Spaghetti Bolognese

  

I haven't posted in a very long time, I'm sorry! Life has gotten in the way and I really wasn't in the frame of mind to blog or do any major cooking/baking.


I'm back now and wanted to post this as I made this on Sunday and it was amazing!


This is essentially the meat part from my lasagne recipe but to save you from trawling through my recipes to find it and then adapting the recipe to just what you need, I thought I'd make it really simple for you guys, cos I'm nice like that!


I went to Rome for my Birthday in June and we purchased a few packets of homemade pasta, I used the giant pasta shells for this as I thought the meat sauce would get all up inside the shells and that it would be aesthetically pleasing...which it was!


So without any further ado, here is the recipe!!

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped into 1cm cubes
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 500g minced beef
• 1 glass dry red wine 
• 400g tinned chopped tomatoes 
• 1 tablespoon tomato purée
• 1 courgette, chopped into 1cm cubes 
• 10 basil leaves
• 6 cloves of garlic, crushed
• Salt & pepper
• Spaghetti/pasta of your choice
• Parmesan

 

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and cook the onion, carrot, garlic and celery for 5 minutes. Add the minced beef and continue to cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring continuously, until coloured all over. Season with salt and pepper and continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

Pour in the wine, stir well and continue to cook for about 10 minutes until the wine has evaporated.  

Add the chopped tomatoes, the tomato purée, the courgettes and the basil, lower the heat and continue to cook for 1 hour, uncovered, until you get a beautiful rich sauce. Stir occasionally. After about 30 minutes, taste and season some more if required. 

Cook your pasta as per the instructions. Once cooked, drain and serve onto plates and then spoon the meat sauce on top. Add parmesan et voila....bon appétit! 

Gotta have Parmesan!

Coffee Cake

I'll let you into a little secret....I absolutely HATE tea and coffee buuuut I adore coffee desserts (as long as there is no alcohol!! I hate alcohol in my desserts....only in a glass please!) and this cake will take you to cake heaven. I mean, who doesn't love cake?? I most certainly do....chocolate, coffee, lemon, Victoria sponge, marmalade, marble.......I just love cake and this coffee cake will not disappoint...it's my own recipe so do let me know what you think.


Ingredients:

• 250g softened butter
• 250g caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 250g self raising flour
• Instant coffee
• Dark chocolate (to decorate)
• 250g icing sugar
• 80g unsalted butter at room temperature 
• 25ml milk

Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.


Line two cake tins with baking parchment.


Cream the butter and the sugar together until pale in a food processor/Kitchin Aid, then beat in the eggs.


Slowly add the sifted flour and mix well.


Put the kettle on to boil and in a small bowl, add 4 teaspoons of coffee and add a little of the boiled water to make a thick consistency coffee. Add to the cake mixture to taste.


Once you have the right amount of coffee flavour, spoon the mixture between the two cake tins. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.


Once cooked, cool on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, time to make the icing! Beat the icing sugar and butter together in a mixer. Once well combined, add the milk and vanilla extract.

If you have more coffee left over then add to the frosting, bit by bit to taste. If you used it all up then boil more water and make more coffee paste.

Once the cakes have cooked, sandwich together with half the frosting then cover the outside of the cake with the remaining frosting. Grate some dark chocolate and sprinkle over the cake.

Lemon Pesto Cod with a Parmesan Crust

One thing I love about summer is eating fresh fish and keeping it simple but packed full of flavour.

This dish is so effortless to rustle up, only requires one dish to cook everything thus leaving less to wash up....result! 

I made this dish whilst on holiday at my parents and wanted something quick to make as I wanted to spend more time in the sun than in the kitchen!

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 4 pieces of cod (or any other meaty white fish)
• 16 new potatoes 
• Grated zest of half one lemon
• Parmesan
• Fresh basil
• Olive oil 
• Fresh salt & pepper
• Breadcrumbs 

Thinly slice the potatoes (raw with the skins still on) and place into a large roasting tin. Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil then season with salt and pepper. Mix well then place in a preheated oven (180C fan) for 20 Minutes, turning half way through.

Whilst the potatoes are cooking, prepare your lemon pesto. I used all the leaves of a medium basil plant. Put the basil into a small mixer, add some olive oil, Parmesan, lemon grind and salt & pepper to taste. Mix well until you have the consistency you want. Keep adding more oil, Parmesan and seasoning if needed.

Once the potatoes have been cooking for 20 minutes, take out the oven and and make some space for the fish. Place the fish in the dish, season then spoon the pesto onto each fish and top with breadcrumbs and sprinkle Parmesan on top. Bake in the oven for a further 30 minutes.

Once ready, plate up and enjoy!

Bon appétit!! 

Spicy Crab, Chilli & Lemon Pasta

I love all things pasta and I absolutely adore crab! It's fresh and flavoursome and quite the luxury (the fresh meat kind, not the stick variety!!).


What I love about this dish is the fresh flavours it punches. It's not your typical saucy pasta dish, the flavour each element of this dish has speak loudly and really tantalize your taste buds.


I purchased a higher end variety of pasta for this dish as I was spending a fair bit on the crab, I didn't see the point in scrimping on the pasta! Plus I wanted to see for myself if there really is a difference between "cheap" linguine/spaghetti and the expensive stuff.....let me tell you, there is a huge difference!!


For everyday cooking I will continue to use the cheaper pasta, but if cooking something special or for family/friends then I will most definitely upgrade my pasta.


Serves 2.


