Pie Minister Heidi (Filo) Rolls

I randomly signed up for a newsletter for Capricorn goat's cheese and they sent out a recipe for Pie Minister Heidi Rolls. I have never tasted them but the recipe looked tasty. To make it slightly healthier, I used filo pastry instead of puff pastry.

Ingredients:


1 large red onion

4 garlic cloves, peeled and halved

500g sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1 tablespoon of olive oil

120g spinach

160g goat's cheese

4 sheets of filo pastry

1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)

75g sesame seeds

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 180C/356F/Gas Mark 4. In a large roasting dish, add the onion slices, garlic, sweet potato chunks and drizzle over the oil, salt and pepper. Give a good mix. Roast for 20-25 minutes until the sweet potato is just tender and the onion is nicely caramelised. Allow to cool.

2. While the veg is roasting, wilt the spinach in a pan gently with a splash of water. Remove from the heat and strain the spinach to remove any excess water. Roughly chop and set aside.

3. Cube the Capricorn Somerset Goats Cheese into small dice and mix into the drained spinach. Roughly chop any large pieces of sweet potato and mix the sweet potato, onion and garlic into the spinach mixture. Mix well, taste the mixture and season. Place in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.

4. Take a sheet of filo pastry, brush half of it with egg wash and fold in half, then cut the sheet into three. The filo sheets I used were 39cm x 30cm. I folded the longest edge over.

5. Egg wash the long edge and both short edges, place 1/12th filling in a straight line, in the middle of the pastry.

6. Fold the short edges over, onto the mixture and then roll the non-egg washed edge over rolling until the the egg washed edge makes a seal.

7. Place seam down onto a lightly oiled baking tray (or silicon sheet), brush the top with egg wash.

8. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

They make a really tasty snack. The combination of the inside ingredients is a great one. 

Summer Lasagne

I found this lovely looking recipe for 'Cheat's Mushroom and Spinach Lasagne' on the Cook Vegetarian website. Having made it and found it to be light and tasty I have renamed it Summer Lasagne.

I followed the instructions but layered in my own way and misread the bit about the tomatoes so, having layered it all without the tomatoes, I pulled it all apart again and just put them in without having reduced them.

I was then very sceptical about the outcome but was pleasantly surprised. The only think I would do differently is double the filling, well not the tomatoes but certainly the spinach and mushrooms as the flavours didn't come through very strongly. The 'cheat's' cheese sauce was really nice, it was just seasoned crème fraîche but  I think it was the nutmeg that made it. 

I served it with some boiled new potatoes. I have to write about them because they were absolutely delicious.  They came from the market stall as usual and were labelled as Devon new potatoes. They came all covered in dirt and were so light and creamy that no butter was necessary at all. 

Spinach and Potato Bake

Ever conscious that us veggies must ensure we have enough iron (and this can't all come from dark chocolate) I was browsing spinach recipes on the BBC Good Food website when I came across this recipe for sweet potato and spinach bake. It is a bit like a potato dauphinoise and is something that I would usually avoid making because they are usually packed with cream and cheese and therefore also packed with calories too. Using Elmlea instead of single cream I worked this recipe out to be just about 350 calories per quarter of the dish, not bad at all. I also decided to use half plain baking potatoes and half sweet potatoes. 

So the ingredients I used were:

284ml (1 carton) Elmlea alternative to single cream
2 garlic cloves , peeled
1 sprigs each of  thyme or rosemary
150g fresh spinach
freshly grated nutmeg
15g Bertolli spread , for greasing
450g sweet potatoes and 400g baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 3mm thick)
25g mature cheddar cheese, grated

1. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put the cream, garlic and herb sprigs into a small saucepan and slowly bring to just below boiling. Turn off the heat, season and leave to infuse.

2. Grease an ovenproof dish generously with butter and spread half the potato slices across the bottom. Top with a layer of spinach, season and grate nutmeg over the spinach, then add the remaining potato. 

3. Pour over the cream mixture, through a sieve to remove the garlic and herbs, then sprinkle with cheese (I was concerned that there wouldn't be enough cream but there was plenty).

4. Bake for 45-55 mins until golden and tender.

I served it with salad but I reckon it would be great as a side for some fairly plainly cooked quorn fillets and some veggies too. The flavour was really quite sweet, I'm glad I didn't use all sweet potatoes as I think this would have been a bit too much. I would infuse the cream for much longer next time as the garlic and herb flavour wasn't very strong at all. 

Home Made Spinach Gnocchi with Tomato Sauce

I would never think of making my own pasta but I would also never think of buying gnocchi. The shop bought ones I have tried (and some at Carluccio's restaurant that Mr VST had one time) were like little stodgy, heavy balls of pasta and weren't very nice at all.

My Mum made these for us once when we went to visit and they were so good I had to get the recipe from her.
(serves 4)
Ingredients:
600g floury potatoes
350g spinach
150g plain flour
50g flour for dusting
1 egg yolk

1. Peel and boil the potatoes and boil for 20 minutes, drain very well, then mash.

2. Cook the spinach on a large pan over a medium heat, mixing regularly until wilted and soft. Drain well and squeeze all the excess water out (I used a potato masher and a colander to help with this!). Once drained finely chop the spinach.

3. Mix the mashed potatoes, spinach, flour and egg yolk together and season. This makes quite a goey dough.

4. Dust your hands and a board and take small nuggets of the dough roll into balls (about 2-3cms round).

5. Gently flatten the top with a fork (I'm not sure why this is but all gnocchi seem to have grooves on them!)
6. Heat a large pan of water to just boiling point and then reduce the water to simmering temperature. Add just enough gnocchi so they have room to move around and cook for two minutes or until they float to the top. Remove and drain well and then cook the next batch.

