Cheesy Baked Veggie Polenta

This week has a been a real eye opener over how people cope with restricted diets. I've had IBS for what seems like forever, along with long term functional dyspepsia, and I can be a bit picky yet at same time eating everything within reason but this week I had to follow 2 days of low residue ahead of a special MRI scan to see what was happening as its been driving me slightly crazier than usual. The leaflets only tell you so much, it was very unpleasant experience, and that was just the diet! My shoulder alone is still aching from holding it above my head for half an hour and my stomach has been so crampy, god knows what they inject you with but it did not go down well! Anyway, hopefully its one step closer to getting it sorted. And I have a whole new appreciation for anyone subjected to restricted diets! I missed veg so much! How do you cope?!!

Anyway, on a separate note I have learned to love polenta of late, prior to this week and had been debating whether to blog it but it is really lovely, just ignore the photos I took on my phone - golden yellow becomes big bird yellow!!

Previously I had always boiled polenta, and it was alright but I didn't really get it. was a bit too grainy for me. And then one day on some magical whim I baked it instead-and whoopee! Its a winner! The texture changes, and becomes fluffy instead and makes a great side on its own, or jazzed up with some roasted vegetables. Feel free to cook this without the veggies underneath, it makes a tasty alternative to mash or rice.

Serves 4

Ingredients

Veg:

1 red pepper

1/2 yellow pepper

1 tsp dried Italian herb seasoning

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

Polenta:

170g instant polenta (also known as instant cornmeal)

750ml veg stock (I used 1/2 tbsp veg bouilon powder)

50g grated extra mature cheddar cheese

1 tbsp good rapeseed oil or extra virgin olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 190o

1) Place the veg in a non-stick foil lined baking tray, toss with the oil and herb seasoning, roast for 25 minutes, or until softening and starting to brown

2) Meanwhile, heat the stock to boiling and whisk in the polenta, then using a strong silicon spatula stir until thickened -about 2 minutes - be careful its evil and will spit. Apron advisable. Remove from heat and stir in 30gof the cheese and 1/2 the oil

3) Remove the veggies from the oven, quickly splodge over the polenta, sprinkle over remaining cheese and drizzle remaining oil. Return to the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden and fluffy

4) Remove from the oven, slice into wedges and serve. Wehad ours with some lush pork and cider sausages and home made onion gravy

Enjoy!

If my dish has whetted your appetite for Polenta do check out these other fab blogger recipes - 

I really want to try these fab chunky alternative to potato chips - Polenta Chips from Recipes from a Pantry

This heavenly gooey looking Saucy mushroom and polenta bake from Family Friends Food is definitely on the make list!

I think I need to try again with sprout tops - this Maple glazed sprout tops with polenta from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary looks delicious and hearty, great winter food!

Last but by no means least are these fab looking Courgette & Basil Polenta Wedges from The Veg Space -they look like they would make a delicious snack too or for my lunch box!

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I have entered my dish in this months Extra Veg, from Fuss Free Flavours and Utterly Scrummy

Ham Hock, Mustard & Macaroni Cheese Stuffed Peppers

Making Macaroni cheese is a regular meal in our house, its easy, delicious and is that all round comfort food I remember fondly growing up - don't tell mum but it was her best dish by far too! What's honestly better than an oozing bowl of golden flecked cheese loaded pasta?! With this particular version I kept it very simple - its cooked all in one pan - always a winner when there is less washing up - and made a few little extra additions in the form of stuffing some gorgeous giant red peppers I had picked up with it, along with adding a packet of ready to use shredded Ham Hock I bought from Aldi! Its the first time I'd picked it up and it was such a handy cheat ingredient!

You might notice the peppers in the photo above are in a loaf tin - its the best way I find of baking stuffed peppers, it keeps them upright and the filling on the inside!

Now I did make a bit of a boo-boo with my grocery shopping - after getting everything ready I went to get some greenery from the fridge and I had completely forgotten to buy any green or similar veggies! My friend C who lives next door also had nothing of use, we tend to go shopping together so had both failed by weird coincidence! After rummaging again through the fridge we quickly discounted the vac-pack beetroot as being a bit odd as a side, same with the sweet potatoes as not really going either and in the end I cooked some part-bake rolls and in fact, they were great as I ended up using them to make a stuffed sandwich with the cut open stuffed pepper. Yes its a bit carb on carb but it was oh so good too!!

This batch of mac n cheese makes quite a lot - I only had two peppers to be stuffed, the rest of the pasta got baked as normal in an oven tray - I reckon it would easily fill at least 6-7 peppers if wished!

Ingredients

1 pint milk

1 pint vegetable stock (I always use Marigold Bouillon)

260g macaroni

110g ready Ham Hock

2+ large red peppers 

1/2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
60g grated extra mature cheddar
35g chopped butter
35g plain flour
20g flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
Spray oil

Pre-heat oven to 180o (Our thermometer is long time not accurate - it should be fairly hot!)

