Which variety? Go for regular globe aubergines for this one, to give you plenty of room to score without piercing the skin. Add the carrot, smoked paprika and button mushrooms. Turn the heat down to low and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Carefully turn the parcels over so that joins in the pastry are underneath and place on a baking tray lined with parchment. If you like, gently score the surface of the pastry parcels with a pattern. Score lines, or diamonds, or whatever you fancy, just be very careful not to cut too deeply through to the filling.

pearl barley (for convenience you can swap for pre-cooked mixed grain pouches, but this will cost more) Add the wine, turn up the heat to high and bring to the boil. Use a spatula to scrape up all the flavour from the bottom of the pan and stir well. Add the bay leaves, tinned tomatoes, passata, lentils, oregano and pul biber. It is with great sadness, but also excitement, that Elly Curshen, Founder of The Pear Cafe, announces its closure on Tuesday 25th September.Elly is a Columnist for Waitrose Weekend, where her recipe column appears monthly. She has also contributed to a wide range of publications both online and in print, including Waitrose Food Magazine, Olive Magazine, Stella Magazine, Sunday Times Magazine, Delicious, Sainsbury’s Magazine, Good Housekeeping, Root and Bone and The Pool and was the food columnist for Instyle Magazine for over a year. She has also contributed recipes to both Cook For Syria charity books and produced two e-books, Let’s Eat: Elly Pear’s Home Fridge Deli and Elly Pear’s Fast Days and Feast Days: Tips and recipes to reset your diet for the New Year. We meandered all over the part of Devon that sits to the south and southeast of Dartmoor National Park, spending time in towns, villages and on beaches, in woodland and coves, travelling on foot, by car and even steam train. It was the perfect mini break and I want to share some of my favourite finds with you… Restaurants Emilia, Ashburton Put the porcini in a large heatproof jug, pour over 1 litre just-boiled water and soak for 30 minutes.

A super-practical section on weekday meal solutions, with sub-sections for freezer food, one-pan meals and easy recipes that can be on the table in 20 minutes. Earth Food Love in Totnes was the UK’s first organic zero waste shop. Buying exactly and only what you need avoids waste at all times but is especially important when self-catering. Festival appearances have included Abergavenny Food Festival, River Cottage and BBC Countryfile and this year she is appearing at Yeo Valley’s Valley Fest and Ludlow Food Festival. She is also a regular tutor at Divertimenti Cookery School in Knightsbridge. After 12.5years, I’ve decided to close The Pear Cafe. It’s all good, not closing for any bad reason (in fact trade is particularly brisk!), it’s just the right thing for me at this point in my life. New chapters and all that jazz. More exciting news soon but that’s it for now. Tuesday 25th will be our last day of trading. Thank you all for the ride. I’ve enjoyed unbelievable support for 150 months of trading and I’m forever grateful. Thank you, thank you, thank you Elly xxx” If spending a few hours meditatively rolling up little aubergine parcels sounds like your idea of heaven, come hither. These rolls, also known as involtini di melanzane alla parmigiana, are as pleasing to make as they are to eat.Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7. Pour the olive oil into a large ovenproof dish or roasting tin and heat in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Carefully add the aubergine cubes to the hot oil. Season well with salt and pepper, add the diluted rose harissa and toss everything together. Like most vegetables, aubergine can be fried, grilled, roasted, steamed or even boiled. It’s also happily stuffed, or, blitzed – there are SO many ways to make this bulbous vegetable sing. Most commonly, it is fried or roasted, though we’ve included recipes which see them boiled below (Thai green curry we love you). Aubergine can also be cooked directly on a flame, and then peeled and mashed up to create the delightfully smoky dip baba ghanoush, or in South Asia, the baingan bharta – a heavenly spicy mashed aubergine side dish.

Pour the olive oil into a large ovenproof dish or roasting tray and heat in the oven for 5–10 minutes. Carefully add the aubergine cubes to the hot oil. Season well with salt and pepper, add the diluted rose harissa and toss everything together. Place the dish or tray in the hot oven, setting the timer for 15 minutes. When the timer sounds and 15 minutes has passed, stir to make sure all sides of the aubergine cubes are roasting. Set the timer again for another 15 minutes.Greek-style yoghurt (cheaper natural yoghurt can also be used but will need to be strained for the egg recipe) If you’re new to cooking with aubergine, this is one of the easiest recipes to start-out on. Criss-crossing, then roasting aubergines provides an incredible vehicle for flavour, and the aromatic paste spread on top gently melts into the silky flesh as it cooks. Served with a simple combo of lentils and shallots, this is a dish this is a healthy and easy weeknight meal. Aubergine in a stew is a wonderful thing. Here, Antonio Carluccio’s caponata brings out the vegetable’s naturally meatiness – it’s paired with its favourite Mediterranean bedfellows, onions and tomatoes and is brought to life with capers, olives and white wine vinegar. Enjoy room temperature or cold for optimum flavour. This recipe was developed by Vivek Singh as part of his 20th anniversary celebration meal – and it’s a marvel. The sweet peanuts compliment the bitter savouriness of the aubergines perfectly and the tamarind paste adds delightful sourness. It’s a wonderful side dish or a vegan main and it’s something you may not have tried before. Which variety? We like Italian round aubergines here, see suppliers below, but globe aubergines also make for a killer parmigiana.