Savoury Filled Pancakes

My middle daughter thought she'd treat her older disabled sister to pancakes for breakfast today, on Shrove Tuesday, whilst I was out dropping her younger brother and friends off in the nearest town to catch a train to London, and food shopping.

I arrived back home at lunchtime, to find the kitchen looking like the Marie Celeste with partially cooked pancake in the pan. Turns out she had used gluten free flour and an old decreasingly non-stick pancake pan. 

Dad, our regular pancake chef, tried to cook the gluten free pancakes but they still stuck with him. So, the gluten free battter has been left for me to fashion into some kind of cake, and he mixed up a standard wheat flour batter and made us savoury pancakes for lunch. My daughters had chorizo & cheddar, Dad & I had garlic fried mushroom & goats cheese.

1 mug self raising flour
1 mug milk
1 large free range egg

Oil for frying

Fillings: cooked mushrooms, melty cheese (goats cheese, cheddar, brie, blue cheese), ham, chorizo

Whisk the flour, milk, and egg together in a large mixing bowl until smooth and lump free.

Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat.  After about 1 minute add 1/2 tbsp oil and tilt the pan around to coat the bottom with oil.

Pour one soup ladleful of batter into the middle of the pan. Cook the pancakes for 1-2 minutes until little bubbles appear on the top of the pancake. Give the pan a little shake to loosen the pancake.  

Arrange your chosen fillings on one half of the pancake, cheese on the bottom closest to the heat so it melts.  Fold the empty half of the pancake over the filling and cook for another minute.

Slide onto a plate and eat immediately.

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Christmas Minestrone

Hope it's not too late to save the cooking liquid from your Boxing Day ham? My Christmas Minestrone is made with ham stock (cooking liquid), leftover ham (or turkey, or pigs in blankets), Brussel sprouts (or cabbage).

Makes 4 hearty servings

1 large onion, peeled and diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced 
1 large stick of celery, diced

1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed 
100g leftover chopped ham, turkey, or pigs in blankets
1 can of tomatoes
1 can of beans (haricot, cannellini, kidney, whatever)
1 litre ham stock or chicken stock
2 heaped handfuls of finely sliced Brussels sprouts, cabbage, spring greens, kale, or spring greens
1 handful small pasta or macaroni
1 tbsp olive oil for frying
2 bay leaves (optional)

Parmesan or extra mature cheddar for serving

Fry the onion, carrot, and celery in the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. When slightly coloured add the chopped meat.  Stir and put the lid on for a few minutes to let the vegetables sweat. 

Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 minutes with the lid on.  Stir from time to time to ensure the pasta is not sticking to the bottom of the pan

My mum always used to say that this soup was better the day after, as the flavours seemed to develop more, but I am never organised enough to do this nor have enough space in the fridge to keep it cool overnight. 

Serve with a grating of parmesan or extra mature cheddar.

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Pasta e Fagioli, Veg Rich Pasta & Beans

Once a poor man’s meal, padding out a meagre bean harvest with pasta, Pasta e Fagioli is now an Italian comfort food with lots of regional and household variations.

At its simplest it is just pasta and beans, with meat and/or vegetables if available. I make it like I make Minestrone, but with more pasta and less tomato.  I use ham or bacon in my Minestrone, but ingredients can simply be left out or swapped to make a vegetarian or vegan meal.

Serves 4

1 onion, peeled and finely diced

1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed

1/2 tsp chill flakes

1 tbsp olive oil

500g diced vegetables, including 1 stick of celery and 1 carrot. I topped up with homegrown courgette as I like to add something green. You could add cabbage, kale, leek, peas, green beans, fennel, sweet potato, potato... There are no set ingredients!

100g smoked ham/bacon (optional)

400g tin borlotti, pinto, or cannellini beans

200g macaroni 

1 litre chicken or vegetable stock 

1 medium tomato, finely diced

50g parmesan, or extra mature cheddar in our house

Fry the onion, garlic and chilli gently in a pan big enough to take a litre of stock + veg.

When the onion is translucent and soft, add the diced vegetables, cover and fry/soften for 5-10 minutes checking from time to time that they are not catching on the bottom of the pan.

When the vegetables are beginning to look soft and slightly brown, add the meat if using. Stir the meat around for a minute or so then add the stock, pasta, and beans including any liquid from the can. 

