Pasta with anchovies, broccoli and stilton

I know this isn't too dissimilar to the orecchiette with anchovies and broccoli that I posted last July (was it really that long ago?). You can blame Nigel Slater for that - I have a sneaking suspicion both recipes were inspired by his latest book, Tender.

Makes enough for three. You'll need:

1 medium-sized head of broccoli (this would be even nicer with purple sprouting)
a 150ml or so of creme fraiche
4 anchovy fillets
1 onion, sliced
enough pasta for three (that's about 6-7 handfuls in our house)
a slosh of olive oil
a chunk of stilton, crumbled

Sling the pasta in a pan of boiling water, and cook until al dente. In the meantime, chop the broccoli into small florets, and steam for 3-4 minutes.

In a frying pan, gently cook the onion in the olive oil, until it turns translucent. Add the anchovy fillets, and stir to break them up (they'll almost dissolve in the oil). Add the creme fraiche, and simmer for few minutes. Sling in the stilton (dolcelatte would be even better here, I suspect), and let it melt - if the sauce becomes a little thick, then dilute with a little hot water.

Tip in the broccoli and the drained pasta, and toss everything together. Season with lots of black pepper.

Lemon, raisin and sour cream muffins

We made these in the morning, and then spent this afternoon at Whitburn, marvelling at the stripy lighthouse and the beautiful pebbles on the beach.

Makes an enormous amount (26 small cupcakes, or presumably about 13 large muffins). You'll need:

180g raisins
375g self-raising flour
220g sugar
rind of a lemon, finely grated
90g butter, melted
180g creme fraiche or sour cream
125ml milk
2 eggs

Stick your oven on at 180 degrees C, and line a cupcake pan with some paper cases.

Mix the flour, raisins, sugar and lemon rind in a bowl. Add the melted butter. In a large jug beat the milk, creme fraiche and eggs together, and then tip in. It'll look like an unholy mess - give it all a swish about, until all the flour has mixed in properly. It'll still look lumpy (that's the raisins for you), but will smell amazing.

Decant the mixture into your paper cases, trying not to drop it all over the floor. Bung in the oven for about 20 minutes, until they've started to go golden brown.