Viral Smashed Kofta Wraps

I've seen a lot of reels of mince being squished onto wraps and fried.  My teens love kofta so I thought I'd give it a go.  The benefit of squishing the mince onto wraps means they don't take much cooking, and kids can cook their own without fear of serving themselves raw meat.  The only problem with feeding a family is that you can only cook one tortilla at a time, unless you have an array of frying pans.

Serves 4

500g lamb or beef mince

1 small onion, peeled and grated

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

1 tbsp ras el hanout or harissa

30g fresh coriander or parsley, finely chopped

4 medium flour tortillas

Sunflower oil for frying

4 tbsp greek yoghurt 

1/2 tsp lemon juice (optional)

1 tbsp tahini paste (optional)

1/8th wedge of red or green cabbage, thinly sliced 

1/2 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced

1 tbsp apple cider or white wine vinegar

Chilli sauce to serve

Mix the mince, grated onion, 2 of the crushed garlic cloves, chosen spices, and the herbs together.  Cover and chill for 1-24 hours.

When ready to cook, scrunch the cabbage and onion together with a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of vinegar and leave to one side.

Mix the last remaining crushed clove of garlic into the yoghurt together with the tahini and lemon juice if using, and leave to one side with the cabbage salad.

Weigh the flavoured mince and divide into 4.  Squish one quarter of the mince onto one side of a tortilla.

Preheat a pancake pan or shallow frying pan over a medium heat and brush with oil.  

Place the tortilla meat side down onto the hot pan.  Cook for 3-4 minutes until the mince is browned.

Flip over with a fish slice and slide onto a plate.  Add a quarter of the garlic yoghurt and cabbage, and chilli sauce to taste. Roll up and tuck in.

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Pasticcio, Greek Pasta Bake

Sprout asked for a lasagna, but the online supermarket delivery failed to deliver lasagne sheets. Luckily I remembered Pasticcio, a Greek pasta bake - a kind of cross between Lasagne and Moussaka.

I made a vegetarian version with soya mince. And you could always make a vegan version making a béchamel sauce with plant based milk rather than yoghurt, omit the eggs, and sprinkle over a vegan melty cheese.

Serves 4-6

400g pasta shapes

2 tbsp olive or sunflower oil

1 large onion, finely diced

1 large stick of celery, finely diced

1 large carrot, finely diced
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 courgette grated, or a bag of baby spinach leaves, or a bunch of chopped watercress (optional)

250g lamb or veggie mince (I used 100g dried soya mince rehydrated with the red wine)

150ml red wine
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp dried mint or oregano
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1 tub greek yoghurt
50g grated strong cheese (cheddar, parmesan)

Gently fry the onion, celery, and carrot in a large casserole dish big enough to hold the finished sauce and pasta. When the onion starts to look translucent add the garlic and mince.  Stir around to break up the lumps then add the tomatoes, wine (if not already added to the soya mince), herbs, and spices. The mixture should be quite loose. Cover and bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer, stirring from time to time,  whilst you cook the pasta.

Turn the oven on to 180C.  

Cook the pasta according to instructions on the packet. Just before it is ready check the pasta sauce. It should be slightly thick, like single cream. If still too watery, take the lid off and continue to simmer whilst you drain the pasta.

Tip the drained pasta into the saucepan with the sauce and mix thoroughly. Pour into a lightly greased large enough high sided baking dish to hold the mixture and layer of creamy topping. 

Beat the eggs with a pinch of pepper and salt then mix thoroughly into the yoghurt. Pour over the pasta mix and sprinkle with cheese. 

Bake for 30 minutes at 180C or until golden brown and bubbling. You may wish to turn the grill of for a couple of minutes to brown the top, but keep a close eye on it - the cheese burns quickly! 

Serve with a big green salad.

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Lamb Kofta Wraps

Lamb Kofta have become a birthday meal favourite. I started off using Jamie Oliver's Lamb Kofta Flatbreads recipe, but it has now evolved into a family recipe based on the ingredients we usually have to hand.