In a large saucepan, bring the milk and vegetable stock to the boil, add the macaroni, cover and simmer for 12 minutes or until packet states.

Turn the heat up slightly, stir in the butter and flour until thickened, then stir in the mustard and ham hock, season to taste, then add 3/4 of the cheese and the parsley.

Meanwhile, carefully remove the lid off the pepper, remove the seeds, return the lid, spray with oil and place inside a loaf tin. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

When the macaroni is ready, carefully stuff the peppers and sprinkle a little extra cheese on top and put the 'lid' back on.

Return to the oven for 25 minutes or until the peppers are cooked through and softened.

Serve with er, greenery. Or go carb on carb with a bread roll!

The best way I found to attack the peppers was halving them then eating in chunks!

Disclaimer: 

Many thanks to Aldi who provided vouchers to cover the cost of my ingredients - the Ham hock is great!

A relatively new linky to me is also #CookBlogShare, this week held on Hijacked By Twins (such a cute blog name I think!)

If you fancy also stuffing some peppers, do check out these delicious links!

Red peppers stuffed with veggie haggis & Mushrooms from Planet Veggie

Or if you have no peppers, how about some chillies why not try these intriguing sounding Chocotos - Chocolate stuffed chillies from Tin and Thyme?

Keeping on the chilli theme you could also try these Creamy stuffed Jalepenos from The Veg Space

Cheesy Sausage and Spaghetti Hoop Bake

Many apologies for the tumbleweed gathering on my blog of late! Its been a funny few months, with family being poorly I have been prioritising my time, also I've been spending time focusing also on me, following my pain management program I've found myself questioning a lot of what I do, how and why.... Plus I decided I'd had enough of the side effects for one of the meds for my Fibromyalgia and I have been weaning down slowly, which apart the current insomnia phase its been overall worthwhile!

Also managing to slice through my left index finger 3 weeks ago really has not helped with blogging in general! Typing's a nightmare, yet alone cooking and pretty much all my meal planning went out of the window and whilst there has been some pretty decent meals...they have been few and far between! On the plus side we have been busy perfecting making calamari!

Pasta bakes are one of my go to dishes - it feeds us for days and I had made this dish at the beginning of March we had family over, and it also gave us lovely leftovers too! Pasta hoops or as they are better known - spaghetti hoops - are one of my favourite pasta shapes and writing this now reminds me I must pick some up some more next time I am in town! This is by all means not my first dish with hoops - you can see here my other Spicy Toasted Cauliflower Spaghetti Hoops.

Its a bit of a naughty ingredient but I used Garlic Sausage in this, which I get in the Polish aisle - its garlicky but without being over powering and it keeps for ages before being opened, so I often keep a pack or two stashed away in the fridge for impromptu dinners! I also used some ready diced onion, its super lazy but when tight for time its a handy cheat! You might also spot there is no thickening agent - however 'loose' it might look let the oven do its magic- the al dente pasta will soon devour any excess!

Sizing wise - I used my large rectangular traybake tin for this- which worked perfectly and roughly feeds 6 to 8 people, depending on your appetites of course!

Ingredients:

300g pasta hoops, boiled as per packet instructions, until al dente
2 sticks of finely chopped celery
200g garlic sausage, chopped into 1/2 cm chunks
1 red pepper, diced
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
400ml light vegetable stock
200ml milk
1 heaped tbsp rosemary, leaves finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree
100g grated extra mature cheddae
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tbsp olive oil


Method:

1) Heat the oil in a large saute pan, fry the onion gently then add the celery and pepper, fry for about 5 minutes or until softened, then add the sausage until lightly browned, stirring regularly.

2) Add the tomato puree and rosemary to the pan, fry for a minute then add a couple of spoonfuls of the pasta water to loosen, then pour in the milk and stock, bring to the boil.

Pre-heat oven to 200o.

3) Drain the pasta and add to the pan, season to taste, then transfer into a dish large enough to hold it all!

4) Top with the grated cheese and scatter over the cherry tomatoes. Put in the oven, near the top and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden, bubbling and crispy.

When cooked and all lovely looking, serve with buttered green vegetables:

Enjoy! Its a real crowd pleasing family meal and proper comfort food!

As my pasta bake had three vegetables in it, along with on the side I am sending my dish over to this months Extra Veg Challenge - being hosted by Jo's Kitchen, which was originally set up by Fuss Free Flavours and Utterly Scrummy Food for Families

Crispy Omelette Spaghetti

Sorry for the lack of blogging! After my kitchen disaster on Mother's Day involving my left index finger and my chef's knife, cooking, and typing is a bit more challenging than usual! Its healing nicely, the dressing was changed yesterday but its still having to be dressed, and all cooking involves CSI gloves! Its made our menu planning also a bit of a challenge as stuff I cook, my boyfriend doesn't know and so we have been having lots of quick, simple dinners. Also it blew out my food budgeting, we have spent roughly a third more than normal and April will be frugal month!

