Elly Pear's Let's Eat: Simple, delicious food for everyone, every day

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A super-practical section on weekday meal solutions, with sub-sections for freezer food, one-pan meals and easy recipes that can be on the table in 20 minutes. Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7. Pour the olive oil into a large ovenproof dish or roasting tin and heat in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Carefully add the aubergine cubes to the hot oil. Season well with salt and pepper, add the diluted rose harissa and toss everything together. Aubergine in a stew is a wonderful thing. Here, Antonio Carluccio’s caponata brings out the vegetable’s naturally meatiness – it’s paired with its favourite Mediterranean bedfellows, onions and tomatoes and is brought to life with capers, olives and white wine vinegar. Enjoy room temperature or cold for optimum flavour. Elly is passionate about Bristol and supporting the independent businesses and friends that have supported her and that have become regulars both as suppliers and customers at The Pear Cafe. She will continue to live in Bristol and split her time between there and London for work and play.

What I thought: Making this recipe didn’t exactly get off to an auspicious start – I couldn’t find cavolo nero, or more bizarrely, linguine, so I substituted spaghetti and spinach in their place. Shopping drama aside, this was the perfect thing to whip up for a casual weeknight dinner at home with a guest – when you want something nice but don’t really have the time or energy to spend on anything complicated. It was so delightfully faff-free – yet delicious – that I’ll definitely be making it again (maybe with linguine and cavolo nero next time?). It is with great sadness, but also excitement, that Elly Curshen, Founder of The Pear Cafe, announces its closure on Tuesday 25th September. Elly Pear turns a handful of store cupboard ingredients into a spicy, gooey vegetarian traybake. Make sure to toast plenty of pitta breads, too, for dunking into this fabulous roasted mish-mash.Drizzle with a generous amount of the tahini dressing and scatter over the mint leaves. Toast the flatbreads or pitta breads in a dry frying pan and serve immediately. Which variety? Any of the Italian globe varieties will be lovely here: purple, white, or zebra striped. Meanwhile, prepare the veg for the noodles. Cut a small slice off the base of the pak choi to separate the leaves. Wash and shake dry. Leave smaller leaves whole and slice the bigger leaves widthways into 2cm-wide pieces. Thinly slice the red pepper. When the tofu is close to the endof its cooking time, place a wok over a high heat until very hot, drizzle in the oil, add the prepared vegetables and toss for 2 minutes or until slightly softened but still retaining a bit of bite. Which variety? Baby Thai aubergines are harder to come by, but they are available online at Thai grocers (see below). This grilled aubergine with buttermilk dressing can be prepared in just 30 minutes. We love this recipe for its brightness, speediness and simplicity. The dill and mint pair beautifully with the creamy vegetable.

pearl barley (for convenience you can swap for pre-cooked mixed grain pouches, but this will cost more) Which variety? Try the classic globe aubergine here, or the white variety if you’re feeling extra snazzy. The Guardian vegetarian food expert Anna Jones is a fan, saying: “Green is full of smart, stand-out, delicious vegetarian recipes. I love this book”.Add the carrot, smoked paprika and button mushrooms. Turn the heat down to low and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Excited yet? Take a dive into our best-ever aubergine recipes and discover the possibilities for yourself.. 21 best aubergine recipes and the aubergine to use for it… Scatter the radishes over the frittata, distributing them evenly. Place the pan under the grill (making sure the handle is not under the grill if it is plastic) and heat for 3-5 minutes until golden. Restaurant collaboration events include Silo in Brighton (winner of Britain’s Most Innovative Restaurant and OFM’s Most Ethical Restaurant) and Salon in Brixton and pop ups in various locations including Borough Market and Skip Garden in London and a recent dhal pop up at Corner 77 in Bristol. Which variety? Globe aubergines will give you the best envelopes for your aubergine parcels in this recipe.The quintessential baked aubergine dish would have to be a melanzane parmigiana – and who can resist the moreish combination of silky fried aubergines layered up with a killer tomato sauce and parmesan? This recipe uses a béchamel on top, but if you prefer a less heavy version, try our lighter parmigiana which uses mozzarella for ooziness. Or go even bigger and opt for our aubergine parmigiana sandwich. I always put potato into my regular egg frittatas, but the gram flour used here (to make this dish protein-rich for vegans) can be quite dense so keeping the filling potato-free makes it a little lighter. Timings Following the opening of The Pear Cafe in Elly’s beloved Bristol in 2006, both her, and her daily Frittata, have become staples of the local community. Slowing down doesn’t need to mean staying in every night. The Barrel House, Totnes holds regular gigs. We caught a great, inclusive and very well attended open mic night there before a glass of wine at nearby Ben’s Wine & Tapas.