Casareccia and Cheddar Bake

Basically, a fancy Macaroni Cheese. Casareccia was used instead of macaroni as we have a lot of pasta to use up (that and it sounds a little fancier).

Ingredients - 

400g Casareccia

2x Cloves of Garlic, finely chopped

1x Onion, finely chopped

50g Butter

50g Plain Flour

1 pint of Milk

250g Mature Cheddar, grated

Oregano or similar herbs to taste

Tomatoes, sliced

Method - Firstly cook the pasta in boiling water and fry the garlic, onion and a little oregano in olive oil until slightly browned and set aside until the cheese sauce is ready.

To make the cheese sauce, melt butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Once melted slowly stir in the flour to form a roux.

Once the mixture looks as above, start to gradually add the milk, stirring all the time to ensure there are no lumps. Continue to heat at a low to medium heat, stirring frequently to prevent sticking or further lumps after around 15 minutes the sauce should begin to thicken. Once it has reached the correct consistency stir in the onion and garlic before adding in the cheese (about 175g of the grated cheese should be sufficient, make sure to keep enough cheese for topping the pasta bake), heating gently until all of the cheese has melted. Preheat the oven to 180°c.

Mix the cheese sauce and the pasta and place into a large ovenproof dish, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and place in the oven for 15 minutes.

Once the cheese starts to brown, add the sliced tomatoes to the top of the bake and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes. 

Serve with crusty bread.

JAB

Lentil Chilli (and Burrito Snacks)

A basic lentil chilli served with rice and pitta breads on day one and then as burritos for lunch for the next few days.

Ingredients-

For the Chilli -

250g Green Lentils

2x Onions, finely chopped

200g Mushrooms, sliced

1x Green Chilli, finely chopped

1x Sweet Red Pepper

1x Tin of Kidney Beans, drained

1x Tin of Chopped Tomatoes

1tsp Smoked Paprika

1tsp Chilli Powder (or Chilli sauce, simply add more for a spicier dish)

Basmati Rice

Salt and Pepper to taste

For the Burritos -

8x Fajitas

Left over Chilli

150g Mature Cheddar, grated

Tin foil, for wrapping

Method - For this recipe I actually used split green peas which were pre-soaked for several hours prior to cooking. In hindsight though, I do believe that previous attempts where I have used lentils instead produced tastier, more successful dishes. It should also be noted that I generally use a lot more smoked paprika in my chilli than is stated in the ingredients but I feel it is better to err on the side of caution as you can always add more whilst cooking or even when reheating the chilli again.

To begin, cook the lentils in boiling water for around 20 minutes until soft but do not allow them to turn mushy. Drain and set aside for later. Next, add the onion, garlic, chilli and spices to a large frying pan with a little oil and salt and fry over a medium heat for around 5 minutes until the onions start to brown slightly. Next add in the mushrooms and pepper, continuing to fry for around 10 minutes until the mushrooms are cooked. 

Add in the cooked lentils and stir into the mixture in the frying pan for around 2 minutes in order to give the lentils the chance to take on the flavours of the chilli, onion and garlic. Now, add in the kidney beans and tinned tomatoes, stirring well and leave the chilli to cook over a low to medium heat for around 15 minutes whilst you prepare the rice and pittas.

Once cooked, serve on a bed of Basmati rice with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese and toasted pitta breads.

Chilli Burritos - Generally, the amount of chilli made from this recipe could serve 4 to 5 people in one sitting. However, I prefer to re-use the left overs in making individually wrapped burritos that can be kept in the fridge for several days to be reheated or enjoyed cold.

Burrito wrapping for dummies 

Preheat the oven to 180°c and follow the above guide to wrapping burritos. Start with a generous dollop of chilli and a helping of cheddar cheese. Roll, wrap, rinse, repeat. Cook for 20 minutes and enjoy straight away or allow to cool before storing in the fridge. For a vegan alternative you can substitue the cheddar with a vegan cheese or simply swap it out for some guacamole.

I should probably try and make my own fajitas.

