Cooking for St David...
Happy St David's day! Here are some favourite ways with leeks, goat's cheese, lamb and cake... stalwarts of Welsh eating...

Leek & Goat's Cheese Quiche
Make up a batch of wholemeal pastry (Weigh out 4oz wholemeal flour, 4oz plain flour, and a pinch of salt; rub in 2oz butter, 2oz vegetable fat, and add iced water to mix) and pop into the fridge while you prepare the quiche. Soften 2 leeks (washed and chopped) in a frying pan with a dab of butter, then season, and set aside to cool. In a jug, whisk 2 eggs with 2tbsp grated cheddar or parmesan, 100ml double cream and 100ml milk, seasoning generously and adding chives if you like. Now assemble the quiche: roll out the pastry to fit a 20cm flan tin, and scatter the leeks over the bottom. Carefully pour on the egg mixture, scatter 100g crumbled Welsh Goat's Cheese over the top, and slide into a moderate oven. Bake for about 40 minutes, then rest before serving.

Roast Squash with Leeks and Pine Nuts
The squash is an easy all-in-one dinner: just cut in half, then scoop out and discard the seeds, and also cut out some of the golden flesh - cube it and set aside. Put the squash shells on a roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle on some salt and pepper. Roast for around 30-4o minutes, until tender and golden. Meanwhile prepare the filling: saute the cubes of flesh with 1 chopped leek, stir in 1tbsp Parmesan, and continue to fry until toasty. Cram the filling into the cooked squashes, scatter pine nuts and extra Parmesan over the top, and return to the oven for 10 minutes to get gold and crunchy on top. Straight from God's land to the fork!

Rustic Goat's Cheese Bread with Thyme
I have this baking in the machine as I type! I can't wait to eat it this evening with the roasted squash (above). Delia offers a hand-baking recipe for goat's cheese bread with thyme which is already a favourite in our house (with the addition of potato - it's bliss!), but I'm afraid work demands a less time-demanding recipe at the moment!

So - this comes from sumptuous book 'Traditional Breads for your Breadmaker'. In a breadmaker, combine 1.5tsp instant yeast with 2 cups white flour, 1 cup country grain flour, 1tsp salt, 1tbsp sugar, 2tbsp sunflower oil, 50g crumbled goat's cheese, 1tsp fresh thyme, and 1 cup warm water. Set to the 'white' programme... (recipe by Karen Saunders)

If it's cold or rainy and you want some comfort food, try traditional lamb stew - cawl (quick popty-ping version here) and Welsh cakes!

Hitipitiiiiiii
Greek red pepper and feta dip

This isn't a recipe of mine - it's from the brilliant 'Vegetables' by Sophie Grigson - but we ate it for lunch yesterday - with fresh focaccia and pumpkin hummous (recipe and piccy to follow) - and it was just sublime. We were actually fighting for the last scoop of the dish.

In fact, this is the first time I have cooked with feta cheese, and I plan to find a lot of new ways with it! If you get a red pepper in your veg box, if you like cheese (even a little bit), if you have a penchant for salt, if you love bread - do try this dip. If no bread in the house, cut up carrots or cucumber - whatever you need to do...

1 large red pepper
100g feta cheese, crumbled
2tbsp olive oil
0.5tsp paprika
Juice of 0.3 lemon

First, you need to roast the pepper - take off the top and the seeds, and roast in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes or until starting to blacken. Sophie says to remove the skins, but I didn't as I like the added smokiness. Tip into a blender and add the cheese, oil, lemon juice and paprika. Whiz to a grainy puree and spoon into a serving dish, scatter with extra paprika, and serve. Heaven in a bowl!

WELSH HOMITY PIE

I'm not really obsessed with leeks and potatoes, it's just that they're all we're getting in the box right now. Well, those plus cabbage and broccoli. And carrots. I like carrots, but they're not very inspiring when it comes to recipes. Although the New Covent Garden Soup Company has a great recipe for carrot and cardamom soup. And I don't mind a carrot risotto with garden thyme, either.

I'm hungry, in case you didn't notice. I am about to go and whip up a pumpkin lasagne using yesterday's goat's cheese and some leftover spinach pesto (from Sainsbury's). Well, it won't be whipping-up so much as hacking-up, I suppose, which is why I'm not desperately keen to start. I do love pumpinks (interesting spelling) but they're not for ladies to chop up, are they? Sigh.

You're probably hungry too. Here's the pie. Ordinary Homity Pie is made with onion, potato and cheese; my Welsh version uses the symbol of God's land - the Leek. Just like everything else, the Homity pie is better in Welsh.

