DIPS, pATES AND ZESTS - INGREDIENTS -

11f2 Ib/750 g fresh or 1 fresh or dried red chilli

2 x 14 oz/ 400 g tins plum tomatoes

3-4 cloves garlic - METHOD -

2 oz/50 g granulated sugar Salt

1 If using fresh plum tomatoes, peel and chop them, discarding the cores; if using tinned ones, chop them and discard the stalk ends. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Wash and dry the chilli, trim the stalk end, slit lengthways and remove the seeds; dice the flesh as finely as possible. Do notrub your eyes while handling it, especially if it is fresh, and wash your hands directly afterwards (or wear polythene gloves).

2 Put all the ingredients, including the juice from tinned tomatoes if using them, into a saucepan with a pinch ofsalt. Set over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved or the fresh tomatoes have run a couple of inches of juice; prod to submerge all the fruit, bring to the boil and simmer for 21f4-21f2 hours or until the tomatoes are reduced to a thick, jamlike consistency and run no free liquid when stirred.

Topreservethe Jam

If you want the jam to keep, you will have to sterilise the jar(s). This is a bit of a bore but very easy. Start when the jam has been simmering for 2 hours. 1 x 12071375 g or 2 x 6 ozl190 g lars with screw tops

Large saucepan

Small baklng--sheet

2 oven-cloths or thick tea-cloths

- METHOD-

Thoroughly wash the jar(s) and top(s) using detergent and rinse well. Place in the large saucepan and cover with water. Put a tablespoon inside each jar with the handle resting over the edge ofthe pan. Bring to the boil and boil brisklyforat least 10 minutes.

The Student Vegetarian Cook Book

2 Pre-heat the oven to 300°F, 150°C, Gas Mark 2, and line a small baking-sheet with aluminium foil. Up-end the jar(s) on the spoon(s), using a cloth as the handle(s) may be hot; drain out the water and set upside-down on the foil (use a second cloth to handle the jar(s) as iUthey will be very hot: do not touch the inside). Fish out the top(s) with one of the spoons and place on the foil topside-up. Return the spoon to the water in the saucepan (there is no need to reboil it). Dry the jar(s) and top(s) in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until there is no moisture around them on the foil. Leave, without moving, to cool.

3 When the jam is ready, shake surplus water from the spoon and use it to put the jam into the jar(s). IUthey should be filled to the neck. Screw on the top(s). Allow to cool and store in a cool cupboard. Allow any surplus jam to cool, cover and store in the refrigerator; eat promptly.

People tend to think of soups merely as the first course of a meal oras an alternative to sandwiches for lunch, but the soups in this chapterare quite as much meals in themselves as rice, pasta orothersimilar dishes. This is perhaps less true of Piero's Spinach Soup than of the others, but if you serve it with bread, preferably warmed in the oven, you will not need more than yoghurt or fruit afterwards. To combine proteins you should also serve bread with the bean soups, even though they are already substantial. All but the spinach soup, the flavour of which to some extent depends on Parmesan cheese, are suitable for vegans if they omit Parmesan for sprinkling or replace it with a suitable alternative.

Stock is helpful in making many soups but presents the problem that fresh vegetable stock means using and throwing away the vegetables, while the average stock cube gives a flavour which is often worse than none (there are one or two relatively good ones, but they are the exception). I have, however, suggested using a cube for Beetroot Soup, where it. really cannot be tasted, and have given a basic stock recipe for Mock Minestrone which calls for only one carrot, one stick of celery and an onion; for the other soups, stock is not needed.

- BEETROOT SOUP-

This is not only thick and satisfying but, because of the deep red colour, remarkably picturesque: serve it with a generous sprinkling of chopped green parsley and a dollop of creamy yoghurt in each bowl. Its sole drawback is that the yoghurt is the only high-protein ingredient it contains, for which you should compensate by serving cheese afterwards orat another meal.

Buy raw rather than pre-cooked beetroot (which has probably been boiled with malt vinegar). Choose floury potatoes (Marfona, Pentland Dell, Pentland Squire or Maris Piper). For 4.