Pea and Mint Burgers

Mr Pea. You impress me. You look all small and humble but you're so versatile. You're so green. You're good for me. I can eat you au naturale. I can mix you with my mash or get all fancy and whizz you into a puree. I could even eat you frozen straight out of the freezer. OK, maybe that's just me.

Or, I could mix you with mint and other bits and bobs and make you into a pea-licious burger. OK OK, ignoring my bad word play, these were really yummy wee things, perfect for the summer. My carnivorous boyfriend even said that if he were a vegetarian, he'd be happy to eat these for a main course instead of the usual tart or risotto that vegetarians quite often get lumbered with. Was I shocked? Yes, I was.

I was actually searching for a recipe for a cauliflower cheese burger. I used to have them as a child, fresh from the frozen food section of the local supermarket. I used to really like them but I'd feel like I'd committed a sin if I was to be quite so kitchen lazy nowadays. I didn't find a recipe for the cauliflower burgers but I did stumble across these courtesy of Yotam Ottolenghi. It's made me want to buy his book but I'm not sure I'd be allowed to add another to my ever expanding collection. Sad.

Spinach and Cheese Bake

The food gods haven't been kind to me recently. I must've done something really terrible in a former life. I was beginning to lose the love. It was a scary time.

There was a Moroccan pastilla that was just, well...meh. Strawberry jam that could easily have passed for a power ball. And worst of all, some walnut and honey soda bread that, no matter how long I baked it for, just wasn't ready. It's doubly disappointing when you didn't buy anything else in case of disaster and the shops don't open till four. A lunch of cheese minus soda bread wasn't quite as much fun.

So, owing to the Moroccan pie, I had a big wodge of filo pastry to use up. I wanted to make a 'spanakopita', a greek spinach and feta pie but, after looking at various recipes, I found that the quantities just didn't match with what I could buy from the shops here. So, I decided to make an Emma style Greek pie and just use whatever I could get hold of. It's certainly not a authentic spanakopita which uses leeks and certainly no ricotta. Let's just say I took inspiration from the Greeks shall we. (Before I upset too many people). This here is more of a spinach, feta and ricotta bake with a filo blanket.