Jet lag lasagne

So, I thought I would start posting all my recipes from the past few months on here and I will start with my first meal back from Australia.

My time zones were all over the place when I landed back in London and I woke up at 7am craving savoury dinner. So what do you cook for breakfast when you fancy homemade comfort food? Lasagne, that's what. Everyone thought I was mad but when you fancy something, then cook it.

I simmered tins of tomatoes with beef mince, onions, and mushrooms for about an hour and let it all reduce and get all tasty. I also added some cannelloni beans to bulk out the meat and fill us up more. Lasagne is a dish that you can add loads of boosting bits to to make it taste delicious. I would start with tomato ketchup, chutneys, or any pickles you fancy. You could go extreme like we did and add a spoonful of vegemite and chicken salt (available from your local Australian stores or online) and it added a punchy hit that brings out the best in a strong tomato reduction. Once you start adding bits, you can't stop. But don't go too far though...no-one likes custard in pasta sauce!

Once reduced and tasting good, I layered the punchy beef and tomato sauce with pasta sheets, béchamel sauce, and cheese.

I baked in the oven for about 45 mins and then served with salad.


The key to lasagne is make sure you rest it and let all the juices set a bit. This will make it easier to cut and it will sit better on the plate.

If your not jet lagged then I would suggest to serve at normal dinner hours with a glass of Italian red!

ZP x

Toad in the hole: rainy English weather food

So it's 5 days to go until I head off to Australia for a month. I can't wait for the Asian inspired food and fresh fish over there. I thought I'd leave with a scrummy English meal for you all to make while cuddled up with the rain lashing down: Toad in the Hole...

So, first, I part roasted the sausages and made the Yorkshire pudding batter to go with it (225g  plain flour, 4 eggs, 250ml milk). Heat oil in the dishes for 15 mins in a hot (180 degrees) oven. When oil is hot, put the sausages in and pour the batter around them. Bake for 30 mins until the batter is all puffed up.

To serve, mash some carrots and suede. Onion gravy goes down well here.

Enjoy the cold weather!

ZP x

Banana and nut cake: the easiest cake in town

Now this is one dessert that I don’t need to weigh anymore. I love my banana cakes and it’s different every time. To make it easy, use a simple Victoria sponge mix then add banana, mix nuts, and dried fruit. This time I creamed butter and sugar, beat in 2 eggs and then sieved in flour with a little baking powder. I mashed 3 very black bananas and then added them in with some vanilla extract and chopped up my leftover nuts and fruits from the cupboard. I baked until it smelt good and when it didn’t pull any raw cake out when pricked with a skewer.

Leave to cool for as long as you can and then serve with raspberries.


ZP x

Coffee table platter: lazy, romantic dinner for two

Stuck for dinner tonight? Simply raid the deli at your local market or supermarket and pick up bread, pate, cheese, meats, olives, marinated peppers, hummus and anything else you fancy. I had some pickled aubergines sent down by the neighbour so I used these.  They were amazing – pickled in garlic, oil and all sorts of yummy herbs. I warmed up some pitta/ciabatta. You can dive in with your fingers and eat lots while watching a great movie or catching up with the events of the day. Amazing dinner with no cooking – all you need to do it just make it look pretty on bread boards!

Serve with red wine and coffee for after.

I decanted some red wine so it could breathe a bit (and then had the Burgandy after!); it's amazing what a few hours does to wine. If you don't have enough time to let the wine breathe, then I would pick a lighter red like a Pinot Noir. It doesn't have many tannins in so it's not a wine that necessarily needs to breathe - it's great straight out the bottle!

Have a great weekend!

(10 days until Australia!)

ZP x

Mexican wraps: healthy-style with salsa and guacamole

So, another meal with the neighbour, and this time it’s hand rolled lettuce Mexican style wraps. Replacing tortilla wraps with lettuce or cabbage is a great, healthy alternative (I'll be hitting Bondi beach soon so trying to stay low on the carbs!)

Frying the beef mince off (I had some left over from a spag bol), I mixed in fennel seeds, cinnamon, cumin, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, chili flakes and onion seeds, along with diced onion and carrot to use them up. It was like dry spicy spag bol mix – which is what I wanted. I made up bowls of tomato salsa (recipe is here); guacamole (mashed avocado, juice of 2 limes, a pinch of salt, pepper, and sugar); sour cream; and cheese, then we wrapped it all up in one iceberg lettuce wrap.

