Carolina says: “Nothing screams comfort food like some sort of saucy, hearty stew covered in a buttery, flaky puff pastry. The best part is this delicious ‘pot pie’ is the epitome of a clean-out-the-fridge type of dish. Don’t be afraid to make it your own. Play around with spices and use those veggie scraps! The leftovers are amazing with a fried egg on top for breakfast. I like to reheat it in my toaster oven while my egg is frying.”

Serves 6–8 

Prep Time: 30 minutes 

Cook Time: 50 minutes 

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

Filling:

• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium brown onion, chopped
• Coarse salt
• 3 celery sticks, chopped
• 3 medium carrots, chopped
• 1 medium red pepper, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1½ teaspoons sweet paprika
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 × 400g cans brown lentils, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons cornflour
• 250ml full-fat milk or unsweetened non-dairy milk
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus more for serving

Pastry:

• 1 medium egg or 1 tablespoon
• unsweetened non-dairy milk, for brushing
• Plain flour, for dusting
• ½ × 500g puff pastry block, thawed overnight in the fridge if frozen

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6.

Make the filling: in a large flameproof casserole dish or heavy-based pot, heat the oil over a medium heat. Add the onion and a big pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and translucent, 4–5 minutes. Add the celery and carrots and cook, stirring, until the carrots are softened slightly, 6–8 minutes. Add the red pepper and rosemary and cook, stirring, until the pepper is softened, 3–4 minutes. Add the garlic, paprika, cumin and cayenne and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 1–2 minutes. Stir in the lentils.

Add the cornflour and use a wooden spoon to toss and coat the vegetables. Stirring constantly, add 250ml water, followed by the milk. Cook, stirring occasionally, until visibly thickened, 4–5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the parsley. Taste and adjust the salt as needed. Carefully transfer the mixture to a 23–25.5cm cast-iron frying pan or a deep casserole dish.

Prepare the pastry: in a small bowl, whisk together the egg and 1 tablespoon water to make an egg wash. If using non-dairy milk, simply add it to a small bowl.

Dust a work surface with flour. Working quickly to keep the pastry cold, roll it out into a sheet 5mm thick. Use a glass or round biscuit cutter to cut out as many rounds as you can in the dough. Place the dough rounds in an even layer on top of the vegetable filling, avoiding overlap as much as you can (a little is okay). Lightly brush the pastry rounds with the egg wash or non-dairy milk.

Bake until the pastry is puffed up, golden and firm, about 25 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Divide the pot pie among plates or bowls, top with more fresh parsley and serve.

Note:
This recipe uses celery, carrots and pepper, but you can make this pie out of any veg looking rough or going mushy in your kitchen. I’m talking broccoli stalks, half a cabbage, dry cauliflower florets and old courgettes – all good.

Carolina says: “Imagine your favourite hash brown, then picture a bigger, crispier pan-fried potato cake. That, my friends, is a rösti. It’s the unofficial national dish of Switzerland and my inspiration for this breakfast recipe. Unlike a traditional rösti, my potato cake is thicker, more compact and partially baked to ensure a buttery tender centre. It’s packed with fennel seeds, black pepper and fresh dill, subtle enough to not overpower the potato, but rather, complement it. But we don’t stop there: as soon as the dilly potato cake comes out of the oven it’s topped with cool, tangy crème fraîche, ribbons of smoked salmon and soft poached eggs.”

Serves 2–4 

Prep Time: 25 minutes 

Cook Time: 35 minutes 

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

Potato Cake and Poached Eggs:

• ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
• ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
• 675g Maris Piper potatoes (4–5 medium)
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 115g unsalted butter, cubed
• Coarse salt
• 2–4 medium eggs

For Serving:

• 60–115g crème fraîche or soured cream
• 60–115g smoked salmon
• Torn fresh dill
• Lemon zest (optional)
• Flaky salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Prepared or freshly grated horseradish (optional)

Method

Make the potato cake: preheat the oven to 220°C/gas mark 7.

Add the fennel seeds and peppercorns to a pestle and mortar. Crush roughly, just enough to break them open but not grind into a powder. (You can also do this by putting the spices in a bag or between sheets of kitchen paper and crushing roughly with a rolling pin.)

