Tuesday 25 February 2014

Left over pizza base sauce....

So here’s a recipe you can do with the left over sauce for the pizzas which contains chopped toms, herbs, garlic and a bit of oil (homemade passata!). 

Due to the attempt to be healthy when cooking at home we didn’t bother with the bread crumbs and used Tesco’s healthy living sausages which have only 2g of Sat fat compared to 6g in the full fat range. We also reduced the bacon rashers to 2 whereas Jamie O uses 4 rashers and used dried herbs cos as much as I'm trying to grow my own herbs on the windowsill they do not want to grow at all!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
So here's Jamie O's recipe which I would give 8/10 - we served it with some broccoli & were left with a lot of sauce which we will have tonight with a jacket potato.
For the cassoulet
4 rashers smoked streaky bacon
1½ red onions
A few sprigs of fresh rosemary
½ small bunch of fresh sage
3 fresh bay leaves
2 leeks
400g good-quality chipolata sausages
3-4 thick slices of bread
2 garlic cloves
680g jar passata
390g carton butter beans
390g carton haricot beans

CASSOULET Slice 4 rashers of bacon into pieces about 1cm wide and add to a sturdy roasting tray with a few lugs of olive oil. Put over a high heat. Halve, peel and slice 1½ red onion.

Pick the rosemary and most of the sage leaves and sprinkle into the tray with the bay leaves, keeping a few sage leaves back for later. Trim the leeks and peel back the outer leaves. Cut down the length of the leeks, then wash away any grit and finely slice. Add the leeks and onions to the tray with a few splashes of boiled water, stir, then leave to soften.

Lay the sausages in another roasting tray, drizzle and rub a little olive oil over them, then put on the middle shelf in the oven to cook for 8 minutes. Stir your vegetables.

CASSOULET Tear the slices of bread into large chunks and put into a food processor with a pinch of salt and pepper, half the reserved sprigs of sage, 2 garlic cloves and a good drizzle of olive oil. Pulse until you have even, coarse breadcrumbs. Stir the passata and the beans and their juices into the tray of vegetables.

CASSOULET Take the sausages out from under the grill. Sprinkle half the breadcrumbs from the food processor over the veg and beans. Lay the sausages dark-side down and sprinkle over the rest of the breadcrumbs. Pick the rest of the sage leaves, drizzle with olive oil and scatter on top. Put the roasting tray under the grill (on the middle shelf of the oven) for around 4 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are crisp and golden.
What better way to reward yourselves for eating healthy...by drinking some Brick Brewery lagers at http://www.theflyingpiglondon.com/-very excited to try the Peckham Pil!



 

Monday 24 February 2014

The start of something beautiful...

After months of disussing starting this blog we have finally decided to give it a go! The name originates from our love of marmite and like the brown gooey veg extract goodness you either love or hate us...there is no middle ground! We have recently moved into the Peckham area near Burgess park and have decided to blog about anything and everything!

We both lead active lives and I'm currently training for the BUPA 10K (which i'm struggling at being a burger and bad food lover) however, during this blogging diary we hope to give you some recipes and fitness tips which are helping us!

So lets get going....here's a nice little healthy pizza recipe which is quick and easy to do and since pizza express took there pancetta,leek and gorgonzola leggera off the menu we needed to create our own!

For the dough (makes one pizza tray thin crust) :
  • 100g each strong white and strong wholewheat flour
  • 1 tsp or 7g sachet easy-blend dried yeast
  • 125ml warm water

  • 1) Get messy and add the flour and yeast to a mixing bowl and slowly introduce the water until you get a ball. Take ball and kneed on floured surface for 5 mins or until the ball looks like a perfectly formed bit of dough from dominos! Mmmm...dominos....this is so much healthier tho - atleast you know every ingredients that has gone into it unlike bread in subway..anyway....put the ball of dough back into your mixing bowl, cover with clingfilm and put somewhere warm for 30ish mins.
     
    While this is proving (Mary Berry has taught me all i know) you can wack your oven to its top temp and get going on the tom sauce.
     
    For the Tomato Sauce - Makes enough for 4 pizzas (Used left overs for a Jamie oliver recipe to follow:
  • Tin Chopped tomatos
  • 2 tbsp of tomato Puree
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic (crushed or finely chopped)
  • Choice of herbs (we used 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp thyme & 1/2 tsp mixed herbs)

  •  
    2) Simply...add the ingredients to a blender until you have a nice runny paste.
     
    For the topping:


  • 2 smokey bacon rashers approx 1cm in length
  • 1 leek (sliced down the middle and finly chopped)
  • Cheese of your choice - gorgonzola and mozerella go very nicely. The less cheese the healthier the pizza!
  •  
    3) Fry the bacon and leek in minimal oil until bacon is slightly coloured as it will cook in oven too.

    4) Take your ball of dough and kneed on a floured surface then get a rolling pin and roll into any shape you want - we did two (one in a pizza tray and another rectangular one). Lightly brush your trays with oil and lay dough ontop.
     
    5) Now the fun starts in assembling the pizza. Smother the pizza in your rich tomato sauce and then add your toppings and cheese.
     
    6) Chuck in the oven for approx 15 mins or until dough is crispy and cheese is melted.
     
    So here is the finished product...serve with a side salad or take out the middle and serve like pizza express! God i love pizza express! Make a change to ketchup or mayo with your pizza and drizzle on some pizza express dressing...delicious!
     


     So...do you reckon you could give this ago? Great Friday night treat and remember - you know exactly what has gone into this!!