Recipe Box: Butternut Squash Risotto

It has been so long! Things have been mad here. The kitten has been a little ill and my boyfriend has been setting up a new business all of his own so I've been kept busy even outside of work.

But at last, I finally got to do a little cooking yesterday. I felt like something hearty and comforting after the weather took a cold turn so I cooked up a little risotto! Bonus: it's fairly healthy!

This recipe is about enough for two people.

Ingredients:

• 200g butternut squash cut into small cubes.
• 1 tbsp olive oil.
• 50g broccoli, sliced lengthways.
• Half an onion, finely chopped.
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped.
• 1 tbsp fresh sage, chopped.
• 1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes.
• 150g risotto rice.
• 65ml white wine.
• 500ml vegetable stock.
• Pepper for seasoning.
• 30g soft cheese.

To the kitchen!

• Preheat the oven to 200oC.
• Put the butternut squash into the roasting tin and mix in half of the olive oil.
• Cook for 10 minutes and then add the broccoli and cook for another 20 minutes.
• In the meantime, heat the rest of the oil in a large frying pan and cook the onion for 5 minutes or until it becomes soft. 
• Add the garlic, sage and chilli flakes and cook for another minute.
• Stir in the risotto rice, pour in the wine and simmer until the wine is all absorbed.
• Stir in the vegetable stock a little at a time and cook for around 25 minutes or until the stock is absorbed and the rice is tender. 
• Season with pepper.
• Stir through the cream cheese and the vegetables and serve.
• Enjoy!

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Mushroom Risotto

Yesterday I made my first ever risotto. Yum! I'm looking forward to making many more ;)

This recipe makes a huge amount of risotto and rice should not be reheated so if you're cooking for two then I would definitely halve all of the below ingredients.

Ingredients

• 315g Aburrio rice.
• 950ml chicken or vegetable stock.
• 4 tbsp butter.
• 2 shallots, chopped. 
• 120g white wine. 
• 150g frozen peas.
• 150g broccoli, chopped.
• 250g shitake mushrooms, chopped.
• 43g almonds, chopped.

To the kitchen!

• Rinse the rice in a bowl and drain and rinse several times to get rid of all the rice dust. Set aside.
• Bring the stock to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer. 
• Melt the butter on a high heat in a deep frying pan and then add the shallots, cooking for four or five minutes or until the onion is soft. 
• Stir the drained rice into the butter until it's all nicely coated and cook for two minutes. 
• Pour in the white wine and cook on high for about three minutes or until all of the alcohol has burnt off. 
• Stir in the stock little by little and then add the peas, broccoli and mushrooms and continue to cook on a medium heat. 
• Meanwhile, lightly toast the almonds until nicely browned. 
• Once the rice is tender, serve up and sprinkle the almonds over the risotto. 
• Enjoy! :)

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Tomato and Basil Gnocchi

 Mmmm... Gnocci. One of my favourites! But what to have with it? Well, here's a simple suggestion. It should be enough for around four servings.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil.
• 1 onion, chopped.
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped.
• 30g fresh basil.
• 800g chopped tomatoes.
• 1 tsp brown sugar. 
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce. 
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs. 
• 1000g gnocchi.
• 25g pine nuts. 
• 2 tbsp cheese, grated.

To the kitchen! 

• Preheat the oven to 200oC.
• Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onion until softened for around 5 to 10 minutes. 
• Add the garlic and fry for a further minute. 
• Stir in half of the basil, the chopped tomatoes, the sugar, the Worcestershire sauce and the mixed herbs. 
• Bring to the boil and then reduce heat and simmer for ten minutes. 
• Meanwhile, cook the gnocchi by boiling it in another pan for a few minutes until the gnocchi rises to the surface of the water. 
• Lightly toast the pine nuts in a small frying pan. 
• Stir the gnocchi through the sauce.
• Serve up into four bowls and top with the pine nuts, cheese and the remaining basil.
• Enjoy!

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Vegetarian Tortilla Lasagne!

I adore Mexican food and I could eat lasagne forever so why not combine the two? Sound crazy? It's not as insane as it sounds, I promise! It's actually super tasty :)

Introducing the Tortilla Lasagne...

Want to make this beast? Just follow the instructions below :) It serves between two and four depending on just how hungry you are!

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil.
• 1 onion, finely chopped.
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped.
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped.
• 1 tsp ground cumin.
• 1 tbsp dried coriander. 
• 780g pinto beans, drained.
• 400g chopped tomatoes.
• 250ml vegetable stock. 
• 1 bunch spring onions, sliced.
• 325g tin of sweetcorn, drained.
• 4 flour tortilla wraps. 
• 100g cheese.

To the kitchen!

