Category: Quick suppers

Weekday wonders: hash with chorizo

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Bubble and squeak and the Swedish version hash are both great dishes for using up leftovers, so the other day I made a version of it that turned out really nice. But chorizo is a bit like bacon – it makes everything nice!

This is hardly a recipe, you can use which vegetables and volumes you like, but this is how mine turned out. I served it with a poached egg and a simple cold sauce made from creme fraiche, mayonnaise and a Swedish herb seasoning.

Hash with chorizo, serves 2

3 potatoes, unpeeled, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1/2 broccoli, cut into small florets

1/4 chorizo ring

a pinch of sugar

salt, pepper

2 tbsp chopped onions (any kind you like)

butter and oil for frying

Served with: poached egg (description below)

Heat up oil and butter in a large frying pan. Add the potato and fry covered for 10-15 minutes or until almost soft. Stir occasionally. Add the carrots and fry for a few minutes. Remove it all to a bowl. Add more butter to the pan and fry the broccoli on high heat for a minute. Add to the potatoes. Fry the onions and chorizo for about 5 minutes, then return everything to the pan and let it warm through.

Poach the egg(s) while the hash is warming. Bring a large saucepan of water to simmer uncovered. Crack one egg at the time into a cup and lower it into the simmering water one by one. You don’t need vinegar in the water or to make a swirl in the water, but the fresher the eggs the better. Don’t poach more then three eggs at the time. The eggs are done aftre 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process. Transfer to kitchen towel to drain so the eggs don’t go cold.

Pasta with spinach and peanut sauce

Published on by Hanna3 Comments

I thrive on inspiration from other blogs. Isn’t it great what the internet can provide us with?

Last week I found this recipe on a Swedish food blog I follow; Kryddburken [The Spice Jar] – a wonderful pasta recipe with a fabulous sauce made with spinach, peanuts, lemon, garlic and parmesan. It was utterly simple and tasted lovely. I think this will stick to my weekday repertoire.

I adapted the recipe a little (omitted pine nuts and halved it). You find my version below.

Pasta with spinach and peanut sauce, serves 2

Adapted from this recipe.

200 g pasta of your choice

100 g spinach, roughly chopped

50 g salted peanuts

200 ml half and half (half cream, half milk)

1/2 lemon, the juice

75 ml grated parmesan

1 small garlic clove, pressed

1 tsp chilli sauce

butter and oil for frying

salt and black pepper

Cook the pasta accordingly. Chop the nuts with a knife or in a food processor. Add the butter and oil to a frying pan on high heat. Add the spinach and nuts. Cook until the spinach has wilted and the water has dried away. Add the half and half, garlic and lemon juice and let the sauce thicken while stirring. Season.

Remove from the heat after about 5 minutes and stir in the parmesan. Serve with the pasta.

Weekday wonders: cheesy mini burgers with tzatsiki in pitta

Published on by Hanna1 Comment

Found this post and realised it wasn’t published when it was suppose to be, some time in January. It is a great weekday supper though, so here we go:

It is Monday and back to work. For me, the best way to stay at good spirits on a Monday is definitely to eat something nice in the evening, but still something quite speedy so I have time to watch something good on TV or catch up with my friends.

These quick little burgers are tasty and filling, and is lovely paired with homemade tzatsiki, some baby spinach and toasted pittas. If you’re really hungry, why not put some potato wedges in the oven as well?!

To season the mince I used a spicy sea salt from Halen Môn which I crushed in my pestle and mortar before adding it to the mince mix, but feel free to use any spices you like, just make sure you season the mince enough. Just shape the mince to little burgers, fry them in butter and oil in a hot frying pan while the tzatsiki is developing its flavours and you pop the pittas in the toaster.

Beef mini burgers, serves 2

300 g beef mince

1 1gg

50 ml breadcrumbs

2 tbsp water or cream

3 tsp Halen Môn spicy salt or another spice blend + salt

cheddar cheese in slices

Mix egg, breadcrumbs, spices, salt and water/cream in a bowl and let the mixture swell for a few minutes before adding the mince. Incorporate thoroughlly. Shape the mince to small burgers and fry them in a mixture of butter and oil in a frying pan. First on high heat then on medium heat. Place half a slice of cheese on each burger while they are in the pan, so the cheese melts. 

Serve with the following:

Tzatsiki

Pittas, toasted

Baby spinach or other lettuce

Weekday wonders: Egg-fried rice with chicken

Published on by Hanna1 Comment

If one, like me, never ever seem to get the quantities right when making rice, then you will probably end up with a lot of left over rice. And as I really dislike to throw away food, I want to use it up. The quickest (and tastiest) way to achieve that is to make egg-fried rice. It is a speedy supper that tastes wonderful.

