There couldn’t be an easier way to start your week! This delicious recipe can also be adapted to include more or different vegetables to suit your taste - it goes without saying though that you’ll want more than one helping! (From ‘America’s Family Recipes’, for the iPad and iPhone)

Layered Vegetable Casserole, serves 4.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil, for brushing

5 large white potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

2 leeks, trimmed, thoroughly washed, and thinly sliced

2 large beef tomatoes, sliced

8 fresh basil leaves

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

salt and freshly ground pepper

300ml/10 fl oz vegetable stock

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

2. Brush an ovenproof casserole dish with a little of the olive oil. Prepare all the vegetables. 

3. Place a layer of potato slices in the bottom of the dish, sprinkle with half of the basil leaves and cover with a layer of leeks. Top with a layer of tomato slices. Repeat these layers until all the vegetables are used up, ending with a layer of potatoes.

4. Stir the chopped garlic into the vegetable broth and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour the broth over the vegetables and brush the top with the remaining olive oil.

5. Bake in the preheated over for 1½ hours, or until the vegetables are gender and the topping is golden brown. Serve immediately. 

Together with a side salad, these little wonders are perfect hot or cold - irresistible!

Blue Cheese & Walnut Tartlets, makes 12. Recipe from Parragon’s ‘Irish Pub Cooking’.

Ingredients:

PIE DOUGH

210g/7½ oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting

pinch of celery salt

115g/4 oz cold butter, cut into pieces, plus extra for greasing

35g/¼ oz walnut halves, finely chopped

FILLING

2 tbsp butter

2 celery stalks, trimmed and finely chopped

1 small leek, trimmed and finely chopped

225ml/8fl oz double cream, plus 2 tbsp extra

200g/7 oz blue cheese

3 egg yolks

salt and pepper

1. Lightly grease a 12 hole muffin tray. Sift the flour and celery salt into a food processor, add the butter and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add the walnuts and a little cold water, just enough to bring the dough together. 

2. Turn out onto a floured counter and cut the dough in half. Roll out the first piece and cut out six 9cm/3½ in circles. Take each circle and roll out to 12cm/4½ in in diameter and fit into the muffin holes, pressing to fill the holes. Do the same with the remaining dough. Put a piece of parchment paper in each hole, fill with dried beans and let chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.

3. Remove the muffin pan from the refrigerator and bake the tartlets blind in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then carefully remove the paper and the beans.

4. Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the celery and the leek and cook for 15 minutes, until soft. Add the 2 tablespoons of cream and crumble in the blue cheese. Mix well and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring the remaining cream to a simmer in a separate pan, then pour onto the egg yolks, stirring all the time. Mix in the blue cheese mixture and spoon into the pastry shells. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the pan around in the oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before serving.