• Preheat the oven to 200oC.
• Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the onion until soft for about 5 minutes.
• Mix in three-quarters of the chilli as well as the garlic, cumin and coriander and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the drained pinto beans, the chopped tomatoes and the vegetable stock.
• Simmer for ten minutes until the majority of the stock has evaporated.
• Add in three-quarters of both the sweetcorn and the spring onions. 
• Place a tortilla wrap in the base of a round cake tin.
• Spoon in a quarter of the bean mixture, sprinkle over a quarter of the cheese and place another wrap on top of this.
• Again, spoon another quarter of the bean mixture and cheese and place another tortilla wrap on top. Repeat twice so you end up with the last of the beans and cheese on top of the fourth tortilla. 
• Bake for 25 minutes.
• Once out of the oven, sprinkle the remaining chilli, sweetcorn and spring onions over the top and voila, you're ready to go!

Enjoy :) 

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Super Easy Soft Cheese

 Cheese! I have to admit I'm not the most adventurous of cheese eaters (I generally only eat chedder, ha!) but I've always fancied having a go myself. I stumbled across a simple recipe for homemade cheese and with a little bit of tweaking, it became so easy that even a cooking amateur like me could handle it ;)

For this recipe, you'll need to gather a few simple household items. Just make sure you have a large pan which can hold over two litres of liquid, said liquid being two litres of good quality organic whole milk.    You'll also need a wooden spoon, 3 large lemons and some sort of juicing device (I just used a little lemon squeezer), a colander, a large bowl, a large piece of muslin and... string.

So if you want to make a generous 400g-ish portion of soft cheese, just follow the steps below :)

• Slow boil the two litres of milk in the large pan, stirring regularly to stop the milk from sticking to  the pan. In the meantime, juice the lemons and aim to collect 4 tablespoons of juice. 
• Once the milk is boiling, remove it from the heat and slowly add the lemon juice while stirring the milk in one direction. 
• You should see the milk forming little lumps of curd (aka your future cheese!) which separate from the liquid whey. 

• Cover the pan and leave to one side for two hours or so. By this time, your curds should have settled nicely. 
• Line the colander with the muslin and place it in the large bowl. Slowly pour the former milk mixture into the colander.
• Once the liquid has finished draining, gather the corners of the material together to form a tight little pocket which you should then use the string to tie together. 
• Hang your contraption over a sink or bath so any further liquid will be safely collected and then leave it hanging for around 3 hours.

• Enjoy your cheese! :) It should last for at least three days if kept in the fridge!

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Beetroot Salad

So, we're almost at the end of beetroot season and I wanted to have one final beetroot fling! I love it this messy vegetable but I rarely use it which is a crying shame if you ask me. I rustled up an easy little beetroot salad to brighten up our burger and chips dinner :)

This recipe makes enough for a good side serving for two people.


Ingredients

• 450g raw beetroots
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 3 spring onions, finely chopped
• Salt

To the kitchen!

• Pull off the roots and cut all of the stalks down to about 2 cm. 
• Gently, without splitting the skins, rub the beetroots under cold water to get rid of any dirt. 
• Place all of the beetroots into a pan and pour boiling water over until the beetroots are completely submerged in water. 
• Bring it to the boil, cover and reduce to a medium heat and cook for 30-40 mins until the beetroots feel tender when you gently pierce them with a sharp knife. 
• In the meantime, mix the oil, vinegar, garlic, onions and salt in some kind of sealed container in which you can shake all the ingredients until they are well mixed. I used a plastic tupperware box but you could also use a jar.
• Once the beetroots are tender, drain and rinse them under cold water until they are cool to the touch so you can peel away their skins. 
• Slice the beetroot to the desired size for your salad.
• Put in a bowl and cover with the dressing you already made. Cover and leave to chill in the fridge for at least an hour. 
• When ready, simply toss the salad and serve! 

Enjoy!

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Peanut Butter Cake

Hello!

Things have been so hectic lately, gearing up for Christmas, making our flat a home and spending as much time as possible with my man in his downtime before he flies off to the Alps for Christmas!

I wanted to bake a really special cake this weekend and I found the perfect recipe ;) Peanut. Butter. Cake. Does it get better than that?!

Quick, easy and absolutely delicious!

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Courgette Chocolate Chip Cookies/Tray Bake

Hello!

I had a bit of time along with extra courgettes today so I decided to make some veggie cookie goodness! My lack of baking trays (I only have two!) meant that the cookies didn't have enough room to spread out which led to a massive cookie tray bake bonanza... Hey, I'm not complaining, they taste great!!

I recently bought a set of cup measures so I'll finally be joining the cup crowd! ;)

Ingredients

• 2 cups of sugar.
• 1 cup of butter.
• 2 eggs, beaten.
• 4 cups plain flour, sifted.
• 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda.
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon.
• 1 teaspoon salt.
• 1 cup grated courgette.
• 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips. 