You can vary it in any way you want; I used what I had at hand; green pepper, romano pepper, chicken thighs and salad onions. I enjoyed this with a dollop of a sauce made with creme fraiche and sweet chilli sauce because I had some left in the fridge. It is a nice addition, but it is nice without it too.

Egg-fried rice with chicken, serves 2

3 chicken thighs

1/2 green bell pepper

1 romano pepper

3 salad onions

neutral oil for frying

500 ml cold cooked rice

1 garlic clove

1 egg

a few drops sesame oil

soy sauce

sweet chilli sauce

salt, white pepper

Skin and de-bone the chicken and cut the meat into strips. Fry in oil on high heat until just cooked through, won’t take long. Add salt and pepper. Remove from the frying pan. Cut the peppers and salad onions into strips and fry in the same oan for about 5 minutes. Remove as well. Add more oil to the pan and lower the heat. Fry the rice for a few minutes until it is warm. Beat the egg with the sesame oil. Make some space in the frying pan by pushing the rice to one side. Pour in the egg onto the empty surface and let it set a little before mixing it with the rice. Fry for a few minutes. Add the vegetables and chicken. Add the garlic, soy sauce and sweet chilli after taste. Fry for another few minutes and adjust the seasoning. Serve and enjoy.

Weekday wonders: pasta bake with broccoli, spring onions and sambal oelek

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Pasta bake. Not a single Brit I have met has had a positive experience from a pasta bake. Bad memories from school dinners, or what is it about?

Where I went to school it was one of the few dishes I could actually enjoy a little. Most lunches consisted of a tiny bit of whatever was on offer, because you had to try it, and crispbread with butter and barbecue spice (classy, I know) to not die from hunger in the afternoon.

I promise you though, that this type of pasta bake is miled apart from school dinners and is not boring at all. It is a super easy weekday supper and instead of making a bèchamel I make a creme fraiche based sauce which I like to hot up a little with chilli sauce or in this case, sambal oelek.

To make this dish even better, choose nice dried pasta instead of the cheap ones on offer. I highly recommende De Cecco, which I always use.

Pasta bake with broccoli, spring onions and sambal oelek, serves 4

500 g De Cecco pasta

375 g broccoli, cut into florets

1/2 bunch spring onions, chopped

300 ml creme fraiche

1,5-2 tbsp sambal oelek

salt, white pepper

about 300 ml grated cheddar

Cook the broccoli florets in salted water for just a minute. Pick them up with a slotted spoon and leave to drain. Add more salt to the boiling water and then add the pasta. Cook for 3 minutes less than it says on the packet. Drain and rinse with hot water to get rid of the starch. 

Heat up the creme friache in a small saucepan and add the sambal oelek, salt and pepper. Add about 1/3 of the cheese and let it melt into the sauce. Mix the sauce and the pasta and pour the mixture into buttered ovenproof dish. Distribute the broccoli, scatter the spring onions on top and then sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake for about 20 minutes in 200C oven.

Tray bake with chicken, chorizo, potatoes & parsnips

Published on by Hanna1 Comment

I love a good tray bake when I’m feeling lazy or am exhausted after a work day. It needs little preparation, and all you need to think about is each ingredient’s cooking time.

When I made this particular tray bake I wanted something comforting but with lots of flavour, and good chorizo does add all that. The fat from the smoky chorizo and the chicken melts nicely into the tray and get absorbed by the root vegetables, making the whole dish moist and crispy at the same time. There is no need to add a sauce, although creme fraiche with sweet chilli sauce, salt and white pepper would be a fab addition, but if you’re lazy a (big) dollop or good quality mayonnaise will do nicely too.I took my plate and curled up under the duvet, a ‘la Nigella and watched an episode of Rizzoli & Isles. That’s allowed when home alone on a gloomy and dark autumn evening.

Tray bake with chicken, chorizo, potatoes and parsnips, serves 2-3

3 baking potato sized potatoes, I used Maris Piper

1 parsnip

1 green bell pepper

1/2 chorizo ring, sliced

1 garlic solo, sliced

4 chicken thighs

1/2 lemon, the juice

mild olive oil

salt & pepper

Pour some oil onto a roasting tray. Dice the potato into large chunks (with the skin on). Peel and cut the parsnip into chunks as well as the pepper. Place it all in the roasting tray. Add salt and pepper and place it in the oven for 20 minutes on 200C.

In the meantime, brown the chicken thighs on medium-high heat in a frying pan. Remove the roasting tray from the oven after 20 minutes and add the sliced chorizo and garlic. Squeeze the lemon juice on top and place the chicken thighs in the tray. Put it back into the oven for another 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.

