Anna says: “I worked for an organic veg box company in my 20s, teaching new skills with swede and cooking vegetarian pop-up feasts around the country. Whenever I was ‘on tour’, I’d serve this hero dish with romanesco whenever it was in season. Without fail, we were always asked for this recipe when the dishes were cleared.”

Timings: 1¼ hours

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 large romanesco cauliflower (about 750g)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 50g unsalted butter
• 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 1 red chilli, finely sliced
• 1 tsp hot smoked paprika
• Leaves and stems of a small bunch of parsley
• 50g almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
• Salt and pepper

For the red onion pickle:

• 1 red onion, very finely sliced into rounds on a mandoline
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp caster sugar

  For the beans

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 x 600g jar butter beans, drained
• 200ml  vegetable stock

Method

Preheat the oven to 200ºC (180ºC Fan). Trim the base of the romanesco, discard any discoloured or very large, tough leaves, and set the remaining leaves aside. Cut a deep ‘x’ in the stalk of the romanesco, then place it snugly in a small, deep roasting dish and pour 100ml water around the base. Cover the dish tightly with foil, then place in the oven for 30 minutes.

While the romanesco is steaming in the oven, make the red onion pickle. Scrunch the red onion in a small mixing bowl with the vinegar, sugar and a pinch of salt until the slices soften. Place a bowl or jar on top of the onions to weigh them down, then set aside.

Heat the olive oil for the beans in a small saucepan over medium heat and add the garlic and bay leaf. Stir for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the beans and stock to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.

Remove the foil from the romanesco and drizzle it generously with olive oil (there may be some water in the base of the dish, but this will continue to evaporate). Scatter over a little salt and pepper, then return it to the oven to roast for a final 15 minutes, until the romanesco is black in places, and tender to the point of a sharp knife. Seven minutes before the end of the cooking time, drizzle the reserved leaves with oil and arrange them around the whole vegetable.

To make the smoky butter, heat the oil and butter in a small frying pan over a low heat. When the butter is melted, stir in the garlic and chilli and continue to cook over a low heat for 7–8 minutes, until the garlic is golden. Remove from the heat and stir in the hot smoked paprika.

Lift the bay leaf out of the beans and use a stick blender to purée the mixture until smooth. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper.

Spread the bean purée over a large serving platter. Cut the romanesco into quarters and arrange on top of the beans. Finely chop three-quarters of the parsley and stir into the smoky butter, and pour it over the top of the romanesco. Scatter over the almonds and remaining parsley leaves.

Drain the onion pickle and serve alongside.

Anna says: “A pasta pie might seem indulgent (bonkers, even?) on paper, but as a big fan of Stanley Tucci, this is my homage to the timpano in his film Big Night. The Big Night pie consists of layers of pasta, meatballs, eggs, salami, tomato sauce and more pasta, but this one is a great deal lighter. Verdant macaroni and cheese is encased in a delicate filo pastry shell, making this an easy but beautiful crowd-pleaser. Serve with a dressed salad, chopped tomatoes or roasted root vegetables on the side.”

Timings: 1 hour, plus resting time 

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 750ml whole milk
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 garlic cloves
• 75g unsalted butter, melted, plus 50g 
• 8 sheets of filo pastry
• 250g spinach, chard or spring greens
• Leaves from a large bunch of parsley
• Leaves from a large bunch of basil
• 400g macaroni
• 50g plain white flour
• 100g Cheddar cheese, grated
• 125g ball of Mozzarella cheese, torn
• 50g Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• ¼ whole nutmeg
• ½ tsp black onion (nigella) seeds
• Salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (160ºC Fan). 

Pour the milk into a saucepan and add the bay leaves and garlic cloves. Heat the milk over a medium heat until bubbles appear around the sides of the pan, but watch carefully, ensuring the milk doesn’t come to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat, crack in a generous amount of black pepper, pour into a jug and cover. Set aside to infuse while you get on with the rest.

Brush the base and sides of a 23cm (9in) round springform tin with melted butter, then line the base with baking parchment. Lay a sheet of filo pastry over the tin, then tuck any overhanging filo into the tin, so that the pastry completely covers the base and comes up the sides, and brush all over with melted butter. Repeat with another five sheets of filo pastry (you’ll want six layers in total), brushing each layer with melted butter, then cover the remaining two sheets of filo pastry with a clean tea towel on a clean kitchen surface, to prevent them from cracking and drying out.

Place the filo pastry-lined tin in the oven to partially bake for 5 minutes.

Rinse the spinach (or other greens) in a colander, then transfer to a large saucepan and cover with a lid. Wilt over a medium–low heat, using tongs to turn the leaves occasionally. When the greens are deep green and have reduced significantly in volume, transfer to a colander and allow to steam dry. Fill the pan with water (there’s no need to wash it up), and place on the hob to boil.

Squeeze the greens dry and transfer to the bowl of a food processor with the parsley and basil, then lift out the garlic cloves from the milk and add them to the greens. Pulse to finely chop, then set aside. Alternatively, very finely chop by hand in two or three batches.

When the water in the saucepan has come to the boil, tip the pasta in along with a tablespoon of salt. Cook for 2 minutes less than the packet instructions, then drain in a colander.

While the pasta is on the boil, make the cheesy sauce. Melt the remaining 50g butter in a large saucepan over a medium–low heat. Add the flour and stir for a couple of minutes to cook out the rawness from the flour. Then, stirring all the time, slowly pour in the infused milk and continue to cook for about 8 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheeses and mustard, and finely grate in the nutmeg. Remove the bay leaves, then add the greens and herbs to the sauce. Taste and add more salt and pepper if you like.

