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Caramelised onion and goats cheese tarts

Easy peasy little tarts that are nice little starters or lunch ideas with salad. puff pastry cut into rounds caramelised onions goats cheese fresh thyme All you need to do is cut out rounds from the pastry, score a line about a cm next to the outside with a knife and spread the inside with the caramelised onion, cut some goats cheese and place on the top, drizzle with some olive oil, salt and pepper and thyme leaves. Egg wash the rim and cook in the oven on a lined baking tray for about 15-20 mins at 180˚C until the pastry is golden et voila, serve with a nice little green salad.

Prawn, fennel and lime salad

Heres another banger, so fresh, clean and summery and pretty colours too! serves 4 2 small fennel bulbs ½ red onion very thinly sliced juice and grated zest of 1 lime 2 garlic cloves, crushed 2 tbsp chopped dill 2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley 1 mild chilli, seeded and finely chopped 4 tbsp olive oil 16 tiger prawns, peeled and de-veined 1 tbsp sumac 2 tbsp chopped coriander pomegranate seeds to garnish Trim the bases and tops of the fennel, then slice widthways as thinly as you can, if you have a magimix you can use the thin slicer for super speedy slicing. Mix together with the onion, lime juice and zest, garlic, dill, parsley, chilli, 2 tbsps of the olive oil and ½ tsp of crunchy sea salt and set aside. Get a griddle pan smoking hot on the gas, meanwhile mix the prawns with the remainder of the olive oil and some salt. Grill them in small batches until they are golden, usually a minute on each side and then toss into the salad along with the coriander and sumac and give it a stir,

Sweet potato wedges with lemongrass crème fraîche

Happy holidays and New Year! I have had a crazy few weeks, lots of parties to cook for in the run up to Christmas in London then last minute took a job in Switzerland and arrived 2 days before Christmas starting immediately....c'etait crazy! I am now in the beautiful mountains though so big smiles, lots of friends and skiing so I couldn't be happier, and I have a super cool chef job in a cute little cafe/restaurant called La Ruinette  in the Valley. Here is a recipe to a totally ridiculously amazing carby salad I made for a party, it's great to share and is the most amazing colours and flavours, and as per usual it is another Ottolenghi one! serves 4 3 medium sweet potatoes 1  ½  tsp ground coriander 1 fresh red chilli, finely sliced handful of coriander leaves Dipping sauce ½  lemongrass stalk, very finely chopped 200g crème fraîche zest and juice of 2 limes 50g fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated Preheat your oven to 210˚C, give your potatoes a wash if they are dirty,

Stuffed peppers with giant cous cous, basil oil and roasted vegetables

Peppers are such a great vessel for stuffing with delicious things. I was introduced to giant cous cous over the summer, which isn't really like cous cous at all, it's more of a mini round pasta. Mix with herb oils, vegetables and cheese and you have a pretty yummy side dish to go along with your dinner! Serves 4 2 red peppers halved long ways, de seeded giant cous cous 1 aubergine, diced into small squares 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced into small squares small bunch basil and parsley 1 clove garlic, crushed olive oil feta/goats cheese or mozzarella Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Roast the aubergine and sweet potato cubes until golden and cooked through with some olive oil on a baking tray.  Cook the peppers too for about 15 minutes until soft but still holding their shape. Boil the giant cous cous to the pack instructions and then rinse in a sieve with cold water. For the herb oil, pick the leaves off the basil and parsley and pour over about 4 tbsps olive oil and add the garli

Aubergine and goats cheese dip with pitta crisps

Don't be put off by the slightly grey, something you might find in a babies nappy, colour of this dip, it is really good I promise! Served along side some healthy pitta crisps and you have yourself a good little chip and dip for the party season. makes 2 dipping size bowls 100ml olive oil 1 onion, finely diced 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped small 1 tbsp thyme leaves large pinch of chopped rosemary leaves 2 medium aubergines, finely diced 125g soft goats cheese, mild or cream cheese if you prefer salt and pepper pack of pitta breads olive oil handful fresh rosemary leaves, roughly chopped salt and pepper Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan, add the onion, garlic, thyme and rosemary and sauté gently until soft. Add the aubergine, and cook for about 15 minutes until it is cooked through, stir regulary to stop it from catching and season. Allow to cool slightly before pureeing in a food processor with the goats cheese, check the seasoning and add more goats cheese to taste if nee

Orzo salad with roasted pepper, parsley, orange and pine nuts

I made this salad lots over the summer, it is so fresh and colourful, I use that cute mini flower pasta most of the time because orzo can sometimes be hard to find. Great served along side a bbq. serves 4 250g Orzo 2 red peppers handful pine nuts toasted 2 oranges, segmented small bunch parsley roughly chopped olive oil 1 lemon zested salt and pepper Start by cutting your peppers in half and placing them on a foil covered tray, skin side up. Put them under the grill and cook until the skin becomes black all over. Transfer the peppers into a bowl and cover with cling film, this lets them steam a bit as they cool down. Put a pan of water on and when it's boiled cook the orzo to packet instructions, then drain and run cold water over it until it's totally cool, leave in the sieve until all the water has gone, then transfer into a mixing bowl. While the peppers are cooling segment your oranges and put in the bowl with the orzo, parsley and pine nuts. Once the peppers are cool peel

Puff pastry pizzas

Puff pastry pizzas are the BEST, they are so easy to do and like most things involving puff pastry and cheese they are so delicious. Perfect to do for kids or as part of a lunch for your friends. Use whatever toppings you like... 1 pre rolled packet puff pastry 1/2 a jar of passata or tinned tomatoes pureed handful of basil leaves 1 big ball of mozzarella torn apart 4 slices prosciutto, ham, salami 1 fresh chilli sliced or pinch of dried chilli flakes Preheat you oven to 180˚C and score a crust line about 2 cm thick around the edge of your pastry, using a fork prick the middle gently all over. This stops the pastry from rising too much in the middle so it's easy to apply your toppings. Cook the pastry on its own in the oven for about 15-20 mins until it is slightly golden and the pastry is almost cooked. If you don't cook it enough now then the pastry will become very soggy in the middle, although lots of people love that! Take the pastry out and spread the passata over the bas