Open Lasagne with King Prawns, Butternut Squash and Spinach

I've been wanting to make an open lasagne for ages but I think the fear of the pasta sheets sticking together put me off. And true to form, when I did make it...the pasta sheets stuck together. But I have discovered the trick - only boil 3-4 sheets at a time. Yes, it takes a while if you're cooking for lots of people but trust me, its worth it. I love this dish, apart from the mischievous pasta sheets, its incredibly easy to make and looks very pretty. Perfect for a dinner party or weekday treat!

Tip: When you cook the pasta, take it out about two minutes before you think its cooked and place into a dish with olive and hot water (it can then sit there keeping warm whilst you cook the other batches!)

Open Lasagne with King Prawns, Butternut Squash and Spinach

4x Lasagne Sheets per person

1xButternut Squash (diced into bite sized chunks)

300g Raw King Prawns

100g Spinach

Cherry Tomatos (as many as you want)

1 x bunch of Coriander (half very finely chopped and half roughly chopped)

1 x red chilli

1 x Garlic Cloves (sliced)

1 x tsp Ginger (grated)

1 x massive knob of butter

The juice of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Place the Squash and garlic in an oven proof dish, drizzle with lots of olive oil, season and pop in the oven for about 15-20mins. Start cooking the pasta sheets in batches (see tip above picture!). About five minutes before the pasta is all done, drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil and place in the oven with the squash. Then heat up a little oil in a pan and gently fry the finely chopped coriander, chilli and ginger for about 2 minutes on a low heat. The add the prawns, lemon juice and butter and turn the heat to medium. Cook for about 4 minutes. Now everything is cooked, simply layer it all up, I like the messy/rustic look but if you want it to really impress use a circular or square ring and layer it up inside the ring. I start with a bed of spinach, place a layer of pasta on top, then the squash, another layer of pasta, then the prawns, add another layer of pasta, then top with the squash and prawns and sprinkle with the roughly chopped coriander. There should be lots of juice from the prawns so drizzle this all on top. Enjoy!

French Food, Wonderful Wines and Fun times

I havent blogged for a few weeks as I have be in St. Tropez, basically getting slightly rounder and building up my wine tolerance. We decided to eat in for five nights and go out for the other five and on every occasion the food was sublime. 


Here are the highlights:


1. I became obsessed with the prawns out there, they are literally the size of my arm! 

2. Its all about the BBQ

3. The Most beautiful Hotel/Restaurant in St. Tropez - Les Moulins de Ramatuelle.

4. Lamb or Beef, the quality of the meat is just too good. I usually always eat fish when I'm by the sea but I couldn't resist the steaks at the Geant supermarche. The lamb shank at Bello Visto in Gassin was superb, beautiful quintessential French cooking.

5. The Puddings were mouth watering, everything looked so delicious I had to ask for a selection of three tarts! St. Tropez is renowned for La Tarte Tropezienne. It's the most delicious pud on the plant, classically made with Brioche and a cream/custard filling. Brigitte Bardot is famously loves a bit of Tart Tropezienne, with this knowledge in mind, i couldn't help feel classy whilst eating it! 

6.The Pasta in France would rival any top italian restaurant. I never think of pasta as a French dish but I suppose give a french man some flour and eggs and whatever he does will be delicious! This sauce was so amazing they served with with the starter and main!!

7. There are some really cool galleries. We found this one just off the main Square in St.Tropez. The Sculptures were very cool and made me smile just looking at them. Im trying to find the artists name so will update in due course! 

8. The Market is every Saturday and is foodie heaven.

8. Then of course there are the cars. This AC Cobra is the most beautiful car I've ever seen...and it had a disabled badge, bet the owner was a legend!

10. And finally...the glamour. I saw this photo when I was out there and loved it, true glamour Girl, Francoise Hardy.

Summer Menu

Peppa Pig Party

Loved catering for the a 2 year old Peppa Pig themed party. Ate way to many marshmallows whilst preparing though!

Kiddies Food

And Something for the adults...

Just ate this and bought these to cure my hangover!

Pork Medalions with Mustard Mash, Cabbage, Apple and Mushrooms.

