so that it starts bubbling, then turn down to a simmer. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, adding the rest of the spinach for the final few minutes.

5. Once the spinach has wilted, add a squeeze of lemon and the yoghurt plus a sprinkling of chilli flakes, if you’re using them, and serve.