Bring the stock to the boil then turn down to a simmer, cover, and cook for 20-25 minutes until the pasta is  soft (it takes longer in stock than it says on the packet). Whilst waiting, finely chop the tomato and mix in the grated cheese. I blitzed the tomato in a mini food processor as I have a child who does not like discernible bits of tomato.

When the pasta is soft, turn off the heat, stir though the tomato and cheese mixture, cover and leave standing for 5 minutes for the pasta to absorb a little more of the stock and cool a little. 

Serve, with extra cheese and chilli oil if desired.

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Pea & Ham Soup

A simple but tasty soup, made with ham stock from boiling a ham.

Serves 4

1l ham stock

1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 stick of celery, roughly chopped

1 clove of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped (optional)

1 white potato (about 200g), roughly chopped (optional)

100g ham (optional)

400g frozen peas

Simmer the onion, celery, garlic, potato, and ham in the stock in a covered pan for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes add the frozen peas, increase the heat, and heat uncovered until it comes back to the boil. Liquidise and serve.

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Quick Pea & Ham Soup with Greens

It's been a soup day today, trying to fill up on liquid rather than carbs.

After the Mushroom & Miso Broth for lunch, I couldn't resist having some of the gorgeous baked ham leftover from Sunday, and made a quick kind of Pea & Ham Soup to make a little go a bit further.

1tsp sunflower oil
1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced
60g/2 slices cooked ham, roughly chopped
Large handful frozen peas
Large handful shredded greens (spring greens, kale, cabbage...)
500ml recently boiled water
1 chicken stock cube, crumbled

Fry the onion in the oil over a medium heat.  Add the ham and stir around until you can smell it cooking.  Add the rest of the ingredients and bring back to the boil.  Serve.

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Summer Minestrone

I've tried selling Minestrone in Alresford Country Market in the summer but it just doesn't sell.  I guess people think of it as a thick chunky winter soup.

In Italy, pre-prepared vegetables for minestrone are sold in packs all year round, the vegetables varying with the time of year.  In summer you'd basically get courgette in it.

Makes 4 hearty servings

1 medium onion
1 large clove of garlic
100g bacon bits, lardons, leftover ham, chorizo
1 can of tomatoes
1 can of beans (haricot, cannellini, kidney, chickpeas, whatever)
1 litre boiled water
1 low salt stock cube (optional)
2 medium courgettes
1 handful broken pasta or small pasta for soup (I put 2 handfuls into the soup above to make it into a stew for dinner on a wet summer's night in the South of France )
1 tbsp olive oil for frying
1 tbsp chopped parsley or basil (optional)

Chop the onion and garlic and fry in a large saucepan over a medium heat.

When slightly coloured add the chopped bacon. Grate the courgette and add when the bacon is beginning to brown.  Fry until the courgettes begin to colour and/or catch on the bottom.  Add the beans, tomatoes, stock cube if using, and enough boiling water to just cover the vegetables. Stir, cover with a lid and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the pasta pieces for a further 10 minutes or until soft.

Serve with grated cheddar, or Parmesan if you have any.
 

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101 Things to do with Leftover Ham

There is probably an endless list of what ham stock and ham pieces could be used for.  And don't forget to keep the cooking liquid for soups and risottos.

Pasta Carbonara - I am planning this as I type.  Just need a little leftover cream, cheddar, ham, & garlic.

Pasta e Fagioli - Soupy pasta, beans, ham & veg

Minestrone - The cooking liquor has been frozen ready to use as stock for Minestrone, or a chard, mushroom & bacon risotto.

Cauliflower or Macaroni Cheese - Cauliflower cheese in our house is a combination of macaroni and cauliflower cheese to make it into a balanced meal.  A sprinkling of chopped ham adds a little more protein and flavour to an already tasty dish.

Cheese & Ham Pizza - Again add a sprinkling of chopped ham

Quick Pea & Soup with Greens 

Pea & Ham Soup - A warming Autumn/Winter classic made with frozen peas

Split Pea & Ham Soup - As above made with split peas or 50/50 split peas and frozen

Boston Baked Beans - Adding the ham fat and bone to this dish during the cooking adds another level of flavour.

