Category: Tomatoes

Roast Vegetable, Chilli and Parmesan quiche with wholemeal Spelt Pastry:

September 22, 2014

One Afternoon, sometime last week, I decided to drag out all the bits and bobs that needed to be used up in the fridge, as you do.  Well, I always do as I save everything! I cannot begin to throw anything away, even if it is a 1/4 of an onion as it all links with another Recipe!
  Anyway… I had numerous vegetables, cheese, milk, all sorts to use up so I decided to do a quiche but with Wholemeal Spelt Flour.  It turned out great! I loved it, My partner loved it, in fact both of us said that the aubergines in this recipe tasted brilliant and adding that red chilli, really gave it some “Pizzazz” to it. 

  I was amazed how much interest I had for this recipe. People made some really nice comments and have been asking me to put it up on my site.  So this delights me to say, By Popular demand, here is my recipe for…


Roast Vegetable, Chilli and Parmesan quiche with wholemeal Spelt Pastry:


* My Tin was approximately 9 inch wide by 2 inch deep. 
I cannot state this recipe as vegetarian as it has Parmesan in it. But you could substitute for another cheese or simply none at all! *


Ingredients:

(Pastry *I froze half down)

–  250g Wholemeal Spelt pastry, (Sieved half as I wanted some “crunch/depth” to it)
–  150g Unsalted Butter cubed and softened
–  Pinch of Caster sugar
–  Pinch of Sea Salt
–  1 Egg
–  1 tbsp of cold Whole Milk

(Filling) 

–  3 Medium Free Range Eggs
–  100 ml   Double Cream
–  100 ml  Whole Milk
–  Sprinkle of Ground Nutmeg
–  100g Parmesan Cheese 
–  Half and Aubergine Diced roughly
–  1 medium Onion Diced
–  6-8 small red and yellow tomatoes halved or quartered
–  1/4 green Pepper Diced
–  1/4 Red Chilli diced finely
–  3 leaves of fresh basil finely sliced
–  1/2 small green courgette finley sliced
–  Splash of Olive oil
–  Few dried herbs
–  Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper

Method:

*  Preheat Oven to 190c

*  Pop ingredients for your Pastry into a food processor and mix until dough forms a ball. Or if you prefer, you can do this by hand.

*  Place Pastry onto floured surface, knead slightly together, Cover with Cling Film and place in fridge until you want to use.

*  Roast all vegetables in oven with olive oil and dry Herbs.

*  Roll out Pastry to about 1/2 cm thick or if you can, slightly thinner.

*  Blind Bake Pastry for approximately 12- 15 minutes

*  Once Vegetables are cooked and Pastry is blind Baked, Pop your grated Parmesan into the pastry case, then vegetables, Everything else all in and bake in the oven for approximately 30-40 minutes as different Ovens and Tins can make a big difference.

*  When your Quiche is cooked, allow to cool first before slicing into.


This is a great Quiche eaten Warm or cold. Ideal for a picnic and can be served with many different things.





Squid Ink Linguini with Crayfish for BBC Radio leicester’s Food Friday

September 18, 2014



After having a quick chat with Ben Jackson, whom I do Food friday with on BBC Radio Leicester, we decided that our listeners wanted dishes that they could pretty much cook along “Real time” with whilst listening to the programme.  It goes out at 4.40pm every friday which is a great time if you want a fairly early dinner.  Thus, then allowing you more time at your local for a quick vino or Pint! 

  A dish that sprung to my mind was a dish that I cook quite often for myself but I wanted a little twist on it.  I would normally cook this dish with “Normal” Spaghetti or linguini and use Prawns instead of crayfish.  Now of course, you could use any other seafood, I just felt that this added real colour and extra flavour as the Squid ink Linguini does have a subtle flavour that I LOVE and I feel we sometimes forget about Crayfish tails also but they have so much flavour in them. I came up with a great Ravioli dish once which I used Crayfish tails so I will share this with you soon. 

  By the way, I have had some comments on that the linguini does look a little strange, but trust me…If you love pasta and combining Seafood…you are going to LOVE IT!

Hear me and Ben Right Here!

