Meatballs with Almond Sauce

Seriously good meatballs…

1hr30

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:

• 450g lamb mince
• 1 large onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 55g bread (no crusts)
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh leaf parsley (more for serving)
• 1 egg
• salt & pepper
• plain flour
• freshly squeezed lemon

For the sauce:

• 25g bread
• 115 blanched almonds (whole/flaked)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 150ml dry white wine
• 425ml vegetable stock
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

Instructions:

Place bread in a bowl with a few tbsp of water to soak for a few minutes. Then squeeze water out of bread and combine with the lamb mince, onion, garlic, parsley & egg, and lightly season.

With floured hands form 2-3cm meatballs and coat in flour.

 Fry the meatballs in batchs until browned on all sides and remove to a plate. Retain the juices in the pan.

Break the bread into pieces and add to the pan with the almonds and 2 tbsp of olive oil, and fry for a few mins until golden.

Add the garlic and fry for a further 30 seconds, then pour in the wine and boil for 1-2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and leave to cool slightly.

Transfer the almond mixture to a blender and process until smooth adding the vegetable stock.

Return sauce to the frying pan with the meatballs and simmer for 25 minutes.

Taste the sauce and season as desired. Then serve with a generous squeeze of lemon and parsley, crusty bread and salad.

TIP: Lamb mince can be replaced with pork or beef, but isn’t as tasty in my opinion!

Adapted from “A passion for Tapas”

Rocky Road Cake

A chocolate feast!

 15min + 2hrs in fridge

Ingredients:

• 125g butter
• 300g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
• 3x 15ml tbsp golden syrup
• 200g rich tea biscuits , broken into small pieces
• 100g mini marshmallows
• 150g glacé cherries, chopped
• icing sugar for dusting

Instructions:

 Melt the chocolate, butter and golden syrup in a pan or microwave slowly, stirring regularly to prevent burning the chocolate.

Mix the biscuit pieces, mini marshmallows and cherries in a dish (roughly 9×9 inches or 23×23 cm) with half the chocolate mix, and spread evenly across the dish.

Pour the rest of the chocolate mix over the top and press all the mixture down so it’s nice and densely packed.

Leave in the fridge for at least 2hrs or overnight, then cut into small squares and dust with icing sugar to serve. No-one can resist…

Tomato & Goat’s Cheese Tart

Tasty, quick & easy. Perfect for a week night dinner!

 40min

Ingredients:

• Puff pastry (block/sheet, 375-500g)
• Tomato purée (1/3 of a tube, ~2 tbsp)
• 4 large tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 125g soft goat’s cheese
• A handful of fresh basil leaves
• Salt, pepper & olive oil

Instructions:

 First preheat the oven to 200°C. Then, start by rolling out the block of pastry on a floured surface to fit your standard oven tray (or use ready-rolled pastry). Place on greaseproof paper in your chosen tray.

Spread liberally with tomato purée leaving about an inch round the edge for the pastry to rise. Add the sliced tomatoes on top overlapping slightly. 

Interleave the tomatoes with the fresh basil leaves and add the goats cheese on top in little dollops. Season and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake in the oven for 20mins until the pastry is golden brown and the tart looks ready to eat!

TIP: It can be equally tasty with different cheeses and other little things like olives or anchovies.

Hummus

A popular Middle Eastern dip made from crushed chickpeas and tahini.

15 min

Ingredients:

• 1 can of chickpeas (400g)
• 4 tsp of tahini
• 4 tsp of natural yougurt
• 8 mint leaves
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 cloves of garlic crushed with ½ a tsp of salt
• paprika
• extra virgin olive oil
• parsley (optional)

Instructions:

Blend all the ingredients together in a suitable container.

Taste and add more of any ingredient if required (generally tahini/mint/salt).

Serve spread on a plate sprinkled with paprika, olive oil and parsley (as shown in picture).

TIP: Good for dipping toasted bread or pitta and raw vegetables, such as carrot or cucumber.

Chocolate & Cherry Roulade

One of the most delicious deserts EVER!!!!

35 + cooling + 10 min

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 225g plain chocolate
• 85ml water
• 1½ tsp instant coffee granules
• 5 room-temperature eggs
• 140g caster sugar
• greaseproof paper
• icing sugar and cocoa powder for dusting

For the filling:

• 1 can of cherry pie filling (or cherry jam with whole cherries in)
• 300ml double cream
• 2 deserts spoons caster sugar
• 2 capfuls of almond essence

Instructions:

Heat the oven to 175°C.

Cut a piece of greaseproof paper to fit the base and sides of a large baking dish (about 35×25 cm).

Melt the chocolate with the water and coffee granules in a saucepan over a medium heat (do not allow to burn). Stir until it forms a glossy mixture and then turn off the heat.

Separate the eggs into yolks and whites in 2 bowls (whites into a glass/metal bowl). Beat the yolks with ¾ of the sugar until pale and fluffy (only 1 min with an electric whisk).

Fold in the the partly-cooled chocolate mixture.

In the second bowl, whip the egg whites till the foam is firm but not dry (2-3 min with electric whisk) and then whisk in the rest of the sugar.

With a large metal spoon, add a small amount of whites to the chocolate-egg yolk mixture to loosen it. Then fold in the rest gently, trying to keep as much air in the mixture as possible.

Spread the mixture evenly in the lined baking dish and bake for 12-15 min until the top is firm but not burnt. Do not overcook or the cake will crack badly when rolled.

Slide the cake and parchment out of the baking dish and onto a wire rack. Leave to cool covered with a damp tea-towel.

When cooled, invert the cake carefully onto a piece of greaseproof paper dusted thickly with icing sugar (use wire rack to help you turn it).

Whip the cream with the sugar and the almond essence until it forms soft peaks.

Spread the cherry pie mix and then the cream evenly over the chocolate sponge then roll up the sponge cake using the parchment to help you. Peel away and place on serving dish seam-side down.

Sprinkle with icing sugar and cocoa powder to finish (hides all cracks!!).

Sponge recipe from “Leith’s Baking Bible” by Susan Spaull & Fiona Burrell.