Veggie Pasta (with meat balls)

I wrote this in March, I don't know why I didn't publish it then but here it is now.  

This is another easy last minute dinner that can be partially prepared in advance so that all you need to do when you want to eat is cook some pasta, meatballs and add them to the heated sauce. 

Cooking pasta is easy, so I won't go into that, but just keep in mind that a human adult portion of pasta is 75g and it's so easy to go over that unless you are careful. Since we are aiming for healthier eating portion control is very important! 

The veggie sauce is so simple to make, and it keeps well if you want to make a few days at once or prepare well in advance. This is another 'what's in you fridge, babe?' recipe. The basic method is this:

Slice two onions, smash up and chop two cloves of garlic and add these to a hot, oiled pan till they are clear, then add any veggies that you like. I favour any combination of celery, tomatoes, mushrooms, sweet corn, leeks or courgette. Add your veggies and cook them down, then add a tin of chopped tomatoes (have another one to hand if you're making it in advance) and let this bubble away till it looks pleasing, I then season it with dried mixed herbs, salt and pepper. Brian also favours some chilli flakes, so if he's been good I oblige him. The reason for the second tin of tomatoes is that when you hear this through again it might become quite dry, so you may need to add the second tin to make it edible. 

So that's pasta and sauce down. Now meatballs. There are two ways to do this and I'm going to give them their own posts in the name of completeness, but my two favourite recipes are for beef meatballs and for pork fridge balls (that sounds a little rude, sorry), but this can be easily missed out completely to keep the dish vegetarian, or served with the meatballs on the side so that you or your guests can pick and choose what they want to eat.  When I was a student and my house mate and I hosted numerous pasta dinners, serving many different pasta 'add ons', two different sauces and two different protein sources so that every one got to choose their own meal. Easy.  

So here we are, put the sauces pasta in the bowls or on the plates, add the meatballs and then season, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve with bread, salad or more pasta.  Could it be any easier?

Chicken Fajitas... in the Slow Cooker!

We love fajitas in this house and I think most people do.  They are an easy thing to make the conventional way, but when I find a new recipe for a thing I love I can't help but try it!  I saw this on Pinterest (I'm obsessed I know...) so yesterday afternoon I cracked open the slow cooker and filled it full of deliciousness.

This is so easy to do and has become my default meal because I always have what is needed in the cupboards!  It's great for days that I have to be out and about and I know I will be knackered when I get home (like the three medical appointments in one day Wednesdays that have happened in the last few weeks!) - I put this together before I go out and then when we come home it's ready to go!

You will need:

veggies - what ever you fancy! You've got to have onions, and other than that I recommend bell peppers, onions, mushrooms and chilli. 

A quarter cup of fajita seasoning, make your own or use a shop bought version.

A cup of water (a little less if you add mushrooms)

A chicken breast per person.  

And that's all.  Chop up the veg and put it in the slow cooker, then mix the water and seasoning together, pour this over the veggies and then put the chicken on top.  Putting it on top lets it steam more than cook in the water and it goes so wonderfully tender and shreddable.  Put it on high and leave it for three hours, if you need to leave it for longer feel free to put it on for the three hours and then turn it to low and leave it for as long as is needed.  After this time take two forks and shred the chicken, mix it all up and remove the excess water to serve.  Meanwhile you need salsa, cheese, cream cheese, salad to serve and wraps to wrap it all up in!  Easy!

I know it's not the most appetising photo, but it tastes so good!  I have served this up to my husband, my parents and then used the left overs on bagels for lunch! Delicious.  

Homemade Pizza

We love pizza in this house, we like lovely fat, unhealthy take away pizza, we like crispy, slightly healthier oven pizza and we adore the pizza from the kebab shop in the village.  We have never made pizza at home however... till this weekend.  

Pizza base, with home made tomato sauce, mozzarella,cheddar cheese, green olives, Parma ham and sun dried tomatoes.  Brian added some Franks Hot Sauce because he's a spice monkey. The bases are an odd shape, but we tried!

