Tag: easy

Sweet and easy tomato sauce

‘The Moro Cookbook’ by Sam and Sam Clark is one of my favourinte cookbooks. They have also written Moro Easy, and Morito (tapas).

This particular recipe is from their first book, and was a revelation. Until now, if I wanted to make a tomato sauce, for example to pour on meatballs, I would have added all kinds of things, and certainly started with an onion. This recipe is easier and better.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 tin organic tomatoes (or 500g fresh tomatoes with the skins removed).
  • 2 tbsp organic olive oil
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • salt and pepper

METHOD:

  • If you are using fresh tomatoes, chop them finely. If you are using tinned tomatoes, put them in a bowl and squish them up with your hands
  • In a medium saucepan, heat up the olive oil. When hot but not smoking, add the finely sliced garlic and fry until the garlic is beginning to turn brown
  • Add the tomatoes and a pinch of salt. Cover and cook over a low heat until a lot of the liquid has evaporated, a least 30 minutes. You can also leave this in a slow oven for 30 minutes or more, until the sauce is at the right consistency.

If you wish, add cinnamon or chilli with the garlic at the start.

Mustard Mash

I added mustard, cream and butter to mashed potatoes, to serve with some sausages and broccoli. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • about 600 to 800g potates 
  • around 20g butter
  • chopped parsley
  • 150ml double cream (you could use more, or use single cream)
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp grain mustard
  • Salt and pepper

METHOD:

  • Peel, chop and boil the potatoes as usual
  • Meanwhile, in a small pan, melt the cream and mustard together
  • When the potatoes are done, drain them, return them to the pan and mash with the butter, parsley, salt and pepper  until smooth
  • Mix and mash in the cream and mustard. 

 

Spicy sausage burgers

The idea for this came from Madhur Jaffrey, but I wanted something much quicker and easier, based on what I had in the fridge. I started with half a pack of reduced sausages from the co-op, the tail end of a jar of garam masala, and ended up with this delicious switch. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 4 pork sausages
  • chopped coriander leaves or parsley
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

METHOD:

  • Skin the sausages and put the meat into a bowl with the spices and herbs, and mix. This is most efficient by hand, although it is a bit sticky. A wooden spoon does a reasonable job too. 
  • Cut the mixture into four and form into small burgers.
  • Fry the burgers on each side in a little cooking oil. 

We had these as a quick scratch meal with a yoghurt dressing, flat breads, and a green salad. 

Carrots with Marsala

I have some enormous carrots in the garden, and this was a delicious side-dish. It is great with lamb. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • about 500g carrots, peeled and chopped into large batons
  • 50g butter
  • salt and pepper
  • 150ml Marsala wine, (madeira or sherry might do instead)
  • Chopped parsley or a pinch of dried tarragon

METHOD:

  • Melt the butter in a saute pan, and when it is foaming, add the carrots. Mix well with the butter so that the flavour is taken up by the carrots. Season with salt and pepper. 
  • After a couple of minutes, add the Marsala, simmer for five minutes, and then add water so that the carrots are not quite covered. Bring back to a simmer, put the lid on the pan and cook the carrots until they are tender. 
  • Take of the lid, turn up the heat and reduce the liquid so that it becomes a syrupy sauce. 
  • Add the chopped parsley or tarragon, and serve. 

 

Carrot salad with mustard seeds

This is a very simple recipe, great as a quick side-dish to add freshness to any meal. It is great to add to a summer picnic, a cold buffet, or with a range of Indian dishes. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • Approx 350g carrots
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tbs rapeseed oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp mustard seeds

METHOD:

  • Peel and grate the carrots, and put them in a salad bowl, sprinkle in the salt and toss to ensure it is evenly distributed.
  • Heat the oil in a small pan, and when it is hot, add the mustard seeds. Cook the mustard seeds until they begin to pop. 
  • Pour the hot oil and seeds over the carrots, and mix well. 

Celery and bean soup

Delicious, cheap, easy, vegan, quick, filling. Not much more to say. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 small onions
  • 1 head of celery
  • Olive oil for frying
  • Olive oil for serving (best quality that you can get)
  • 1 400g borlotti beans, drained (this can be substituted, but I love borlotti beans)
  • 1 litre stock
  • salt and black pepper, freshly ground

METHOD:

  • Chop the onions and celery, and fry in olive oil in a large pan over a low heat, until soft; don’t brown the vegetables
  • Add the other ingredients, bring to the boil, and then cover to simmer for 20 minutes
  • Season, and roughly blend with a soup wand. Add a little water if the soup is too thick. 

Serve with a swirl of posh olive oil to each bowl, and a slice of brown bread on the side. 

Baked celeriac

So easy. Serve with anything. Ottolenghi SIMPLE. I grew the celeriac. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 large celeriac, scrubbed clean and hairy roots removed. 
  • 50 ml olive oil 
  • 1 1/2 tsp crushed coriander seed
  • 1 lemon in wedges
  • salt

METHOD:

  • Preheat the oven to 170C
  • Pierce the celeriac all over with a sharp knife. Rub with the oil, season with the salt and coriander and put it in a small baking dish. 
  • Roast for around 2 1/2 hours, basting with olive oil if required. 
  • To serve, cut into wedges and serve with lemon, a sprinkle of salt, a drizzle of olive oil. 

Penne with wild orache, pine nuts and parmesan

I put seaweed on my soft fruit plants this year, and as a result, I think I imported a load of orache seeds. If you don’t know, orache is a weed that grows on the upper shore at this time of year, and it is delicious. I’ve got more than I can eat at the moment, the most successful vegetable in my garden at the moment. I also had some left-over wholewheat pasta courtesy of my super-healthy children, so I used that too. Plain pasta is good too. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 200g pasta
  • salt
  • enough orache to feed four people (no idea of weight, it just looked OK)
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped, not crushed
  • olive oil
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • a squeeze of orange juice
  • 50g pine-nuts, toasted
  • 50g freshly grated parmesan cheese

METHOD:

  • Fill a large pan with water, bring to the boil and then add the pasta along with a good spoonful of salt, and bring the water back to the boil. Let the pasta cook as long as the pack says (8 minutes for plain pasta, 11 minutes for wholewheat is the usual thing)
  • A couple of minutes before the pasta is done, stir-fry the orache and garlic in a bit of olive oil for a couple of minutes, until the orache has wilted. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice
  • Drain the cooked pasta and the put it back in the warm pan. Add the orache and the pine nuts and parmesan. Give it all a quick stir, check the seasoning, and serve. 

Butterbean and tomato soup

This is a very easy recipe, can’t recall where it is from. I usually have these ingredients in the house, so I can usually make this.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 can butter beans
  • 1 can tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 pints of stock
  • 1 bayleaf
  • 2 onions, chopped
  • olive oil or butter
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 tsp honey or sugar
  • chopped parsley to serve

METHOD:

  • Gently cook the onions in the olive oil until well cooked, very soft.
  • Add the beans, stock, tomatoes, bayleaf and then simmer the soup for half an hour
  • Season to taste, with the salt, pepper, honey.

Serve with brown toast and garnished with chopped parsley