simple supper : no fuss…

simple supper : no fuss…

by | Feb 22, 2021 | Lifestyle

Sometimes, all you want, is the simplest meal, which doesn’t take forever, uses just one roasting tin and packs an absolute punch in terms of flavours. And this is just what this meal provides. Wildly tasty, and if you like your cheese on the strong-side, this probably definitely a dish for you. Five ingredients, and one of those is olive oil. And, bet you will probably have all of them in the fridge or cupboard – a bag of fresh spinach, chestnut mushrooms, gnocchi, gorgonzola cheese, olive oil & seasoning. And that is it. You can probably guess how it’s done, but here you go. Here’s what we did.

The gnocchi that we had was actually spinach gnocchi, but regular gnocchi would definitely work just as well, as the real flavours come from the cheese. I could have gone a whole lot stronger with the blue cheese too, but a fairly standard Gorgonzola worked perfectly.

 

METHOD

  • Roughly quarter the mushrooms (chestnuts definitely five a more nutty flavour) and toss them, with the gnocchi, in a roasting tin, in olive oil and season according to your taste, with salt and pepper;
  • Roast for about 20-25 minutes, stirring frequently so that nothing sticks to the bottom of the tin;
  • Add the fresh spinach (we used about three quarters of a large bag) and mix it in, then crumble the blue cheese over the mixture. (I have no “off” switch when it comes to cheese, and so the whole pack went in);
  • Cook for about 5 minutes – or until the cheese is beginning to melt, but there is still texture to it;
  • Take out of the oven, sprinkle with fresh, chopped spinach leaves and serve.

We had this with pitta breads, spread with garlic butter and heated up in the oven, while it was being served. Just enough time to roast the garlic pieces and heat up the breads. I cannot emphasis enough how tasty this dish is – creamy and peppery and robust. And, if you forget the pack of blue cheese and gnocchi, it is almost super food. I mean, it is green…

salmon & potato bake…

salmon & potato bake…

by | Jan 30, 2021 | Lifestyle

We’re doing a whole lot more cooking at home these days – as everyone is – but we’re dreaming of the time we can occasionally escape the kitchen from time to time, again. Until then though, we’re trying to vary what we eat and try out new dishes. Sometimes we do fall back on old favourites, sometimes we go for things we wouldn’t normally eat. But sometimes, we just have to go for what we can cobble together from the cupboards, fridge and freezer. I found a lovely sounding recipe from Delicious Magazine, but we didn’t have all of the ingredients to hand so had to improvise. The original recipe is below, with our substitutes in brackets :

SALMON & POTATO BAKE

  • 1kg floury potatoes, cut into 3mm slices
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large red onion, sliced
  • 1 tbsp plain flour
  • A few handfuls of baby spinach (didn’t have fresh spinach, so used frozen)
  • Butter, for greasing
  • 3 salmon fillets, sliced
  • 200ml double cream (didn’t have double cream so switched for mascarpone)
  • 50g grated Gruyère (used a mix of provolone & parmesan)
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, then simmer the potatoes for 2-3 minutes. Drain and set aside.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and gently fry the red onion for 5 minutes, then stir in the flour and season well. Add the frozen spinach to the onions and gently heat until defrosted and cooked through.
  3. Butter an ovenproof dish and layer up the potatoes, onion and spinach with the broken up salmon, ending with a layer of potato.
  4. Heat the mascarpone until it liquifies, then pour over the bake. Sprinkle with the cheese and bake for 20-30 minutes, until golden and bubbling.

I think that if we make this again, the double cream will make a difference – mascarpone was fine, but I think the cream would just blend in a little better. It’s definitely a winter warmer and it’s a nice end-of-the-week meal as the salmon makes it feel just a little bit luxurious and more of a treat. If you make it, enjoy 🙂