Category: peppers

Categories
chorizo mozzarella peppers pizza tomato

chorizo calzone

chorizo calzone

I had half the dough left over from pesto pizza, and it occurred to me that I’d never made one of my favourite Italian foods: calzone. That lovely folded pizza, like a Cornish pasty spending a gap year travelling.

I was bowled over by how tasty it was. It really was great, especially when paired with a zingy mustardy salad.

Chorizo calzone:

For the dough (makes 2 x 30cm pizzas; I used half for two calzones):

500g strong bread flour

100g fine polenta

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

7g dry yeast

4 tablespoons olive oil

300ml lukewarm water

Filling:

100g chorizo, cut into chunks

1 yellow pepper, diced

1 tin tomatoes (a good brand will help you a lot here)

6 pieces baby mozzarella

A few thyme leaves

  1. In a jug mix the yeast, oil, water and sugar together and leave for a few minutes while you get on with the other dry ingredients.
  2. For the pizza base, bring the flour, polenta and salt together in a bowl. I use a food mixer which makes the next stage dead easy.
  3. Pour the wet mix into the dry and let a dough hook do its work for about 5-6 minutes. If you’re doing it by hand push and knead it together until smooth and elastic. Cover the dough with a damp teatowel and leave somewhere warm for an hour – it should double in size.
  4. When the dough has risen, pre-heat the oven as high as it will go. If you have a pizza stone, get it in now. Otherwise a cheap but conductive metal tray will work.
  5. Fry the chorizo in a hot dry pan until one side colours. Add the peppers and continue to cook until the peppers have softened slightly. Remove the ingredients to one side with a slotted spoon, leaving the oils behind. Add the tomatoes and thyme to this pan, keeping the heat very high. Let it bubble down and reduce until thick then remove from the heat.
  6. Push the dough into a thin, round shape on a floured surface. Go as thin as you can. Spread some tomato puree over half the calzone, dot with mozzarella and add half the chorizo/pepper mix. Spoon over a little more tomato sauce, then fold the calzone over, crimping the edges.
  7. When it’s ready take it to the oven. The pizza will bake for anywhere between 10 – 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of your base and the temperature of your oven. (Quicker is better). Serve with a green salad.
Categories
carrots chestnuts chorizo leftovers marsala paprika peppers polenta pork

pork and chestnut casserole with fried polenta

A real pot of leftovers, this one. Tons of stuff in the cupboard, fridge and freezer that all needed using up. Leave it in the casserole, come back hours later… lovely.

Pork and chestnut casserole:

500g pork shoulder, chopped

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, sliced

2 carrots, diced

2 courgettes, diced

100ml marsala wine

1 teaspoon paprika

2 sprigs rosemary

50g chorizo

250g cooked chestnuts

2 tins tomatoes

500ml chicken stock

For the polenta:

100g quick-cook polenta

400ml vegetable stock

5 dried wild mushrooms

  1. Preheat the oven to 140°C.
  2. In a large casserole, fry the pork in batches until browned. Remove to one side while you gently fry the onions and garlic in the same pan.
  3. When softened, turn the heat up, add the marsala wine and bubble furiously. When the wine has reduced, add the pork, carrot, courgette and paprika and give a ruddy good stir. Throw in the rosemary, chestnuts, chorizo, tomatoes and stock and stir thoroughly. Pop the lid on and leave in the oven for three hours. Check on it from time to time and add hot water if necessary.
  4. For the polenta, first grind the mushrooms to a powder in a pestle and mortar. Get the stock to the boil in a saucepan and gradually add the polenta and mushroom dust in a steady stream, whisking all the time. Continue stirring for another two minutes and turn on to a cold plate.
  5. When cool, cut the polenta into pieces and fry until browned and crisp. Serve with the casserole, drizzled with balsamic vinegar.
Categories
chicken coconut courgettes peppers rice

thai chicken curry with kung po rice

Having both rice and curry paste in the cupboard to use up, I played with the idea of Thai green curry to create a lifting and tasty midweek meal. Using some Tilda Kung Po stir fry rice and other bits and bobs lying around, I lucked on to something pretty nice.

Thai chicken curry with Kung Po rice:

2 chicken legs

Dark soy sauce

1 courgette, sliced

1 red pepper, sliced

1 packet Kung Po stir fry rice

For the sauce:

1 teaspoon Thai green paste

1 can coconut milk

500ml chicken stock

Fish sauce to taste

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Shake some soy sauce over the chicken legs and rub all over. Pop in the oven for 40 mins until crisp and cooked through. Shred the meat off the bone with two forks.
  3. Put the paste in a pan and sizzle for a minute, then add the remaining sauce ingredients and simmer to reduce.
  4. In a separate pan fry the courgette and pepper in a little oil until tender, then add the chicken meat. Add the rice and cook for a further minute. Combine with the sauce and serve.
Categories
beef egg food noodles onion peppers spinach steak

jap chae

Following my first brush with Korean BBQ, subsequent egging on from gourmet traveller, and inspiration from Judy Joo, I knew my second dish had to be Jap Chae.

I took a good look at Judy Joo’s recipe, and dived into the challenge. Being a forthright so-and-so, I made a few adjustments. I understand they are at the heart of the dish but I had no chance of finding dangmyeon, or sweet potato vermicelli, in my corner of Essex. It’s hard enough finding an Asian store of any description, so I hope the panel will forgive me substituting fine egg noodles (if I ever see some on my travels, I will grab them and give ’em a try). On a more personal level, I love it when beef has that black-brown seared crust on, and worried that this recipe might lose it. So I chose to sear the beef very quickly over very high heat, then leave it to rest alongside the omelette before adding back at the end. By resting it here, those lovely steak juices would wander off and get leeched by the egg, so double win there.

All told, it was a lovely plate of noodles. Dark and rich, with plenty of fresh vegetable crunch. The omelette and beef were nice little nuggets of treasure hidden away amongst it all. Thanks guys! So what’s next?

Jap chae (serves 2):

200g rump steak, thinly sliced

For the marinade:

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons mirin

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

For the noodles:

2 nests fine egg noodles, broken up

2 tbsp soy sauce

Everything else:

2 eggs, beaten

1 large onion, sliced

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 small red onion, sliced

1 small carrot, julienned

12 oyster mushrooms, sliced

½ red pepper, julienned

Handful baby spinach leaves

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, crushed

3 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

  1. Mix the marinade ingredients together, pour over the steak and leave for at least half an hour.
  2. Boil the noodles as per packet instructions, drain and rinse through with plenty of cold water. When cool to the touch pour over the soy and let it soak in.
  3. Get a pan on medium low and spread the egg thinly over the base of the pan. When it sets flip it over, cook briefly, roll it up and put to one side.
  4. Get the pan up to ferocious heat and add a splash of oil. Sear the beef quickly for about 45 seconds on either side and remove to the same plate as the omelette to rest while you get on with everything else. (I couldn’t bear to lose that leftover marinade so poured it over the resting noodles).
  5. Keep the heat high and add the onion and garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Keep it moving the whole time and it shouldn’t catch. Add the red onion, carrot, mushrooms and pepper and continue stir-frying at pace. Fry for 3 – 4 minutes more until they vegetables start to go tender, then add the spinach and beef. Slice the omelette into strips and add those too along with the noodles and the rest of the ingredients.
  6. Cook for another minute or two until everything has been warmed through and the noodles take on a glossy appearance.
Exit mobile version