All That I'm Eating

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

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

Proper Ragu

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Proper Ragu served with spaghetti

There’s ragu, and then there’s proper ragu. You know the two kinds I mean; the quick one that we Brits chuck on top of a pile of spaghetti and the one that takes time, effort, care and attention to make. Don’t get me wrong, the former has its place but this recipe is for the latter; which incidentally freezes very well meaning it is perfect for cooking up a big batch and then reaping the rewards in the weeks to come. It has taken a long time to get this recipe to be my version of a perfect ragu so I hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients

For 8-10 portions:

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 2 sticks celery, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 3 sundried tomatoes (dried, not in oil), you can use 2 tbsp sundried tomato paste instead and add it when the tomato paste goes in
  • 500g beef mince
  • 500g pork mince (pork shoulder if you can can it)
  • 2 rashers smoked streaky bacon, finely sliced
  • 150ml red wine (optional)
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 700ml passata
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • Salt and pepper

    • read more

    Beef and Chard Ramen

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    beef ramen with chard and onions

    Cooking for one somehow seems more complicated than it should be. Even though it’s just a case of halving a recipe designed for two if I’m ever cooking for myself I often find myself opting for a slice of toast rather than anything more involved. But toast isn’t really that filling for dinner and no matter how much jam you spread on I’m not sure it’ll count as one of your five a day. That’s where this simple beef and chard ramen comes in. It is easy to scale up or down, you can use almost anything that you have in your kitchen and it doesn’t take much time to put together.

    Ingredients

    You will need (for one):

    • 250ml vegetable stock
    • 1 tbsp white miso paste
    • 1 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
    • 1 noodle nest
    • 3-4 stalks rainbow chard, woody ends removed (if there are any)
    • 1 small sirloin or rump steak
    • Salt and pepper
    • Oil for cooking
    • 1 small red onion, sliced

    Method

    Start by making the broth. Bring the vegetable stock to a boil in a saucepan then stir in the miso paste and soy sauce. Bring to a simmer then pour into the bowl that you will serve the finished dish in.

    Return the pan to the heat and fill with water. Bring the pan to the boil.

    While you wait for the water to boil season the steak on both sides. Get a frying pan on a high heat and add a little oil, fry the steak on both sides until cooked to your liking. Remove the steak and put to one side.

    Return the steak pan to a medium heat then add the onion. Cook, stirring regularly until the onion is brown at the edges.

    Put the chard into a steamer that will fit above the saucepan of boiling water. Add the noodles to the water and steam the chard over the top. Leave to cook/steam for 2-3 minutes.

    Drain the noodles then add to the broth with the chard and fried onions. Slice up the steak and add this to finish the dish.

    I love how colourful this dish is and it’s so full of flavour; a deep saltiness from the broth, comforting carbs from the noodles, richness from the meat, a fresh earthiness from the chard and sweet caramelised flavours from the onion. Cooking the onion in the steak pan really adds to the flavour of the finished dish as the onion picks up any delicious caramelised meat juices from the pan. You could easily use chicken or tofu instead of the beef and swap the chard for kale or pak choi. A sprinkle of fresh chopped chillies or coriander over the top of the dish would add another level of freshness. A bowl of vibrancy and comfort and if you make it just for yourself you can slurp away to your heart’s content.

    Layered Ragu and Aubergine Pasta Bake

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    Layered Ragu and Aubergine Pasta Bake with salad and wine

    I think I’m part Italian. More likely, I like to think I’m part Italian. The reason for this recent realisation is that Italian food is the food I crave the most; when I’m looking for inspiration I invariably turn my attention to that most wonderful of countries. Pasta is the obvious Italian ingredient to inspire meals but the rice dishes, salads, marinades, stews, cheeses, meats and sauces always make me feel like I’m having a little Italian getaway in my own kitchen. This ragu and aubergine pasta bake was inspired by Rick Stein’s recent series: Long Weekends. I’m sure my recipe is very different to theirs, I’m bound to have forgotten some ingredients or added others, but the principle is the same; great big, hearty portions of food. It’s worth getting hold of some fontina cheese for this pasta bake (more on that later).

