Eating Essentials

Ingredients
1 x 165 g tin of sweetcorn
6 spring onions
1 long red pepper
3 ripe tomatoes
1 fresh red chilli (optional)
1 bunch of fresh coriander , (30g) (optional)
2 limes
olive oil
4 wholewheat tortillas
1 x 400 g tin of black beans
1 ripe avocado
20 g feta cheese

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
To make the salsa, drain the sweetcorn and trim the spring onions. Place a large non-stick frying pan over a high heat and cook the whole pepper, tomatoes, spring onions and chilli (if using) for 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until soft and charred.
Place the peppers and chilli (if using) in a bowl, cover with a plate and set aside for 5 minutes. Remove the tomatoes and spring onions to a board to cool. Add the drained sweetcorn to the pan and cook for 1 minute to get a little charred, too.
Once cool enough to handle, roughly chop the tomatoes and spring onions and place them in a separate bowl with the charred sweetcorn. Peel, deseed and roughly chop the pepper and chilli (if using). Pick and roughly chop a few coriander leaves (if using) then add it all to the bowl. Mix in a good squeeze of lime juice, a small drizzle of oil and season with a small pinch of salt.
To make the tortilla chips, stack the tortillas on top of one another and cut them into eighths. Arrange the pieces over two large 40cm x 30cm baking trays in one layer, then bake in the oven for 15 minutes, turning halfway, until golden on both sides.
Meanwhile, drain and rinse the beans, then blot dry with kitchen paper. Tip them into the frying pan over a medium heat and leave for 5 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally – you want them to char and pop open, bursting their skins.
Peel, destone and slice the avocado into chunks, then drizzle with the remaining lime juice.
Remove the tortillas from the oven, leave to cool slightly, then arrange in a shallow bowl or platter. Top with the popped beans, tomato and pepper salsa and the dressed avocado. Crumble over the feta and pick over the remaining coriander leaves (if using), then tuck in!

Ingredients
G / ML CUPS / OZ
1 small butternut squash , (900g)
250 g ricotta cheese
½ a bunch of fresh basil , (15g)
3 large free-range eggs
300 g Tipo 00 or plain flour , plus extra for dusting
600 ml 7-veg tomato sauce
70 g rocket
10 g Parmesan cheese
extra virgin olive oil

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
In a tray, roast the squash whole for 1 hour. Add the ricotta and roast for another 30 minutes, or until the squash is cooked through.
Halve it in the tray, discarding the skin and seeds. Pick, finely chop and add the basil leaves, then mash it all with the ricotta, scraping up any sticky bits from the tray. Taste, season to perfection, and cool.
To make the pasta dough, put the eggs and flour into a food processor and whiz into a ball of dough. Knead on a flour-dusted surface until smooth. Cut in half, wrap in clingfilm and rest for 30 minutes.
Flatten one piece of dough by hand. Run it through the thickest setting on a pasta machine, then take the rollers down two settings and run it through again to make it thinner.
Now, fold it in half and run it back through the thickest setting again, repeating this a few times for super-smooth dough. Start rolling the sheet down through each setting, lightly dusting with flour as you go. Turn the crank with one hand while the other maintains just a little tension to avoid any kinks or folds.
Take it right down to 1mm, then lay the sheet flat and stamp out circles with a 12cm cutter.
Working quickly, spoon 1 heaped teaspoon of filling into the middle of each, lightly brush the exposed pasta with water, fold into half-moon shapes over the filling, gently pressing to squeeze out any air, and seal. Repeat with the second ball of dough.
Warm the sauce in a pan over a medium heat, and in batches cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water for just 2 minutes.
Toss the pasta with the sauce and rocket and serve with finely grated Parmesan, finished with a few drips of extra virgin olive oil.