Red Pork Casserole

This casserole was a lifesaver! My eyes were bigger than my brain when I went into the supermarket after Christmas- I bought lots of pork on special offer, and lots of peppers. We had also had a party, and ended up with three bottles of red wine. For some reason, a glass full had gone from each, and there was a limit to how much wine we could reasonably drink during the week!

I used:
Pork- I used 6 loin chops (chicken would also work- 6 thighs)
Peppers (4- red and yellow)
Pimenton (smoke paprika)
Garlic (4 cloves)
Wine (I used 3/4 bottle)
one stock cube (chicken)
Two medium onions
Couple of bay leaves

Would also be great : )
Tomatoes (tinned or fresh, chopped)
Chick Peas
Potatoes

To make:
Saute onions and peppers with a generous heaped teaspoon of pimenton. Add pork when they are transparent, and brown. de-glaze pan with the wine. Add stock to cover everything. Add garlic. At this stage, you could also add chick peas and/ or potato, and any tomatoes. Adding chick peas would mean that you could feed more people with less meat!

To serve:

I've been eating this from a bowl- could with some fresh bread, or re-heated in the microwave with a generous handful of baby spinach which can be stirred in. It would also be great with rice.

Moro-ish meatballs with pepper sauce

Recently I got carried away in Morrisons where they had great deals on beef mince. An enormous bolognese sauce later, there was still 1.5 kilos left. I decided to be brave and make something that I've never made before- meatballs. This was further complicated by the fact that I don't eat bread so would need a bread-crumb free version. My friend wanted "something with a winter flavour" so I opted for "vaguely Moro", dependent upon what was in the cupboard. I had pimenton (smoked paprika) from a previous recipe and apricots thanks to canapes that I had made for a party the night before. These combined with other ingredients to makes something rich, warming and satisfying.

You need:
3/4 kg lean beef mince
8 dried apricots
1 teaspoon pimenton
two spring onions
two medium sized onions
four peppers (red & yellow, not green)
two tins of tomatoes
500g fresh tomatoes
1/4 tea spoon allspice
three cloves garlic
two heaped tablespoons hemp flour
1 egg
one tea spoon butter


For the meatballs:
Mix the beef with the finely chopped spring onion and one diced onion. Add four finely chopped dried apricots, two minced cloves of garlic, half the pimenton, the hemp flour and the allspice. Mix them very well and then mix in the beaten egg. Form the mince into balls about 4 cm diameter and brown in a hot frying pan.

For the sauce
Saute the other onion, diced with some olive oil and the spoonful of butter. Add the remaining pimenton and a whoel clove of garlice. Add the peppers, diced and saute also. When they have softened, add the fresh tomatoes, chopped, and five minutes later the tinned tomatoes, with an additional canful of water, bring to the boil and simmer. If the sauce is bitter after about 20 minutes of cooking, and a couple of apricots. Blitz the sauce until smooth with a hand mixer.

To serve:
The great thing of this recipe is that you can make it in advance and then just heat the meatballs up in the sauce. Great served over rice or pasta.

Tips:
Obviously, the meatballs could be made with very different flavours, and the sauce could also be made with different vegetables and spices.

Spinach and Bacon Salad with Roasted Red Pepper Bruschetta

Try this salad for an easy weeknight meal this summer. Serve with roasted red pepper bruschetta on the side.

• 4 cups chopped fresh spinach, washed and drained very well (better yet, use a salad spinner)
• 6 slices thick bacon, cut into bits (Most grocery stores sell packages of bacon ends, which are cheaper than those nicely sliced breakfast rashers; it doesn't matter if they don't look pretty, because you will be cutting them up anyway.)
• 2 boiled eggs, chopped
• ranch dressing (see below for homemade recipe)

In a large skillet/ frying pan, fry the bacon until crisp. Pour off oil. Add the spinach and mix with the bacon. Cook until just wilted.

Sprinkle the chopped egg on top and drizzle with ranch dressing. Serves 2.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 sour cream
1 tbsp each of chopped dill, parsley, and chives
1 clove of garlic, finely minced
salt and pepper to taste
4-6 tablespoons buttermilk

Mix the mayo, sour cream, and herbs together in a small bowl. Use the buttermilk to thin the dressing to desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

Roasted Red Pepper Bruschetta

1/2 baguette, sliced in half lengthwise

roasted red pepper slices with olive oil                 baby arugula/ rocket leaves 

1 clove of garlic

Slice the garlic clove in two and rub over the surface of the baguette halves. Spread the olive oil from the roasted red peppers over the baguettes. Layer the arugula leaves and red pepper slices on top. Toast in the oven until the edges of the baguette slices are golden brown and crisp. Serve immediately.


Recipe thanks to Maria Olaguera

Red Pepper Candy

This weekend I found some gorgeous red bell peppers at my local greengrocer's.

Roasting red peppers brings out their smokey sweetness - that's why I call it candy. I bet you'll find yourself eating them as fast as you can peel them.

Keep them packed in olive oil in the fridge and add them to sandwiches, pasta, salads, or have them on their own, sliced and drizzled with balsamic vinegar and chopped basil.

Red Pepper Candy

(Enough for a one-litre jar)
6 large red peppers
2 cookie sheets lined with foil
1 large glass bowl
Plastic wrap
1 1L glass jar with lid, sterilized

Cut the tops and bottoms off the peppers. Twist the stems and cores out.

Slit each pepper down one side and "unroll" the pepper, pressing it down with your palm to flatten, so that it ends up in one long strip. Lay it out on your cutting board, skin side down. Holding your knife parallel to the cutting board, run it along the pepper to remove the ribs. You may have to trim the insides of the tops, too.

Lay each pepper, skin side up, on the cookie sheet, along with the tops and bottoms. A cookie sheet will hold about 3 peppers.

Move your oven rack to the topmost level. If it is more than 3.5 inches from the heat element, use a cookie pan with sides, turned upside down, to bring the peppers within 2.5 - 3 inches of the element.

Slide in the peppers and turn on your oven at its broil setting. Depending on the size of your oven and cookie sheets, you may have to do one sheet at a time.

Roast the peppers until the skins are blackened in spots. This doesn't take very long, about 3-5 minutes.
When the peppers are done, pop them into your large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it steam away for 15 minutes. This cooks the peppers a little bit more and makes them easier to peel.

When they are cool enough to handle with your fingers, peel the peppers. You can eat them immediately or pack them in a jar with olive oil. They will last a couple of weeks stored in the fridge.