    Ingredients

    You will need (for 4-6 portions):

    • 3 tbsp olive oil for cooking
    • 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
    • 2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
    • 2 sticks celery, roughly chopped
    • 4 garlic cloves, crushed
    • 2 bay leaves
    • 4 slices pancetta, finely chopped
    • 500g pork mince
    • 500g beef mince
    • 2 tbsp tomato paste
    • 700ml passata
    • 1 tsp sugar
    • Salt and pepper
    • 50g Parmesan, grated
    • 200g orzo pasta
    • 2 aubergines, sliced thinly
    • 2 tbsp olive oil
    • 200g fontina cheese, grated

    Method

    Put the sliced aubergine into a bowl with a sprinkle of salt and leave to one side while you start the ragu.

    Start by getting a large saucepan on a medium heat and adding the olive oil. Add the onions, carrots and celery to a blender and blend until finely chopped. If you don’t have a blender you can finely chop them by hand (I blend to save time). Add the vegetables to the pan, pop a lid on and leave to soften for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

    Add the garlic and bay leaves to the pan and leave to cook for another five minutes.

    Increase the heat slightly and add the pancetta, beef and pork mince. Stir often until the minces have gone brown and any water has evaporated leaving you with a dry-ish mix.

    Add the tomato paste, passata, sugar and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Fill the passata jar up with a little water (about 150ml) and then tip this into the pan. Bring everything to the boil then leave the mix to simmer, with the lid ajar, for around 45 minutes and stir from time to time.

    Wipe off any excess salt from the aubergine then add the 2 tbsp olive oil and mix into the aubergine well. You can either bake or fry the aubergine depending on your preference. Frying them gives a nicer finished texture but they can be a little oily and it takes longer to do as it needs to be done in batches. Baking them takes a little longer and the skins don’t go quite as crispy. Griddling would be fantastic. Whichever you choose, cook the aubergine slices and leave to one side.

    The ragu mix should be nice and thick. Cook the orzo according to packet instructions, drain then stir into the ragu along with the Parmesan. Check the seasoning and adjust if needed.

    You can make one big ragu bake or two smaller ones; I opted for two smaller so that I could have the leftovers the next day. Put half of the ragu mixture into the bottom of a baking dish. Put a layer of aubergine slices over the top and sprinkle over a handful of the fontina. Spoon the remaining ragu mix over the fontina then top with the remaining aubergine slices and finish with the remaining fontina.

    Bake at 180C for 25-30 minutes until bubbling and golden brown.

    Serve with a crisp green salad.

    I hope that before you read the recipe you already knew that this was going to be pretty special. It is everything that I look for with hearty Italian food; perfect at this time of year when the days make you crave salad but the evening suggests you need stew. It’s a big dish and actually contains five different vegetables (and two cheeses and three meats!) so the flavours are complex and deep. Fontina is the best cheese for this; its low melting point means the inside layers are gooey and stringy but the top goes beautifully crisp and the tangy, slightly sweet flavour of the cheese is unique. You’ll need to find a cheesemonger to get hold of some, you can get it online too, it’s not easily available on supermarket shelves but once you’ve found it (and tried it) I think you’ll agree it was worth seeking out.

    Beef Stew with Horseradish Dumplings

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    Beef Stew with Horseradish Dumplings

    I made this stew on New Year’s Day. I can’t think of many things as warming and comforting as a big bowl of slow cooked food. My beef stew with horseradish dumplings was made up of almost everything I had leftover in my fridge and cupboards; happily simmered away with some beef shin. A delicious, make-the-most-of-everything, homely stew for four people. Trust me on the ingredients; one or two may sound a little out of place but they really add to the dish.

    Ingredients

    You will need (for four):

    • 700g diced beef shin, or other stewing beef
    • 2 tbsp plain flour
    • Salt and pepper
    • Oil for cooking
    • 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
    • 2 onions, peeled and sliced
    • 7-8 small mushrooms, quartered
    • 2 large tomatoes, quartered
    • Small handful pitted olives (I used green)
    • 330ml beer (I used Anchor Steam)
    • 170ml beef stock

    For the dumplings

    • 120g self raising flour
    • Pinch salt
    • 50g suet
    • 1 tbsp horseradish sauce
    • Leaves from two thyme sprigs
    • Cold water

    Method

    Start by putting the flour into a bowl with a good sprinkle of salt and pepper. Mix the beef into the flour so it is all coated.

