Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Place pumpkin, carrot, garlic and onion in a roasting dish and toss through Cosmo’s Spicy Harissa Seasoning, salt and olive oil to coat. Roast for 30 minutes, then toss once again to cook evenly.
2. Blend cooked vegetables, stock and water in batches in your blender, or with a stick blender in the soup pot. Heat blended soup in pot until it reaches boiling point, then remove from heat.
3. To make cashew cream, blend all ingredients until fairly smooth.
4. Serve soup with a dessertspoon of cashew cream, plus a wedge of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Slice lamb shoulder open and, using a knife, cut a 1 cm score on both sides of the lamb, rub in Cosmo’s Spicy Harissa Seasoning and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Heat a large ovenproof saucepan or roasting tray on a stovetop over high heat. Sear lamb on all sides until golden. Add the rest of the braising ingredients.
3. Cover pan with a lid or tinfoil and bake for 3 hours. Remove meat and leave to cool briefly.
4. To assemble pie, quickly sauté carrots and onions in a small saucepan to soften.
5. Remove lamb from roasting tray and, using a fork, shred the meat into fine strips and set aside. Strain braising liquid and discard vegetables, herbs and star anise.
6. Pour braising liquid into a pot and slowly bring to a simmer, skimming off any fat. Thicken with cornflour loosened in a small amount of water.
7. Add the shredded lamb, sautéed carrots and onions, Dijon mustard, chickpeas and pumpkin to the liquid.
8. Spoon into 8 small ramekin or pie moulds and cover with puff pastry.

Press down edges with a fork to seal then glaze with egg wash and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake at 170°C for 30 minutes or until golden.

Method (Chicken wrapped in prosciutto)

STEP 1 Cut double chicken breasts in half, leaving the skin on. On the underside of each breast, sprinkle with Cosmo’s Lemon Pepper Seasoning and place sprigs of tarragon.

STEP 2 Wrap the prosciutto (or streaky bacon) into a figure eight around the chicken breast and sprinkle with garlic salt or plain salt and freshly ground black pepper.

STEP 3 Cook at 200°C for 20-25 minutes until cooked through and the prosciutto and chicken skin are crispy and golden. Serve with Lemon Butter Sauce and green beans. Serves 4. (The recipe for the Lemon butter Sauce is given below.)

Method (Lemon Butter Sauce)

STEP 1 In a saucepan add white wine, white wine vinegar, tarragon, chopped onion and pepper. Simmer ingredients and reduce to just one tablespoon of liquid.

STEP 2 Add the lemon juice and grated rind and then slowly whisk in the butter, one cube at a time. (It’s important to make sure the wine/vinegar mixture doesn’t completely evaporate or you will end up with melted butter not a creamy sauce). This ‘beurre blanc’ is like a hollandaise or béarnaise sauce but without the egg yolk base.

Season to taste with salt and white pepper.

Method

Mix the Cosmo’s Chicken Coating and Cosmo’s Spicy Harissa Seasoning in a large plastic bag. Add the kumara, onions, apples, mushrooms and peppers. Shake to coat evenly. Place the oil in a large roasting pan, add the vegetables and toss well.

With wet fingers, squeeze walnut- sized balls of sausage meat out of the sausages and drop into the roasting dish with the vegetables. Bake uncovered in a hot oven for 35-45 minutes, or until the kumara is tender. Turn occasionally during cooking, top with parsley and serve piping hot. Serves 6-8.

Note: You can make a vegetarian version of this by omitting the sausage- either way, top it off with a dollop of sour cream.

Method

Halve and stone the apricots. Place in a roasting pan and brush with the olive oil.

Combine the Cosmo’s Spicy Harissa Seasoning and brown sugar and sprinkle over the apricots.  Season.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until just tender. Excellent served with lamb, ham or chicken accompanied by Greek style sweet chili yogurt.

Method

To prepare the aioli, combine the mayonnaise, lime juice and garlic. Set aside.

Spray the courgette slices with olive oil spray on both sides and sprinkle over the Cosmo’s Lemon Pepper Seasoning.

Heat a chargrill pan or barbecue flat plate. Cook the courgette slices over a high heat for 2 minutes on each side, or until they are tender and well browned.

Place the rocket on a platter. Top with the courgette slices, lentils and hot smoked salmon. Drizzle and serve the salad with lime aioli on the side. Serves 4.