Ingredients:

• 150g Pasta di Aldo Filini (from Waitrose/Ocado or use any linguine/spaghetti)
• 3 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 200ml white wine (don't go cheap on the wine!! Good quality only for cooking please!)
• Grated zest & juice of half a lemon
• 200g fresh white crab meat
• 50g wild rocket

Cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling water with 1 heaped teaspoon of sea salt. Drain well then toss with a little olive oil.


Meanwhile heat 1 tbsp. of olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the spring onions and chilli and fry for around 2-3 minutes. Pour in the wine and bubble for 3 minutes or until reduced slightly.


Turn down the heat, add the lemon juice, zest and crab meat, and stir to combine. Season to taste, then add to the cooked pasta along with the rocket and mix well. Divide between two pasta bowl, season with more fresh black pepper and add a sprinkling of parmesan!


Buon appetito!

Chocolate Fudge Brownie Pie

Ok, so this is the dessert I made for my Valentine's Day dinner.


You will not be disappointed!! It's literally a moist, decadent brownie encased in a cinnamon pastry and your taste buds will forever thank you for making this!!


It may seem easy to buy ready made plain pastry, but don't do this to yourself! Take the time to make this from scratch, it really isn't that time consuming and the amount of pride you'll have for yourself once it's made is priceless....plus the look of appreciation of everyone's face whilst eating this will more than make up for it!


I rustled up 2 sets of the pastry in one day....I'd left the first batch at home so had to make another at my boyfriends....proof that it's not overly time consuming, so get your aprons on and bake, bake, bake!!


Ingredients:

• 175g plain flour
• 85g butter, cut into cubes
• 2tbsp icing sugar
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 300g light brown muscovado sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 175g butter, melted
• 50g plain flour
• 50g cocoa
• 50g macadamia nuts, chopped
• 50g dark chocolate, chopped

Tip the flour, butter, icing sugar and cinnamon into a food processor and mix until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Add 2 1/2 - 3tbsp of water and mix until it comes together. Wrap in cling film and chill for 15-20 minutes.


Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and use to line a deep 23cm loose base tart tin. Leave the excess pastry overhanging  the edges of the tin. Line with baking paper and fill with baking beans and chill for 15 minutes.


Bake for 15 minutes, remove the paper and beans, then bake for a further 5 minutes until the pastry is crisp and slightly golden.

Pastry case is ready to be filled

Beat the eggs and sugar together to create a mousse like texture, Stir in the vanilla and melted butter, then fold in the flour and cocoa. Scatter the nuts and chocolate over the pastry case and pour the brownie mixture over the top. Bake for 30 minutes until firm with a slight wobble. Trim away the excess pastry and leave to cool.

Ready to serve up!

Serve with ice cream or custard....bon appetit mes amis!

Fish Pie

What I love about this fish pie is that it's not stodgy and is rather light, fresh but very flavoursome.


There's nothing worse than eating a meal and then enduring a food coma that lasts over an hour! Plus, I like to have room for dessert as I have such a sweet tooth!


You can use whatever fish you like in this dish and use smoked/unsmoked fish. The world is your oyster to really play around with this pie....the potatoes and béchamel sauce really bring this pie to life and you could omit the cheese on top for breadcrumbs before cooking if you're looking for a healthier alternative.


You can also mix in vegetables such as peas, broccoli, courgettes etc.


Ingredients:

• 750g small potatoes, peeled and cooked
• 200g haddock, skin removed
• 150g cooked king prawns
• Handful of chopped parsley
• 100g grated Comte cheese

For the sauce béchamel:

• 30g butter
• 30g plain flour
• 500ml milk
• 1/4 onion
• 2 cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Salt & pepper

Once the potatoes are cooked, halve/quarter them depending on size.

Ready to bake!

Flake the haddock into chunks. Not too small or you'll lose the texture!


To make the béchamel sauce, melt the butter in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the flour and mix well until you have a smooth paste. Take off the heat and leave for a minute, then slowly add the milk whilst constantly whisking. Place back on the heat, add the onion, cloves and bay leaves and simmer gently for 10 minutes whilst whisking. Remove the onions, cloves and bay leaves then add the salt, pepper and nutmeg and stir.

Fresh out the oven!

Preheat the oven to 180C fan.


Add the potatoes, fish and parsley and mix well. Pour into an ovenproof dish, sprinkle the grated cheese on top and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serving dinner....

Add a little chopped parsley on top before serving.


Enjoy!!

Yummy!!!

Super Healthy Pancakes  

Now I never thought I'd hear healthy and pancakes in the same sentence but the proof is in the pudding, or should I say batter??!


These pancakes are super healthy AND taste amazing! What more could you ask for??

I teamed mine with 100% natural maple syrup (tastes like the processed stuff but is good for you, it's more expensive but worth it) and blueberries. You can have these with fruit compote, almond butter, coconut cream.....the possibilities are endless really!

Serves 3 (or 2 generously, oink oink)

Ingredients:

• 2 scoops of protein powder (I used banana flavour) 
• 100g readybrek 
• 2 large egg whites 
• 150 ml coconut milk 

Put all the ingredients into a blender and whizz until all combined. If the mixture is a little thick, add a little more milk.

Heat a pan on the stove with some coconut oil, once hot enough pour the mixture in to the size of your choice. I found 3-4 tablespoons made a good size 'American style' pancake.

Repeat the process until all the mixture has been used and serve!

Voilà mes amis, a super healthy and nutritious breakfast that feels like a cheat meal! Perfect!!

Perfect for breakfast in bed!