Novice pepperoni pizza tart

I love a pizza, but it isn’t always practical to make the dough from scratch.

By getting yourself a packet of ready made puff pastry, you cut down so much time, and it’s really easy to divide the tarts into the sizes you want.

For this recipe, we made two tarts out of one pastry, and topped with the ingredients we wanted to replicate a pepperoni pizza – but you can fill it with whatever combinations you like!

Ingredients

• x1 ready rolled puff pastry sheet
• Basic tomato sauce for the base
• Half a red onion diced
• Half a standard Mozzarella ball
• Six-eight slices of pepperoni (or as much as you want!)
• Salt and pepper for seasoning
• Chilli flakes options

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200c
• Roll out the pastry, leaving it on the paper it comes with, and place it on a baking tray.
• Slice the pastry in half (or quarters if making four)
• Score (but don’t cut clean through) around a one CM boarder on each tart
• Now build…
• First spoon on your sauce (maybe some pasta sauce you made yesterday) and next add the onions
• Dot on the mozzarella
• Finally add the meat so this crisps up a bit
• Add a little salt and some pepper and the chilli flakes if using
• Cook in the top shelf of the oven for around 15 minutes but keep an eye on it
• After 15 minutes, use a spatula to gently lift under the pastry to see if it feels cooked.

Kerryann’s tuna pasta bake – Jamie Oliver

This is a lovely recipe!

Everyone likes a pasta bake, but it’s so unsatisfying boiling pasta, opening a jar, stirring and baking.

This recipe tastes delicious, but involves you putting in a little bit more effort. You still feel as though you’re having a pasta filled, cheese topped naughty dinner, but you feel you’ve gone some way to deserving it!

You can find Kerryann’s tuna pasta bake by clicking here.

Jamie Oliver’s quick crispy chicken with tomatoes and asparagus

If you were to compare the image alongside Jamie’s recipe to mine, you would not think they were the same dish. I did plate it differently, as well as far less elegantly, but the flavours were there!

I have to say that the standout thing on the plate is the basil, olive, butter, tomato and wine sauce. It is absolutely delicious. I will use it again with other chicken dishes.

This is a really good recipe, and actually works well adapted for lunches on top of some couscous, as it soaks up all the buttery/winey sauce.

Oh, and I added a poached egg to the asparagus because they needed using up!

You can access Jamie’s recipe, here.

Jamie Oliver’s roast chicken with cous cous

There’s nothing better than sticking a bird in to roast of a weekend, but when the warmer weather arrives and there are only two of you, sometimes the traditional roast, glorious as it is, doesn’t seem necessary.

Jamie’s recipe for roast chicken with cous cous is for four people, but it works absolutely perfectly for two with a delicious lunch for work the next day. It’s really simple, one pan cooking, and the flavours are great. It’s healthy, too.

 

Haddock in basil oil with green beans and roasted tomatoes

We had some ingredients (particularly basil) to use up so I thought I would have a crack at making a quick and simple dish on my own, based on some other recipes I’d tried previously.

I decided to chop some basil up and add some olive oil, to create a marinade for the fish, and I also used what was left to roast the tomatoes in. basil goes well with tomatoes, and it also went well with the fish, too! The below recipe serves two people.

Ingredients

• Two boneless, skinless haddock fillets

• Generous handful of cherry tomatoes

• Two handfuls of runner beans

• One large handful of basil (chopped)

• Two tablespoons of olive oil

• Salt and pepper to season

 

 

Method

• In a chopper, or by hand, finely chop the basil and place in a bowl with the oil. Reserve a small amount of this to drizzle on your tomatoes.
• Gently mix the fish fillets in the large bowl of oil, and leave in the fridge for half an hour.
• When ready to cook, boil the kettle and pre-heat the oven to 180c fan.
• Put the tomatoes in an oven proof dish, drizzle with basil oil and a sprinkle of salt. These will need 10 minutes in the oven.
• Put a frying pan on, and add the fish, while bringing a saucepan of the kettle water to boil.
• When boiling, add some salt and your beans for a few minutes.
• When the fish has cooked, allow to rest on a warm plate before finishing off the beans in the pan for a few minutes with a sprinkle of sea salt.
• Plate up with the haddock on top of the beans alongside the tomatoes.
• Healthy and simple!

Marcus Wareing’s cauliflower and spiced coconut soup

So, I obtained a new cook book! As they say, start at the very beginning, it’s a very good place to start!’, so I did! The very first recipe in Marcus Wareing’s new book, ‘Marcus at Home’, is a cauliflower and spiced coconut soup. This recipe is dairy free, simple as anything and tastes delicious! I actually deviated slightly from the recipe in the book, but this is a really tasty starter, or with some lovely fresh bread, a lovely lunchtime meal – ideal for work, too!

 

Novice tomato, mozzarella, parma ham and pesto sandwich

This is one of the nicest sandwiches in the world!

Crusty white bread, fresh pesto topped with mozzarella, tomato and ham, this sandwich when packed properly and left to sit until lunchtime moulds itself into a delicious foil wrapped delight!

Slice the tomatoes and add them to a piece of paper towel to absorb some of the moisture – this will stop the sarnie from getting to damp. Simply spread a generous helping of pesto on one half of the bread and top with slices of mozzarella and then the tomato. On the other half of bread, add the parma ham, as much as you want or can fit to close up the sandwich!

Drizzle it all with a little olive oil (not a lot, there’s pesto don’t forget!) and a pinch of salt and a nice crack of pepper.

Close the sandwich up properly and securely, then wrap tightly. The bread will mould around the abundance of fillings and you’ll have one of the nicest sandwiches you can have at your desk – fresh, vibrant and full of flavour!