Pizza Base:

This mix makes 6 bases of this size (and is freeze-able) and it has many other uses.  It is Hugh Fearnely-Whittingstall's Magic Bread Dough.  Once you have made the dough as in the link above and it has been knocked back  flour your surface, hands and rolling pin and take a sixth of the dough and roll it into a... erm... a shape.    Brian's one, above, was 'inspired' buy the Millennium Falcon.  Let it rest while you do the rest of the preparation so it has time to form into a stable structure and doesn't behave like a jellyfish.

Pizza Sauce:

This is an improvised 'what do we have in the fridge, Babe' recipe.  Take a big-ish handful of tomoatos (I had cherry ones needing used so that's what went in) and put them in a pan with a chopped onion and some chopped celery.  Add a little oil and let the tomatoes pop.  I imagine if you were using salad tomatoes chopping them might be an idea.  Once the tomatoes were soft and happy add a tin of tomatoes and let this simmer.  Season it with salt, pepper and mixed herbs, or some oregano.  Once it has all come to the bubble and reduced transfer it to a blender and whizz till smooth.  The put it back in the pan and let reduce till it's a spreadable consistency.  This made far too much sauce for just two pizzas so we had the remainders on pasta for dinner the next night.

Toppings:

This bit is easy!  Grab what you want and throw it on but don't over do it, or your base won't cook in the middle.  When I was a student I worked in a kitchen making pizzas and I learned that less is for sure more when it comes to all toppings (except cheese, in my book).  Throw on what you want and enjoy!  It would suggest making the pizza up on the pizza tray, Brian topped his first and then the pizza tray went in the oven so I thought I'd try and make mine on the board and transfer it... fail.  I had a calzone.

The final stage, the bake:

Now that you have your sauce, your base, and your toppings you need to preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celcuis.  If you are using a pizza stone then make sure you heat this in the oven and if not then make sure your tray is hot to start. This means you need to work quickly, but that's part of the fun... Put on the sauce, the cheese, and the toppings and get it in the oven quickly!  Ours took eight minutes to cook, but keep an eye on them and do not let your toppings catch, if the base does it will be fine (or better).

When you're happy with the bake take it out of the oven and let it rest.  For goodness sake let it rest for a couple of minutes and it will cut much better and be easier to eat.  And now the wait will be worth it, enjoy!

Veggie Risotto (with bacon)

Don't panic now but... risotto.  What if I could tell you that I can make risotto in about 20 minutes, with little to no effort and with my 25 minutes to relax at the same time.  Doesn't sound like risotto does it?  I am more than slightly fed up of reading that risotto is a 'special occasion food' or 'takes a long time to make' or even worse 'needs patience'.  Risotto is easy, it is quick, tasty and nutritious, look at it, don't you want to eat it?

So, it's so easy to make that it won't take me long to get you started.  First you need to assemble some ingredients.  75g of risotto rice per person, a stick of celery or two, an onion per person, bacon lardons (or bits of bacon), a pint of stock (chicken, veg, whatever suits) and any more vegetables and/or meat that you'd like to include.  I have made it here with peas and leeks, but I normally add some chicken too. Before you start preheat the oven to 200 deg C and put a large oven proof dish in there to warm up.

For the basic risotto pan sautee the onion, celery and any other veg you're adding (except anything frozen or quick cook like peas) in a little oil and butter.  Then add the bacon and cook that through.  Stir in the rice until all of the rice grains are covered in butter and everything is nicely combined. Now pour in the stock and stir for a couple of minutes till it has reduced a little.  Hopefully by now your oven should be hot, so carefully take your dish out and pour the contents of the pan in to the dish (be careful!  It will spit and hiss and fuss at you), don't cover it and put it back in the oven.  Now leave it for 20 minutes - no stirring, no messing.  Go do whatever you need to do, or if you haven't already prepare anything else you want to put it.  I normally use left over chicken or ham so it's already cooked, but if you need to cook it now is the time.  After 20 minutes take i out of the oven add any frozen veg (peas, beans, sweetcorn, anything you fancy and the meat.  Put it back in the oven till it is of the consistency you desire - this varies from person to person, but I find it takes about 7 minutes.  