We kept going until the lettuce had gone…yum. There was even some mince left to give to Dad for his jacket potato dinner.

Tonight, I'm cooking Asian noodle broth for Gabi, it's going to be a thinly sliced vegetables and pork with stock and some Asian flavours. Healthy, clean eating is the way to go until back from holiday!

I also made thai glass noodles the other day (little pic shown below) with rendang curry paste, coconut milk, sliced beef, fish sauce, mushrooms, peppers, and some other bits. The paste is normally meant to make curry but I only had beef slices and some spare noodles and veg so I made my own little concoction. Using spices is a great way to infuse flavour into food without all the calories.

ZP x

Christmas food: fish, roast dinner and glazed ham

So I've been very busy (mainly eating and drinking) this festive holiday so just wanted to show some quick pics of the Christmas food I've had so far. I have indulged in lots of fish: salmon, calamari, trout with potato dauphinoise (and that's just on Christmas Eve!). I love to be healthy and fish being an amazing source of omega 3, it's a key aspect in the food I eat.

Christmas Day was the usual roast dinner with extra trimmings, eaten with all the family. My sister made an amazing combo of brussel sprouts, cabbage and smoky bacon as a side - it's was delicious! Thanks Zoe!

But the best thing I've discovered this Christmas is glazed ham. I've always wanted to do my own but normally ended up buying it. We (my Mum and I) simmered the ham in cola and beer (to cover it) with peppercorns and other spices (we used Chinese five spice) for two hours. We then let it sit to cool and soak over night on Christmas Day night. This morning (Boxing Day morning) we took it out and made a rub to then glaze it with. Then run consisted of Dijon mustard, soy sauce, golden syrup, Demerara sugar, ground cinnamon stick, and ground ginger. Once coated liberally on the ham, we then cooked the ham in the oven at 200 degrees for half an hour. Every 10 minutes I took out the ham and basted it with the juices so the ham took on not only the colour of the rub but also the flavour. Here it is: 

I cannot describe how delicious this ham was but let's say it was the tastiest thing I've eaten all year (and I've eaten a lot!). I think we've discovered a new family tradition - the glazed ham. No longer will I buy it - it is far to yummy to make!!! This was the feast we followed it up with, a little meat and cheese Boxing Day picnic: 

Merry Christmas to you all, I hope you've all had an indulgent, exciting few days, cooking with family and eating lots. Oh, and happy new year too!

ZP x

Plaice, potato rosti, tomato salsa, and cucumber relish

One of my quickest dinners is potato, green veg and fried fish with a caper butter. The fish I use ranges from salmon, trout, whiting, plaice or whatever the fishmonger has on offer/needs to get rid of. If I'm going all out and cooking something special then I'll get some turbot or halibut, but usually this is a mid week dinner that takes half an hour, and is really healthy (well...maybe if I used a little less butter!)

The way I cook the fish stays the same; I tend mix up the accompanying sides to make every dish a little different (it usually involves finding what in the fridge would go with the fish...).

Start with the thing that takes the longest and in this case it’s the potato. Grate potato and onion. Add mustard seeds and fennel seeds with salt and pepper and an egg. Mix well and shape with your hands into a flat disc about the circumference of a large mug. Fry in oil (I used rape seed as I got some Cotswold stuff in the local shop on offer) for 5-10 mins on a medium hot pan then flip and add a little butter for another 5-10 mins until golden.

While that’s cooking, cut up your tomatoes into small cubes (you can flash boil for 30 secs to remove the skin and seeds inside but I don’t do this if I don’t have the energy) and add spoonful of sugar, chopped fresh basil, chopped fresh parsley, 1 crushed garlic clove, oil, salt, pepper. 

For the cucumber relish, peel it with a y-shaped potato peeler (it does work!) in thin strips then marinade in a mixture of vinegar and sugar, then take out and add dill and salt and pepper. The slightly cool cucumber crunch with the soft white fish is amazing.

Rub the fish with a touch of oil, salt and pepper, and fry on each side until golden (few minutes on each side on a high heat). When you put it in the pan, don't fiddle around with it as a crusty skin outside won't form: put it in a pan and leave it to sizzle until you turn it over. Add butter at the end to colour it (capers optional). Baste it with the caper butter by using a spoon to spoon the frothing butter over the fish. Once the butter turns a medium brown colour, take off the heat and plate up immediately.

