Ingredients (serves 2):

• Juice of half a lemon
• 600g of lamb mince
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 25g fresh coriander – chopped
• 4 cloves garlic – crushed and finely sliced
• 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes
• 1 teaspoon of cumin powder
• ½ teaspoon of black peppercorns (crushed)
• ½ teaspoon of turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon of garam masala
• 2 heaped teaspoons of grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• Pitta breads
• Salad

In a large bowl, mix together the lemon juice and lamb mince.  In a pestle and mortar or small food blender mix together the oil, garlic, chilli flakes, cumin, peppercorns, tumeric, garam masala, ginger and salt.  When you have a nice paste combine this with the lamb mince along with the fresh coriander.  Rub it all together until it’s nice and consistent.

Take lumps of the mixture and roll into sausage shapes before piercing with skewers.  Repeat until the mixture is all used up.  You should be able to make 4 large kebabs or 6 smaller ones with this mix.  You can cook them either on a barbeque, in the oven, fried or under the grill.  I did mine half under the grill and then turned the oven on the finish them off.

Serve them up with some warmed pitta bread, salad, chutney and mayonnaise.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 1 chicken breast worth of cooked chicken per person
• 1 slice of bread for croutons
• 1 medium romaine lettuce – leaves ripped in half
• 12 slices of chorizo (optional)
• 1 garlic clove (finely sliced)
• 2 anchovies (sliced)
• 2-3 tablespoons of mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar
• Some grated cheese – whatever you prefer

I thought I should have something a little healthier after the pizzas last night!

Mix together well the garlic, anchovies, mayonnaise, vinegar and cheese, adjusting the ingredients if you like.  Fry off the chicken and chorizo quickly with a little oil and some chilli flakes or more garlic if you like.  Lay the lettuce leaves in a large bowl, pour in half of the chicken and chorizo and then half of the marinade.  Mix it together lightly with your hands.  Add the rest of the chicken and marinade and give another quick stir.  Serve straight away while the meat is still warm; lovely!!

Ingredients (serves 4-6 – 2 pizzas):

• 500g of self raising flour
• 250ml of water
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 6 cherry tomatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic – finely sliced
• Squirt of tomato ketchup
• 1 teaspoon of oregano
• 1 teaspoon of basil
• Plenty of grated cheese
• 8 bockwurst
• 1 tablespoon of dijon/american mustard
• 1 small onion – thinly sliced
• Some mozzarella
• Toppings such as ham, chorizo, pepperoni, sweetcorn, pineapple, chicken, peppers etc.

This idea came about through a friend seeing Pizza Hut doing hot dog stuffed crusts, so I thought I’d get a few friends around and give it a go!

Pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees C.  Put the chopped tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, garlic, ketchup, basil and oregano into a pan, bring it to the boil and then simmer, stirring regularly while you make the dough.

Next, we’ll make the dough for the base as in previous recipes:

“Put all the ingredients for the dough into a large mixing bowl and stir around with a knife until the dough starts to come together.  Once the dough comes together add a little flour to your hands and knead the dough in the mixing bowl for a few minutes.  Once it’s in a nice ball of dough, transfer it to a work surface or chopping board that’s lightly floured; I’d recommend the former as it doesn’t move around!  Knead for up to a further 5 minutes until it’s nice and springy and consistent.  If it gets sticky then add a little flour, if a little dry, add some water.

Use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll out the dough to your preference of size and thickness.  Some people prefer a thick base pizza and others a thin and crispy.  For my first attempt (this one) I rolled it out to around 3mm thick and it turned out as a nice compromise between thin n crispy and thick based.”

I blended the sauce once it had simmered for around 15 minutes so that it was perfectly smooth but if you don’t use the cherry tomatoes you won’t need to do this.  Once the dough is rolled out onto the trays and the sauce is done you’re ready to construct the epic pizzas!  Start by laying the bockwurst around each of the two pizza bases and a slither of mustard if you want to.  Fold the pizza dough over the bockwurst to make a tight seal.  Par bake the pizza bases in the oven for a minute or so.  Remove them from the oven and then top with the sauce, then onions, then cheese and then… whatever you want!  We went for a meat feast and a 50/50 split of hawaiian and vegetarian (even though it still had the bockwurst in the crust!).  Rip some mozzarella up and place it around each pizza – this will melt into all the gaps that are left.