To the kitchen!

• Preheat the oven to 175 degrees celcius. 
• Cream the butter and sugar together, add beaten eggs. 
• In a separate bowl, mix the flour, bicarbonate, cinnamon and salt together. 
• Add the two bowls together, and once mixed, add in the courgette and chocolate chips. 
• Once everything is well mixed together, arrange dollops of the cookie dough a few centimetres apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. You may need more than one sheet!
• Bake for 20 mins and leave to cool on a wire rack. 
• Enjoy warm if possible! 

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Okra Stir Fry

Hi there!

So, for a while now I've been seeing this strange-looking vegetable in the supermarket and I've been wondering what on Earth it is. My sources told me that it's something called 'okra'. I'm a huge fan of vegetables so I couldn't let it go untasted for too much longer ;)

So, I bought a few lady fingers and used this recipe to help me try okra. I wasn't sure what to expect because I kept seeing words like 'slimy' and 'fuzzy' pasted all over the interweb but okra is seriously yummy! I loved the sliminess, how weird is that? I'll definitely be using this strange but delicious vegetable again soon :)

Here are my before and after photos!

Before - a pretty yet fuzzy vegetable

After - part of a delicious stir fry :)

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Super Choco Hot Choc

With London feeling colder and colder each day, I decided to make my favourite pure indulgence hot chocolate :) It's over-the-top chocolately so not suitable for everyone but I do love to treat myself every now and again!

Want to try it for yourself? It's simple and very versatile so please do custom make your own favourite!

In your favourite mug, make up your own favourite hot chocolate as normal. I love to use the different flavours of the Options range; orange and mint are particularly good :) Pour it into a pan and heat gently. Next, add in your favourite milk chocolate bar (a regular sized Cadburys Dairy Milk is my go-to for this task!). Once the chocolate has mostly melted, pour it back into the mug. I prefer to leave a few chunky bits of chocolate in there as a nice surprise for while I'm drinking it ;) Next add spray can cream and marshmallows and a few chocolate shavings on top to make it look pretty! Easy as pie :)

What is your favourite hot chocolate?

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Chocolate Cupcakes

Howdy!

I'm enjoying a lovely break from work so decided to do some baking. If only I had known what I was letting myself in for...

I used this sweet recipe from this lovely lady and gave it a go. It was all going to plan until I decided I'd also try out the frosting recipe and discovered I didn't quite have enough butter. I mistakenly thought I could use my non-existent maths skills to adjust all of the ingredients' quantities to meet my butter shortage and just make a smaller amount of frosting. This didn't quite work out and I ended up with a big watery slop which still tasted pretty darn good, surprisingly! I figured I'd use it as a very thin sauce to moisten the cupcakes (see photo above...). Dessert was saved! Well, it was saved until I got ill... it turns out that my body doesn't like cocoa powder and because I'd consumed rather a lot that day I landed myself a pretty hefty migraine which wiped me out well and truly. Luckily for me, it seems to be only dark chocolate which affects me and is my least favourite kind anyway. And my Grandad has already volunteered to eat all of my future dark chocolate, what a trooper! :)

Not my most successful baking mission...

But on the bright side, we now have the Internet in our new home.... HURRAY! I'm feeling better already ;)

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Spinach Lasagne

Hello again!

I still have no internet access at home but plodding on anyway. I do miss it so!

The cold has started to truly set in and Autumn is here, I am loving it :) Any excuse to wrap up and eat comfort food ;)

I finally got stuck into one of the many recipes I've been patiently waiting to try from a very special book I read earlier this year. This lasagne was so simple to make and perfect for a night in when it's pouring buckets outside. My man even loved it and asked for seconds even though he's not a big fan of melted cheese or spinach, though lucky for me he's willing to try anything I cook up. No regrets this time!

You can find the original recipe online here but I can't recommend reading the entire book enough.

If, like me, you're not used to dealing with cups, oz and lbs, these are the measurements of the ingredients I used. They may not be particularly accurate conversions but they worked out fine :)

• 200g lasagne sheets ( I couldn't find noodles in my store but these worked just as well).
• 200g chopped spinach.
• 500g tomato sauce.
• 250g fresh ricotta.
• 250g mozzarella.

Enjoy!!

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Shortbread Buttons

I had one last chance to bake something sweet before the big move and I was very excited to FINALLY try out a recipe I've had my greedy eye on for quite some time now...

 Oh yes, shortbread buttons people!!! I followed this gorgeously illustrated recipe et voila! 

Top tip if you fancy having a go yourself: shortbread dough is super sticky so try rolling it between two sheets of baking paper. Much less messy ;)

 Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Cucumber Maki

I love Japanese food and I have always wanted to give it a go myself so when I found a sushi kit, I HAD to try it  :)

So want to know how to make maki? There's a knack to it, that's for sure!

