Neither moussaka nor lasagne either …..

……. so what is it? To be honest, I’d started out with the idea of making melanzane alla parmigiana but then I decided to add some minced beef to the tomato sauce, which changed the dish into something else altogether, something a bit more like a moussaka. Except that the flavours were far more Italian and it was like lasagne al forno, but with slices of aubergine instead of sheets of pasta.

What to do with turkey you didn’t cook at Christmas Pt 1 – saltimbocca

When I wrote about our Christmas lunch, I mentioned that the turkey breast I’d bought was so huge that I cut the ends off and froze them to be used later on  and this is one of the things I’ve cooked with some of the meat.

Butternut squash, mushroom and chestnut lasagne

So, here’s a meat-free dish to help you keep any dietary New Year’s Resolutions you might have made. Personally,

Vegetable lasagne

It’s just like a meat-based lasagne, but with vegetables!

Aubergine and courgette gratin

I’d call this melanzane alla parmigiana except it has courgettes in it as well as aubergines and there isn’t any basil in the sauce, but there is some celery and a bit of mild chopped red chilli.

Four cheese pasta bake

I had some odds and ends of Italian cheese to use up and a creamy, cheesy pasta bake seemed like a good idea.

A 15 minute supper

It is often said that people eat convenience food because they don’t have the time to cook anything. Well, this took me about 15 minutes to make from start to serving.

Salsiccia al finocchio

Otherwise known as Italian pork sausage with fennel seeds.

There is a Bristol butcher’s shop called Paeckert in Cheltenham Rd,

Crespelle with beef, parmesan and spinach stuffing

Crespelle are the Italian equivalent of the French crêpes, pancakes basically.

Mine were made with two large eggs, plain flour, a pinch of salt and milk, all whisked up to produce a batter as thick as double cream. I can’t give accurate measures, I judge it by eye. After this had stood for a while, the crespelle were cooked normally in a non-stick crêpe pan and set aside.

Spaghetti with a minced beef, mushroom and tomato sauce

This definitely isn’t spaghetti Bolognaise because it isn’t an “authentic” recipe, although I sometimes feel that authenticity can be so terribly overrated. Anyway, there are lots of different recipes that all claim to be a proper ragu Bolognaise, but this makes no claims about that.