All That I'm Eating

Recipe ideas for budget meals, everyday cooking and a little indulgence. Travel inspiration and restaurant reviews too.

Paprika Pepper Pasta

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Life is busy. I have a toddler. Dinner that can be ready in a flash is what it’s all about in my house. This paprika pepper pasta is a dish I keep coming back to, and variations of it, because it’s so quick and simple. The ingredients are easy to get hold of and inexpensive: exactly my kind of weeknight cooking. And, with three portions of veg in one meal everyone’s happy!

A smoky, sweet and savoury pasta sauce it is also delicious served with baked potatoes. The fresh basil really lifts the dish and parsley would work just as nicely. read more

Salmon Nicoise Quiche

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This quiche is full of vegetables and that is a great way to disguise the fact it’s actually got double carbs in. Potatoes AND pastry; who doesn’t love that? My salmon nicoise quiche is a great way to take leftovers to another level. I made the nicoise salad, so everything was prepped and cooked, and then assembled the quiche the next day. Served alongside some mustard flecked dressed lettuce, this is a perfect lunch for me.

Delicious served warm from the oven you can slice this nicoise quiche into portions and freeze them individually, ready to be defrosted and warmed up another day. read more

Meatball Pasta Bake

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Just look at that cheese. All melted and stringy just waiting for you to stick a fork in. My meatball pasta bake combines two of my favourite comfort foods: meatballs in a rich tomato sauce and cheesy pasta. It’s almost like pizza meets meatballs meets pasta bake; and it’s all the better for it if you ask me.

Frying the meatballs off first and then making the sauce in the same pan gives the tomato sauce a brilliant depth of flavour. I love the herb flecked meatballs, the richness and fragrance of the tomato sauce (thanks to the fresh basil) and the soft creaminess of the mozzarella. The family agreed; this meatball pasta bake was devoured in minutes. read more

Green Summer Vegetable Lasagne

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It is important to note that this recipe is not shy on calories. There’s cheese, double cream, lashings of olive oil, layers of pasta and plenty of veg. My green summer vegetable lasagne is quicker to make than a traditional lasagne (there’s no baking) and you can use the sauce with any pasta if you so choose. I like to think that all that green veg negates the calories and I happily ploughed through a whole plate of this. Bear in mind, I am very greedy and although the recipe below says it’s for two, it would definitely stretch to three or four! read more

Roasted Tomatoes and Burrata

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Roasted Tomatoes and Burrata

When you get your hands on some truly spectacular ingredients they don’t need much interfering with. I picked up some sublimely sweet tomatoes and a small burrata at a market recently and I wanted these simple ingredients to shine. My balsamic roasted tomatoes and burrata were served with a warm olive studded focaccia which we enjoyed eating outside for the first time this year. When you’re serving up tomatoes, cheese and warm bread can you really go wrong?

Ingredients

You will need (for two):

  • Large handful cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • Salt and pepper
  • Small handful fresh basil
  • 1 burrata (you could use a good buffalo mozzarella if you can’t get burrata)
  • Focaccia (you could use ciabatta instead)

Method

Arrange the cherry tomatoes in a baking dish cut side up. Drizzle over the oil and vinegar and add a little salt and pepper. read more

Chargrilled Broccoli, Potato and Pesto Salad

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chargrilled broccoli, potato and pesto salad

It was one of those evenings. You know the ones, where you look in the fridge expecting a sudden moment of inspiration and the fridge just stares blankly back. I’d put something down on the meal plan but for one reason or another didn’t manage to cook it; sometimes I forget to buy an ingredient or I use it all in another meal forgetting to save any for later in the week. My potato, chargrilled broccoli and pesto salad came out of seemingly nowhere. This meal’s saviour turned out to be a little pot of pesto; it transformed a sorry looking collection of vegetables into a rather tasty meal.

ingredients

You will need (for two):

  • 2 large handfuls new potatoes
  • 1 small head broccoli
  • Small handful green beans, sliced diagonally
  • 3-4 tbsp pesto (fresh from a deli or homemade if you like). You could use a vegan pesto to make the meal vegan
  • Small handful pine nuts
  • 2 handfuls washed rocket

method

Start by scrubbing the potatoes and then chopping them into halves or quarters depending on their size and how you like them. Leaving them a little larger just means they will take a little longer to cook. Put the potatoes into a pan of cold salted water and bring the pan to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer until cooked through.

Chop the broccoli into small florets and pop them in a steamer over the potatoes for 1-2 minutes until bright green but still crunchy.

Get a griddle pan onto a medium/high heat and tip the broccoli in. Keep the broccoli moving occasionally but allow it to get chargrilled at the same time.

Re-use the same steamer and pop the green beans above the potatoes for the last few minutes of the potato cooking time.

Drain the potatoes and green beans and put to one side.

Put a small frying pan onto a medium heat and add the pine nuts, moving them round the pan often until they are toasted.

Mix the broccoli and pesto into the potatoes and beans and then serve up with the rocket and top with the pine nuts.

