Recipe: BBQ Beef Chilli Dawgs!

Love these!!! When American food is done properly, it is just the best! High in fat, not generally very good for you, but the perfect kinda food to fill you up, or line your stomach ready for a big night out on the town! I'd love to have my own american themed restaurant or something- call it "Mel's Diner" and it would have all sorts of yummy dishes like home made burgers, decent juicy steaks, meatloaf, malt shakes and Cherry pies and things- so retro and cool! I tend to eat two, but if you are particularly hungry/greedy go ahead and have three. Use whichever sausages are your favourite, I like to use Linda McCartney veggie sausages for this recipe personally.

BBQ Beef Chilli Cheese “Dawgs”! (serves 4)

50g wild garlic butter (or 50g butter + 2 cloves garlic)
2 banana shallots, peeled and diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced finely
2 celery sticks, diced finely
4 rashers smoked bacon, diced finely
2 tsp dried rosemary
500g beef mince, preferably organic
500g passata

2 tbsp sundried tomato paste or pesto

2 rounded tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 tbsp barbeque sauce
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Few drops toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp dark brown or Demerara sugar
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 vegetable stock cube
Salt and pepper to taste

8 sausages, cooked.

8 white floury rolls.
120g grated cheddar

1. Fry the shallots, carrot, celery, bacon and rosemary in the butter for 5 minutes.  Brown the mince for a further 10 minutes.

2. Add all the other ingredients and cook on a low heat for 1 hour 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste. Put the sausages in the rolls, and top with the chilli, and grated cheese.

Recipe: Loaded Jacket Potato Skins

Hey guys, I hope you all had a lovely fun and foodie filled Christmas! Mine was good fun, with lots of yummy things, but a little bit stressful to be honest. I got the 23rd, 24th and 25th off work, but i had to do a big three course dinner for a client on the 23rd, and the other two days felt a bit...i dunno...like i was kept thinking about pressures and how much work annoys me/ Univeristy worries me. And i've had to start work at 9am this morning. Can't switch off- I'm terrible! Anyway, this is a nice recipe I cook fairly often- it's very easy to make, and good as a side dish, starter or main course. Whenever I bake jacket potatoes, I always bake about 6, because I know with any I have leftover the next day I can either stuff them with something nice (like with this recipe) or cut them into wedges and fry them for an easy brunch.

Loaded Jacket Potato Skins (serves 4 as a starter or side dish, serves 2 as a main)

2 baking potatoes
2 thin rashers smoked bacon, diced very finely
6 spring onions
20g butter
75g garlic and herb Boursin
Splash of milk
Salt and pepper
20g parmesan

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Bake the potatoes for 60-80 minutes or until soft on the inside and the skin is crispy. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool a little.
2. Meanwhile, fry the bacon and spring onions in a non-stick frying pan, for about 5 minutes- or until the spring onions are cooked and the bacon has started going crispy.
3. Whilst still warm, slice the jacket potatoes in half, and scoop out the flesh. Mix the flesh with the butter, boursin, spring onions, bacon and seasoning. Re-stuff into the potato skins, top with parmesan, and put under the grill for 5 minutes- or until golden!

Recipe: Italian Meatballs with Cirio Sauce

Hey guys. So I won a lovely little prize draw, from My favourite recipes (who i still write for) and Cirio- an Italian food company. I got sent a lovely tomato hamper- with these sorts of products in it: tinned tomatoes, tomato sauces, pizza sauces, tomato puree, and a few other bits and bobs.

Both me and the boyfriend have been lucky lately actually- Nicky won a hamper too! He won a hamper from New covent garden- a lovely fruit, veg and nut collection just in time for Christmas! These meatballs are scrummy- my tip for the perfect meatballs, is whiever "flavour" you make them with herbs and spices (e.g. spanish, spicy, scandinavian etc.) use half pork and half beef mince. The fat in the pork keeps the meatballs moist, and the beef gives them rich flavour. If you can't get cirio tomato, garlic and herb sauce- just use your favourite pasta sauce.

Italian Meatballs with Cirio Sauce (serves 4)

250g pork mince
250g lean beef mince
1 very finely chopped red onion
3 garlic cloves, crushed
Handful fresh basil, chopped
1 egg
50g breadcrumbs
½ tsp dried mixed herbs
¼ tsp smoked paprika
Salt and pepper (plenty of!)

