Welcome to the WI’s meal ideas for using fresh seasonal British produce. Recipes on our site include new contemporary dishes as well as family favorites making use of the WI’s huge wealth of food talents gained over nearly 100 years. Some recipes are quickly made whereas others will take a bit more time and skill. There is something here for everybody.

Happy New Year! This week’s recipes are warming, comforting dishes with lots of flavour. Perfect for family meals. New recipes as well as old traditional favourites.

FSA is trying to reduce the number of people who suffer from the food poisoning bacteria campylobacter See #Chicken Challenge For more help on how to prepare chicken safely click on the link

The recipes also use cows milk and butter and with Dairy farmers once again under pressure and the numbers British dairy farmers reaching record lows, we can all do our bit to help by buying British Dairy, such as milk, cream, yoghurt, butter and cheese .

On these pages our recipes also highlight the important role bees play in the food chain with many of our recipes including “Bee Friendly dishes” – using foods such as herbs and edible flowers from bee friendly plants to increase the number of pollinators available for bees.

For more ideas follow the Home Economics Adviser on twitterhttps://twitter.com/NFWI_HomeEc

Some of our recipes use left over vegetables and other foods in your fridge and cupboard, but we also have other great ideas in our recipe pages, just click on the links on the left hand menu. For even more ideas on how to make meals from left overs, see www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

Chorizo gives this soup a lovely rounded flavour and helps achieve its wonderful bright colour.

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes + 55 minutes cooking
Freezing: recommended

4 Red Peppers
1 tbsp Olive Oil
50g Chorizo slices, snipped
1 Onion, chopped
1 clove Garlic, crushed
1 tbsp Tomato Purée
600ml Chicken Stock
1 tbsp chopped fresh Oregano leaves
Sugar to taste
Salt
freshly ground black Pepper

FOR THE GARNISH:
4 slices Chorizo, lightly fried on each side
sprigs of Basil or Oregano

1. Heat the oven to Gas Mark 6/200°C.
2. Place the peppers, just as they are, in a roasting tin and bake them for 25–30 mins until charred and soft.
3. Remove the peppers from the oven and carefully transfer them to a polythene bag.
4. Seal and leave them to cool until cold enough to handle. When cool, peel the skins away and remove the seeds. Save the precious juices to add to the soup with the stock.
5. Roughly chop the flesh.
6. Heat the oil in a large lidded saucepan and add the chorizo, onion and garlic. Fry until golden and the onion has softened, about 4–5 mins.
7. Add the chopped peppers and stir for 1 minute.
8. Blend in the tomato purée, stock, oregano and sugar. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20 mins.
9. Cool the soup slightly before liquidising to a purée.
10. Return to the rinsed out pan and re-heat gently.
11. Adjust seasoning.
12. Ladle the soup into warmed bowls, float a chorizo slice on each serving and garnish with basil or oregano.

This recipe is from Soups for all Seasons by Liz Herbert and published by Simon & Schuster 2008 priced £14.99 ISBN 978-1-84737-178-2
For a complete list of all WI books please send a sae to WIE, NFWI 104 New Kings Road, London SW6 4LY

This is ideal for using up any ham left over at Christmas time. Serve with a selection of lightly cooked green vegetables or a crisp green salad.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 25–30 minutes

175g Fusilli
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 Onion, chopped
2 Garlic cloves, chopped
200g Cooked Ham, cubed
400g can chopped Tomatoes
1 tsp dried Basil
300ml semi-skimmed Milk
2 Eggs
1 tbsp Tomato purée
freshly ground black Pepper
75g mature Cheddar Cheese, grated

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.
2. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and cook the fusilli according to the packet instructions until just al dente. Drain thoroughly.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the onion and garlic for 5 mins to soften.
4. Add the ham, tomatoes and basil and simmer for 8–10 mins.
5. Stir the cooked pasta gently into the ham and tomato mixture and stir gently to combine.
6. Turn the mixture into a shallow ovenproof dish.
7. Whisk together the milk, eggs and tomato purée and season with black pepper.
8. Pour the egg mixture over the pasta and sprinkle the grated Cheddar cheese over the top.
9. Bake for 25–30 mins until the mixture is set and the top is golden brown.
10. Serve immediately.

This recipe is from Traditional Favourites published by Simon & Schuster in 2012 ISBN 978-1-47110-178-6 priced £12.99
For  the complete list of WI books please send a SAe to WIE 104 New Kings Road, London SW6 4LY

For a warming drink that some believe aids the digestion, ginger is hard to beat

For about 12 servings

2 tbsp fresh Ginger, peeled and diced

450g Sugar

470ml Water

Ice, Sparkling Water to serve

Method

1. Place the ginger, water and sugar in a pan and bring to the boil.
2. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and simmer for 10 mins.
3. Cool, then strain into a sterilised bottle.Cork and chill in the fridge
4. To serve fill a glass with some ice, pour on the cordial and finish with sparkling water

Tips