Tomato and Pepper Rigatoni

September 20, 2016September 14, 2017 / thuddirect / Leave a comment

This comforting bowl roasted of roasted tomatoes, romero pepper, melted mozzarella and pasta can’t be beat on a cool Autumn night.

Serves 2

Ingredients: 10 cherry tomatoes, 1 romero pepper, 1 spring onion, 2-3 shallots, a few sprigs of oregano and thyme, a garlic clove.

Larder: 200g rigatoni or similar pasta, 1 ball of mozzarella, olive oil and salt and pepper.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
Weigh out the pasta and bring a pot of water to the boil.
Halve the tomatoes and chop the pepper into 1 cm squares, chop the shallots, spring onion and garlic clove: place all in a baking tray.
Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil, add salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes.
Cook the pasta according to packet instructions. When ready, drain.
When tomatoes and peppers are juicy and soft, remove from the oven.
Tear or chop the mozzarella into chunks. Strip the oregano and thyme from their stems.
Add the pasta, herbs and mozzarella to the roasted tomatoes and peppers, mix well and put back in the oven.
Bake for 5-10 mins until mozzarella is bubbling and starting to turn golden. Serve immediately.

Oregano Pesto Pasta with Roast Veg

September 13, 2016August 30, 2017 / thuddirect / 2 Comments

Serves 2

Ingredients: 10g Oregano, 12g basil, 7-10 cherry tomatoes, 1 and a half beetroot, 2 heritage carrots, 2-3 shallots, a garlic clove.

Larder: 200g pasta, 30g Parmesan, 5 tbsp oil, 50g cashews or pine nuts (optional extra: sausages roasted with the veggies).

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
Peel and chop the beetroot, carrots and shallots into small chunks and crush the garlic. Place them all in a roasting tin along with the tomatoes whole. Drizzle with 1-2 tbsp oil, season and roast for 20 mins. If using sausages, place in the oven with the veggies. They will increase the cooking time slightly.
Start cooking the pasta according to instructions.
Remove basil and oregano from their stems. In a processor or pestle and mortar, whizz together the oregano and basil leaves, 20g parmesan, cashews and 4-5 tbsp oil to make the pesto.
Add more oil if you like a runnier consistency.
When pasta is ready: drain and mix in the pesto. Remove the veggies from the oven and place on top of the pasta.
Grate over remaining parmesan and serve garnished with any remaining herbs.

Butternut Squash Risotto With Crispy Sage

September 13, 2016August 30, 2017 / thuddirect / 1 Comment

Serves 2

Ingredients: 3-4 shallots, 2 garlic cloves, 1-2 sticks of celery , 200g butternut squash, 4-5 stems of sage, handful of rocket.

Larder: 2 knobs of butter (roughly 15g each), 170g Arborio rice, 600-700ml stock, 30g Parmesan.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Peel and chop the butternut squash into 1cm chunks, place in a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, season and roast for 25 minutes while you make the risotto.
Finely slice the shallots, a garlic clove and the celery and sauté for 5 minutes in a knob of butter. Add the rice and cook for 1 minute until rice looks slightly translucent.
Prepare the stock; gradually add to the rice a ladle at a time. Allow stock to absorb before adding the each ladle.
Add ladle by ladle until the risotto is creamy, soft and al denté. This should take about 20-25 minutes.
When risotto is ready and squash cooked, add the grated Parmesan and squash to the risotto. Allow to stand for about 5 minutes with the lid on.
Meanwhile, in a separate frying pan, heat another knob of butter until gently bubbling. Fry the sage leaves (removed from stem) until crisp, about 1-2 minutes. You will be left with a lovely browned sage butter, which if you like, you can pour over the risotto!
Serve the risotto with crispy sage crumbled in and rocket as a side.

Udon Noodle Soup

September 6, 2016August 31, 2016 / thuddirect / Leave a comment

Ingredients: 1 spring onion, 1 garlic clove, 2cm ginger, 1 red chilli, 60g button mushrooms, 1 carrot, 60g kale, 100g daikon, a small bunch of coriander.

Larder: 2 pints of stock, udon noodles, 1-3 tbsp soy sauce, vegetable oil.

