Asparagus wrapped in Bacon

It’s that time of year when everything is so fresh and you just want to eat it all! I was catering for a number of people a few weeks back and jumped at the opportunity to use asparagus as it is in season right now. These tasty little treats would be a great addition to any dish, and they’re perfect for dunking into hollandaise sauce or soft boiled eggs.

Ingredients

Equal amounts of:

• Asparagus
• Streaky Bacon
• Black Pepper

Directions

Pre-heat the grill to medium. Remove all of the woody ends of the asparagus if they have not been already done, you can do this by snapping off the ends or slicing about an inch off from the bottom. Wrap the bacon tightly around each asparagus stem. Transfer all of the wrapped stems to a baking tray and grill until the bacon is golden and crispy. Season with black pepper.

Vegetarians wrapped in blankets.

Spicy Roasted Chick Peas

If you’re in need of a savoury snack but don’t want the additives these are a delicious substitute to crisps or nuts.

Healthy, cheap and easy to make.

Serves 2 as nibbles | Ready in 40 mins

Ingredients

• 1 Tin of Chick peas
• 1/2 TSP of Salt
• 1 TBSP Ground coriander
• 1 Flat TBSP Cumin seeds
• A litte bit of Crack black pepper
• A generous pinch of Chilli flakes (if you dare!)
• 1 TBSP Olive oil

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 210C / 425F / Gas Mark 7. Drain the tin of chick peas well then pat them with a paper towel to remove any excess water. Tip the chick peas into a bowl along with all the spices and oil. Coat the chick peas in the spices. Line a tray with baking paper. Transfer the chick peas to the tray and spread out evenly. Bake in the oven for around 30 – 40 mins, until brown and crispy!

Best served with a cold beer!

 

Dippy Baked Eggs & Toms for two

Wanting make breakfast in bed for your loved one, but theres nothing to eat? Well fear not! You can create this dish in no time and still leave extra time for snuggles!

Ingredients

• 1 tin of chopped Tomatoes
• 1 Tsp of Harrisa paste or Smoked Paprika
• 2 Eggs
• 4 Pieces of bread
• Salt
• Any herbs (to top)

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180c on fan setting. Stir the chopped tomatoes with the chosen spices and a little salt. Pop the toms into ramekins or a baking tray, whatever you fancy. Crack the eggs on top of the tomatoes. Put them in the oven and leave for 20 mins. (Get back into bed) Check after 10 mins. Once the eggs are almost cooked, toast the bread and slice in to soldiers for dipping. Remove the eggs from the oven and leave to cool for 5 mins. Serve with the soldiers, a cuppa and a sleepy smile for your loved one.

Pea and Chilli Soup with crunchy Fish Croutons

This recipe is deliciously simple and healthy. It is a sure crowd pleaser, combining two traditional ingredients; peas and fish. You can knock up this recipe in no time using store cupboard ingredients already at home.

Serves 2 | Cooking Time 30mins

Ingredients

• 2 medium Potatoes
• 3 cloves of Garlic
• 2 Onions
• 1 Chicken stock cube
• A couple of shakes of Chilli Flakes
• 4 Fish Fingers / similar crumbed fish fillets
• 400g of Frozen Peas
• 2 Pints of Water

Method

Pre heat the oven to the recommended heat on the fish’s packaging. Roughly chop the onions and garlic. Sauté the onions and garlic in a deep stock pot until soft. Chop the potatoes into small cubes to speed up the cooking process. Once the garlic and onions are soft; add the water, stock and the potatoes to the pan. Cover with a lid. Put the fish on a baking tray and pop into the preheated oven. Turn halfway through the recommended cooking time.

When the Potatoes are soft, tip in the bag of frozen peas and add the chilli flakes. Re-cover with the lid and leave for a further 5 mins. Check that the fish is cooked and crispy, then remove from the oven to cool a little. By now the peas should have cooked, if so, remove from the heat and bend until smooth. Top with the crumbled up fish.

Serve with a squeeze of tomato sauce if you dare..

Mediterranean baked cod

Believe it or not, every item in this is from the freezer or the cupboard.

Super easy and so so delicious!

Ingredients

• 4 frozen cod fillets
• 200g of frozen spinach
• 2 tins of chopped tomatoes
• 100g frozen mixed peppers
• 2 onions
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 heaped TSP of paprika
• 1 or 2 shakes of chilli flakes
• Cous cous to serve

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 180c. Roughly chop the onions and soften in a pan. Add chopped garlic and the rest of the ingredients to the pan and bring to the boil. Once bubbling, reduce the heat and simmer.  When the sauce has reduced, pour into an oven proof baking dish. Pop the frozen cod fillets into the sauce and then cover with foil. Bake in the oven for 30 – 40 mins. Serve with seasoned cous cous and enjoy.

Tiger Prawn Risotto

Upgrade your frozen prawn risotto to this mouth watering fresh fish delight. Don’t get me wrong, i do use frozen prawns for fish pies, thai noodles etc, but its nice to treat yourself every once and a while to some fresh shellfish.

Luckily we are living next-door to the Auckland CBD harbour so there is always fresh fish. Last sunday we went on a beautiful walk along the harbour side and whilst we were there i couldn’t resist a look in the fishmongers. The tiger prawns looked so big and fresh i just had to get some, that night we had a rich and creamy tiger prawn risotto. See below for the recipe, enjoy!