Making the most of our leftovers started today! Over the past few months we have pushing the traditional English breakfast boundaries and exploring other continents and cuisines.. my love of cooking everything and anything, a fabulous friend and her cooking skills and my boyfriend coming around to the idea of not having cheerios in his bowl for breakfast has resulted in some pretty epic breakfasts! Our overall favourite to date involved fried eggs, avocado and Filipino style fried rice but we are also very open to new breakfasts too!

This morning we had leftover cooked spaghetti, from last nights dinner (Creamy sausage and squash spaghetti) and I wondered if we could peruse another new breakfast with it! After a rummage in the fridge, I decided to make an omelette style mixture, add a little garlic as to be honest our breakfasts would not feel right without it nowadays and overall it was a resounding success! Its definitely a new base recipe to add to memory!

I admittedly used a cheat item for the topping - ready fried crispy onions! They give such a lovely savoury note to dishes and are soooo tasty! A definite cupboard cheat ingredient! B gave this breakfast a 7 out of 10 - nothing will beat the fried rice but it was a good 7! 

Serves Two
Easy

225g cooked spaghetti
2 large eggs
25g grated cheddar
2 spring onions, finely sliced
4 cherry tomatoes, quartered
knob butter
1 large clove garlic, chopped
2 tbsp crispy onions

Optional - hot sauce to serve

Method

Heat the butter in a non stick frying pan, add the white part of the spring onion, tomatoes and garlic, Saute for 2 minutes, turning regularly. Slice up the spaghetti roughly and add to the pan, breaking up with a wooden spatula.Fry for about 3 minutes or until lightly golden coloured.

Beat the eggs and cheese together, season with a little salt and pepper. Make the spaghetti mixture into a layer of sorts in the pan, and pour over the eggy mixture evenly. Allow to cook for at least a minute, then gently fold the mixture in on itself, slowly, allowing it to cook through and brown a little for a few minutes.

Spoon into warmed bowls, in the empty pan warm the crispy onions and green part of the spring onions for 30 seconds before sprinkling over the spaghetti mixture.

Courgette and Mozzarella Piadina

This recipe is one that's been loitering for the past few months - I think I made it even last year but had for some unknown reason not blogged it! The original recipe was taken from a Waitrose freebie magazine, no idea which one though as it was torn out a few months back! I've since made it a couple of times, changing the fillings each time and the base piadina is so easy to make its a handy standby!

Piadina meant absolutely nothing to me prior to making this but fortunately the picture helped to show us a nice, neat bread kind of thing stuffed with nice things. Frying bread is not something I regularly dabble in but I have made the odd doughy thing over the years that way.. and as our oven, is well temperately challenged and this recipe appealed as it didn’t involve it at all!

The piadina were fairly quick and easy to make and assemble, though having a second pair of hands also helps! Also reading the recipe from start to finish… Probably the best way of describing it is that its a cross between a pizza and pitta bread ! I didn't quite fully understand some of the instructions in the original recipe and I have changed it to how it worked for us. 

Serves two:

Ingredients:

2 courgettes
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 small garlic, crushed
½ red chilli finely chopped
1 lemon, finely grated zest only
250g self raising flour
125g mozzarella, drained. Torn into small chunks
20 basil leaves

Salt
Spray oil

Cut the courgette length ways into thin slices. Heat a frying pan and gently saute the courgettes until softened and golden. Remove from the heat and add the vinegar, garlic, chilli and lemon zest, season to taste.

Meanwhile place the flour in a large bowl, a pinch of salt and stir in 6-7 tbsp of cold water. Use a fork to mix it in and bring it together, then knead lightly until you have a soft dough.

Divide into two balls, lightly flour the worktop and roll out to form an 18 cm circle. Repeat with the other ball.

Heat a large heavy based frying pan, spray with oil and place on of dough circles. Gently fry on both sides, greasing as needed for 2-3 minutes or until lightly risen. Remove from the pan and repeat with the other circle. If the pan gets too hot just remove for little bursts to stop it burning.

With the removed circle, carefully use a sharp bread knife to make a large pocket, fill with half the courgette mixture, chunks of mozzarella and basil leaves. Repeat with the other one. Return to the pan, place a heavy saucepan on top to weigh it down and cook for a further 3-4 minutes or until cooked and lightly golden. Repeat with remaining piadina.

Slice into quarters and serve with a nice dressed salad and sauteed tomatoes.

Kale and Almond Pesto Spaghetti

Oh how I love thee Kale, I am sorry all those years I dismissed you..casting my beady eye across your green spiky leaves like you were something the cat dragged in... all that changed when I realised the magic was to cook it properly made all the difference! And it was love ever since! However this recipe turns that theory completely on its head in the fact the kale is not actually cooked! I was a little dubious prior to making it what it be like but it turned out rather delicious and made for a very tasty bowl of spaghetti! Make sure you don't eat it on date night unless you both like raw garlic - it can be a little pungent but maybe add less cloves if love is in the air!