Serves 4

500g lamb mince

Handful bread crumbs

1 large free range egg

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp smoked paprika

4-8 wholemeal wraps

Large tub cottage cheese

Sliced onion

Sliced tomato

Grated carrot (optional)

Shredded lettuce or cabbage

Chilli sauce

Squish the breadcrumbs, egg, cumin and paprika into the lamb mince until thoroughly mixed. Divide into 4, and divide each quarter into half again if people want two wraps.  Shape the kofta into balls or sausages - whatever takes your fancy. We have recently trialled a long flat sided sausage which works quite well in along wrap.

Fry the kofta over a medium heat until lightly brown on each side. Whilst the kofta are cooking assemble the other ingredients on your wrap. When the kofta are ready place along your strip of fillings, roll up the wrap and away you go.

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Beef Moussaka with Potatoes & Spinach

There was a bit of a Greek theme yesterday. We had Gyros for lunch, followed by Moussaka.

Wanting to use up a lot of homegrown chard and potatoes, I roughly followed Akis Petretzikis How to Make Greek Moussaka video on Jamie Oliver's Food Tube, using wilted chard instead of aubergine and potato, and mature cheddar instead of parmesan.

The children's verdict was, tasty but not as good as lasagna because there was no pasta in it.

Serves 6

1kg potatoes
Bag of spinach, washed 

500g beef mince

2 onion, peeled 

1 large garlic clove, peeled & crushed

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 clove

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tin chopped tomatoes

100g butter

100g plain flour

750ml whole milk

1 large free range egg

50g grated cheddar

Olive oil

Fresh thyme

A pinch of nutmeg

Salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 200C

Slice the potatoes into 2cm slices. Toss the potatoes and one onion (sliced) in about 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp of thyme leaves, and a large pinch of salt. Spread in an even layer or two over the base of a high sided baking dish and bake uncovered for 40 minutes.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan and wilt the washed spinach.  Splash a little water in if the spinach is not dripping with water when you add it. When wilted, remove with tongs to a plate.

Wipe the saucepan out then add 1 tbsp of oil and fry the remaining onion (chopped) over a high heat until it starts to brown. Add the garlic, stir fry for minute, add the cinnamon and clove and fry for a further minute, then add the tomato paste and fry again for another minute.  Add the beef mince, breaking the mince up with a wooden spoon then add the chopped tomatoes and seasoning and cook for 5-10 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and leave to one side.

In a separate saucepan add the cold milk, butter, and flour.  Whisk over a medium heat to incorporate the flour, then switch to a wooden spoon or spatula with a flat bottom and continually stir the white sauce, checking it is not setting/sticking to the bottom of the pan. When the sauce starts to thicken, turn the heat down low but continue to cook and stir for a further 5 minutes until it starts to bubble. Turn off the heat, stir in the egg,  and season with pepper and nutmeg. Add 1/3rd of the sauce to the cooked mince.

When the potatoes have had 40 minutes in the oven, take them out and start layering the moussaka. Spread the wilted chard over the potatoes, then the mince with the sauce mixed in, then the remaining white sauce. Sprinkle with grated cheddar and bake for 25-30 minutes or golden brown and bubbling.

Akis Petretzikis said to leave this for at least 1 hour before serving, to allow the sauce and meat to set! We managed about half an hour, and then tucked in with a green salad on the side.

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Minced Beef & Bean Fajitas

Trying to find something other than Spaghetti Bolognese or Chilli con Carne to make with minced beef, I decided to try Fajitas on the kids tonight.  They love wraps, which seemed to completely blinker them to the quite obvious (and disliked) red pepper in the dish.

