Beetroot Carpaccio with Orange, Roquefort, Hazelnuts and Orange & Chive Dressing.

Peel and finely slice your beetroots.
Place in a container and cover with a mix of orange juice and sherry vinegar.
Leave to marinade for a few hours preferably overnight.
Dry toast a few hazelnuts in a hot pan and crush in a mortar and pestle.
For the dressing reduce down a small amount of orange juice in a pan by a quarter.
When it has cooled add a glug of extra virgin olive oil, finely chopped chives and seasoning, mix together.
Drain the beetroot slices and arrange on a plate with small wedges of sliced orange, cubes of cheese (many good cheeses will work with this dish), a few watercress leaves for garnish, scatter with the chopped nuts, dress with the chive and orange dressing and serve.

Linguine with Watercress, Rocket & Herb Pesto and Roasted Tomatoes.

A quick and easy simple supper with watercress and rocket that need using up.
Roughly chop a bunch of watercress and rocket and place in a blender with a few crushed cloves of garlic, herbs (I used parsley, thyme and basil), some toasted hazel nuts, a squeeze of lemon juice, a glug of walnut oil and a couple of glugs of olive oil. Blitz until you have a smooth paste - you may need to add a bit more oil.
If you are aiming to freeze any place in a saucepan and warm through - this will stop the growing process of the leaves and is essential, it also gives it a longer shelf life in the fridge too.
When its cooled add gated parmesan or pecorino cheese.
Place a few small tomaotes in a baking dish with a crushed garlic clove oil and seasoning, roast in the oven.
When the linguine is cooked drain and add a good dollop of pesto to it. Stir and coat - serve with the cooked tomatoes on top and freshly grated parmesan.

Asparagus Spring Salad with Dijon Dressing.

This salad can be served warm or cold.
First make the dressing by placing a chopped shallot, a couple of teaspoons of Dijon mustard, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil in a blender and whizzing until smooth.
Finely chop a few spring onions and place in a bowl with lemon juice.
Next boil some jersey royal potatoes in salted water. Ten minutes or so before they are cooked place the trimmed asparagus in a steamer above the potatoes.
Three or four mins before the potatoes are cooked add some broad beans and peas to the boiling water under the steamer.
When they are all cooked drain, then and add a knob of butter to the pan leaving the butter to melt as the potatoes, beans, peas and asparagus cool slightly.
When cooled enough add finely chopped mint and the lemon juice from the spring onions and roll the veg around in the dressing.
Chop some radishes and add some mixed leaves and ripped mint leaves to the pan and dress.
Plate and drizzle with the Dijon dressing before serving.

Asparagus with Bacon, Capers, Lemon and Mint.

Cut off the woody ends of the asparagus and trim off the tough outer skin towards the bottom of the stems.
Put in a steamer and steam over salted water for 8-12 mins depending on the size and thickness of the stalks.
While the Asparagus in steaming chop a rasher or two of bacon and fry in a pan until crispy, add a couple of tea spoons full of capers and grate some lemon zest into the pan.
when the Asparagus is cooked rolling the pan with the bacon and plate with a good scatering of chopped mint and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Tomato, Cucumber, Red Onion, Caper and Basil Salad.

This salad is best made at least a few hours before serving as it allows all the flavours to merge and mingle.
It goes very well with barbecued meat and white fish.
Finely slice a red onion and place in a bowl.
Add chopped tomatoes and cucumber, season with salt and pepper.
Tear up a small bunch of basil leaves and add with a couple of spoons full of capers.
Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sherry vinegar and roughly mix.
Cover and refrigerate for a few hours but bring back to room temperature before serving.

Asparagus with Breadcrumbs, Capers, Lemon and Herbs.

For the caper, lemon and herb crust lightly toast some white bread crumbs in a pan.
Place in a mixing bowl and add chopped capers, the zest of a lemon, chopped parsley, grated parmesan and melted butter.
Mix and reserve.
Remove the woody ends of the asparagus, place in a baking tray, roll lightly in rape seed oil, add a dot or two of butter, season and bake at 180 for 10-15 mins, depending on the thickness of the stems until tender.
Plate the asparagus, pour over the melted butter from the baking dish, scatter with the topping and serve.

Stuffed Tomatoes with Basil and Herb Salsa Verde.

For the stuffing tear up some semi stale bead and lightly toast until it colours slightly (you can also use bread crumbs if you keep them in store), place in a mixing bowl with a good bunch of chopped parsley leaves.
Chop a few shallots and fry in good oil until crispy but be careful not to burn and add to the bowl.
Grate in some good cheese, I used pecorino,  but you can use parmesan, comte or any good quality cheese, add to the bowl drizzle in some melted butter, add some ground pepper and mix together.

For the basil salsa verde place a large bunch of basil in a blender. Add some other herbs such as parsley, a little mint, chives etc but nothing to over powering as you the basil to be the dominant flavour, a little dijon mustard, a dash of sherry vinegar and capers.
Blitz while drizzling in extra virgin olive to make a smooth sauce.
this sauce also work very well with tomato and tomato based salads.

Cut the top off your tomatoes, de-seed and cut out the cores and discard but save any flesh for the stuffing.
Lightly season the inside of the hollowed out tomatoes with salt and stuff with the breadcrumb mixture.
Replace the tops and lightly brush the outside with oil. Place on a baking tray and bake for 180 degrees for 20 - 35 mins depending on the size of your tomatoes.
Plate up and drizzle with the basil salsa. Serve.