    Get a casserole dish onto a medium-high heat on the hob. Add a little oil and fry the beef until browned. Remove and set aside. You will need to fry the beef in two batches so that it fries properly.

    Add a little more oil to the pan and tip in the onions, carrots and mushrooms. Leave to soften for 10-15 minutes, scraping up any sticky bits from the bottom of the pan.

    Tip the beef back into the pan with the tomatoes and olives then pour over the beer and beef stock. Bring to a boil.

    Once the pan has boiled put the stew into an oven at 160C for two hours.

    After an hour and a half make the dumplings. Rub the flour and suet together to make a breadcrumb texture. Add the salt, thyme and horseradish and mix together then add drops of water, a little at a time, to bring the mix together to form a dough.

    Divide the dough into eight pieces. Get the stew out of the oven and pop the dumplings on top then return everything to the oven for the last twenty minutes.

    I like to add tomatoes to stews I make as it gives a lovely sweetness to the whole dish. Onions, carrots and mushrooms are a classic backbone for any stew and after two hours the beef really is melt in the mouth. Adding a handful of olives gives a fantastic savoury twang and the beer and beef stock gravy that is created is nothing short of delicious. Top that off with a faint note of horseradish and fresh, earthy thyme. Just the ticket. Oh, and if you make the full amount but there’s only two of you it makes brilliant keptovers topped with a cloud of mashed potato and baked.

    Beetroot Tzatziki, Beef Koftas and Quick Flatbreads

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    Beetroot Tzatziki with Quick Flatbreads and Beef Koftas - All That I'm Eating (2 of 2)

    Beetroot can be a bit of a pain in my house, other than putting it in a salad or putting it on the side with something I am sometimes at a loss for what to do with it. When I get a bunch I find the easiest thing to do is to cook it all at the same time then peel it and keep it in the fridge for when I need it. Using the beetroot for a beetroot tzatziki was a great discovery and was so good with the beef koftas and super quick homemade flatbreads.

    Ingredients

    You will need (for two):

    For the koftas:

    • 200g beef mince
    • 1 clove garlic
    • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
    • Salt and pepper

    For the beetroot tzatziki:

    • 150g natural yoghurt
    • 2 small beetroot, grated
    • Juice of half a lemon
    • 2 spring onions, finely sliced
    • 1/2 tsp dried mint
    • Small handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped
    • Salt and pepper

    For the flatbreads (I’ve made these Jamie Oliver flatbreads before and they are fab!):

    • 350g self raising flour
    • Pinch salt
    • 1 tsp baking powder
    • 350g natural yoghurt

    Method

    Make the beetroot tzatziki by combining all of the ingredients together in a bowl.

    Mix the ingredients for the koftas together then form into little balls. Fry these in a little oil until well browned and slightly crispy on the outside.

    Make the flatbreads by mixing all the ingredients together and knead it lightly. Divide the mix into balls, I made six with the above mix, and roll them out on a floured surface. Get a frying pan on a high heat (no oil needed) and add the flatbreads one at a time. Leave each flatbread to go crispy before flipping it over and keep the cooked ones warm while you cook the rest.

    Serve the flatbreads, kofta and tzatziki together with some salad and enjoy!

    Using just two small beetroot in this left me with a few more to enjoy with other meals in the week. The colour of the tzatziki was fantastic and the texture with the beetroot and spring onions was great. Sticky, garlic koftas with cool beetroot tzatziki and crispy, (on the outside) soft, (in the middle) warm flatbreads all worked together so well. A brilliant use for beetroot if I do say so myself and a dinner I’ll certainly be making again.

    Barber’s Cheese Toastie Off and Pastichio

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    barbers cheese toastie off

    Last year I went to the BBC Good Food Show courtesy of Barber’s Cheese and got to try their lovely cheese for the first time. This year, things got a bit more serious and I was invited to The Bath and West Show to take part in a cheese toastie off (as well as having a good nose around the show). For my toastie recipe I wanted to keep it simple so I went for a sort of croque-monsieur; smoked ham, Barber’s Cheese, English mustard and plenty of butter on both sides of the bread. You can’t go wrong with butter.