Serves a greedy 4

8 white & wholemeal wraps
500g beef mince
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 large red onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
1 large clove of garlic
1 red pepper, quartered, seeded and cut into strips
1tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tin mixed beans, drained

To Serve
Lettuce leaves
Plain yoghurt or sour cream
Sliced red onion
Jalapeño chillis
Fresh Coriander

Heat the oil in a saute pan over a high heat. Fry the mince, breaking it up with a wooden spoon and pushing it around the pan. Ideally it will brown, but if you overload the pan like it did with damp freshly thawed mince liquid will soon end up coating the bottom the pan and steaming the meat. No worry.

When no raw meat can be seen push the beef to one side, turn the heat down to medium,  and add the garlic, onion, and red pepper.  Leave for a few minutes then stir into the meat. Add the spices and the beans and mix again.  Heat gently, stirring so nothing burns, until the beans are hot.

Serve on a bed of lettuce on a wrap with toppings as desired.

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No Boil Pastitisio (Moussaka Pasta Bake)

Once a week, since January, my youngest two children (13 & 10) take turns making dinner. Sprout, the 13 year old, is obsessed with pasta so when I saw an Ottolenghi recipe for a no boil baked pasta dish it seemed just the ticket to tempt her.  

But my OH was right to say that an Ottolenghi recipe was a step too far for a beginner with only one Jamie Oliver 5 ingredients recipe under her belt. So I googled other no boil pasta dishes to get an idea of quantities of pasta and liquid to which to add a moussaka inspired lamb mince.

Serves 6

350g pasta shapes

500g lamb mince

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 large garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped

1 courgette, roughly chopped

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp oregano

1 tsp dried mint

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

500ml milk
500ml recently boiled
1 chicken stock cube
50g grated cheese (feta, parmesan, cheddar)

Put the pasta into a large casserole dish with a well fitting lid.

Blitz the onion, garlic, and courgette in the food processor.

Fry the blitzed vegetables in a saute dish with the olive oil over a medium heat.  Add the minced lamb, break it up, and fry for a few more minutes.  Add the tomato paste, stir through, then add the tin of tomatoes and the herbs and spices.

Pour the contents of the frying pan over the pasta and stir in the milk, hot water and crumbled stock cube.  Put the lid on and bake for 50 minutes, stirring twice during the cooking time pushing the pasta down into the sauce as much as you can.

Finish by removing the lid, sprinkling with cheese, and grilling until the cheese bubbles and starts to go golden brown.

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Thai Minced Pork & Green Beans

I first had this dish in a student flat in Edinburgh in 1989.  My brother's then girlfriend's friend had returned from several months in Phuket studying the geology, much to the envy of her other geology student friend's trip to the mud flats of Aberdeen.

She did write the recipe down for me, but nearly 30 years and several house moves later, I can no longer find it.  It had an obscene amount of birds eye chillis and garlic in, but over time and with kids to feed I this been dumbed down a bit.  This is my most recent take/recollection.  My kids love it so much, my 12 year old has added it to her birthday food list.

Serves 4

1 tbsp sunflower oil
500g minced pork
500g green beans, cut into 1cm lengths
1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed
1/8-1/4 tsp very hot chilli flakes
5 kaffir lime leaves, shredded (or the zest of a small lime)
450ml boiling water
1 chicken stock cube, crumbled
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp cornflour

Heat the oil a large saucepan or sauté pan and stir fry the minced pork, breaking up any large lumps.

Add the beans, garlic, and chilli.  Stir fry for another minute then add all the other ingredients apart from the cornflour.  Cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes depending on how much crunch you like your beans to have.

When the beans are to your liking, add a little water to the cornflour to make it the consistency of single cream and pour into the pork and beans.  Stir over a high heat until the sauce has thickened slightly.

Serve with Thai or basmati rice.

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Best Ever Chilli Con Carne

My new and improved Chilli con Carne recipe.

I love the flavours in Jamie Oliver's Kerryann's Veggie con Chilli so tried using these in my tried and tested Chilli recipe.  And added more beans as my growing children are eating more and more.

