CHORIZO ROSEMARY STUFFED ROAST PORK

I had the most incredible meal last night at Kurobuta in Chelsea - I was so busy tucking in that I completely forgot to take photos - at least it has given me an excellent reason to go back as soon as possible! Their "Japanese junk food" was out of this world.

Today being Sunday was roast day and Pascal and I had decided to cook this pork recipe from Olive magazine - you were meant to use a boned pork belly but they didnt sell this in my supermarket so I had to alter the recipe….thankfully it worked!

Ingredients for 3 people:

1kg boneless shoulder of pork roasting joint (mine was from Sainsburys)
1 leek, chopped
Olive oil
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp rosemary needles, chopped
75g chorizo, chopped
Sea Salt

I love recipes with so few ingredients!

One thing to remember when roasting pork is to take the meat out of the fridge a couple of hours before if you can (or even just 30 minutes if that is all you can manage). You want the skin to be dry for the crackling, I helped this along by also patting excess moisture out with kitchen roll.

Start by preheating the oven according to the packet instructions. We preheated ours to 220 C / 200 C fan / gas mark 8.

Prepare the ingredients for the stuffing. Chop the leeks, chorizo and rosemary.

Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and then add the leeks and cook over a low heat for around 3 minutes until they soften. I burnt mine a little as the heat was too high!!

Then add the rosemary and fennel and cook for a minute.

Finally add the chorizo and continue to cook for a further few minutes.

Take off the heat and leave to cool.

Score the pork and rub with olive oil and then rub in sea salt. It always scares me how much salt I use with roast pork but you do need a LOT for good crackling so dont be shy and cover the skin. I assure you, you need more than you think!

Then make a hole and stuff the pork with the chorizo and leek stuffing and tie with string if necessary. Without a doubt some of the stuffing will fall out but dont worry about it. 

Put the pork in a roasting tin and put in the oven for 25 minutes.

After 25 minutes, turn the oven down to 180 C / 160 C fan / gas mark 4. We then cooked our pork for a further 55 minutes however it will depend on the exact size of your joint and the packet instructions.

Rest for 15 minutes.

Finally serve and enjoy. We served it with French peas (recipe to follow).

As roasts go, this was super easy - not too many ingredients, not complicated and not too time consuming. Perfect for a lazy Sunday. The fennel seeds add a great twist to the flavour and it looks impressive too - fantastic for a family lunch or perfect for impressing pals at a dinner party.

Powered by eRecipe.com

Read More..

ROAST CARROTS WITH CRISP CHICKPEAS AND TAHINI

To round off my husband Pascals birthday week we had his favourite roast pork belly on Sunday - he wanted potatoes as a side but I vetoed that idea and chose a vegetable dish as my jeans were starting to feel super tight after all our recent pigletting!

This is a recipe I ripped out from Olive magazine and it took about 45 minutes to make.

Ingredients for 4 people (as a side):

1 tin of chickpeas (410g), drained and rinsed
olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chilli powder (optional - we left it out)
1 tsp smoked paprika (I used normal as that is all I had)
1 kg carrots, halved lengthways and widthways
2 tbsp runny honey
2 tbsp parsley, chopped

Tahini Sauce
2 tbsp tahini (stir the jar really well before measuring)
1/2 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
1 tbsp olive oil
Water (amount depends on how thick you want your sauce)
Salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 200 C / 180 C fan / gas mark 6.

In a roasting tin, add together the chickpeas, a good slug of olive oil (2 tbsp), the cumin, paprika, chilli powder and salt. Give it all a good stir so it is completely mixed. Bake for 40 minutes, shaking the tin every now and then until the chickpeas are crisp (I did this about 3 times).

Peel and cut the carrots lengthways and widthways and then roll them in a tablespoon of olive oil and the honey and season well. Lay in a roasting tin and put them in the oven on a shelf under the chickpeas (if possible) and roast for 30 minutes.

To make the sauce, mix together the tahini, garlic, lemon juice and zest, salt, pepper, olive oil and enough water to make it spoonable. I added about 3 tbsp of water I reckon - I did it bit by bit and tasted it as I went. I was surprised at how much I had to stir the tahini to start with - it was very stiff.

Once the carrots and chickpeas are ready, combine together with some parsley and spoon over the sauce.

I was a bit dubious about this to start as the chickpeas are very very crispy (I didnt expect that despite the recipe title) and my sauce originally didnt come together - I had to season it well. However it definitely grew on me after a few mouthfuls and Pascal and I decided we really liked it. It would actually work well as a veggie main with some feta or halloumi or also as a side to some lamb. A good fusion of flavours and very simple and easy to make.

Read More..

ROAST BEEF FRESH TOMATO PASTA

Winter is here and it is definitely the time for Sunday roasts. I loved the sound of this recipe as it also included pasta. It is inspired by a dish called "macaronde" which was bought to France by the emigrants from Italy. I have a phobia against proper roasts due to bad childhood memories so this alternative is right up my street! It took just over an hour but this depends entirely on how you like your beef done - we like ours medium rare.

Ingredients for 4 people:

2 tbsp olive oil
900g British rump, sirloin or topside beef joint
350g rigatoni or similar shaped pasta
3 garlic cloves, crushed
450g vine-ripened baby plum tomatoes, halved
Large handful fresh basil leaves, torn - we used about 30g
100ml good quality robust red wine (I just used what we had…..which wasnt very good quality)!
100g hard cheese such as Parmesan (we also added some grated cheese as we are cheese addicts)
Sea salt flakes

Preheat the oven to 200 C / 180 C (fan) / gas mark 6.

Rub a tablespoon of olive oil over the beef and season. 

Roast for 20 minutes and then turn the oven down to 170 C / 150 C (fan) / gas mark 3.5 and roast for a further 40 minutes or so according to the size of your joint and how you like it cooked. It will explain on the packet instructions. The best way to check the beef is to use a digital thermometer - it should read 55 C for rare and 65 C for well done…I didnt actually have one though!

While this is cooking prepare the ingredients for the pasta. 

About 10 minutes before the beef is done, start on the pasta. Cook according to the packet instructions until al dente.

Meanwhile, heat one tablespoon of oil in a pan over a high heat and add the garlic. Once it starts sizzling, add the tomatoes. I actually added them at the same time as I didnt read the recipe properly but I dont think made a difference.

Once most of the juices have evaporated, remove from the heat and toss in the basil.

By now the beef should be ready. Transfer the beef onto a plate and cover loosely with foil.

Add the wine to the juices in the roasting tin and bubble over a high heat for a couple of minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom of the tin.

Drain the pasta, saving a little bit of cooking water.

In a bowl or dish mix together the juices from the roasting tin, the pasta, the tomato, garlic and basil mix, the cheese and a splash of pasta water. Put it back in the oven for 5 minutes.

Finally sprinkle the beef with sea salt and thinly slice. Serve with the pasta and garnish with a couple of extra basil leaves and shavings of Parmesan.

This was very good - I loved the combination of the tomato and basil pasta with the beef. It was kind of like a very smart posh spag bol! Plus it something different as well. Arabella loved the pasta but wasnt as keen on the beef but I think that is just because she is not that used to it, we rarely have steak or anything at home. She did eat it all though as did I. I think it would be a good idea for a dinner party too - a real winner - and actually great for summer and winter!

Read More..