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These tasty recipes from the Let’s Get Cooking network could have your students whipping up some healthy international cuisine

Food and cooking are one of the most enjoyable and engaging ways for pupils of any age to discover other cultures. This term, a new curriculum entitlement to food technology lessons applies to all schools in England that have cookery facilities – so if you already have an international partner school, try asking them about their traditional foods, or swap recipes and make some of their favourite dishes. To get you started, here are two recipes from Let’s Get Cooking – a national network of cooking clubs run by the School Food Trust and six other organisations to help children, their families and the wider community to learn new cooking skills.

Romanian bean soup

Serve this hearty, spicy soup with some wholemeal bread for a filling lunch or a main meal. This easy-to-make dish can be as hot and spicy as you like. By adding a dollop of plain yoghurt or low fat crème fraîche to the dish when serving, it becomes a type of Hungarian goulash!

Ingredients (to serve 4):

2 x 450g cans mixed beans
1.5 litres water
85g pancetta
1 onion
1 red pepper
2 x 15ml spoons olive oil
2 x 5ml spoons plain flour
2 x 5ml spoons ground paprika
1 x 5ml spoon chilli powder
1 vegetable stock cube

Method

Wash the peppers, slice in half and remove the seeds and white pith. Chop into small pieces (about 1cm). Peel and dice the onion into 1cm pieces. Open the tins of beans and empty the contents into a colander. Rinse the beans under the tap and set to one side.Boil the kettle and crumble the stock cube into the measuring jug and carefully pour over the boiling water. Stir until dissolved. Turn the hob onto a medium heat and heat the oil in the saucepan. Add the onion, pepper, chilli and pancetta and fry until soft and the pancetta begins to crisp. Add the paprika and flour and mix well. Stir in the beans. Pour on the stock, stir well and turn down the heat. Simmer over a low to medium heat for 20 to 30 minutes until the liquid reduces and the soup thickens.

Tricolore Italian pizza

On this pizza the red tomatoes, the white mozzarella and green basil represent the red, white and green of the Italian flag. But pizza is not just the Italians’ favourite, it’s everyone’s! Over 5 billion pizzas are sold worldwide every year. Whatever your favourite pizza topping, these are delicious served with a fresh, crunchy salad.

Ingredients (makes 4 pizzas):

4 ready-made pizza bases (around 20cm in diametre)
4 ripe plum tomatoes
8 cherry tomatoes
8 firm, large tomatoes
1 red onion
2 handfuls of grated mozzarella
ground black pepper
fresh basil leaves to garnish

Method

Turn the oven on to 220°C or gas mark 7. Preheat a large baking sheet in the oven at the same time. Wash and chop the plum tomatoes. Halve the cherry tomatoes and slice the large tomatoes. Peel the onion and slice carefully into thin rings. Place the pizza base onto the preheated baking tray and scatter the tomatoes, onion and mozzarella over it. Sprinkle on the black pepper and bake for 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese is golden. Scatter over the basil leaves to garnish.