Melanzane in Saor is an amazing vegetarian and vegan aubergine (eggplant) dish in a sweet and slightly sour sauce, which is unique to Venice and follows a proud history of Italian food using love, respect and time to get the best of the ingredients. It's a serious make ahead dish, needing 2 days to mature but worth the wait for those fantastic flavours and perfect for buffet spreads or picnics.

Melanzane in Saor (aubergine)

Gavin Wren Recipes, Side dishes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Today I’m recounting an amazing Italian dish called ‘melanzane in saor’, or aubergine ‘in Saor’. It’s a very simple yet beautifully balanced Italian dish that has sweet and sour flavours that work just beautifully together. The age is the important thing, you need to make this dish well in advance to let the flavours develop, it’s perfect to make a day ahead for a buffet spread or to take along to a picnic, but don’t …

An amazingly wholesome supergreen wholegrain miso soup rammed full of hearty, warming, nutritious wholegrains and micronutrients, it’s a fully rounded one-pot meal in a bowl that gives you all the energy you need to live a healthy, happy life. It makes the prefect vegetarian lunch or dinner meal soup for autumn and winter when the mornings are cold and you need something to look forward to, plus it's an easy make, you just need to leave it simmering away while you go about your life. Find the full recipe on brainfoodstudio.com

Supergreen Wholegrain Miso Soup

Gavin Wren Recipes, Soup, Vegan, Vegetarian

I hope you’re ready for the most wholesome, healthy, winter-warmer, one-bowl-meal of a recipe I’ve ever published. This recipe is packed full of supergreens plus it’s a wholegrain miso soup, taking the often light miso soup and making into a hearty, balanced meal soup. It even looks healthy! Just looking at this recipe makes you lose a few kilograms, making and eating it is the equivalent of visiting Lourdes whilst running a marathon and getting …

This mustard roasted fennel and carrot recipe is an easy vegetable side dish that goes perfectly with roasted fish or meat, a great autumnal dish to warm up the kitchen after the summer disappears. The cosy cinnamon and the mustard seeds make this an easy but tasty vegetarian or vegan side dish.

Mustard Roasted Fennel and Carrot

Gavin Wren Recipes, Side dishes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Today’s recipe is a roasted fennel and carrot recipe tossed in mustard seeds, cinnamon and olive oil, to make a warm, slightly spiced vegetable side dish that has almost no preparation (no peeling – woo-hoo!) and looks like a show stopper when you put it on the table. Go fennel, go! Fennel? Funnel? Huh? Fennel is one of those peculiar ingredients which I didn’t eat for a very large swathe of my existence. Not through …

Courgette and aubergine antipasti is a simple vegan and vegetarian summer BBQ recipe perfect for lunches or picnics. Grilled or BBQ vegetables mixed with a simple dressing of olive oil, garlic, mint and white wine vinegar make a perfect make ahead side salad that tastes better after 24 horus in the fridge! Make the most of the summer's abundant courgettes and aubergines with this amazingly tasty Italian side dish!

Courgette and Aubergine Antipasti

Gavin Wren Recipes, Salads, Side dishes, Small Bites, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Courgettes, courgettes, courgettes. They’re coming out of my ears. They’re just everywhere at the moment. Courgettes are the fruit of summer, they’re the long, thin, green fruit of our garden England, borne forth in abundance during the summer months. Courgette and Aubergine Antipasti is an awesome way to use a load of them up, make a big platter if you have guests coming round and I assure you it will all get eaten, it tastes …

A bright, citrus and sweet courgette and orange bread salad that just screams summertime! Tangy, sharp orange and sweet dried apricots mix perfectly with olives, capers, pine nuts, parsley and sweet red onions to create a flavour filled salad. The roasted courgette and onion sit with the orange dressing and play against the added crunch from the stale bread at the bottom. It's the perfect make ahead summer lunch or side salad to sit with some grilled fish, meat or squeaky halloumi.

Courgette and Orange Bread Salad

Gavin Wren Main Dishes, Recipes, Salads, Side dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian

A glut of courgettes has descended on our world. If you grow your own you’ll found the cheeky blighters hiding behind leaves and sneaking up on you. Even if you don’t grow your own, you can walk into a supermarket and pick up a large pack for very little because they are one of the most abundant vegetables in the UK at this time of year. Today’s recipe makes use of these abundant, seasonal vegetables, …

Balsamic roasted peppers are a mediterranean treat made with red, orange, green or yellow peppers, gently braised in the oven with garlic, balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil until they become soft, sweet, richly flavoured slithers of pepper. Perfect for a salad, a picnic or to be served alongside cheese, charcuterie and olives as antipasti. Alternatively make ahead and store them in the fridge until you need them.

Balsamic Roasted Peppers

Gavin Wren Basic Ingredients, Recipes, Side dishes, Starters, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Today’s post is about creating luscious slithers of pepper, roasted with balsamic vinegar and garlic to create rich, sweet antipasti style balsamic roasted peppers. These are incredibly easy to make if you forego the peeling, but if you want the ‘perfect’ experience then you need to peel them, just make sure you’ve dialled in your patience levels on that particular day. Confrontation. I woke up early today. I’ve got a meeting with a website developer …