The chargrilled broccoli adds such a great flavour to this salad, if I was having a barbecue I’d definitely try the broccoli on there before mixing into the salad. This is a really hearty and filling dish and would be a great side but I enjoyed it just on its own. A few halved cherry tomatoes, some leftover chicken or salmon would be delicious additions and would probably leave you enough for lunch leftovers the next day.

Aubergine and Ricotta Gnocchi Bake

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aubergine and ricotta gnocchi bake

What’s that? More aubergines? Yes actually, and I make no apologies because this Aubergine and Ricotta Gnocchi Bake is so good that I think we can all forgive if I’ve been a little heavy on the aubergine recipes of late. The key to this dish comes down to two things. Firstly, the aubergine has to be fried beautifully to make sure it’s soft, silky and golden brown. Secondly, adding a handful of cherry tomatoes really transforms the tomato base as it adds a wonderful freshness and sweetness. This is such a delicious vegetarian dish and one that feels at home as much now, in the summer, as it would in the autumn.

Ingredients

You will need (for two):

  • 2 medium aubergines, cut into length slices, then halved and chopped into finger sized pieces
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • Olive oil for cooking
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • Handful really ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 200g ricotta cheese
  • Pinch sugar
  • Few sprigs fresh basil and oregano, roughly chopped
  • Salt and pepper
  • Parmesan cheese

Method

Get a large frying pan on a medium heat and add a little oil, you need enough to just cover the bottom of the pan. Add the aubergine and fry until golden brown and soft. You may need to do this in batches depending on how much aubergine you have and how big your pan is. Once the aubergine is done place it on some kitchen paper to remove any excess oil.

Add a little more oil to the pan and add the onion. Fry for around 10 minutes before adding the garlic. Continue to fry for a few more minutes then tip in the chopped and cherry tomatoes.

Bring the tomato mixture to a simmer and continue to simmer until it’s reduced by around a third then add the sugar, salt and pepper, basil and oregano.

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the gnocchi according to pack instructions; but drain them around 30 seconds before the pack says to. The gnocchi will continue to cook in the oven.

Remove the tomato sauce from the heat and stir in the ricotta and aubergine.

Drain the gnocchi and add to the tomato and aubergine mix, stir everything together well and then put into an oven proof dish. Grate over a little Parmesan.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200C for around 20 minutes or until the top is golden and bubbling.

You could definitely try using any shape of pasta rather than gnocchi if you wanted to.  I know you shouldn’t really cook with basil but I actually like the way the leaves wilt and give their subtle flavour over to the sauce once they are cooked. It’s great to dive into this dish and get a forkful of everything: sticky gnocchi, soft aubergine, creamy ricotta, a chunk of tomato, a bit of basil and a bit of punch from the Parmesan. I don’t think a few slices of fried courgette would go amiss either.

Strawberry, Basil and Shortbread Mess

By 11 Comments

strawberry and basil mess

When there’s strawberries in the house that’s how I know it’s summer. I never eat them out of season; I feel like it’s worth the wait to abstain from eating strawberries for nine or ten months of the year and then gorge on them from late May until they disappear again. Mostly I just eat them as they are but sometimes I like to make something a little more interesting. This Strawberry, Basil and Shortbread Mess is exactly that. Something that doesn’t take long to make but turns a weekday evening into something a little more special. And it does look rather lovely if I do say so myself.

Ingredients

You will need (for two small puddings):

  • 1 shortbread wedge – see recipe below
  • Handful very ripe strawberries
  • 100ml double cream
  • Few sprigs fresh basil

For the shortbread:

  • 225g salted butter
  • 100g sugar
  • 275g plain flour
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

There are two ways of making this. The first, and the best in my opinion, is to make your own shortbread. The second is to use some shop bought shortbread or other biscuits.

To make the shortbread grease a 20cm tin with a little butter. I used a round one for this but I have used a square one for the same recipe, it just needs a slightly shorter cooking time.

Beat the butter until pale and creamy then add the sugar and vanilla and beat again until very pale, smooth and creamy.

Add the flour to the bowl and gently mix it in.

Tip the dough into the tin and then press it down with the back of a spoon. Prick the shortbread all over with a fork and mark into wedges.

Bake in a preheated oven at 160C for an hour or so or until the shortbread is golden brown.

Leave to cool and then re-mark the lines for the wedges before leaving to cool completely and then removing from the tin.

Marking and then re-marking the wedges will make it much easier to cut into pieces when you take it out of the tin.

Whip the cream until you have soft peaks. Finely chop three or four big strawberries and some of the basil leaves and then stir this through the whipped cream.

Divide the cream into two glasses or bowls then add some slices strawberries, crumbled shortbread and a little more basil.

Strawberry and basil is one of my favourite flavour combinations; I love the sweetness of the berries with the aromatic flavour of the soft basil. There’s just a small amount of cream in this, it would be a little heavy otherwise. The buttery, crumbly shortbread adds a fantastic texture to this little pudding and it would work really well with other summer fruits too. Trying different biscuits is certainly something I’ll be trying too!