The only real problem I encountered making this was lacking a actual food processor to grind and chop everything together. As much as I would love one again, I lack space in our stupidly tiny flat and manage to make do with a chopper thingy and a spice grinder and between the two of them I managed to succeed in turning it into pesto, so the moral of the story is don't be disheartened if you don't have the exact equipment - quite often other things will do the job too!

Serves 2

Ingredients:

50g whole almonds, toasted
25g parmesan cheese, grated (or a veggie version) + extra to serve
75g kale, leaves picked and stalks discarded
2 cloves garlic
160g spaghetti
100g sliced artichokes, from an antipasti jar - save the oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Method:

Using a mini chopper/ food processor blend the kale with the garlic, lemon juice, parmesan and season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile  boil the spaghetti in salted water as per packet instructions, when cooked reserve a cupful of the liquid and drain well.

If your machine is not up to the job grind the toasted nuts separately in a spice grinder and add to the kale mixture along with roughly ten tablespoons of the liquid from the artichoke antipasti and a good splash of the reserved pasta water to make the mixture slightly loose.

Gently toss the prepared pesto and artichokes with the kale mixture, serve in bowls topped with a little more grated parmesan.

Enjoy you glorious garlicky green bowl of goodness!

I am rather naughty at picking up random ingredients, and I had added a jar of Artichokes antipasti to the trolley at least six months ago with no specific intent other than to use in something at some point. Possibly I had seen something online or on tv that triggered me to buy them but I  don't have the foggiest now as to what it was! As they had hung around so long and I only found them having a root through the cupboard trying to find something else I am sending these into the No Waste food Challenge held by Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary:

Cheesy Chorizo Gnocchi Bake

Have you ever dreamed about what it would be like to immerse yourself within a gooey spicy vat of melty cheese? No, nor me either but after making this bake it honestly doesn't seem like a bad option in the middle of winter and all its snowy grey and drizzle ridden dreariness! I know I will melt come summer and its humid fly filled evenings but I hate being cold, my body hates being cold so it really cannot come around soon enough! Cold is bad unless it involves ice cream and lots of it!

 

As much as my stretchy work trousers are suddenly feeling much more snug than I would like, winter is simply not made for salad and when the evenings are lighter, evening walks will re-commence and hopefully those trousers will become slightly less snug! Sometimes you just need a comforting, warming dish that gives you a well needed hug, and my Cheesy Chorizo Gnocchi Bake gives you a lovely sleep inducing cuddling up on the sofa with your loved one kinda hug.

 

When planning our meals they are a mixture of tried and trusted, random things I snag online or in my overflowing collection of torn out recipes and the rest I imagine ingredients I would like to eat but this dish came to me in a dream. I have only ever baked gnocchi once in a rather nice prawn dish but some reason its not an ingredient I really think of and when I was recently carrying out the reverse dad taxi role, and taking my dad shopping following some surgery I spotted a packet of Gnocchi. Then the image in my dream formed and this dish was born a few nights later! I did once attempt to make my own but its better to just buy them unless you are gnocchi master perhaps.

 

Serves 3-4 with a side

 

Ingredients:

 

125g mozzarella, torn into chunks

500g prepared gnocchi, boiled and drained.

120g spicy chorizo, sliced into thin half moons

400g tin cherry tomatoes

2 heaped tbsp grated cheddar

1 onion, finely chopped

75ml milk

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

 

 

Method:

 

In a large sauté pan, heat the oil and gently fry the onion for 3 minutes, or until starting to become translucent, add the garlic and chorizo and fry for a further 3 minutes, or until the chorizo has released its fragrant oils and has lightly browned. Stir through the tomatoes, rosemary and add the milk, gently simmer, covered for ten minutes.

 

Pre-heat oven to 200o

 

Stir the prepared gnocchi into the sauce, being careful not to break the tomatoes, and transfer into a small baking dish - I used my pie dish which is multi versatile! 

 

 

Sprinkle over the grated cheddar, transfer to the oven and bake for 40 minutes or until all lovely, golden and bubbling.

 

 

Serve hot with buttered greens:

 

As delicious as the bake was I would suggest its eaten all in one sitting - we kept some back for lunches...but the gnocchi kinda soak up the sauce and its edible but not quite as good the next day...

Polish Ham and Cheese baked Pancakes with Hardy's

First things first - before cooking this delightful dish make sure you have allocated enough time – it doesn’t take that long to actually cook but rushing around to make twelve pancakes, one by one is awfully time consuming whilst also crumbling up cheese, slicing ham, along with preparing a tray of potatoes and squash, and it results in a lovely, rather messy cheese splattered kitchen!

