TALENTED young chefs from North Yorkshire have cooked up some national praise for themselves.

The teenagers are among those bagging honours in a design-and-cook challenge.

Amy Allen, from East Cowton, and Hannah Williams, from Northallerton, received one of only seven highly commended awards in a competition called Grab 5, a project aimed at getting youngsters to eat the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

Battling it out against nine other pairs of finalists in London, Amy and Hannah, both 16, had to produce a main course and a dessert which included five portions of fruit and vegetables at a cost of no more than £2 in a 45-minute race against the clock.

Their creations of hot dog risotto and monkey pudding found favour with a panel of primary school judges whose average age was ten.

The duo, both students at Northallerton College, said: "We aimed to make the dishes colourful, so into the risotto we put red peppers, sweetcorn, peas and onions.

"For the pudding we included strawberries, bananas and chocolate. It was good fun."

Public Health Minister, Melanie Johnson, said: "With child obesity an increasing problem and a drastic shortage of cooking skills among young people, this initiative is making a real difference in encouraging youngsters to try out the healthy alternatives to fast food."

As a prize, Amy and Hannah each got a £25 gift voucher from Sustain, the contest's sponsor, which represents vegetable growers and freezers.

However, neither plans to become a professional cook. Hannah wants to take up body art design and Amy has set her sights on teaching English.

Sustain challenged 6,000 secondary schools nationwide to create the magic recipe for getting younger children to eat and enjoy their daily healthy food quota.