Carbonara

Ingredients

• I small onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
• 45g Parma ham, visible fat removed and ripped into pieces
• 150g linguine
• 2 large free range egg yolks
• 20g freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 5-6 drops of Tabasco
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Place the onion in a large, deep non-stick frying pan with 150ml water and bring to the boil.  Lower the heat to medium, cover and cook for 5 minutes.  Remove the lid, turn up the heat and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the water has evaporated.  Add the olive oil and the Parma ham and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until browned, stirring frequently.  Remove from the heat and keep warm.  Meanwhile, cook the linguine according to the packet instructions, adding ½ teaspoon of salt to the cooking water.  In a large bowl, mix the egg yolks, Parmesan, herbs and Tabasco.  Drain the pasta when cooked, reserving 3 to 4 tablespoons of the cooking water.  Mix together the pasta, egg yolks and Parmesan mixture with the reserved cooking liquid, the onion and Parma ham.  Season well.  Serve immediately with a green salad.

Beetroot Chocolate Fudge Cake

Ingredients

• 250g good–quality dark chocolate
• 3 medium free-range eggs
• 250g light muscovado sugar
• 1 vanilla pod, cut in half lengthways and seeds scraped out
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons clear honey
• 40g plain flour
• ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 25g cocoa powder
• 50g ground almonds
• 250g raw beetroot, peeled and finely grated
• 100ml strong black coffee
• 30ml sunflower oil

For the topping

• 150g good-quality dark chocolate
• 3 tablespoons strong black coffee
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 3 tablespoons clear honey

Method

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius.  With the help of a brush and tiny bit of sunflower oil, grease the surface of around 20cm diameter x 8cm high and a loose-bottom tin and set aside.  Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until all dissolved, then set aside to cool.  In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar, the scraped-out vanilla seeds, the maple syrup and the honey for three minutes with an electric hand whisk until pale and quite fluffy.  Gently fold in the flours, the bicarbonate of soda, salt, cocoa and ground almonds until fully incorporated.  Use some kitchen paper, dab the grated beetroot to remove some of the excess moisture.  Fold in the beetroot, cool chocolate, coffee and oil with the help of a spatula until thoroughly mixed together.  Pour the mixture into a prepared tin and cook in the middle of the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes.  After this time, cover the cake with foil and bake for another 30 minutes.  Test the cake by inserting a skewer into the centre to see if it comes out clean (although this cake is so moist that even when the cake is fully cooked, the skewer comes out looking slightly messy).  Leave to cool on a wire rack.

To make the Fudge topping

Melt the chocolate gently in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, then remove from heat and add the coffee and vanilla essence.  At this stage the chocolate will seize up slightly, but it will relax back when you add the honey and gently mix in.  Set aside to cool for 15 minutes before icing the cake.  Cut the cake and ice in the middle and ice all sides.