Tomato and Saffron Rice

The colour of this rice really says it all.

By cooking down the tomato to a paste you have an intensely flavoured base to this rice and you can make the paste ahead of time and keep it in the fridge if you have limited time. I also sometimes double the paste recipe and just freeze half for another day.

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients

450g fresh tomatoes, quartered

1 onion peeled

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1 cinnamon stick

4 cloves

a large pinch of saffron

1 teaspoon salt

50g ghee or oil

300g rice

425mls water

Method

Process the tomatoes, onion, garlic and 50mls water.

Heat the ghee or oil over a medium to high heat, pour in the tomato mix, add the cinnamon, cloves, saffron and salt, stir well and bring up to the boil.

Allow the tomatoes to simmer, uncovered until all of the liquid has evaporated and you have a thick paste in the pan.

Stir the rice through the paste and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the cold water, stir again and cover, bring up to the boil and then reduce heat, cook, covered for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, turn the heat off but leave the rice, covered for 10 minutes.

Fork through the rice before serving.

Baked Cheesy Avocado With Chimmichurri Tomatoes And A Spicy Egg

I defy anyone not to like avocado cooked this way!

This is one of my favourite brunch or supper dishes. I happily sit down to have this while the boys are having a gluten laden meal!

I usually make up a big batch of chimichurri dressing and have it in the fridge for a couple of days, great over barbecued chicken and steak! I’ve popped my chimichurri recipe below if you want to give it a go.

Serves 2.

 Ingredients

4 medium tomatoes, deseeded and diced

2 tablespoons chimichurri dressing

2 small avocados, sliced

50g Parmesan, finely grated

salt and pepper

a little oil or ghee

a pinch of chilli flakes

3 eggs, 1 beaten

Method

Preheat the oven to 210 degrees centigrade. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Take the avocado slices, dip them in the beaten egg and then into the Parmesan.

Lay on the baking sheet and once they are all coated, pop them into the oven for 10 minutes until the cheese is crispy.

While the avocado bakes, mix the chimichurri dressing and tomatoes, spoon onto your serving plate.

Heat the oil or ghee in a frying pan and once hot, add the chilli and cook for 30 seconds.

Crack the eggs into the pan and fry until the white is set and the yolk is still runny.

Lay the baked avocado over the tomatoes and top with the eggs.

CHIMICHURRI DRESSING

25g parsley leaves

25g coriander, leaves and stalks

140mls olive oil

2-3 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 clove of garlic

salt and pepper

Process all of the ingredients to form a paste.

Oregano Bread Stuffed With Slow Roast Lamb

Otherwise known as the leftover “manwich”, guaranteed to fill the hungriest of teenage boys stomachs with a bowl of soup on the side! Also super for school lunch boxes and picnics!

I have used leftover slow roast leg of lamb in this recipe but feel free to play around with it, I have used pulled pork, beef ribs and roast chicken before.

I make batches of caramelised onions to keep in the fridge as a quick cheat, the recipe is in the blog!

As for a vegetarian option, leftover roast pumpkin and goats cheese is a winner with the caramelised onions on the base.

Serves 8-10.

Ingredients

DOUGH

500g plain flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons instant yeast

4 teaspoons dried oregano

325-350mls warm water

FILLING

150g caramelised onions

250g lamb or your choice of cooked meat

2 large tomatoes, deseeded and diced

100g mozzarella, grated

TOPPING

1 egg, beaten

30-40g Parmesan, finely grated

Method

In a large bowl, combine the dough ingredients, making sure you get all the bits off the side of the bowl.

Turn onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes.

Flour the inside of the bowl you used to make the dough and add the dough. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave to rise for 1 hour.

Line a baking tray with baking parchment. 37cm x 24cm.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.

Once risen, tip the dough gently onto the floured bench and cut in half.

Roll one half out until it is large enough to cover the tray.

Gently lift it onto the prepared tray, spread the caramelised onions over the base, leaving a 3 cm gap around the edge.

Sprinkle over the lamb, tomatoes and cheese.

Brush around the edges of the dough with a little of the beaten egg for the topping.

Roll the second piece of dough out to cover the existing piece.

Lay it over, press down on the edges to seal and then nip and twist all the way around the dough to seal completely, the edges should look like a turned rope.

