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Tim Spector is not asking you to give up chocolate. This is probably the best way to begin a conversation about gut health, a subject that can otherwise feel like an elaborate shopping list of things you shouldn’t eat.
The epidemiologist and co-founder of nutrition company ZOE has become one of Britain’s most recognisable voices on the relationship between food and the trillions of microbes living in our guts. His latest book, Good Mood Food, written with Dr Federica Amati, with recipes by Kathryn Bruton, turns its attention to the gut-brain connection: the growing body of research exploring how what we eat might influence our mood, energy levels and even our brains as we age. The advice more appetising than simply being told to eat another bowl of leaves. More plants, more fibre, a bit of fermentation and, above all, food you actually want to eat.
Which brings us to these three recipes. There are cheesy rye scones packed with nuts and seeds, made with kefir and particularly good with a spoonful of kimchi. A bowl of mushroom pappardelle gets its richness from miso, silken tofu and the intensely savoury soaking liquid from dried mushrooms, with shredded hispi cabbage slipped in among the pasta ribbons. And for pudding – or that 3pm moment when only chocolate will do – there are dark chocolate pecan bites, layered with peanut butter and berry jam.
Nobody can promise happiness from a plate of pasta, of course. But if looking after your gut can taste this good, it’s a considerably easier habit to get into.
Mushroom and hispi cabbage pappardelle
“Here the rich and intensely flavoured sauce is made using dried mushrooms, their stock, silken tofu and miso. Hispi cabbage is shredded to resemble the pappardelle, which adds another layer of flavour as well as increasing the plant and fibre count of this recipe,” says Spector.
Serves: 4
Prep time: 8 minutes | Cook time: 15 minutes
Plants: 6 | Fibre: 5-10g
Ingredients:
20g dried mushrooms
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
600g portobello or chestnut mushrooms
4 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
100g silken tofu
1 tbsp miso
130g pappardelle pasta
1 hispi cabbage, leaves picked and shredded to resemble pappardelle
Salt and black pepper
Top-ups:
Chopped nuts or seeds
Chopped parsley
Parmesan cheese, to serve
Swaps:
Any pasta for pappardelle
Savoy cabbage for hispi
Method:
1. Cover the dried mushrooms with 120ml of boiling water and set aside to rehydrate.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a high heat and sauté the fresh mushrooms and thyme for 10-12 minutes. They will release a lot of liquid while cooking – keep cooking until the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms are soft and starting to turn golden. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer.
3. Place the tofu and miso into a bowl and add the rehydrated mushrooms, then gently pour in the soaking liquid, taking care to leave behind any grit from the mushrooms. Use a hand-held blender to blitz until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, and stir into the mushrooms. Then remove from the heat.
4. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta for 7 minutes. Add the hispi cabbage, bring the water back to the boil and simmer for 1 minute longer. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid.
5. Put the mushrooms back over a low heat and add the pasta and hispi cabbage along with 8–10 tablespoons of the cooking liquid. Stir until everything is heated through and the sauce is creamy and coating the pappardelle. Serve immediately.
Cheesy seeded scones recipe
“These are lovely with a spoonful of kimchi scooped on top or served with a pâté. They are best frozen the day or day after you make them,” says pector. “To defrost, simply remove from the freezer the night before and leave at room temperature. To serve warm, heat in a toaster or warm oven, or blast in a microwave for 15-20 seconds.”
Makes: 12 scones
Prep time: 15 minutes | Cook time: 15 minutes
Plants: 5 | Fibre: 5g
Ingredients:
185g mix of hazelnuts, pecan nuts, walnuts
210g wholemeal rye flour, plus extra for dusting
80g mixed seeds
¾ tbsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
100g Cheddar cheese
250ml kefir
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk
Top-up:
A handful of roughly chopped nuts for added texture
Swaps:
Wholemeal or buckwheat flour for rye flour
Greek yoghurt for kefir
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/400F/gas 6 and line a large baking tray with baking parchment.
2. Put the nuts into a food processor and blitz until very fine. Transfer to a large bowl with the rye flour, mixed seeds, bicarbonate of soda, salt and three-quarters of the Cheddar cheese.
3. Whisk the kefir with one of the eggs and add to the dry ingredients. Gently mix everything together using a wooden spoon or spatula – be gentle with the mixture as overworking it will result in a tough dough.
4. Tip out onto a floured surface, knead gently to bring the dough together (flour your hands if necessary) and roll out to a thickness of 2.5cm. It will be slightly sticky – this is normal.
5. Use a 5cm round cutter to cut out 12 scones and transfer them to the prepared baking tray. Whisk the remaining egg with the milk and use a pastry brush to brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash. Then scatter the remaining Cheddar cheese over the tops.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, then cool on a wire rack. Keep a few to eat over the next couple of days and freeze the rest in batches.
Chocolate pecan bites recipe
“These chocolatey bites taste as good as they look and are best enjoyed with a cup of freshly brewed coffee,” says Spector. “Make sure you use a high-quality peanut butter that is 100 per cent peanuts as the labels can look very similar to cheaper varieties that often have added salt, sugar and palm oil. The same goes for the chocolate.”
Makes: 12
Prep time: 10 minutes, plus freezing
Plants: 6 | Fibre: 5g
Ingredients:
80g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
70g crunchy (100%) peanut butter
70g berry chia jam – use fresh raspberries, mashed with a fork instead
12 pecan nuts
Pinch of sea salt
Top-up:
Mixed seeds
Swaps:
Any nut butter for peanut butter
Walnuts for pecan nuts
Method:
1. Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Break the chocolate into small pieces and add to a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Stir until melted. (Alternatively, microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring as it melts.)
2. When ready, spoon 12 circles, each about 3cm in diameter, onto the lined baking tray, making sure you leave enough space between each one.
3. Place a teaspoon of peanut butter on top of each, followed by a teaspoon of jam. Cover each one with the remaining melted chocolate. Place a pecan nut on the centre and press down gently. Sprinkle some sea salt over the top, then freeze on the tray for 1-2 hours until set. Gently peel the bites off the baking parchment and store in a container in the freezer.
‘Good Mood Food’ by Tim Spector (Jonathan Cape, £30).