4 tbsp olive oil
1 jar Cirio garlic and herb tomato sauce
400g spaghetti

1. Mix together all the meatball ingredients, shape into medium sized meatballs (makes about 30) and put on a plate in the fridge for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 200C. Put a pan of salted water onto the boil for the spaghetti. In a large frying pan (you will probably have to do this in batches) fry the meatballs on a high heat, stirring often, for 8 minutes. Put the meatballs in a baking dish and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
3.Heat up the tomato sauce, drain the pasta, and serve the meatballs and sauce over the cooked spaghetti with whichever garnishes you might fancy (grated parmesan/cheese, freshly chopped herbs, extra virgin olive oil, cracked black pepper, etc.).

Recipe: Chorizo and Broad Bean Risotto

Ugh, finally!! Finally submitted my lame lab report. I had to write a 2000 word lab report on how bacteria grows in egg mayonnaise- seriously!! And I actually already hated egg mayonaise, and don't understand how people can eat the stuff- now I can barely even look at it at work! Lol! This is a nice risotto recipe, bit of a strange combination, lots of strong flavours together, but it's gorgeaus and earthy and comforting. You can use soy beans or peas as well as or instead of the broad beans if you fancy it.

Chorizo, broad bean and wild mushroom risotto (serves 2)

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 knob of butter
1 banana shallot, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
800ml vegetable stock
120g chorizo, diced
15g mixed dried wild mushrooms
800ml vegetable or chicken stock
Pinch of mixed herbs
120g frozen broad beans, soaked in boiling water and podded.
1 tbsp parmesan (plus extra for garnish if you want)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Soak the dried mushrooms in boiling water for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. Sautee the shallot, celery and garlic in the olive oil and butter, in a large sautéing pan, for about 10 minutes, or until soft. Add the chorizo and fry for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the rice, stir to coat, and add the drained soaked mushrooms, mixed herbs and stock(adding the stock gradually, and stirring often). Cook for about 12-15 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed all the stock and is al dente. Around 5 minutes before the end of cooking, add the parmesan and the broad beans.
4. Meanwhile, put the chorizo in a roasting dish and roast in the oven for 8 minutes. Serve the risotto with the crispy chorizo garnished on top, and some extra grated parmesan if desired.

Recipe: Spicy Tomato and Chorizo Penne

This recipe is wonderfully picante and deeply saitsfying. The earthy flavours of smoked parika eminating from the chorizo, mixed with the spicy rich tomato sauce, stirred into wholemeal penne makes a wonderfully quick tasty gratifying lunch for two. The chorizo i've been cooking with lately is fabulous, I got it from The Bath Pig Company with whom i'll be doing some work experience in the spring. Their products are lovely, locally reared, and made with proper old fashioned curing techniques - and you can really taste that in the meat. My boyfriend is a bit of a fan of "burnt meat"- in a way that for instance, he likes his bacon 'cremated' - so if you want the chorizo really charred, put it in the oven for 15 minutes, but 10 is fine enough for me.

Spicy Tomato and Chorizo Penne (serves 2)

100g cooking chorizo, diced into small cubes
200g wholemeal penne
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 red chilli, finely diced
1 tbsp freshly chopped basil
1 tsp stock powder
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp mixed herbs
Salt, pepper and sugar to taste
Grated parmesan for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 220C. Put all the chorizo into a roasting dish and put in the oven for 10 minutes. Meanwhile bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.
2. Meanwhile, heat up all the other ingredients (except the parmesan) in a small saucepan, stirring often. Season to taste, mix into the cooked pasta, and spoon into two bowls. Top with the crispy chorizo, some freshly grated parmesan, and serve!

Recipe: Chicken, Ham and Pea Risotto

This is by no means a traditional risotto recipe but it's certainly a tasty one. It's good recipe for using up cold cuts,such as after Christmas, for example. I've just come back from Yorkshire and, like normal, my boyfriend's mum sent us packing with a joint of beef, and a load of roast chicken and ham. I know that in normal risotto recipes you are supposed to add the stock gradually, but since my boyfriend doesn't like his risottos al dente, I just chuck it all in at the same time. It's a less authentic way of doing it but also less fussy I suppose.

