Spinach and Ricotta Pasta Sauce

Home made Spinach and Ricotta Pasta Sauce

You will not believe how much time I have spent in the kitchen these last two weeks!

Now, some of you may have already picked up that despite living with my parents still, I do most of the cooking in the house. To be frank, Dad has just got lazy in his old age and when he gets in from work wants to do nothing more than sit down. Mum, bless her, doesn’t think she can cook so tries running in the other direction at the mention of moving into the kitchen. So, almost every day the cooking of the evening meal falls on to me.

Since they’ve gone on holiday, the word ‘almost’ has disappeared...

Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not complaining! Cooking for Mr KG every night for two weeks straight has meant I’ve been a bit more creative as I can’t fall back on many of the recipes I’d cook for my parents. (He’s veggie and has some rather random food allergies like sweetcorn!)

One of the best things to have come out of all of this cooking however, is my ability to knock together something incredibly simple and tasty with basic ingredients.

Best served simply with fresh pasta and garlic bread

Spinach and Ricotta is a classic flavour combination and frequently appears on veggie friendly menus. Ready-made packets of ravioli in the supermarkets are often stuffed to bursting with it and if that’s not enough, 9 times out of 10 there will be a tub of gelatinous spinach and ricotta sauce to go with it. I’ve also seen a twist on lasagne made purely with spinach and ricotta before and let’s not to forget it’s also the obvious filling for cannelloni!

We’ve all tried these supermarket made pasta dishes and I think we can all say that although they are quick and easy they are incredibly bland. Tell me, why do we subject ourselves to tasteless food in the name on convenience!? There really is no good excuse for it!

Cheese and Ham Muffins

Hands up. Who here enjoys a savoury muffin as much as a sweet one...no? Didn't think so.

Now I know that when it comes to food I'm a bit of an anomaly. Often the foods most people hate, I can't get enough off and my flavour and texture combinations can be a bit experimental. Now I'm not saying there's anything 'Heston-Blumenthal-crazy' about these muffins (quite the opposite, they make so much sense!) But, the first time I served up a savoury muffin as the token-carb allongside dinner, I did a few funny looks.

To most people - kids and adults alike - muffins are sweet treats. This recipe however breaks the mould combining doughy sustinance with oozing cheese and salty ham. Sounds good right?!

But what do you do with a savoury muffin I hear you ask. Well believe it not they are a great snack to nibble alongside your afternoon cup of tea. Go on, I dare you, swap the double-choc for the double cheese!

Just imagine biting into the satisfyingly crisp outside of the muffin, the soft centre with pockets of warm gooey cheese (I'm assuming you lack self control, and like me are eatingvthem straight from the oven). The little green flecks remind you that the courgette is one of your five a day! (Sort of.) And the hint of mustard powder balances perfectly with the salty ham making these an "adult" treat that doesn't involve alcohol for once...

But thats not where their versatility ends. They're also great to serve allongside soup, a really deep and creamy tomato soup!

And why not pop them into your kinds lunch boxes? Two small muffins to replace the boring old sandwhich will go down a treat! (Why not pop the rest in your handbag for lunch...)

So what are you waiting for?! Why aren't you cooking these bad boys right now!

Well I guess first things first you'll be needing the recipe...

Chicken and Avocado Pizza

What happens when your break through the chains of authenticity and break the rules?

Chicken and avocado pizza that’s what!

Ok...so we all know what a pizza is. Doughy base, smothered in delicious tomato sauce, topped with cheese and various other toppings.

This dish isn’t too far from that norm. It has a doughy base, is smothered in A sauce just not a tomato one, and is topped with cheese, and various other toppings!

It still counts as a pizza...right?

While I’m not here to debate what truly makes a pizza, I am here to convince you that once in a while swapping tomato sauce for avocado is a fun, exciting and TASTY thing to do!

Over Christmas I made a DELICIOUS salmon and avocado terrine. When buying avocados we’d somewhat overestimated how many we needed and we soon found ourselves with a drawer full of avocados in the fridge. After weeks of avocado salads and homemade guacamole served with crisps I had to come up with something different for fear of becoming sick of the soft green fruit.

One afternoon when craving something cheesy, doughy and well...pizza like. I found myself stuck. We had not tomatoes, pureed, tinned, fresh or otherwise but I really really wanted a pizza! The only way to give in to my quite frankly bizarre craving was to mix it up a little and to come up with a twist on a classic.