Brush with the remaining egg and sprinkle over the Parmesan.

Set aside in a warm place for 20-30 mins and then bake for 40-45 minutes until the bread is fully cooked and the top surface is golden.

Slide the bread onto a wire rack to cool a little before cutting.

Caprese Salad with Balsamic Pearls

Now, I’m not into molecular style cooking. It doesn’t lend itself to a busy household and my lack of patience and skills!

However, last week I managed to find some balsamic vinegar pearls in an iconic Perth European food supplier. I couldn’t say no! They also happened to have some amazing fresh mozzarella so clearly Caprese salad had to be on the menu.

If you can’t find pearls, drizzle a little balsamic vinegar over after the oil.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

250g fresh mozzarella ball, drained and dried on kitchen towel and sliced thinly

4-6 large tomatoes, sliced thinly

6 basil leaves, torn

a little extra virgin olive oil

freshly ground pepper

1-2 teaspoons balsamic pearls

Method

Layer the tomato, a piece of basil, slice of mozzarella in a dish and repeat until all the cheese is used.

Drizzle over a little olive oil and season with pepper.

Sprinkle over the balsamic pearls and serve.

Urid Dhal With Cinnamon And Cloves

This is a variation on my black dhal recipe.

We all seem to have head colds at the moment so I wanted to add some spicy warmth to the dhal using cinnamon and cloves, it worked really well, soothing and calming!

This makes a BIG pot of dhal but I freeze leftovers for another night, defrost fully, heat gently, you might need to add a little water or cream to loosen it up again.

Serves 12-14.

Ingredients

50g ghee

3 cloves garlic

60g ginger, peeled

5 large tomatoes

1 red onion, peeled and quartered

400g urid dhal

2 large dried chillies

4 x 5cm cinnamon sticks

8 cloves

750mls water

600mls cream

200g tomato paste

Method

Preheat the oven to 150degrees Centigrade.

In a processor, process the garlic, ginger, tomatoes and onion with a little water until lump free.

In a large oven proof pan with lid, heat the ghee.

Add the processed paste to the pan and cook gently until it has thickened, this can take 30-40 mins, it should darken in colour too.

Add the dhal, chillies, cinnamon stick and cloves, mix well.

Pour in the water, cream and tomato paste, again, stir well.

Pop in the oven and bake for three and a half to four hours, stirring occasionally.

You may need to add a little water if it is thickening up too quickly.

Season with salt towards the end of the cooking time.

Turkish Lamb Pides Meet Cornish Pasties

Traditional pides use a yeast dough but that takes a bit longer to make so I use a Cornish pasty flaky pastry crust. If you don’t have time or the inclination to make pastry just use frozen puff pastry.

These are fantastic in lunch boxes for the boys and I usually make double batches and freeze half individually wrapped in foil for an easy lunch or snack another day.

Makes 8 pides.

Ingredients

15-30mls olive oil

500g minced lamb

1 onion, finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon Za’atar

2 teaspoons sumac

pinch of chilli flakes

Salt and pepper

4 tomatoes, deseeded and diced finely

1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley

1 egg, beaten

300g plain flour

150g butter, finely diced

120mls water

Method

Start by making the pastry.

In a large bowl, combine the flour and butter, add the water and mix gently until it comes together.

Flour your work surface, lay the pastry out and roll into a rectangle, around 10-15cm by 30cm.

Fold the bottom third up on itself and repeat with the top third, turn the pastry one quarter and repeat, rolling into a large rectangle and folding back down, repeat this another 6 times.

Wrap on cling film and set aside in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 180degrees Centigrade.

Heat the oil in a large pan, over medium heat.

Add the onion and garlic and cook slowly until softened.

Turn the heat to high and add the meat, Za’atar, sumac and chilli, cook until the meat is totally browned and the liquid has evaporated.

Remove from the heat and add the diced fresh tomatoes and parsley.

Take the pastry and cut into eight pieces.

Roll one piece out into a rough circle, spoon one eighth of the meat onto the lower half of the circle.

Paint around the edges with the beaten egg, fold over and using a pinching method seal the pastry, folding it upwards back upon itself.

Repeat with the remaining pides.

Brush with beaten egg and bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 mins until golden.