Home-made Tomato Sauce

Happy New Year and into a new decade we go. What a better way to celebrate than a big ball of meatballs with home made tomato sauce, there is nothing more warming and satisfying. The thing about tomato sauce is to season, this is very important as the right balance is essential otherwise tomatoes are very easy to taste bland.

What You Need:

800g Tinned Whole Plum Tomatoes or You own poached Tomatoes, peeled (around 9 tomatoes with juice, roughly chopped), 3 garlic cloves, 1 glass of red wine, 1 glass of chicken stock, 1 large onion, hand full of fresh thyme, 2 tsp of sugar,  salt and pepper to season

First slice thinly the garlic and the onions and in a large pan with olive oil sauté until golden brown and soft, once done add the glass of wine and simmer for around 5 minutes, then add the sugar and a pinch of salt. Mix together until the sugar starts to thicken. Then add the tomatoes and stir. Simmer the mixture for a further 5 minutes and then stir in the chicken stock followed by a grind of pepper and salt. Bring the sauce to the boil and let it bubble for 5 minutes. Turn down the heat and simmer for 2 hours adding the thyme leaves. After set the sauce aside and let it cool at room temperature to capture all the flavours.

To serve pour the sauce over meatballs or roasted vegetables and grated cheese  and bake in the oven for 20mins, eat with spaghetti or a light spinach salad.

Yum. (^-^)

Pea and Mint Soup

What I really love about this soup is the refreshing mint and the creamy yoghurt. It is a really filling and satisfying dish which goes great for lunch or even dinner. I do also have a little mint obsession, from tea to cakes, to chocolate to toothpaste. I just really love mint (^-^)

What You Need:

2 cloves of garlic sliced , 5 tablespoons of rough chopped mint , 50g butter, 2 tbsp olive oil, 750g garden peas, 750ml vegetable or chicken stock , 400ml natural yoghurt, 1 egg yolk, 1 table soup of flour.

First melt the butter in a large saucepan with the oil and then add the garlic, heat on a simmer until golden and then stir in half of the mint. Now add the peas and stir into the garlic oil, finishing with half of the stock and then simmer for 5-10 minutes. After transfer the pea mixture to a blender and blitz until smooth. Notice the deliciously green colour. (^-^) Trasfer back to the pan.

In a separate bowl prepare the yoghurt. Add the yolk and flour and whisk, now whisk in the yoghurt, followed by the rest of the stock. Whisky together until everything is combined well. Now add the thinned yoghurt to the processed peas in the pan. Gently stir in and set the pan on a medium heat. Before the soup starts to bubble/boil take it off and serve warm with some nice bread and an extra drop of yoghurt on top.

Green is good.

Autumn Warmer: Pumpkin, Spinach and Cinnamon Soup

On a cloudy, grey and crisp day there is nothing better than a big bowl of soup and some nice crusty cheese on toast. So today I decided to make a fall warming lunch with lovely seasonal pumpkin, fresh spinach and a kick of cinnamon.

What you need:

1/2 a pumpkin, big bunch of spinach, 2 small/medium potatoes, 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 400ml of vegetable stock, 1tsp of ground cinnamon, 1tsp of Dried Chillies, small knob of fresh ginger, 1/2 tsp of cumin, 1tsp sugar, 1 egg yolk, 1 tp of plain flour, 250ml of creme fraiche, butter.

Simple to make, chop the onion and garlic and gentle fry with a drop of butter in a large saucepan until golden brown then add all the spices (Cinnamon, Cumin, pinch of pepper and salt, dried chillies, Ginger), Gently mix and simmer on a low heat. The smell is lovely. Set aside for 60mins and let the flavours soak.

Now lets roast the pumpkin. Preheat the oven to 200C. Cut the pumpkin in half and take out the seeds, then cut into 4 slices and score crosses across the flesh, season with salt and two small knobs of butter (10g per slice) and roast in the oven for 1 hour. After an hour take out and cool, then gently with a knife slid the golden pumpkin away from the skin… yum! Take 1/4 of the pumpkin and add to your onion mixture and the set the rest aside.

Now back to the onion and pumpkin pan, add your chopped and peeled potato, roughly chopped spinach and piping hot vegetable stock into the pan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30mins or for as long as you like to infuse the flavours.

Once the potato is cooked take the mixture to the blender, add the rest of the pumpkin and blend (maybe you should do this in parts (unless you want a new shade of green on your walls). Once blended, I like smooth, to the consistency you like, return to the pan. Now in a separate bowl hand mix together the egg yolk and plain flour to a creamy texture, and add a little water. Now put your creme fraiche into the egg mixture and whisk up until the egg is evenly mixed in. The egg mixture is to make sure the dairy product does not curdle. Now mix in to the soup and simmer on a low heat, add more seasoning to taste.

and… enjoy a nice October warmer! I garnished mine with a spinach lead, cream and pumpkin seeds.