Green veggie soup with egg

Another recipe from the wonderful Simon Rimmer veggie cook book, a clear green soup that can be made as hearty and filling or as light as you want.

Ingredients:

• oil, for frying
• 6 spring onions, finely chopped
• 3 celery sticks, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 350g potatoes, peeled and cubed
• juice and grated zest of 1 lemon (I use half a lemon, Simon's recipes generally turn out too lemony for me)
• 1,5 litres of vegetable stock
• 100g shelled broad beans (I used one glass jar of white beans)
• 1 head of 'little gem' lettuce (no idea what that is, I just used watercress)
• handful of baby spinach (which I also substituted with watercress)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 eggs
• grated pecorino cheese, to serve
• watercress sprigs, to garnish (jeej)

Heat some oil in a saucepan, add the onions and celery and fry until soft over a low heat. Add the courgettes, potatoes and lemon zest. Stir for a couple of minutes, then add the stock and bring to the boil. Add the beans, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the lettuce and spinahc and simmer for a further 5 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked. Season to taste.

Beat the eggs and lemon juice together, then stir into the simmering soup. Cook for just 1 minute, then ladle the soup into bowls. Scatter some cheese on top and garnish with sprigs of watercress.

Goat's Cheese and Onion Tart

The veggie cookbook by Simon Rimmer I got from my friends last year is proving to be a treasure trove of yummy recipes. Upon request, here is the recipe for the goat cheese & onion tart that has been a success at dinner parties so far.

Ingredients:

• mille-feuille pastry (I just get ready-made pastry from the supermarket, but you can make your own of course)
• 50g butter (or a few spoonfuls, the precise measurement doesn't matter)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 large onions or 5-6 smaller ones, sliced
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks
• 150ml double cream
• 100g goat's cheese, crumbled

Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C for an oven with a fan). Grease a 20cm tart tin (or just use the baking paper from the store bought mille feuille pastry, natch). For the filling, heat the butter and oil together in a saucepan, then add the onions, garlic, sugar and seasoning and cook over a low heat for about 20 minutes, or until golden.

Whisk together the eggs, egg yolks and cream in a clean mixing bowl (or use your Tupperware Shake-it, like me!). Mix with the onions and pour into the pastry in the tart tin. Scatter the crumbled cheese over the top.

Bake for 20 minutes until the filling is set firm and golden brown.