Sausage Meatballs With Broccoli Cheese

Who doesn’t love an easy tray bake dinner! Less meat and more veggies but my boys don’t seem to notice!

I like to use spicy Italian sausages for this but use whatever you enjoy. If you are doing gluten free, just double check your sausage ingredients.

Serves 3-4.

Ingredients

450g spicy Italian pork sausages

1 broccoli head, florets cut off and stem peeled and sliced

250mls cream

50g grated cheese

Salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade.

Peel the skin off the sausages and form into balls.

Place the meatballs in the roasting tin and slide into the oven.

Bake for 10minutes until beginning to colour.

Add the broccoli florets and stems to the roasting tin, return to the oven for 8-10 minutes.

Now pour the cream into the roasting tin and sprinkle over the cheese and seasoning.

Bake for 15-20minutes until cream has thickened and cheese is golden.

Pesto Meatballs

I love that you don’t need to make a sauce for these meatballs, the pan juices, passata and balsamic make a lovely sauce.

The quantity of pesto is a bit vague, I made a big batch of fresh pesto today and just used up the last little bit in these meatballs.

Serves 8.

Ingredients

1kg minced pork

80-100g pesto

Salt and pepper

36-40 bocconcini, drained

750mls passata

30mls balsamic vinegar

20g finely grated Parmesan

Method

Preheat the oven to 210 degrees Centigrade.

In a large bowl, combine the pork, pesto, salt and pepper.

Divide the meat into 36-40 balls, flatten the meat, pop a mozzarella ball on top and gently bring the meat together to enclose completely. Repeat with all of the meat and cheese.

Place the meatballs in a roasting tin, a little spread out if you can.

Bake for 20 minutes until beginning to colour.

Turn the oven down to 190 degrees Centigrade.

Remove the roasting tin from the oven, pour the passata over the meatballs and then dribble over the balsamic vinegar.

Sprinkle over the parmesan and then return to the oven, bake for 25-30minutes.

Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Brisket

This photo really doesn’t do this recipe justice but to be honest the beef was eaten so quickly I only got the one shot!

I’ve taken the principles of using a rub with herbs and spices to coat the meat and then allowing it to sit for 12-24 hours in the fridge. Then, instead of using the BBQ, the slow cooker has stepped in and worked its magic! Finally, I take the meat out and pop it in a hot oven just to crisp up the fatty bits for a fab tortilla filling or serve with lots of salads to cut through the richness of the meat.

Serves 8-10. Leftovers keep well in the fridge, freeze well and are very popular in wraps for school with my boys.

Ingredients

2.2kg beef brisket, cut into 8-10 large pieces

5 tablespoons sweet smoked paprika

3 tablespoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon chipotle chilli powder

1 teaspoon cayenne powder

1 teaspoon ground all spice

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons salt

Pepper

375mls passata

100mls gluten free Worcestershire sauce

100g brown sugar

2 teaspoons liquid smoke

Method

I leave the fat on the top of the brisket, cut it into large chunks, around 5-8cm square. Take a sharp knife and score the fat to create a crisscross pattern.

Combine the spice rub in a bowl.

Tip the meat into the rub and cover completely.

Place the meat and any excess rub into a zip lock bag and refrigerate for 12-24 hours. 24 hours is better if you can!

Tip the meat into your slow cooker, I use a 6.5l Cooker.

Add the wet ingredients and sugar and using your hands massage the sauce all over the meat.

Turn the cooker on and set to nine hours on low.

After nine hours the meat should be falling apart a little if you push it with the back of a spoon.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.

Gently spoon the meat into a roasting tray, scored fat side up, and slide it into the oven, roast for 30-45 minutes to let the fat crisp up.

Pull the meat apart with forks to serve so everyone gets a little of the crispy fat as well as the delicious, sticky sauce covered meat.

Roast Chicken With Creamy Lingonberry Sauce

Six ingredients make this a seriously tasty dish that’s as simple as combine, bake and baste.

If you don’t have lingonberry sauce, cranberry sauce works just as well!

You can mix the ingredients the day before you bake them if you want and this freezes well, just add a little more cream when you reheat it gently in the oven.

If you aren’t keen on chopping up a chicken, drumsticks, wings and thighs will work just as well.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

1.8kg whole chicken, cut into 10 pieces

4 tablespoons lingonberry sauce

2 tablespoons gluten free Worcestershire sauce

4 garlic cloves, crushed

250mls cream

Salt and pepper

 Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade.

In a roasting tin, combine all of the ingredients.

Cover tightly with foil and place in the oven. Bake for 35-40 minutes covered.

Remove the foil, baste with the sauce in the pan and return to the oven.

Bake for a further 30 minutes, basting regularly.

Once cooked and golden, remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Smoked Haddock with Spinach

I recently got my hands on some beautiful smoked Haddock from Scotland. Any firm fish, smoked or not, works really well here.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

800g baby potatoes, cooked and halved

400g baby spinach leaves

A little freshly grated nutmeg.

50g shallots, peeled and finely sliced

500g fresh of smoked fish

150ml cream

150mls mascarpone

40g fresh chives

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade.

Place the spinach in a large colander, pour over a kettle full of just boiled water, set aside.

Butter the inside of an oven proof dish.

Once the spinach is cool enough to handle, squeeze out the water and chop roughly.

Place the potatoes in the bottom of the prepared dish.

Sprinkle over the chopped spinach and grate over a little nutmeg.

Top the spinach with the shallots and then place the fish on top, I break it up a little.

