I prefer my lasagne heavy on the meat and vegetables and light on the pasta and cheese. The addition of plenty of zucchini makes a perfect one-dish dinner although you could add a salad too.  Although it takes a while to bake, if you’ve prepared it ahead of time it doesn’t take any supervision close to dinner time and smells delicious as it cooks. The pasta soaks up the moisture from the zucchini slices as they cook. Serves 3 - 4.

two cups of bolognese sauce - if you’ve made a big batch for something else that’s ideal

four sheets of ‘no-need to pre-cook’ lasange

zucchini, sliced into thin (5mm thick) rounds - enough slices to cover the bottom of your dish twice.

one cup well seasoned white sauce - a heaped teaspoon of dijon mustard seems to improve things immensely.

80g grated cheese

Pre heat the oven to 170 degrees C. Spread half the bolognese sauce in the bottom of a shallow oven proof dish, cover with a layer of zucchini slices and two sheets of lasagne. Repeat the layers (bolognese, zucchini, pasta). Pour over the white sauce and top with grated cheese.  Bake for about an hour until browned and bubbling. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for ten minutes before serving.

When you’ve got chooks you wouldn’t think you’d need a vegan cake, but if you run out of eggs this is the ideal solution. I didn’t expect it to rise but it did and is moist and delicious. I use a bundt tin so that it cooks more quickly and is easier to slice into small portions. The slices freeze well for quick defrosting for unexpected guests. If you’re considering eliminating meat from your diet then Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats and Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability are worth a read. If you are looking for other uses for zucchinis, try some zucchini and feta pies, zucchini fritters or zucchini meatloaf.

two and a half cups of plain flour

two teaspoons baking soda

two thirds of a cup of cocoa

one teaspoon salt

one teaspoon ground cinnamon

300g grated zucchini

two cups of raw sugar

two thirds of a cup light olive oil

two teaspoons cider vinegar

one cup warm water

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Sift together the flour, baking soda,  cocoa, salt and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl. Add the zucchini and sugar and mix together thoroughly.  Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the oil, vinegar and water.  Mix well and pour into a large greased tin. Bake for about 40 minutes - until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Quick, vegan, store-cupboard supper for one or double up for a starter for four.

One zucchini, cut in half lengthways. Check whether the halves sit flat on their backs and if not, shave off a slither until they do.

Two tablespoons couscous, just covered in boiling water.

Olive oil.

One clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped.

Three sundried tomatoes finely chopped.

One tablespoon sunflower seeds.

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Leave the couscous to soften for a few minutes. Scoop out the zucchini flesh carefully with a teaspoon to leave two half-zucchini shells about 5mm thick. Chop the zucchini flesh finely. Heat a little olive oil in a small frying pan and fry the garlic and zucchini flesh for a few minutes until soft but not browned. Add the couscous, tomato and sunflower seeds. Mix and season well with salt amd pepper. Pile the mixture into the zucchini halves, place in an oiled, shallow baking dish and bake, uncovered, for about 20 minutes. Garnish with freshly chopped herbs.

I view meatloaf as an easy way of making burgers. You could use the same mixture to make patties or divide it into muffin tins to make a more portable version. I used a silicone loaf mould which makes it easy to release but I think you get a better browned look if you use a metal tin. Or you could slow cook it - form it into a round or oval loaf to fit your slow cooker, lightly coat the inside of the slow cooker with oil and lower the loaf into the slow cooker on a sling of aluminium foil. Takes about six hours on low. If you leave the lid open a crack for the last thirty minutes you’ll get it to brown a little or you can paint it with dark soy sauce. Leave the sling in place while it cooks or you’ll struggle to get the loaf out in one piece. You can then either slice it or serve it in wedges, like a cake.

750g mince (I used venison mince which was delicious but a bit coarse in texture. Finely minced beef or lamb would be good too)

300g grated zucchini

One large egg

One onion, peeled and finely chopped

One clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

Salt and pepper

One teaspoon fennel seeds

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Scoop into a large, greased loaf tin. Bake at 190 degrees C uncovered for 50 minutes. Allow to rest in a warm place for ten minutes before removing from the tin.

Any fresh fruit would work well in these muffins - pear and ginger would be a good combination or apple and cinnamon. Unfortunately they only take one stick of rhubarb (about 150g), but they are quick and easy to make and they freeze well. Makes 12 muffins.

One cup raw sugar

Half a cup of oil (I use light olive oil)

Half a cup of milk

One large egg

Two cups of self raising flour (300g)

Half a teaspoon baking soda

One teaspoon ground ginger

150 g rhubarb, finely chopped

Six pieces of crystallised ginger, cut in half.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Put the sugar, oil, milk and egg in a blender and blend until frothy and the sugar dissolved. Sift the flour, baking soda and ginger into a large bowl. Mix in the rhubarb pieces. Add the liquid ingredients to the bowl and mix gently until just combined. Divide into 12 paper cases in a muffin tin, top each with a piece of crystallised ginger. Bake for about 15 minutes until the tops are firm. Leave to cool for a few minutes in the tin and then place on a rack to cool fully.

