Pigs in Blankets Sausage Rolls

I made Pigs in Blankets Swirls a few weeks ago, but thought I'd try making more traditionally shaped sausage rolls for an extended family gathering the day after Boxing Day

Makes 8/16

320g pack ready rolled puff pastry
8 slices of streaky bacon
8 sausages or 500g sausage meat 

If using sausages, remove the casings by cutting them off with scissors. 

Lay the pastry out on the greaseproof paper it comes with, with one of the longest sides towards you.  With a rolling pin, roll the pastry out towards and away from you to make it a little wider.  

Cut the pastry in half lengthways from left to right to make two long strips.

Lay short lengths of bacon along the middle of the pastry strips.  After cutting the first few slices of bacon in half, I worked out I needed to cut them in three to cover the middle of the pastry.

Divide the sausagemeat in half and spread each half evenly over the bacon, along the middle of each pastry strip, right up to the edges.  If using sausages, just lay four skinned sausages along the bacon on each pastry strip.

Fold the longside of the pastry over to the over and crimp it closed with a fork.  Lightly score each pastry roll into 4, or 8 if you want mini sausage rolls. 

Once scored, cut with sharp scissors.  Drag the greaseproof paper onto a baking tray and arrange the cut sausage rolls with a bit of space between them.

Bake at 180C for 40 minutes until golden brown, turning half way though the cooking time.  Best eaten hot.  Can be reheated at 180C for 7 minutes in an air fryer.

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Camembert or Brie Tarts

I've had two failed attempts at making Camembert (or Brie Tarts, Tartlets, Bites, or Pies), first with wraps as the casing and the second time with shop bought puff pastry.  The wrap casings went soft, and the puff pastry heat sealed itself to the muffin tray and had to be chiselled out.  So I returned to my old faithful homemade food processor all butter pastry (from a 20+ year old Good Housekeeping magazine cutting), which I make Chicken & Ham Pies, Mince Pies, and Quiche with, to make Camembert Tartlets (or Pies, or Bites) 

Makes 20-24

175g plain flour

100g cold salted butter, cubed

250g Camembert or Brie

Thinly sliced garlic, rosemary sprig, or Cranberry Sauce (optional)

Place the flour and cubed butter into a food processor with 2 tablespoons cold water.  Pulse a few times, add another tablespoon of cold water and pulse a few times again.  Keep adding a tablespoon of water and pulsing a few times until the flour and butter begins to look like breadcrumbs.  I find the Aldi flour I use takes about 4 tablespoons of water to get to this texture.  After 4 tablespoons of water, run the food processor for a few seconds continuously to make the pastry clump together into a rough ball, adding a little more water if it doesn't.

When formed into a ball, tip out onto a floured surface, shape into a block and place in a plastic bag in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

After the pastry has rested (it apparently should rest to allow the gluten to relax so it doesn't shrink as much, and making the butter harden and make the dough easier to work with - but it is not essential if you really don't have time to let it rest),  roll it out on a lightly floured surface and cut out disks with a pastry cutter.  I used my largest round cutter and made 20 disks.  Had I gone a cutter smaller, I might have been able to cut 24 disks.

Lightly grease the mince pie tin with a little vegetable oil and place a disk over each hole.  Don't worry about pushing them down into the hole as they will fall back into them once into the hot oven.

Cut the camembert into as many disks as you have cut.  Place the cheese in the centre of each disk.  I cut my Camembert into small wedges, which I cut in half again to get a rough square in the centre.  

Sandwich the garlic and a few rosemary leaves between the slices of cheese, if using.  If using cranberry sauce, place 1/2 a teaspoon on top.

Bake at 180C for 18 minutes, turning half way through the cooking time, until lightly golden.

Leave to cool for a few minutes so the cheese is not molten, but serve warm.

We warmed these up at 180C for 2 minutes in an air fryer at a family gathering yesterday.

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Caramelised Onion Pasta

Social media keeps on pushing caramelised onion spaghetti/linguine recipes my way.  So I gave one a go.

The recipe I roughly followed was a little greasy, not a surprise with all the butter, oil, cream, and cheese, so I added anchovies, chilli flakes, and lemon zest to cut through the richness.  If you don't mind having pasta without much sauce you can omit the cream and add the parmesan and zest after tossing through the cooked onion mixture.

Serves 4

400g spaghetti

4 brown onions, peeled and finely sliced

4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced

15g butter

1 tbsp olive oil, including anchovy oil using

1 tin anchovies in olive oil, chopped

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

300ml double cream

100g grated parmesan or grana padano

Zest of 1 lemon

Fresh parsley

Fry the sliced onions in the melted butter and olive oil over a medium heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring from time to time, until brown and meltingly soft. 

Stir in the chop anchovies, garlic, and chilli. Fry until the anchovies start to break up.

Pour in the cream, cheese, lemon zest and heat gently whilst you cook the pasta.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain and mix into the creamy sauce.  

Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving if using.

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Feta & Walnut Dip

Needing last minute nibbles for a get together with the girls, I was inspired to add some walnuts to whipped feta to serve on homemade sourdough crostini.  It went down well so I'd better write up the recipe before I forget

Makes a small 150g pot

100g feta

25g walnuts

1 small garlic clove, peeled and crushed

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Zest of half a lemon (optional)

1-2 tbsp whole milk or greek yoghurt

Whizz all the ingredients together in a mini food processor, adding milk or greek yoghurt to get your preferred texture (stiffer for spreading on crostini, looser for a dip).

This was made with half a block of feta as the other half had been eaten in a salad at lunch.  A whole 200g block would serve a small gathering better. Just double the ingredients.

