David and Luise say: “If you ever use TikTok, chances are you’ll be familiar with the pasta recipe where a block of feta and some cherry tomatoes are roasted until soft, then stirred into a sauce and served with pasta. Our daughter loves it. This is a grown-up version: almost as simple, but with a lot more flavour. The tomatoes are roasted with harissa, then mixed with pasta and served over a cool lemon yoghurt. Spicy, sweet tomatoes, cooling yoghurt and salty feta – a winning combination.”

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 600g cherry tomatoes
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 3 heaped tbsp rose harissa paste
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
• 10g fresh oregano, leaves picked
• 300g rigatoni pasta
• 250g Greek yoghurt
• juice of 1⁄2 lemon
• 100g feta
• 1 bunch of basil, leaves picked and roughly chopped
• 40g pine nuts, toasted
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients

Preheat the oven to 200°C. In an oven dish, toss together the tomatoes, garlic, harissa, oil and oregano. Season well and roast for 25 minutes. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Drain the pasta but reserve a mugful of the pasta cooking water.

Remove the tomatoes from the oven, setting a few aside if you want to keep some intact, then add the pasta to the oven dish. Stir everything together, adding a little pasta water to loosen if necessary. You want the pasta to be coated in the flavourful tomato juice and harissa oil.

In a small bowl, stir together the yoghurt and lemon juice, then spread this across the base of four bowls. Top with the pasta, then crumble over the feta and scatter over the basil and pine nuts. Gently mix together so the harissa ripples through the yoghurt, then top with any reserved tomatoes. Generously drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and finish with a good grind of black pepper.

From Green Kitchen: Quick + Slow by David Frenkiel & Luise Vindahl (£27, Hardie Grant), out now

The Lea-Wilson’s say: “A simple dish that tastes like far more than the sum of its parts. The lemon really shines through and elevates the delicate crab to something special. Roasted asparagus makes a very good vegetarian or vegan alternative.”

Serves: 2 as a main or 4 as a side

Ingredients

• 50ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 banana shallot, finely chopped
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped (seeds and all)
• 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 2 lemons
• 150g dried linguine
• Small bunch of parsley, stalks and leaves finely chopped separately
• 200g white crab meat
• Finer flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Once it’s boiling, add plenty of salt.

Heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan over a medium heat. Add the shallot, chilli, garlic, grated zest of one of the lemons and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for five minutes, or until the shallot is soft and translucent and the garlic is starting to turn golden.

Meanwhile, lower the pasta into the boiling water and cook according to the packet instructions.

Cut the two ends off the zested lemon and use a sharp knife to slice off the skin and white pith, leaving just the juicy lemon flesh inside.

Cut the lemon into 1cm rounds, discarding the pips as you go, then roughly chop into 1cm pieces. Cut the other lemon into wedges and set aside for serving, if you like. Add the chopped lemon and parsley stalks to the shallot mixture in the pan and stir to combine, then cook for three to four minutes, stirring frequently, until the parsley stalks are tender. Add the crab meat and stir to combine, then cook for two minutes, or until the crab meat is piping hot. Taste the mixture and add salt and pepper, if you like.

Drain the pasta, reserving three tablespoons of the pasta cooking water. Return the pasta to the pan and stir through the pasta cooking water, the vegetable and crab mixture and the chopped parsley leaves. Use tongs to mix everything together until thoroughly combined.

Serve on warmed plates with plenty of black pepper and the reserved lemon wedges for squeezing over, although this is so citrusy you may not need to.

From Sea Salt by the Lea-Wilson Family (£26, White Lion Publishing), out now 

Celia says: “Golden garlic, chilli, lemon and heaps of wilted fresh greens suspended in a light yoghurt-based sauce enrobe your pasta of choice – ideally wholemeal (whole wheat) spaghetti or linguini. Alternatively, wholegrain rice or quinoa make a satisfying vehicle for this vitamin-packed deliciousness. Baby spinach is ideal, though you can use regular English spinach or young chard, both stripped from the stems and chopped. If using a bag of pre-washed baby spinach, it’s super simple to chop it roughly by leaving it in the bag and attacking it with a pair of kitchen scissors in intervals.”

Ingredients

Serves 4

• cooking salt
• 400g pasta of choice (see above) 
• 450g plain yoghurt
• 6 teaspoons cornflour
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 5–6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp chilli flakes, or to taste
• 300g baby spinach, roughly chopped (see tip above)
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Options:

• Add toasted flaked almonds or crumbled feta on top for extra protein.
• Substitute crème fraîche or Greek-style yoghurt to get a richer sauce, though low-fat yoghurt (5% fat) works a treat.

Method

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to package directions.

Place the yoghurt in a bowl, add the cornflour and a generous seasoning of sea salt and pepper and stir until smooth. Set aside.

Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the oil, then add the garlic and fry until the garlic is fragrant and just barely tinged with gold.

Add the chilli flakes and pour in the yoghurt mixture. Stir constantly, and as soon as it starts to bubble, start stirring in the chopped spinach a handful at a time, letting it collapse into the sauce. As soon as all the spinach is incorporated, take the pan off the heat and stir in the lemon zest and juice. Taste for seasoning.

Drain the cooked pasta well, then return it to the pan and stir in the sauce very thoroughly. Serve right away. Alternatively, serve the sauce on top of your chosen pasta or grains.

Note

The sauce may separate if left to stand – simply stir until smooth. The sauce can be saved if necessary and will reheat successfully in a pan or microwave.

From Superveg by Celia Brooks (£16.99, Murdoch Books), out now