Serve on the rosti, with salsa, relish and lemon.

ZP x

Curry: experiment with spice

This is another dish that you can use all your leftovers for. It's so easy - you can make a strong, fragrant curry or just a delicate one depending on what and how many spices you put in. For the sauce, I range from using tinned tomatoes to fresh tomatoes and also whether to use coconut milk or cream. You can experiment with all of these and much more. Even ground almonds make a great addition.

Experimenting and diverting away from recipes is the key here. You won't learn if you don't make mistakes. I've made curries too spicy, too hot, too rich but whatever I do, I always add too much so I've learned to tone down and perfect flavours to my own taste. I personally love cardamon pods and I'm not that mad on cumin seeds so I use more of one and less of the other but someone else might be the other way round; it's all personal.

By the way, this is my own recipe that I've invented - I've got no idea whether it's the way to make curries but I think they taste lovely and it's all fresh and healthy. Spices are the best way of adding flavour without the usual fattiness of butter or cream (like my Nan used to do with everything!)

In general, I start with the spice mix. I tend to mix a teaspoon of each of the following: cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, turmeric powder with 6 cardamon pods and 3/4 cloves.  I crush the green cardamon pods to get the black seeds inside as the skin isn't pleasant to eat. So, fry all the spices together (minus the turmeric powder) for 2-3 mins on a hot pan until you can smell them and they're slightly browner than before. Tip them all in a mortar and pestle and grind with a teaspoon of salt until formed a powder (preferably use man with a strong arm like I do!) or you could use one of those special spice grinder machines but I like doing it by hand. Once the curry powder is fine then put aside.

Next, brown off whatever meat you fancy in a large pan (I've used everything from balled up sausage to chicken to pork shoulder to beef neck). When browning meat, don't let the meat touch other pieces as it will create steam which will then start to braise the meat and not brown properly. Brown meat in batched if necessary.

Take out the meat and fry diced onions (2 medium) with 3 cloves of crushed garlic, diced carrot (2 large), and anything else you fancy (maybe peppers etc) in the remaining meat juices. I then add a teaspoon of nigella and mustard seeds and then let them pop for a bit (if the pan is hot enough then they pop around the pan). Make a well in the vegetables and add the curry powder and fry this off for a few minutes. Add the meat back in and stir. Add the turmeric and stir. All this should be done on a medium heat. Then add tomatoes (2 tins worth so you could do a mixture of chopped fresh and tinned if you like) and then turn heat down to simmer. You might need a little more water if you want to simmer it for longer. I like to add fruit to my curries (chicken and mango goes down a storm) after it's simmered for 20 minutes. Allow the tomatoes to thicken up and all the spices to come together. At the end you could add a bag of spinach straight in and stir in, as well as cashews, flaked almonds, or whatever you fancy (the picture in the pan is when the spinach is wilting withing the finished curry - it take seconds).

Serve with turmeric rice (rice boiled with veg stock and teaspoon of turmeric) and a sprinkling of coriander leaves.

If you want to make a creamier curry then make it less spicy and add more coconut cream than tomatoes. The main thing is to experiment and find what your taste buds like the best. Have fun creating!

ZP x

Homemade Pizzas

Now these are really so easy that you don’t need to call a take away. Plus, I have a big cheat! Also, kids love to help so get them involved too.

Buy the packets from the supermarket that have flour and yeast in them, ready to add water. All you need to do it add warm water to the flour and then knead it for 10 minutes until soft and bouncy. Rest for an hour in a warm place, then split into two and roll out into two thin pizza bases. For a base, use passata with added herbs/parmesan and then layer with slices of mozzarella and any veg/meat. Be warned though – sometimes you need to fry off mushrooms as the water can come out in them when you cook them. 

Cook on the highest temp your oven will go (traditionally pizza ovens are extremely hot so anything to replicate that makes the best pizzas). If the oven is at its hottest then the pizza will crisp up better and not get a soggy middle. Fast and high temp cooking is what is needed for pizzas.

Serve with plenty of family, friends and fun. Oh, and maybe a salad.

We ended up making 6 pizzas for 9 people with a rough cost of £10 in total: that's £1.66 a pizza. A bargain compared to the takeaway...