Chicken, Ham and Pea Risotto (serves 2)

1 tbsp olive oil
Knob of butter
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
150g risotto rice
600-700ml vegetable or chicken stock
1 bay leaf
100g cooked (leftover roast if possible) chicken
50g diced ham
100g frozen peas
1 rounded tsp Philadelphia
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan shavings for garnish

1. Fry the onion and garlic in the butter and olive oil for 6 minutes. Add the rice, stir in, and then add the stock and bay leaf and cook for 5 minutes on a medium heat, stirring often.
2. Add the chicken and ham, and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the peas and Philadelphia, and cook for 2-5 minutes, or until all of the stock has been absorbed and the rice is cooked. Season to taste and serve with parmesan shavings!

Recipe: Leerdamer, Ham, and Asian Pickled Vegetable Baguette

Hey guys. So sorry it's been a while (a week! Jeez- I really do owe you guys an apology!) since my last post, but i've had so much going on lately I haven't had time to get on to my computer! I've been on holiday in France for a couple of days (for the Django Reinhardt festival) and then up in Yorkshire (Ilkley) visiting mates and seeing my boyfriends mum for another couple of days. And then actually the day before all that I had a masterclass in London with no other than Marco Pierre White!!(which I will tell you guys all about once i've got some promo photos of me and him to show off to you all!).

This is another one of my recipes that i've developed for Bel, and also for the British Sandwich Association, as this year is the 250th anniversary of the sandwich! According to the British Sandwich Association, a sandwich is classed as "Any form of bread with a filling, generally assembled cold - to include traditional wedge sandwiches, as well as filled rolls, baguettes, pitta, bloomers, wraps, bagels and the like, but not burgers and other products assembled and consumed hot", and so this recipe and also my pulled bbq beef toasties are definitely classed as proper sandwiches! Again, in this recipe I have used Leerdamer mature slices, but feel free to use normal leerdamer or leerdamer light slices instead.

Leerdamer, Honey roast ham, and Asian pickled vegetable baguette (serves 4)

For the pickled vegetables:
90g peeled and julienned carrot
90g julienned seeded cucumber
Small handful fresh coriander, stems and leaves finely chopped
35ml rice vinegar
20g sugar
Splash of soy sauce
½ tsp crushed ginger
Salt to taste

For the baguette:
40g butter (or low fat margarine)
4 demi-baguettes
8 slices (200g) Leerdamer mature, sliced in half diagonally.
150g wafer thin honey roasted ham

1. In a bowl, combine the rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, ginger and salt, and whisk until the sugar has dissolved. Mix into this the carrots, cucumber and coriander well, and marinate covered for at least an hour.
2. Once the vegetables have marinated, spread four halved demi-baguettes with butter, and fill with equal amounts of ham, Leerdamer and pickled vegetables. Serve!

NB: For Caterers, the pickled vegetables can of course be made in bulk, and have a two day shelf life. This baguette can be sold on its own, or can be sliced in half and served with salad, fries, coleslaw, or even a mug of soup as part of a lunch deal.

Recipe: Boursin, Parma Ham and Artichoke Bruschetta

This is another recipe I created for the Bel cheese academy, the most yummy Italian style starter, or perfect when you just fancy a light lunch or a quick bite to eat. You can use other types of cold cuts instead of parma, such as serrano ham or salami. To make it an even quicker lunch, you can use the chargrilled artichokes you get from delis instead of roasting your own. In this recipe, using normal boursin or boursin cuisine is fine, you dont need to make any adaptions.

Boursin, Parma Ham and Artichoke bruschetta (serves 5 as a starter)

For the artichokes:
1 in artichoke hearts, in water
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp garlic paste
½ tsp chilli flakes
Salt and pepper

For the bruschetta:

5 large slices ciabatta or tiger bread
Drizzle olive oil
100g boursin cuisine garlic and herb
5 slices Parma ham
50g mixed watercress and rocket salad
50g toasted walnuts

1. Drain and rinse the tinned artichokes, and cut into quarters. Mix the extra virgin olive oil and garlic paste together well. Place the artichokes on a non stick baking tray, cover in the garlic oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and chilli flakes. Cook under a hot grill for about 10 minutes, or until slightly charred. Set aside.
2. Brush the slices of bread with olive oil and put under the grill for a couple of minutes, until toasted. Spread with boursin cuisine, and top each bruschetta evenly with the artichokes, parma ham, salad and walnuts. Serve!