Squid Ink Linguini with Crayfish Tails,Tomato,Chilli and Garlic:

Ingredients:
(Serves 2)

–  Approximately 200 g of Squid ink ( Cuttlefish )Linguini or Spaghetti 
–  A 120 g Pack of Cooked and peeled Crayfish Tails ( About 3/4 of the pack is enough for 2 people)
–  A good “Glug” of Olive Oil
–  2 cloves of Garlic Finely Chopped
–  1/4  Red Chilli Finely Chopped
–  2 Sliced Spring Onions
–  Almost half of a little pot of Fish stock (I used a Knorr pot)
–  A good Splash of Dry White Wine ( I used Sauvignon Blanc) 
–  1 Tbsp of Tomato Puree
–  Approximately 10 Baby Plum Tomatoes chopped into 4
–  A pinch of  Caster Sugar 
–  Cracked Black Pepper
–  A Handful of chopped Fresh Basil and Fresh Flat leaf Parsley

Method:

*  Pop your Pasta into a boiling pan of Salted Water and cook for approximately 10-12 minutes or to packet instructions.

*  In a Frying/Saute Pan, Start to fry off the White ends of the Spring Onions and Chilli in Olive oil.

* Add the Garlic and fry for another minute. 

* Pop in then the White Wine and start to simmer, reducing only slightly.

*  Add the tomato Puree, Tomatoes, Pinch of sugar and cracked Black Pepper. Cook for another minute or 2.

* Add a little splash of water to the sauce. Taste…it may need a little more sugar to sweeten.

*  Put the rest of the Spring onions (Green parts) into the sauce.

*  Drain your Pasta keeping a little of the water and  place the pasta into the sauce. Add the Crayfish and coat all the ingredients around the pasta. 

*  Finally add your chopped herbs when the Crayfish are hot and Serve!



Going "WILD" For Wild Garlic

May 28, 2014

Last year when the lovely season of the Wild Garlic came upon us, I didn’t actually find any until, sadly, the end of the season.  I tried my best with what I did find but it had grown a bit too far on and the true flavour wasn’t there anymore.
  However, this year I found a great spot, practically on my doorstep! I was thrilled as you can imagine.
  However it has come to that time of the year where it has either gone, grown too big or has overgrown weeds over it.  I almost feel quite sad as there’s so much you can do with Wild Garlic, I absolutely LOVE its unique flavour and the prettiness of the flower buds. So now it is fizzling away till next year, if you can get hold of some still around. Do try a pesto with it. It will keep in the fridge for a few weeks at least, or even do a pickle/vinegar?
  I realise that many people will have done this with Wild garlic and rightly so as we do it with other leftover herbs, so why not this? 
  Here is just a couple of things that I did with mine this year.  I do plan another recipe if my last batch lasts! 

Wild Garlic Pistachio Pesto:
(Makes 1 small Jar):

One thing I must add about this recipe is that pretty much whenever I do pestos’s I always like to use either pistachios or cashew nuts rather than Pine nuts. I find the pine nuts are more bitter, but that’s just my preference.

Ingredients:

(These ingredients depend on the size of your jar and also your taste) – Be as Flexible as you want with it! 

–  50g of Wild Garlic Leaves
–  20g of Pistachio nuts (shelled )
–  20g of Parmesan Cheese
–  Sprinkling of Pink sea salt (any good sea salt will do) and cracked black Pepper
–  1 Tbsp of Fresh lemon juice
–  2 Tbsp of Rapeseed oil ( olive oil can be bitter )

– Simply Place all ingredients into a Blender/Processor and Blitz! Add extra seasoning, oil or cheese if you need to.

This Pesto is great in all sorts of recipes, the list is endless! Once you have done this, you will never turn back.

And the result of this pesto? An obvious choice to pair with Pasta but this dish is what I keep devouring myself with lately. I am eating bucket loads of it as I love it! It’s such a quick Pasta dish to rustle up when you’ve had a busy day and can kick back with a large Glass of Wine. Perfetto!

Creamy Tagliatelle with Chicken, Mushrooms and Wild Garlic pesto:

(Serves approximately 1-2 people)


Ingredients:

–  Approximately 200g of Tagliatelle Pasta
–  1 Tbsp of Rapeseed oil (no more as there is oil in the pesto)
–  2 Spring Onions finely chopped
–  1/4 of Leek finely sliced
–  3-4 Chestnut mushrooms sliced
–  100-150g of Cooked Roast chicken shredded 
–  1/2 chicken stock cube crumbled into sauce
–  1 Tbsp of the Wild Garlic pistachio Pesto (as above ) more if you like it to be more of a garlic Flavour.
– A Good Splash of Dry White Wine (100ml)
–  150ml of Double cream

Method:

–  Cook the Tagliatelle to packet instructions.