 

Ingredients

• 6 large fresh Tiger Prawns
• 1 Cup of Risotto Rice
• 1 Cup of Peas 
• 3 Cloves of garlic
• Large handful of fresh chopped Parsley 
• 1 onion
• Salt and Pepper
• 100g Butter
• Olive oil

Serves 2

Directions

Chop the onion and garlic. Pop into a deep based pan with olive oil then fry in a medium heat until soft and translucent.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, put in the uncooked prawns and fill with water so that they are well covered. Add a tsp of salt and bring to the boil. Once cooked turn off the heat. This will become the flavoursome stock.  

Tip in the risotto rice into the pan of onions and garlic. Stir. Cook for a few mins until the rice has started to turn translucent. add more oil if needed.

Take a ladle of the prawn stock and pour it on to the rice. Stir until all of the liquid has been absorbed, repeat the process until the rice has cooked through.

When the prawns have cooked through and are a beautiful pink, remove from the stock and place into a bowl and cover. 

Tip the peas and half of the parsley into the risotto and stir in. Season to taste. I added a hefty amount of black pepper, yum! Once you are happy with the texture of the risotto. Add the butter and stir in, this gives it the rich and creamy taste. 

Serve with the remaining parsley and the prawns with the shells on or off.

 

True Italian Tomato Sauce

Here is an absolutely delicious recipe using simple key ingredients that we all know and love, made irresistible.

It’s so easy to grab a jar of ready made tomato sauce whilst doing your weekly shop, but this quick and healthy substitute recipe will convert you into a bellissimo cook-from-scratch chef in no time. You will find that probably have most of the ingredients in your cupboards at home already!

 

Ingredients

• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 2 cloves of Garlic
• 5/6 Sun-dried tomatoes + 2 TBSP of the oil they are kept in.
• Herbs of your choice. 1 Handfull of fresh basil if you have it. Otherwise dried italian herbs are a good substitute (1 TBSP).
• 1 onion
• 1 TBSP of brown sugar
• Salt & Pepper

Serve with pasta and cheese.

Serves 2  |  Suitable for Freezing

Directions

Fry chopped onions in the sun-dried tomato oil until they become translucent. Chop the sun-dried tomatoes and garlic, fry lightly until they start to gain some colour. Tip in dried herbs and stir. If you are using fresh herbs, add to the sauce before serving.

Tip all of the contents from the pan and the tin of chopped tomatoes into a blender and blitz until a smooth and silky. Transfer into a pan and heat the sauce through.

If you like a chunky textured sauce, skip the blender and add the chopped tomatoes straight into the pan of onions and sun dried tomatoes, simmer for 10 – 15 minuets until the sauce has thickened. 

Stir in a tsp of brown sugar (and the fresh herbs) a minuet before serving. The sugar is optional, it helps adds sweetness as the tomatoes can be quite acidic. 

Add cooked pasta to the sauce with a splash of the pasta water. The water helps combine the sauce and the pasta and stops the dish from drying out. Stir in the pasta until it is completely coated, this is the traditional way of serving pasta in Italy.

To finish add a handful of your favourite cheese, mozzarella is recommended for an authentic Italian taste. 

 

 

Avocado & Tuna Pasta

A nice healthy alternative to the bog standard tuna and mayonnaise.

Ingredients

• 1 Ripe Avocado
• 1 tin of Tuna flakes
• 2 Cloves of Garlic (flavours the pasta)
• Seasoning
• 200g Penne Pasta
• A drizzle of Olive Oil

Tip all of the dried pasta into a large pan of boiling salted water. Crush the garlic and roughly chop, then add to the pasta. Whilst the pasta is cooking peel and stone your avocado. Leave a few slices to decorate your dish, then mash the rest. Add the drained tuna flakes and a good drizzle of olive oil to the mashed avocado, then combine together. Season to taste (I added lots of crack black peppercorns. Mmmm..). Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water. Once the pasta is completely cool, mix in the avocado and tuna. Pop on to a plate and decorate with your beautifully sliced avocado!

Sticky shredded chicken stir-fry

 

This healthy cook at home alternative is a very simple recipe that uses ingredients that you’ll already have at home. Get the kids involved. One that all the family will love including students on a budget. So put that takeaway menu down!

Ingredients

• 1 Large Carrot
• 1 Broccoli
• 1 Large Onion
• Chicken (enough for 4 mouths)
• 4 TBSP Oyster Sauce
• 2 TBSP Honey
• Black Pepper
• Pinch of chilli powder / flakes

– Serve with rice or noodles

Finely cut the carrots into strips. Chop the broccoli into bitesize pieces and the onion into half moon slices. In a large frying pan (or wok if you have one) heat a good glug of oil in the pan evenly coating it. You want the pan smoking hot like Gerard Butler. Chuck in the onions and break then up into strips using your utensil of choice. Once the onions have started to soften add the carrots and broccoli. Stir fry for a couple of mins making sure they are getting a nice colour. Its okay if they start to brown, it adds flavour. Pop the chicken into the pan. I used left over chicken from a roast and shredded it. If you are using raw chicken repeat the same process but add the chicken after the onions. Wait until it is cooked before you add the rest of the veg. Chicken thighs are tender and cheap and would be delicious in this recipe. Add the honey, black pepper and chilli. Stir. Add the oyster sauce. Stir. You should have a nice and shiny, thick and gloopey sauce. Lower the heat. If the sauce gets too thick add some water to loosen it. I didn’t add any salt as the oyster sauce is already quite salty. If you want to add salt, taste first, because you can’t take it out once you have put it in! Serve on top of rice or mix in with noodles. You can add and takeaway any veg dependant on what you have in the fridge. Enjoy 🙂