 

You see normally I am quite organised in the kitchen but I had got home late from work, and really fancied a cup of tea. So that’s what I did. So in turn I ran late, though in the end it all worked out fairly fine except for some slightly soggy broccoli. No one complained anyway that it was a bit late and we all had seconds, so I am not sure really why I get into such a tizz! I do like being punctual even if I am working to my own little schedule in my head! Though I may at one point declared if I were to offer pancakes again presume I have gone crazy!

I think I may have mentioned before that my roots are a little bit Polish but I have never really explored Polish cuisine other than picking up the odd packet of ready made Pierogi (and the fun time I accidentally bought sweet cheese ones and served with a garlic butter sauce!) and this recipe by no means is particularly Polish in origin, though it does use a rather tasty ham called Szynka Swojska, which was wrapped in some kind of netting and proved fun to remove, plus a cheese that was labelled as being a soft cheese, but on opening it was actually rather crumbly upon touch and more resembled a cottage type cheese but without the watery gloop part! I will have to look next time in the Polish shop more closely to find its other name! Fortunately it also melted into the ham fairly well! I think next time I would add more cheese - as the last few pancakes were on the skinny side!

 

Recently I was sent a bottle of Hardy's 'Stamp of Australia' Sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Noir - its a new variety on me and I am a fan! When it comes to sparkling wines I do like Champagne but I can't afford it and normally we tend to buy Prosecco for special occasions, though this sparkling Chardonnay is definitely a serious competitor! I am no wine buff but I really liked the lightness of this one, its small bubbles bursting with a light citrus note on the tongue with an almost creamy, smooth roundness to it makes it most drinkable for all tastes! My boyfriend is not normally a fan of chardonnay as it tends to be drier (perfect for me!) but even he enjoyed this without adding a splash of raspberry syrup! It complements the smoked ham and slightly sour cheese flavours very well but even on its own its a very pleasant glass of bubbly. A keeper!

 

Serves 4-6

Pancakes:

180g plain flour
5 eggs
400ml milk
Pinch salt

Sauce:

250ml milk
250ml water
1 heaped tsp vegetable bouillon powder
1 tbsp finely chopped rosemary
6 tbsp grated extra mature cheddar
2 tbsp cornflour
6 cherry tomatoes, halved

Filling:

500g diced Szynka Swojska (cooked ham) cut into small strips
275g Polish soft cheese  - crumbled

For frying - butter or spray oil

A large sheet of greaseproof paper -

Start by making the pancakes. Sift together the flour, salt and beat in the eggs. Add the milk bit by bit to form a smooth batter. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat a heavy based frying pan and add a little butter or spray oil, add a ladleful of batter and swirl around quickly to form a thin pancake. Cook for about two minutes then flip, and cook for a further minute or until cooked through. Place on the prepared baking paper, and repeat with remaining batter to form roughly 12 pancakes.  Alternate the cooked pancakes with the greasing paper to stop them sticking to each other.

When your pancakes are all prepared, pre-heat oven to 200o. Lightly grease two large baking dishes.

Place a pancake on a board or clean counter. Spoon over ham and a litte cheese, roll up and place seal side down in the dish. Repeat with remaining until all filled.

Meanwhile boil together the milk, water and bouillon. Slacken the cornflour with a little water and when the milk mixture is boiling, stir in the prepared cornflour paste, whisking all the time until thickened. Add the rosemary and 2 tbsp of the cheese. Pour over the prepared pancakes and sprinkle over the remaining cheese and tomato halves.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden and bubbling.

Sorry there are no pictures of it plated it - it was gobbled up fast by my family and lovely neighbour who popped around for her share as she had never had them baked before! For the record I served mine with broccoli, and a tray of roasted new potatoes with cubes of butternut squash.


Many thanks to Hardy's for the wine samples. All opinions, text and photography remain the property of Anne's Kitchen and prior permission must be sought before use elsewhere. 

Bacon and Cheese Tart

My boyfriend was away on holiday recently visiting his family in South Africa and I found myself alone with a packet of shortcrust pastry on its use by date... Obviously dangerous times cooking for one to be alone with so much pastry, however thanks to calling over to one of besties at work as to whether she would like some planned bacon and cheese tart for her lunch, to which was a yes (and an eventual can I have the recipe please as her hubby liked it too) another friend-colleague also overhead and agreed it sounded rather nice and so two pieces were instantly ‘sold’ and I only had to eat two portions myself…such hardship…!

Its quite a frugal tart meat wise, I used half a packet of ready chopped bacon trimmings so its relatively faff free too! Whilst I cook from scratch this damn cold weather plays havoc with my joints so a little less chopping is welcome! Also the cheese was the end part of a piece bought yellow stickered and the sour cream was leftover too from our beloved soured cream bundt cake, so it was great not to have the guilt of two cakes in one week, plus a good fridge raid too!

The pictures are not great as I didn't expect to like it so much but you get the idea of it!