    I didn’t win the toastie competition but I did get to have a catch up with Urvashi (the Botanical Baker), meet some fellow bloggers and also have a chat with one of the original Barber’s about their cheese. The recipe that won was from Fromage Homage who used Barber’s cheese, bacon lardons and caramelised onion relish; it sounded amazing so I have to try it soon.

    It’s always nice to get out and have a roam around these shows. The Barber’s stall was right outside the British Cheese Awards room and we got to sample some great British cheeses; crumbly Lancashire, the winning rosary goat’s cheese with herbs and a lovely herb and garlic cheddar. The one which caught my eye was the Cornish Yarg wrapped in wild garlic leaves as opposed to the normal nettle leaves. I’ll be on the lookout for that!

    We were sent home with a few tasty lumps of Barber’s to get cooking with ourselves. I have to say I prefer my cheese as it comes over being cooked (unless it’s on a pizza or in a toastie!) but when I found their recipe for pastichio I had to try it. I had pastichio when I went to Greece a few years ago and I’ve always wanted to try it at home but, as with most of these recipes, I never found the time.

    Ingredients

    This Pastichio recipe is from the recipe booklet from Barber’s.

    You will need (for 4-6):

    For the meat sauce –

    • 2 tbsp olive oil
    • 1 onion, finely chopped
    • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
    • 500g minced beef
    • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
    • 200ml red wine
    • 400g canned chopped tomatoes
    • 2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
    • Salt and pepper

    For the macaroni –

    • 250g macaroni
    • 55g butter
    • 55g plain flour
    • 600ml milk
    • 175g Barber’s 1833 Cheddar, grated
    • 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
    • 1 egg, beaten

    Method

    For the meat sauce heat the oil in a pan, add the onion and garlic and cook gently for 10 minutes or until the onion is soft but not browned. Add the mince and stir until browned.

    Stir in the cinnamon then add the red wine and allow it to bubble for a minute. Add the tomatoes and mint and season. Simmer very gently for 40 minutes until thickened.

    Meanwhile cook the macaroni as directed on the packet but take care not to overcook. Drain well.

    Heat an oven to 180C. In a saucepan melt the butter then stir in the flour and cook for a minute. Gradually add the milk and cook for 5 more minutes. Add half the cheese and the nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. Add the macaroni and egg into the sauce.

    Spread half the macaroni in the bottom of an oven proof dish, cover with the meat sauce then top with the remaining macaroni. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.

    Bake for 40 minutes until golden brown.

    I was surprised to find this was made with minced beef; I think the one I tried before was with minced pork. The pasta I had this with in Greece was like a very long macaroni tube rather than the shorter macaroni I used. I really enjoyed this. Although it feels like quite a wintry dish the cinnamon and mint really lift the beef to make it light and aromatic. It was sort of moussaka crossed with Bolognese and macaroni cheese; a new favourite I reckon.

    Thanks to Barber’s for the invite and the cheese. All opinions expressed are my own.

    Beef Braised in Beer with Onions and Carrots

    By 13 Comments

    As I rent a house I am in the unfortunate position of being lumbered with the oven and hob that I’m given. Don’t get me wrong; having a hob and an oven is certainly one up from having no heating implements at all but they definitely leave a lot to be desired.  read more

    Paprika Topside of Beef with Roasted Garlic Mash and Peas and Onions

    By 22 Comments

    I wrote on my blog a little while back that humble doesn’t have to be hum drum and it got me thinking. Can I make what might be considered a luxury into a cheap, and hopefully humble, meal. Steak, for me at least, is considered an expensive luxury; it’s not something I buy on a regular basis. It is however something I enjoy and it was about time I tried a cheaper cut to see if it could cut the mustard. read more

    Steak, Chips and Mushrooms with Maille Pepper Sauce

    By 23 Comments

    Is it just me that is prone to insatiable food cravings? When I get one I am unsatisfied (and sometimes unapproachable) until I have devoured my wanted meal. It could be cheesecake, fizzy cola bottles or pizza but most recently I had a desire for steak and I wasn’t going to stop until I’d eaten one. It can be a little awkward in some situations to try and explain to those near you that the reason you are frowning, grumpy and on edge is because you desperately need some smoky bacon crisps. I had my mind set on a juicy steak with peppercorn sauce and thank goodness that I only had to wait a few days to fulfil this particular culinary requirement. Any longer and I’d have probably alienated all my friends. read more

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