VEGGIE TRAY WITH LID RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. Put the flour, yeast and 1 teaspoon of sea salt into the bowl of a food processor. Gradually pour in 500ml of tepid water and pulse for a few minutes until you have a ball of dough. Leave the lid on and prove in a warm place for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.
  2. Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper and dust with flour. Lightly draw the outline of a Christmas tree in the flour with your finger. Remove the box base from one Camembert and place it in the centre of the tray.
  3. Divide the dough into three pieces, then each of those into 12, giving you 36 in total. One-by-one roll each piece into a ball and place on the tray, building out from the Camembert box to create your tree shape. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to prove for another hour.
  4. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Cut the rind off the top of each Camembert leaving a 1cm rim (reserving the boxes for baking). Pick the tips off three rosemary sprigs and poke into the soft cheeses, then peel and finely slice the garlic, drizzle with olive oil and poke those in too. Sprinkle each cheese with a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, then pop one in its box in the centre of the tree, and another on a separate tray. Reserve the third cheese for later.
  5. Strip the remaining rosemary leaves and dot between the dough balls. Sprinkle with a good pinch of salt from a height, and drizzle with olive oil. Place the bread tree in the oven with the second cheese on the shelf below and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the Camemberts are gooey and the bread is risen and golden. As soon as you serve the first two cheeses, bake the third one in its box for about 20 minutes, then swap with the eaten ones. Delicious.

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the vegetables, in batches if necessary, and fry for 4–5 minutes, stirring regularly, until lightly browned all over. Season with salt and pepper.
• Transfer the vegetables to the slow cooker, sprinkle over the flour and stir well. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, chilli flakes and pesto, if using, and stir again. Pour over the stock and stir. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.
• After the hotpot has been cooking for 3½ hours, make the dumplings. Put the flour in a large mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper.
• Coarsely grate one-quarter of the frozen butter into the flour. Toss the mixture to coat the butter lightly in the flour. Add the remaining butter in three more batches, grating and tossing it in the same way. This should prevent the dumpling dough from clumping and yield light, fluffy dumplings.
• Stir in enough cold water to bring the mixture together as a soft, squidy dough. Divide into 12 equally sized pieces and roll each into a ball.
• Remove the lid from the slow cooker, stir in the spinach until wilted, then arrange the dumplings gently on top. Replace the lid and continue to cook on high for a further 25–30 minutes, or until the dumplings are puffed up and fluffy.
• Spoon the hotpot onto serving plates with the dumplings on top.