*You will need a ready rolled shortcrust pastry sheet if you are lazy like me, or measure home made accordingly*

Ingredients:

1x ready rolled shortcrust pastry sheet

300g cooked chopped up bacon trim, fat removed

4 large eggs

1 tsp dried oregano

75g soured cream

30g double Gloucester cheese.

2 tbsp tomato puree

Bring the pastry to room temperature if you are organised (If not spend a few minutes massaging the cracks with cold water!), gently roll out the sheet, and measure to 26cm, trimming off the excess centimetres. (Makes excellent mini jam tarts for pudding)

Gently lower the pastry sheet into a square baking dish – roughly 8 inch pan, using your fingers to mould the pastry corners.

Brush the tomato puree over the pastry base and sprinkle over the bacon pieces

Beat the eggs, ½ the cheese, oregano and soured cream, season with Salt and pepper. Pour over the prepared base, sprinkle over the remaining cheese and bake for 35-45 minutes or until cooked through and golden. 

The tart was really tasty served hot, with sweet potato mash and some fried romano peppers (5 for a £1 in one of the grocers near my dad!) but also worked well cold too the next day for lunch and would be ideal for a buffet style dinner too!

As my tart is very frugal, using ready chopped bacon trim (88p a packet!) plus cheese scraps - you could use any old cheese really - it would be ideal for a quick Christmas time supper or part of your boxing day buffet, without breaking the piggy bank - I have sent my tart over to this months Credit Crunch munch, from Fuss Free Flavours and Fab Food 4 All:

Twice baked Tuna Jackets with Green Bean Saute

Sorry I have been a bit sparse in posting these past few months.. since Christmas I have been really struggling to live normally, yet alone focus on my blog. Its became a chore to be honest at times, battling daily fatigue and brain fog, changing medications and eventually a long period off work due to hideous hip pain, that saw me questioning my sanity most days… however following intense physio, pilates, a new heat pad (I love it!) lots of relaxation, soul searching, spending quality time with loved ones and attempting to eat normally I am hopefully back on the road to recovery.. I am trialling out a few different health foods and will be reporting back at a late date with the results.. 

..Fortunately its already paid off a little – this past week saw me back at work, albeit in a new role which is a little less physical and I no longer come home in tears of pain, which has to be a bonus. It’s still a little up in the air as to whether its long term but at least its something, and whilst its rather busy I quite enjoy it! Best of all its Monday to Friday and no more shifts! Yay! I am Taurean and creature of habit, we like routine!!

These delicious and easy Twice baked Tuna jackets were made during one of the brighter days and are delicious. Jacket potatoes are such an easy low faff meal, and for bad days a comfort to the soul too! We always tend to have tins of tuna in the cupboards, very handy for when you have forgotten to thaw or buy anything else in! Though doing the potatoes in the oven is necessary, micro-zapped jackets just are not the same and as there is only about 5 minutes max of preparation involved its well worth the wait, and you can rest in between! I love the look of the twice baked ones, are almost cottage like..

You can use standard wholegrain mustard in this, however if you have a flavoured one even better – I used Bulldog mustard, which has a an extra chilli kick and it helps liven it up! If you have a taste for chilli try adding a little chilli sauce or freshly sliced chilli!

Serves two

Ingredients

2 large baking potatoes

1 tin tuna flakes in spring water

2 tsp wholegrain mustard

30g grated mature cheddar

1 finely sliced spring onion

100g plain yoghurt (I used Greek) – you may need less it depends on your potato size

S&p to taste

1 tsp oil

Heat your oven to about 210o – mine is ancient and slow so be cautious!

Roll the potatoes in oil, pierce and place on a small baking tin, roast for around an hour – will depend on your oven and potato size or until cooked through – a skewer will come away easily.

Carefully transfer the potatoes to a chopping board, slice the top off lengthways - about 1/2 an inch and scoop out the insides into a bowl, being careful not to pierce the shell.

Mix in the remaining ingredients in a bowl, add the mash, mix and season to taste: 

Use the mixture to re-fill the potatoes, put their lids back on and bake for a further 15-20 minutes or until hot inside and cooked through.

You can serve with your choice of green veg. I made a quick green bean saute to serve with mine. Frozen green beans are a great veg to keep in the freezer, and cook quickly with little fuss!

150g frozen fine green beans

½ red pepper, finely sliced

2 tsp lemon juice

1 knob unsalted butter

1 sliced spring onion

Heat a non stick frying pan, add the green beans and cook on a medium heat – they will thaw out quickly, stir through the red pepper and spring onion, add the butter and lemon juice and fry for about 3-4 minutes or until softened and cooked through. If they are sticking, add a splash of water to loosen.

Serve the Tuna jackets with the green bean saute:

We both loved these stuffed potatoes and its something which will made again, and again! 

