It's been a while but I've finally got the spiralizer back out of the cupboard! We have had an abundance of herbs delivered by one of our very generous clients today, and I decided to use them in my favourite way: pesto. Using courgette instead of pasta is great if you're cutting out gluten from your diet, or even if you just fancy a lighter alternative to the Italian staple. If you don't have a spiralizer, you can create flat courgette noodles by using a vegetable peeler and just peeling off strips off the courgette. The mint, almond and sun-dried tomato pesto might seem quite thick, but as you start to combine it with the courgette, moisture is released from the vegetable so you don't want the mint, almond and sun-dried tomato pesto any runnier or it'll become too wet. In this vein, it's important to dress the courgettes noodles just before serving as it doesn't keep well at all and if it sits for too long, you will end up with a pile of water at the bottom of your bowl!

For a more substantial dish, the pesto works wonderfully served hot with real spaghetti. I would use 300g spaghetti for this amount of pesto, and combine it with around 400ml of the cooking water from the pasta to loosen up the sauce a bit. For some greens, 300g peas instead of the tomatoes is always a winner with pesto and pasta.

Finally, feel free to play around with the ingredients. Pesto is a great way to use up any herbs you have lying around, and you could use any nut or seed (instead of almonds) and any citrus fruit (instead of lemon). For an Asian twist, you could use peanuts, coriander and lime, like in this quinoa recipe.

Serves 4 hungry people

Ingredients:

For the pesto:

60g almonds

60g sun-dried tomatoes (or 40g dried, re-hydrated with hot water and then drained after 20 minutes)

25g mint

Zest (2 tsp) and juice (75 ml) of 1 lemon

3 cloves of garlic

60g raisins

90g extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes

For the rest:

1200g courgette

300g cherry tomatoes

10g mint

Instructions:

• Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees C. When hot, toast the almonds on a baking tray for 10 minutes and then remove.
• Whilst the almonds are toasting in the oven, it's time to spiralize! 1200g courgette makes around 900g of courgette noodles (or 'courgetti'), but hang on to the discarded bits- you can thrown them in a soup or grate them in to a salad.
• To make the pesto, simply blend all the ingredients in the food processor, wiping down the sides regularly. It takes a while to grind the almonds to a smooth paste so be patient.
• Chop the tomatoes in to quarters, and roughly chop the extra mint. Combine it all (with your hands!) in a big bowl until everything is incorporated. Enjoy!

This is the most consistent chickpea curry recipe i have ever encountered - perfect every time!

Adapted from an original recipe from Sarah Brown

2 Onions 1-2 Chillies 1 Tbsp cumin powder 1 Tbsp coriander powder 4 Tbsp oil (olive or sunflower) 400g can tomatoes 1 Can chickpeas (or 250g cooked chickpeas) 1/2 cauliflower broken into small florets. 250 ml vegan veg stock 2 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander Lemon juice to taste (1/2 - 1 lemon) Salt and pepper

1. Place onions chillies, 1/2 - 1 tsp salt, pepper, cumin and coriander into food processor and blend with a little water to make a paste.

2. Fry the paste in the oil for about 10 mins on med heat, allow it to brown a little.

3. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas and stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 mins. Add the cauliflower and cook for a further 10-15 mins until cooked.

4. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Add the lemon to taste and coriander just before serving.

Serve this delicious chickpea curry with rice and pickles as a main dish, or as a side dish with any other curries.

I quite often double up the quantities as it keeps really well.

Delicious vegan pumpkin soup recipe from Alice at the Camyoga kitchen - spiced with Carribean flavour

A delicious way to use your pumpkin this Halloween, with just a little kick of chilli and a hint of creamy coconut. Enjoy with crusty bread- perfect as a chilly autumnal lunch or light supper!

Ingredients:

• 700g pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and chopped in to 1 inch chunks
• 2 cloves of garlic, smashed
• Handful of fresh thyme sprigs, tied with string
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp coarse ground black pepper
• ½ tsp allspice
• ½ tsp chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, diced
• Around 500ml vegetable stock
• Half a can of coconut milk (around 200ml)

Instructions:

Heat the oven to 200°C. Place the pumpkin in a large baking tray along with the whole cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, allspice, chilli flakes and 1 tbsp of the olive oil. Roast until tender (around 45 minutes), removing the cloves of garlic halfway through so they don’t overcook and burn.

2. Meanwhile, heat the other tbsp of olive oil in a saucepan. Fry the onion and carrot over a medium heat for about 10 minutes.
3. Add the roasted pumpkin, garlic cloves and thyme to the pan, along with about 500ml of vegetable stock.
4. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes
5. Before serving, remove the sprigs of thyme and blend until smooth. You may wish to add more vegetable stock to reach the desired consistency.
6. Finally, add the coconut milk and season to taste.

[show-icon icon="Vegan Pumpkin soup"]Mmm mmmm mmmm Enjoy!

Calling those who are still undecided on whether to come to this Saturday's (13th October) supper club. Contrary to rumours we still have a few places. Why not treat yourself to exceptional vegan food and meet new people. if you are in, call us on 01223 524 587 to book your place and order from our menu!