Marinaded beans with smoked paprika

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One day last week when we needed a quick supper I tried this marinaded beans recipe I found on the wonderful blog Smaskens.

To flavour beans this way is genius and the marinade was so so good. It didn’t take long to prepare either and turned out a perfect Monday supper paired with Toulouse sausages and some nice bread to soak up the juices with.

Marinaded butter beans, serves 2

Translated and adapted from this recipe.

1 tsp sweet smoked paprika

50 ml olive oil

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 shallot, finely chopped

400 g tinned butter beans, rinsed and drained

chopped parsley

1 tbsp acacia honey

Warm the oil in a large pan. Add paprika, shallots, garlic and chilli flakes. Stir while the onion cooks without browning. Add the beans and heat them up. Pour into a bowl and leave to cool. Add parsley and honey just before serving.

 

Ottolenghi’s one pot wonder

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As I might have told you several times already, I am a huge fan of Ottolenghi’s cooking. Mostly I adore his cookbook Plenty but I also like the Ottolenghi cookbook that was published before Plenty.

This recipe is another one of his creations, an all-in-one-pan-kind-of-meal with quite basic ingredients (potatoes, onions, chilli, garlic, yoghurt, eggs) and some unusual seasoning (sumac and tahini) but it made a perfect weekday supper, would be perfect for breakfast or to cure any bad hangover.

Unfortunately I was all out of tahini without realising it, when I made this dish, so I substituted for the next best thing; za’atar and that worked really well.

Ottolenghi’s one pot wonder, serves 2

Adapted from Ottolenghi’s recipe.

olive oil

3 onions, thinly sliced (I only used one red onion)

200 g baby potatoes, sliced into 5 mm thick slices

1/2 red chilli, finely chopped

1/2 tbsp sumac

salt & black pepper

1/2 tsp caster sugar

1 clove of garlic, pressed

100 g Greek yoghurt

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp olive oil

300 g cherry tomatoes on the vine

4 eggs

1,5 tbsp tahini paste (I used 1 tbsp of za’atar instead)

1 tbsp chopped coriander (which I forgot)

Heat up olive oil in a sauteuse pan. Add the onions, potatoes, chilli, sumac, salt and pepper and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes until the potatoes are soft. Then add sugar and garlic, and adjust the seasoning if needed.

Mix yoghurt, lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl and set aside. In a seperate pan, add the tomatoes, vine facing up, when the pan is hot and cook the tomatoes for 3-4 minutes until well charred. Remove from the pan.

Spread the potatoes and onions evenly in its pan and break four eggs on top. Try to keep the yolks whole. Fry for three minutes, until the whites start to set. Then cover and cook for another minute or two for the whites to set completely. Add dollops of the yoghurt, avoiding the yolks, then sprinkle with tahini or za’atar (again, avoiding the yolks). Place the tomatoes, still on the vine, on top and sprinkle with coriander. Serve straight from the pan. 

Carrot and coriander soup

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I made this British classic for the first time last week, and fell in love, if that is possible with a soup.

I love the smooth velvety texture and the combination of sweet carrots and flowery coriander really works. We will certainly eat this a lot this autumn and winter!

Carrot and coriander soup, serves 2

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

600 g carrots, peeled and cut into smaller pieces

water

vegetable or chicken stock

50 ml single cream

salt, white pepper

1/2 bunch fresh coriander, chopped

Fry the onion until soft but not brown in the oil on medium heat, in a large sauce pan. Add the carrots and fry for a minute or so. Pour boiling water to cover the carrots and add a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and cook until the carrots are soft (about 15 minutes). Drain  most of the cooking water, but set it aside. Pureethe carrots and add enough of the cooking water so you have a very thick soup. Bring to the boil and add cream and stock until you have the thickness you want. Season with salt and pepper. Add the coriander a minute or so before serving.

Farfalle with smoked salmon, broad beans and chives

Published on by Hanna3 Comments

Although I love cooking, I don’t particulary enjoy to cook for only myself. If I need to I want something that’s quick, but still enjoyable. There are other times when that type of cooking is required too. Like when Christopher is working late and not home until 10pm.

This dish is for such occasions. Apart from podding the beans it will only take the same amount of time as it does for the pasta to cook. In my case that was 12 minutes. And the result was summery and lovely.

Farfalle with smoked salmon, broad beans and chives, serves 2

250 g farfalle or other pasta

400 g fresh broad beans in their pods

150 g cold-smoked salmon

100 ml Philadelphia

juice from 1/2 lemon

chives

salt

white pepper

Pod the beans. Cook the pasta. Fry the beans in butter until soft. Add some lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix the Philadelphia with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Drain the pasta. Top with smoked salmon, beans and cut chives. Perhaps add some freshly ground black pepper and dig in.