Sun-dried tomato stuffed pepper

A delicious meat-free dish, perfect as a starter or for a healthier mid-week dinner

Serves 1 as a main, or 2 as a starter
- 1 large red pepper
- 60g cous cous
- 2 tsp red pesto (I used a Napolina tomato & garlic one)
- salt & pepper
- dried mixed herbs
- sun dried tomatoes, chopped
- soft goats cheese, crumbled
- 1/2 slice of bread, crumbled
- parsley to garnish

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Cut the red pepper in half and de-pip it. In a baking tray, brush the pepper inside and out with oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes (or olive oil). Place in the oven for 10 minutes to soften.
3. Prepare the cous cous according to packet instructions (add boiling water to a bowl of dried cous cous and cover for 5 minutes until soft to the bite and fluffy).
4. Stir the pesto into the cooked cous cous, season with salt & pepper and dried herbs, and stir in as many sun dried tomatoes and as much goats cheese as you wish.

5. Remove the peppers from the oven (they should be softer and have a bit of colour), and stuff each half with the cous cous mixture.

6. Sprinkle with the chunky breadcrumbs then bake in the oven for another 15-20 minutes, or when the pepper is cooked and the breadcrumbs crisp. Garnish with parsley and serve!

Enjoy :)

Barbecue treats

I may have missed the mark since the rain is coming in, but as you all know, the weather has been gorgeous in England for the past month. I have had a few barbecues, and although I don't have many photos, I thought I would share a quick chicken kebab recipe and some gorgeous melt in the middle beef burgers (both pictured above) - as well as some ideas for fun BBQ food :)

Chicken kebabs

Simply chop up your desired amount of red onion and any coloured pepper, and thread on a kebab stick with some diced chicken. Just drizzle with olive oil and you're good to barbecue! So simple but very delicious. If you prefer more flavour than marinade the chicken before hand.

Melt-in-the-middle goats cheese burgers

So yummy - you can replace the goats cheese with any cheese like cheddar or stilton or brie.

Makes 2:
- 250g beef mince
- 1 small red onion, finely chopped
- handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
- salt & pepper
- 1/2 beaten egg
- two thick slices of soft goats cheese

1. Mix together the mince, onion, parsley and seasoning in a mixing bowl.
2. Add in the beaten egg and mix until combined. If too wet, then add a bit of flour.
3. Shape into 4 small patties, and place the goats cheese on two of them.
4. Place the other two patties on top of the goats cheese, and shape around with your fingers to seal, until the perfect burger shape, and the cheese is covered.
5. Time to barbecue!

On my birthday this year, we had a lovely barbecue in the evening with so much food - standard burgers and sausages, along with corn on the cob (boil it first!), sweet chilli chicken, lamb marinated in mint, pineapple on the bbq, and lots of potato salad.

Hope this gives you some BBQ inspiration!

Enjoy :)

Perfect pizza

I love making pizza, I've made it from scratch so many times since I got this amazing Italian pizza magazine last summer (picture of magazine at bottom of post). It's actually quite simple to make pizza dough, healthier, and tastes so much more authentic! It is so versatile as well, you can choose the thickness of the dough depending on how you like your base, use half wholemeal flour to increase the nutrition, or even make your own stuffed crust (which I can't wait to try). You can buy a passata to spread on the base, or make your own. I usually buy a plain tomato passata, season and add fresh herbs. The best part is you can top your pizza with whatever you want (although mozzarella is a must have for the base).

The toppings I used in the photos are:
- Goats cheese and red onion
- Tomato, mushroom and pepper
- BBQ chicken and extra cheese
- Italian ham, mushroom and pineapple

(They all have passata topped with ready-grated or freshly sliced mozzarella, and a sprinkling of cheddar or parmesan)

Other toppings I have used on home-made pizza are:
- Proscuitto, mushroom and parsley (my favourite!)
- Chicken, rosemary and pepper
- Red onion and sausage/meatball

Next time I really want to try making a fiorentina (spinach, parmesan and egg) and a gorgonzola cheese and caramelised onion pizza

Makes 2 large, or 4 small pizzas
Ingredients for pizza base:
- 400g plain white strong flour
- 1 1/2 tbsp dried yeast or 1 sachet of easy bake yeast
- 25 ml hot water and 25ml milk, mixed together
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for brushing over base
- 1/2 tsp salt
- tepid water, to add to the dough
- extra flour for dusting surface


1. Pile the flour in a large bowl and make a centre in the middle.
2. Mix the yeast with the water and milk (and/or follow packet instructions as this varies depending on what type of yeast you are using)
3. Wait for the yeast to react and become foamy, then pour into the flour with half the olive oil and the salt, and knead for 10-15 minutes on a work-surface dusted with flour. The dough should be smooth, elastic and stretchy - add more liquid if needed - the dough must not feel tacky or sticky at the end of the kneading process.
4. Grease a large bowl with the remaining olive oil and place the ball of dough inside. Cover with cling film or a tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for an 1 hour 30 minutes, or until doubled inside.
5. Next, gently knead the dough and split into 2, or 4, and roll out on a floured work-surface. Place on a baking sheet and brush lightly with oil. Cover with passata, fresh herbs and mozzarella and any other ingredients you desire.
6. Bake in the oven at 200 or 220 degrees/gas mark 6 or 7 for 10-15 minutes, or until the base is cooked through, crisp and golden.

Enjoy :)

Goats cheese and caramelised onion tart (Valentine's Day starter)

Goats cheese and caramelised onion tart

(As seen on Masterchef Celebrity 2010 - Lisa Faulkner won with this as part of her 3 course meal)

Recipe I used is from here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/goats_cheese_and_onion_51943

I previously used ready made puff pastry to make this starter, but making shortcrust pastry makes this more rewarding and rich in taste and texture :) I would definitely recommend this for any special occasion!

Pastry preparation and cooking - make sure you have some baking beans or something similar as this pastry is cooked blind before the filling goes in!

I love making the caramelised onion filling (onion, sugar, butter, balsamic), it smells divine when it's cooking, and tastes even better! I made the goats cheese filling (goats cheese, egg yolk, cream) with spreadable goats cheese instead of crumbly, although I think crumbly would have worked better for texture...

I garnished with spinach leaves, a dash of balsamic, and dried thyme!

Cheat's Italian calzone

I came across a 'cheat's calzone' in a student recipe book a while back; instead of pizza dough it is a wrap folded in half with filling inside. This makes it more suitable for a lighter lunch, as a proper calzone would be too filling. I changed around the ingredients to make a delicious italian one.

The ingredients:
- Mission deli wrap - Mediterranean herb (one)
- Sundried tomato antipasti (few pieces)
- Green pesto (teaspoon)
- Half-fat mozzarella (few slices)
- Fresh spinach leaves (few leaves)
- Extra virgin olive oil (drizzle for pan)

All of these ingredients can be found in Tesco, but I did get the pesto from Sainsburys, and the spinach from my local fruit & veg market!

Put the ingredients on one half of the wrap  ----->

Then fold the other half of the wrap over the filling, and heat a little olive oil in a frying pan. Gently fry each side of the wrap until crisp and golden brown!






  <---- It should look like this ---->





Try adding meat like salami or chicken, or change the ingredients completely! Another favourite of mine is tuna and mozzarella, or goats cheese and red onion.

Hope you enjoy :)                                                         
(all of these pictures were taken by me)