Scrub and rinse the potatoes thoroughly. (No need to peel them.) Fill a medium bowl with cold water. Use the coarse side of a box grater to shred the potatoes, holding them lengthways to get longer potato shreds – they’re more likely to stick together and give the potato cake a better structure.

Swish the potato shreds around in the cold water and drain. Place the potatoes on a clean tea towel, gather up the corners of the towel, twist and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Retwist and squeeze again until no more water drips out. Return the potatoes to the empty bowl and add the dill.

In a 20cm well-seasoned cast-iron or ovenproof nonstick frying pan, combine the butter and crushed fennel seeds and peppercorns. Cook over a medium heat, stirring, until the butter is melted and the spices are fragrant, 2–3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.

Pour the spiced butter over the grated potatoes and season with a big pinch of salt. Toss well to coat the potatoes and dill in butter.

Return the frying pan to a medium heat and add the potato mixture. Using a slotted spatula, press it down to pack it in the frying pan. Cook, undisturbed, until the edges of the potato cake start pulling away from the pan and turn translucent, 4–7 minutes.

Transfer the frying pan to the oven and bake until golden, 25–28 minutes. Preheat the grill. Place the grill rack about 10cm from the heating element. Grill the potato cake until crisp, about 2 minutes.

Carolina says: “If you’re like me and the thought of boiling lasagne sheets, going through the fuss of keeping them from sticking to each other or perfectly layering them, stresses you out, so much so that you make lasagne only a couple of times a year, this recipe is for you. I had but one mission developing this recipe: loosen up the rules and transform the typical lasagne-making process into a more approachable one. Break the dry pasta sheets into smaller pieces, toss in a silky, mushroomy béchamel sauce, then layer the hard pasta with dollops of creamy ricotta, stretchy mozzarella and perfectly cooked mushrooms. You’ll be left with an impressive, highly comforting vegetarian centrepiece and significantly fewer dishes to clean.”

Serves 6–8 

Prep Time: 25 minutes 

Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes 

Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes

Ingredients

• 115g unsalted butter
• 900g mixed mushrooms, such as chestnut, oyster or shiitake, torn into chunks
• 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons roughly cracked black pepper, plus more as needed
• Coarse salt
• 3 tablespoons plain flour
• 950ml full-fat milk
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary (optional)
• 225g lasagne sheets (uncooked)
• 375g full-fat ricotta cheese
• 40g Parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 450g low-moisture mozzarella cheese, roughly grated

Method

In a large flameproof casserole dish or other heavy pot, melt the butter over a medium heat until sizzling. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms have cooked out their liquid and are deeply browned, about 30 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the garlic, black pepper and a big pinch of salt and cook until fragrant, 1–2 minutes. Add the flour and stir to coat the mushrooms. Stirring constantly, slowly add the milk. Add the rosemary (if using), bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, 4–6 minutes. The consistency should be similar to double cream. Taste and adjust the salt as needed.

Break the lasagne sheets into smaller pieces, 3–4 pieces per sheet and add them to the simmering sauce. Toss the pasta in the sauce and remove the pan from the heat. Remove and discard the rosemary (if using).

In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Stir to combine.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6.

In a 25.5cm round tin or 23cm square tin, spread a small dollop of the ricotta mixture on the base. Add about one-third of the saucy mushroom/ pasta mixture and arrange it in an even-ish layer. (This isn’t like traditional lasagne where you’re trying to line the noodles up perfectly, so don’t overthink it!) Add one-third of the ricotta mixture, spreading it gently into an even layer and top with one-third of the mozzarella. Repeat with another third of the mushroom/pasta mixture, another third of the ricotta mixture and another third of mozzarella. Repeat once more, but this time only with the remaining mushroom/pasta mixture and ricotta mixture, reserving the last bit of mozzarella for later. Your last layer should have the ricotta on top. Tightly cover the tin with foil.

Bake for 45–50 minutes. Remove the foil and scatter the reserved mozzarella on top of the lasagne. Preheat the grill. Place the oven rack about 10cm from the heating element. Grill until the mozzarella is melted, bubbling and a bit browned, 3–5 minutes.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.