Christmas Buffet - Spinach and Ricotta Pie

Just a few days ago I shared with you my Christmas Canapés! They went down a treat at our first Christmas party, but I’m sure you’ll all agree a few blinis won’t fill anyone up.

As my family has gotten older and all of the children have become adults in their own rights, the choice of food at our Christmas buffets has gone from chicken nuggets and slices of pizza, to cheeseboards, blinis and quiches.

This year we thought we’d reduce the amount of food that comes out of the freezer even more, and I wanted to cook something that would look impressive in the centre of the table and would be great for sharing.

After flicking through countless food magazines dedicated to Christmas party food, I settled on a Spinach and Ricotta pie from the Good Food Magazine.

I’ve adapted it here and there. Changed the quantities slightly and changed the method to show what worked well for me. The pie truly was a show stopper and everyone loved the simple flavours and crisp pastry.

Spiced Cranberry Chutney

An extra large jar of Spiced Cranberry Chutney
ready for some cheese!

This is my second venture into the Christmas kitchen this year and yet again it involves a couple of jars!
I’ve been thinking about “dabbling” in preserves since the summer. In the past we’ve ended up with a huge glut of fruit and I was looking forward to attempting to make jam for the first time. But, summer came and went, and in true British style the weather was disappointing. We had hardly any raspberries on our canes this year so my new jam thermometer never got a look in.

But, as we get ever closer to Christmas, I’ve begun to find festive uses for the jam jars I have collected.

First I attempted my own mincemeat perfect for mince pies and other festive favourites. The recipe was super simple, and I managed to get an airtight seal! Woo hoo! Not too bad for a first attempt.

This time I thought I’d try something a little bit different.

At Christmas my family gets through an UNHOLY amount of Cheese; cheeses of all kinds, from soft to smelly, sheep to goat. Last year my Dad’s present from my sister and I was actually a Cheese hamper complete with 5 types of cheese 2 chutneys and a plumb bread. You can buy these hampers from farmers markets and supermarkets alike but I started to think...how hard can it REALLY be to make chutney?! As it turns out, it’s not very hard at all.

When coming up for the flavour combination, I wanted something that didn’t just go well with cheese, but something that well and truly said CHRISTMAS! So my starting point was cranberries. As I searched the internet for basic cranberry chutney I was a bit concerned about how I would actually find fresh cranberries. Turns out...that’s also pretty damn easy! Who would’ve thought they can found in the fresh fruit isle of Sainsbury’s in a plastic bag by the nuts.

Well that was the first hurdle overcome. Next I had to decide what else I would but in the chutney. For a truly festive flavour it had to be cinnamon, nutmeg and a touch of ginger. This combined with the basic chutney mix (the fruit, red wine vinegar, a little onion) seemed like a good place to start, but I didn’t want to play it too safe. So, to give the chutney an extra kick, you can also find a red chilli in the ingredients list. This works really well to give the chutney a bit of excitement without drowning out the mellow Christmas spices.

Creamy Stilton Pasta with Garden Greens

Hello my lovely blog readers! I am back! After nearly a month of killing myself over my final law exams I am finally finished! Now, that’s not to say I’m never going to look a case again, to the contrary! I’ve already started hunting down extra reading before I start the LPC in September; law is perhaps the one thing I love more than cooking. Though I am happy that my exams are over.

During exams most people get “the fear” – for those of you who don’t know it’s the uncontrollable feeling of terror at the thought of failing your exams if you don’t revise. For most people this kicks in a week before the exam itself where they realise that “day off” shopping, or that crazy night out probably could have been better spent revising. But me, I get “the guilt” – if I am not revising, sleeping at sensible times, getting up early etc I feel uncontrollable guilt. I’m not sure what’s worse!

Now although everyone has to eat during exams, any time spent developing recipes, taking photos, and blogging regularly would’ve just made me feel super guilty, so most of the posts you saw over the last few weeks were a few cheeky scheduled posts I’d managed to back up over Easter!

Anyways...I did treat myself once or twice during exams, and this recipe was one of them! My local store had stilton on offer and I couldn’t resist. I am a sucker for stinky cheese. The stinkier the better! I love cheese so much one of my favourite presents this Christmas was a Scottish cheese Slate complete with chalk! (Maybe I need to get out more.)

