Courgette, Basil, Polenta and Cheese Wedges

This is a great recipe for a simple weeknight meal. It does take a little bit of prep time but it's well worth it.  It's also vegetarian if you are looking to eat less meat of if you are a vegetarian. The recipe is quite versatile and you can add in a few extra ingredients if you wish. It's great for lunchboxes the next day and will also be good for picnics in the summer. I've made this a few times at home each time with a slight variation so I thought I'd share it with you. Mine turned out a little soft but it tasted delicious warm with the tomato sauce. You can really taste the polenta and the chili and tomatoes added an extra kick and bite to it. I loved the basil as well and used a lot of it in my recipe. I think it's going on the menu plan again this week! 

I'm sending this to a few blog challenges this month. 

Treat Petite hosted by Kat from The Baking Explorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is fruit and veg. There's courgette and tomatoes in this recipe and as it's served in wedges I hope it qualifies for the challenge!

Cooking with Herbs hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage. This recipe uses a lot of fresh basil. 

Extra Veg hosted by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Michelle from Utterly Scrummy. 

Tea Time Treats hosted by Janie from The Hedgecombers and Karen from Lavender and Lovage. There's no theme this month and these would make for a great tea time treat! 

Meat Free Mondays hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes.

 courgette and cheese mixture

 polenta 

 ready to go in the oven

 making the tomato sauce

Recipe adapted slightly from The Veg Space

For the wedges
1 courgette, coarsely grated
50g cheddar cheese, grated
1 red chilli, finely chopped

2 fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped (also works well with sundried tomatoes)
20g butter, cut into small cubes
large handful fresh basil, roughly chopped
120g instant polenta
450ml vegetable stock

For the tomato sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 red chilli, finely chopped
6 pitted black olives, finely chopped
250g passata
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp caster sugar

• In a large bowl, mix the grated courgette, cheese, chili, fresh tomatoes, butter and basil leaves. 
• Place the polenta in a medium sized pan.
• Add in the hot vegetable stock, stirring constantly.
• Cook the polenta and stock over a low heat whilst stirring continuously. 
• Remove from the heat and stir in the courgette and cheese mixture. 
• Pour the batter into a springform tin lined with greaseproof paper. 
• Allow to cool and then place in the fridge for about half an hour (I skipped this step once and it still turned out ok).
• Make the tomato sauce by heating the olive oil in a small saucepan. Add in the garlic and chili and cook over a low heat for a few minutes. 
• Add the passata, balsamic vinegar, sugar and olives and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes. 
• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Bake the polenta for 45-40 minutes or until golden brown on top. 
• Slice into wedges and serve with the tomato sauce. 

Spinach, Ricotta and Mushroom Quiche

This is one of the tastiest quiches I've made. Although I'm not vegetarian, I have found that the vegetarian quiches tend to taste better than the meat/fish ones. This broccoli and red pepper quiche was a real hit at my Christmas party last year and I've had repeat requests to bake it again. However, this may well trump that as it was just so tasty! I was a little worried about a soggy bottom particularly as the recipe calls for spinach and mushroom - two ingredients that excrete a lot of water whilst cooking. I made sure I strained the spinach well ensuring it was very dry before using in the quiche.  The mushrooms were roasted in the oven first so you can discard any excess water.  The quiche looks very impressive with the large mushrooms on top with the green spinach poking through. The mustard and ricotta worked well and really brought all the flavours together. 

I'm sending this to Extra Veg hosted this month by Jo from Jo's Kitchen on behalf of Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Michelle from Utterly Scrummy Food For Families.

Cooking with herbs hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage as the recipe uses thyme. 

Vegetable Palette hosted by Shaheen from A2K - A Seasonal Veg Table. The theme this month is white vegetables and these large flat mushrooms are definitely white! 

Simple and in Season hosted by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours on behalf of Ren. Spinach is available all year round but it's in season in spring. 

 mix the ricotta cheese with grainy mustard 

 spread cheese/mustard layer on the bottom of the quiche 

 add the cooked and strained spinach 

 arrange the flat mushrooms on top 

 pour in the cream/egg mixture 

 Ready to eat! I took this to work so I don't have any pictures of the cut slice. 