Recipe: Chicken, Bacon and Boursin Pie

You will be getting a load of Bel cheese recipes from me over the next few weeks. As you guys may remember about 1/2 a year ago i won an Ipad from Bel, and then after this they asked me whether i wanted to become a Brand Ambassador. I of course agreed, and whilst they have been sending me loads of lovely cheese, i've been busy developing scrumptious recipes! In the recipes i used a product called "Boursin Cuisine"- which is something caterers can find in bulk, but it's basically the same as normal boursin, only a bit more creamier. If you cant get boursine cuisine, instead just add 50ml single cream to the recipe as well as the normal Boursin you get from supermarkets.

Chicken, Bacon and Boursin Pie (serves 2)

1 tbsp olive oil
6 spring onions, finely sliced
5 rashers thin streaky bacon, diced
400g diced chicken breast
200ml skimmed milk
200g Boursin Garlic and Herb Cuisine
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 sheet ready rolled short crust pastry (or homemade)

1. Sautee the spring onions and bacon in the olive oil on a medium high heat for five minutes. Add the chicken and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the skimmed milk and cook for a further 10 minutes.
2. Add the boursin cuisine, increase the heat to high, and keep stirring the mixture until it has become quite a thickened consistency. Season to taste, and set aside to cool.
3. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a greased pie dish with short crust pastry, then bunch up and roll out the rest of the short crust pastry thinly. Spoon the pie filling into the pastry evenly, top with the rest of the rolled pastry, and trim any excess away from the sides of the pie dish.
4. Decorate the edges of the pastry, and add a pastry leaf or some other design for the middle of the pie, brush with beaten egg, and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve.

Recipe: Braised Lentils with chorizo and purple sprouting broccoli

Made this quick little dish up the other day, purple sprouting broccoli of course being in season at the moment. I suppose it's rather later than normal to be using wild garlic, but because of the ghastly weather we've been having in spring/early summer, generally everything has been rather late this year. You can of course, if you want an even quicker supper, use 2 tins of cooked lentils, and only 100ml of stock- but i think you get a better flavour from using dried lentils in this dish. I have served this with some steamed buttered jersey royals- yum!

Braised lentils with chorizo and purple sprouting broccoli (serves 2)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
4 wild garlic leaves, finely chopped
½ white onion, finely diced
100g chorizo, diced
150g green lentils
600ml low sodium (or weak) vegetable stock
100g purple sprouting broccoli, diced
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Sautee the onion, chorizo and wild garlic in the olive oil and butter, in a deep frying pan, for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the lentils and stock, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often (adding a little more stock if the lentils get too dry).
2. Add the purple sprouting broccoli and cooking for a further 6 minutes. Season to taste and serve!

Recipe: Cajun Pork Casserole

Can't believe this recipe -it's epic, I actually fooled my brother into eating swede, as well as apple! Its flavourful, healthy, filling, and pretty darn cheap to make too. I served this with macaroni (as we didnt have any bread or rice in the house) and that actually works really well as a side dish.

Cajun Pork Casserole (serves 4)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 white onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
450g diced pork (leg or shoulder)
2 carrots, peeled and diced
200g diced swede
1 apple, peeled and diced
1 tin tomatoes
1 tin kidney beans in chilli sauce
1 tsp paprika
300ml vegetable stock
1 tsp bisto gravy granules
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. In a casserole, sauté the onion, garlic and pork in the olive oil for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add all the other ingredients and bring to the boil.
2. Put a lid on the casserole, and put in the oven for half an hour. Remove, stir it, and return to the oven for a further 30 minutes. Season to taste and serve!

Recipe: Chorizo and Potato Enchiladas

This is a delicious comforting mexican dish that i served me and my brother the other night whilst i popped over to watch Game of Thrones. OMG i love this series, so much so that i pop on a bus to my parents house just to watch it (because we don't have Sky at my new house- lame!). Of course I always end up cooking dinner whenever i head over to my parents house, so at least i'm doing something over there when I visit other than just watching loads of TV. The tomato sauce i used for these Enchiladas was a pre-prepared Jamie Oliver tomato and chilli sauce, which was very spicy but worked very well, but you can of course use whatever type of tomato sauce you and your family prefer. Oh, and also, if you end up with any chorizo/potato mixture leftover, its great fried up as a brunch the next day with a fried egg!