Decant the pasta into the cheesy green sauce, then stir well to coat every piece of pasta. Spoon the saucy pasta into the partially baked pastry case, then drape a sheet of filo over the top and brush the surface with melted butter. Arrange the final filo sheet in an attractive ruffle and brush again with more melted butter. Sprinkle over the black onion seeds and place the pie on the middle shelf in the oven.

Bake the pie for 30 minutes, checking after 20 minutes in case your oven has a hot spot and the pie would benefit from a turn to cook the pastry evenly. Remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 20 minutes. This will ensure the slices don’t collapse as soon as you cut into it, but it will still be meltingly hot.

Release the pie from the springform tin and transfer to a serving plate. Use a serrated knife to cut the pie into six slices.

Anna says: “I have been known to get in a flap when making parmigiana in the past: there’s something a bit overwhelming about shallow frying slices of aubergine in spitting hot oil while a pan of tomato sauce gurgles on the same hob, as well as whatever else is happening in the background. For that reason, I’ve simplified the steps in my version, roasting the aubergine instead of frying it, at the same time as the other vegetables get tender and caramelised in the oven. It’s more ‘hands off’, but still moltenly delectable.”

Timings: 2 hours 

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 4 aubergines, sliced into 1cm lengths
• 2 fennel bulbs, finely sliced lengthways
• 2 onions, finely sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• Pared zest of 1 lemon
• Extra virgin olive oil, for roasting and frying
• 75ml dry sherry, such as Fino or Manzanilla
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 680g passata
• Leaves from ½ small bunch oregano
• 1/3 whole nutmeg
• 75g  pitted green olives, roughly chopped
• 250g Mozzarella cheese
• 125g Parmesan cheese, grated
• 100g soft white breadcrumbs
• 20 basil leaves, to serve
• Fine salt and pepper

Method

In a large mixing bowl, toss the aubergine slices with 1 tablespoon of salt. Tip the aubergine into a colander and suspend over the mixing bowl for 30 minutes – this will allow the salt to work its way into the aubergine flesh to season and to draw out the excess liquid.

Preheat the oven to 200ºC (180ºC Fan) and make sure you have three shelves free.

Unroll two sheets of foil, each roughly 50cm (20in) long, and stack one on top of the other. Tip the fennel, onions, bay leaves and pared lemon zest into the centre of the foil and drizzle over 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Scatter over salt and pepper. Bring the two long sides of foil over the vegetables to meet in the middle above them and fold a couple of times to seal, leaving the sides open. Fold to seal one of the short sides, then hold the foil parcel, so that the cavity is facing up – and at this stage it will become clear why you need to be confident in the quality of your foil sealing – and pour the sherry into the parcel with the vegetables. Fold to seal the open side, then place the foil parcel on a baking tray on the bottom shelf in the oven. Cook for 1 hour without disturbing.

Pat the aubergines dry with kitchen paper or a clean tea towel (don’t rinse them). Drizzle a generous glug (about 3 tablespoons) of olive oil over the base of two large, shallow baking trays. Arrange the aubergine slices across the trays so there’s no overlap. Brush the top of the aubergine slices generously with oil. You may need to cook the aubergine in two batches if you have some slices left over that won’t fit on the trays. Place the aubergines on the middle and top shelf of the oven and roast for 30 minutes, turning the slices over halfway through and swapping the shelves if one part of the oven is hotter. The aubergines are done once the slices are completely tender and are blistered golden in places. If you have any remaining aubergine slices, cook them in the same way once the first batch is cooked. Season the cooked aubergines with black pepper while they’re still hot.

While the vegetables are in the oven, make the tomato sauce. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large, deep saucepan over a medium heat and, when it shimmers, add the garlic and cook, stirring continuously, until the garlic is fragrant but not colouring (about 30 seconds). Pour in the passata, season with salt and pepper and stir to combine. Tomato sauce does have an annoying tendency to spit, casting a crime-scene spatter over the hob, but using a deep, wide pan seems to keep this more contained than a little saucepan, which tends to concentrate the volcanic energy, causing it to erupt. Bring the passata to a simmer and gently reduce in volume by a quarter. Remove the sauce from the heat, stir in the oregano and grate in the nutmeg. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Remove the vegetables from the oven, but leave the oven on. Carefully unwrap the fennel parcel (it will be steamy) and tip the jammy vegetables into a mixing bowl. Remove the bay leaves, but leave in the strips of lemon peel. Stir through the olives and set the bowl aside.

Grease the base and sides of a 20 x 30cm (8 x 12in) roasting dish with olive oil and arrange half of the aubergine slices over the base. Spread half of the fennel mixture over the top of the aubergines. Pour (you guessed it) half of the tomato sauce over the vegetables, then tear the Mozzarella into walnut-sized chunks. Scatter half the Mozzarella over the tomato sauce, followed by half of the Parmesan. Keep a handful of the remaining Parmesan back, then repeat with the remaining vegetables, tomato sauce and cheese.

In a small mixing bowl, mix the reserved Parmesan with the breadcrumbs and a tablespoon of oil. Stir to combine.

Scatter the breadcrumb mixture over the parmigiana and place on the middle shelf in the oven for 30 minutes, until piping hot in the centre and bubbling around the sides. Allow to cool in the baking dish for 10 minutes before dividing and using a spatula to lift onto warm plates. Serve scattered with the basil leaves, alongside salad and cubes of herby roasted potatoes.

Parmigiana reheats well, but cover it with foil to prevent it from burning. Serve hot or at room temperature.