Raosted Carrot Soup with Rosemary and Smoked Paprika

The smoked paprika gives this quite a 'poke', especially if you use the piccante version, so if you think carrot soup is a little bland, try this recipe - the rosemary and paprika make it quite special and roasting the carrots first adds some depth of flavour.  Make sure there is some browning and caramelisation on the carrots to intensify the sweetness.  This recipe comes courtesy of the marvellous Riverford Organics and their fabulous website, so I shall simply link to it here.  The only change I made was to leave out the creme fraiche as I think it only needs a spoonful in the bowl when it is served.  While you are on their site, check out their fantastic veg boxes.  This would qualify as an 'under a fiver' easily - big bowlsful with wholemeal bread, followed by cheese and fruit, would make a hearty, healthy and frugal spring supper.

Chickpea and Chorizo Stew

Delicious, Spanish-style meal tonight, largely inspired by some fabulous recipes and produce from the increasingly wonderful Riverford Organics. What did I do before them? Anyway, this is the first of three dishes, and was a doddle. For 2 with leftovers (erm....that was the plan anyway). I sauteed half an onion with some garlic and finely chopped celery for a few minutes in a little oil, then threw in about 50g of chopped chorizo - make sure it is a good one. I added a teaspoon of hot, smoked paprika for some extra 'poke' (phew-wee!) and carried on sauteeing until the sausage released it paprika oil. Then, just tip in a tin of rinsed chickpeas and pour in a little water (don't swamp the chickpeas) and lots of black pepper - it won't need salt, in my opinion, because of the sausage. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes until all is tender. If it is very liquidy, remove the lid and boil hard to reduce. Stir in lots of fresh parsley and - voila! Or whatever the equivalent in Spanish is. Hot stuff but gorgeous.

Spanish Pork and Chorizo Stew

This is largely based on Delia's Spanish Pork recipe, but I added a jar of Spanish butterbeans instead of potatoes this time. I love this recipe - it works in the summer as well as winter, and the smoky paprika from the chorizo is addictive. If possible, make it the day before, as you can remove any set fat (oily sausage and fairly fatty pork shoulder give flavour but render a lot of fat on cooking) and the flavour only deepens with a bit of maturing.

Paprika Steak Kebabs

Yum! A rare treat of red meat - we are eating much less these days, but when we do, it is a treat indeed. These were cubes of 21-day aged beef rump, marinated in paprika, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil, then threaded onto wooden skewers with cherry toms and sizzled on a chargrill. Served with fat oven-baked chips and some local asparagus, it was very nice and a quick supper.

Ham and Butter Beans [#168]

The title of this recipe really doesn't do it justice - a lovely piece of unsmoked gammon, cooked in a rich tomato sauce spiked with hot smoked paprika and chorizo, with big fat Spanish butterbeans. Perfect for an Autumn evening with a mound of creamy mash and some bitter, bright green spring greens and savoy cabbage. I have been looking forward to this recipe for ages, and it really didn't disappoint. Loads of leftovers too. Another one for the Top 10 (there are about 25 recipes in the Top 10, by the way.........). I really can't believe that such a fine recipe hasn't appeared in Nigel's newspaper columns or on the BBC, so I can't give it here....but if you have the book, go and dig it out and turn to the October pages right away - you will want to cook this too!