Green pesto rice

This is one of my easy, throw-together dishes when I fancied something with a really healthy kick. It makes generous portions and is filling in all the right ways. You can use the meat replacer of your choice or even use scrambled egg instead to fry with the rice. If you're feeling fancy you can even make your own pesto!


Green pesto rice

Serves 4

Takes around 40 minutes


1 crown of broccoli

2 courgettes

150g fresh shelled peas (petis pois are nice here)

300g Quorn chicken

500ml stock

2 x 250g packets of ready-cooked brown rice (I used Tilda brown basmati)

A jar of pesto of your choosing

3 chopped garlic clove or 2-3 tsps of minced garlic

1 tsp cornflour

One lemon


* Heat some oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Separate the broccoli into small florets and chop the courgette into small pieces.

* Fry the meat replacer a bit first, with the Quorn chicken just 5-7 minutes at the start to brown should be fine. Then add the garlic, courgettes, broccoli and peas and fry for 10 minutes.

* Once the veg is ready, prepare the stock and pour over. Make a paste with the cornflour and a small amount of cold water and add to the pan and stir. Bring to the boil while stirring then lower the heat to simmer for 10 minutes.

* Just before the veg is ready, heat the rice in the microwave as per instructions on the packet. When done, add to the pan and stir in.

* Make sure the mixture is heated through thoroughly, then add 3 tablespoons of pesto (can vary amount according to taste) and squeeze the lemon over to add a fragrant tang. Stir well and serve.

Greek filo pastry pie

This is a recipe that's pretty similar to where I lifted it from. Good old BBC Good food!

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4540/crispy-greekstyle-pie-

I did make a few adaptations though, so I'll outline those here and what I did. It was very tasty and probably actually better cold than hot, or at least eaten the next day. I'd never used filo pastry before so it was all new to me. This is a great recipe to make for friends because it really does look exactly like the recipe picture and I think it's very attractive. I served it with boiled potatoes in roasmary butter and a tomato and radish salad.


Greek filo pastry pie

Serves 4

Takes around 50-55 minutes


200g bag of baby spinach

125g sun dried tomatoes (preferably in oil)

125g feta cheese

1 small red onion

2 eggs

A pack of filo pastry (make sure you have at least 3 sheets)


* Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Break the eggs into a large bowl (big enough to fit the other ingredients in) and beat.

* Heat a large pan over medium heat. While this is heating, chop the onion into small pieces and cut or crumble the feta into small cubes. If you have time, slice the sun dried tomatoes into smaller pieces. Add these to the bowl with the eggs.

* Heat the spinach in the pan, covered, with a couple of tablespoons of water. When it's done, press the spinach down into a seive to drain the excess water and chop. Add this to the bowl. Once the spinach is out, fry the onions for about 5 minutes until softened.

* While the onions are cooking prepare the pastry. You can use a standard pie/flan dish. Take one sheet of filo pastry and brush one side with oil. Lie that sheet oil-side down into the pie dish and press into the dish, making sure there are flaps hanging over the side. Repeat with 2 more pastry sheets ensuring that they are turned so the overhanging flaps are not directly on top of each other.

* When the onion is done, add that to the bowl and mix everything together evenly and make sure everything is coated with the egg. Pour this filling into the prepared dish and close the overhanging flaps of the pastry until the filling is full covered.

* Bake for 30 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden.

Cooking for friends - Tomato and pepper soup

A picture-less couple of posts as there isn't really a lot of time or thought for pictures when you're serving up a meal for guests! I might have a picture somewhere of the trial run I did for the soup though.

This tomato soup recipe I adapted from the recipe at Nigella's website, and the main change was to make it serve 5 people and be a bit more peppery. Here is the original:

http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/roasted-tomato-and-red-pepper-soup-3238

This is a brilliant soup to make if you have friends over, because once the chopping is done you just stick it in the oven for 40-45 minutes and blend it with some stock in the end. It leasves plenty of time for socialising outside of the kitchen! I made bread rolls the day before to go with it with my usual bread machine method.

The soup itself is quite textured; if you don't like the skins on the tomatoes and peppers you can peel them afterwards by sticking them in a sealed plastic bag for a few minutes and letting the skins steam so they can easily peeled off. It's a lot of effort though, and probably best done with just the peppers. You can add cream/creme fraiche/soft goat's cheese as the end to make the soup a bit richer.


Roasted tomato and pepper soup

Serves 5

Takes around 1 hour and 10 minutes to complete totally


800g vine tomatoes

3 peppers (red is good for colour, but any can be used; I used 2 red and 1 orange)

2 small red onions

5-6 cloves of garlic

650ml stock

1.5 tbsp Mushroom ketchup/soy sauce/Worcestershire sauce

Olive oil and seasoning

The recipe on the website includes tabasco which I didn't use as I'm not a spice fan, but would go very well.

Preheat oven to 200C (180C fan)


* Prepare the vegetables - Cut the tomatoes into halves or quarters (depending on size), the peppers into quarters, the onions into chunky wedges and separate the garlic cloves but keep the skin on.

* Put all the vegetables into a large roasting tin, season and drizzle with your preferred amount of olive oil. Mix well.

* Roast the veggies for 40-45 minutes so they become soft and slightly blackened.

* A few minutes before the veggies are due to come out make up the stock and keep it hot it in a large pan.

* When the veggies are out, first squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins into the stock and add the mushroom ketchup. Then plonk in all the veggies and mix around a bit. Heat if required.

* Whizz up with a hand blender or in a food processor.

Soup done!

Gnocchi Al Forno

A baked gnocchi dish adapted from a recipe I collected at Waitrose. With the spinach and broccoli it gives a green, healthy hit and the tomatoes offset that nicely with their salty tang. You could use another creamy cheese if you don't fancy ricotta and add another strong cheese on top instead of Parmesan.


Gnocchi Al Forno

Serves 4

Takes around 30-35 minutes


400g chopped spinach (frozen is ideal)

800g gnocchi

250g ricotta cheese

A crown of broccoli

Several sun-dried tomatoes to taste

A handful of fresh basil leaves, torn

4 tbsp breadcrumbs

4 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Salt & pepper


* Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan. Chop the broccoli into florets and defrost the spinach. If not using frozen, then wilt the spinach gently then whizz in a blender. Frozen is easier though!

* Boil the broccoli for 1 minute, then add the gnocchi and boil for 2 more minutes, then drain.

* In the meantime mix together the ricotta, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, basil and 1 tbsp of the Parmesan.

* In a large, oven-proof dish mix the spinach mix with the gnocchi and broccoli and smooth down. Season with the salt and black pepper.

* Sprinkle the breadcrumbs and the rest of the Parmesan evenly over the top. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.