It does look like a great long list of ingredients, but it's worth it.

Serves 6

500g beef mince
1 large onion
1 large clove of garlic
1 large carrot
1 large stick of celery
1 sweet bell pepper
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
A large pinch of ground nutmeg
1 tbsp oregano
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin of recently boiled water
2 tins beans (kidney, chickpeas, baked beans, whatever!) or 250g beans, soaked and pre-cooked
1 beef stock cube
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 - 1/2 tsp chilli powder (optional)
1 tbsp sunflower or olive oil
Salt & pepper

Finely chop onion and garlic and fry gently in large saucepan with the oil whilst you finely chop the other vegetables.  When these are chopped, add them to the frying pan and fry gently with a lid on for 5 minutes to soften them stirring from time to time so they don't catch on the bottom of the pan.

When the onion has softened a little, push the vegetables to the side of the pan and add the beef, breaking it up with a wooden spoon.  Stir in the tomato paste, then add the rest of the ingredients not forgetting a canful of water and continue breaking up the mince whilst bringing it all to the boil.  The chilli powder is optional, and I often don't add it to the kids helping, adding it only after they have eaten.  I know the name of the dish is 'Chilli' con Carne but it still tastes great without it!

Once boiling, put on the lid and simmer for 30 minutes to ensure the vegetables soften and lose themselves in the sauce.  After half an hour, check the consistency.  If you like it looser you may not need to reduce it much, but if you like a more porridgey chilli boil it gently without the lid off for up to half hour again to thicken the sauce.

I usually serve ours up with rice, baked potatoes, tortilla chips...  And a generous handful of grated mature cheddar cheese.

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Vegan/Vegetarian Bolognese Ragu Sauce

Had quite a lot of pulses last week, so thought I'd make a more 'meaty' textured vegan meal tonight.  Kids were fooled.

Serves 6

50g soya mince
Red wine or water (to soak soya mince)
1 medium onion
1 medium carrot
1 large stick of celery
1 large clove of garlic
1 tin plum tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil

Weigh the soya mince into a mug and pour over enough wine or water to cover, and leave soaking whilst you prepare the vegetables.

Peel the onion (don't bother to peel the carrot), and roughly chop all the vegetables.

Soften the chopped vegetables in the olive oil over a medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and a can of recently boiled water.  Cover and bring to the boil,  then turn down to simmer for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, liquidise the sauce with a stick blender, taking care not to splatter yourself.  Add the soya mince and the soaking liquid and bring back to a simmer again.  Leave to simmer, and thicken, with a lid on whilst you cook your pasta.   If using in a lasagna, you may wish to reduce the sauce a little more by leaving the lid off after adding the soya mince.

Season to taste before serving.

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Pork Lasagne

Having used pork one day because it turned out I had no minced beef, pork lasagne is now middle daughter's (Sprout) preferred lasagne.  There is just something about pork. It is light and aromatic...

Serves a greedy 4

Ragú
500g pork mince
1 large onion, peeled and finely diced
1 large carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 large stick of celery, finely diced
1 large garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 glass of white wine
1 carton of passata or chopped tomatoes
Pepper & salt

White Sauce
750ml milk
2 heated tbsp plain flour
Large knob of butter  or 1 tbsp olive oil
1 large bay leaf
A pinch of nutmeg
Pepper & salt

Large handful of mature cheddar
12-16 lasagne sheets

Start by making the the ragu.  Soften the onion, carrot, & celery in the olive oil for about 5 minutes over a medium heat.  Add the rest of the ingredients, breaking up the lumps of mince.  Cover and bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer with the lid on whilst you make the white sauce.

In a separate saucepan add all the sauce ingredients over a medium heat. Incorporate everything by whisking gently every minute or so.  As soon as you feel the sauce thickening on the bottom of the pan, change from the whisk to a wooden spoon and dislodge all the thickening sauce from the bottom of the pan.  Turn the heat down to low and stir pretty constantly still you have a smooth sauce.  Season to taste then turn off the heat.  Season the ragú to taste and turn the heat off that too, taking the pan lid off to let some of heat out.

