ricotta fritta November 4, 2017

250g ricotta
1 tbsp grated Parmesan
1/2 tbsp flour
egg
sea salt and cracked black pepper

Fresh basil
Cherry tomatoes
balsamic vinegar

Frylight

Mix the ricotta, parmesan, flour, egg, and seasoning. Set aside for 30 minutes.

Chop the cherry tomatoes, and mix with the basil and vinegar, and set aside for later.

Heat a frying pan, and spritz with frylight. This is where it gets messy – put dollops of the ricotta mixture in the pan, then fry for a couple of minutes and turn with a pallette knife.  If you get the dollops too big, then they splurge everywhere. They still taste lovely though!

Serve the ricotta fritta warm with the tomato salad.

Chicken with garlic and parmesan October 27, 2017

6 chicken thigh fillets – skinless and boneless
salt and pepper
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tbsp fat free fromage frais
2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
1/2 tsp mixed herbs
50g parmesan (12 syns or 2 x hexA)

Heat the oven to 190ºC.
Unroll the chicken thighs and put them on the chopping board
Mix the garlic with the fromage frais, cheese, parsley and herbs
Put this mixture into the fold of the chicken and fold it over. If you want you can secure it with a cocktail stick.
Transfer to a pyrex dish and cook in the oven for about 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked. Serve with vegetables.

Cheesy pasta October 22, 2017

1 onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic

8 medallions unsmoked bacon

2 egg yolks

250g quark

56g parmesan

Fry light

Spaghetti for two

Fry the onion gently for ten minutes, adding a little water if necessary.

Add the chopped garlic and chopped bacon and cook through

While that’s going on, cook your pasta

Stir the egg yolks, quark and parmesan together with a little seasoning

Drain the pasta, return to pan, and add the other ingredients

Serve

Mac and Cheese, Shelter Style April 25, 2017

Being tired, I figured a simple dish was in order. So I plumped for Mac and Cheese. I cooked 2lbs of pasta in 1lb batches, and then added half the following sauce to each:

3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp flour
milk
1/2lb mozarella
2lb cheddar
6 eggs
14oz evaporated milk
2tbsp chilli flakes
2tbsp paprika
salt, pepper, italian herbs
4 tbsps mustard

Into one side of this I put a primavera (peppers, broccoli, spring onions) and into the other I put ham and pancetta. It went down rather well.

Cheesecake April 25, 2017

makes: a lot

1 pint of ex thick double cream
500g various soft cheeses – philli, marscapone etc.
100g sugar
1 packet chocolate shorties (orange chocolate if you want to do orange cheesecake as well)
Fruit juice (2-4oz) + either zest or pulp of a couple of relevant fruits.
2 oz butter.
Cocoa powder (i.e. not drinking chocolate)

Smash the packet of chocolate biscuits to pieces.
Press down into base of vessel being used.
Sprinkle cocoa powder over the base
Melt the butter and pour over the smushed biscuits.
Put in the fridge.

Beat up the soft cheese
add the sugar until it’s a nice soft consistency – soft peaks.
Whip the double cream in, again to forming nice peaks.
Fold in the fruit juice and pulp
Check flavour
Pour over the biscuit base
Put in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours

If you have appropriate fruit pulp/sauce pour over the top.
Serve

Complicated Carbonara April 25, 2017

2 packs Lardons
1 oz Flour
small pot Cream
4 oz Cheese
1 tsp mustard
oil
cooked spaghetti for 4 people.

Fry the lardons, reserving the fat in the pan, and putting the lardons to one side.
With the fat and the oil, cook the flour, and stir in the cream and the mustard.
Grate the cheese into the sauce, and add the lardons.
Stir until all thoroughly cooked through. Add the cooked pasta to the pan, and serve.

Bacon Rocket and Coriander Pasta April 25, 2017

1 parsnip – chopped
2 carrots – chopped
1 box chopped tomato
squirt of tom puree
1 clove garlic
1 onion
2 pieces of smoked bacon fine chopped
1 tbsp coriander pesto
20ml dried basil
savory
oregano
oil – grapeseed and olive oil.
1 chopped stalk celery
1/2 pint stock.
1 pkt rocket
Grated cheese

Fry (grapeseed oil) the chopped bacon with the onion and garlic. Add the celery and the carrot, and keep on a medium heat.
After 3-4 minutes add all the other vegetables, tomatoes and stock, and the herbs.
simmer for about 20 minutes while making a cheesecake and cooking the pasta.
Add the coriander pesto and leave on the heat for a couple of minutes and add a tsp of the olive oil. Decorate with the rocket and the cheese and serve on pasta.

Leek Cheesecake April 25, 2017

Base:
Chopped hazelnuts – one small supermarket packet
4 inches of breadcrumbs (4″ of a baguette or thereabouts)
2-3″ of garlic paste
knob of butter
salt
handful of Cashews

Topping
4 leeks, sliced incl the greenery
1 tub tesco soft cheese
300ml of soured cream
splash of milk
cheese (gouda and cheddar)
cornflour
knob of butter
6 baby plum tomatoes, quartered
scraping of nutmeg

Base:
Heat oven to 200C+
In food processor combine all of the base ingredients and then press the resultant crumbly mixture into base of glass pyrex dish. Put into oven and bake till crisp (30 minutes or so)

Topping:
Soften the leeks in oil and butter. Add the cornflour, and cook through. Stir in the tub of soft cheese, and the sour cream with a splash of milk. Stir in the grated cheddar.
When nicely smooth, remove base from oven, pour over the topping, then put the tomatoes and the grated gouda and nutmeg on top.

Return to oven on about 190C until top is nicely melted and slightly crisped.

Serve.

This will also work with mushrooms instead of leeks. It’s based on a Rose Elliot dish, but somewhat souped up.
The base will freeze until wanted.

The above would easily serve 6-8 people.

Whisky Pasta April 25, 2017

Wheat-free pasta of choice

cornflour
butter
milk
whisky (peaty is good)
oak-smoked salt
(bacon – cooked)
nutmeg
welsh gouda cheese
black pepper
tsp or so of mustard

So, prep the pasta

butter+ cornflour as usual to start the white sauce. add the milk, a little at a time. Add a couple of grains of smoked salt, cooked bacon and whisky at this point.
Stir until starting to thicken
Add the cheese, nutmeg, black pepper and mustard (in reverse order)
Drain the pasta
Stir everything together
Serve

Boursin and Gnocchi April 25, 2017

1 packet boursin
1 packet gnocchi.
1 dash milk

Cook gnocchi, drain, then melt in the boursin with the milk.
Lardons of bacon can be added for extra flavour and non-veggieness.

Nom.