Chorizo and Potato Enchiladas (serves 4)

800g potatoes, peeled and diced finely
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, diced finely
2 garlic cloves, crushed
160g chorizo, diced finely
1 tsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
8 large tortilla wraps
1.2kg jar tomato sauce (a spicy tomato sauce if possible)
200g cheddar

1. Boil the potatoes in salted water for 5 minutes, drain, and set aside. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. In a large sautéing pan, fry the onion, garlic and chorizo in the olive oil for 10 minutes. Add the blanched potato, and fry for a further 10 minutes, stirring often. Once the potatoes are soft and browned, season this mixture to taste, and set aside to cool.
3. Stuff the potato chorizo mixture into the tortilla wraps (there may be some extra mix left). Lay the stuffed tortillas into baking dishes, pour tomato sauce on top of them, cover with cheese and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Serve!

Recipe: Pork Mince Pie

I never knew how cheap pork mince was- it's even cheaper than beef in fact, £2 for 500g!?! That's insane! I cooked this for my brother and one of his mates that he had round, i went over to cook for him as our parents are currently away in Sharm El Sheik and so Michael is left all on his own. And he can't cook a damn thing- seriously, he can't even open a tin!!! He's been surviving off pot noodles and scotch eggs ever since theyve been away i think. This was a very filling and substantial meal, that kept both me and two hungry teenage boys happy. The pie can be a little messy when it comes to serving, as the mince kinda falls out everywhere, but the flavour is fantastic!!

Pork Mince Pie (serves 3/4)

3 tbsp olive oil
1 white onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
½ tsp marjoram
500g pork mince
2 tbsp Worchester sauce
2 generous teaspoons English mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
1 sheet ready rolled puff pastry sheet
Milk or beaten egg to glaze

1. Fry the onion, garlic and marjoram in the olive oil, for 10 minutes, stirring often. Increase heat to high, add the pork mince, and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the Worchester sauce and mustard, and cook for another 5 minutes. Season to taste and set aside to cool.
2. Preheat the oven to 200C. Put the pastry sheet on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Cut the pastry in half, pile all the mince mixture onto one half, and top with the other half. Crimp the pastry at the edges, and cut a couple of holes in the top of the pie to avoid soggy pastry.
3. Brush with beaten egg or milk, and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Serve!

Recipe: Homemade Pork Burgers with Relish

These burgers were some of the most flavourful and moist burgers I have ever had- the texture is just divine! I've never actually cooked with pork mince but it seemed to work quite well as burgers. The relish is really nice as well- very simple, but it ends up tasting just like the relish you get in burger bars, which is kinda what i wanted tonight! I'm in a bit of a tizz at the moment actually, as our oven has just broke! Don't know who on earth to call- who fixes ovens?? Looks like you might be getting cold/ salad recipes on here for the next couple of months, haha!

Homemade Pork Burgers, with cucumber and tomato relish (makes 4 burgers, so serves 2-4)

1 tbsp olive oil (plus more for when you griddle the burgers)
1 red onion, finely diced
450g lean minced pork
Handful fresh basil, finely chopped
6 sundried tomatoes, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
4 burger baps (white and with sesame seeds is my preference)
Salad as garnish (optional)

The relish
½ medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely diced
150g tomatoes, seeded and diced
100g ketchup
1 level tsp Barts hot chilli paste in sunflower oil
Bit of black pepper

1. First of all, fry the red onions in 1 tbsp of olive oil for about 5 minutes, or until softened, and set aside. Mix the minced pork, basil, sundried tomato, cooked red onions and plenty of seasoning in a mixing bowl (this is best to do with your hands!). Do this until everything is well mixed and is coming together a bit better.
2. Shape the mince into 4 burgers, place gently on a plate, and put in the fridge for 30 minutes (this helps them keep their shape whilst cooking). Now mix all the relish ingredients in a bowl, season to taste, and set aside.
3. Preheat the oven onto 220C, and put a griddle pan onto high heat. Pour a little oil onto the griddle pan, and fry each burger 2 minutes each side (depending on size of pan, you may want to do it 1 or 2 at a time- each time you put a new burger on, add a little more oil to prevent sticking). Place these burgers onto a baking tray, and put in the oven for 10 minutes.
4. Serve the burger in the baps with a couple of tablespoons of relish, and some salad on the side.