I procrastinated about doing something far more useful by making home made chocolates. A tube of marzipan, half a block of Whittaker’s dark ghana 72% cocoa chocolate and a few bits and bobs from the pantry turned into three dozen chocolates. Wrapped in cellophane and tied with a ribbon some of them even made it off the property as gifts.

Marzipan - I bought some imported from Germany but you can make your own quite easily by kneading together 100g ground almonds, half a cup of caster sugar, one cup of icing sugar, 1 egg, plus a teaspoon of real vanilla essence.

Filling - Hazlenuts, raw almonds halved, small pieces of dried fig, dried apricots or glace cherries

Half a block of Whittakers chocolate - dark or milk

Melt the chocolate in a small bowl over a pan of simmering water. Wrap a hazlenut or other filling in a nugget of marzipan, rolling in your palms to get a small ball. Spear on a bamboo skewer and swirl in chocolate to cover. Leave to cool on a piece of baking paper.

I think these would be just as good with rhubarb, instead of raspberries. I made them because I’d used plenty of egg yolks in my vanilla custard. I don’t own a friand tin, but making them in paper cases in a muffin tin worked well. They’ve emerged intact from the freezer too. Makes twelve.

100g butter

Half a cup self raising flour

One cup icing sugar

Half a teaspoon baking powder

Half a cup of ground almonds

Three quarters of a cup shredded coconut

Six egg whites

12 raspberries (frozen ones are fine) or 12 chunks of rhubarb stem

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Melt the butter. Sift the flour, icing sugar and baking powder into a bowl. Add the almonds and coconut. Whisk the egg whites in a large, clean bowl with a balloon whisk to the ’soft peak’ stage - not dry. Fold into the dry ingredients. Pour in the cooled, melted butter and stir gently to combine. Wait for ten minutes before dividing the mixture between twelve muffin cases. Top each with a raspberry or chunk of rhubarb. Bake for 20 minutes.

A hunting trip endowed us with four half venison fillets in the freezer, all slightly less than a kilo in weight. I smeared this one in pesto and wrapped it in proscuitto and it was a generous main course for five, accompanied by new potatoes, vegetables and salad. A beef eye fillet would be a good alternative. I’ve used my hare wellington recipe for a couple of venison rump steaks.

Pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees C.

Half a portion of basil, coriander or rocket pesto

Fillet of venison or beef - allow 150g - 200g per person

75g proscuitto

Pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees C. Lay out piece of plastic wrap. Separate the slices of proscuitto and place them out on the wrap, overlapping slightly, in a rectangle the length by twice the width of the meat. Spread half the pesto on top of the meat and lay it , pesto side down, on the proscuitto. Spread the remaining pesto on the meat. Wrap the proscuitto over the meat. Tie up with cotton string.  Season with salt and pepper.

Grease a roasting dish with olive oil and put the meat in the dish in the oven. After fifteen minutes reduce the heat to 180 degrees C. Cook for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cover the meat in the roasting dish with a tent of aluminium foil. Allow to rest for about 15 minutes in a warm place. Thicken the juices in the pan with a teaspoon of cornflour dissolved in a tablespoon of milk. Remove the string and slice thickly to serve.

There’s a world of difference between the yellow-coloured white sauce you make from custard powder and real vanilla custard. It’s easy to make, so don’t compromise with anything other than the real thing. It’s the perfect accompaniment for rhubarb crumble. If you use genuinely free-ranging chicken eggs it will be bright yellow without any colouring.

six egg yolks

half a litre of full fat milk

seeds scraped from half a vanilla pod (or you can use vanilla paste)

two tablespoons caster sugar

Scald the milk by bringing it to steaming point in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Put the six egg yolks in a large mixing bowl. Add the hot milk and whisk with a balloon whisk. Tip back into the pan, add the vanilla and heat slowly, whisking all the time. Resist the temptation to turn up the heat or the egg will curdle.  After a while the sauce will thicken. Turn off the heat and continue whisking for a few more minutes until thickened and cooled. Pour into a jug to serve.

I sat on the steps in the evening sunshine to shell the mountain of broad beans. Tess got a few that bounced out of the bowl but that’s fair game. Don’t let the broad bean thing put you off as this dip looks and tastes like guacamole without the need for avocadoes. You can use up the bigger beans in this recipe. I spread it warm on a homemade bread roll but it would be good to dip raw radishes, carrot sticks and snow peas into. If you’re looking for a home for more broad beans, try a broad bean and feta salad. I made a variation on this dip by adding 100g feta cheese and omitting the paprika, cumin and olive oil. Must try adding some tahini next time.

250g broad beans, shelled weight

1 clove of garlic, skinned and roughly chopped

Half a teaspoon of cumin seeds

Half a teaspoon of ground paprika, smoked if you prefer

One tablespoon (or so) extra virgin olive oil

Handful of chives, finely chopped

Juice of half a lemon

Salt and pepper

Steam the broad beans for a couple of minutes until tender. Drain and place with the other ingredients to a blender or small food processor. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.