savoury summer tart

savoury summer tart

by | Jun 19, 2023 | Lifestyle

I’m so glad summer is here for lots of reasons, but one of the main ones, is that our food intake changes. Gone are the stews and heavy soups of winter, which are delicious, but can be just a bit too much on the comfort side of food. Over the past couple of months, these have been gradually swapped out for much lighter meals, which are also generally now eaten outdoors, rather than in front of the fire, watching TV. A delicious summery savoury tart was the order the day recently – very few ingredients and so easy to make, you literally don’t need a recipe for it…

ingredients

  • one packet of filo pastry
  • jar of basil pesto
  • cherry tomatoes
  • feta cheese
  • fresh thyme
  • chilli flakes
  • salt and pepper

I suppose you could definitely make your own filo pastry, but when you can buy this frozen and just roll out, when needed, why bother? I like cooking when it’s uncomplicated and faff-free, and to me, making your own pastry, is neither of these. And, unless you are a pastry maestro, I’m guessing it tastes just as good as home made. On this occasion, we used a jar of pesto, but this is one thing I usually don’t mind making, as it’s all just blitzed in the nutri-bullet.

recipe

  • Roll out the pastry into an ovenproof dish/tin – keep it on the paper it’s rolled in too, as this is OK to go into the oven and it makes slicing and lifting the tart very easy, Prick the pastry all over with a fork;
  • Dollop big spoonfuls across the pastry – leave a little in the jar for later – and smooth out so that the base is covered;
  • Slice the cherry tomatoes and feta and squash down into the pesto;
  • Spoon the remaining pesto over the top;
  • Sprinkle with the fresh sprigs of thyme, olive oil and chilli flakes and season with salt and pepper.

Cook at 180o for about 25 minutes. Slice and serve. What could be easier?

 

spicy spanish sausage stew…

spicy spanish sausage stew…

by | May 17, 2021 | Lifestyle

I like nothing better than a one pot dish, into which I can just chuck everything and leave it to get on with cooking itself. Recipes like this one, also have the advantage of being easy on the washing up, as the stew is just turned out into big bowls. Perfect!

What You’ll Need :

  • Three or four large potatoes, cubed
  • Two quartered onions – for added sweetness, red are best
  • Sausages – for this particular stew, we used chorizo sausages, chopped into chunks. In the past I’ve used veggie sausages and these work as well, as the spices and seasonings do give the stew a kick
  • Mixed peppers – red, green & yellow for colour – cut up into large chunks
  • One can of butter beans
  • White wine
  • Vegetable stock (a mug full is enough)
  • Olive oil
  • Spicy paprika
  • Chilli flakes
  • Salt & pepper

What You’ll Need To Do :

  • Peel and cut the potatoes into cubes and put into an ovenproof dish with two onions, roughly quartered.
  • Cover with olive oil, chilli flakes, paprika and salt & pepper and mix together. Cook for about 30 mins, until the onions begin to char
  • Add the peppers and push the sausage chunks down into the mix. Add the veggie stock and enough white wine to cover everything
  • Cook for about an hour and then add the butter beans – these help to thicken the white wine juice – cooking for a further 10-15 minutes. by which time the top of the dish should be beginning to blacken & char

Served up on its own, it’s a pretty substantial meal, but crusty bread, rice and pasta are great accompaniments too. Get your bowl, a glass of wine and curl up in front of the TV – or, when the weather improves, get outside and do it al-fresco.