I love Pork, every bit of the pig is delicious. Hand me a pork and apple sausage, some pork crackling, a juicy pork chop and some black pudding on the side and ill be a pretty happy, chubby little girl. I do however, struggle with the how to cook pork properly. Can it be a little bit pink? How do you keep it moist? etc etc. 


I discovered its an on going debate about the best way to cook Pork, back in the day Pork was routinely overcooked in order to avoid food-bourne illness's but the risk these days in minimal and as long as the pork is cooked to medium rare at 145 degrees the harmful bacterias are killed. It's becoming a trend in restaurants at the moment to cook it medium rare but i have to say, it doesn't feel right eating it this way and the texture of the meat is just better served at medium. 


Keeping the moisture in can be tricky but my tip is to always buy good quality pork and to continually bast the pork when cooking. 


So after learning all this I thought I would put it to the test and create my idea of a heavenly dinner, although it looks a bit posh, it was only a Tuesday night TV dinner! mmmmm

Pork Medalions with Mustard Mash, Cabbage, Apple and Mushrooms. 

6 x Pork Medallions

1 x White Cabbage Sliced

1 x Apple peeled and diced

2 x Leeks finely chopped

1 x Clove of Garlic finely Chopped

150g x Chestnut Mushrooms sliced

150g x Shitake Mushrooms sliced

about 10-15 Sage Leaves roughly chopped

300g x Maris Piper Potatoes peeled and quartered

30ml x Double Cream

30ml x Milk

Tsp French Mustard

Big knob/two big knobs of butter

Put the potatoes in cold water and bring to the boil. Whilst they're cooking Fry the mushrooms in a little olive oil and add half the sage leaves. Cook them for about 3-4 minutes until golden then move them to the side of the pan and place the pork medallions in the middle. Fry on each side for about 3-4 minutes until golden brown and ever so slightly pink in the middle.Throw in the rest of the sage, a knob of butter, turn the heat off and leave to the side. 


Meanwhile, fry the leeks and apple in a pan for about 3-4 minutes on a medium heat. In a separate pan boil the cabbage in a little boiling water for 1 minute until slightly softened, then add the cabbage to the leek and apple mix and season. When the mash is done, drain and and mash with the cream and butter. Then bring it all together either in a fancy or rustic way! Enjoy with a glass of merlot or a glass of cold cider! 

Seabass with French Bean, Hazelnuts and Orange Zest Salad. Perfectly Healthy and super Summery!

Whenever I'm in need of a quick health kick, I always turn to a trusty piece of Seabass - it helps that its delicious too! I'm also desperately trying to cut out evening carbs in order to squeeze my rather squidgy bum into a bikini next week! Its a great dish because its light and super healthy but also full of flavour and will certainly satisfy you.


Seabass with French Bean, Hazelnut, Cherry tomato and Orange Zest Salad.


2 x Seabass Fillets
A drizzle of Olive Oil and a little knob of butter


For the Salad
The Zest of 1 Orange and a squeeze
Half a garlic clove finely chopped
Cherry Tomatoes chopped in half
A handful of Hazelnuts crushed
French Beans
A drizzle of olive oil


Pop the beans in some boiling water for 2-3 mins, drain and place in a large mixing bowl. Place all the salad ingredients in the bowl and mix with hands. Season well with lots of good sea salt and pepper! 


In a frying pan, heat the olive oil on a medium to high heat, then place the Seabass skin side down, season. Cook for about 3 minutes and then turn the heat down slightly and add the knob of butter. Cook for a further minute, then flip over and cook for a final 30 seconds. 


Serve and enjoy! 

Breakfast in a little pot - Tomato and Pancetta Pipkin!

A Pipkin is a baked egg with cream and butter. I like to add pancetta and cherry tomatoes to make a little mini breakfast in a pot! It's the tastiest, easiest way to cook breakfast! 

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Simply fry some pancetta in a pan until golden, then add cherry toms (cut in half) and fry for about a minute. Then pop in a ramekin, crack open an egg on top, fill with cream (about a tbsp), add a knob of butter if you want, sprinkle with pepper and place in the oven for about 7 minutes. Serve with toast.