–  Fry off the leeks and mushrooms until starting to soften.

– Add the Shredded Chicken, Spring Onion and chicken stock and cook for a further couple of minutes. 

– Add the Pesto, coating all of the mixture.

– Pour in the Wine, reduce a little and then add the cream. 

–  Drain the Pasta but use maybe 2 Tbsp of pasta water into the sauce. Place Pasta into the sauce and serve into warm bowls.


Finally, You may recall my recipe for St George’s Day when I made the Wild Garlic and fennel bread. 
 That bread actually lasted me a full week, which was great. They were some leftover and I didn’t have much room in the freezer so I decided to do a Panzanella, which is a traditional Tuscan summer salad.  There have been many different versions of this and mine isn’t very traditional, I added meat, mine was more dry and I added Wild Garlic, a kind of Italy meets Leicestershire’s Hedgerows! However it was a very lovely Lunch the day I made it.

Panzanella with Salami and Wild Garlic:




Ingredients:

(Approximately for 2 people)

–  A couple of slices of Wild garlic and fennel bread, torn into chunks for croutons
–  A handful Selection of Peppery Salad leaves (Rocket, Mizuna, Red Chard etc…)
–  1 Yellow Bell Pepper 
– 1 Red Bell Pepper
–  120g of Ripened well baby plum tomatoes
–  1-2 Tbsp of baby capers from a Jar 
–  Few slices of Italian Salami torn into pieces 
–  3-4 Basil leaves torn
–  1 Tbsp of Good quality Extra Virgin Olive oil
–  10 Wild Garlic flower Buds (already started opening) 
–  Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper to season

Method:

–  Take your Bell peppers and either Roast in the oven until skins are starting to turn black or Burn onto a Gas flame (If confident) *Note, as I am a qualified and trained chef, I have done this many a time*

– Once black, peel off the skins revealing a lovely soft sweet flesh and slice lengthways 

–  Coat the Bread for croutons in a little Sea salt, Black Pepper and olive oil and either pop in a dry frying pan to toast or again you could place in the oven.

–  Arrange all of the ingredients in a bowl, drizzle with Olive oil and Serve. A simple, But impressive salad.























Friday Night fish dish, a healthier approach.

January 24, 2014

I have decided to re-kick things going again with a fairly healthy dish. Well, it certainly is compared to the typical battered fish and chip supper we usually dive head first into on a Friday night.  
  A couple of reasons why I chose this dish to post today is A, Cost. I know its nice to treat oneself to it once in a while but “back in the day” Fish and chip Friday was a fairly cheap takeaway for families and was nice as a treat.  But now, I know I struggle sometimes to afford it!  You maybe shocked but this recipe IS a cheaper alternative. 
 And, B, because we may have overindulged slightly over December so this will make a lighter, healthier Dinner (Or supper in my case) after a glass or two of vino! 
  If you are indeed, like myself, who loves the combination of Pasta with Fish or seafood, then you will love this!



Roasted flaked Sea bass with Pesto Spaghetti and Tomato Salsa: 
(Serves 2)

One thing I will mention is I couldn’t make up my mind on wether to say the fish was steamed or roasted? as I did both!  But seeing as I finished the dish by Roasting at the end, that is why it is in the recipe title.

Ingredients:

For the Sea bass:

One whole Sea bass descaled and gutted.
1/2 a lemon
1 spring onion chopped in half
A piece of leek about a few inches long cut lengthways into 4
a few chopped fresh chives and parsley
A sprinkling of Fennel seeds or fresh Fennel would be fine also, just not too much
knob of Butter
a good glug of dry White wine
100 ml of water
Salt and pepper for a bit of seasoning.


Pesto:

(Approximately) as it is depending on how much you want to make to keep or how big your blender/processor is?

  6 spinach leaves
Handful of fresh basil
Cashew nuts
Olive Oil
1 fresh garlic clove (browned first to soften)
small handful of Fresh parmesan 
Salt and pepper to season if required.


Tomato Salsa:

Olive Oil
Cherry tomatoes 
Mini capers
Fresh lemon juice 
Fresh basil and Parsley
1 clove of fresh garlic chopped finely
A small amount of red onion chopped.