Chicken, Ham & Mushroom Pie Filling - this usually gets served as a casserole.  It could be made with turkey instead of chicken

Slow Cooked Pork & Beans (Boston Baked Beans)

I had tried Boston Baked Beans once before but when I heard Tim Hayward talking about his favourite DIY Food (the book is on my Christmas wishlist) I felt the urge to try it again.  The lovely ham bone and fat left over from a ham hock a few days before was too good to waste.

I did have to tweet Tim, who very kindly tweeted back a series of tweets with his guide to cooking baked beans, just in case there was a killer recipe out there.  But I ended up basing my recipe on an old WI book, The Home and Country Cookbook, because my poor planning had led me to tweet only 5 minutes before I needed to cook.

The recipe and the guide were pretty much a long the same lines, apart from the suggestion of passata which probably hadn't reached England's shores when the WI recipe was written.  For the complete baked bean look and flavour I would definitely add this or pureed tinned tomatoes next time.  Although, despite it's very wholefood look, my young children did me proud by announcing 'I love this' before they'd even started.

Serves 4

350g haricot or cannellini beans, soaked overnight and boiled for 30 minutes - keep the cooking liquid!
500g tomato passata or liquidise a tin of tomatoes
2 tbsp black treacle
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp English Mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tbsp wine vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar
2 onions, finely chopped
6 whole cloves
5 slices of belly pork, or pork chops, leftover ham, sausages.  Chop into mouth sized cubes.

If using a slow cooker, put all the ingredients into a saucepan and heat to simmering.  I skipped this step and the food in the slow cooker took about an hour to start to cook!  Pour the hot ingredients into the warmed slow cooker on medium/high and top up with enough liquid from cooking the beans to make sure everything is covered by about 1cm of 'sauce'.  Cook on medium high (I cooked mine on High as my slow cooker only has low or high settings) for 6 hours or when the meat has melted into the sauce.

If you don't have slow cooker, pre-heat the oven to 150C, heat all the ingredients up in a heavy ovenproof casserole dish topped up with bean cooking water as above.  Cover tightly with a lid and cook slowly in the oven for 6 hours.

Remove the cloves if you can find them.  Serve with crusty bread, potatoes, mash, pasta whatever.

Homemade Carbonara Sauce

I don't recall when I first came across Carbonara pasta sauce.  If my memory serves me well I don't think we ate it when we lived in Italy as young children, only as a favourite tea served by my mother to me and my starving twin brother in our teenage years.

The availability of ingredients dicates what I put into it in each time, but below is my list of ideal ingredients.  I'm sure some will scream that this is not an authentic Italian dish but this is what Carbonara sauce has come to be in our house and it now seems a firm favourite of my seemingly starving children.

4 rashers of smoky bacon (or handful of smoked ham or lardons)
1 egg
2 tbsp double cream
Small handful cheddar (or parmesan if you have it)
1 small garlic clove

Fry the roughly chopped bacon in a little olive oil.  I then put the bacon and the rest of the ingredients into a mini food processor to make a smoothish sauce to coat the pasta in an attempt to fool my children that there is really nothing on the pasta.  If not using a food processor, finely chop the garlic and beat together with the egg, grated cheese, cream and bacon pieces.

When the pasta is cooked, drain, toss in a little olive oil and black pepper, then put the pasta back in it's cooking pan and mix in the eggy mixture.  The heat of the pasta should be sufficient to start to cook the egg.  If wary of eating uncooked eggs, you can put the pan back on a very low heat and toss gently until the egg has coated all the strands of pasta and set.

Macaroni & Cauliflower Cheese

I tried Jamie's 30 Minute Meals Cauliflower Macaroni but it didn't go down well with the kids - too crispy, large bits of identifiable cauliflower stalk etc  So I've gone back to making my standard macaroni cheese I made for years for the children.  At first I used to use tiny pasta shapes, and puree the cauliflower and sweetcorn, but now I use 'normal' sized pasta, and a little ham or bacon if I have any.

Serves 5-6

400g pasta shapes, spirals work well
1 head cauliflower
1 medium onion
1 mug frozen sweetcorn (optional)
1 pint milk
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tsp English mustard
100g strong cheddar, grated
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
Handful of breadcrumbs (optional)
Handful of grated cheddar (optional)
Leftover ham or bacon (optional)

Cook the pasta according to the packet's instructions in the largest pan you have, together with the cauliflower and sweetcorn.  When the pasta is cooked, drain everything and toss in a little olive oil.