PASTRY

4oz wholemeal flour
4oz plain white flour
Pinch salt
2oz Trex
2oz butter
Iced water

Weigh out the butter and Trex, dice them, and put in the freezer for twenty minutes or so. Weight out the flour, and rub in the cold fats. Then add a pinch of salt and enough iced water to bind the pastry. Wrap in cling-film and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

WELSH HOMITY PIE

2 small leeks, sliced
4 medium potatoes, sliced thinly
1dstsp butter
1tbsp plain flour
0.4 pint milk
0.5tsp mustard powder
2 large handfuls (about 2oz) grated mature cheddar
Plenty of ground pepper

Preheat the oven to about 180 deg C.

First slice up the leeks and put into a little hot water, then bring to the boil briefly. While this is happening, slice the potatoes as finely as you can. Drain the leeks and then put the sliced potatoes on to simmer for about 10 minutes, just until tender to the point of a knife (watch to make sure they don't fall apart).

Set aside the vegetables to cool a little. Make the cheese sauce: melt the butter, take the pan off the heat and stir in the flour and mustard powder with a wooden spoon, to a yellow paste. Add a little milk and return to a gentle heat, then continue to add the milk, a splash at a time. You're aiming for a very thick white sauce, so stop when it reaches a thick, sloppy stage. Add the cheddar and allow it to melt. Set the sauce aside to cool a bit.

Now roll out the pastry to fit an 8-10" tart tin, leaving plenty of overhang. Prick the base with a fork. Pop this into the preheated oven for 10 minutes to dry out a little.

Press the leeks with kitchen paper to get rid of excess moisture and then spoon them into the pastry case to cover the bottom. Add a spoonful of cheese sauce. Now arrange the potato slices prettily on top in two layers, adding ground pepper and cheese sauce in between. Finish with the remaining cheese sauce, or as much as you can pour into the gaps.

Bake for about 30 minutes until golden brown, and serve with steamed broccoli.

The Perfect Margharita

I've been testing and trialling pizza recipes for ages and finally got it right. Crispy, fluffy base, juicy tomato sauce, slices of stretchy mozzarella. Even Steve doesn't mind the absence of meat. Here it is.

MARGHARITA PIZZA

6oz plain flour
1tsp dried yeast
1tsp salt
0.5tsp sugar
1tbsp olive oil
100ml warm water

Combine the ingredients and mix to a dough. Knead for 10 mins, then leave to rest in a warm place. Return to it after an hour and knead and stretch it into a pizza shape on a baking tray. Cover with a tea-towel dampened with hot water, and put in a warm place (I use the bottom oven). Leave for as long as you can bear (about an hour at least).

Tomato Sauce:
4 large tomatoes, chopped
2tsp balsamic vinegar
Splash water
Pinch sugar
Pinch salt and pepper

Put everything in a saucepan and simmer on a very low heat, for maybe 40 minutes, checking often. By the end it should be thick and almost dry.

To assemble:
Spread the tomato sauce over the pizza, and add some thinly-sliced tomato if you have any left. Slice a ball of fresh, organic mozzarella and put over the top. Finally, grate a scant handful of cheddar over everything. Serve with mixed salad and white wine (capers optional).

A WELSH SAUSAGE RECIPE

I miss Wales. While I was missing it, I remembered a wonderful Welsh vegetarian recipe which I haven't made for ages.

Tempted to make Welsh cakes for afters, but am on a emergency-one-week-bridesmaid-diet. (Not a very good one, but I only want to drop a couple of pounds, not a stone.)

Yes, much prefer being curvy and contented. I would have to sacrifice a lot to be skinny - sausage and mash, for one. Good thing we Welsh girls are naturally gorgeous. I couldn't live without sausage and mash.

GLAMORGAN SAUSAGES
(makes plenty - they freeze well.)

1 large or 2 skinny leeks, chopped very finely
150g cheddar
100g bread
1tsp dried sage
1tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
0.75tsp mustard powder
1tsp vegetable bouillion
Black pepper
2 egg yolks

Saute the leek gently (I did this in a splash of water to avoid extra fat!) to take away that potent onionyness. Grate the cheese, finely chop the bread into crumbs, and mix all the dry ingredients together. Add the egg yolks and stir to a thick, sticky mess. Refrigerate if there's time - makes the rolling easier.

Flour your hands. Shape into sausages and roll in egg white, then semolina (if you have any) or some more breadcrumbs. Refrigerate again, until you're ready to cook.

At Dermouths' (fab veggie restaurant in Bath) they shallow fry these until golden, but I've discovered they bake just fine. Drizzle with a little olive oil and put in oven until golden.

Serve with mash and beans... or gravy... and enjoy.