Get making!

ZP x

Sausage stew

This is now a Preston favourite. I cooked this up in the lakes for the family and they loved it. It's just what you need this time of year: filling, heart-warming, and just generally yummy.

I like to take the skins off my sausages and then roll up into balls but to save time, you can just leave them whole (however, putting them into balls makes the meat seem like it goes further). Sear the sausages in a very large saucepan (the biggest one you’ve got). I used two packets (so 12 sausages) but if its just for one or for two people, then use one packet and you’ll have plenty left over. Once slightly browned on all sides, take out of the pan onto kitchen paper and then add 2-3 onions sliced in half moons, 3-4 garlic cloves chopped up, 2-3 peppers chopped, a fennel chopped, a few diced carrots and any other hardy veg (such as squashes etc) you fancy. Stir and colour them off slightly then add a glass of red (if you have any left over). Let the wine simmer down to almost nothing and then add 2 tins of chopped tomatoes (or if whole then use a knife and chop up in the can). Add half a tin of water too. Put the sausages back in, add a few bay leaves, salt, pepper, and any hard herbs such as rosemary or thyme.

The good thing about this dish is that you can add anything you have in the cupboards so if you’ve got some flavoured ketchup, mango chutney, fruit chutney, purees, then add them in and see how it tastes. I find a bit of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of sugar makes it tastier. You can use it to use up your leftover veg and those sausages that have been sat in the freezer for ages. There really isn’t a time in which it needs to simmer for either – once the ingredients are in then just let it simmer until it tastes and looks ready to eat. If the vegetables are soft, the sausages are cooked, and the sauce has turned into a reduced tomatoey-richness, then eat away! A steaming stew is what everyone would come home for.

Serve with jacket potatoes, cous cous, mash or anything you fancy.

ZP x

Scallops and Chorizo

This is actually the starter that we had before the baked Sea bass (click here to view it). It’s a perfect little taster, but if you wanted to bulk it out then and add some bread or perhaps make a bean stew to go underneath.

So, to prep the scallops, I like to take off the coral of the scallops (I cook them separate as some people tend to shy away from their strong taste). Fry the chorizo on a high heat until browned slightly (no fat needed in the pan as fat comes out whilst cooking) then place on kitchen paper. 

Fry the scallops off in the remaining oil. Spread them out evenly in the pan otherwise they'll steam and not sear. Cook on each flat side of the scallop for 2-3 minutes. Add butter towards the end to add more colour and flavour, then remove from the pan. Don't over cook - they'll be chewy. Add parsley, salt and pepper to the butter, and serve in a pretty fashion. A perfect dainty starter.

ZP x

Fresh egg pasta: Beef ravioli with oven-dried tomatoes, pesto oil, and mascarpone

So yesterday I attempted pasta for the first time ever. Yes, Mum, that means that I have finally used your Christmas present of the pasta machine after all these years!

My attempt went very, very well and apart from the first batch sticking to the work surface, there were no problems at all. I'd definitely make it again tomorrow - it was that easy! Honestly!

I started out by drying out the tomatoes in a 100 degree oven (low temp) and left them in there for a couple of hours while I cook.



Next, I started the pasta dough. I used a Georgio Locatelli measurement which was 300g '00' flour to 3 eggs and 2 egg yolks. The Italian '00' flour is meant to be better for pasta.


Make a well with the flour and add the eggs into it. Use fingers to stir the eggs gradually into the flour in a circular motion.

Once it comes together, knead well for 10 minutes. Push down with the heel of your hand, bring it back and quarter turn it every time. You'll soon get into a rhythm and it'll get smoother but still quite tough to knead. Once smooth to touch and you're out of breath (kneading should require you to get a slight sweat on otherwise you haven't put enough into it!), then cut into two parts and leave to rest in damp cloths.

Leave to rest for an hour or so while you make the filling. I've put toegther onions, mushrooms and the leftover roasting beef from Sunday's roast. I sauted onions with a few whole garlic cloves then added a glass of red wine and reduced right down to a tablespoon then added mushrooms to sweat down a bit, then tomato puree, some oregano, salt and pepper and then finally the beef. I didn't want to cook the beef very much as it is already cooked and I will be boiling it within the ravioli later.

