Ingredients

3 potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces
half a cauliflower, cleaned and divided into small florets
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (and some to serve)
a 3-4 cm piece of leek, cleaned and finely chopped
300 ml water (save the water you used to cook the vegetables)
100 ml oat milk, unflavoured and unsweetened
freshly gound black pepper, to taste
smoked sea salt, just enough to taste

Makes 2-3 servings.

Directions

steam the potatoes and cauliflower and keep the cooking water. In a large, heavy bottomed saucepan (or wok) heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the leek until translucent. Add the potatoes and cauliflower and keep cooking for another few minutes. Transfer the vegetables into the bowl of a mixer and process. Pour the water and oat milk very slowly and keep processing until creamy and smooth. Add more water or oat milk if you prefer a thinner texture. Reheat the soup over a low heat if necessary then divide it into individual bowls. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of black pepper and smoked sea salt. Serve warm.

Ingredients

3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
a 4-5 cm piece of leek, cleaned and cut into thin slices
3-4 tablespoons filtered water
20 g dried porcini mushrooms, to be soaked in filtered water for about 10 minutes then drained and chopped
200 ml vegetable cream, unflavoured and unsweetened
whole sea salt, just enough to taste
a pinch of chilli powder
freshly ground white pepper, to taste
freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
160-170 g pizzoccheri
1 jerusalem artichoke, peeled and thinly shaved (use a mandolin or potato peeler)
fresh parsley leaves, cleaned

Makes 2 servings.

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat and sauté the leek for a couple of minutes. Add the water and keep cooking for another minute or so. Throw in the porcini and toss them around by shaking the pan. Pour the vegetable cream into the pan, season with a little salt, add the chilli pepper, white pepper and nutmeg, turn the heat to low and cook for another ten minutes. In the meantime, bring a large saucepan of filtered water to a boil, add some salt and cook the pizzoccheri until al dente. Drain the pasta and transfer it into a large bowl or in the saucepan you used to cook the pasta. Stir in the porcini sauce and divide the pizzoccheri into individual plates. Top with the shaved jerusalem artichoke, drizzle some olive oil over, sprinkle some more white pepper and nutmeg on top and garnish with parsley leaves. Serve warm.

Ingredients

a 5-6 cm piece of a leek, cleaned and finely sliced
the juice of 1 lemon
whole sea salt, just enough to taste
half a ripe but firm pear, cleaned and sliced lengthwise
2 tablespoons grade C maple syrup
100 g smoked tofu, thinly sliced
a large handful of fresh baby spinach, cleaned
extra virgin olive oil, to taste
a few pomegranate kernels

Makes 2 servings. 

Directions

Place the sliced leek in a bowl, add half of the lemon juice and salt and let marinate for about 45 minutes. In another bowl, place the pear slices, add the remaining lemon juice and maple syrup and set aside for about 30 minutes. Sauté the tofu in very little olive oil until brown on both sides then remove form heat and set aside. To assemble your salad, mix the leek, pear, tofu and spinach and add some olive oil. Garnish with the pomegranate kernels and serve.

Ingredients

1 large leek, cleaned and chopped
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
200 g semi whole wheat flour
100 g whole rice flour
a quarter of a teaspoon cinnamon powder
half a teaspoon whole sea salt
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
a few pinches of dried oregano
70 ml extra virgin olive oil
200 ml oat milk, unsweetened and unflavoured

Makes 12 muffins.

Directions

Preheat oven to 180° C. In a large pan or wok, sauté the leek in the olive oil then add the pepper and water, stir and keep cooking for another 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the wheat flour, rice flour, cinnamon, salt, cornstarch, baking soda, cream of tartar and oregano stir to blend. In another bowl combine olive oil and oat milk and whisk well. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and add the leek. Stir gently until the ingredients are combined but don’t over mix the batter. Fill the muffin cups or muffin tray with the batter, using a spoon. Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick or knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from the oven, let cool for a couple of minutes, unmold the muffins, place them on a wire rack and let cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This soup provides the perfect meal: it’s tasty, slightly sweet, warm, soothing, and smooth. It’s easy to make, leaves you fulfilled, and requires very few ingredients. Here I use oat milk for its mild, sweet taste, and add some dried chestnuts to make this dish a little bit different.