In my kit I received a bamboo rolling mat, 150g dry sushi rice in a bag, two sheets of nori (seaweed sheets) and 30ml rice vinegar. 

First of all you have to prepare the rice. To do this, soak the rice (still inside the bag) in a medium-sized pan of water. Bring it to the boil and simmer on a low heat with the lid on for 11 minutes. After this time, drain the water and return the rice (yep, still inside the bag) to the pan and replace the lid and leave to steam for 25-30 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare your filling. I cut strips of cucumber to 1-2cm thickness and to the width of the nori sheet. You can also use carrot, avocado or any number of other fillings! 

Once the rice has cooked, carefully remove the rice from the bag and into a large bowl. Be careful though, the rice will be very hot! Stir in the rice vinegar and leave until the rice is cool enough to handle. Mine was fine after a few minutes. 

Now for the messy part! Roll out your bamboo rolling mat and place a sheet of nori on top. Spoon half of the rice onto the nori, evenly spreading it across the sheet but leaving a gap of about 1 cm at each end so you can seal the roll. 

Then, and take your time over this part, start rolling the mat away from you, bit by bit, shaping the roll as you go. 

Eventually you should end up with something resembling this...

Make sure the end of the nori is pressed into the roll, sealing it by running a little water along the inside edge and pressing into the join with the mat. 

Repeat with the rest of the ingredients to make your second roll. Next, put your rolls onto a dry wooden chopping board and with a sharp slightly dampened knife chop them in half. Then take each half and cut it into four pieces. Et voila! Well, practice makes perfect ;)

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Easy Bean and Veggie Burritos!

Hello folks!

I found this recipe over at Spark People a couple of years and it has since become a favourite go-to dish of mine. It's quick, simple and inexpensive. I often whip up a batch before a good run of night shifts :) You can make it as hot or as mild as you like. Once I'd made it a few times, I became less finicky about the ingredients portions and just started piling it all in! I like it super hot ;) Follow the instructions below to make enough for 4 tortilla wraps. 

Ingredients

443g can black or pinto beans, rinsed and drained.

1 cup frozen sweetcorn. 

1/2 green pepper, chopped.

226g salsa.

1 teaspoon chilli powder.

1 dash hot sauce.

4 whole wheat tortillas.

As much cheese as you like!

Non-stick spray

To the kitchen!

• Drain the beans and rinse well.
• Spray a medium-sized saucepan with a little non-stick spray and put it on a low heat.
• Add the beans and mash them with a fork, leaving a few beans in one piece. 
• Add the sweetcorn, green pepper, salsa, chilli powder and hot sauce. Mix it all up on a medium heat until the mixture is hot. 
• Warm up the tortillas according to the package instructions.
• Spread a quarter of the bean mixture onto one of the tortillas and add the desired amount of cheese.
• Fold in both sides of the tortilla and roll up into a secure wrap. 
• Continue to do the same with the other three and enjoy!

Recipe Box: Dal Palak

Meet Dal Palak. It's a lovely Indian curry made from lentils and spinach and it comes with a nice spicy kick! You can make it soupy or more like a stew, depending on how you feel at the time :)

I adapted an American recipe to UK standards and yummmm! I had a technical hitch while making this; the lights blew out as I started cooking and so I made the curry in candlelight. Who said romance was dead?! The recipe makes a generous amount (I had to split it into two pans!) and would serve around 8 people.

Ingredients

Olive oil.
1 large onion, diced.
2 medium-sized potatoes, cubed.
1 inch fresh ginger, finely chopped.
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped.
2 teaspoons coriander.
1 tablespoon garam masala.
2 teaspoons chilli powder.
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes.
295g spinach, washed and sliced into ribbons (even Popeye would be satisfied!).
190g lentils.
700ml water.
Salt.

To the kitchen!

• Heat up a spoonful of oil in a large soup pan over a medium heat, adding in the onions and a pinch of salt when the oil is ready. 
• When the onions are looking translucent, throw in the potatoes and another pinch of salt, and cook until the edges are starting to appear a bit see-through (technical term ;).
• Clear a space in the middle of the pan and add in the ginger, garlic, spices and a little more salt.
• Cook for around 30 seconds and then stir it all up. 
• Add the tomatoes complete with juices, the spinach and the lentils and stir to combine all whilst adding in the water.
• Bring to the boil then allow to simmer for around 45 minutes, making sure that the lentils and potatoes are cooked through. 
• Et voila! Bon appetit :)

Recipe Box: Vegetarian Chilli

Check out what I made! It was delicious served up with tacos and rice :) And it kept us well fed for two days straight. 

Yummy!

The easy Jamie Oliver recipe can be found here