Mini Empanadas

Empanadas are a staple in South America. Distant cousins of the Cornish pasty they’re quite stodgy and come in with an array of fillings, commonly including beef, vegetables, cheese and always a bit of spice. These are miniature versions made with filo pastry which are much lighter and great with drinks or as part of a tapas type meal.

Prawn Empanadas

1 small onion
1 green chilli
2 cloves garlic
400g raw king prawns
few drops green tabasco
salt, pepper, paprika
½ tsp tomato puree
Juice of ½ a lime
handful fresh coriander
2 packs filo pastry

Makes about 36

Very finely chop the onion, garlic and chilli. Heat some sunflower oil in a heavy frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and sweat for two minutes, add the garlic and chilli and continue to cook until softened but not coloured.

Either finely chop the raw prawns by hand or whiz in a food processor until almost minced. Add to the onion mixture and cook over a low heat until completely opaque. Season with tabasco, salt and pepper and perhaps a little paprika to taste. Stir in roughly chopped coriander, tomato puree and lime juice. Allow to cool completely and then discard liquid. (Assembly instrutions below)

Spicy Beef Empanadas

1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 red pepper
400g minced beef
1 beef stock cube
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp tomato puree
salt, pepper, smoked paprika
fresh coriander
100g grated cheddar/emmenthal

2 packs of filo pastry

Makes about 36

Very finely chop the onion, garlic and pepper. Heat some sunflower oil in a heavy frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and sweat for two minutes, then add the garlic and red pepper and continue to cook until softened but not coloured.

Add the minced beef and stir continually, breaking it up completely. Crumble in the stock cube and add the chilli powder, tomato puree, salt, pepper and paprika. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes over a low heat. Check for seasoning and let the mixture cool completely. Stir in the cheese.

Vegetable Empanadas

1 red onion
1 red chilli

2 cloves garlic

2 red peppers

300g sweet potato
200g courgette

1 veg stock cube

salt, pepper,

smoked paprika

fresh coriander and parsley

100g grated cheddar/emmenthal

2 packs of filo pastryMakes about 36Very finely chop the onion, garlic, chilli, pepper and courgette. Cut the sweet potato into 1/2cm dice. Heat some sunflower oil in a heavy frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and sweat for two minutes, then add all of the remaining vegetables and cook for another two minutes. Crumble in the stock cube and add the chilli powder, tomato puree, salt, pepper and paprika. Add about 200ml of water, bring to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes over a low heat until the sweet potato is tender. Check for seasoning and let the mixture cool completely. Stir in the cheese.

Putting them together

To make the empanadas take two sheets of filo pastry. Lay on top of one another brush with oil. Cut into four horizontal strips. Place a small teaspoon of the prawn or beef mixture at on end of each strip and fold at right angles into a triangle, keep folding over until you reach the end of the pastry strip. Brush with oil.

Repeat until you have used all the filling. Either cook immediately for 9 minutes at 200°C or freeze and cook from frozen at the same temperature for about 14 minutes until golden.

Salmon with Gremolata

Salmon Fillets with Gremolata


Gremolata takes a few minutes to throw together and is delicious with fish. The traditional Italian version doesn't include anchovies and is often served with their rich veal stew, Ossobucco alla Milanese. This recipe is a quick way to cook salmon but the mixture works well with all types of mullet and sea bass. Just make some slashes into the skin, stuff with the gremolata and bake.


3 cloves garlic
3 anchovies
1 lemon
big handful parsley
few springs mint
olive oil
4 salmon fillets
salt & pepper

Grate the lemon rind onto a chopping board. Peel the garlic, place it onto the board with the lemon rind, parsley, anchovy, mint and a tsp or two of olive oil. Chop it all together very finely with a large knife. Keep going until you can't see any chunks of garlic. Put the salmon fillets in an oven tray, grind over some salt and pepper and spread a quarter of the gremolata on top of each fillet. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon around the fillets and if you've got it a slug of white wine. Cover with foil and bake at 200 for 12 minutes.

Spring into Salad

The frustrating month of May with its yoyo weather patterns often leave us stoically resigned to the ill suited pairings of picnics with gale force winds and burgers hastily chewed under umbrellas.

As we bravely bask in spring sunshine and grocers’ shelves are stacked with fresh local vegetables, praising the joy of salad may not be original for this time of year but it is satisfying at least in its hopefulness for the opportunity to dine al fresco.

One definition I found of salad as ‘a diverse or confused mixture’ sits comfortably with our mildly schizophrenic national attitude to summer eating. Lauding the pastime of outdoor eating has long been a national pastime yet when Spring finally arrives we spend hours wondering when the temperamental British sky-scape will allow us to delve into our packed hampers.

While our gardens and farms now offer a huge range of slowly ripened morsels bursting with flavour, our salad repertoire often remains restricted. Beautiful leaves carelessly thrown, undressed, into a bowl, tender new potatoes smothered in cloying white mayonnaise or shop made coleslaw drowning crisp cabbage in salad cream do little justice to the wonderfully versatile produce we now have access to.

Raw or cooked, crunchy or tender, inject some colour onto your plates and choose dressings that highlight the natural flavours of the ingredients so that individual tastes sing through. Wander around your local shops and markets and pick up new offerings, get creative and experiment.


Green bean, radish and sunflower seed (serves 4)

250g french beans
200g radishes
50g sunflower seeds
1tsp wholegrain mustard
1tbsp olive oil
1tsp honey
Juice ½ lemon
2tbsp chopped parsley
2tbsp chopped basil
Freshly ground salt and black pepper

Top and tail the French beans and cut each into three. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the beans and simmer for roughly four minutes until the beans are just tender. Drain, immerse in cold water and drain again. Slice the radishes into thin discs and place in a salad bowl with the drained beans. Heat a heavy based frying pan and toast the sunflower seeds, keeping them moving constantly until nicely browned. Be careful not to let them burn. Add to the salad along with the finely chopped herbs. In a smaller bowl whisk together all of the dressing ingredients, salt and pepper and mix in to the salad. Leave to infuse for an hour and serve.

Fennel, chicory, radicchio and pancetta (serves 6)

1 large fennel bulb
1 large chicory
1 small radicchio
6 slices pancetta
3tbsp olive oil
1tsp dijon mustard
1tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Fry the pancetta in a heavy based frying pan over a high heat until crispy. Remove from the pan and place on kitchen paper. Cut off the top and bottom of the fennel and half it vertically. Finely slice the two halves as thinly as possible, use a mandolin if possible. Repeat with the chicory and radicchio and put all the sliced vegetables in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and toss well through the vegetables. Transfer the salad to a serving dish, the flatter the better and crumble the pancetta over the top.


Beetroot, Feta and Walnut (serves 4)

100g feta
50g walnuts
3-4 whole raw beetroot
2 cloves garlic
1tbsp fresh chives
1tsp honey
1tbsp white wine vinegar
2tbsp olive oil
1tsp dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Wash each beetroot, wrap in tin foil and place on a baking tray in the oven for about forty five minutes until tender all the way through. Fifteen minutes before the cooking time is over add the garlic cloves, still in their skins. Remove everything from the oven and leave to cool. Toast the walnuts in a heavy frying pan being careful not to burn them and chop the feta into 1cm sized cubes. Peel the garlic, crush with a fork and mix together with the dressing ingredients. Finely chop the chives. When the beetroot is cool cut into chunks, place in a serving dish and mix with the dressing. Sprinkle the feta, walnuts and chives over the top and serve.