Baked Gnocchi

 

Gnocchi is one of those comfort foods I find. 

Stodgy, filling, warming, comforting, delicious!

And the best thing is you can buy Gnocchi in a vacuum pack that just sits in your cupboard until you're ready for it.

As usual, this recipe can be totally adapted to suit your tastes - swap out anything you don't like and put in stuff you do.

Before we start, just a little mention about the might broccoli stalk - I actually like this bit better than the broccoli, I cannot believe I disposed of it for all the years that I did, before realising how delicious it really was!  I make sauces from it, or sometimes just fry it off in a little olive oil and eat it as a snack.

First off I fried off some asparagus, broccoli stalk  and a couple of gloves of garlic in a little olive oil.

Then I chucked in a huge pile of spinach and allowed it to wilt.

Next to go in was a bag of gnocchi, add a touch more oil if you need it, but I quite like the Gnocchi to catch a little on the pan to give a more toasty flavour.

Next to go in is a cheap jar of pasta sauce - I think these are great, they make a really good base for a lot of meals and cost less than 50p a jar!  You can add herbs, garlic, chilli..... whatever you like to make a tasty sauce.  Don't be wasting your money on the expensive ones, they're no better.

Give it a good stir around until everything is coated.

I then put the mixture in an ovenproof dish (forgot to photograph that part) and added a sprinkle of vegan parmesan and some golden breadcrumbs to make a crispy top.  You can use any cheese, and if you don't have a tub of breadcrumbs you can blitz up a slice of bread in a food chopper to make your own.

Finally I shoved it in the oven at Gas Mark 6 for 20 mins.

You can pre-make this and just put it in the oven later on when you are ready to eat.  It also heats up well the next day. 

Enjoy!

Green Bean and Baby Corn Salad

 

This easy to prepare side dish is perfect for freshening up a meal.

Prepare ahead and leave in the fridge so it infuses the flavours.

For the dressing you will need:

• Olive Oil
• Cider Vinegar
• Lime Juice (fresh of bottled)
• Something sweet - I use Agave Nectar, but maple syrup works too.
• Chilli flakes if you like to spice things up a bit.

Mix together equal amounts of olive oil and cider vinegar  (I used half a table spoon of each for this amount) then add about a quarter of that measurement of lime, then squidge in the sweet stuff until it tastes nice.  Then add a little salt, pepper and chilli flakes if liked.

Get a pan of water ready boiling, then drop in your green beans  (mine were yellow green beans!) baby corn and mange tout  (I added this because it came in a pack with the baby corn)

You can more or less use any of these kind of veggies.

Just give it a rapid boil for about 5 minutes - no longer.  Then remove from the water and drain on a clean tea towel.  Give them a pat to dry.

When cold, chop the veggies up into small pieces and toss in the dressing. Keep in the fridge until needed.

Enjoy!

Vegan Spinach & 'Feta' Tart

 This is such an easy thing to make... absolutely anyone can do it with little effort at all...... and of course, you can swap out the toppings to whatever you want!

So, buy a ready to roll box of puff pastry - most are Vegan, but do check.

I keep these in my freezer as an emergency go to, you just need to give it time to thaw out so you can unroll it  :)

Chuck a bag of spinach in a large pan with a drizzle of olive oil, and let it completely wilt down.  Don't think you have got too much at the beginning as it disappears to nothingness.

Unroll your pastry and place on a baking tray.

Spread your spinach evenly across the pastry leaving a 2cm edge all the way around  (for the pastry to puff up).

You can get some great vegan cheeses now, this one is from Lidl supermarket and is really good. The texture is good and the taste is lovely too.

Chop it into little cubes and scatter over the spinach.

Add some cherry tomatoes.... because they are nice and you need a bit of colour  :) 

I also added a sprinkle of pine nuts too - wincing at the price as they have shot up from £2.50 a bag to £3.50 a bag in a couple of months!!

Chuck it in the oven, gas Mark 6 for about 25 mins. Or until the pastry is golden.

Serve with anything.... salad, chips, boiled potatoes.... or just eat the whole thing on it's own  :)

Leftover Christmas Pie

 I absolutely hate food waste, with a passion. I will happily try and disguise a sleepy carrot or a limp cabbage.... so of course when you over cook at Christmas you know you are going to be eating left-overs for quite a few days.

But what to do to make it interesting?

Well, how about a fabulously deep pie, stuffed full of all of your leftovers - you can put absolutely anything in this... as you will see.

First, start off with a ready to roll pastry - or you can make your own of course, but the ready to roll stuff is easy and usually vegan  (but do check).

Then you need a deep tin - I used a loose bottom cake tin.  A pie dish is no good for this, to get all those leftovers in you need depth.  Don't roll your pastry too thin though or it will collapse when you remove it from the tin.

Now to start layering.

Rather than just chucking it all in willy nilly, its much nicer when cutting to see some sort of uniformity.

I started with a splodge of cranberry sauce on the bottom.

Then followed by the left over roast carrots and parsnips... beautifully arranged of course.

Next I added a little "cheese" - vegan of course, can't remember which brand as I eat any and all  :)

Sage and onion stuffing was next, sliced into nice pieces so it would layer up evenly.

At this point I thought it needed a bit of something else, so I blobbed in some spoonfuls of mint sauce.

Green veg was next... Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts and Peas had all got mixed up with each other, so I didn't bother to separate it, just chopped the sprouts in half and layered it evenly across the dish.

..... a bit more cheese....

..... a few more blobs of cranberry sauce....

Then to top it all off ... the potatoes.  mainly mash, but there was a couple of roasties in there somewhere too. I just kinda squeezed it with my fingers to flatten and laid it on the top.

A final sprinkle of cheese...

...and then a pastry lid.  Sealing the edges with a little water and a good squish with a fork.

I had a little soy cream left from my Christmas Pudding, so I gave it a brush over with that, then shoved it in the oven for about 35 minutes.  Gas Mark 6, middle shelf.

And the result?  It was delicious!  It lasted for ages too as I was the only one eating it  :)

Let me know if you try it and what you put in it   :)

Slow cooker...Cauliflower and Tomato Thai Curry

 

I love using my Slow Cooker, it is one of my most used kitchen gadgets!  Also known in the USA at a Crock Pot, or so I believe.  It is just so easy to chuck everything in and walk away for a few hours.... but enough of my blathering, there is nothing worse that having to read loads and loads of story to get to a recipe....  so here it is.

I am absolutely from the school of no (or very little) measuring, so just adapt to your own tastes, you will soon learn to add more or less of things as you free yourself up from the cookery books.

Chuck all of this into your slow cooker....

• A chopped up cauliflower
• A couple of handfuls of cherry tomatoes
• A stalk of lemon grass
• Fresh or dried chillis (to your taste)
• Fresh, Lazy or frozen Ginger
• A carton of Passata
• A tin of Coconut Milk
• A tablespoon of peanut butter

Leave it until your cauli is soft (or 'al dente' if you prefer it that way) 3 - 4 hours should do it.

Serve with couscous, rice, pasta, chips, naan.... whatever your chosen accompaniment is  :)

It's also good the next day, microwaved till warm and eaten with toast  (trust me, it works!!)

Try it, let me know what you think.