This was inspired by a recipe in The Creative Vegetarian Cookbook. We made a few changes, such as adding chicken (which was in the fridge and needed eating) and using the vegetables we had available in the house.

Ingredients

For the pastry:

• 60g butter
• 120g self raising flour
• 60g grated cheese
• 60g ground up salted peanuts

For the filling:

• 1 medium onion
• 1 red pepper
• 1 courgette
• ½ leek
• 3 medium tomatoes.
• pinch of chilli
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp chopped parsley
• 2 chicken breasts

For the sauce:

• 40g plain flour
• 40g butter
• 300ml milk

Method

1. Mix the pastry ingredients together.
2. Chop the chicken and vegetables and gently fry until the chicken is cooked and the vegetables have softened.
3. To make the white sauce, make a roux using the butter and flour and slowly add the milk to make a thick sauce.
4. Mix the filling and sauce together and pour into an oven-proof dish.
5. Roll out the pastry and cover the filling. Brush with some beaten egg.
6. Bake for 30 minutes at gas mark 5.

Emma recently started knitting. The first thing she made was a scarf. The second project was a tiny berry-patterned hat (the green at the top of the hat represents leaves). The hat is being modelled by the toy bear we won from the lucky dip at the Coventry Beekeepers Association stand at this year's Godiva Festival. The bear is sitting on the scarf.