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients

4 leeks

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 pinch whole sea salt

1 liter oat milk

2 handfuls dried chestnuts

filtered or mineral water (to cook the chestnuts)

Directions

Cook the dried chestnuts in boiling water for aboout 20-25 minutes, or until soft. Drain and set aside. Trim the leeks, wash them well and slice them. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the leeks and salt and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the oat milk, cover and cook over low heat for about 20-25 minutes, until the leeks are tender. Remove from the heat, transfer into a food processor and blend until smooth. Use more oat milk for a looser texture. Reheat if needed and serve immediately with some olive oil and crumbled chestnuts on top.

Part sauce, part soup, part side dish, this creamed pumpkin is versatile, simple and delicious. You can enjoy it as a sauce with almost any kind of pasta and other grain-based dishes. As it’s incredibly smooth, it makes a perfect soup. It can also be wonderful paired with beans.

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients

1 medium sized pumpkin
half a leek
whole sea salt, to taste
chili powder, to taste
half a teaspoon dried ginger powder
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cups filtered water, and some more to blend, if necessary

Directions:

Clean, trim and slice the leek. Peel the pumpkin and remove the seeds, then cut the flesh into cubes. Pour the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the leek and stir fry for 1 minute. Stir in the pumpkin cubes, sprinkle with the ginger, some salt and chili powder and add the water. Cover and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, until soft. Add some more water if necessary. When cooked, set aside and allow to cool a bit, then transfer the mixture into a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy, adding some more water for a looser texture. Reheat before serving.

If you like the rich tastes of autumn, this is the kind of pasta dish you should try. It may sound a bit elaborate to make but if you get organized and follow the steps I’m suggesting here, you’ll realize the recipe is actually very simple. For a more rustic dish, substitute spaghetti with homemade, whole grain pappardelle or tagliatelle.

Ingredients:

280 g organic Kamut spaghetti

For the mushrooms

8 dried shiitake

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 tablespoons water (the same you used to soak the mushrooms)

2-3 fresh chive sprigs

For the walnut and leek sauce

1 leek

100 g walnuts

4-5 tablespoons plain soy milk (GMO-free)

1 pinch whole sea salt

1 pinch ground white pepper

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Makes 4 servings.

Soak shiitake in water and start preparing the walnut and leek sauce. In the meantime, bring a pot of water to a boil.

Leek and walnut sauce

Bring 2-3 glasses of water to a boil. Clean the leek, cut it into 2-3 cm chunks, and cook it in water until completely tender. Meanwhile, ground the walnuts in a blender or food processor. Add the leek (which you will have drained, if necessary), oil, salt and pepper and blend while pouring a stream of soy milk throught the hole in the blender cap. As soon as the sauce is creamy enough (it should be smooth, so you might need to add some extra milk), stop processing and set aside.

Mushrooms

Once the mushrooms are soft (normally,  20 minutes soaking time is good enough), you can rinse them briefly (keep the soaking water!) and remove the stems. Chop the shiitake, transfer them into a wok and sauté for a few minutes in the olive oil. Add about 4 tablespoons soaking water and cook over medium heat for another 10 minutes or until tender, using more water to prevent mushrooms from getting too dry. Remove from heat, sprinkle with some chives and set aside.

Pasta

As soon as the water is boiling, salt it and cook the spaghetti until al dente. Drain, and transfer them into the wok with the mushrooms. Sprinkle with some olive oil, add the leek and walnut sauce and sauté for about 1 minute over medium heat, making sure all the flavours blend together. Garnish with some chives and enjoy.