In my experience, layering the lasagne takes a degree of skill/experience.  We like quite a lot of pasta so I aim for 3 layers of 4 sheets, but it is still guesswork trying to divide a pan's worth of ragú and white sauce into 4/5.

Start with a layer of ragú in your lasagne dish,  I've worked out that 2 small ladles is roughly 1/4 of sauce.  Then 2 ladles of white sauce, and a layer of pasta sheets.  Repeat two more times.  Ideally finish with a layer of pasta sheets covered in a thick layer white sauce, but often don't have enough white sauce left so just pile more white sauce on top of your last meat layer, topped with the cheese.

Bake at 180C for 30-40 minutes until lightly browned on top and bubbling.  Serve with a green salad.  Garlic bread should not be needed with all the extra pasta.

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Turkey Rogan Josh Curry

Another curry made with leftover turkey.  In this case it was a pack of minced turkey as we didn't buy a turkey this year.  It could be made with leftover roasts, mince or cubed meat. And I padded this out with a small butternut squash to feed a family of five.

I made a Rogan Josh curry paste off Jamie Oliver's website but was a little disappointed with the strength of flavour.  So if you can't be bothered to make a curry paste, just buy a commercial ready made one.

Serves 4-5

500g turkey mince
500g butternut squash, blitzed in a food processor to the size of the mince
1 onion, finely diced
1 carton of tomato puree
1/2 a carton of recently boiled water
1 tbsp sunflower oil

Jamie's Rogan Josh Paste 
2 cloves garlic
1 thumb-sized piece fresh root ginger
75 g jarred roasted peppers
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons groundnut oil
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 fresh red chilli
1 small bunch fresh coriander
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Start by making the curry paste.  I cut a few corners in Jamie's recipe, not roasting spices, using a fresh pepper rather than roasted peppers, and not using fresh coriander, and just whizzed it all up in a mini food processor.

Gently fry the onion in the sunflower oil until it starts to look clear, then add half the curry paste, stir and fry until it sizzles.  Add the meat, breaking up the mince if using.  Add the butternut squash and the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil.  Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the butternut squash is soft.  Season to taste and serve with basmati rice.

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Chorizo Stuffed Marrow

What to do with a courgette/marrow glut Part 5

No attempt to clear a courgette/marrow glut would be complete without Stuffed Marrow.  But in an attempt to make it palatable to the kids, I have wooed them with a chorizo flavoured stuffing from - an ever so slightly toned down version of River Cottage's Tupperware Chorizo to be exact.

Serves 6

1 oversized courgette/small marrow

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
1 tin chopped tomatoes

Chorizo
500g minced pork
1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
1 tsp hot smoked paprika
1 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp fennel seeds
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
50ml red wine
Freshly ground black pepper

 Mix and squish the chorizo ingredients together thoroughly. Seal in a tupperware container and leave for 24 hours or more (it will keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge) for the flavours to develop.

On the day you are cooking your stuffed marrow, wash and halve the marrow lengthways and scrape out the seeds.  Find a high sided baking tray they can fit snuggly in side by side cut side up.  Season the cavity and drizzle with olive oil.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion until it just starts to brown.  Add the chorizo mix and fry this until brown too.  Pour in the chopped tomatoes and half a can of water to make a sloppyish mixture.

Once the sauce is bubbling, turn off the heat and spoon into the marrow cavity.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil (it is the trapped steam that cooks the marrow) and bake for 30 minutes.  The recipe I followed said it should be ready after this time, but my overgrown yellow courgette was still solid at this stage.  I ended up baking it for an hour so factor this into your estimated dinner time!

I served it with bulghur wheat and it was announced the best way ever of having courgette!

