Rice dishes

If using fresh tomatoes, blanch in boiling water for a minute, remove and place in iced water. Skin and seed them into a sieve over a bowl to reserve juices. Discard seeds and skin. Chop tomatoes finely.

Heat oil in large pan and cook onion over low heat for about 10 mins until soft. Add rice and turn to coat with oil and onion. The rice should not colour but become translucent

Heat the oven to 200C. Toss the squash with about 2 tbsp of the olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper. Tip out onto a roasting tray and roast for about 20-25 minutes or until tender and slightly charred at the edges.

In a large frying pan, fry the bacon in a good slug of olive oil unitl just cooked (not crispy). Add the onion and fry on a low heat until soft but not coloured. Next, add the garlic and fry for a minute or two

Heat the olive oil in a paella pan (or large frying pan) and fry the chorizo until slightly crispy and remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on kitchen paper.

Blanch the 6 cloves in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain all the water off then add 200ml of the stock and half the butter. Simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes until the garlic is really soft and the stock and butter have reduced to a syrupy glaze.

Put the stock in a pan and bring to a simmering boil. Blanch the asparagus spears in the stock for a couple of minutes then take out and place immediately in cold water to cool down.

Blanch the spinach for a couple of minutes in boiling salted water, strain and set aside. Using the same water boil the peas for a couple of minutes. Put the peas, spinach and basil leaves into a blender and pulse until roughly chopped.

Gently fry the onion and celery in olive oil in a frying pan taking care not to colour. Add a good pinch of salt and stir well until vegetables have softened.

Fry the onion and pepper gently in groundnut oil until soft and slightly coloured. Add the curry powder and fry off for a minute or two.

In a heavy-bottomed casserole dish with a lid, fry the onion, garlic and ginger in the groundnut oil until soft and slightly coloured.

Heat the oven to 180C. In a large ovenproof casserole pan, fry the onion gently in about 2 tbsp groundnut oil until it starts to soften and caramelise. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and fry for 2-3 minutes.

Heat oil in ovenproof pan with a lid. Add sauasage and fry until browned and the oil has taken the colour of the sausage. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

This dish is actually a Puerto Rican classic, "Arroz Con Gandules". If your Spanish isnt too good, Gandules are Pigeon Peas....