Creamy Sweet potato and Bacon Linguine

Whilst doing the very first meal planner of 2014, I remembered that I had bought a bag of sweet potatoes and a random tub of crème fraiche on a slight whim whilst driving back from our blissful week on holiday in Devon, knowing they both had a relatively good shelf life and could create something good later…. Once sadly home and back in the real world the brain got thinking after I had also bought some bacon on offer a few days later, and somewhere in the recesses of my mind I remembered how much I enjoyed the last dish I had made with bacon and sweet potatoes in and thought how well they might suit a creamy sauce…and I set about creating this fabulous pasta for our dinner! 

It was everything a great pasta dinner should be, full of delicious flavour's dancing harmoniously together and whilst it takes some effort to make a dish twice I really can't wait to make this again! I had originally planned spaghetti but after a rummage through to cupboard found a packet of linguine and fancied that instead so it became Creamy Sweet potato and Bacon Linguine instead! I do love how the sauce clings to the silky linguine and reminded me to buy it more often as I had clearly forgotten how good it is! It is also ready in 15 minutes, which is just wonderful as I have misbehaving feet and standing any longer at the moment is often agonizing! I so wish I could be a lady of leisure!

By trimming the bacon and using half fat creme fraiche it makes dinner become a lit bit healthier too with zero compromise on taste, all very welcome in January!

Serves Two:

Ingredients:

175g dried Linguine 

3 rashers smoked bacon, trimmed and diced roughly

25g grated parmesan + extra for garnish

250g half fat creme fraiche

135g sweet potato peeled, cut into 1/2 cm dice

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 red onion, finely sliced

1 tbsp olive oil

Good quality extra virgin olive oil for garnish

1 tsp basil paste (I used Gourmet Garden)

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Start by bringing a pan of salted water to the boil and heat the olive oil in a large saute pan and prep your ingredients. Check the cooking times for the pasta, mine was 9 minutes and begin cooking it - the sauce will take about the same time.

Gently fry the onion until softened, add the sweet potato chunks and cook for about 3 minutes - you don't want to be browning but keep the pan hot enough to cook through, make a well in the middle and add the bacon pieces and fry for a further five minutes or until cooked through, stirring from time to time.

When the bacon is cooked and the sweet potato soft enough to pierce with a knife, stir in the garlic and cook for about a minute. Add a cupful of the pasta water along with the basil, simmer gently and then lower the heat and stir through the creme fraiche.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir through the parmesan and season to taste. Serve in pasta bowls with a generous sprinkling of parmesan and a drizzle of your good extra virgin olive oil.

Tuck in with glee!! I really didn't want this to end! I know I still have a few sweet potatoes spare but lacking bacon and the creme fraiche..must go shopping!!

And whilst I had some naughty but nice ingredients, I actually only used small amounts of them and the remainders got stretched into several more meals, plus it was pretty healthy too as Pasta dishes go and so its also going into Kick at the Pantry Door's January's Feel Good Food

Sausage and Courgette Carbonara

One of my favourite Christmas presents was a pair of perfect porcelain pasta dishes, and my word they have had a lot of use already! Like a supermodel perhaps, these dishes would look good in everything! They are just the right size for two relatively greedy adults and whilst its winter and they are seeing lots of pasta, come summer I can see them being rather perfect for some nice salads too! I have decided I have had enough now of this winter and my body is craving some sunshine! 

This Carbonara was not only rather delicious but it was a also quite frugal and super easy dish to make to! Most of the time I do meal planning but with going away for Christmas and New Year’s half of December was a case of anything goes, and I cooked extra bits to up cycle into newer dishes – in this case the sausages were leftover from a sausage dish the night before, and also used leftover garlicky fried courgettes which are a regular make in my kitchen! Its a great way of stretching out a small quantity of good sausages too!

Its close to it but not a traditional carbonara, we had no cream but its fairly close and I am not one for tradition, I like to break the rules when it comes to cooking!

Ready in 10 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients:

150g egg Pasta Fettuccine

2 good quality pork sausages, cooked and sliced thinly

2 eggs

4 heaped tbsp Parmesan finely grated

1 courgette, halved length ways and sliced into 1/2cm moons

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp olive oil

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Start by making the courgettes. Heat a frying pan with the olive oil, fry the courgette slices for about 8 minutes, add the garlic and fry for a further minute, stirring regularly. Either cool for use or cook with sausages.

1) In a bowl beat the eggs, parmesan, salt and pepper to taste and the cooled courgettes.

2) Heat a large saute pan, gently fry the sausage to warm through - add the cooked courgettes. Meanwhile boil the pasta as per packet instructions. 

3) When the pasta is cooked through, drain quickly, add the sausage and courgettes, then the egg mixture and mix well, allow to stand for a minute with the lid on.