Method:



Preheat your oven to 180c.
Boil up some water ready for your spaghetti to cook.
Take your Sea bass and place onto foil which is on a deep baking tray.  Stuff the inside of the fish with the lemon, spring onion, leek and herbs.  Then place the knob of butter on top of the fish.  Grab the ends of the foil and start to gather up at the ends as you are going to make a little bath (parcel) for your fish.  Put the White wine and water into the bath and drizzle a little of olive oil (if wanted) on the fish.  Close up the foil parcel so it creates a steam bath and cook in the oven for about 15 mins.

 In the meantime whilst the fish is in the oven you then do the pesto.
  Place all ingredients into a hand blender or food processor and blitz! Adding more olive oil and seasoning if need be. Then chop all your ingredients for your Salsa (as shown above). Not forgetting of course to cook your spaghetti !  Place the salsa in a pan to gently heat. You do not want this to go to mush.

 Check on your fish after 15 minutes and open up the foil at the top so the fish will get a little colour once back in the oven.  Now depending on the size of your sea bass, it may only need maybe 5 mins more cooking.  
  Once the fish is done, Toss your drained spaghetti with the pesto, flake the Sea bass onto the spaghetti and drizzle over your Tomato salsa. 

Enjoy! 












Ragu Tagliatelle and National Butchers Week

March 14, 2013

Between The 4th and 10th of March was National Butchers week.  I am such  a Lover and very Passionate about using our Local shops and keeping that Tradition going in the Uk.  I.E Keep our Butchers, Grocers, Bakers going!! etc etc… 
  Anyway…So What could I produce from my local Butcher, Something I hadn’t ever done before.  My first thought into my mind was a traditional Ragu.  Now I know that doesn’t sound very adventurous but in fact, In the Past I had cooked a ragu sauce before but not a “PROPER” one.  One where if Antonio Carluccio Or Giorgio Locatelli walked into my kitchen, they would be proud! 
 So I thought of these two great Chefs and wondered what their take on a “Ragu” was.  Well I found that They had quite different recipes and of course I couldn’t decide which to use? “Right then”, I said to my Partner.  “I do My own.”  “Actually no, I will do Both theirs and a few of my added touches in with it.”  As Carluccio does more of a tomato based with no herbs and pancetta.  Whereas Locatelli Uses more in depth ingredients such as more Red wine and hardy herbs.  Now at the time, I thought I was doing the right thing, all getting excited but unbeknown to myself, I was doing what I have still always done with the Ragu and complicating it…

  My Partner loved the outcome, but For me I hadn’t achieved my goal.  But as all us Chefs/Cooks will know,  sometimes Recipes take time… Anyway Well here Is the Recipe that I used and the outcome.  

Ragu Tagliatelle ( Thanks to Antonio Carluccio and Giorgio Locatelli) 

Recipe:


250g of Pork mince
250g of Beef mince
100g of Chicken Livers
Olive Oil
1 Carrot finely diced
1 Celery stick finely diced
2 cloves of Garlic finely chopped
very small sprigs of Rosemary , Sage and Thyme tied together,
150 ml of  white wine (pinot grigio)
1/2 a bottle of red wine ( I used a good chianti) 
2 tablespoons of tomato puree/paste
500ml of very good Organic Passata
Very small amount of chicken stock just added when
the sauce was getting dry.
Seasoning if needed.
Parmesan for serving.
Tagliatelle pasta (I used dried this time “shock horror”! next time I will do fresh) !

Method:

Heat up your pan with the Olive oil and Fry off the Onions, Celery, Carrot and Garlic for roughly 10 mins.  Then Add the Meat, not livers yet though, and cook until browned.  Add the white wine so that the alcohol evaporates into the meat. Add 250 ml of Red wine, The tomato paste and passata and simmer for at least 1 1/2 hours. However long you do it for, add the chicken livers half an hour before the finish time and add the stock and rest of red wine if the sauce becomes dry. My Dish took 3 hours but that’s probably due to my sciatica! 
 Before the sauce is almost ready, cook the pasta for no more than 10 minutes, you need it “Al dente” (bit of a bite still to it).  Drain the pasta off add a little olive oil to coat.  Then I just took some of the sauce into another frying pan and added the right amount of pasta to it to coat ( as you can see from the pictures ), as this depends on how many people, how much people like to eat etc… you know how it is people?! 

So My outcome to this dish is that I felt I over complicated it. My Partner loved it, I know it needs working on.  But I have learnt from my mistake and will do Both their versions again and adapt to what I like I feel my taste is. However one thing I do know is that I will never go back to what I did before.  Thank you to, two, Great Italian Chefs.