3 onions, chopped 2 cloves of garlic, minced 6-8 chicken breast, cut into small pieces 15ml chicken spice 15ml turmeric 10ml salt 375ml cooked rice 250ml frozen peas
Place a large pan on medium-high heat and add some oil to it. Add the onions and fry until translucent. Add the garlic and stir-fry for one minute. Add the chicken pieces and sprinkle over the chicken spice, turmeric, salt and a few grindings of pepper. Place a lid on the pan and cook for 10 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring every now and then for another 10 minutes. Add the peas and cook for 5 minutes or so until warm. Serve a fresh tomato salad.
Place a heavy-base saucepan on medium-high heat and add some oil to it. Add the onion and chorizo and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and sweet pepper and cook for another 2 minutes. Now add the rice, sprinkle over the paprika and stir to cover. Add a pinch of saffron to the chicken stock and pour the stock into the saucepan. Add the prawns, stir through and place a lid on. Cook for about 15 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is just tender. Add the peas and cook for another 6-7 minutes without covering. Season the paella with salt and lemon juice, taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve the paella with fresh lemon slices.
8 – 16 pork sausages 15ml + 45ml vegetable oil 1 large onion, sliced 3 leeks, washed and sliced 2 cloves of garlic, minced 45ml flour 500ml beef stock 1,2ml salt black pepper
Place a large saucepan/pan over medium-high heat and pour in the vegetable oil. Add the sausages and cook until browned. Turn them every now and then to get an even golden colour. Cook for 10 minutes or so. Remove the sausages from the pan and lower the heat to medium. Add the onion and leek and cook for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute. Spread the onion and leek out in the pan and sprinkle the flour over. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes to cook out the flour. Add 60ml of the stock to the pan and stir. Add another 60ml, keep stirring and wait for it to become more saucy. Slowly drizzle in the rest of the stock while stirring – if you pour it all in at once the sauce will be lumpy. Simmer the gravy until it thickens. It won’t look as thick as you will want it to be but it will thicken more, later on. Add the salt and a few grindings of black pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Place the sausages back in the pan and heat through on a low heat for between 5 and 10 minutes. Serve the sausages on potato mash and slosh it with the gravy.
200g chorizo sausage 30ml olive oil 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 x 400g tin of whole cherry tomato 10ml sugar 5ml salt 400g orzo pasta 400ml vegetable stock a handful of basil leaves, chopped parmesan cheese
Place a large pan on medium-high heat and add the olive oil and onion to it. Fry the onion until just soft. Add the garlic and stir-fry for one minute. Add the tomatoes, sugar, salt and a few grindings of black pepper. Cook for 5 minutes or so, stirring every now and then. Add the orzo and stir through. Pour in the vegetable stock and cook for about 10 minutes. The liquid has to reduce and the orzo should be tender when you taste it. Scatter over three quarters of the basil and turn off the heat. Stir through and serve with grated parmesan cheese and the rest of the basil scattered over.
Gremolata: 62ml pine nuts (you may replace with sunflower seeds) a big bunch of parsley 2 cloves garlic, peeled the zest of 1 lemon a pinch of salt the juice of 1 lemon 45ml olive oil
Mushrooms: 45ml butter 30ml sunflower oil 500g mixed mushrooms, roughly chopped 15ml thyme leaves salt and pepper
For the Gremolata: Place a large frying pan on medium heat and add the pine nuts to it. Shake the pan over the heat or stir the seeds around with a spoon, until it starts to toast and change colour. Remove the seeds from the pan and set aside. Place the garlic, parsley and half the pine nuts on a chopping board and mince together until finely chopped. Add the lemon zest and a pinch of salt and chop the ingredients together. Scrape the chopped ingredients into a small bowl and add the rest of the pine nuts to it. Now add the lemon juice and olive oil and stir together. Set aside.
For the Polenta: Add the stock and salt to a saucepan set over high heat and bring the stock to a boil. Add the polenta and whisk the mixture together until it has thickened. Take the saucepan from the heat, add the butter and whisk well. Set aside.
For the Mushrooms: Add the butter and oil to a frying pan set over high heat. Add the mushrooms, thyme, salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Spoon the polenta into bowls and top with mushrooms and a spoonful of gremolata.
This is a recipe from the brand new book “Cook it. Eat it. Live it.” by Jo Kenny. I was lucky enough to write a review on the book and simply cannot have enough of this delicious pasta dish! I have made a vegetarian version of Jo’s original Pea and Smoked Bacon Spaghetti.
Add the spaghetti to a large pot with boiling water and allow to cook until al-dente. Heat a large frying pan on medium heat and cook the bacon lardons for 5 minutes. Add the peas, basil, olive oil and garlic to a food processor, season with salt and blend until the mixture forms a smooth paste. Add the pea and basil paste to the pan on a low heat. Add the creme fraîche and stir on a low heat to warm through. Drain the pasta and add it to the pan immediately. Stir the pasta through the sauce so that is coated evenly. Serve the pasta with the grated parmesan cheese, lemon zest and another squeeze of lemon juice.
There is no pan frying involved in making these meatballs as they are cooked directly in the tomato sauce and therefore are wonderfully juicy and aromatic. The recipe yields about 16 large meatballs but may be easily halved.
2 onions, chopped 4 cloves of garlic, minced 2 tins of chopped tomato 15ml sugar 10ml salt 10ml dried oregano 250ml beef stock
Add the onion, garlic and a splash of oil to an ovenproof saucepan and place on medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chopped tomato, sugar, salt, oregano and stock and allow the mixture to simmer slowly while you get on with the meatballs.
Slice the crusts from the bread and place it in a bowl. Pour the milk onto the bread, turning the bread in the milk so that it becomes soggy and start falling apart. Add the beef and salt to the bread mixture and mix with your hands. Push your hand down into the minced meat and squeeze it through your fingers – repeat until the ingredients are evenly distributed.
Scoop a tablespoon-full of the meat mixture into your hands and roll into a ball. Place the meatball directly into the slowly simmering tomato sauce. Keep going until you have no meat mixture left. Sprinkle the grated cheeses onto the meatballs and bake in your preheated oven for 30 minutes. Serve with a crusty bread or fluffy mashed potato.
My Whisk and I 