Courgette and goat's cheese pancakes

One of the easiest pancake fillings in the world (after bacon and maple syrup).

Makes enough for 3-4 pancakes. You'll need:

a couple of courgettes, diced
a small onion, finely chopped
some herbs (I used rosemary because I'd just cut back the bush in the garden)
a very good slug of olive oil
some goat's cheese (I used the really spreadable stuff that we had leftover from making something else)

Sling the onions in a frying pan with the olive oil, and cook gently until they're soft. Add the courgettes and chopped herbs, and fry for another 6-7 minutes until they too are softened and coated in the olive oil.

Make your pancake.

Spread a line of goat's cheese down the centre of the pancake, followed by a tablespoon or two of the courgette/onion mixture. Season with black pepper, and roll up. Eat while it's still hot.

Beetroot and goat's cheese tart

We may have found the only beetroot recipe in the world that your Dad and I like (we're not big fans, let's put it this way). This one is nicked from Hugh Fearnley Whernley and slightly adjusted.

Makes enough for 4 (or for 6 as a starter). You'll need:

shortcrust pastry (I used 200g flour, 75g butter and a little cold water)
3 red onions, finely sliced
150ml red wine
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon dried thyme
500g small beetroot
a little fresh dill, finely chopped
200g goat's cheese

First of all, you need to roast the beetroot. Wash them, cut the top and bottom off, and stick in the oven at about 200 degrees C with a little olive oil for 40-45 minutes (you may need a little longer if they're on the large side). Let them cool a little, then peel, and chop into wedges. It's best to delegate this bit, as it's rather messy.

In the meantime, make the shortcrust pastry, and prepare the rest of your filling. You'll need a flan tin (I used one about 20cm across with a removable bottom), which you need to grease, and line with the pastry. Stick a circle of baking parchment on top, and then tip in some baking beans, or dried pulses. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or so, and then haul it out.

Fry the onions in a little olive oil until they're soft. Add the wine, vinegar, dried thyme, honey (and a generous helping of black pepper), and then simmer until almost all the liquid's gone. Stir in the beetroot wedges, add a little fresh dill, and mix well.

Cut your goat's cheese into thin-ish slices (about 1cm thick). Lay a few on the bottom of the tart, tip in the beetroot mixture, and stick the rest of the slices on top.

Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes - you want the goat's cheese to be bubbling, and browning on top.

Serve with a green frondy salad. And beware...it'll turn your wee pink.

Onion and goat's cheese tart

While I was making mince pies, I thought I'd make a tart for tea - they use the same shortcrust pastry base.

You'll need:

a small log of goat's cheese
two or three large onions, sliced
a handful of black olives
dried thyme
black pepper
enough shortcrust pastry to line a flan tin

Stick the oven on at about 180 degrees C.

Chuck a slug of olive oil into a large frying pan, and heat. Add the sliced onions, and cook on a low heat for 15-20 minutes (at least - they can keep pottering along for much longer if you need them to), until they've softened and started to caramelise.

Roll out the shortcrust pastry, and line the flan tin. Shortcrust is usually pretty forgiving, so you can patch up corners if you haven't got the shape quite right. I use one of those flan tins with a removable base, just to make getting the damn thing out a bit easier.

Spread the onions over the base, and then top with 4 or 5 slices of goat's cheese. Sprinkle over some olives, thyme and black pepper, and then bung in the oven for 20 minutes or so until the pastry is golden and the cheese is molten.

We ate ours with a salad of spinach leaves - it went well with the oily cheese.