A zingy blueberry smoothie & many simple dinners

Plus, spring kitchen bouquets 🌸

Hello!

I’ve been eating to match the weather, which has been all over the place this spring. Smoothies have been one constant, especially this blueberry one from Molly Baz’s latest cookbook. There’s a decent chunk of ginger in it, which makes it taste extra fresh.

Now onto four dinner ideas, including the pasta I make when I’m out of ideas. There’s also three desserts in this edition, and Sofia Coppola’s favourite tea (you can find it at the supermarket!).

A quick, bean-filled soup

I’ve been meaning to try Marcella Hazan’s white bean and garlic soup for ages, possibly even years. It’s flavoured by a generous amount of olive oil and is more of a brothy bean dish than a straight up soup (though you could blitz it to make it more soup-like). I’ve made it with dried white beans and tinned cannellini beans and am happy to report the speedy tinned version tastes best. I love a fast meal that feels good for me.

A simple sausage dinner

This was such a comforting meal for a windy spring night. It’s chicken-apple sausages with cabbage and onion, another hit from Jenny Rosenstrach’s five-ingredient dinner column. I couldn’t find chicken-apple sausages, so I added chopped apples to the cabbage as it cooked. It was so lovely and sweet alongside the lightly caramelised onions and salty sausages. There’s a decent amount of cabbage in this dish, which takes the pressure off making a last-minute salad.

The tuna pasta that regularly saves my week

Have I shared this one before? It’s a trusty weeknight pasta I’ve been making for years. It’s from the archives of Heidi Sze’s blog and it’s extra nice with smoked tinned fish. It’s dinner when supplies are low or when I need something quick after work.

Triple cheese orecchiette

I saw this cheesy baked pasta on Instagram one morning and was eating it that night. It’s from Jessica Elliot Dennison, author of Lazy Baking and Tin Can Magic cookbooks and owner of a sweet Scottish cafe. It’s in her signature style — unfussy and somehow incredibly satisfying. A lot of the measurements are in handfuls and the majority of the prep involves grating cheese, so it’s light on the washing up too.  How good does her vanilla custard with blackberries look?

The best dark chocolate olive oil cake

Olive oil cakes are perfect for baking on a whim — you don’t need to soften butter in advance and they come together fast. This recipe is from the Sunday Suppers cookbook and it makes a deeply fudgy cake that’s not too sweet. My friend lives around the corner so I walked this one down the street while it was still warm to share after dinner. It’s so good with a dollop of double cream.

Affogato for dessert

I bought a little espresso machine and will be making affogatos all summer. They’re easy to make while still feeling special. Just buy the best vanilla ice cream and pour a shot of espresso over the top. This decaf is nice if you’re like me and can’t handle caffeine after midday.

Recipe request: a good crumble cake

This one comes from Reannon — comment or email if you have a request!

Q: Do you have a good crumble cake recipe? The kind of cakes/muffins that have a crumble/streusel topping?

A: This apple cinnamon crumble cake from Alice Zaslavsky is really fun because you prep all the components and then layer them in the cake tin just like a lasagne. It’s a very comforting and nostalgic bake.

Spring-time kitchen bouquets

I had a period of recovery in September and it was a joy to receive flowers and many other nice things — perfectly round choc chip cookies, a giant Belgian waffle with hot fudge and ice cream, an audio book for supine listening. 

There was a sweet abundance of flowers at one point, which meant they ended up in every room of the house. I’ve kept a small bunch in the kitchen ever since. It makes ordinary moments, like buttering a piece of toast, so much nicer.

And because I’m a sucker for a supermarket treat, I bought a box of Yorkshire Gold tea after reading it’s one of Sofia Coppola’s favourite things (aka the only thing I could afford).