In a jug, combine the cream, mascarpone and chives, pour this over the fish.

Sprinkle over a few more chives and then bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the sauce has thickened a little

Sausage and Apple Casserole

Yet more comfort food here!

Apples and good pork sausages are a match made in heaven! I tend to use nice fat pork sausages, I get 10 to a kilo and sweet red eating apples as that’s what tends to be in the fruit bowl.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

20mls oil

2 red onions, finely sliced

1 kg pork sausages

4 sweet apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges

500mls chicken stock

3 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.

In a large oven proof pan, heat the oil over a medium heat and cook the sausages for 5 minutes until the skins have some colour.

Remove the sausages, set aside, add the onion to the pan and cook until soft, around 10 minutes.

Set the onions aside with the sausages and add the apple to the pan, fry over a high heat until they have coloured a little.

Return the onion to the pan, stir through the apples, top with the sausages.

Spread the mustard over each sausage.

Pour the stock into the pan, cover and bake for 30 minutes.

Uncover the pan and return to the oven, bake for a further 25-30 minutes until the sausages are golden.

Moroccan Spiced Potatoes

I love potatoes, the ultimate comfort food!

They are a great way to fill the boys up and they pair so well with onions and spices.

If you have leftovers, reheat gently and serve for breakfast with a poached egg on top.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

750g baby potatoes, skin on, cooked

30mls oil

2 onions, halved and cut into 1cm wedges

2 garlic cloves, finely sliced

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes

1/2-1 teaspoon salt flakes

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Pepper to taste

Fresh dill

Method

In a large frying pan, heat the oil over a medium heat, cook the onion until softened, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

With the pan over a medium to high heat, add the potatoes, crushing them a little with your hands as you go.

While the potatoes are beginning to brown, use a mortar and pestle to lightly crush the coriander, cumin, thyme, chilli and salt.

Once the potatoes are beginning to get some colour, add the coriander mix, sesame seeds, cooked onion and garlic slices.

Stir constantly over a medium heat until the potatoes are golden and the onions are browning.

Sprinkle over the fresh dill and serve.

Slow Cooker Spice Rack Pork

At the beginning of winter I bought a slow cooker and a few months later I am a complete convert on nights when we are all coming and going.

The seasoning for the pork is very simple but don’t be tempted to add more liquid, it really doesn’t need any.

I love chimichurri and it goes so well here, cutting through the rich meat and adding a gorgeous splash of colour.

Serves 8. Any leftover meat freezes well with the pan juices and the boys have wraps with salad, pork and chimichurri for school in the days after we have this.

Ingredients

2kg boned pork shoulder/pork butt cut into 5-7cm dice

1 large orange, juiced

3 teaspoons dried thyme

4 teaspoons dried oregano

3 teaspoons sweet paprika

1 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.

Chimichurri Ingredients

20g parsley leaves

80g fresh coriander, leaves and stalks

1 green chilli, deseeded

1 lime juiced

2 garlic cloves

75mls olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Combine all of the pork ingredients in the slow cooker.

Cook on high for six hours.

To make the chimichurri…….

Process all of the ingredients, add a little more oil if you need to.

Pork And Mango Meatballs

Anyone who has read my blog knows we like a meatball in this house and these are no exception.

One of those fun recipes that evolve as I’m digging through the fridge looking for inspiration. The cream thickens to make a sweet yet savoury sauce, I serve these over rice.

Choose any mango chutney that you would happily eat on its own, not one that’s loitering in the fridge because it tastes awful!

Makes 18 meatballs and feeds 6.

Ingredients

500g minced pork

130g mango and ginger chutney

280g zucchini, grated and liquid squeezed out

1 red chilli, deseeded, halve lengthwise and sliced

10g fresh chopped chives

2 teaspoons ground cumin

Salt and pepper

250mls cream

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade.

Combine all of the ingredients, except the cream in a bowl.

Form the meat into golf ball sized meatballs.

Lay the balls in a roasting tin and pop into the oven.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until beginning to colour.

Take the roasting tin out of the oven and pour in the cream, swirl it around the meatballs, turning them as you go.

Return to the oven and bake again for 10-15 minutes until the cream has thickened and the meatballs have coloured.

Chickpea Pizza Base

Another pizza base!

I love how quickly these can be made and then personalised and the base only has three ingredients, chickpea flour/besan which I always have a box of,water and salt, too easy!

This pizza is topped with passata, chorizo, Parmesan and spring onions.

To make this vegan, just use oil in your pan and select your usual toppings.

Makes 5-6 pizza bases.

Ingredients

275g chickpea flour

750mls water

Pinch of salt

Butter and or oil

Method

Measure the flour into a large bowl.

Make a well in the centre and slowly whisk the water into the flour to form a very runny batter. Set aside for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, heat your grill or broiler to high.

Take a non stick, oven proof, 22/24cm frying pan and heat over medium to high heat with 10g butter and 10mls oil.

Whisk the batter, season and whisk again.

Once the butter has melted, swirl around the pan and add 200mls of batter.

Swirl the pan and pop back on the heat.

Cook for 3-4 minutes until the surface appears to dry a little.

Now slide the pan under the grill, my pan doesn’t have an oven proof handle so I have it sticking out away from the heat!

Grill for 3-4 minutes until colouring.

Now you can choose to top the pizza and grill again to melt your toppings or as I do, make all the bases and then bake them in a 210 degree Centigrade oven until the toppings have melted, less than a minute for the pizza in the picture.