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Bolognese/Ragu Sauce made with Leftovers

The leftover Pork & Stilton, Venison & Damson, and Cumberland sausages from the last BBQ of the year found their way into this ragu, which in turn was made into a midweek lasagne.  The meat part  of this sauce could equally be made with leftover roast beef or roast pork.

A food processor makes light work of all the vegetable & meat chopping.

1 onion
1 large carrot
1 stick of celery
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
2 large handfuls of leftover meat
1 tin chopped tomatoes

Peel the onion and carrot.  Roughly chop onion and garlic and process into a fine rubble in the food processor.  Fry gently in a wide saucepan to soften whilst you roughly chop and process the celery and carrot to a fine rubble too.  Add these to the pan once chopped.  Cover and sweat over a gently heat for 5 minutes or so whilst you roughly chop the meat and process this to a rubble.

Once the onions start to look translucent, push the vegetables to once side, turn up the heat a little and add the meat.  Leave it to sizzle for a few minutes before adding the tomatoes (liquidised if you like, as my kids prefer) together with a can of recently boiled water.

Bring to the boil and simmer with the lid of for 20-30 minutes and the sauce has reduced and thickened to your taste.  If using leftover roast you may wish to add pepper and salt to taste.  Using processed meat, I found there was no need to add any further seasoning.

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Kids Bolognaise Sauce with Hidden Vegetables

I made bolognaise sauce yesterday morning.  Add only had 500g of minced beef which my partner reckoned is not enough for five of us, so I added lots of 'spare' veggies to try to stretch it further, and ended up with enough pasta sauce for 8-10 people!

As one of my kids tends to fish suspicious objects out of his food and cross-examine them, I chopped the vegetables up really small in a food processor to both to hide them, and make them the same size as the minced beef.  And although he said he didn't want seconds, he didn't seem too reluctant to clean out the last remaining sauce out of his bowl after all the pasta had been eaten.

Liver or bacon seems to be a modern traditional ingredient in many spag bol's.  I add it because it is a great source of iron for the kids plus it add another layer of flavour.  Finely diced and covered in a rich tomato sauce the children don't seem to notice.  But if you don't like handling it you could always puree it with the tomatoes.  The liver and tomato cocktail looks disgusting but it cooks down just fine!

Wine too is an optional extra.  I know some people don't like the idea of alcohol in children's food.  I do, in the hope they might fall asleep quicker of a night, but it never seems to affect them.

Serves 8-10 depending on how high you pile your sauce!

500g lean beef mince
100g lambs or chicken liver, or smokey bacon (optional)
1 large leek or onion
1 stick of celery
2 medium carrots
1 large clove of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 glass red wine (optional)
2 tins of tomatoes

Finely chop the leek or onion (I used a sprouting leek from my veg patch in mine) and garlic in a food processor and fry in a large saucepan with the olive oil over a medium heat. Finely chop the  carrot and celery in the food processor and add these when ready. Stir and put a lid/plate on for a few minutes to let the vegetables sweat. Add the mince, then finely chop the liver if using, and not pureeing, and add this. Stir and break the meat up for a few minutes and then

Serve over any shape pasta with parmesan cheese if you have it. Or cheddar.

cover again over a low heat and leave to simmer for 5 minutes.  Break the meat up again then add the tomatoes pureed in the food processor with the liver or bacon if using.  Fill one of the tomato cans with half wine (if using) half water and pour this in. Stir and leave covered to simmer for 30 minutes.  After about 20 minutes check the season and to see if it is not drying out.  If too watery, take the lid off and simmer for 10 minutes whilst you cook the pasta.

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Veg Rich Toddler & Kids Curry

My kids are slowly venturing onto 'normal' curries, but this was one of my starter curries when they were younger and that I return to every now and then as comfort food for them.

It's high calorie (kids need calories!), high protein, and sweetened with pureed veg and my secret ingredient, apricot jam!

