Category: parsley

stuffed focaccia

OK, OK, so it’s not a focaccia. But the idea’s there. It’s actually a boule de campagne but serving the same purpose. Reminds me a lot of a muffuleta. (Obviously the sandwich in the pic is missing it’s lid). It’s a stunning feast from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals.

I bloomin’ love sandwiches like this, every mouthful’s different. A deli in a bap! The remoulade is tangy and fun too, I’d recommend that alongside some barbecued meat on its own.

Jamie also served this with some mozzarella dressed with pesto and followed it with a grapefruit granita, but the two parts here are brill as they are.

Stuffed focaccia (serves 4):

For the focaccia:

1 large boule de campagne

450g jar of peppers

1 teaspoon capers, drained

Handful of sun-dried tomatoes

Handful mixed olives

A few cherry tomatoes, halved

3 or 4 cornichons

Small bunch of parsley

Half a lemon

Sprinkle of parmesan

For the remoulade:

600g celeriac

1 pear

Handful of parsley

1 teaspoon French mustard

1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Get your food processor out and whack in the coarse grater. Peel and quarter the celeriac, then pass this, the pear and the parsley through the grater (you may have to do it in stages if the bowl fills up). Mix together the mustards and vinegar with some extra virgin olive oil and pour this all over the grated veg. Taste for seasoning and leave to marry together while you make your sandwich.

Pop the bread in a low oven just to gently warm through and get a lovely crust while you prepare the filling. Pop all the ingredients on a large chopping board and run through the lot several times with your longest knife. Keep going until everything is roughly thumb-sized – any bigger and it lollops out of the bap while you’re eating. Squeeze over a lemon and pour over a little extra virgin olive oil, and spread the filling over your warmed loaf. Grate over some parmesan and serve with the remoulade.

Tags jamie oliver

bread harissa lamb oregano parsley tomato

leon meatballs

I was overjoyed to discover there was a Leon on my “doorstep” – Bluewater to be precise. Well it’ s not in London, so that’s a start. The family and I went there and tried out a bunch of things. It was little unconventional but healthy, hearty and good fun. The hands-down dish of the day was the meatballs, who have been praised by all sorts, including some Gordon Ramsay chap.

I was ecstatic to discover the recipe on the Guardian website. Trying it myself, it was a recipes of ups and downs. The sauce was a disaster, calling for 1½ tablespoons of harissa. Even taking it down to a teaspoon was still volcanic. Maybe I possess the hottest harissa on the planet, I don’t know. The sauce was ruined though, burning hot. The meatballs themselves was lovely though – the clever bit is torn-up soggy pitta breads, giving a earthy, toasted flavour that’d be really hard to put your finger on if you didn’t know what was in them.

So meatballs = yes, sauce = no.

(Incidentally, the leftovers made for a mean moussaka the following week topped with grilled aubergine and bechamel!)

Want more ideas for leftovers? Or what to cook with the things lurking at the back of your fridge? Check out Gumbo, a recipe search engine that I recently discovered. Gumbo helps you discover new recipes using the ingredients you have in your kitchen, thereby reducing your food waste. What a great way to make the most with what you already have.

Leon meatballs

Servings 6 people

Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

For the meatballs

6 pitta breads
120 ml milk
1 kg minced lamb
A small bunch of parsley finely chopped
A small handful of mint finely chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
2 cloves of garlic chopped

For the sauce

30 ml olive oil
3 cloves of garlic crushed
2 x 800g tins of chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon harissa
A handful of basil chopped
A handful of parsley chopped
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Rip the flatbread into pieces and soak in the milk for 10 minutes. Then put the bread into a mixing bowl, add the mince and stir in the parsley, mint, oregano, garlic and some seasoning.
Mix well, then roll the mixture into walnut-sized balls.
On a griddle pan, brown the balls quickly - it's all about colouring them and not cooking them through ... five minutes total cooking time with about three turns on the griddle.
To make the sauce, heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and gently fry the crushed garlic. Tip in the chopped tomatoes and harissa and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until the sauce has reduced. Put in the meatballs and continue to simmer for a further 20 minutes with a lid on until the sauce looks about right.
Lastly, stir in the herbs and have a final seasoning check.

Tags allegra mcevedy

chorizo egg food onion parsley

chorizo omelette

A quick and easy dinner, colourful and tasty. An a darned good excuse to try out my new knife! Tender egg, fresh parsley, meaty chorizo and sweet onion in one parcel. Partnered with a rocket and chard salad, drizzled with a brisk dressing inspired by Wagamama this is great meal for a dinner in a rush.

Chorizo omelette (serves 2):

4 eggs, beaten and seasoned

2 tablespoons parsley

100g chorizo, chopped

1/2 onion, diced

For the salad:

Mixed leaves (I used rocket and red chard)

For the salad dressing:

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon tomato ketchup

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Fry the onion in a little butter and oil until soft.

Add the chorizo and continue frying until it releases it’s orangey juices. Remove the chorizo and onion from the pan to one side.

In the same pan add the eggs and 1 tablespoon of parsley. Heat until the bottom starts to set and add the chorizo and onion back to the pan.

Fold in half and allow to cook for a minute more or until done how you like it. Sprinkle the remaining parsley over.

For the salad dressing, whisk it all together until lightly emulsified and drizzle over the leaves.