This recipe isn’t great for anyone on a diet, with not one but two types of cheese, but it is great for anyone trying to eat seasonally! Simply grab from the garden (or the green grocers) and seasonal greens and they will cut perfectly through the cheesey sauce.

Here’s the recipe...

Mackerel and Cream Cheese Pasta

One of the main things that stops me being a vegetarian is that I would miss fish too much! Red meat I can do without, though it is nice for a treat once in a while, and chicken and turkey are just nice for a bit of variety, but fish...I definitely couldn't live without! I need my brain food!

Not so long a go a friend of mine introduced me to this dish - I don't know his exact recipe, and didn't have him around to ask so I thought I would experiment, luckily for me it was a success!

The pasta is hearty, cheese is creamy, brocolli is fresh, and mackerel salty which makes it the perfectly balanced dish!

What's more, the combination of cheap ingredients and the omega 3 (a.k.a. brain food) makes it brilliant for students!

Brie and Tomato Home-made Gourmet Paninis!

The University of Nottingham's Library Cafe sells hot panini's for just under £3...thats right £3!!! What student in their right mind has £3 to spend on lunch?! Thats's before even factoring in a drink!

That's why...I decided to invest in my own panini baguettes.

My boyfriend's sister's husband...(I may eventually be able to say brother in law?), as far as I am concerned is the panini king, and he inspired me to start making my own (Thanks Russ :D)

So, I nipped to the shops this weekend to stock up on ingredients so that I could eat gourmet sandwhiches allonsgide all the rich students in the library knowing that my panini cost half the price!

One of these delicious sandwhiches will set you back just 93p!

Aubergine and Pesto Bake

I learnt an interesting fact today while my dinner sat in the oven, the delicious smell of aubergine, tomato and pesto wafting through to my lounge – aubergines (also known as eggplant in America), are NOT a vegetable, in fact they are a berry!

People are often unsure of what to do with aubergines as they are notorious for acting as a sponge, and soaking up lots of oil making dishes with them in quite fatty. In this recipe however, the aubergines merely soak up the juices of the pesto and tomato making for a really flavoursome dish!


Enjoy!

Stuffed Butternut Squash with Cheese Muffins

Today's dinner was Stuffed Butternut Squash which I served with some savoury Cheese Muffins! I'd never tried savoury muffins before but they were extremely yummy! Went really well with the dish, and everyone was licking the wrappers clean!!! (No manners my family :))

Here are the recipes!

Low Fat Spinach Quiche

Summer is officially here! The temperatures are soaring, and the sun is out, not a cloud in the sky.

The summer brings with it a whole new foodie experience, from BBQ’s, al fresco dining, picnics to ice creams, and as a result it is one of my favourite times of the year!

(I'm already scouring e-bay for a vintage style picnic hamper, complete with gingham lining!!! If anyone knows of one going cheap, do let me know!

The veg patch is currently overflowing with spinach, so for dinner tonight I had to come up with a new recipe where spinach is the star, so I decided to cook a low fat spinach quiche.

Alternatives can include adding bacon which we did tonight, using the whole eggs, and adding lots of cheese!

Lentil Lasagne

I am not a big fan of meat substitutes such as veggie-'mince.' As a meat eater, I just don't think you can replicate meat, nor do I think you should!

This lentil lasagne, in my opinion, is BETTER than a meaty version! The textures are perfect, there is lots of lovely fresh veg, and the flavours are so vibrant that it makes for a brilliant sharing dish in the centre of the table. At just £1 a portion its a brilliant way to impress family and friends!

Give it a go and let me know what you think of this veggie alternative to an Italian classic!

10 Tips for The Beginner Cook

This is a blog post aimed at anyone who is starting to cook! I’ve included a few tips on cooking methods as well as a few simple recipes to get you started! Then you can have a go at the other recipes on my blog!

This is mainly aimed at students, whether you are going to uni for the first time in September, or you’re a fresher who’s fed up of pot noodles and frozen pizzas, this is the place to start!

I hope they help!

Crunchy Italian Cheese Salad

Summer’s on its way and that means one thing! Yummy salads!

A salad will NEVER fill you up on a winters day, but in the summer a salad is the perfect dish to keep you going throughout the day and as I’ve said many times, they really don’t have to be boring!