Lorraine Pascale's Pizza

I really enjoyed Lorraine Pascale's latest series.  She makes delicious looking recipes but at the same time makes them look achievable!  I always either buy pizza, or buy pizza dough mix but I thought I'd give making pizza dough from scratch a whirl.  The recipe can be found in her book Lorraine Pascale's Fast, Fresh and Easy Food and she suggests some lovely toppings none of which I can remember right now! (I haven't got the book yet, hopefully the birthday fairy will be delivering it on Thursday!!!).

The basic recipe is

• 300g strong white bread flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 7g fast action yeast
• hole in middle
• 175ml water
• 3tbsp olive oil

Mix to form ball, knead 8-10 mins by hand, divide into 3 pieces.

I then rolled the dough out thinly on a floured work surface and topped with passata, peppers, ham and mozzarella. Pop on a non-stick tray in the oven for 10 minutes at 240C.  Verdict- kids and myself loved it, the base was much lighter than a bought pizza, I'll be experimenting with more adventurous toppings next time!

Lorraine Pascale's Pizza

I really enjoyed Lorraine Pascale's latest series.  She makes delicious looking recipes but at the same time makes them look achievable!  I always either buy pizza, or buy pizza dough mix but I thought I'd give making pizza dough from scratch a whirl.  The recipe can be found in her book Lorraine Pascale's Fast, Fresh and Easy Food and she suggests some lovely toppings none of which I can remember right now! (I haven't got the book yet, hopefully the birthday fairy will be delivering it on Thursday!!!).

The basic recipe is

• 300g strong white bread flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 7g fast action yeast
• hole in middle
• 175ml water
• 3tbsp olive oil

Mix to form ball, knead 8-10 mins by hand, divide into 3 pieces.

I then rolled the dough out thinly on a floured work surface and topped with passata, peppers, ham and mozzarella. Pop on a non-stick tray in the oven for 10 minutes at 240C.  Verdict- kids and myself loved it, the base was much lighter than a bought pizza, I'll be experimenting with more adventurous toppings next time!

Griddled Halloumi with Roasted Vegetable Couscous

We're trying to cook at least one vegetarian meal a week at the moment and I remembered enjoying halloumi when my Mum cooked for us years ago so I thought I'd try it.  This is adapted from a recipe in my Good Food magazine.

• 1 courgette, roughly chopped
• 1 red pepper, roughly chopped
• 1 red onion, roughly chopped
• Garlic infused olive oil
• 200g couscous
• Hot vegetable stock
• 250g halloumi
• Pesto
• Flat leafed parsely
• Seasoning

Preheat the oven to 200C. Put the vegetables into an ovenproof dish, drizzle with garlic oil and stir so they all get covered in oil.  Put them in the oven, uncovered for about 30 mins until they begin to brown.

Meanwhile, slice the halloumi finely and brush one side of each slice with garlic oil.  Set aside.  Put the couscous in a bowl and cover with the hot stock so the stock is 2cm above the couscous. Put a plate over the bowl and leave until the couscous soaks up the stock- about 10 minutes.

Then take the roasted vegetables out of the oven and stir in the couscous, using a fork to fluff it up first.  Stir in some chopped flat leaf parsley and season.

Heat a griddle pan and place each piece of halloumi oiled side down in the pan.  Brush the top with more garlic oil and fry gently for 2 minutes the turn over and fry for another 2 minutes.

Serve the halloumi on top of the couscous and drizzle with some pesto with some garlic oil stirred through to loosen it.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are the most delicious, melt-in-the-mouth cookies I have ever tasted.  I actually ate 4 in one day!  The recipe is one I adapted years ago from www.aspoonfulofsugar.net

Makes 12 large cookies

• 150g plain flour
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 85g unsalted butter
• 105g light brown sugar
• 60g granulated white sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 110g milk chocolate chips

Put flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a bowl and stir together.

Melt butter in pan and allow to cool slightly.  Add both sugars, vanilla and egg.  Beat well.

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Stir in dry ingredients then fold in chocolate chips.  Do this quickly as they do start to melt!  Cover with cling film and chill dough for at least 30 minutes until firm.

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Preheat oven to 190C.  Drop golf ball sized mounds of dough onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. 

Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes.  They look at feel a little underdone but they're ready.

Allow to cool for a minute or so and then move on to a cooling rack.  Then try to not eat them all at once!!!

Chicken Jambalaya

My sister-in-law recommended this recipe to me the other day. It's adapted from a recipe in Ainsley Harriot's book 'Ainsley's Friends and Family Cookbook'. I thought our children would find it too spicy but it wasn't spicy at all just really flavoursome.

• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 100g chorizo sausage, thickly sliced
• 486g skinless boned chicken thighs (approx 5 thighs), thickly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 red pepper, seeded and cut into chunky strips
• 2 celery sticks, sliced
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 225g long-grain rice
• leaves from 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 400ml passata
• 300ml chicken stock
• salt and cayenne pepper

Heat the oil in a large, deep casserole dish. Fry the chicken slices until browned. Lift out and set aside.

Fry the chorizo until golden. Lift out and set aside. Add the garlic, onion, red pepper and celery then fry for 5 minutes until they are all lightly browned.

Add the chilli powder and paprika then cook for 1 minute.

Stir in the browned chicken, chorizo, rice, thyme, bay leaves, passata, chicken stock, 1 teaspoon salt and a pinch of cayenne pepper.

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Bring to the boil, cover and simmer gently for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Salmon Super Salad

I've had something similar to this recently in a restaurant and really enjoyed it.  It's nice and light but has loads of vegetables in it.  TMy secret cheat ingredient is the balsamic glaze which I buy from Tesco's Ingredients range.  It's thicker and sweeter than balasamic vinegar and I like drizzling it over the salad before serving.

• Salmon fillets
• Lemon juice
• Oil
• Seasoning
• Spinach, washed
• French beans, topped and tailed
• Brocolli, cut into florets
• Carrot, cut into thin strips

Preheat oven to 200C.  Oil an ovenproof dish and place the salmon fillets in skin side down.  Add  a splash of lemon juice and season.  Pop in oven uncovered for 20 minutes.

Prepare the salad in individual dishes.  Start with the spinach leaves, then top with the other vegetables around the outside.

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Take the salmon out of the oven and gently remove the skin with a fork.

Place one salmon fillet on each salad dish and drizzle with the balsamic glaze.

Variations- Try with chargrilled chicken breast, pomegrante seeds, butternut squash, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, anything you like!  Both children enjoyed this but without the glaze :)

Rosemary and Rock Salt Roast Potatoes

These potatoes are great as an alternative to roast potatoes and they're dead easy.

Par boil your new potatoes for 15 minutes.

Toss them in oilve oil in an ovenproof dish.

Add fresh rosemary sprigs and a good sprinkle of rock salt and toss again.

Put in a oven at 200C for 30 minutes or until golden brown, turning halfway through.