Makes 6 kid sized portions

500g mince (lamb, chicken, or turkey I think are best)
1 medium carrot or sweet potato
1 onion
1/4 jar Curry Paste - I use Pataks Rogon Josh, Jalfrezi, Korma.  If you can't get these use 1-2tsp garam masala spice mix instead
1 tin chopped tomatoes, liquidised
oil for frying
1 tbsp apricot jam (optional)
50ml cream (for extra calories - optional)


Peel and roughly chop the carrot or sweet potato (you are going to liquidise them later) and boil in small pan for 5-10 minutes.  Drain and keep the cooking liquid.

Whilst the carrots are cooking, peel and finely chop the onion.  You can do this in a mini food processor if you are worried your kids might identify it in the curry. As the onion starts to soften add the curry paste.  If you are starting your kids off on curry try a heaped dessertspoonful to start.  If you're using garam masala instead, add this to the onions and stir around for a minute or two making sure it doesn't burn.

Add the liquidised tomatoes.  Puree the carrots with a can of tap water and add these, together with the lamb to the pan. Bring the sauce to the boil whilst breaking up the mince.  By adding it with the liquid I find it breaks up better than if I fry it first.  Simmer for 20 minutes to reduce and thicken to a suitable curry sauce consistency.  Add the jam right at the end, and cream if using.

Serve with half a mug of basmati rice (serve 3 kids) boiled for 10 minutes in fast boiling salted water which makes it melt in the mouth for my fussier diners.

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Thai Curry Soup with Leftover Rice

A quick trawl through my freezer and I have found a one person portion of rice and half a can of coconut milk.  So, on a chilly, showery day here goes lunch...

Serves 2 as a light lunch

1/2 can coconut milk
1-2 large handfuls cooked rice
1 tsp green or red curry paste
1 low salt chicken or vegetable stock cube
Small handful of frozen peas
1 kaffir lime leaf or lemon/lime juice
Recently boiled water
Fish sauce to taste

Pour the coconut milk into a measuring jug and top up with boiling hot water to 450ml.  Pour into a saucepan and bring to the boil together with the rest of the ingredients apart from the lemon or lime juice.  Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring from time to time to make sure it is not sticking to the bottom.

Add about 1tbsp of fish sauce and lemon or lime juice to taste.

Cheap Chilli con Carne with Hidden Vegetables

If shortening days, browning leaves, chilly mornings, and fighting the urge to turn the central heating on weren't enough of a sign, I made Chilli con Carne earlier this week. And 5 year old Big Boy asked if it was winter already.

To stretch my Chilli con Carne further, as we have established the five of us can easily eat 700g of meat in a sitting, I pad this out with carrot and celery.  I used to grate them (and puree the pepper) to hide them from the kids but now I just dice them finely, or chop them in a food processor.  However when placing their bowls on the table this time I was horrified to hear Big Boy unhelpfully say to 8 year old Sprout "There's carrot in it.  You don't like carrot."  But thankfully she replied "I know but I don't mind it in this."

Serves 6
500g beef mince
1 large onion
1 large clove of garlic
1 large carrot
1 large stick of celery
1 green pepper
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp oregano
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin of recently boiled water
2 tins beans (kidney, chickpeas, baked beans, whatever!) or 250g beans, soaked and pre-cooked
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 - 1/2 tsp chilli powder (optional)
1 tbsp sunflower or olive oil
Salt & pepper

Finely chop onion and garlic and fry gently in large saucepan with the oil whilst you finely chop the other vegetables.  When these are chopped, add them to the frying pan and fry gently with a lid on for 5 minutes to soften them stirring from time to time so they don't catch on the bottom of the pan.

When the onion has softened a little, push the vegetables to the side of the pan and add the beef, breaking it up with a wooden spoon.  Add the rest of the ingredients, not forgetting a canful of water and continue breaking up the mince whilst bringing it all to the boil.  The chilli powder is optional, and I often don't add it to the kids helping, adding it only after they have eaten.  I know the name of the dish is 'Chilli' con Carne but it still tastes great without it!

