Ingredients (serves 2-4):

• 2 courgettes
• 1 bag spinach
• 1/4 of a good stock cube
• feta cheese
• one small preserved lemon
• 3/4 pint of water

Preparation

Top and tail the courgettes and chop into chunks.
Remove any rough stalks or bad leaves from the spinach then roughly chop.
Dice feta into small cubes; finely dice the lemon.

Cooking

Place some olive oil in the base of a large pan (it only needs to be large to get the spinach in at the start!), add the courgette and season with black pepper. Cook until sizzling and slightly softened, then add the spinach, stock cube and water. Place a lid on the pan and leave to simmer for about 5 or 6 minutes.

Either transfer to a blender or, for a rougher texture, hand blend for a couple of minutes. Place back on a very low heat and, once hot, turn off heat and add the lemon and feta cheese. Leave for a minute, then serve. Drizzle a little yoghurt over the top, if wished.

I was rattled, not knowing some of the people there so didn’t persist as I usually would.

The point being, I didn’t say “this thing you cooked is lovely”, I commented on the thing itself being lovely, which is perhaps where the detail was missed. As much as sourcing a good lamb steak, succulent tomatoes or fresh scallops is a thing that cooks enjoy so that they can then cook, so is sometimes realising that all the hard work has already been done, and done well, so why bother. Like croissants. Worth making once just so you know exactly why you’ll never bother again.

Tonight was of that ilk: bought pasta cooked and then just rolled with some tomatoes, chopped celery leaf and a dash of cheap truffle oil. Served with courgettes cooked with butter, garlic and black pepper – I like courgettes cooked like this so that they, like the pasta are almost al dente – the outer edges get a little translucent and they burst with moisture. Yummy.

Cooking time for two: 12 minutes from arriving home to sat on lap.