SAUSAGES IN RED WINE WITH NAN'S REDCURRANT JELLY


Scrumptious wintry dinner served with bubble 'n' squeak - or broccoli and mash. This is one of Delia's recipes, which I've adapted to suit vegetarian sausages. Pick a good red wine though, and don't season until you've tasted it - sometimes the wine needs a squeeze of lemon to sharpen it, and sometimes it doesn't need any extra salt.

4 Cauldron Lincolnshire sausages
6 baby onions or shallots
Handful chopped mushrooms (optional)
1tsp sunflower oil
1tbsp plain flour
200ml red wine
200ml vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
1tsp chopped, fresh thyme
Splash soy sauce (optional)
1tsp redcurrant jelly

Heat the oil and brown the sausages and onions slowly. Add the mushrooms and stir until softening. Stir in the flour until absorbed, then pour in a little of the red wine. Stir until thick and add the rest slowly. Add the stock, bay leaf and thyme. Stir all the brown bits off the bottom, and bring to a gentle simmer. Allow to simmer away for about 20 minutes, then taste. If it's a bit tanniny, add a squeeze of lemon juice; if it needs seasoning, use the soy sauce. Add pepper and the 1tsp of redcurrant jelly. Stir and check seasoning again.

Serve with mashed potato and something green. Lick plates clean...

AUTUMN EATING

Click here for my Natural Collection feature on autumn seasonal eating. Links to recipes for apples, beetroot, kale and pumpkin - from the professionals!

SESAME PAK CHOI NOODLES

Pak choi time... you could add lots of things, like bean shoots or cashew nuts, to this recipe to make it more substantial. Or eat it with some sweet and sour tofu on the side. I love Chinese cooking - it's so easy and fool-proof...

2 portions noodles, briefly boiled and drained
1tbsp groundnut or sunflower oil
1 head pak choi, chopped
1tbsp sesame seeds
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2tsp rich soy sauce
2tsp toasted sesame oil

Heat the oil and throw in the pak choi stalks and the sesame seeds. After a few minutes on a high heat, add the pak choi leaves and the garlic. Stir for a couple more minutes, then add the soy sauce and noodles. Stir and heat until hot and almost dry; drizzle over the sesame oil and serve in hot bowls. Better than a Pot Noodle any day of the week.

ROASTED PUMPKIN WITH TAGLIATELLE AND GOAT'S CHEESE

This deceptively simple recipe is just so delicious, I could eat it all year. Which is just as well, since we still have 4 pumpkins to use up....

Even if you don't think you like pumpkin, or goat's cheese, give it a try; you will be surprised. (Tesco's Welsh Goats Cheese is a good, mild version that isn't remotely offensive.)

FOR TWO
0.5 pumpkin or large squash (or thereabouts - you will probably nibble it from the tray before it goes in the pan, so make extra)
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper
1 handful pine nuts
2tbsp chopped Sage
1 dstsp butter
Tagliatelle
1 log Goat's Cheese (or Brie), crumbled into large pieces

Peel (oh heck), de-seed and cube the pumpkin or squash. Spread on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil,salt and pepper. Roast at about 180 degrees C for around 40 minutes (thereabouts), until browning and scrumptious. (this is where I start picking at it. Yum!) Put dinner plates in the oven, switch it off and close the door.

Take a large pan and boil the pasta briefly - don't overcook -undercooking is better. Put it in a colander and rinse with cold water. Then return the pan to the heat, melt the butter and add the pine nuts and sage. Allow to gently brown, then throw in the pasta and stir to coat and reheat. When all hot, add the cheese and pumpkin and toss gently.

Dish up onto the hot plates and eat..... ooh, bliss.