Once boiling, put on the lid and simmer for 30 minutes to ensure the vegetables soften and lose themselves in the sauce.  After half an hour, check the consistency.  If you like it looser you may not need to reduce it much, but if you like a more porridgey chilli boil it gently without the lid off for up to half hour again to thicken the sauce.

I usually serve ours up with rice or baked potatoes.  And a generous handful of grated mature cheddar cheese.

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Moroccan Lamb & Harissa Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

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I made ordinary meatballs before half term and my 4 year old grumbled 'why can't we have spicy ones'.  So this week I fulfilled his wish simply using some homemade harissa, lamb mince, and basic tomato pasta sauce.

Serves 4
1kg lean lamb mince
3 heaped tsp harissa (about 1-2tsp if using shop bought)
Handful of breadcrumbs
1 Free Range Egg (optional)

Tomato Sauce
2 tin of tomatoes, liquidised or passata
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped

In a large mixing bowl, squidge the mince, harissa, breadcrumbs, egg if using, and a little pepper & salt together with your fingers. When thoroughly mixed, scoop out a heaped teaspoon of mince and shape into a ball with your hands.  This quantity of mince made about 20 small meatballs when I made them this week.

When shaped,  plop into a lightly oiled large non-stick frying pan and fry over a medium high heat until they begin to brown then remove to a plate.

When all the meatballs are made and fried, pour off all but a tablespoon of the lamb fat.  Fry the onions and garlic for a few minutes then add the tomatoes, plus a can of water.  Bring to the boil, turn down a simmer, return the browned meatballs to the sauce and simmer with the lid of for 20-30 minutes.  Serve over rice or pasta.

Leftover Burger Bolognaise Pasta Sauce

The three homemade burgers leftover from the barbecue this weekend have already been transformed into Bolognaise Sauce for the kids tea tonight.

I fried some a finely chopped small onion and a clove of garlic in 1tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan, added the burgers which I had whizzed into a rubble in the mini food processor.  Then whizzed up a tin of tomatoes in the food processor and added this and 1/2 a can of water to the pan.

After 20 minutes of simmering the sauce is now ready.

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Mulligatawny or Curried Sweet Vegetable Soup with Lamb

Mulligatawny soup popped onto my radar at some point last year when I watched the Hairy Biker's make it.  As my children like curry, and curried vegetable soup, I thought I would give it a try but never got round to it until my local greengrocer suggested it as a possible soup for this week's Country Market.

I looked at various recipes, but as ever, ended up taking ideas from several.  And this is what I came up with, with links to my inspiration below.

The kids pulled faces when it was put in front of them, but wolfed it down for lunch on Saturday.

Mulligatawny or Curried Sweet Vegetable Soup with Lamb

Serves 3-4 

100g lamb mince or chicken or leftover roast
1 large onion, peeled & roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1cm piece of root ginger, roughly chopped
1 large carrot, washed & roughly chopped 

1 apple, cored and roughly chopped
1 stick of celery, roughly chopped
1 small sweet potato, parsnip or apple, washed & roughly chopped
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2-3 tbsp medium curry powder
1 litre boiled water
1 handful red lentils
1 chicken stock cube

Fry the  onion and garlic in a sauce pan with the sunflower oil over a medium heat until just starting to brown.  Add the lamb mince and ginger and fry for a few minutes whilst you chop the rest of the vegetables.  Don't worry about peeling the vegetables and apples, unless the skin is tough, as it is all going to be liquidised. Stir in the curry powder, then the rest of the vegetables.  Add the water, lentils, and crumbled stock cube and simmer for 30 minutes with the lid on.

Liquidise in a blender or with a stick blender.  Great on yet another snowy day!

With thanks to:
Hairy Bikers
Madhur Jaffrey
Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall