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Downsizing Deliciously Supper Menu

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Roast aubergine with yogurt, lemon, thyme and pomegranate seeds

Quail with romanesco, grapes, pine nuts, and saffron

Fennel, escarole, and roast grape salad

In Italy, I look forward to grapes all summer, and I have usually returned to England before they arrive.

I don’t mean there are no grapes to be had for the rest of the year: those acid-green, seedless and sour ones are available there just like everywhere else – thanks to the human population being unable to cope with a grape pip, and supermarkets responding to this defect by supplying us with seedless rather than insisting that the school curriculum includes how to deal with minor mouth-feel inconveniences and how to spit them out.

The grapes I await with such eagerness, are the goldeny-green Italia variety – sweet, but not overly so, with a tantalizing hint of muscat and a burst of freshness when you bite into them – and the smaller, elongated, intensely sweet and very golden Pizzutella grapes. And this year, I and they are here at the same time, and I have been eating them by the basketful.  And also looking into ways of cooking them, especially as they have a lower calorie-density than raisins or sultanas.

Roast Aubergine with Lemon, Yogurt, Thyme, and Pomegranate Seeds

Aubergines are brilliant for downsizing: their squidgy, creamy texture is a godsend in a life that is slightly lacking in actual cream.  But there is a drawback: most recipes require about a litre of olive oil, which is not helpful.

However, there are ways round this that are really delicious and require either no oil or very little – although depending on your downsizing strategy, you can add as much as you want.  

Serves 4

• 2 aubergines
• Half a lemon, finely chopped
• A few sprigs thyme, finely chopped
• 80g Greek yogurt
• Salt and pepper
• Seeds from half a pomegranate
• A drizzle of olive oil

1. Cut the aubergine in half lengthwise, make diamond, criss-cross incisions, brush it with a little oil, and add a few good grindings of salt and pepper.  
2. Roast them in a hot oven for 40 minutes or so, making sure they are absolutely thoroughly cooked. I usually brush them with a little more oil halfway through.
3. Mix everything together  – holding back a few pomegranate seeds to scatter over before serving – and spoon it over the cooked aubergine.  

Diva Notes

Yogurt

To make it more downsizing without ruining it, use ordinary whole milk yogurt. To make it even more downsizing, use skyr or fatless, but you made need counselling afterwards.

Quail with romanesco, pine nuts, grapes, and saffron  

Sicilian food is a wonderful mix of Italian and Arabic, and I am completely obsessed with this combination.  It is usually served with pasta – which is delicious, but not necessarily the best for downsizing.  It goes with lots of things – or is fantastic on its own – but I particularly like it with quail – especially as you get a whole one to yourself.   In the absence of eating a whole chocolate bar or whole bag of doughnuts, that is not to be sniffed at.

If you can’t get hold of quail, it would be excellent with partridge.

Serves 4

• 4 quail
• 1 large head of romanesco broccoli*
• 1 red onion
• About 20 grapes
• 2 anchovy fillets – optional
• 1 red chilli – not too hot.
• 50g toasted pine nuts
• A pinch of saffron
• 6 teaspoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper

*Cauliflower works equally well

1. Heat the oven to 200º / 180º fan / gas mark 6.
2. Break / cut the romanesco into smallish florets.
3. Slice the onion into ½ cm thickness.
4. If using grapes with seeds in them, cut them in half and remove them.
5. Put it all in a bowl, season well with salt and pepper, and add the olive oil.
6. Mix well with your hands till it’s all well coated.
7. Put in a roasting tin and cook till the romanesco and onion is well on the way to being cooked – about 25 minutes.
8. Toast the pine nuts in a pan.
9. Thinly slice the anchovy filets and chilli.
10. Put the saffron in a little boiling water.
11. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan and brown the quail.
12. Take the romanesco out of the oven, turn it over, then pour over the saffron.
13.  Add all the other ingredients – quail last – and roast for another 15 minutes. If the veg needs a little more time, remove the quail and keep warm, and put the veg back for a few more minutes.

Diva Notes

Energy saving:

You can do this on the stovetop if you want to avoid turning your stove on. I will post the recipe separately.

Vegetarian and vegan options

Leaving out the quail and the anchovy, when it’s cooked, sprinkle over some Parmesan or vegan Parmesan and stick it under the grill till it’s melted and brown.

Wholegrain Barley or Spelt

This is extremely filling and satisfying but you can serve it on a bed of wholegrain spelt or barley.

Pine Nuts

They are delicious but fairly calorie dense. You can leave them out.

Fennel, escarole, and roast grape salad

The very slight bitterness of the escarole combined with the fennel and the aromatic sweet juiciness of the roast grapes is astonishingly good.

• 1 head of escarole
• 1 nice fat bulb of fennel
• A couple of handfuls of muscat grapes
• Salt and pepper
• Balsamic vinegar
• Olive oil

1. Heat the oven to 200º / 180º fan / gas mark 6.
2. Put a good handful of grapes in a bowl, season with salt and pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil, and mix well so the grapes are well coated.
3. Put them on a baking tray or small roasting tin and put them in the oven for about 40 minutes. Some varieties will cook sooner.  
4. Allow to cool.  
5. Thinly slice the fennel.
6. Wash the escarole and separate the leaves.
7. Put it all in a bowl, season with salt and pepper, drizzle over balsamic and some olive oil, and mix well. If you are feeling energetic, keep back a few grapes to scatter on the top.

Diva Notes

Grape pips

Having invoked government action over refusal to cope with pips, I have to say that roasting makes the pips seem even bigger and harder, and the whole thing is quite unpleasant. So if you roast grapes with seeds in them, cut them in half and remove the unmentionables before serving.

Escarole

If you can’t get hold of escarole, use another mildly bitter leaf.  If you are not in the mood for anything bitter, use romaine lettuce or a bag of leaves.

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