OVEN BAKED RISOTTO WITH PESTO GOATS CHEESE

Pascal has gone back to France and left me with an abundance of cheese and rather randomly a lot of basil so I searched though my recipe folder to see what I could cook. I found this recipe which I cut out of a magazine in April 2008 - it was definitely time to give it a go!!

Ingredients for 4 people:

Risotto

1.2 litres of chicken or vegetable stock

25g butter

1 onion, peeled and chopped

300g risotto rice

150ml white wine (I didnt have any wine so just used a little extra stock)

Salt and pepper

Pesto

1 shallot, peeled and chopped (I forgot to buy this so used a garlic clove instead)

30g pine nuts

80ml olive oil

70g basil leaves

A squeeze of lemon

To finish:

A knob of butter

200g freshly grated Parmesan

150g goats cheese

Preheat the oven to 190 C / 170 C fan / gas mark 5.

Bring the stock to the boil in a small saucepan.

Melt the butter in a large casserole dish / saucepan over a medium heat and add the onion. Cook gently for several minutes until softened, without colouring.

Add the rice and stir for about a minute.

Then add the wine (or in my case some of the stock) and simmer until almost absorbed.

Pour in the boiling stock and season. Next cover and cook in the oven for 25 minutes.

While this is cooking you can prepare the pesto. As I mentioned I forgot to buy a shallot so just used a garlic clove instead - I dont think it made too much difference.

In a food processor, place the shallot, pine nuts, olive oil, half the basil and some salt and pepper and whizz to a puree.

Then add the remaining basil and a squeeze of lemon and whizz again.

When the risotto is ready, take it out the oven and give it a stir.

Mine hadnt absorbed all the stock - I dont know why - I ended up putting it on the hob for a few minutes.

Then add a knob of butter and the Parmesan to the risotto and stir.

Spoon in pesto and stir.

Finally stir in half the goats cheese and then serve with the remaining goats cheese on top.

This was fabulous, great flavours - Arabella literally inhaled her bowl and announced it her new favourite. I think when I cook it again I will cook the risotto the traditional boring way of slowly spooning in the stock and stirring continuously rather than putting it in the oven as my rice was a little soft….I like it to have a bite to it. However I loved the combination of the goats cheese and pesto and was very pleased with the dish. It was easy to make and tasted great. I cant believe I waited 7 years to cook it….the recipe is the same age as Arabella!!

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Oil Free Baked Falafels

Yummy!  I made these these falafels today for lunch and enjoyed on a sandwich topped with tahini, kale, green onion, and pepper slices. The spices in this mixture just hit the spot!

Oil-Free Baked Falafels

Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 5-6

Ingredients:

2 cans garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed), or 2 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas

1/2 onion, finely chopped 

1 Tbsp minced garlic (3-4 cloves)

1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 Tbsp tahini

1 tsp miso paste (optional)

2 tsp whole wheat flour

1 tsp low sodium soy sauce or tamari

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp ground coriander 

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 and coat a baking sheet with non stick spray.

Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and pulse until the mixture is partially crumbly and partially pasty.  Add amall amounts of water to the mixture if needed to help it stick together  

With your hands or a cookie dough scoop, make 1 to 1-1/2 inch balls and place them on the baking sheet.  Press each ball down to form a plump mini patty. Fill your baking sheet leaving about an inch between each patty. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes, flipping the falafels halfway through. To keep the patties more moist, I suggest placing a casserole dish with water in the oven while it is preheating and baking.

Allow to cool and serve however you desire. I served mine on a half sandwich with whole grain bread, tahini, kale, green onions and peppers, with extra tahini drizzeled on top. 

Amys notes:

This recipe is easily halve-able, so if you would like a smaller servings/ less leftovers. 

I am keeping my leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container to have on top of salads and in sandwiches over the weekend. 

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BAKED POTATOES WITH FETA CREAM AND CRISPY CHORIZO

My daughter Arabella loves a jacket potato and often has them for lunch at school - she has been asking for them at home now but I am not really a potato fan. However as it is now barbecue season I thought it would make a nice alternative to salad (plus I make her eat lots of things I like and she doesnt). 

The problem with jacket potatoes is you need to be organised as they take an hour to cook in the oven so make sure you leave yourself plenty of time. 

Ingredients for 3 people:

3 large jacket potatoes, scrubbed
150ml sour cream
100g feta cheese, crumbled
Pickled jalapeños, 6 slices from a jar (I left this out as we dont like spice)
2 tbsp coriander, chopped
120g chorizo, chopped or bite sized pieces

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

Prick the potatoes with a fork and then put them in the oven for 60 minutes or until tender.

About 15 minutes before the potatoes are ready, you need to make the sauce. You can either whizz together the feta and sour cream in a food processor or you can mash them together really well in a bowl - I chose this option as it meant less washing up!

Stir in the jalapeños (if you are using) and the chopped coriander.

Fry the chorizo in a dry frying pan until crisp - this took about 5 minutes.

Once the potatoes are ready, take them out the oven and then cut in half.

Divide the feta cream between the potatoes and then top with the chorizo and serve.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this recipe - I absolutely loved the potatoes with the feta cream and chorizo. Arabella liked it but prefers a more simple butter and grated cheddar topping. I will definitely be making this again - it is a simple recipe and something you can easily do for just one person or for many (such as at a dinner party). To make this slightly healthier you could use sweet potatoes and serve it with a green salad rather than a burger!

