This dish is a real winner. I completely love it. And it is really easy to prepare which is always nice! I haven't tried it but I think you could also use left over bolognaise mince in it, which would make it a left over meal too! Winner! To start, brown some mince (or use left overs like I said) with onion and garlic and put some pasta on to cook to al dente (or just underdone). Meanwhile, shop some cherry tomatoes and slice some mozzarella cheese. |
Drain your pasta and then mix it in with the mince and add some freshly washed spinach. Leave on the heat (or in the pan you were cooking in) to wilt the spinach slightly. Transfer the lot to an oven proof dish, and then cover with a bolognaise sauce. I used a garlic and onion one, but any will do. You could really just use tomato passatta or make your own if you were feeling really adventurous! Finally, top with the mozzarella, chopped tomatoes, fresh basil and some grated parmesan cheese. Then, pop into the oven for about 30mins (or until the cheese has melted beautifully). Serve on its own or with freshly cooked garlic bread- yummy!
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I don't mind having left overs for lunch the next day. Unfortunately my husband is not the same. He really dislikes it and will always 'forget' them or miraculously find a better offer. So instead, I am trying to work on recipes that can be adapted into another meal. This one uses up the left overs from my Winter Stew that I posted about a couple of weeks ago. To start, I heated up the leftover stew (beef, carrot and onion in a red wine stock) and added some peas. I also added paprika to change the flavour of the dish- it is all about having something new not rehashing the same thing. Then serve! It was a really fun experiment and I enjoyed cooking a different dish from the same starting point. It was much better than having the same meal over and over again. And also easy too.
Get yourself some peeled potatoes and chop them into roast sized pieces. Then boil them until they are under done. After that, chuck them into a hot pan with loads of oil (or goose fat) and some flavours. I like using loads of garlic (whole and crushed) and cinnamon sticks for a really fantastic aroma and taste. After about half way through cooking in the oven, take a potato masher, or slotted spoon and break all of the potatoes, adding more oil and any herbs, pepper etc. Give them a good mix about. When you are ready to serve, remove anything unedible (like the cinnamon sticks) and then just scoop the rest out. From FrozenSometimes there isn't time to make roasts from scratch. Maybe you've not got room on the hob to boil them (true story) or maybe you went to peel the potatoes to find they were on the iffy side (another true story) or maybe you just forgot and left it too late (this true story more often than not). But it doesn't matter. Because just do exactly the same thing to your frozen ones as you would home made ones. Put them in with oil and flavour, and then half way through, mash and break them up, adding more oil, pepper, herbs. I have done this many times and no one ever notices that they are not made from scratch because they taste that good. Genius!
I love a good stew or casserole on a cold winter's day. Even more since I started making them in my slow cooker. They just work so easily and without any fuss- which is my type of weekday cooking. I like preparing them on a Sunday and then letting them spend all day cooking on the Monday ready for eating when I want- bliss. Add a load of onion and carrot (either frozen or fresh- I find that it makes no difference at all!) and sweat for a little longer. I can't remember where I saw this recipe originally, but as soon as I did, I knew that I have to try it.
This is a wonderful dish, often referred to as 40 garlic chicken or 100 garlic chicken. I just refer to it as many garlic or garlicky chicken as it really doesn't matter how many cloves you use, just as long as you use a lot! I use a slow cooker for cooking mine, but this could easily be adapted for oven cooking.
As you know, I am a complete carbivore. However occasionally, I try to cut down (or out) on carbs for weight loss and health reasons. This usually sucks as I do really enjoy many carb heavy meals such as risotto or pizza. Luckily I discovered Meatza- which looks gross but is actually really tasty and just as flexible as normal pizza when it comes to toppings.
I love this recipe as it is so easy to do, and uses store cupboard ingredients. First, melt some butter in olive oil. Then add garlic and frozen chopped mushrooms until they soften. Chop any of the larger mushrooms to make it more manageable. Add vegetable stock, Worcester sauce, salt and pepper and simmer. Then add some cornflour or flour to thicken the sauce and then serve. Mushroom SauceSteaming veg is easy, quick and healthy. I like my vegetables slightly underdone (I think al dente is the posh term for it) and I always seem to get it wrong when cooking veg in water. Steaming is very quick- boil water in a saucepan and then add vegetables in a steaming pan on top for about 5 mins. While that is steaming, melt some butter in oil and then add garlic. Cook until the garlic is kind of toasted and then toss the vegetables in the butter. I have also used a garlic and ginger mixture in the butter which has worked out perfectly too. Steamed VegetablesPrezzo used to make my absolute favourite pizza whose name has completely escaped me. It was half and half- half tomato, chilli and rocket and half white sauce and potato. It was beautiful and perfect and each half complemented the other perfectly. Sadly, Prezzo did not agree with my assessment as they cut it from the menu. But panic not, I have found a perfect replacement for one half at least!
On each pizza, add the onion mixture, sliced potatoes and blue cheese in a aesthetically pleasing way (or just chuck it on and see what sticks!). We added some sliced charcuterie as hubby is a bit of a carnivore and doesn't do many foods without meat! Pop into the oven for about ten minutes. And then enjoy!
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