Tuscan pasta with kale, leeks and sausage, traditionally served with pappardelle, is another great dish for those who like pasta but can't eat or don't like tomatoes. I'm doing it here according to the recipe my father recorded in his journal in the 1960s, though it's easily turned lactovegetarian. It's neither slow-cooked nor a quick dish, but easy to cook with relatively few ingredients.

Pasta with Romano pepper, courgette and black olive sauce is a recipe from Sicily perfect for hot weather; easily digested. It’s a lactovegetarian sauce dripping with the additional flavours of onions, basil, white wine, oregano and ricotta—and a kick of peperoncini if you like your Sicilian spicy. But, it is often served with the addition of pancetta cubes if you want a little meat. Though it’s best slow-cooked, it remains very easy to make.

This recipe for pasta with kale and pancetta sauce comes from Castelfranco Emelia in Italy's Modena Province. It's a combination of the deeper flavours of onions cooked in white wine, pancetta and cream and the green flavours of kale and basil. Given its particular cooking method, it can be turned into a lactovegetarian dish with no effort at all.

A riff on the British Sunday roast, this Eastern Mediterranean roast lamb is served with autumnal veggies and spätzle dressed in the fresh flavours of spinach, feta and parsley. It's a nod to the food culture that Turkish immigrants brought with them to Germany. But, don't let the highfalutin concept get in the way: it's a delicious meal and, importantly a slow-cooked treat that won't stress out whoever is cooking the Sunday roast.

A low-fat pasta of roasted butternut and walnut pesto, with garlic and parsley, combined with mushrooms

A fricassée with dumplings; fresh green flavours. Quick and ideal for mixed groups of diners—vegans, vegetarians and carnivores

chicken peri peri curry from Mozambique, a tasty example of the historic fusion between Portuguese cooking and Indian Diasporan cuisine

A Calabrian linguine, a healthy combination of pasta with with tomato sauce, summer greens, citrus, and anchovies

A delightful mix of herbs underpinned by the combination of smoked Polish sausage and chicken with the sweetness of swede