7. I then layered mine with a home made tomato sauce and a little grated cheese and popped the dish in the oven for about ten minutes and served them with salad.

They are little balls of light doughy heaven that melt in your mouth. When I started making them Mr VST was especially pleased, they are one of his favourites. I was telling him how long they take to make (which is probably 1 1/2 - 2 hours altogether) and he said that they were worth it. I told him that he could make them next time!

Spinach and Feta Pie

Mr VST is on holiday this week and I threatened to make him cook for me all week. He had other plans but did make me his signature dish of spinach and feta pie. It just keeps getting better every time he makes it and it was delicious for lunch today too. He served it with lovely Cornish new potatoes.

The One Eyed Cat, Truro

After another day on the beach Mr VST and I were at a bit of a loose end. We decided to go and watch a film, Arthur, in Truro, which was very light hearted and easy to watch. We wondered the deserted streets and came to the One Eyed Cat, Truro's only bar and brasserie, apparently!

We browsed the menu and were delighted to see that not only was there more than one vegetarian option but none of the options were a goat's cheese, balsamic and red onion tart.

We started with some drinks and I chose the very refreshing mocktail Virgin Mule which was made with ginger beer and apple juice and had lemon and mint in it. Mr VST went for a pint of Cornwall's finest, Tribute.

Mr VST went for the risotto of the day which was leek and sun blushed tomato. It was plentiful, thick and creamy with just the right amount of leek.

I chose the stuffed field mushroom. It was stuffed with spinach, sweet potato and some delicious, sweet glacé red onion on top. Mine was served with sautéed potatoes and sun blush tomatoes.

Both meals were really tasty. The other options were a nut roast with all the trimmings (as it was Sunday) and a feta bubble and squeak. The One Eyed Cat was lovely with excellent service and a relaxed atmosphere. We might have to go and have to back and try the other options....

Friday Night Curry

An easy cook on Friday night. Everything that was left in the fridge went into the curry! It was an interesting mix of mushrooms, aubergine, sweet potato and spinach.

Brick Lane Weekend - Part 2

We wandered around picking up our treats and ended up in the food market at Spitalfields. There were so many delicious smells. We did two laps of the food stalls before deciding what to have. Mr VST went for some noodles with tofu and vegetables. It was really tasty. I tend to avoid tofu because it seems to only taste nice once it has been deep fried! I think the tofu in this meal had been fried and it was really good.

The one at the front, left hand side

I went for a Thai pumpkin curry. It was pretty hot but really tasty. I can't get enough pumpkin, butternut squash etc. The curry also had cauliflower in it and some other veg. There were some stalls selling vegan cup cakes, waffles and crepes which I was really tempted by but I was so full up I couldn't manage anything else. After lunch we decided to head home.  

We had already picked up a spinach and feta flatbread, some olives and a slice of banana cake for a picnic on the way home. The flatbread was really tasty, like a cross between bread and a thick pancake with a slight bit of spice and packed with spinach and feta. Lovely. We also had some very moreish feta stuffed, herby olives.

Feta and Spinach Flatbread

Feta stuffed olives

We also had a thick slice of banana cake but unfortunately we ate it before I could take a photograph. It was thick and sweet and packed full of bananas. 

What a lovely way to spend the weekend.

Spinach and Feta Pie with Green Beans

I went for a five mile run this evening after work while Mr VST made his Spinach and Feta Pie. I have to say it was the best one yet. He put plenty of nutmeg in it this time and it was really flavoursome. mmmm.

Spinach and Sweetcorn Pancakes with Cheese Sauce

My cheese sauce for the Cauliflower and Broccoli Cheese on Monday was made with Oat milk. Mr VST made a disparaging comment about the appearance of the sauce although nothing bad about the taste. Anyway this was enough for me to pick up some goat's milk on the way home to make the cheese sauce for the pancakes. I also used it for the pancakes although I think I'll be using good old cow's milk for pancake day next week. I served my lovely pancakes covered in cheese sauce with jacket potatoes.

Spiced chickpea and potato fry up

Another meat-free Monday and another new recipe. I tried this easy to make one-pot recipe this evening with some success. It was tasty, full of flavour and I think it will probably be even more flavoursome for lunch tomorrow. I served it with low fat naan breads.

Spinach and sweetcorn pancakes with cheese sauce

We are home this weekend so I have had the luxury of spending as much time as I like in the kitchen. Having embarked on a mission to remind myself how to be healthy I did some Wii yoga this morning followed by a 30 minute run which meant that I had enough calories left to enjoy this classic 80s recipe. It's one my Mum used to make us as kids so that we would eat something green!

It's not very complicated but takes a bit of time as you have to make cheese sauce, pancakes and the filling almost all at once.

You make the pancakes and cheese sauce and wilt the spinach with garlic cloves and sweetcorn and then fill each of the pancakes with some of the spinach mixture, roll them all up and cover them with the cheese sauce. I serve mine with a baked potato. It makes great, filling, Winter comfort food.

Spinach pie with peas

Mr VST made his spinach and feta pie again this evening. He complained that the oven needed cleaning and that he could smell something burning. Unfortunately it was his pie! He had turned the grill on instead of the oven and the top of his pie was rather black. It didn't make any difference to the taste of the pie thankfully and as we have been rather disorganised over the holidays the only thing to serve it with was frozen peas!

Spinach pie with green beans and tomatoes

I'm a little late blogging last night's meal as we have a friend staying this week.

Mr VST made his delicious spinach and feta pie using filo pastry and I experimented with the side by sauté-ing some green beans with a tin of tomatoes, some sugar and balsamic vinegar. It was a good experiment!











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