Marcus Everyday: Easy Family Food for Every Kind of Day

100g pine nuts

500g cooked beetroot

100g tinned chickpeas, drained, rinsed and roughly chopped

100g lamb’s lettuce

200g feta

2 slices of sourdough (about 100g), gently toasted then torn

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE DRESSING

½ tsp wasabi paste

50ml olive oil

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 Preheat the oven to 210°C/190°C fan/gas 7.

2 Place the pine nuts on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 8–10 minutes, shaking halfway through, until a deep golden colour.

3 Slice the beetroot into large chunks and lay them on a platter. Scatter the chopped chickpeas on top, followed by the lamb’s lettuce. Crumble the feta on top, then add the pine nuts and a generous grind of black pepper. Finish with the torn sourdough pieces.

4 For the dressing, whisk everything together in a bowl, season with salt, then drizzle over the top of the salad. Serve immediately.

Field Mushroom, Walnut and Thyme Filo Pie (#ulink_853ce09c-5172-51dc-8937-b30405e54c73)

I’m from the North and two things I really love are pies and mushrooms. This is rich, satisfying and a total winner, providing a delicious weekday supper or weekend lunch. It’s technically a little challenging, but once you’ve got the hang of it, it’s simple to put together. In summer, a side of chargrilled broccoli makes a great accompaniment, and in winter I like it with kale sautéed in a little butter and soy sauce.

SERVES: 4–6 | PREP TIME: 25 MINUTES | COOKING TIME: 55 MINUTES

100g puy lentils

70g butter

2 onions, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, finely grated

½ bunch of thyme, ⅔ of it tied together with string, the remaining third’s leaves picked

8 large field (or flat) mushrooms, thinly sliced

100g walnuts

1 tbsp vegetable oil

100g cream cheese

2 tbsp milk

50g Cheddar cheese, grated

7 large sheets of filo pastry

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Cook the lentils according to the packet instructions.

2 Melt 15g of the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat, add the onions, garlic, tied thyme and season well with salt and pepper. Cook for about 15 minutes until lightly browned, then transfer to a large bowl. Heat another 15g of the butter in the same frying pan, with the bunch of tied thyme, and when the butter has melted, add the mushrooms and season well with salt. Cook for about 15 minutes, until all of the liquid has evaporated. Transfer the cooked mushrooms to the bowl containing the onions. Squeeze any liquid out of the bunch of thyme into the bowl then discard.

3 Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7.

4 Put the walnut pieces in a roasting dish with the vegetable oil. Season well with salt, toss to coat in the oil and toast in the oven for 5–7 minutes until a deep golden colour. Remove from the oven, leave to cool then roughly chop.

5 Add the walnuts, lentils and thyme leaves to the large bowl. Mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk the cream cheese and milk together until smooth. Add to the large bowl, along with the grated Cheddar, and mix well.

6 Melt the remaining 40g of butter in a pan. Brush a 23cm pie dish with a little butter. Lay one sheet of pastry on your work surface, brush liberally with melted butter and place in the dish. Brush a second piece of filo with butter then add in an overlapping criss-cross pattern. Continue with 2 more buttered sheets to create a star shape. Add the mushroom mixture and smooth the surface. Brush the remaining 3 filo sheets with butter, then scrunch up and place on top of the pie. Bake in the oven for 20–25 minutes, until the pastry is golden and the mushroom mix is lightly bubbling.

7 Remove from the oven and serve warm with your chosen side dish.

Roasted Cauliflower and Walnut Tagliatelle (#ulink_cfcc3411-919d-5bb3-baff-d239857310ea)

Well-roasted cauliflower has the most delicious, nutty flavour. I always find that home cooks do not roast it for long enough, thus missing out on the best flavour from it. This recipe combines a roasted cauliflower purée to create the sauce, with roasted florets and crunchy, toasted walnuts.

SERVES: 4 | PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES | COOKING TIME: ABOUT 50 MINUTES

1 large cauliflower, leaves removed, broken into florets

50g butter, cubed

100g walnut pieces

1 tbsp vegetable oil

150ml milk

150ml good-quality vegetable stock

350g tagliatelle

200g cavolo nero, roughly chopped

¼ bunch of flat-leaf parsley, leaves chopped