It goes without saying that an army marches on its stomach, but when you're close to enemy lines, chefs can be forgiven for neglecting the finer details of cooking.

Now celebrity chef and F-word star Gordon Ramsay has given his backing to a recipe book designed by a Bath-based military unit to make meal times for troops more exciting and keep mess hall mutinies at bay.

The book has been created to help chefs on military operations produce a greater variety of dishes using ingredients from their 10-man ration packs and has won backing from senior military figures and chefs in the West.

It contains more than 50 recipe ideas to cater for a range of tastes and dietary requirements and includes culinary delights such as corned beef bolognese served with beef noodles, porridge delight, spicy bean burgers, and Italian tuna pie.

Ramsay's protege, Michelin-starred Angela Hartnett, officially launched the book at the Combined Services Culinary Challenge at Sandown Park this week.

The annual event sees chefs from the army, navy and air force going head-to-head in a three-day competition to serve up a feast fit for frontline troops.

The judging panel included Michelin-starred chefs Martin Blunos, from Bath, Rachel Humphrey, head chef at London restaurant Le Gavroche, and Paul Gayler, from The Green Gourmet.

In a foreword to the book, Ramsay praised chefs in the forces for their ability to create a variety of dishes in a "f****** dangerous environment".

This was echoed more politely by Minister of State for Defence Equipment and Support Quentin Davies, who said: "Food is vitally important to the morale of our armed forces.

"Our military chefs go to great lengths in very challenging conditions to vary menus and create appetising new dishes. The recognition and appreciation of the work they do by Gordon Ramsay and his team is well deserved."

Royal Navy Captain Paul Cunningham is head of the Defence Food Services team at Defence Equipment and Support in Ensleigh, Bath, and the organiser of the Combined Service Culinary Challenge. He said: "The recipes have been contributed by chefs from all three services and the book has been created with the young, inexperienced chef in mind. It is designed to highlight how versatile the ration pack is and show what can be done either with just the ingredients in the box or with a few supplements and a little imagination.

"Over the last two years, operational ration pack has been overhauled to make the contents more versatile, enabling chefs to produce a much wider range of recipes within each of the five menus.

"This book is just one of many innovations that my team has introduced over the last two years to ensure that UK troops get as wide a range of meals as is possible."

Each year the Combined Service Culinary Challenge sees more than 400 competitors from the armed forces tested on operations catering. Teams of chefs use field kitchens and operational rations to produce a two-course meal for 20 people.

In the Parade de Chefs team competition, one service team per day prepares, cooks and serves a VIP meal for 64 diners.

Other categories include the team buffet, international military team and junior chef of the year.