Spinach, sausage and orzo soup

This spinach, sausage and orzo soup offers a whole meal and a big dose of comfort in one bowl for those midwinter days when you want dinner on
the sofa and minimal washing up.

Serves 4
6 plump sausages (ideally with lots of onion or garlic)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 stick of celery, diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp tomato purée
A generous pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
A small pinch of dried oregano
800ml chicken or vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
100g orzo or other small pasta
150g spinach, stems removed, roughly chopped
2 tbsp single or double cream 

TO SERVE:
Fresh parsley, chopped
Fresh basil, chopped
Freshly grated parmesan

1 Remove the sausage casings and shape the meat into little meatballs. Place the oil in a heavy-based pan with a lid over a medium-high heat and add the sausage meatballs. Brown them all over, then lift out and set aside. Turn the heat down to medium and to the same pan add the onion, carrot and celery, and season; sauté for 10 mins, until soft and beginning to brown.
2 Add garlic and tomato purée and cook, stirring for 2 mins. Next, add the nutmeg, oregano, stock and bay leaf and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 mins.
3 Add the orzo*, spinach and meatballs and simmer for 4 mins, or until the orzo and meatballs are cooked. Remove from the heat, add the cream and remove the bay leaf and check seasoning.
4 Serve in wide bowls, and garnish with herbs and parmesan.

Recipe from Leon Happy Soups by Rebecca Seal and John Vincent (Conran Octopus).

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More from the January issue:

More soup recipes:

Recipe | One-pot spelt spaghetti

This dish can step up to any occasion – late-night dinners, impromptu guests, hangovers – you name it. Just pop it all in a pan and in 15 minutes you’ll have a delicious meal

Serves 4

500g dried spelt spaghetti (wheat pasta is also fine here if you prefer)
500g cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, thinly sliced
A large handful of fresh spinach
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
A handful of black olives
2 sprigs of fresh basil
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dried oregano
1⁄2 tsp chilli flakes
1 litre vegetable stock
A handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

1 Place all of the ingredients in a large saucepan and cover with 400ml cold water. Place a lid on it and bring back to the boil.
2 Remove the lid, reduce the heat, simmer and cook for 10 mins, stirring occasionally until the liquid has reduced to a silky sauce.
3 Serve straight away with lashings of Parmesan cheese.

Recipe from Milly’s Real Food by Nicola Millbank (HarperCollins).

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More from the September issue:

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Recipe | Strawberry and pesto pasta salad

Strawberries and pasta? Why not! This fun and colourful salad has a bounty of fresh fruit and veg and the pesto avocado dressing is creamy yet light. Enjoy in the sunshine with a glass of something cold.

Strawberry and pesto pasta salad

300g dry pasta
1 broccoli, head and stalk
2 carrots, tops removed and peeled
250g fresh strawberries, hulled
1 nectarine, sliced
1 handful cherry tomatoes, halved
1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained
1 handful fresh basil leaves
Pesto and avocado dressing:
75g homemade* or shop-bought pesto
1 ripe avocado
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
To serve:
Shavings of pecorino or parmesan
Toasted pine nuts
Extra virgin olive oil

1 Cook the pasta until al dente.
2 Meanwhile, cut the broccoli into small florets, trim and roughly chop stalks and place in a sieve over the pasta water during the last few minutes of cooking. Drain pasta and broccoli and set aside.
3 Place all the dressing ingredients in a bowl, season and mash until combined.
4 Thinly slice the carrots, quarter the strawberries, slice the nectarine and halve the tomatoes. Transfer the pasta and broccoli to a large serving bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and dressing and gently toss to coat. Add a dash of water if you need to loosen the dressing.
5 Serve topped with pecorino, a sprinkling of pine nuts, seasoning and a drizzle of oil.

*To make homemade pesto, you will need:

100g fresh basil, leaves and stems picked
60g grana padano or parmesan, grated
50g pine nuts, toasted
80ml extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 clove of garlic, peeled

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender, season to taste and blend until well combined. Store the pesto in the fridge in a sealable glass jar and it will keep for about a week. Alternatively, roll it into a log using a sheet of greaseproof paper and store it in the freezer.

Taken from Green Kitchen at Home by David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl (Hardie Grant). 

More from the July issue:

More salad recipes:

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Recipe: Tomato pasta sauce

Surprise someone with a care package

Who doesn’t like receiving nice parcels? Care packages show that the joy of giving doesn’t need to be restricted to birthdays or Christmas. 

October’s issue of The Simple Things includes a few ideas for putting together care packages – and this simple tomato sauce recipe is one of the suggestions for inclusion in the House Party package. It’s a great addition for a hand-delivered package – especially for a time-pushed recipient. A quick dinner solution, this is technically a pasta sauce, but try it added to a tin of beans to make fancy baked beans. We’ve also heard that it’s pretty tasty straight out of the jar…

Serves two as a pasta sauce for dinner

10 plum tomatoes,
halved lengthways olive oil, for drizzling
balsamic vinegar,  for drizzling
3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
5 basil leaves, torn in two, plus extra whole leaves for bottling

1 Preheat your oven to 160°C. Pop your tomato halves into a lined baking dish and season well with salt and pepper. Pour a generous glug of olive oil over each tomato, then follow suit with about one-third of the amount of balsamic. Mix the tomatoes, oil and vinegar together with your hands.
2 Add the garlic cloves and top each tomato half with a basil leaf half. Roast for an hour, checking every 20 minutes and rotating the dish to ensure even cooking, if necessary. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
3 When the tomatoes have cooled, spoon into a clean glass jar (or jars), adding a few extra basil leaves to the sauce, preferably where they can be seen. 
4 Fasten the lid and have fun decorating the jar, or make it a label or tag to match your care package. This will last up to a week in your refrigerator – if you don’t eat it before then!

Tip - stuff in a baguette with Fior Di Latte cheese and fresh basil leaves, or mix with a tin of cannellini, lima or haricot beans for homemade fancy baked beans. 

See page 80 of October’s issue for more care package suggestions. 

Recipe from Care Packages by Michelle Mackintosh (Hardie Grant). Photography by Chris Middleton. 

More from the October issue:

More tomato posts:

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