Roasted Aubergine and Tomato Pasta

By 9 Comments

roasting the aubergine and tomatoes

There have been several aubergine themed recipes on the meal plan and blog recently, I just can’t seem to eat enough of them! The combination of aubergine and tomatoes is a hard one to beat, it’s one of my absolute favourites. Even better when the veggies are roasted to intensify the flavour and served with cheese. My roasted aubergine and tomato pasta is the culmination of many attempts to get it just right. Dicing the aubergine up like this not only means a quicker cooking time but more aubergine surface area to soak up all that olive oil.

Ingredients

You will need (for two):

  • 1 large aubergine, chopped into cubes around the same size as the cherry tomatoes
  • 2 handfuls cherry tomatoes
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed but skins left on
  • 150g pasta
  • 125g mozzarella, torn or chopped into small cubes
  • 3 sundried tomatoes, finely diced
  • Few sprigs fresh basil, roughly torn

Method

Tip the diced aubergine, tomatoes and garlic onto a non-stick baking tray. Add a good glug of olive oil along with some salt and pepper and mix everything together with your hands so that everything is well coated in oil and seasoning.

Roast everything in an oven at 190C for 25-30 minutes or until the tomatoes are just starting to split and the aubergine is turning golden brown.

While the aubergine is roasting cook the pasta according to packet instructions.

Drain the pasta well and tip in the roasted veg (discarding the garlic) along with the sundried tomatoes, basil and mozzarella.

Dig in!

The hot pasta will start to melt the mozzarella which in turn will get all tangled with any caramelised bits of tomato or aubergine that you scraped off the tray. The silky aubergine, sweet tomato, creamy mozzarella, fresh basil and intense sundried tomato are such fantastic flavours together. I am yet to try batch cooking this and freezing it and I think without the cheese it would freeze quite well. You can serve it over pasta or use it as a bruschetta topping; I would be the last person to judge you if you just ate it on its own. Another version with ricotta will be experimented with soon too. Any excuse for more aubergines in my kitchen.

Batch Cooking Pizzas

By 20 Comments

pizza dough ready for freezer

When I make pizza there are no shortcuts. Making it all from scratch from fresh ingredients does take a little longer but it is so worth it, and, good news, batch cooking pizzas is so easy and they freeze really well. Most of the pizza preparation time is waiting for the dough to prove or the sauce to reduce so you can mostly leave it to itself and then reap the rewards in the weeks to come. Coming home and knowing that dinner will be ready in 20 minutes is even better when you know it’s a fantastic homemade pizza.

Ingredients

You will need (for 6-8 pizzas worth):

For the pizza dough:

1kg strong white bread flour
14g fast action yeast
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
600ml warm water
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt

For the tomato sauce:

1 kg fresh tomatoes
1 small onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Small handful fresh basil, roughly chopped

Toppings of your choice

Method

Part of the reason this is so easy is because I chuck everything into my mixer and leave it to do the hard work for me, but, if you’re so inclined you can make it by hand.

Put all of the dough ingredients, apart from the water, into the mixer bowl and give everything a quick stir together. Get the mixer on a low speed and slowly add the water. Keep mixing until combined then increase the speed to knead the dough for five minutes.

Leave the dough in the bowl covered with a damp tea towel and put aside for an hour until risen.

While you are waiting for the dough start making the tomato sauce. Add the onion and a splash of oil to a saucepan on a low heat and leave the onion to soften, stirring from time to time, for 15 minutes.

Chop the tomatoes roughly and remove as many seeds as you can, don’t worry if a few slip through.

Add the garlic to the pan and leave to cook for a few minutes then tip in the tomatoes. Stir everything together well then leave the pan, lid partly on, to simmer for half an hour. Stir occasionally.

Once the sauce has reduced by about a third, add the salt, pepper and basil and then leave the lid off for the sauce to cool.

Turn the pizza dough out onto a floured surface and knock it back. Divide into six or eight, depending on how big you would like your finished pizzas.

Put the dough into freezer bags and divide the tomato sauce up into bags or pots too and pop into the freezer.

I always leave some dough and sauce out so I can make a pizza straight away; it smells too good not to.

Pre-heat an oven to 220C. Lightly oil a large baking tray.

Roll the pizza dough out on a floured surface until it’s the right size for your baking tray. Square, rectangle, round, they all taste the same!

Put the dough onto the baking tray, spread over the tomato sauce and then add your toppings. My most recent topping was mozzarella, speck and mushrooms and you can add whatever you like.

Put the pizza on a high shelf in the oven for 8-10 minutes until the edges are golden and the cheese is bubbling.

I made this most recent batch of tomato sauce using red and orange tomatoes; the orange ones added such a sweetness to the sauce and the red ones a real depth of flavour. This tomato sauce also makes excellent sauce for pasta too and I’ve used it for Bolognese in the past. Proper homemade pizzas do take some beating, I love that I know exactly what’s in them and you can add as much or as little of the toppings as you like. The dough is best defrosted in the fridge the morning before you want to eat it in the evening and once the dough and sauce are done it takes no time at all to throw it together.


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