Recipe: Sausage and Bean Casserole

This was a really tasty, economical dinner that I made yesterday. I had another portion for my lunch today and froze another portion, which is great- Nick didn't have any of it because he's so fussy how he haw meat. He loves bacon, he loves sausages, but he wont eat it if it's "in" a dish. Honestly- he's as fussy as my little brother sometimes! This is a bit of a Heinz-fest i suppose, but of course i always haved these products in the house. I'm not one of these people that are obsessed with branding on products, but when it comes to baked beans, ketchup, and cream of tomato soup- it just has to be Heinz, otherwise it just tastes weird. I served this just with some brussel sprouts- it doesnt really need mash with it, because theres already potatoes in it.

Sausage and Bean Casserole (serves 3)

3 tbsp olive oil
9 gourmet chipolata sausages, halved or diced into 3rds
Knob of butter
1 white onion, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp dried thyme
500ml beef stock
1/2 tin Heinz baked beans
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 generous tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp corn flour, mixed with a little water
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. In a casserole pan, cook the sausages over a high heat in 2tbsp of the olive oil, for about 5 minutes (or until browned). Remove them with a slotted spoon and set them aside. Add another tbsp of oil the casserole, along with the onions, garlic and butter, and fry for 5 minutes.
2. Add everything except the corn flour, bring to the boil, cover, and put in the oven for 1 hour. Remove, stir, and put in for another hour.
3. Remove, add the corn flour, stir well, and return to the oven for a final 15 minutes. Season to taste and serve!

Recipe: Heinz Pasta Bake

Another recipe with a rather sneaky/ time saving ingredient in- a tin of heinz tomato soup! It's something we always have in our cupboards at home, and so i thought i would use it as a sauce and make a bake (in one of my rather lovely new Le Creuset bake dishes my mum bought me for Christmas). I have now moved out of my parent's house, to live with my boyfriendp- which has been a little bit daunting, but i love it really! But nowadays, now that i actually have a student loan, i'm looking for cheap easy and filling meals, and this really fits the bill. Nick ate this and couldnt even guess the "secret ingredient"- so trust me, it doesnt just end up tasting of soup- Lol!

Heinz Pasta Bake (serves 4)

280g dried penne
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large clove garlic, crushed
120g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
30g chopped/shredded smoked ham
1 tin Heinz cream of tomato soup
100g grated cheddar

1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Cook the penne for 9 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. In the same pan, fry the mushrooms and garlic in the olive oil for 2 minutes. Add all the other ingredients to the pan (except the cheddar) and the cooked pasta, and stir until well combined.
3. Pour into baking dish, top with cheddar, and chuck under the grill for 5 minutes. Serve!

Recipe: Carrot, Maple and Bacon Soup

Sounds like a reeeeeeally weird combination I guess, but when you think about it things like honey and maple syrup are used with root vegetables all the time. Honey roasted parsnips or carrots are of course, a very popular dish at Christmas. So I thought I would try and see whether maple syrup and carrots compliment eachother, and it worked out really really well! I then thought, this soup is quite sweet, so it needs something salty to set it off- and then I remembered Americans love putting maple syrup on their bacon and pancakes at breakfast, so I thought that would make a good garnish. In some supermarkets you can actually get "maple cured bacon" as well, which is delicious too. I am entering this recipe into Love The Garden's "Christmas Carrot" recipe competition. It is a recipe competition for bloggers that ends 21st December- all you have to do is post up a carrot recipe onto your blog, mention their site, and you are end up with a chance to win a £200 dinner at any restaurant of your choice! Here is the URL, if any of you fancy going in for it! http://www.lovethegarden.com/blog/christmas-carrot-competition

Carrot, Maple and Bacon Soup (makes 2 large bowls, or serves 4 as a starter)

50g butter
1 red onion, diced
1 white onion, diced
½ tsp mixed herbs
500g carrots, peeled and diced
30ml maple syrup (plus extra for drizzling)
700ml vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
4 thin rashers smoked bacon (or generally 2 rashers per person)

1. Sautee the onions, mixed herbs and carrots in the butter and maple syrup, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid, and continue to cook for about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables have started to caramelise.
2. Add vegetable stock and cook on a high heat for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to as high as possible, and cook rashers of smoky bacon on s non-stick baking tray until they go nice and crispy (this generally takes 10-15 minutes).
3. Blend the soup, add any extra water/stock if necessary to get to your desired thickness, season to taste and serve hot- garnished with crispy smoked bacon and an extra drizzle of maple syrup!