Passion Fruit and Berry Pavlova...the taste of Summer!

Pavlova is, without a doubt, one of my all time favourite puds - you just cant go wrong with Meringue, Passion Fruit and Berries! The great thing about pudding is that it can be served at a dinner party or popped in a jar and eaten at a picnic, either way its always a crowd pleaser! 

Meringue

3 Free range egg whites

half tsp lemon juice

100g caster sugar

75g Icing sugar and a bit extra for dusting

Preheat the oven to 120 degrees. Whisk the eggs white with an electric whisk on full speed for 1 min. Gradually whisk in the caster sugar and the whisk again on full speed for about 3 minutes until the peaks are shiny and stiff. Then, very gradually, add in the icing sugar with a spatula. Drop four large dollops onto a lined baking tray, dust with the icing sugar and pop in the oven for two hours. 

Fruit 

100g Strawberries, hulled and halved

100g Raspberries

50g Blackberries

50g Blueberries

20g caster sugar

half tsp lemon juice

4 x Passion fruits

Once washed, place all the berries in a bowl with the sugar and lemon juice, cover and refrigerate until you need to assemble the pudding. The passion fruit is just drizzled on top at the end so don't mix it in with the berries!

Coulis

200g Raspberries

20g Caster Sugar

Puree the raspberries and sugar in a blender, the sieve and again pop in the fridge until it is needed. 

Put it all together

Once the meringues are baked to a light blond colour, they should be hard on the outside and soft on the inside, remove them from the oven and allow to stand for 30 mins. The put on a pretty plate, and arrange the fruit around the meringue, drizzle with the passion fruit and the coulis. If you are taking it to a picnic, simply layer up the meringue, fruit and coulis, don't add too much coulis though as it may make your meringue a bit wet!

No time to make a picnic? Knock up a quick Pesto Pasta and eat Al Fresco!

I set myself one task for this weekend - to create 'the mother of all picnics'. My picnic would include homemade sausage rolls, homemade scotch quails eggs, mini quiches, cheese magic wands, cherry and mozzarella skewers the list goes on and it was going to be a true feast. However, as per usual, time got the better of me. So my tummy and blog will have to wait until this Thursday where i have already allotted 3 hours prep time for my perfect picnic.


So instead of creating my picnic, I had about an hour to knock up some late lunch for Ed and I, catch the last rays of sunshine, pack my bags and head back to London town. I decided to cook an old favorite of mine, it's a great dish as its perfect all year round and your can always improvise a bit with the ingredients you have.

Homemade Pesto Pasta with Chicken, Cherry Tomatoes, Red Peppers, Asparagus and Parmesan. 

Homemade Pesto:

You can easily buy pesto but you just cant beat making a homemade one. Its brighter, fresher and fun to make so give it a try! 

A good bunch or two of fresh Basil (remove all the leaves from the stalks)

1 garlic clove
25g (1 oz) pine nuts
About 125ml (4 fl oz) olive oil
4 tbsp freshly grated pecorino piccante cheese
4 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan
Salt to taste


Pop all the ingredients in a food processor. You'll know when to stop...

For the Pasta:
500g Dried Pasta
3-4 Chicken Breasts cut into chunks
200g Asparagus Tips
150g Cherry Toms
2 Red Peppers
Parmesan (dont buy pre grated parmesan, its not cool!! Try and get good quality stuff, its makes a lot of difference and is well worth it!)
tsp lemon juice
Wild Rocket


Pop the pasta into a pan of boiling water. Lightly Fry the chicken in a little olive oil for about 8 mins until golden. When the pasta is 2 minutes off being cooked, pop the asparagus into the pan with it. Once cooked, drain and leave to one side. Add the cherry toms and red peppers to the chicken and cook for a further 2 minutes. Then put the pasta and asparagus in the frying pan with the other ingredients and add the pesto. Turn the heat off (the heat from the pasta will heat up the pesto enough!) add a little knob of butter and a squeeze of lemon juice. Season with lots of pepper (but no salt as the parmesan and pesto will be salty already.) Serve with Wild Rocket, sprinkle with more grated parmesan, grab some sun and enjoy! 