Once time is up, take it out of the oven, season with black pepper and parmesan (or hard cheese of your choice) and sereve immedicately.  This is a happy meal in it's self, but it's also lovely with salad, bread or more veg if you desire.  It's quick, easy and tasty - and it doesn't need any patience or much stirring at all! 

Mince and Tatties

We are in really old fashioned ground with today's dinner recipe, especially as I make this exactly the same way my Gran does and apparently it's very similar to how Brian's Gran made it too!  I'm proud of this, I am an old soul at heart and I like being able to do things the way they have been done for years previous... except I don't imagine that our Grans would have blogged about cooking...

Again, like with my Chicken Parcels I am a little shamed to share this recipe... it's just too easy!  I have gone a bit carrot mad in this meal for a couple of reasons.  We love carrots, there were some in the fridge and this is perfect winter carrot season.  Delicious!  Despite this carrot fetish you really can do this with any veg to have to hand, but this is my classic mince and tatties foursome.  

Take two sticks of celery, two onions, a carrot and chop them all up into small relatively uniform bits.  Add this to a hot oiled pan and let them sweat away.  Meanwhile peel more carrots and chop them as you desire, put them in the top layer of a steamer pan and prepare the new potatoes as you require.  As I am using local new potatoes so I am merely trimming off any offensive looking bits and cutting the larger ones in half.  These then went in the bottom layer of the steamer in cold salted water.  By now I imagine your veggies are softened, so they can be tipped out of the pan and into a bowl for a short rest.  Now into the pan add your mince and brown it, don't cook it for long or it will go chew-ish.  Blergh.  Add the veggies back to the mince and then add enough boiling water to cover the meat and veg and then add some gravy powder but only when it's really hot or it won't thicken correctly. Stir stir stir! Let this to simmer and put on the steamer pan. Now you have about 20 to 25 minutes to please yourself either to make pudding, or go and watch Star Trek.  

And there we are, once the potatoes and carrots are cooked strain, butter and season them, then serve up with the mince.  Easy!  My Mum would insist on serving this with brown sauce or Lea and Perrins sauce, some would choose tomato ketchup...but I am a purist.  Gravy or GTFO.  

Chicken Parcels

Never having been one to have much patience when I'm done with the day (at work, in hospital, whatever the day throws at me) I like to have a bank of quick, healthy dinner options up my sleeve and this is one of them.  When I lived on my own I used to make this a lot and somehow I got out of the habit... I am officially back in the habit now!  My favourite thing about this recipe is that is is quick, you can make it with any fresh veg you have lying around and you can use almost any meat you choose.  It's also easy to serve with any carb based side you choose - potatoes, rice. cous cous, bread - it's easily pleased.  

This is so easy to make that I feel a little shame in trying to impart the knowledge upon you, but let me try.   First ensure that you have some meat, I prefer white fish (pollock is my favourite, but I also love coley - how right on am I?) or chicken. Then raid the fridge for whatever veggies you have that need using up, in this photo I have used cherry tomatoes, leeks, tiny little onions and mushrooms - all lovely, local and seasonal except the cheery tomatoes!

Turn the oven on to 200 deg C and let it heat up.  Meanwhile take a baking tray per person (it makes them easier to man handle) and put on it a sheet of baking foil that looks like it will happily make a kind of foil pastie shape around your ingredients.  On to this place your veggies making sure they are heaped more to the middle so that when you add your meat it's not touching the foil. If it is touching the foil nothing bad will happen but it might get a bit stuck. If the fillets of meat are particularly thick then butterfly them by running a knife down the middle to make them spread their wings - this will make them cook quicker.  Place the meat on top, then scatter over some herbs of your choice (I have used dried mixed herbs here, but as soon as spring comes along and my herb castle in the garden us usable again  I will be lemon-balming this up!) add a glug of olive oil and if you fancy it some white wine.  

