Pitta burgers with salad

Burger night.  100% steak mince for the carnivores and halloumi for the veggie.  All made extra delicious by having a really garlicky pesto salad dressing, mushrooms and heirloom tomato - stuffed into a pitta and served with potato wedges.  So, so good - and all from Todmorden Market.

From The Mediterranean Pantry:

Olive oil
Organic pitta bread
Red tomato pesto
Garlic

From Mellings:
Steak mince

From the Crumbly Cheese:
Halloumi

From Garry the veg:
Potatoes
Tomato
Salad leaves
Mushrooms
Onions

1.  Cut potatoes into wedges, par boil.  When nearly cooked, drain and put into a roasting tin in olive oil.  Roast for 35-40 minutes.
2.  Shape the mince into burgers, chill for a few minutes.
3.  Chop onions and muchrooms, fry in olive oil.
4.  Wash salad leaves. Make dressing by mixing crushed garlic, a spoonful of red pesto and a glug of olive oil.
5.  Fry the burgers for a few minutes on each side - we like ours quite rare, so about 3 minutes each side - rest for a couple of minutes.
6.  Fry the haloumi and push the pita breads down in the toaster.
7.  Chuck everything in the middle of the table and let people assemble their own burgers.

Delicious.

Wild fennel and tomato pesto tagliatelle, prawns and salad

We needed a very quick dinner, and fortunately I had been waiting to try the wild fennel and tomato pesto which I now stock - well!  it is outstanding!  Some good pasta - tagliatelle today and some salad and we were good to go.  I added some grilled prawns as well, to please the gathered ... but there were three views on this!  i) fantastic, love it, having thirds; ii) really good pesto, pasta and salad - would make a really good veggie dinner; iii) nice dinner - but would be fan-bloody-tastic to have this pasta and pesto with steak, or indeed, chicken ... and the same salad would be great too.  I think I come down with iii ... but, damn good pesto, damn good pasta, damn good dinner.

Takes about 12 minutes from cold ...

1.  Put on a pan of water to boil.
2.  Prepare lettuce.
3.  Make salad dressing - a splash of garlic infused olive oil, a squirt of lemon juice and a grind of sea salt and black pepper - into a salad bowl.
4.  Chuck lettuce and very finely sliced half moons of onion into the dressing.
5.  When water is boiling, chuck in the pasta and cook for 4 minutes until al dente.
6.  Grill prawns in hot pan.
7.  When the pasta is done, drain and stir in pesto.  Toss the salad.

Serve, scoff ...   then get the opinions written above ... thinking about it now - I think this pasta/pesto combo would be AMAZING with a good steak.  (Sorry vegetarians!)

Indtant dinner: gnocchi and pesto

It was a drizzly old day, but it bucked up in the afternoon, so ended up exploring wine shops and a cocktail and coffee bar, and unexpectedly getting home latish and tired-ish - so dinner was gnocchi and pesto with a tomato and onion salad.

I really can't bring myself to call it a recipe as the gnocchi was out of a packet and boiled for 1 minute - the pesto was out fo a jar - but it tasted good, and it was super quick.

Chicken and green bean pesto spaghetti

Easy, easy, easy.

Chop greens beans into bite sized pieces, chuck into boiling water, add spaghetti.  Cook according to packet instructions.  Chop chicken breast into bite sized pieces, fry until cooked.

Drain pasta, chuck in handful of chopped cherry tomatoes, cooked chicken and pesto.  Add olive oil if it needs letting down a little.  Toss/stir until mixed.  Grind over black pepper, scoff.

Tilapia fillets with pesto.. and pasta thingy

I ate this, and I enjoyed it.  However, I was very hungry, and I like all the constituent elements.  I cannot wholeheartedly claim that it all goes together!  I think some tomatoes (fresh, not tinned) tossed into the pasta mixture might have brought the mediterranean vibe together more.  Having said that - I would have it again in a heartbeat.  AND I didn't have to buy/ supplement a single ingredient, and it stopped some stuff going to waste.  So, as far as I am concerned RESULT.

I don't think my primary victim would be a big fan - but that's a lot to do with the aversion to fish .. and spinach.


2 tbsp olive oil
3 tilapia fillets
3 tbsps pesto (mine today was from a jar, but if it's homemade, so much the better)
1 cup mushrooms
1 crushed garlic clove
1/2 cup macaroni (when dry)
Handful spinach leaves
5(ish) tbsp half fat creme fraiche


1.  Place the fish fillets in an oven proof dish, which has been drizzled with a tiny drizzle of olive oil, and spread pesto on top (if you are going to keep any of the pesto for another day, make sure you don't "double dip" - or cross contaminate... ie.  do not dip into jar, touch fish with spoon, and then go back into the jar ... that way food  poisonning lies.  Put slathered fillets in the oven (about 180)
2.  Chop mushrooms and fry off, gently, in olive oil, after a couple of mins add crushed garlic (optional .. obv).  (Whilst bringing pasta water to the boil)
3.  Cook pasta in boiling water according to packet instructions (lets say 11 mins)
4.  When mushrooms have released their liquid (the sound of them in the pan changes), add a couple of spoons of pasta water and chuck in spinach.  Take off the heat after a out a minute and let the spinach wilt.
5.  When pasta is cooked, drain and add to mushrooms and spinach, add big dollops of creme fraiche (you might want to return to the heat if its been waiting around) and stir in, until lovely and creamy.  grind on black pepper, and salt to taste.
6.  Chuck pasta and veg on a plate and place fish on top.
7. Scoff ... ponder about whether they go together (and then comment here! ...)

Chicken, salami and fennel macaroni

It's been a bit of a week this week - no repeat February is on track, but only through victim making a roast lamb dinner (on a Tuesday!) and a VILE take away pizza on Wednesday.  Managed to throw some dinner together last night - easy and quick macaroni with stuff in it.  Chopped and softenned some veggies in olive oil with garlic (leeks, fennel, celery, mushrooms and red pepper) - chucked in diced chicken breast and some chopped up salami.  Boil macaroni.  Bung it all in together when macaroni is nearly cooked.  Add some of the macaroni water, so that the mixture doesn't dry up too much - chucked in jar of pesto and small tub of greek yogurt. Baked for 10 minutes or so.  Top with lots of black pepper.  Easy, tasty and filling.

Chicken, veg and pesto pasta soup

Souper December is petering out a bit.  I tried a Chinese mountain soup mix - but after the required 7 hours simmering it was so revolting that it went straight down the sink, without so much as a pic.  This however, was a chucked together lunch because we were starving and it was delicious, probably even more so because we were starving, but every gathered victim had seconds, so it must have been good.  Sautee 2 chopped onions, good amount of celery and carrots in olive oil, add chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces, brown slightly.  Add just "too much" crushed garlic, turn over in oil and add chicken stock.  Simmer for a few minutes add chopped tomatoes and chicken stock.  When pasta is done stir in pesto.

Spagetti with chicken, green beans and pesto

Boil beans and spagetti, marinade bite sized chicken pieces in garlic and lemon.  Roast some tomatoes.  When cooked, about 12 mins, chuck together with jar of pesto.  Grind on plenty of black pepper.

Chicken, green beans and tomato pesto spaghetti

The title says it all - except 12 minutes door to plate!