Tomato, mushroom and aubergine pasta

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
250g mushrooms, sliced
1/2 an aubergine, quartered and sliced
500g tomatoes, quartered
Oregano, basil and black pepper
1/2 glass red wine

Heat the oil in a large saucepan on a medium heat.

Add the onion and garlic and saute until softened.

Add the mushrooms and stir in; saute until beginning to soften, then add the aubergine and tomatoes and stir well.

Add the herbs and pepper and the wine and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Serve with penne or other short pasta.

Paprika Chicken 'Lite'

Based loosely on a Hairy Dieters' recipe to use up some leftovers.

1/2 tbsp olive oil
250g chicken breast
1/2 medium onion
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp paprika
1/2 red pepper
200g chopped tomatoes (1/2 regular tin)
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp stock
1 tbsp tomato puree
2/3 cup rice

Heat the oil in a saute pan.

Fry the onion and chicken on a medium heat for about 2-3 minutes until the chicken begins to brown and the onion is softening.

Add the oregano and paprika; stir well and fry for another 2 minutes.

Add the red pepper and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add the tomato, stir in and cook for another 2 minutes.

Combine the water with the stock and puree.

Add the rice, stir in and then add the stock mix; lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the rice is cooked through.

Chicken Liver and Beetroot Casserole

I cooked this about a week or so ago, and it is brought to mind because I reheated it last night and, mistaking it for a veggie option, added a sausage (as Tuesday is a meat day). That was interesting.

I'm very fond of chicken livers, and they tend to be cheaper than chicken. Alas, Hannah is not a fan, save in pate.

1 tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 beetroot, chopped
300g chicken livers, chopped
250g mushrooms, chopped
400g tin chopped tomatoes
500ml chicken stock
Oregano

Heat the oil in a large saucepan.

Saute the onion, garlic and beetroot until they begin to soften.

Add the livers and mushrooms and saute until the livers are browned.

Add the tomato and stock, and then simmer (uncovered) until the beetroot softens and the livers are cooked through. Add oregano to taste.

Serve with rice or pasta, which can be added to the pan to cook.

Living Better on Less

I have a dripping hot tap - well, dribbling, and worse each time it's used - so I'm trying to do as little washing up as possible (washing up = kettles of boiling water + cold tap). I was also trying to use up some leftover beetroot before it went off, and that plus one-pan-cooking-YAY made me decide on a variation of Jack Monroe's beetroot, lentil and feta salad.

My version skips out the leaves, which would be grand in summer, in favour of some carrot, and beefs the whole thing up a little with some stock.

1 tbsp olive oil
2 medium carrots, cubed
3 beetroots, cubed
2 small onions, chopped small
100g red lentils
300ml chicken stock

Heat the oil in a saucepan.

Add the carrots and beetroot. Saute for about 10 minutes.

Add the onions to the pan. Saute until the onion begins to soften.

Rinse the lentils and add to the pan, stirring well.

Add the stock to the pan and simmer until the stock is absorbed into the lentils.

You can crumble some feta cheese over the top, which is really nice; I just forgot that today.

This made easily enough for two, so there's a tub of leftovers in the freezer.

Sunday's Salad

This is the salad I was making on Sunday when the baby fell off the bed. The salad was still good when we came back from A&E.

Carrot and Beetroot Salad
1 orange
2 carrots
1 beetroot
1 cup sultanas
Chopped, fresh coriander leaf

Juice of 1 orange
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Ground black pepper

Zest, peel and slice the orange into eights, collecting the zest and any juice in a bowl. Halve the slices and set aside.

Add to the collected juice and zest the juice of the second orange. Add the oil, vinegar and pepper and stir vigorously with a fork to create a citrus dressing.

Place the sultanas and chopped coriander in the citrus dressing and stir.

Peel and grate the carrots and beetroot and mix together.

Add the sultanas and the dressing and mix together.

Friday Fish Pie

Ingredients
1tbsp oil
500g of fish
Dry white wine
1 tsp dill
100g peas or petit pois

25g butter
1 tbsp plain GF flour
1/2 pint semi-skimmed milk
75g cheese
1 tsp dill
Freshly ground black pepper

2 medium potatoes
1 medium sweet potato
Butter and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In terms of fish, I tend to get what's on offer; usually some form of white fish, or a fresh and smoked fish mix. I avoid shellfish as it has a strong flavour I dislike (YMMV) and prawns. For cheese, I use a mature cheddar, but anything that makes a good sauce will do.

Heat the oven to 200 degrees.

Peel and cut the potato and sweet potato (hereafter refered to as 'the potatoes') into large chunks.

Heat a pan of water to the boil and add the potatoes, bringing back to a lively simmer for 20-30 minutes, until tender (the chunks should break apart when pricked with a knife).

While the potatoes are cooking, heat the oil in a small frying pan; add the fish, sprinkle with dill and then almost cover with white wine. Bring to a slow simmer and saute the fish for about 5 minutes, depending on thickness (smoked fish needs substantially less time, of course), turning once.

Drain the potatoes and return to the pan. Add butter and pepper to taste and mash to a smooth consistency. stir to mix the regular and sweet potatoes together.

Drain and retain the wine stock from the fish. Flake the fish into the bottom of a lightly greased ceramic dish and add the peas.

Add the milk to the wine and mix gently.

Melt the butter and stir in the flour. Add the milk and wine mixture and stir until the sauce thickens. Add the dill, pepper and cheese and stir until the cheese is melted.

Pour most of the sauce over the fish and mix in. Top with the mashed potato by shaping slabs of potato and placing them on top of the filling, as attempting to 'spread' the potato will just shift the filling around.

Top with the remainder of the sauce or some grated cheese.

Bake for about half an hour, until the sauce on top is crispy and the uncovered potato golden.

Creamy mushroom pasta

This is a really good, simple recipe. It's also very flexible, if you fancy something more substantial.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
600g mushrooms, sliced
4-5 tbsp creme fraiche
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
Black pepper

Optionally
3 rashers bacon, chopped and fried with the onion and garlic
150g chicken thighs, replacing 300g of mushrooms

Heat the oil in a saute pan on a medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic, lower to medium heat and fry until soft.

Add half the mushrooms and stir. After about a minute, add the other half. I usually use half plain white mushrooms and half portobello or chestnut.

Add the herbs and spices, cover the pan and allow the mushrooms to saute in their own juices, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the creme fraiche and simmer while stirring.

Serve with tube or thick ribbon pasta.