Next, I made the pesto oil by mixing pesto (pine nuts/parmesan/basil/garlic/olive oil/salt/pepper) with more olive oil to make it into a drizzle consistency.

By this time, I had time to sit for 10-15 mins while the rest of the pasta rested and enjoyed a glass of red.

Once the pasta has rested for an hour, it's time to roll it out. With one of the halves, start with a rolling pin so it's gets to about a centimeter in a oblong shape. Then, feed into the largest width on the pasta machine and after two feeds on the widest width move to a smaller size each time. Gradually get down to the thinnest you can manage - I got to 8 out of 10 on my pasta machine scale. I could slightly see through it and this is plenty thin enough. Make sure you flour every surface and even the machine. It gets hot and will start to stick to everything so work quickly but carefully.

Once rolled out, lay flat and put your filling in little blobs along the sheets. Then carefully lay the second sheet over the top and squidge all the air round the edges. Any air left in the ravioli will burst when you boil them. I used a ravioli cutter here to trim the edges but a knife will do - just make sure to seal the edges firmly.

Here, you can see I've made two strips, one single ravioli and one double ravioli, it just depends on how the pasta rolls out. Little tip from the Italian: prick any air bubbles with a cocktail stick and then seal it back up with a little pinch. Also, semolina would also help instead of flour (it's traditionally used but I had flour in the cupboard).

I ended up with about 25 pieces of ravioli, and about 5 had to be thrown as the holes that I made in them couldn't be patched up.







Boil the ravioli for 5 minutes, putting in one at a time, in the biggest saucepan of hot water you can muster (with a big pinch of salt in). Test a corner of one to check, then dress your plate and serve with the leftover vino.







So, here you have it: my final dish. Beef ravioli with pesto oil, oven-dried tomatoes, and mascarpone. I've served it with a parmesan and rocket salad with a balsamic dressing. My italian neighbour loved it and I even got high praise from her Mum! Successful evening in the kitchen!



















So, turn away from that takeaway menu tonight and get creating: it's cheaper and way more rewarding!

ZP x

Hedgerow delights: Crumble fruit pies

In these dark slow evenings, I find myself harking back to summery days when I went searching in fields for the juiciest berry. I looked back to my recipes and found that after hedgerow picking, look what you could make…

Shortcrust pastry:

Sift flour and a pinch of salt into a bowl. Use half the amount of fat compared to the flour so if its 100g flour, then use 50g butter/lard. Add the fat into the sieved flour and mix with a knife and then by your fingertips. Rub it just enough to become like fine breadcrumbs. If you rub too much, it’ll become too oily and the pastry will be too crumbly when rolled out. Add cold water to the mixture. Flour absorbs water at different amounts depending on all sorts of circumstances; temperature of the air etc. Add the water table spoon by table spoon (make sure it’s cold) and mix with knife again, and then bring together with hands. The pastry should come together and leave the bowl clean. Wrap it in cling and then leave in the fridge for 30 mins – it’ll help to roll it out better. Bring it out of the fridge and allow to warm up slightly by room temperature. Then roll out to size – preferable evenly in quarter turns to give an even roll.

Blind bake pastry by putting greaseproof paper on top of the pastry and adding weight so it doesn’t rise too much. I filled mine with rice as I had some in an old packet in the cupboard. You can buy baking beans fit for the job, and some people even use coins. Bake blind for 15-20 mins until pastry is slightly golden.





Once blind baked, cut up fruit (I’ve used apples, raspberries, rhubarb, and gooseberries) and mix in a bowl with a few teaspoons of sugar. Put the fruit and sugar into the cases and top with crumble mixture.

Crumble Mixture:

Mix flour and butter together with fingertips (start off like the shortcrust pastry method) but add a few tablespoons of sugar towards the end (depending on how sweet you like your crumble mix). Easy!

Bake for half hour or so on 180 until the fruit is bubbling up and the crumble golden.

Here's some more crumbles made at my Mum's cottage with just the crumble mixture but the filling was blackberries, plums, and apricots:

ZP x

Pork shoulder, pesto, passata, potatoes and rocket

As promised, here's my dinner from this evening with my lovely neighbour.

Half sliced potato baked with rape seed oil, salt and pepper. Pan fried shoulder of pork then braised in passata and pesto. Served with rocket and lemon. Beautiful, healthy and so simple!

Enjoy the weekend!
ZP x