Place the pizzas into the baking hot oven and cook for 8-12 minutes or until bubbling and just browning off on the top.  Swap the pizzas between shelves to ensure they both cook evenly.  Serve up straight away!

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 2cm handful of linguini – broken in half
• 20 average size cooked prawns
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 onion – sliced or diced
• 2 cloves of garlic – finely sliced
• Some frozen green peas
• 1 carrot – sliced into strips
• Some cabbage – thinly sliced straight off the head
• 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
• 1 vegetable stock cube

Add a little oil to a pan over a medium heat and throw in the prawns along with the onion, garlic, thyme and the stock cube (crushed between your fingers).  Stir around for a few minutes before adding the tomatoes, bring to the boil and then simmer for 3-5 minutes.  Add the green peas and continue simmering.  Put the spaghetti on to boil now so that it’s ready in 6-8 minutes.  After the mix has been simmering for 3-5 minutes with the green peas in, you can add the carrot and cabbage.  Stir for a few minutes before adding the spaghetti, after you’ve drained off the water.  Mix it all together and simmer for a few minutes.  You should be left with a mixture that’s not too watery.  Serve up straight away and enjoy this quick and tasty meal!

Ingredients (serves 1):

• 1 x ribeye steak
• Some stilton cheese
• 6-8 tomatoes on the vine
• Fries
• Dash of olive oil

Heat up the oven to around 200 degrees C.  Season the fries with some chip spice if you prefer and place them into the oven, along with the vine tomatoes, once upto temperature.  To prepare the steak, pinch any fatty parts between your fingers to break them up then make a slice down the middle of the steak about 3/4 of the way through and across.  Thinly slice the stilton and lay it inside the steak.

Once the fries have been in the oven for five minutes heat a pan up to a high heat, add a little olive oil and then place the steak into the pan.  Try to avoid moving the steak around during cooking.  Cook it for a few minutes either side depending on how thick the steak is and how you like it cooked.  Once the steak is done remove the pan from the heat and allow the steak to rest.  Keep an eye on the fries and vine tomatoes.  If the tomatoes are done before the fries, transfer them to the same pan as the steak and continue to cook the fries until done.

Serve up and enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

• 8 sausages
• 1 large leek – chopped
• 3 large potatoes
• 1 tablespoon of wholegrain mustard
• 1 heaped teaspoon of dried chives
• 2 garlic cloves – finely sliced
• 400ml of milk
• 1 tablespoon of gravy granules
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oven upto around 180 degrees C.  Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the potatoes.  While the potatoes are cooking, heat up some oil in a large pan and then fry off the sausages and garlic for 3-5 minutes before adding in the leek and continue to stir until the sausages are cooked through.  Remove the sausages and leeks from the pan and put to one side.  Pour the milk into the pan that you removed the sausages from, warm through and then stir in the gravy granules.  Use a wooden spoon to bring up all of the bits of sausage that will have got stuck to the pan.  You want the gravy to have the consistency of a fruit juice rather than the thickness of a normal gravy.  Take the pan off the heat.  Cut the sausages up into thirds or quarters and put them along with the leeks, any juices and also the gravy into an oven dish.

When the potatoes are cooked, drain them off and mash them up well with some butter, milk, the chives and the mustard.  Spoon the mashed potato over the top of the sausage and leek mix and use a fork to make a pattern on the top.

Put the dish into the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the topping is just going brown.  Serve up straight away either on it’s own or with some extra veg or crusty bread.