JAB

Veggie Poutine or "O Canada"

This recipe is a culinary flashback to our summer holiday, a dish we enjoyed in New York having missed the chance to sample the real thing it in its native Canada (probably sacrilege, I realise). Anyhow, an interesting combination that I would probably have never put together. Chips, Cheese and Gravy. Sadly not vegan I'm afraid, a fairly straightforward recipe that uses pretty much the same gravy recipe from the Christmas Nut Roast. (it should also be noted that I have replaced the traditional cheese curds with Halloumi Cheese)

Serves 2.

Ingredients -

175g Halloumi, cut into small cubes
5 Medium potatoes, chopped into chips (roughly 1.5cm thickness)
200g closed cup mushrooms, cut into quarters
Oil, for frying
Salt and Pepper to taste

For the Gravy -

Oil, for frying

2x Small Onions, roughly chopped

2x Garlic Cloves, roughly chopped

1x heaped tbsp plain flour

1x tsp Marmite (or similar yeast extract)

450ml Veg Stock

1x tsp Dark Soy Sauce

1x tsp (Vegan) Worcestershire Sauce

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method - To begin, prepare the potatoes and bring a large pan of lightly salted water to the boil. Add in the potatoes and parboil for around 5 minutes. Whilst cooking, preheat the oven to 180°c. When parboiled, drain the potatoes, place onto a baking tray, drizzle with a little oil and season with rock salt before placing them into the preheated oven. Depending on the thickness of the chips, cooking time will vary. If you are producing similarly sized chips, I would recommend a cooking time of roughly 40-50 minutes, turning the chips occasionally in order to ensure a good, evenly browned chip.

Whilst the chips are cooking you can prepare the mushrooms by cutting into quarters, placing in a small frying pan and adding a little oil and cracked black pepper. Also, prepare the Halloumi cheese by cutting into small cubes and placing into a foiled grill pan. Both the mushrooms and Halloumi will not need to be cooked until the chips are nearly completed. So now you can get on with the preparation of the gravy.

There's no need to finely chop anything for this recipe as you can blend the final mixture for a rich, creamy gravy.

Roughly chop the onions and garlic and fry in a little oil at a medium heat for around 5 minutes until they begin to soften, now gradually sprinkle over the plain flour allowing the onions to brown (you may need to add a little extra oil here if the mixture becomes too dry and begins to burn). It is important to make sure you keep stirring this mixture as the flour can make the onions become very sticky and in turn they will stick to the base of the pan if left for too long.

Now reduce to a low heat and add in the veg stock, Marmite, soy, worcestershire sauce and allow to simmer gently for 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. At this point the gravy can be turned to a very low heat to keep it warm until everything else is cooked.

Next, cook the Halloumi under a high grill heat for around ten minutes, turning regularly in order to cook thoroughly until browned (see above picture). Whilst the Halloumi cooks under the grill, cook the mushrooms in a frying pan over a medium to high heat until cooked. 

Once cooked, place the chips into a bowl covering generously with the mushrooms and Halloumi before transferring the gravy mixture to the blender and blending until smooth. Cover the chips, Halloumi and mushrooms with the gravy and add any extra salt and pepper to taste.

The gravy can always be thinned down with water and seasoned to taste with salt and pepper after completion if you feel that the final outcome is too thick. The gravy can also be refrigerated for a day few days and reheated in a pan or the microwave.

O  Canada.

JAB

Stuffed Courgettes and Honey Mustard Roast Potatoes

Courgettes stuffed with mushrooms, pepper, cheddar cheese and breadcrumbs served with delicious potatoes roasted in a wholegrain honey mustard dressing. Serves 2. Simply leave out the cheese for a vegan friendly version of the courgettes.

Ingredients-

For the stuffed Courgettes-

2x Large Courgettes

1x Tomato, diced

1x Red Pepper, diced

150g Mushrooms, finely chopped

1x Onion, grated

3x Cloves of Garlic, grated

Breadcrumbs (one slice of bread lightly toasted and crumbled)

250g Cheddar Cheese, grated

For the Potatoes -

300g New Potatoes (with skins left on), washed and halved

3x tbsp Olive Oil

2x tbsp Lemon Juice

2x tsp Honey

2x tsp Wholegrain Mustard

Method - To make the dressing for the potatoes, simply mix together the oil, lemon juice, honey and mustard in a small bowl.

Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the potatoes, preheat the oven to 180°c. Parboil the potatoes for 15 minutes. Once the potatoes have cooked, remove them from the heat, drain and place them on a baking tray. Spoon over the dressing and place in the oven, cooking for around 25 minutes. Whilst cooking, it is a good idea to turn the potatoes every 5 minutes or so and spoon any excess dressing back over the top of potatoes to give them a nice, even coating. 

Whilst the potatoes are cooking add boiling water to a large pan, add the courgettes and simmer for around 7 minutes, until the courgettes begin to soften. Once cooked, remove the courgettes from the water and empty the pan.

Halve the courgettes and scoop out the soft inside with a spoon and mash with a fork. Set the courgette skins to one side on a grill pan. Heat some oil in a frying pan and add the onion, garlic and any herbs you want and heat for around 5 minutes. Next add the mushrooms, tomato, pepper, half of the breadcrumbs and half of the cheese and mix well, cooking for a further 5 minutes. This mixture makes up the stuffing for the courgettes.

Spoon generous amounts of the mix into the courgette skins, topping with the remainder of the cheese and breadcrumbs. Cook in the oven at 180°c for 15 minutes, until the cheese starts to bubble and the breadcrumbs become crisp.

JAB

Quesadillas and Homemade Guacamole

First up on Rocket Bean is an awesomely tasty recipe for quesadillas and homemade guacamole that serves 4 people. This also makes a great snack that can be eaten cold.

I'm currently looking at ways to make this recipe vegan friendly without the use of vegan cheese (not a huge fan of it) so watch this space. As with any recipe using fresh chilies, increase/decrease the quantities to your own personal taste and leave in the chilli seeds if you want it really spicy. Also, fresh coriander makes a huge difference to the taste of the guacamole and so it's worthwhile seeking out.

Guacamole
Ingredients-
2x Avocados
10-12 vine ripened cherry tomatoes, chopped
½ bunch of coriander, finely chopped (or 2tsp of dried coriander leaf)
3x cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1-3 chillies, finely chopped
1x lime, juice only
Salt and pepper, to taste 
Note: you can also add spinach to make the mixture go further.

Method - Very quick and easy to make. Halve and stone the avocados and spoon out the flesh into a blender (or a container suitable for use with a hand blender), add in the rest of the ingredients, squeezing the lime juice over the top of the contents. Now blend and the guacamole is ready to serve. Salt and pepper can be added after blending to taste. 

You can also simply mash all the ingredients together using a fork if you prefer a more chunky dip.

Finely chop the garlic and chillies before adding to the blender.

Chilli Mushroom and Bean Quesadillas
Ingredients-
8x flour tortillas
1x onion, grated
2x garlic cloves, grated

chilli powder

olive oil for frying
1x can of kidney beans, drained and mashed
1x can of butter beans, drained and mashed
1x chilli, finely chopped
1x red pepper, sliced into strips
200g strong cheddar, grated
250g mushrooms, sliced
tin foil

Method - Add the olive oil to the pan and heat to a medium temperature.

Next, add the grated onion, garlic and chilli powder to the pan with a little salt and fry gently for 10 mins, allowing to brown over the heat. Add the chopped chilli and mushrooms and continue to cook for around 5 mins until the mushrooms soften.

Preheat the oven to 180°c.

Drain the beans and mash together in a pan. 

Canned beans will generally not need to be cooked for this recipe and will be soft enough to mash straight from the can. Dried beans can be used instead but will need to be soaked overnight before being cooked and mashed. 

Once cooked place a tortilla onto a sheet of tin foil and then layer on the mashed beans, chilli mushroom mix, peppers and grated cheese spreading evenly across the tortilla and top with a second tortilla. Now place another sheet of foil on top of that tortilla repeating the layers until you have used all tortillas and filling (making a stack of 4 quesadillas).

Place the stack in the preheated oven for 15-20mins until the cheese has melted and the tortillas have started to go crisp around the edges. Remove from the oven and cut into quarters, serve with guacamole and side salad.

Enjoy, and feel free to leave feedback or let me know your thoughts should you try any recipes out!

JAB