Recipe: Pork Goulash

Many attempts have been made over this dish but i think i've finally perfected it! Goulash is a wonderfully warming European treat- originally Hungarian but very popular in the colder countries of Eastern Europe. Me and Nick had some fantastic goulashes when we went to Prague last year and i've been trying to pinpoint a good recipe of it ever since. It's warming, it's meaty, but its also got a strong tomato flavour, as well as the most important element- the sweet fragrant taste you get from carraway seeds. I would say that without carraway seeds you can't make a traditional goulash, it's what sets it apart from different stews and casseroles. This dish is also very nice made with beef, but pork is the more traditionally used meat.

Pork Goulash (serves 3-4)

2 tbsp olive oil
450g diced pork leg, seasoned with salt and pepper
1 red onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
400g diced fresh tomatoes
1 red pepper, diced
2 large carrots, diced
500ml beef stock
1 tsp marmite
10g caraway seeds
3g cumin seeds
¼ tsp hot smoked paprika
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp sugar
1 rounded tsp cornflour, mixed with a little water.
Salt and pepper
Chopped fresh parsley and soured cream for garnish

1. Toast the cumin and caraway seeds in a hot pan until smoking and browned (not burnt!), and blend in a spice or coffee grinder until fairly fine. Set aside.
2. Fry the diced pork in the olive oil in a large saucepan until beginning to brown, about 6 minutes. Add the red onion and garlic and fry for a further five minutes.
3. Preheat the (fan) oven to 180C. Add all the other ingredients (including the reserved ground spices) to the pork and cook on a medium-high heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour mixture into a large casserole dish, cover, and cook in the oven for 1 hour. Remove, add cornflour, stir in, and cook for a further hour.
4. Garnish with some chopped fresh parsley, and serve with some soured cream and some chunks of crusty bread or a big pile of creamy mashed potato!

Recipe: Pork, Butterbean and Spring Green Casserole

I've been meaning to write this up for ages- this is such a moreish recipe- maybe the reason its taken me ages to put this up is because we've started eating it before i can take a picture of it! Lol! Nick says this is his favourite recipe of mine. This, my keema matar, and my chicken and black bean stew are his favourites. I think in general he just loves casseroles- as do I. Use a very lean cut of meat, and make sure you sear it, and your result will be literally melt-in-the-mouth pork! Takes a while in the oven, but it's still a fairly simple recipe to make though. Apologies for dirty oven though- filthy! Shall have to get nick into some marigolds to get scrubbing that hob (haha!)

Pork, butterbean and spring green casserole (serves 2)

2 tbsp olive oil
250g diced lean pork, seasoned with salt and pepper
2 rashers smoky bacon, diced
1 banana shallot (or 4 little shallots) sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
½ tsp smoked paprika
1 tin butterbeans, drained and rinsed
500ml chicken stock
1 bay leaf
150g diced spring greens
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
½ tsp Worchester sauce
1 rounded tsp cornflour, mixed with a little water
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. In a casserole, fry the seasoned pork in the olive oil on a high heat for about 5 minutes. Add the shallot, bacon and garlic and cook for 5 more minutes.
2. Add all the other ingredients (except the cornflour), mix well, put the lid on, and put in the oven for an hour.
3. Remove from the oven, add the cornflour mixture, mix in, then put back in the oven for a further 45 minutes. Remove, season to taste, and serve!

Recipe: Sausages with Roasted Tomatoes and Mushrooms

This is a very simple dish, only a few ingredients- but a lot of flavour! It's good if you don't want to make too much washing up as well- cause you only need to use one dish to cook it all in! I like to serve this with hunks of french baguette to mop up the juices, and steamed green veg. I also generally like to use nice plump "taste the difference" pork sausages. Cause theres nothing worse really than bad quality sausages- cheap sausages are just not worth it! Although to be fair although I would never eat them, I love the latest Wall's sausages advert- with the singing dog. "But he can't really tell you cos he's just a bloke really"- hahaha (:

Sausages with roasted tomatoes and mushrooms (serves 1-2)

4 pork sausages
100g mushrooms, diced
80g Cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
½ tsp dried rosemary
¼ tsp dried garlic
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Place four sausages into a heatproof dish, prick them, and cook them in the oven for 15 minutes.
2. Remove the dish from the oven, remove the sausages and set aside. Into the heatproof bowl, add all the other ingredients, and mix up a little. Place the reserved sausages on top of the vegetables, and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
3. Remove from the oven and serve!