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Air Fryer Pain au Chocolat Bread & Butter Pudding

The idea for this came from a day old pain au chocolat discovered the day after we returned from a short break in France.

Serves 1, as I only had one pain au chocolate but could be doubled etc depending on the size of your air fryer

1 pain au chocolat

1 egg

150ml whole milk

2 tbsp double cream or Greek yoghurt (optional)

1/2 tsp vanilla essence (optional)

1 tsp sugar

Slice the pain au chocolat into 1cm thick slices.  

Lay in an air fryer liner.

Beat egg and cream/yoghurt/vanilla essence if using in a mug. Beat in enough milk to fill the mug.

Pour the egg mixture over the pain au chocolat and leave to soak in for 5 minutes or more if you can.

Sprinkle over the sugar and bake in the air fryer for 10-15 minutes at 180C until golden brown on top, the egg mixture is wobbly rather than runny.

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Fruit Pancakes

I made blueberry pancakes for my son's breakfast on his 16th birthday, and have taught him the recipe for a quick high carb breakfast/snack.

Serves 2

1 mug/US cup self raising flour

1 mug milk

1 large free range egg

100g blueberries (I used frozen), raspberries, chopped strawberries, a grated apple or pear, or mashed banana

Whisk the flour milk and egg together into a smooth thick batter.

Stir in the fruit.

Heat a non stick frying pan over a medium high heat for 3 minutes then add a drizzle of oil.  Heat for another minute then add a ladleful of pancake mixture.

Cook for around 3 minutes on one side until the bubbles that start to appear on the surface have all popped and opened, the base of the pancake is a golden brown, and the pancake mixture on the surface is not runny when you tip the pan.  Flip the pancake with a wide fish slice and cook for a further 3 minutes until the bottom is as golden brown as the first side.

Serve with or without maple or golden syrup

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Creamy Tomato & Walnut Pasta Sauce

My teenage son is carb loading for the gym (it's either that or revise for his GCSEs) so I thought I'd make him some high calorie pasta sauce and freeze it in portions for a quick calorific pasta snack.

I tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 large garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes

100g walnuts 

200g soft cheese (vegan or dairy) or 50g cashews + 100ml water

Gently fry the chopped onion and garlic in olive oil in a sauce pan until just starting to brown.

Add the chopped tomatoes, half a can of recently boiled water, walnuts, and cashew nuts if using. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.

When the onion is tender liquidise with the soft cheese or additional hot water if using cashew nuts to the consistency of a thick pourable pasta sauce.  This made more than enough sauce for 500g of pasta.

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@Zoe Homemade Granola

I cannot claim any credit for this recipe, it is from @Zoe Nutrition, apart from my tweeks as noted

Makes 6-8 servings

3/4 cup flaked almonds

1 cup porridge oats

100g pecans

1/2 cup mixed seeds

40g coconut flakes

1 tbsp chia seeds

2 tbsp flaxseeds

1 tbsp psylium husk (did have/use any)

2 tsp cinnamon

100ml coconut or olive oil

4 tbsp honey

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp almond butter (used smooth peanut butter)

100g dried cranberries (my addition, added after cooking)

Preheat oven to 160C

In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients.

In a separate jug or bowl, mix the almond butter, oil, and honey until combined.

Stir the liquid through the dry mixture until everything is coated.

Spread the granola mix out onto a lined tray, pressing into a single flat layer. 

Bake for 25 minutes, checking halfway and turning if necessary to ensure it browns evenly.

Rest for 10 minutes and do not touch the granola at all if you want large chunks.

Once the granola has cooled completely it should break off into nice chunky pieces thick can be stored in an airtight jar for up to a few weeks.

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Eggy Bread, French Toast, Pain Perdu

Eggy Bread, French Toast, or Pain Perdu is my teenage son's current high calorie bulking up breakfast of choice, thankfully moving away from ultra processed breakfast cereals

Serves 2

1 large free range egg

40ml whole milk

20g greek yoghurt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 thick slices wholemeal bread, ideally homemade!

Whisk all the wet ingredients and cinnamon together in a shallow bowl.  Soak the bread in the whisked mixture for a couple of minutes on each side.

Heat 1 tbsp light olive oil in a non-stick frying pan.  Using a wide fish slice, carefully lift the bread out of the egg mixture and slide into the frying pan.  Fry for 2-3 minutes each side until golden and crisp.

Eat immediately.

PS. He has since been introduced by his girlfriend's parents to cooking this in the air fryer, which he says makes it 'puffier'.  Lightly grease an air fryer liner and cook for 5 minutes at 160C, then turn over and cook for a further 5 minutes on the other side.

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Tuna Pasta Bake

A wet Autumn day calls for comfort food.  And a pasta dish blinded the kids to the fish in it.  

Serves 6

500g pasta

50g/2 heaped tbsp plain flour

600ml whole milk

300g frozen or canned sweetcorn

100g cheddar cheese, grated 

1 clove of garlic, crushed

2 cans of tuna in oil

Cook the pasta according the instructions on the packet together with frozen sweetcorn if using.

Meanwhile whisk the oil from the tuna, milk, and flour together in a non stick saucepan.

When the flour is mixed in well, turn on the heat to medium high, and stir continuously with a flat bottomed wooden spoon or silicone spatula to ensure the sauce doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan whilst it heats and thickens.

When the sauce is thickened, stir in the flaked tuna, garlic, and drained canned sweetcorn if using.  Mix well.

When the pasta is ready, drain, return to the pan and pour over the sauce. Tip into a baking dish and sprinkle over the cheese.

Bake at 180C for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and bubbling.

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