Tomato and Sausage Pasta Bake

As I had spent so long preparing dinner yesterday and I had two dinners to make tonight (tomorrow's as well as we're off to meet Paula Radcliffe at dinner time) I thought I'd go for something simple. I'd made this recipe before and it's aimed at student so it's pretty simple!

Here it is made vegetarian and slightly adapted.

(serves 4)

2 small onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
2 tsp soy sauce
200g pasta
50g mature cheddar, grated
4 cooked vegetarian sausages, sliced (I used the new Linda McCartney Italian Style ones)

1.  Fry off the onions and garlic.
2.  Add the cans of tomatoes, bring to the boil and simmer for twenty minutes. 
3.  Cook the pasta
4. Add the soy sauce and season.
5.  Mix the pasta and tomato sauce together and spread out in an oven proof dish.
6. Scatter the sausages over the top and grate the cheese on top before grilling for 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

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!

Rhubarb Crumble and Custard

I love rhubarb and there were great big bunches for a pound on the market stall this week. I couldn't resist. Crumble is one of my favourite things to make with rhubarb. I made six individual crumbles with about 500g rhubarb and they were all delicious!

Caramelised Red Onion and Mozzarella Filo Tarts

A quick, easy and tasty option on Friday evening. I found this recipe at the Slimming Eats blog a little while ago. They're so easy to make and really tasty. A great alternative to a Friday night pizza.

Ingredients:
2 sheets filo pastry
1 red onion
1 large tomato
1 ball mozzarella
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
basil, shredded
black pepper

1. Take two sheets of filo pastry and cut them in half. Layer each piece on top of each other at angles, using a little water to make the sheets stick to each other and fold the ends over to make it more round in shape.

2. Cut a red onion into rings and fry off until browned and spread out over the filo base.

3.Layer slices of tomato and mozzarella over the red onion. 

4. Drizzle the balsamic vinegar over the tomato and mozzarella. Then grind black pepper to taste and spread shredded basil over the top.

5. Put in the oven for 15 minutes at 180 degrees C

Served with salad and Cornish new potatoes

Snúðar or Cinnamon Swirls with Chocolate Icing

When we were on honeymoon in Iceland Mr VST and I discovered and extensively tested out their bakeries. They were awesome selling a lovely range of fresh locally baked cakes, savouries and breads and there was almost always a cafe in there too selling strong coffee just how the Icelanders like it.

One of our favourite items was Snúðar. It was a swirled bun with cinnamon in it and either chocolate or chocolate icing on top. 

When we came back I looked for recipes but it was difficult as I don't have the 'ð' on the keyboard. I managed to find this recipe by searching for Icelandic recipes. 

My first try at making them had a few teething problems but they were still nice. I adapted the above recipe slightly.

So first of all the ingredients are as follows:

Dough:

7g dry yeast
100 ml semi-skimmed milk (warmed in the microwave)
210g plain flour
1 tsp golden caster sugar
30g butter or margarine
1 small egg

Filling:
15g butter
2 tbsp golden caster sugar
25g raisins

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Icing:
4 tbsp icing sugar
1/2 tsp cocoa powder
2 tsp boiling water

1.Heat the milk to 37°C (I guessed at this and just put it in the microwave for a minute or so) and dissolve the yeast in it. 

2.Mix the flour and sugar together in a bowl. Crumble in the butter.

3.Add the egg and milk, mix well and knead well.

4.Set dough aside to rise for 15-20 minutes. 

5.Punch down the dough and knead again. Roll out into a rectangular shape, about 20x30 cm. 

6.Melt the butter and brush over the rolled out dough. Sprinkle over the sugar, raisins and cinnamon.  

7.Roll up into a sausage shape and cut into 10-12 slices. Arrange on a buttered cookie sheet with about an inch between them and let rise for 20-30 minutes.

8.Bake on a lower rung of the oven at 200-225°C for 10-15 minutes.

 

9.Mix the icing sugar, cocoa and water together. Pour over the icing while still warm.

I really wasn't concentrating when I made these. I forgot to knead the dough before letting it rise, forgot to put any butter in the dough, didn't let the rolls rise once I had made them and put too much water in the icing and they still turned out OK! Will be interesting to see how the next batch turn out if I manage to follow the recipe properly. Of course these weren't quite as good as the ones we had on honeymoon but they were still nice and I'll definitely be making them again. 

Veggie Curry

Yummy curry packed full of healthy veggies this evening. 

Leek and Feta Frittata

Went for this easy, tasty classic tonight with a cracking spinach, cucumber and grated carrot salad on the side (Mr VST had tomatoes too - bluegh!)