Whilst the pasta is cooking gently soften the onion in the olive oil in a non-stick saucepan, together with any ham or bacon if using. When the onion is soft add the cold milk and then the flour and whisk immediately (with a plastic whisk if using a non-stick pan) to break up the lumps of flour whilst the milk is still cold.  Then keep stirring with a wooden spoon, making sure you scrape the base and corners of the pan.  When the sauce starts to thicken, turn the heat down low and keep stirring for a few more minutes until the sauce starts to bubble then turn the heat off.

Mix the sauce into the cooked pasta. Serve, or sprinkle with breadcrumbs and the handful of cheese and grill until brown and bubbling.

Minestrone - Italian Vegetable, Ham & Pasta Soup

A few years ago Princess' fondness for all things tomato led me to revive a favourite from my childhood in Italy - Minestrone or Italian Vegetable, Ham, Bean & Pasta Soup.

I used to have to purée the soup for her as she has cerebral palsy and has difficulty chewing, plus puréeing hid the vegetables from her younger brother and sister.  But now not only to Sprout & Baby Boy help me make it, but the 'lumps' are positively looked forward to.

Minestrone is great way of getting a hugely healthy amount of veg and pulses into the kids. I remember supermarkets in Italy selling ready chopped minestrone packs of vegetables, but like any traditional family recipe the variations are endless. I feel that tomato, beans, bacon, pasta, and a green vegetable are key to the taste - but you may not. A vegetarian version can be easily make by leaving out the bacon and using vegetable stock cubes

Makes 4 hearty servings

1 medium onion, peeled and diced (optional if you are using leeks)
1 large clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 large carrot, diced
1 large stick of celery, diced
100g bacon bits, lardons, or leftover chopped ham
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 can of beans (haricot, cannellini, kidney, whatever)
1 litre recently boiled water (or ham stock if you boil a ham)
2 chicken stock cube (optional)
Half a small cabbage, finely sliced (or leeks, spring greens, courgettes, kale...)
50-100g soup pasta, macaroni, or broken pasta (50g makes a more soupy consistency, 100g a thicker 
1 tbsp olive oil for frying
1 tsp herbes de provence or oregano or 2 bay leaves (optional)

Soften the onion, carrot, and celery in the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. 

When slightly softened, add the bacon/ham. Stir around for about a minute then add the rest of the ingredients. If using ham stock, do not use stock cubes.

Cover with a lid and bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer for 20-30 minutes until the pasta is soft. Stir from time to time to stop the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

My mum always used to say that this soup was better the day after, as the flavours seemed to develop more, but I am never organised enough to do this nor have enough space in the fridge to keep it cool overnight. The closest I get is to make it on a Sunday morning whilst the kids and Dad are having breakfast, then turn the gas off and leave it on the stove with the lid on firmly whilst we go off swimming in the local pool and have this for lunch 3-4 hours later with a sprinkling of grated cheddar (it should be parmesan but I never have it in).

November 2025: Big Boy is now 17 and 6' 2".  He takes Minestrone in a flask as a packed lunch to Sixth Form college. 

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Homemade Cheese & Ham Pizza

I can't remember what reminded me about pizza, but walking around the supermarket the other day I realised we hadn't had it for a while and it is usually a big hit with the kids.

The advantage to making your own pizza is not only can you add exactly the toppings you and your family like all on one pizza (note the grouping of olives in the photo as only one of my three kids wanted olives on their pizza), but you can make it nice and thin.  As I was brought up in Italy, a thin based pizza is the only pizza to eat.  But also I think the children find the thin base easier to eat, particulary if moistened by the tomato, cheese, and my new twist - creme fraiche.

For those of you that are breadmakers, pizza dough holds no challenge.  I do cheat though and use my breadmaker on the dough setting.  And I did see focaccia dough in Tesco's which should work fine as a pizza base if you neither have the inclination nor machinery to try to make your own.

Small/Medium Pizza Base - Makes one 30cm 12in pizza
225g strong white bread flour
1/2tsp easy blend dried yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
140ml warm water

Pizza Topping
1 small onion
1 large clove of garlic
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp olive oil
2 fresh mozzarella
1 small pot creme fraiche (optional)
1 handful ham, or bacon

Knead the dough by hand for 10 minutes and leave it in a greased mixing bowl covered in a plastic bag for half an hour to prove.  Or put it in a bread machine on the pizza dough cycle.

