Author Archives: Sarah

Carrot Soup

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CARROT SOUP

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 large onion, roughly chopped
  • 4 large carrots, roughly chopped
  • Greek yoghurt
  • fresh coriander
  • vegetable stock
  • salt and pepper
  • olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons red pesto

METHOD

  1. Heat some olive oil in a pressure cooker.
  2. Gently fry the onion until soft.
  3. Add the carrot and season with salt.
  4. Add about 1.2 litres water and the vegetable stock.
  5. Cover the pressure cooker and bring to pressure.
  6. Turn down the heat and cook for 15 minutes.
  7. Blend the soup and then add some Greek yoghurt and the red pesto.
  8. Grind some black pepper over the surface of the soup.
  9. Serve with some chopped coriander.

Cooking Beans in the Pressure Cooker

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COOKING BEANS IN THE PRESSURE COOKER

Put 1 cup of beans in a bowl and cover with water.

Soak the beans for 24 hours.

Rinse the beans and put in a pressure cooker and add water.

Close the pressure cooker and bring to pressure.

As soon as the cooker reaches the first level of pressure, set the time for 15 minutes.

At the end of the cooking time, fast release the pressure and rinse the beans in cold water.

Drain and then transfer to plastic containers to keep in the freezer until needed.  

Walnut Brownies

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WALNUT BROWNIES

This brownie recipe uses dark chocolate and cocoa powder and is made with butter rather than oil.

Walnut Brownies

These brownies only need to be baked for a short time in the oven but time will depend on your oven.

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 120g dark chocolate
  • 120g butter
  • 20g cocoa powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 150g soft brown sugar
  • 70g plain flour
  • 50g chocolate chips
  • 50g walnuts, roughly broken
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

METHOD

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 160ºC fan.
  2. Brush your brownie tin with melted butter and line with greaseproof paper.
  3. In a saucepan, melt the chocolate, butter and cocoa powder and leave to cool.
  4. Whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy in a bowl.
  5. Stir the chocolate mix into the bowl with the eggs and sugar and whisk well.
  6. Fold in the flour, walnut pieces and chocolate chips.
  7. Spoon the brownie into the tin and bake for 25 minutes.
  8. The brownies should have a slight wobble wen cooked so put back in the oven for another couple of minutes if they look undercooked.

Vegetable Samosas

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VEGETABLE SAMOSAS

These vegetables samosas use shop-bought empanadilla pastry that you can buy in Spain. They are filled with potatoes, peas and onion and flavoured with Indian spices.

Vegetable Samosas

The samosas are a bit fiddly to make but once you’ve got the hang of them, you can prepare them quite quickly.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 packet of Buitoni (16 obleas de masa para empanadillas)
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 500 g potatoes, diced
  • 50 g frozen peas
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp ground fenugreek
  • ½ tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp garam masala

METHOD

  1. Bring the diced potato to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain.
  2. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and fry the chopped onion until soft.
  3. Sprinkle over the spices and fry for 30 seconds or so.
  4. Add the frozen peas and stir well, heating through for another couple of minutes.
  5. Spoon in the cooked potato and salt and mix well, breaking down the potatoes with the back of the wooden spoon.
  6. It might be necessary to add a couple of tablespoons of water so that the mixture is not too dry.
  7. Open up the packet of empanadillas and arrange them on a tray. It’s a good idea not to remove them from the waxed paper. You can remove them from the paper just before cooking.
  8. Put a small spoon of potato mix onto each half of the empanadillas.
  9. Fold the empanadilla in half, rolling it between your fingers to spread out the filling. Imagine you are rolling a cigarette so use your fingers to press the filling towards to middle of the empanadillas and leave a space around the edge.
  10. Use the paper to foll each one in half.
  11. Gently peel back the waxed paper and use the tips of your three middle fingers to press the edges together.
  12. Use the prongs of a fork to gently press down and seal the edges .
  13. Brush each samosa with olive oil.
  14. Cook the samosas in the air fryer on 200ºC for 8 minutes, turning over half way through.

Veggie Cottage Pie

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VEGGIE COTTAGE PIE

This recipe for vegetarian cottage pie is adapted from Tom Kerridge’s version. I substituted normal potatoes for the sweet potato topping. This was the first time I had made it and it was absolutely delicious and I will definitely be cooking this again.

Veggie Cottage Pie

This is a vegetarian version of the classic shepherd’s pie.

 

INGREDIENTS

    • potatoes or sweet potatoes, cut into chunks and cooked until soft
    • 2 carrots, roughly chopped
    • 2 large onions, roughly chopped
    • 3 celery sticks, roughly chopped
    • 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
    • 100ml red wine
    • 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
    • 2 tbsp tomato puree
    • 200g baby mushrooms
    • 200g frozen peas
    • 1 cup of dried puy lentils (approximately 800g cooked), soaked and cooked until tender
    • 1 tsp English mustard
    • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
    • 100g cheddar
    • 1 tsp smoked paprika
    • 1 tablespoon flour
    • 1/2 – 1 cup water
    • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
    • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
    • extra virgin olive oil
    • salt and pepper
    • 1 vegetable stock cube
    • large knob of butter

METHOD

    1. Heat some olive oil in a large, deep pan.
    2. Meanwhile, pulse the onion, carrots and celery in a Magimix or food processor until finely chopped.
    3. Add the vegetables to the pan and fry gently until soft before adding the garlic.
    4. Add the oregano and thyme, tomato puree and red wine and stir well.
    5. Add the tinned tomatoes,vegetable stock and stir in the cooked lentils, seasoning with salt and pepper.
    6. Next add the tinned tomatoes and stock cube.
    7. Bring to the boil and then cover and reduce the heat to a simmer.
    8. Cook for 15-20 minutes.
    9. Sprinkle over the flour and pour in the water.
    10. Heat through to thicken, adding more water if necessary. The idea is to get a fairly loose consistency.
    11. Transfer the mixture to an oven-proof casserole dish.
    12. Mash the potato along with the butter, both mustards and a splash of milk.
    13. Spoon the mashed potato onto the cottage mixture.
    14. Use a spatula to spread and smooth out the potato and then a fork to make some swirling patterns.
    15. Sprinkle over the grated cheese, the smoked paprika and drizzle over some olive oil.
    16. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180ºC for 45 minutes.