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 2 salmon fillets
• 2 teaspoons of garam masala
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 175g of szechuan/sweet chilli sauce
• 400g of egg noodles
• Selection of stir fried veg
• Salt n pepper to season

Take each fillet and rub the garam masala and olive oil into them before placing them onto an oven tray and into the oven at 180 degrees C.  After the salmon has been in the oven for a couple of minutes heat up a wok on a high heat.  When the wok is nice and hot add a little groundnut oil or other type of cooking oil and throw in the vegetables.  Stir fry for a minute or so before adding in the noodles and the sauce.  Season with a little salt and pepper and continue to stir fry until the salmon is done.  Plate up straight away and enjoy!

Ingredients

• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 2 chicken breast fillets
• 1 red onion – finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves – finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
• Dash of chilli flakes

For the gnocchi

• 300g potatoes – peeled and diced
• 1 teaspoon of dried basil
• 100g of plain flour
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Firstly, we’ll prepare the gnocchi.  Boil the potatoes until soft and drain off the water.  Mash the potatoes thoroughly and mix in the basil, and salt and pepper to season.  When the potato mixture is perfectly smooth add in the flour a little at a time and mix together with a wooden spoon.  It should for a ball of gnocchi.  Knead the dough with floured hands for a couple of minutes.  Rip off pieces of the ball, roll into sausages and then cut into bite size chunks.  Save this for later.

With the gnocchi all but done you can cook the chicken.  In a frying pan over a medium to high heat add some oil and then the chicken and garlic.  Fry for a couple of minutes and then add the chilli flakes, rosemary and thyme and continue to fry until the chicken is done.  Add in the onions and fry the mixture for another minute or two before adding in the tinned tomatoes.  Bring to the boil then allow it to simmer for at least 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Just before you’re ready to serve up, bring a pan of water to the boil and place the gnocchi into the water without crowding the pan.  Cook them until they rise to the surface, which should only be a minute or so.  You can either serve the gnocchi separate or mixed in with the chicken and sauce.  Serve it up straight away and enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 1-2):

• 2 large chicken thighs
• Enough new potatoes
• Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 tablespoon of dried tarragon
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of paprika

Pre-heat the oven to around 220 degrees C.  In a small oven dish grate the zest and squeeze the juice of half a lemon.  Mix together with the tarragon, olive oil and half of the paprika.  Put each of the chicken thighs into the bowl and ensure that they’re well coated with the mixture.  Place the potatoes into a roasting tin and cover with a dash of olive oil and the remaining paprika.  Put both the chicken and the potatoes into the oven for upto 40 minutes or until the chicken skin is crispy and the potatoes are nice and tanned.  You can baste the chicken every ten minutes if you like.  Serve up by itself or with some salad.

Serves 3-4.

For the burritos:

• 500g of beef mince
• 1 onion – chopped
• 1 clove of garlic – finely sliced
• 2 teaspoons of chili powder
• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground pepper
• 1 can of mexican style beans – drained
• 1 small tin of sweetcorn – drained
• 6-8 flour tortillas
• 1 lettuce – shredded
• Some grated cheese

For the enchilada sauce:

• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons of self-rising flour
• 1 heaped teaspoon of chilli powder
• 1 can of tinned tomatoes
• Dash of water
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of onion salt
• Salt and pepper to taste

Start by putting the enchilada sauce on to cook.  To do this, mix together all of the ingredients in a pan and then bring to the boil and then reduce the temperature to let it gently simmer.  Stir it occasionally.

In a large skillet or frying pan over a medium heat add a little oil and then add in the beef mince, onion and garlic.  Fry the mixture, stirring regularly, until the meat has browned off.  Add the chilli powder, oregano, cumin, salt, and pepper.  Simmer for 5-10 minutes before adding in half of the enchilada sauce, the beans and the sweetcorn.  Simmer for another 10 minutes, adding some water if it starts getting dry.

To serve, heat up the tortillas and serve up the pan of burrito mix straight to the table along with a plate of grated cheese and the sliced lettuce and the remaining enchilada sauce.  Great with a glass or two of red!  A fun meal as people can add as little or as much of each ingredient to their own burrito.