4) Serve on your favourite plate and garnish with a little extra parmesan and drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

I am sending my dish over to Pasta Please, created by Tinned Tomatoes and  held by The Spicy Pear for January who's theme is garlic:

Also as its a perfect warming winter cheesy bowl of goodness its going to Cheese, Please! Over at Fromage Homage

As my dish used up both leftover cooked sausages and courgettes, I have also entered it over at Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary No Waste Food Challenge

Fennel Salami and Kale Lasagne

Possibly the finest Lasagne I have ever made or eaten. Even if you think hmm Fennel, ain't that liquorice? Then please don't leave me so soon - it has a slight aniseed taste and I promise its not a new variety of allsorts!! 

Okay so I admit its not beef, pork or veal based as such but I did use lasagne sheets and a sort of bechamel so I am stealing the name Lasagne for this beautiful creation! I used the translated name of fennel salami for those not fluent with Italian but its natural form is better known as Finnocchiona Negroni Salami, which no I can't pronounce it too good either. Even less after a glass of wine!

This delightful dish came about as sometimes I agree to being sent items to try, some turn are good, some turn out bad and some indifferent, and some that make you look at things in a whole new light! And with open arms I welcomed two rather large bags of Kale to experiment with! 

Initially I wondered what the hell to do with it, and more importantly would it taste nice. Well it does, I was so wrong. I had tried it I think boiled a few years back and was very unimpressed and never bothered again.... and I missed out on all the good times we could have shared! It turns out that boiled, yep ain't my thang but given some kitchen magic and voila! A star is born. Maybe I should make the Christmas tree from Kale this year?

The salami idea came about as I had popped into the local deli to get some awesome pasta for a friend that morning, which I had previously discovered (will blog soon!) and whilst waiting to pay I was admiring all the meats and cheeses and the idea of having something meaty with the iron rich Kale seemed like a great idea, and with my bad pronunciation I acquired 6 slices, though only needed 4 in the end , which was fortunate as I was er, testing it out...the mozzarella seemed like a good idea too so quickly grabbed that too! 

Anyway back to my new creation - I was forcing persuading B to help in the kitchen more, as he isn't very confident and whilst we didn't really weigh anything, I was trying to explain that the whole weighing things isn't essential - what's more important is to picture your finished dish and then work out by eye how much filling you will need. Obviously there are pesky things like spinach, and er Kale that like to reduce down rather well but they are just a nice little red herring to break the rules!

I'm not sure how much I succeeded in persuading him cooking can be fun but as I always tell newbies - don't be scared - nothing will bite unless you happen to have a lobster on the prowl behind the kitchen door! Have some fun, you never know - you could make something beautiful!

 Serves 2-4 depending on greed. If we had some nice leaves I.e. rocket could do 4 at the most.

Ingredients

85g kale, tough bits removed and roughly shredded by hand

1 ball mozzarella thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves finely chopped

150g finnocchiona Negroni Salami, sliced into 2 cm pieces

4 good quality lasagne sheets 

2tbsp cherry tomato puree

2 tbsp grated mature Cheddar

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp grated parmesan

½ red chilli finely chopped

½ red pepper, sliced

10 baby plum tomatoes

1 large red onion. Halved and sliced thinly

1 tbsp pine nuts

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White sauce

½ pint milk

appx 2 heaped tbsp butter

2 heaped tbsp flour

¼ pint spinach water

2 tbsp grated parmesan

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Cover the lasagne sheets in boiling water. 

You will need a square dish that fits 2 sheets of the lasagne.

1) Boil the kale in a inch of salted boiling water for 3 minutes, reserve all the liquid in a jug.

2) Fry the onion until lightly browned, stir in the peppers and half of the tomatoes and fry for a further 3 minutes or so till they have a little colour and starting to soften. Stir in the garlic and chilli for a further minute.

3) Stir in the tomato puree and add a splash of the kale water to loosen if needed. Add the salami and cook for a further minute until it starts to brown

4) Stir in the kale and a couple of tablespoons of water to make a slightly sloppy sauce, cover and keep warm.

5) Heat the butter in a saucepan, and stir in the flour and whisk like mad to form a paste (roux), after a minute or so slowly stir in the spinach water, a little at a time whisking continuously as we don't want lumps! Then add the milk until you have a nice smooth sauce, simmer for a couple of minutes to cook the flour through, stirring all the time. Remove from the heat, season and stir in the parmesan. 

Pre-heat oven to 190o

6) Now its time to layer up! For the bottom layer, spoon over half of the kale/ salami mix, top with 2 lasagne sheets, spoon over half the bechamel sauce, and scatter over half the mozzarella slices and a little of the grated cheddar, repeat again to form the next and final layer. Place the tomatoes on top, then the pine nuts, parmesan and remaining cheddar.

7) Bake for around 45 minutes or until golden and bubbling, and piping hot. Poke with a knife to check the pasta is cooked through. (see my giant doughballs in the background!)

8) Serve and eat! We had the doughballs but as I mentionned earlier a nice crisp green salad would be good too.

The flavours were simply amazing, I dreamt about this! Meaty..a little spicy..silky comforting pasta..cheese..you can't go wrong! It ticked all of our boxes!