Now comes the fun part.  Pull the foil up to make your pastie shape but don't compress it too much - there needs to be space in there for steam to build up and circulate and put it in the oven.

Leave it happily in the oven for around 30 minutes or until the meat is cooked through  Please be very careful when you open the parcel as scalds are no fun and slow down the cooking process no end!   This half an hour gives you time to sort out our carbohydrate side, put your comfy clothes on, take your make up off (if you are so inclined) and make sure that there is some suitable 'no brain required' music or TV available to enjoy too.  

Then it is ready.  The oil means that no sauce is required and as all of your veggies are in there you don't need to mess about with any other sides unless you're so inclined. This is also something to keep in mind for BBQ season as it works just as well on a closed BBQ (i.e. with the hood of the gril down to keep the heat in) as it does in the oven - just skip the oven trays.  The you have the perfect excuse to serve it with corn on the cob!

And there we are.  This is very loosely based on an idea from a Jamie Olive book (I'm guessing The Naked Chef as it's the one of his books I've had the longest and I am sure I used to make this for Mum and Dad when I lived at home - so about ten years ago) but is is very open to experimentation so the notion that anyone could take credit for it is beyond me.    Anyway!  Enjoy it, adapt it and let me know what combinations you put in yours!  The only thing  I'd say is essential is onion, and be sure that if you've got any root veggies going in there that you cut them relatively small so they cook quickly.  I predict our next one will be more leeks, onions, carrots and maybe some fennel.  Delicious!

Tripoline Carbonara

Now, I've made this lunch related but this one could go in Tea, Dinner and even Supper.  I don't think I'd choose carbonara as Breakfast, but you never know!

I have always loved pasta, but spaghetti is a nightmare to eat, I am the messiest eater in the world and spag is my nemesis. My singing teacher as a teen was Italian and her Mum used to make me my tea if my parents were away and she made the only spaghetti that I could eat as it was so sticky and perfect - can I replicate this? No. So I went on a venture down the pasta isle in the supermarket and found Tripoline.  Tripoline is a ribbon pasta with one flared edge and one flat edge, it's easy to cook, easy to eat and found in your supermarket of choice (unless your local supermarket is the size of a large shoe like ours is).  Anyway... this is nothing special of a recipe, it's inspired by my singing teachers tiny little Italian Mama with a meat option borrowed from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.  Thanks chaps!

For two people you will need,

200ml double cream,

2 egg yolks,

150g 'long' pasta of choice,

100g grated italian hard cheese of choice,

Pepper,

Olive oil,

bacon or chorizo or similar

Cook your pasta as normal. Meanwhile separate your eggs and throw the yolks in the cream, mix this through and season with pepper.  Now cook your meat of choice, I had some fridge chorizo on hand today, so that's what went in ours (recipe coming soon as I am not 100% happy with it yet).  Once the pasta is cooked, turn off the heat, drain the pasta and leave a little water in the pan - then add your eggy cream mix and stir stir stir.  Once it's all come together and the cream looks less opaque and more 'sticky', the add the meat.  Put the cheese on the top, add more pepper and serve!

This can be served with salad, lovely bread, garlic bread... any number of things but today Brian and I just put it in our faces and ate it with glee and happiness.  It might not look appealing, but it's quick, it's good and it's very satisfying.

So there we go, a classic, tasty meal that I imagine a lot of people could make happen with food you already have in the fridge, it costs less than your average supermarket packet or tub of sauce and you can make it in the time it takes to cook the pasta (and meanwhile you can make the salad or convince your husband that a slice if Christmas cake is an acceptable pudding at any time of day).