After half an hour or at the end of the dough cycle put the dough onto a lightly floured surface and poke your fingers into it to 'knock it back' and flatten it.  Roll the pizza out as thin as a one pound coin.  Rather than make a circular pizza we just roll and pull it into a rectangular pizza to fit the oven tray.

While the dough is proving, or at some point earlier, make the tomato sauce.  Roughly chop the onion and garlic and soften in a small pan with the olive oil.  When soft add the chopped tomatoes and a can of recently boiled water.  Bring to the boil and simmer with the lid off to reduce for half an hour or whilst the dough proves.  Puree with a hand blender at the end of the cooking time.

When the dough is rolled out spread on the creme fraiche if using.  We discovered pizzas with creme fraiche in a tiny wood fired takeaway pizza hut in France a few summer's ago.  This seems to be a speciality of Alsace Lorraine, covered with lardons and blue cheese.  Whilst decadently rich, the children found the soft base easier to eat than the just tomato and cheese pizzas so we now add creme fraiche at home.

Spread the tomato sauce thickly over the creme fraiche, sprinkle on the ham, then spread out the mozzarella slices on top.

Cook in a preheated oven at 220C for 20 minutes turning after 10 minutes.  Leave to cool a little before serving particularly to children as they can't seem to stop themselves taking a big bite of molten cheese.

The possibilities for toppings, over and above tomato and cheese, are endless:  bacon, basil, salami, peppers, tuna, olives, capers, anchovies, rocket, mushrooms, blue cheese, chilli, egg...

Split Pea & Ham Soup

Pea & Ham Soup is a popular soup when I sell it at the Country Market.  I have experimented with frozen peas, split green peas, & and split yellow peas, and concluded that split yellow peas are the nicest.  They are sweet and comforting and really compliment smoked ham leftovers.  Making this with some meat off a ham hock, I estimate it costs under £1 for a large helping

 Serves 6

400g split yellow peas (or green, or 200g split peas & 200g frozen)
1 litre ham or chicken stock
1 carrot
1 stick celery
1 small onion
1 clove of garlic
1 handful finely chopped cooked ham

Roughly chop the vegetables and simmer gently in the stock with the split peas for about an hour with the lid on.  If using frozen peas add for the last 5 minutes of cooking time only. Liquidise and stir in the ham.

This soup thickens up when cooled and you may wish to add a little milk to loosen it up when reheating.

Chicken & Mushroom Casserole or Pie

My kids used to love this.  It started as a chicken pie mix, but I never got round to making pastry every time I announced that morning that we were having it for tea.  So instead it ended up being served over basmati rice, which went down fine.  But the problem was we haven't had it since the spring and the kids have forgotten they like it.  The moaning starts on the way home from school at 3.30pm.  Only around 5pm when they sit down and reluctantly have a spoonful do they realise it is infact better than alright.  But do the little darlings say so...

Serves 4

500g diced chicken, or leftover roast
50g bacon offcuts, lardons, or ham
Handful mushrooms, roughly chopped (optional)
Handful frozen sweetcorn (optional)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic, crushed
25g plain flour
400ml recently boiled water
100ml white wine
1 chicken stock cube, crushed or chopped finely
1/2 tsp dried thyme

Fry the garlic in the oil for about a minute, then add the bacon/ham and fry until it starts to brown.  Add the chicken and stir around for a few minutes until it starts to loose it's pink colour.  Add the mushrooms and stir around for a minute or so if the other ingredients in the pan are not starting to stick.  If they are add the flour and stock cube, stir around, then add the water and wine if using.  If not using wine make the water up to 500ml.  Stir the pan until the sauce starts to thicken.  Add the sweetcorn and thyme and leave to simmer gently with the lid on for 20 minutes.

At the end of the cooking time check the seasoning, as it may be salty enough with bacon and a stock cube.  Life right now is too busy to bother making pastry, easy as it is.  I serve this with mash, rice, or my children's current top carbohydrate, bulgur wheat!

If you do want to serve it as a pie, transfer the mixture to a pie dish as soon as the sauce has thickened and cover with homemade shortcrust pastry or shop bought puff pastry for something cheatily fancy.  Bake the pie at 200C for 20-30 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the pie is bubbling.