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Happy Easter. Im very Eggcited for chocolate!

The Perfect Sandwich!

I have had, what can only be described as, the most tiring two weeks of my life. I carried out a two week test period for my new company, with business partner Josh, called The Lovely Lunchbox (www.thelovelylunchbox.co.uk). The weeks consisted of waking up at 3am every morning and getting to our kitchens in Dulwich by 4am to begin preparing the mountains of salads, sandwiches and deli pots which we then delivered to a variety of offices in London. We learnt a huge amount in those two weeks and by far the most interesting was that people just want a good old british sandwich with the occasional twist! oh yeah, and one very important TIP: SEASON YOUR SANDWICHES...its makes all the difference!

So here are my top five sandwiches to be enjoyed in the park, at your desk or at a sunday afternoon picnic (daydreaming of that right now zzzzzz!!)

1. Mature Cheddar, Red Onion Marmalade, Watercress and Cucumber in a white baguette.
2. Roast Chicken, Cherry Tom's, Pesto and Rocket Ciabatta.
3. Parmaham, Rocket and Cherry Tom's in a seedy baguette (sliced up really small to get all the juice out!).
4. Avocado, Tomato, Cucumber, Watercress and Good old Iceberg Lettuce, with Mayo, in a tortilla Wrap.
5. Honey Roast Ham, Big juicy Vine Tomatoes, Mixed Leaf Salad on a whole grain baguette.

My mouth is officially dribbling and i'm off to make myself a late afternoon second lunch!

You are a Chocolate Tart!

I made a chocolate tart the other day and I was overjoyed by how easy it was. I am not blessed in the pastry/pudding area, this is mainly due to my lack of patience, but i have been forcing myself to try everything. I find it really hard making puddings because I never know how they're going to turn out until they're cooked but the best thing about this tart is you can most certainly taste the chocolate filling before you pour it in the case! Its heavenly! Tip: always make a third more of the filling for your own consumption during cooking! I even made my own pastry and it went surprisingly well but if you dont have time you can just buy pre-made pastry in the supermarket!. I strongly recommend you give this one a go! 

Easy a pie Chocolate Tart

Pastry (if you don't have time to make pastry just buy some ready made shortcrust pastry from any supermarket!)
300g unsalted butter
110g Icing sugar
2 Free Range Eggs
500g Plain Flour

For the Chocolate Filling
300g Dark Organic Chocolate (Green and Blacks do a great cooking choc)
100g Milk Chocolate
50g Butter
100g Caster Sugar
400ml Double Cream
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract


To make the pastry, simply beat the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. By hand this will take about 10 mins. Add the eggs and beat in until the mixture is smooth. Sift in the flour and mix until it comes away cleanly from the bowl. Mould into a ball, wrap in cling film and pop in the fridge for 2 hours.

After the two hours, pop the oven on to 200c. Roll the pastry out on lightly floured surface until its about 3-4mm thin. Gently lift it onto a 28cm flan tin and push in the sides carefully. Line the pastry with baking paper, fill with rice and bake blind for about 17mins/until golden. Remove rice and paper and bake for a couple more mins. Leave to cool.

To make the filling simply bring the cream, sugar, butter and vanilla to a simmer on a low heat and then add in the chocolate. Once all the chocolate has melted pour the filling into the cooled pastry case. Pop it in the fridge for two hours. Add a few chocolate shavings and then indulge!

Reading, recipes, reminiscing and Mum's version of Cowsway.

I havent written my blog for a few weeks and that has mainly been due to the fact that I have revived my love of reading and, after what can only be described as a shopping spree in Waterstones and the glorious Primrose Hill Books, I have grabbed every second I can with three brilliant books. The first is The Cookbook Collector, I thought this would be more cooking orientated but what it lacks in actual cooking talk it more than makes up for in the romantic liaisons!

The second book is The Lollipop Shoes by my favorite Author Joanne Harris and this is one of her best - known famously for writing Chocolat, she is the Queen on Fantasy thrillers, and yet again she has produced a book that is full of love, food and witchcraft....a must read.

And finally onto my final God send - Return to Paris: A Memoir with Recipes by Collette Rossant - one of my favorite books of all time. My mum gave me this book about 6 years ago, she said it was one of her favorties and that I would love it and sure enough I did. It is about Collettes discovery of cooking and her love for French food that makes her decide to move to Paris. Its just such a lovely lovely book, full of mouthwatering recipes and romance on every level.

So why the sudden change to book reviews....obviously I am becoming a book critic....yeah right! Its actually becasue I have decided to write a cookbook and after years of struggling to find an idea that I really wanted to run with I think I have finally found it and my inspiration comes from fictional books. I am going to write a story about a girl who meets lots of people throughout her life, each giving her recipes that she keeps close to her heart so that whenever she needs to feel comfort she simply makes one of the recipes from her past and falls into a nostalgic dream world.

And so to my blog post - On thinking about what recipes I want to write about in the book, I decided that there is one which wins hands down and that is my mums 'Cowsway'. Now, my mother is certainly not renowned for being a lover of cooking, in fact she winces at the very thought of chopping meat and her idea of producing a meal is sprinkling oxo chicken stockcubes on some chicken and poping it in the oven but I have to give it to her, when it comes to Cowsway the women knows what shes doing. In fact, it was so good that I requested cowsway for every single birthday celebration!!!

Now hang on just a second - Most of you have never heard of Cowsway and actually apart from my mum calling it that I have never heard of it either so I just googled it and apparently its the most popular dish in Burmha and the actual recipe is completely different to what mum used to serve up so although Im calling this Cowsway, its not the real recipe - God only knows where mum conjured this up from!!

My Mums Comforting Cheats Cowsway

1 tsp ginger finely chopped
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
4 x chicken breasts or thighs, diced into little chunks
1/2 Lemons zest
1/2 pint chicken stock
1 lemons juice
half bunch coriander
1/4 onion very finely chopped (after chopping the onion sprinkle with salt to draw all the water out, this adds a bit of crunch!)


Gently fry the ginger and garlic on a low hear for 5 mins. If it starts to stick, turn the heat down and add a dash of water. Then add the diced chicken and the lemon zest. Turn the heat to medium and cook for 5 mins. Then add half a pint of chicken stock and simmer for 10 mins. Put the fresh pasta in the boiling water and cook for about three mins or to taste. Add the pasta to the chicken mix, squeeze in a whole lemons juice and sprinkle with the coriander and finely chopped raw onion. Season to taste and enjoy.

This dish is perfectly balanced, its homely and filling but fresh and vibrant. Perfect in the summer or winter come rain or shine!

Who ate all the Pies? Celebrate British Pie week with 5 delicious homemade, quick and easy pie recipes.

I love a good pie. In fact, I dont think you can really beat a good pie and certainly if you're in the mood for pie nothing else will suffice. And thanks to the heros that invented 'national weeks', this week is National Pie Week, and the humble, delicious pie deserves nothing less a week of admiration and indulgence from everyone. Whether your a chicken and leek fan, a fish pie lover, a shepherds pie admirer or a good old steak and ale devotee, you now have an excuse to eat pie all week guilt free and happily, so get scoffing.


There isnt one pie i could devote my pie admiration to and therefore here are my top five pie recipes - and theyre all really quick and simple. Ps. All Pies must be served with Petit Pois


1. Steak and Ale Pie

4 x rashes of bacon finely chopped

200g Mushrooms finely sliced

2 x sprigs of Fresh Rosemary
1 x Onion finely sliced
2 x Rump Steaks cut into small chunks (you can use any cut of beef but everything else in this recipe is cheap so why not treat your self?)
1 tbsp Flour
1/2 can of ale or beer
1/2 pint of beef stock
1 x sheet of pre-rolled puff pastry


Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Sweat the onion on a low heat for about 5 mins. Add the rosemary, bacon and mushrooms, turn the heat to medium and fry for a further 5 mins. Then add the steak and cook for a further 5 minutes. Pop in the flour and mix around for a minute to soak up all the juices. Mix in the ale and beef stock, and leave to simmer for 15 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a pie dish and place the pre-rolled pastry sheet on top. Brush with egg and then place in the oven for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden.


