Italian Meatballs

We don't eat meat often, preferring fish, but there's been this pack of minced meat sitting in the freezer which really should be used ... it's a half and half of beef and pork mince, and about a kilo in total (two pounds ... ish).

Put the meat into a mixing bowl and add the following:

• one chopped onion and several cloves of garlic (to taste) ... which I actually hand blended
• Parmesan or Pecorino cheese ... I used pecorino and grated about 4oz
• oregano ... dried is fine; a good teaspoon
• parsley ... fresh and chopped; several leaves
• generous splash of Worcestershire Sauce
• sea salt and black pepper

No need for breadcrumbs or rusk filler. Bread was only ever included to bulk out the dish - we have enough with the meat here.

Mix well and then form balls about 4oz in weight.

Assemble on an ovenproof plate and cook through for about 45-60 minutes at 180C (350F).

Meanwhile, make up the sauce ...

Again, chopped onion, blended, a carton of chopped tomatoes, sea salt, black pepper, wild garlic and a good glass of red wine ... a Milanese Sangiovese in my case.

Simmer for the remainder of the cooking time.

Ready to eat?

Spoon a little sauce into a bowl and place a couple of meatballs on top, more sauce over, olives alongside, more cheese over and garnish with parsley.

Poached Salmon, Spinach, Beetroot & Swede Remoulade

Spring is about simplicity ... simplicity and vibrant colours.

I have some lovely salmon in and just wanted a quick, hassle-free dinner, easily prepared, and full of  colour and flavour.

Let's take a quick look at what we'll be eating ...

Salmon fillet, pickled beetroot, spinach, swede, mayonnaise, mustard and lemon juice.

Now, how to put this together ...

In a pan of boiled water, place the salmon fillets in and lower the heat to a very gentle simmer. If you like, you can add bouillon in here or a little sea salt. At the end, keep the liquour as a base for a soup.

With the salmon on, peel some swede and grate it. How much? Enough. If there's too much, great! Something to base a packed up office lunch around.

To the swede, add some mayonnaise, mustard, black pepper and lemon juice. Stir together. That's a remoulade. You can make up your own mayonnaise or use your favourite store bought mayo. Do check the ingredients, though.

Some chives or dill would be nice in the remoulade. I intended to use dill, but completely forgot.

Back to it, and soften some spinach in a frying pan with some butter. Once softened, switch off - we don't want mush.

We're probably about 10 minutes in here, so the salmon is most likely cooked through.

Retrieve the salmon from the poaching liquor to drain. Remember, keep that liquor - it will make a good soup.

Spoon out some of the remoulade onto a plate, placing some spinach alongside and some chopped pickled beetroot over and lay the fish over the top. I added a spoon of goat yoghurt and a good sprinkling of Icelandic ash salt. Garnish as you wish.

If you took the opportunity to poach a couple of extra salmon fillets, let them cook and enjoy them for lunch the following day with the left over swede remoulade and a fresh green salad. More pickled beetroot, naturally.

Mushroom & Wild Garlic Soup

I'm really enjoying to the full the spread of wild garlic that our valley has produced, shredded over salads, adding green to sauces and that lovely bite to all manner of soups.

Paired with mushroom, we have something close to heaven.

Wild garlic has a flavour of really leaky leaks. Take the flavour of the green part with the bite of the white part and the subtle sweetness of chive and amplify it ... several times ... you're somewhere close to wild garlic.

I've made this soup a couple of times, the first including the trimmings of some potatoes which were cut specifically for the main course and again (pictured) without.

The recipe is the same, through ...

You'll need butter, mushrooms, black pepper, chicken stock, onion and wild garlic, and optionally potato.

For two, I used about a centimetre off the end of a stick of goat butter since mushrooms can really soak it up. Soften a small onion, chopped and then add in several mushrooms. I used the chestnut variety and put in probably eight or ten, sliced. Allow the mushrooms to soften.

Grind a good amount of black pepper over and pour in a pint of chicken stock. Add any potatoes at this point, chopped into small cubes - an amount the size of a couple of salad potatoes is plenty.

Simmer until all the ingredients are really soft.

Shred up six or eight wild garlic leaves and toss into the soup.

Blend up, ensuring all the ingredients are mashed up, but not overly puréed. Some texture is nice.

If only I knew my wild mushrooms, this could be really superb.