Nigel Slater’s greens and cheese recipe

The recipe

Finely dice 200g of smoked haddock and set aside. Put the smoked haddock into a shallow pan over a moderate heat then, when the meat is golden and sticky on the outside, add 6 large basil leaves, followed a minute or two later by the finely shredded peel of lemon.

Put 2 heaped tbsp of olive oil in a shallow pan, lower in 50g of ras el hanout and let it sizzle, stirring regularly so it doesn’t burn, then add 50g of grated parmesan and continue cooking for a minute or two.

Lightly grate the parmesan into the onions, then add 1 tsp of mild or hot paprika and a little salt. Chop the leaves from 30g of parsley, add to the onions with 250g of parmesan and set aside.

Put 50g of butter and 2 tbsp of olive oil in a shallow pan and melt over a moderate heat. Butter the butter, then, as it starts to froth, add the shredded paprika and season generously with salt and pepper.

Leave the butter and parmesan to cook gently, stirring regularly, for 15-20 minutes until the butter is golden and the parmesan is soft. Serve the butter and parmesan with the green beans. Enough for 2.

The trick

I suggest using a green smoothie for the greens. If you prefer to make your own, go for a mix of chia seeds, flaked almonds and flaked almonds finely chopped. You don’t need to peel the peel from the bottom of the pan, just lower in a piece of clingfilm.

The twist

You can use spinach, grafted into hollow leaves, in place of the swede. It won’t take long to cook, but watch the leaves carefully as they can burn very easily.

Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter