I love a quick dinner after a long day when standing cooking holds little appeal. If you can be organised enough to cook extra potatoes for dinner the day or two before this makes this even quicker.
My sort of comfort food
Nothing says comfort food to me like spuds. Crispy fried potatoes, meaty pork sausages and hot sweet apples makes a really dreamy combination. On a chilly Autumn evening this makes a perfect dinner, it’s also really good with fried egg on top.
Serves 4
Ingredients
500 Grams Cooked potatoes cut into chunks (I like to leave the skins on)
8 Pork sausages (cut into chunks)
2 Red onions (thinly sliced)
2 Dessert apples (cut into chunks)
2 Tbsps Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Method
Heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet or heavy frying pan
Add the cut up sausages and onions, and stir occasionally until browned
Remove from the pan and set to one side. Add the other tablespoon of oil to the pan and add the potatoes, cooking until brown
Add the sausages, onions, and apple to the pan, cook for another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and if you’re feeling really fancy you could sprinkle over some chopped herbs like parsley, or sage
A bit more “rustic” than I planned, but I put it down to me trying to make pastry with nuts in it. Save yourself the time and energy and use shop bought short crust pastry. It’s what I plan to do next time. This recipe might be best saved for the weekend, as it’s a bit more labour intensive, but it’s well worth the trouble, (I had to stop myself eating half of it).
If you’re a vegetarian cooking for meat eaters, they’ll love this. The rich and unctuous filling feels really meaty, and unlike a lot of tarts isn’t too eggy. This is delicious hot or cold.
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
1 Sheet of ready made short crust pastry
2 Onions (thinly sliced)
1 Tbsp Chopped rosemary
3 Cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1 Tbsp Olive oil
25 Grams Dried porcini mushrooms, (soaked in 50 ml of hot water)
200 Grams Button mushrooms (sliced)
50 Grams Gorgonzola (sliced)
50 Grams Hazelnuts (chopped)
2 Eggs
150 Ml Double Cream
Salt and pepper
Method
Grease a 23 cm loose based flan tin, roll you pastry until thin and line the tin, (chill in the fridge for 30 minutes)
Put the porcini mushrooms in a bowl with 50ml of warm water and allow to soak
Take your flan tin out of the fridge and over the base with grease proof paper and add baking beans on top, (I use old lentils that had been hanging about). Bake blind in an oven heated to 180 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove the grease proof paper and baking beans, and bake for a further 5 minutes, before removing from the oven
While the pastry is baking add the olive oil and onions to a large heated frying pan. Turn down the heat and cook gently for 10 minutes
Add the button mushrooms, garlic and rosemary to the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
Add the porcini mushrooms and the water they were soaking in to the pan. Cook over a medium heat until all the liquid has evaporated, and leave to cool
Put a baking sheet in the oven to heat (the temperature should be 180 degrees again)
When the mushroom mix is completely cool, spread it evenly across the pastry base
Distribute the gorgonzola on top of the mushroom mix
Beat 2 Eggs, and add to the cream, season with salt and pepper, pour into the tart case and sprinkle chopped hazelnuts across the top
Put the filled tart tin on to the heated baking sheet in the oven and bake for 35 minutes until the centre is set
Allow to cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes before cutting
This is an easy, healthy curry that even the most ardent
meat lovers can enjoy.
Don’t be put off, if it seems that there are a lot of ingredients. I know I prattle on about how good Asian supermarkets are, but you can build up a good stock of cheap spices that will help change how you cook.
Ingredients
500gms Butternut Squash (peeled, deseeded, and diced)
200gms Frozen Peas
150gms Red Lentils
1 Large onion (chopped)
2 Tbsp Coconut or other oil
1 Red chilli pepper
4 Cloves of garlic
1 Tsp Fennel seeds
1 Thumb sized piece of ginger
2 Tsp Garam Masala
2 Cardamom pods
500ml Vegetable stock
2 Tbsp Chopped coriander
Serves 4
Method
Add the fennel seeds and cardamom pods to a dry pan and toast until you can spell the spices.
Add the coconut oil and once heated add the onion and cook over a medium heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions should be cooked gently until they caramelise and turn brown. Taking the time to do this might seem like a bit of a faff, but it does help improve the depth of flavour
Add the butternut squash (which has been diced in 1.5cm cubes), and continue to cook over a gentle heat for 5 minutes
Grate the ginger and add to the pan along with finely chopped chilli, garam masala, red lentils, and vegetable stock, cook for a further 10 minutes
Add finely chopped garlic to the pan, along with frozen peas, and cook 5 more minutes
Check that the butternut squash is tender, and check the seasoning and adjust to your taste. (I usually go easy when adding chilli, as it’s always easier to add more, but if you like a super hot then go nuts)
Serve with basmati rice or naan bread (or both if you’re a total carb junkie like me). This curry reheats really well, and will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days
Seaneen's Sunnyside Kitchen 