Instructions:

Thinly slice the garlic, ½ the chilli (use according to taste), ginger, spring onion, mushrooms and coriander stems.
In a medium to large saucepan, heat a glug of oil and add the garlic, chilli, ginger, coriander stems and mushrooms. Fry gently for 2 minutes or so.
Meanwhile, slice the carrot and daikon into matchsticks and finely slice the kale so that it is shredded into very thin strips.
Prepare the stock, add 1 tbsp soy sauce, add to the saucepan and bring to the boil and reduce to simmer.
Add the carrot, daikon and kale to the soup and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
Add the udon noodles to the stock and veggies and continue to cook for 3 minutes. Taste the stock and add more soy sauce if needed.
To serve use tongs to portion out the noodles and then ladle on the stock and veggies. Garnish with coriander leaves and spring onions.

Ratatouille with Hasselback Potatoes

September 6, 2016August 31, 2016 / thuddirect / Leave a comment

Ingredients: 200g Potatoes, 1 clove of garlic, 2 shallots, 1 red pepper, 1 courgette, 2 pattypan, 1 san marzano tomato, a few basil stems, a few sprigs of oregano.

Larder: 1 tin of tomatoes, 2 tsp honey, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper, (optional extra: grilled chicken or sausages and a dollop of yoghurt or grated cheese).

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. To make the hasselback potatoes: thinly slice half way through the potatoes at 3mm intervals, rub with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and place in the oven on a baking tray for about 25 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to hold the potatoes while you slice them.
If using meat, roast or grill in the oven.
Heat a glug of oil in a pan. Chop half the shallots and a clove of garlic, sauté for about 5 minutes until soft.
Chop the patty pan, pepper and slice the courgette. Add to the pan and sauté for 5 minutes.
Chop the tomato and add to the pan along with the tin of tomatoes, chopped oregano balsamic vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.
Stir and leave to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Chop the basil and add half to the ratatouille.
When potatoes are golden and crispy, serve with the ratatouille and meat if using. Garnish with any remaining herbs and a dollop of yoghurt or a sprinkling of grated cheese if desired.

Green Bean Curry with Damson Chutney

August 30, 2016August 30, 2017 / thuddirect / Leave a comment

Serves 2

Ingredients: 125g potatoes, 1 green chilli, 1 spring onion, 4-5 chantenay carrot, 1 clove garlic, a handful of green beans, small bunch of coriander, 12g turmeric, 10 damson plums, 2 shallots.

Larder: 200g rice, 1 tin of coconut milk, oil, 2-3tsp sugar, salt and pepper.

Instructions:

Start cooking the rice according to packet instructions.
Place the damson plums in a small pan with ¼ of the chopped spring onion and a garlic clove. Place all in a small pan; add 10ml water, 2 tsp sugar. Simmer gently for 5-10 minutes, until it has a runny jam consistency. Add more sugar if needed and set aside. You can scoop out the stones or just avoid them when eating.
Peel and mince 1 clove of garlic and the turmeric, and finely slice the rest of the spring onion. Deseed and thinly slice the chilli, chop the shallots. Halve the carrots lengthways and top and tail the green beans.
Heat a glug of oil in a pan. Fry the spring onion along with the garlic, turmeric, shallots and chilli for 2-3 minutes.
Quarter the potatoes and add to the pan, fry for 2 minutes and then add the coconut milk. Cook for 8-10 minutes and then add the carrots, and green beans. Cook until the carrots and beans are al denté. If the curry reduces too much, add a little bit of water.
Serve the curry with rice and a dollop of plum chutney, garnished with the chopped coriander.

Moroccan Couscous

August 30, 2016August 31, 2016 / thuddirect / 1 Comment

Ingredients: 6 Cherry tomatoes, 1 clove of garlic, 12g ginger, 1 courgette, 2 medjool dates, 1/2 a sweet potato, 2 shallots, 2-3 stems of mint, a small bunch of parsley.

Larder: 140g couscous, ½ stock cube, 1 tin of tomatoes, 1 tin of chickpeas, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp cinnamon.

Instructions:

Preheat heat the oven to 200 degrees C.
Chop the sweet potato in 1cm chunks, place on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and place in the oven to roast. Roughly chop the courgette, half the cherry tomatoes and add to the sweet potato 10 minutes in the oven. Roast for a further 15 mins.
While veggies are roasting, chop shallots, peel and grate or mince the ginger and a garlic clove and sauté gently in a glug of oil for 5 minutes until shallots are soft, and then add the cumin, cinnamon and a pinch of salt.
Add the tin of tomatoes and chickpeas. Simmer gently for about 15 minutes or until the veggies are ready, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, cook the couscous by adding 300ml of boiling water with half a stock cube crumbled in, stir, cover and leave to soak for 5 minutes.
Chop the dates (removing the stones), mint and parsley leaves. Stir into the couscous when it’s ready.
When the sweet potato is soft and other veggies soft and juicy, remove from oven and add to the chickpea pan.
Serve the veggies with the couscous and garnish with the remaining herbs.

