Catherine Devaney runs her catering company Harper and Lime from her kitchen in Fife and regulalry contributes recipes to The Courier’s food and drink magazine, The Menu.
With children to school and work to juggle, it’s comforting to know that a collection of lovely vegetables can be thrown together in one easy traybake.
There’s no need for precision, simply use your favourites (or whatever happens to be left in the fridge!) and get creative.
Butternut squash is a fabulous base vegetable to use; it roasts beautifully but it’s also substantial enough to feed a family. Roasting it in wedges with chickpeas, adding spinach and cherry tomatoes or red pepper and courgette, makes such a satisfying weeknight tea.
I like to add a couple of slices of torn sourdough too, as the bread soaks up all the flavours and adds a lovely rustic texture, like panzanella. Just add a generous splash of vegetable stock or white wine, olive oil, any fresh herbs, sea salt, smoked paprika and lemon zest.
Bake at 180C/Fan 160C/350F/Gas Mark 4 for around 45 minutes, stirring halfway through and adding a splash of liquid if needed. A spoonful of soft goat’s cheese is the ideal accompaniment.
I’ve been baking another winter favourite: marmalade puddings. As well as the gloriously old-fashioned nod to school dinners and Enid Blyton books, the heady mix of cinnamon and orange in the mixing bowl is just divine.
Grease eight small pudding moulds with butter then dust with flour. Warm 175g thick cut marmalade in a pot until liquid, then pour a spoonful into the bottom of each mould and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 160C/Fan 140C/320F/Gas Mark 2.5. Put the following ingredients into a mixing bowl: 150g self-raising flour, 110g soft unsalted butter, two eggs, 110g light brown sugar, 1 tsp ground ginger, ½ tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp mixed spice, a pinch of nutmeg, 1 tsp baking powder and the juice and zest of one orange. Beat everything until well combined, then fill the individual moulds.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until well risen and springy to the touch then up-end the puds onto serving plates.
Make a marmalade syrup to pour over the top, by heating 4 tbsp marmalade, 1tbsp light brown sugar and a splash of water in a pot, to a light syrup consistency. Pour over the puds and smother with custard.
More in this series:
Smoked haddock and baked apples are the star ingredients for this simple and quick January supper
Healthy eating resolutions for a new year have Catherine searching out simple, warming recipes