The moral of the story is I should definitely listen to my daughters supper suggestions more often!! 

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TRAY BAKED CHICKEN WITH SWEETCORN BACON

It was Pascals birthday on Thursday and so we went for an incredible meal at our favourite restaurant Gola, of course. We then celebrated again last night with friends and I cooked this tray baked chicken recipe which I adapted from one of Jamie Olivers cook books. In his recipe, he adds banana to the chicken but to me that sounds utterly gross so I left it out but each to their own! This was a great dinner party dish as it was quick and easy to make and you can prepare it all beforehand. Although presentation wasnt the best….something I definitely need to work on!

We made this dish for 6 however here is the recipe for 4.

Ingredients for 4 people:

4 chicken breasts, no skin
4 fresh corn on the cob
1 x 410g tin of cannelloni or butter beans, drained
1 large wine glass of white wine (250ml)
300ml double cream
55g butter
12 rashers of smoked streaky bacon or pancetta
a handful of fresh mint, leaves picked

Preheat your oven to 220 C / gas mark 7.

Run a knife down the length of the corn of the cob to remove the corn. Once done, add the corn to the tray and discard the cobs. The corn is much more flavoursome than buying it in a tin and this is super easy to do.

Using a fork or your fingers (messy but best I reckon), squash up half of your beans until you have pulp and then add these to the sweetcorn along with the unsquashed beans.

Add the chicken breasts side by side and season well.

Next add the 300ml of double cream and the 250ml of white wine.

Divide the butter into little knobs and scatter around the tray.

Then drape the bacon or pancetta over the chicken breasts and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes (I did 40).

Then serve with some scattered mint leaves.

This was really good - I love all the different flavours together. Definitely both kid and adult friendly. It did need further seasoning though. My plate didnt look as good as Jamies in his cook book and Pascal reckoned there was too much sauce - next time we will serve this with some mash or rice as I think that would go wonderfully together and it would soak it all up. If you like the combination of fruit and food, you can add half a squashed banana to the inside of each chicken breast - it is how they cook this in the American South!

For pudding I made a cake…..it is a good job we like chocolate and sugar!!

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BAKED PARMESAN COURGETTES

I had a cooking/eating disaster on Sunday. Firstly we went to our local farmers market to buy some bread and cheese - we bought some olive bread and decided to share a Cuban sandwich. Both very disappointing - the sandwich was super greasy and the bread so so chewy. What a waste of calories.

It didnt matter though, as we were cooking a stuffed roast lamb in my new super douper pressure cooker / slow cooker which my gorgeous friend Sally had bought Pascal and I for our wedding. Typical me being me, didnt read the instructions properly and ended up serving Pascal raw lamb. Ugh. I obviously seriously underestimated the cooking times.

Most of it was inedible so all we had was our side, some cheese and chewy olive bread! Thankfully the side was yum!

Ingredients for 3-4 people (depending on how hungry you are):

1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 garlic clove, crushed
100g Parmesan, grated
2 courgettes
Olive oil for drizzling
Parsley for garnishing

Preheat the oven to 180 C.

Cut the courgettes length ways in to quarters and lie on baking paper in a suitably sized dish.

In a small bowl mix together the grated Parmesan, the garlic, basil, oregano and thyme and season to taste.

Sprinkle the mixture over the courgettes.

Drizzle with olive oil (Pascal was a bit too heavy handed, you only need a tiny amount otherwise the courgettes are too oily).

Finally put in the oven for 8 minutes and the grill for another 2-3 minutes or until the vegetables are crisp and golden brown.

Serve immediately, garnish with parsley if desired.

These were really good - crispy, crunchy and cheesy - even Arabella who claims not to like courgettes thought these looked delicious so I will definitely be cooking them again soon. Who doesnt love a jazzed up veg?!!

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PESTO BAKED COD WITH POTATO AND PEA CRUSH

My health and brain power must be improving with all this fish I have been cooking recently. Arabella is already bored of it but to be honest if she had her way, she would just eat goats cheese for every meal! 

This is a recipe card from Waitrose and it took about 25 minutes in total so perfect for a mid week supper.

Ingredients for 2 people:

Knob of butter
Skinless and boneless cod fillets (about 260g)
2 tbsp of pesto
1 large tomato, chopped
350g potatoes, peeled and diced
150g frozen peas
Finely grated zest and juice of 1/4 lemon

Preheat the oven to 200 C / gas mark 6.

Start by mixing together the pesto and tomato in a bowl and then lightly butter an ovenproof dish. Place the cod inside and then top with tomato and pesto mixture. Cook the fish in the oven for 15-20 minutes - I did 20 as I wanted to make sure it was cooked properly all the way through!

Meanwhile cook the potatoes in a large pan of boiling water for 15 minutes and then add the frozen peas for the last 3 minutes.

Drain and then add back to the pan with a knob of butter. Next lightly crush the potatoes and peas using a masher. Stir in some lemon juice and zest and season to taste.

Once the fish is ready, divide the potato mixture between two plates and top with the cod and tomato pesto mixture.

This was a much more successful meal than expected - Arabella adored the mash as did I - I am not really a potato fan but it tasted so much better when mixed with the peas and a dash of lemon. The tomato, pesto and cod was also delicious - very Mediterranean in flavour. The meal also looked very impressive! This is definitely going to become a regular fixture at our dinner table….healthy, tasty, quick and easy….an all round winner.

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