Courgette lemon pistachio cake

2 large eggs, beaten

125 ml sunflower oil

85 g brown sugar

zest of one lemon, finely chopped

400g grated courgette

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp tea masala spice or mixed spice

300g SR flour

pinch salt

80g shelled pistachios (unsalted) roughly chopped (blast for a few seconds in the food processor)

140g sultanas

for the icing: juice of one lemon, reserving about a tablespoon

100 - 150g icing sugar

1. Beat together the eggs, oil, sugar, vanilla. Then stir in the courgettes and lemon zest.

2. Fold in the remaining ingredients.

3. Pour into a lined loaf pan (large one - 2lb, or a small one with batter left over for a few muffins)

4. Bake in a preheated oven at 160 C fan (180 C non fan) for 50 - 60 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean.

5. As soon as you remove it from the oven, poke holes in the cake with a skewer while it is still in the tin, then pour over the tablespoon of lemon juice to soak in. Leave to cool.

6. Meanwhile, make the icing: beat the remaining lemon juice with the icing sugar to form a smooth, thick liquid - you should just about be able to pour it, but it should be quite thick or it will slide off the cake).

7. When the cake is cool, pour over the icing.

Spicy roasted butternut

Great added to risotto or blitzed up with some stock to make a soup.

butternut, peeled and chopped into big chunks

dash sesame oil

about half a jar of sundried tomatoes in oil - chop the tomatoes and use the oil

2 tsp grated ginger

2 grated garlic cloves

2 tsp gochujang

1 tsp maple syrup

salt and pepper

Change the quantities of these ingredients to taste.

Mix the butternut with the other ingredients and bake in the oven at 200C until the butternut is cooked and turning brown on the edges. Stir it around part way through.Needs about 40 mins total.

Runner Bean and Gorgonzola Soup

or runner bean soup if you don't like blue cheese

500g runner beans, destringed if necessary and chopped

1 large onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

about 700ml stock

fresh mint leaves from 3 stems

Saute the veg together in a mixture of olive oil and butter for about 10mins, then add the mint leaves and stock and season. Bring to boil and simmer until the veg is soft, about 20 minutes. Blitz with a hand blender.

Pour into soup bowls and top with some chopped up gorgonzola (or some cooked crispy bacon bits if you don't like cheese).

Courgette, bacon and egg pie

Shortcrust pastry made with 250g flour. I actually blitzed some leftover spicy tortilla chips (about 50g) and substituted them for some of the flour - it worked and added a bit of texture to the pastry.

1 onion, finely chopped

2 small courgettes, diced

500g cooking bacon

2 large eggs, beaten

chopped parsley or other herbs

Fry the bacon in its own fat, pouring off excess liquid, then add the onion and courgette and fry until golden and slightly softened and not liquidy. Set aside to cool.

Beat eggs and herbs together, season with pepper (not salt as the bacon is salty enough)

Roll out the pastry into 2 discs, line a pie dish with one, then put the bacon mixture in, then pour over the beaten egg mixture. Put the lid on and crimp the edges together.

Bake for about 30 minutes at 180 fan.

We preferred it cold the next day, but it was nice lukewarm with some fresh veg.

Blackcurrant compote

350g blackcurrants

80g sugar

2 - 3 tbsp water

Remove berries from stalks, put in a saucepan with the sugar and water, bring to boil and simmer gently until the sugar has dissolved and the berries start to burst (about 3 or 4 minutes).

Delicious stirred into plain yoghurt.