Vegetarian Lasagne

I'm not fond of vegetable lasagne, so this one is made with a vegetarian mince. 

Ingredients

1 onion, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 pack of frozen vegetarian mince (vary quantity depending on how many you're serving and how big your dish is - if you make too much the leftover cooked mince can be used to make a wee shepherd's pie!)

Dark soy sauce

1 carrot, finely chopped

1 tablespoon of tomato puree

1 vegetable stock cube

3 tablespoons of olive oil

Lasagne sheets

1 jar of white lasagne sauce (you could make it, but I like ready made!)

Handful of grated cheddar

A little olive oil for drizzling

Heat the three tablespoons of olive oil in a deep frying pan or heavy bottomed pan over a fairly high temperature. Add the chopped carrot and onion and cook until soft. When softened add the garlic.

Add the mince (frozen is ok) and a little more olive oil. Add the tomato puree and mix in the pan. Shake in a generous splash of soy sauce.

Put the stock cube in a jug and add about half a pint of boiling water. Add to the pan a little at a time. You don't want the mince swimming, but enough for it to soak up while its cooking. Turn down to a simmer and allow the mince to absorb the liquid.

When all the liquid has been absorbed and the mince looks cooked it is ready for the baking dish. Using up about half the mince, spoon a neat layer into the base of a fairly big baking dish and lightly press down. Cover with a layer of lasagne sheets and add a little under half a jar of the white sauce, spreading neatly to cover the lasagne sheets.

Add the rest of the mince and repeat the lasagne sheet stage. Empty the rest of the white sauce over the top, ensuring it is evenly over the lasagne sheets and make sure that they cannot be seen. Sprinkle over the grated cheese and drizzle with a little olive oil.

Pre-heat an oven to 180C and place the lasagne in for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on your oven's efficiency. When cooked the cheese should be just browning and bubbling. To check the middle pop a knife through the centre and make sure the lasagne sheets are soft and easy to cut.

Serve as soon as possible.

Grasshopper Pie - (Chocolate and Lime Tart!)

Incredibly naughty and indulgent - perfect treat for the hardworking cook!

Ingredients

For the chocolate pastry:

3oz plain flour

1oz cocoa powder

1oz caster sugar

2oz butter

1 egg yolk

For the filling:

2 egg yolks

Juice and finely grated rind of 4 limes

410g tin of sweetened condensed milk

4 kiwi fruit, peeled and thinly sliced

300ml double cream, lightly whipped

dark chocolate leaves or curls for decorations

Methods

To make the pastry: Mix together the flour, cocoa and sugar. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add one egg yolk. Mix until the mixture forms a ball. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Roll out the pastry thinly and line a deep eight inch flan ring. Bake blind - lined with parchment paper and dried beans - in a preheated oven at 180C for 10 minutes.

To make the filling: Mix together the egg yolks, lime juice, zest and condensed milk. Pour into the pastry shell and bake for 20 minutes- the filling will not look completely set. Cool and chill in the fridge for at least two hours. Gently remove the flan ring and lift the pie onto a serving dish. Decorate the lime curd with whipped cream and sliced kiwi, topped with chocolate, just before serving.

Marzipan

I have friends who don't like marzipan that will eat this! Perhaps because the natural taste of almonds is more mellow than the intense flavour of almond essence. Naturally, if you do want the strong marzipan taste, then a few drops of essence will go along way :-)

Ingredients

4oz ground almonds

3oz icing sugar

3oz sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp lemon juice

Method

Mix together the sifted icing sugar, ground almonds, sugar and lemon.

Add enough beaten egg to make a stiff paste. Add almond essence if you require a stronger taste. If you are using it to make sweets its also fun to add a few drops of colour.

Medieval Sweet Onion Tart

Ingredients

Pastry for a 12 inch quiche tin

8oz onions or shallots, finely sliced

2oz butter

1/2 pint double cream

pinch of saffron

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

pinch each of ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon

2 tsp sugar

Method

Roll out pastry and line a twelve inch quiche tin. Bake blind at 190 C for 15 minutes. Leave to cool. 

Fry the onions/shallots in the butter until caramelized. In a separate pan, bring the double cream to the boil, take off the heat and add the saffron. Leave to infuse for five minutes.

In a clean bowl whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, spices and sugar. Add the onions/shallots, then the cream and stir together. 

Pour into the cooled pastry case and bake at 190 C for 30 minutes or so until set.

The Only Soup Recipe You'll Ever Need!

Well, that title may not appeal to everyone, but for me it is true. This is the ONLY soup recipe I ever use! Using basic quantities, you can make a creamy soup, using whatever vegetables you have to hand. It doesn't matter what you put in, so long as the overall weight to fluid ratio is about right. It doesn't really matter if you use slightly more or less vegetables to fluid, as it just means your overall soup will be thicker or thinner, which is largely down to personal taste anyway. It freezes well, so you can make up a cauldron full and have some on hand for lazy days.

Ingredients

16oz diced vegetables (It doesn't matter how much of each, or what selection use use) I use potato, sweet potato, leek, onion, cauliflower, parsnip and brocolli. Generally speaking, the more parsnip use put in the sweeter it will be; the more potato and cauliflower the creamier it will be. I like to have a good variety if I have it. This is especially useful for using up all those veg that are starting to get a bit rubbery in the bottom of the fridge :-)

2 vegetable stock cubes dissolved in 2 pints of boiling water (I use Tesco Value ones, 10p for 10 cubes!)

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried sage

Olive Oil

Make sure you weigh the diced vegetables, not the natural weight and remember that the smaller you dice, the quicker your vegetables will cook.

Put the vegetables into a large saucepan and add enough olive oil to  lightly coat the vegetables (usually a couple of tablespoons). Turn up the heat and sear the vegetables without burning. Once all the vegetables are coated and have had a go at the bottom of the pan, add the boiling stock water. Add the herbs. Give the pan a stir and bring to the boil, then simmer with the lid on until the vegetables are cooked through.

Pour the vegetables and the cooking liquid into a blender and blitz until smooth. Return to the pan and reheat if necessary. This can be cooked in advance and left in the pan for re-heating later.

Serve with bread.

If you make too much then leave it to cool and freeze.