Summer Stir Fry

August 23, 2016August 31, 2016 / thuddirect / Leave a comment

Ingredients: 1 Pak choi, 2 carrots, a handful of mange tout, 12g ginger, 1/4-1 Thai chilli, 1 clove of garlic, 2 shallots and a few stems of Thai basil.

Larder: 200g egg or rice noodles, 3 tsp oil (sesame or groundnut is ideal), 1-2 tbsp soy sauce (optional extras: 1 tsp fish sauce, prawns).

Instructions:

Prepare all the veggies: peel and mince ginger and garlic. Deseed and slice ½ the chilli (use less chilli for less spice, ½ a chilli will still give a good kick!). Chop the shallots, slice the carrots into thin batons, halve the mange tout, and slice the pak choi, separating the stalks from leaves.
Boil a kettle, transfer enough water to cook the noodles to a saucepan and bring to the boil.
In a wok, heat the oil and add shallots. Allow shallots to soften a little before adding the chilli, ginger & garlic, followed by the carrots and pak choi stalks. Add a splash of water to create steam, & if you have it, a tsp of fish sauce.
Add prawns and fry for 5 minutes, until pink and vegetables are becoming al denté, slightly soft but still with a good crunch.
While stir-fry is cooking, add the noodles to the boiling water and cook for approx. 3 minutes or according to packet instructions.
Add the mange tout and pak choi leaves and fry for a further 2 minutes. Stir in soy sauce.
Serve stir-fry with noodles and Thai basil leaves on top, and if desired, a few extra chilli slices.

Vegetable Rösti with Samphire

August 23, 2016August 31, 2016 / thuddirect / Leave a comment

Ingredients: 1 purple carrot, 150g potatoes, 1 courgette, 2 shallots, a large handful of samphire and a few sprigs of marjoram.

Larder: 4 eggs, 1-2 tbsp flour, 2 tbsp vegetable oil, salt and pepper.

Instructions:

Place potatoes in a saucepan of freshly boiled water, bring to the boil and boil potatoes for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, into a bowl, peel and grate the purple carrot, grate the courgette and finely dice 2 shallots. Mix well.
Drain the potatoes and run under cold water to cool enough to touch. Grate or roughly chop the potatoes and add to the bowl.
Strip marjoram leaves from the stems. Add chopped marjoram, salt, pepper, 2 eggs, and 1-2 tbsp flour to the bowl. Mix well.
Heat oil in a frying pan on medium heat. It’s hot enough when a small amount of rösti mix is dropped in the pan and sizzles. Using a quarter of the mixture for each rösti and a large spoon, dollop the mixture into the frying pan and spread out slightly to about 7-10cm in diameter. When they are golden on one side, carefully turn them over and cook until golden and crispy on the other side.
While röstis are cooking, boil a kettle of water. Immerse the samphire in a bowl of boiled water for 2 minutes. Drain and place on plates.
When the röstis are golden, remove from the pan and transfer to plates. You may wish to remove any excess oil with kitchen towel.
Poach 2 eggs and serve on top of röstis and samphire.

Warm Fig Salad

August 16, 2016September 11, 2017 / thuddirect / 1 Comment

Serves 2

Ingredients: 2 figs, 1 head of chicory, 1 purple carrot, 1 orange carrot, smal handful of walnuts (allergen), small handful of chopped coriander, small handful of chopped mint.

Larder: 150g Puy lentils, 2 tsp honey, 4 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, pinch of salt, (optional extra: 50g goats cheese, 2 slices of bacon chopped into bits).

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Start cooking the Puy lentils/rice or a mixture of the two according to packet instructions.
Quarter the figs, peel and chop the carrots into 1cm chunks and place both in a roasting dish. Drizzle with a glug of olive oil and 2 tsp honey. Place in the oven and roast while you prepare the rest of the salad for 15-20 minutes until softening and caramelising.
Make a dressing by whisking together 4 tbsp olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt. Cut the cheese into pieces, chop mint and coriander leaves and walnuts in small pieces.
Break the chicory leaves from their core and slice the larger leaves in half, length ways. If using, cook the bacon pieces.
On two plates make piles of salad starting with lentils, chicory, walnuts, coriander, mint and cheese, followed by the roasted carrots and figs and optional bacon. Pour over the dressing and serve.