2. Chicken, Mushroom and Leek Pie
4 x Chicken Breasts, cut into big chunks
4 x leeks roughly sliced
400g Mushrooms finely sliced
2 x Garlic Cloves finely chopped
2 x Sprigs Fresh Thyme
1/2 tsp Dried Tarragon
1 tbsp Flour
3/4 Pint of Chicken Stock


Preheat oven to 180 degrees In a large frying pan, fry the chicken in a little olive oil until it starts turing white. Then add the leeks, mushrooms, garlic, thyme and tarragon and cook for 10 minutes on a medium/high heat. Then stir in the flour to soak up all the juices. Then stir in the chicken stock and simmer for about 10 minutes until the sauce is thick. Transfer the mixture to the pie dish and place the pre-rolled pastry sheet on top. Brush with egg and then place in the oven for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden. 


3. Shepherds Pie
1 x Onion
2 x Garlic Cloves
500g Minced Lamb
400g Carrots finely chopped
2 x Rosemary Sprigs
1 tsp fresh sage finely chopped
1/2 pint chicken stock
600g Potatoes
knob of butter


Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Pop the potatoes on to boil. Fry off the onion and garlic in a large pan on a low heat for about 5 minutes. Add the Lamb and cook for 6-8 minutes until it turns brown. Then add the carrots, rosemary, sage and chicken stock and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain and Mash the Potatoes. Pop the lamb mixture in a baking dish and cover with mash. Sprinkle over some rosemary and a few knobs of butter, season and pop in the oven for 25 minutes. 


4. Salmon and Butternut Squash
1 x Squash
1 x garlic clove finely chopped
1/2 a lemons zest
600g Potatoes
4 x Carrots
1/2 pint Milk
1/4 tsp fresh taragon finely chopped
2 x spring fresh lemon Thyme
4 x Salmon Fillets cut into small large chunks
1 x Squash
1 x veg stock cube


Prepare the squash by cutting lengthways in half and then half again, drizzle with olive oil, garlic and lemon zest and place in the oven for 25 mins. Place the potatoes on to boil. Separately place the carrots on to boil. In a large pan put the milk, tarragon and thyme and gently bring to a simmer. Once simmering turn the heat to very low and place the salmon in the milk. Cook the salmon in the milk for about 10 minutes. Once the Squash is cooked, peel it and add it to the salmon and milk with the drained carrots and vegetable stock cube. Then simmer for 5 mins. Drain the potatoes and mash. Transfer salmon mixture to an oven dish and cover with the potato. Cook for 25 mins until the potato is golden. 


 5. Apple Pie with Raspberry Sauce and Ice Cream
70g Butter
100g Caster Sugar
8 x Apples Cut into 8 wedges each (any apples will work but I like to mix it up with half bramley cooking apples and half cox or pink ladies)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp mixed spice
1 beaten egg
2 x Pre-rolled Short-crust Pastry or make your own.
A tub of Vanilla Ice-cream

For the Raspberry Sauce: 

200g Raspberries (if you can pick fresh definitely do, supermarket raspberries just arent the same, or by organic from your local grocer!)

100g Caster Sugar

1 x Vanilla pod / 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Melt the butter with the caster sugar in a large pan. Then add the apples, cinnamon and mixed spice and cook on a low heat for 20 mins with a lid off. Take the apples off the heat and place in a separate dish to cool. Meanwhile prepare your pastry base. Cut two circles, the size of your pie dish. Place the first layer on the bottom of the pie dish so that it just laps over the edge. Drain your cooled apples and place on top on the pastry, and add two tbsps of the drained juice and then cover with the remaining pastry. Press the edges of the pastry together. Brush the top with a beaten egg. Prick the top of the pastry three or four times. Place in the oven for 45-50 minutes until golden. 


For the Raspberry Sauce, place the raspberries in a pan with a splash of hot water, the sugar and vanilla. Gently simmer for about 10 mins. Strain and drizzle over the pie with a big dollop of vanilla ice-cream.