Sausage and chorizo casserole

Ingredients
1 onion
2 celery sticks
2 carrots
A big clove of garlic / 1 tbsp garlic puree
1/2 chorizo ring
6 pork sausages (I used chipolatas 90% pork)
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tbsp thyme
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin cannellini beans
A few cooked baby potatoes, halved

Method
Chop the vegetables (inc garlic) and gently fry them till soft.
Add the sausages and, after 5 mins, the spices. Cook for a few mins.
Add the tin of tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Add the chorizo, chopped, and simmer for 30-40 mins.
Add the cannellini beans and potatoes and cook for an additional 5 mins.

Cheat version: Make up a tomato soup at the beginning of the week using tinned tomatoes, a few sticks of celery, one or two onions, a few carrots and garlic. Use a blender to make it smooth. Then use this as the sauce for this casserole, which cuts out needing to prepare all the veg.

Curried pumpkin soup (V)

This used up all the rest of the pumpkin after the lasagne :)
Ingredients
1/2 a large pumpkin, peeled and diced
2 sticks celery, chopped
2 onions, chopped
A few cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tbsp curry powder
Black pepper and salt, to taste
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp paprika

Method
Fry the onion and celery and garlic till softened, then add the spices and curry powder. Add a little water if the pan starts to brown.
Microwave the pumpkin in batches and add it to the pan as you go, adding a little water each time.
Simmer over a low heat, stirring frequently. The pumpkin should break up nicely and be very tender.
Using a hand blender, pulp the soup and add boiling water a little at a time, stirring in well. You don't want too much water but you don't want the soup to be a puree. When you're happy with the texture, add salt and pepper to taste. You could use a veg stock cube if you wanted.

Pumpkin lasagne (V)

Ingredients
1/2 a medium-sized pumpkin
1 onion
1 tsp garlic puree
1 yellow pepper
1 courgette
300g passata
1 tbsp mixed herbs
1 packet cheese sauce mix
6 lasagne sheets
100g goats cheese

Method
Start with the pumpkin. Slice off the botton end, creating a hole so you can spoon out the seeds. Then cut from the hole down the natural indents of the pumpkin, to around the halfway point. Snap off the slice of pumpkin, then you can cut any remaining skin off. You should end up with slices of pumpkin that are a crescent shape.
In batches, microwave the pumpkin slices in a dish for 5 mins until soft and tender.
While the pumpkin is being microwaved, fry the onion until soft, then add the garlic puree, yellow pepper and courgette, both cut into large slices. By using a high heat you can get a nicely charred effect on the veg.
Add the passata into the pan with the herbs and heat through (turn the heat right down for this).
Make up the cheese sauce according to packet instructions. You want it to be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, so add more flour if necessary.
Time to assemble the lasagne! I started with a layer of the pumpkin slices, lightly brushed them with cheese sauce, then added 2 lasagne sheets. After coating the sheets with cheese sauce, I poured in all the passata mix, then put 2 more lasagne sheets on top. I then made another layer of pumpkin and crumbled the goats cheese all over before adding the final 2 lasagne sheets. I covered the top with cheese sauce. You might like to grate more cheese on the top, or perhaps add some fresh basil and halved cherry tomatoes.
Bake in the oven - I used a fairly low heat of 160 degrees - for around 30-40 mins.
Serve with salad leaves (I used spinach).

Sweet potato stew (V)

Ingredients
2 small sweet potatoes
1 onion
1 tsp garlic puree
1 red pepper
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
A pinch of saffron
A pinch of chilli flakes
A few tbsp passata
1 tbsp orange juice
1 tin chickpeas
500ml veg stock

Method
Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork then microwave them, whole, for 6-8 minutes, until they feel easy to skewer with a knife. Set them to one side.
Meanwhile, fry the onion and red pepper with the garlic puree in a casserole dish. Add all of the spices and cook gently until the veg are soft.
When cool enough, peel the skin off the sweet potatoes and cut them into large chunks. Add to the pan.
Add the passata, orange juice and veg stock. Bring to the boil then simmer for 10 mins.
Drain the tin of chickpeas and add to the pan. Cook for another 5 mins and season to taste.
Use a hand blender to roughly blend the stew - don't puree it, just thicken the sauce up.
Serve with bread, soup-style.

Chocolate fridge cake

Ingredients
250g biscuits
100g butter
150g dark chocolate (pref 70% cocoa solids)
4 tbsp golden syrup
100g mixed dried fruit
50g rice krispies

Method
Place the biscuits (I used shortbread but digestives work well) in a sandwich bag, seal, then use a rolling pin to crush them. I usually keep some chunks in there so it's only 50% fine crumbs. Pour out into the cake tin. Add the dried fruit and the rice krispies.
Melt the butter, chocolate and syrup in a small pan, then pour over your biscuit mix inside the tin. Use a metal spoon to stir it in thoroughly and give an even coat.
Place in the fridge to set (probably takes about an hour).