Caldo verde

I absolutely love making this Portuguese classic of cabbage, potatoes and spicy sausage - it's a really simple but very nourishing soup that is easy to make and ready in under 30 minutes. This makes 2 portions (it reheats well).

This soup should be quite dense and chunky from the chorizo, kale and potatoes but be held together by a clear broth so it's almost like a casserole.

What you need: 
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium to large potato, diced into 1/2cm cubes
1 chorizo sausage, sliced
A very generous handful of curly kale, chopped
1/2 litre of stock
Olive oil
Salt, pepper

What to do: 
Sauté the onion in the oil over a medium heat until it turns transparent. Add the chorizo and fry until the fat starts to run off. Pour in the stock and add the potato. Season. Turn up the heat, bring it to the boil and then simmer for 15 minutes. Check the potato is cooked. Add the kale and simmer for another 5 minutes. Dish up.

Cook's tips: 
If you can't find kale, use spring greens or savoy cabbage and shred it finely.

If you've got one of those large rings of chorizo, about a third of it should be plenty. You can fry it off separately if it's very fatty and you don't want too much oil in the soup.

I've found that both floury and waxy potatoes work well and I don't bother to peel them unless the skin looks tired. Floury potatoes will start to break down once cooked. Don't overcook them as the liquor should remain clear.

Either vegetable or chicken stock is best. Do go easy on the salt when you season as some brands of stock can be very salty.

Sweet potato bubble and squeak

Bubble and squeak is the classic way to use up leftover mash and greens, usually from the Sunday lunch. The greens are most likely to be sprouts these days, the one green veg I really hate although I'll eat any other sort of cabbage. If you have one of the two basic ingredients hanging around cooked, it's worth making up the other half to mix up a panful of bubble squeak. I often find I have some braised kale left over as a prepacked bag contains around two portions. I rarely eat mash as a side dish - it seems a lot of work for one portion - but if you have plans to make fish cakes or gnocchi, then double up and make enough for this too. I find about 60% sweet potato and 40% greens is about the right proportion.

The flavour of the sweet potato marries well with the greens, while the added spring onion and garlic will cook during the frying and add extra notes. The colour is also appealing as bubble and squeak made with potato can look a bit grey.

This goes well with almost any kind of meat and makes a meal on its own too. Don't drown it in Bisto as it will overpower the sweet potato.

What you need: 
Sweet potato
1 spring onion
1 small clove of garlic
Seasoning
Leftover greens
Butter

What to do: 
Make the mash - peel the sweet potato, cut into chunks and boil until tender. Drain well. Slice the spring onion very finely and crush the garlic. Mash the sweet potato with a small knob of butter and then add the spring onion and garlic. Season to taste. Mix the mash and greens together in a bowl so the cabbage is well distributed.

Heat some butter in a frying pan over a high flame until it starts to foam but before it starts to turn brown. Tip in the bubble and squeak mixture, flatten it into a cake and turn the heat down a notch. Let it fry gently for about 10 minutes until it has formed a firm crust underneath. Flip and cook the other side for another 10 minutes.

Cook's tips: 
The pan is important. Use a frying pan with a very heavy base and a non-stick surface, for the best results.

Don't have the heat too high or it'll burn before the inside is thoroughly heated.

To flip the bubble and squeak, slide it cooked side down onto a plate, turn the frying pan upside down over the plate then flick your wrist and turn it all back on itself. The cake should now be cooked side up. It's a tricky technique that requires speed and confidence. Do it over the hob so that if it does go wrong, it won't be all over the floor. Use a pair of oven gloves to protect your hands and arms.

Sweet potato is a lot less starchy than potato so it makes a sloppier mash. Drain it very well, pop the pan back over the heat briefly to dry it out and don't add any milk to the mash - a small knob of butter is plenty.

Fennel roast pork belly with braised kale

Spring may be in the air but there's still a chill around in the evenings and I reckon I'll still be cooking a few cold-weather favourites over the next month or so.

There are plenty of winter veg still available at this time of year, particularly greens which are possibly my favourite vegetable. A bag of curly kale makes a good match for a slab or two of roast pig - if the bag's too big for one, save the leftovers for a bubble and squeak, or hold some back from the cooking to make a caldo verde with next day.

Fennel has also been a favourite of mine for many years. I often braise a bulb for dinner or throw it finely sliced into a fish soup, but I've recently fallen in love with the seeds too. A generous teaspoon of them recently brightened up a roast chicken, imbuing the flesh with a delicate fragrance, but pork and fennel are just made for each other and roasting the crushed seeds gives a real kick to the meat. 

What you need:
2 slices of belly pork
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 clove of garlic
4-5 juniper berries
1 bag shredded curly kale
Olive oil
Seasoning


What to do:
Heat the oven to 180C. Crush the fennel seeds in a pestle and mortar. Season the belly pork slices with sea salt and sprinkle the seeds over. Roast for 1 hour, turning occasionally.

Wash the kale and leave to drain in a colander. Bruise the juniper berries in the pestle and mortar then add the garlic clove and a pinch of sea salt and crush it into a paste. Heat the oil in a heavy sauteuse and gently fry the garlic and juniper until the garlic turns translucent and the aromas are released. Add the kale, turning it over in the pan to stir through the garlic and ensure the leaves are coated in oil. Jam a tight lid on, turn the heat down a notch and let the kale cook through - it should take about 45 minutes and shrink down to about half its volume.

Cook's tips: 
Kale often turns up in veg boxes between September and March but finding it elsewhere, even washed and shredded, can be a bit hit and miss - that's a shame as it's a really underrated veg. If you find a whole one, chopping it up in a food processor with a shredder attachment is far easier than slicing it by hand. Savoy cabbage is a good substitute- remove the ribs before the shredding the rest of the leaves as they can be a bit tough.

A pork chop or two under the grill, or even a boneless loin steak, is a less fatty alternative to belly pork. Grind the fennel seeds down as fine as possible and use them as a rub, giving the meat and fennel a good half-hour to get to know each other before you cook it.