This is one of my oldest formalised recipes - it's surprisingly good, and even people who don't like spinach, mushrooms, courgettes or butter beans seem to love it. Strange but true...

If using dried butter beans, soak them in water for twelve hours and then fast-boil them for 25 minutes before using them in the recipe in the same way as canned beans. They'll be much nicer, you just have to remember to soak them in good time to do the cooking. Planning, chaps, planning.

This recipe would be good with all manner of vegetables; the ones I originally chose were what we had lying around in the fridge! Try varying the amount of garlic - we actually started out with 5 cloves, and it was wonderful, but old age has moderated my tastes.

Fry all ingredients in sequence, except the cheese and breadcrumbs. Aim for a very dry mixture. Place in an oven-proof dish in alternate layers with the mozzarella. Cover the top layer of cheese with breadcrumbs, cover the dish, and bake at gas mark 4 for 30-35 minutes. Finally, uncover and bake again for ten more minutes to crisp the topping.

Serves 2-4.