Recipe adapted slightly from BBC Food which is a James Martin recipe from Saturday Kitchen

For the pastry (or use ready made)
280g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
140g cold butter, cut into pieces
8 tablespoons cold water

For the filling

4 large flat mushrooms 

Handful of thyme leaves

400g spinach leaves

250g ricotta cheese 

1 tablespoon grainy mustard

3 egg yolks

300ml double cream 

salt and pepper

• To make the pastry using a food processor - place the flour and butter and blitz until it resembles breadcrumbs. Slowly add the water one tablespoon at a time until a dough forms. 
• Alternatively, rub the butter and flour together until it resembles breadcrumbs. Slowly add water one tablespoon at a time until a dough forms. 
• Roll into a ball, wrap with clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before baking. 
• Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and line your tart tin. 
• Use a small ball of pastry scrap to press the pastry into the corners of the tin. 
• Chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 200C.
• Line the tart case with kitchen foil or baking paper and fill with baking beans. 
• Blind bake for 20 minutes, then remove the beans and foil/paper and continue baking for 5 - 10 minutes until the pastry is light brown.
• Grease a 25cm/10in loose-bottomed tart tin with butter.
• At the same time, place the mushrooms onto a baking tray and sprinkle with thyme leaves. 
• Drizzle lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Bake in the oven for 6-8 minutes or until they start to soften and excrete water. Discard any excess water.
• Bring a large pan of water to boil and add a tablepoon of olive oil. Add the spinach and cook until it's just wilted.
• Drain twice and press with a paper towel to ensure that the spinach is dry. Season with salt and pepper. 
• Place the ricotta into a bowl and stir in the grainy mustard. 
• Spoon the mustard and ricotta mixture into the bottom of the tart case, top with the wilted spinach, and carefully place the roasted mushrooms on top.
• Place the egg yolks and cream into a bowl and whisk until mixed. 
• Pour this mixture into the tart case.
• Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until it's golden brown and gently bubbling.
• Allow to cool before slicing. 

Raspberry and Basil financiers

Recently I was invited to a French Glace Cherries Masterclass in London where Cindy from Food For Thoughts showed us how to make French glacé cherries Jelly Cakes and French glace cherry and pistachio financiers. We also got to sample some lovely treats made with glacé cherries which Cindy prepared for us to sample throughout the afternoon. 

The inspiration for this recipe came from the financiers we made. I had a lot of leftover egg whites after making custard for my custard crumble cake so I decided to make financiers. As it's nearing Valentine's, I chose to make raspberry and basil financiers after seeing it on BBC Good Food.  

This is a slightly unusual combination of flavours but I thought it worked really well. It was definitely not to everyone's taste though particularly the basil. The cake itself is light and nutty and the tart raspberries paired well with the basil. The heart shapes look cute and are perfect for a delicious Valentine treat. 

I'm sending this to a few challenges this month. 

Made with Love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior where the idea is to make everything from scratch.

Cooking with Herbs hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is Chinese and Romantic Inspired Recipes with Herbs. 

Treat Petite hosted by Stuart from Cakeyboi and Kat from the Baking Explorer. The theme this month is Loved Ones. 

Calendar Cakes hosted by Rachel from Dolly Bakes and Laura from Laura Loves Cakes. The theme this month is Oh L'Amour!

Four Seasons Food hosted by Anneli from Delicieux and Louisa from Eat Your Veg. The theme this month is 'Food from the Heart' 

A new challenge called Love Cake hosted by Jibber Jabber UK. The theme this month is Baking with Passion. 

Let's Cook Sweet Treats for Valentine hosted by Nayna from Simply Food. 

 cooking browned butter

 adding basil

 add raspberries before baking

Recipe is from BBC Good Food

Orange Squash Cupcakes

This month's Random Recipe Challenge hosted by Dom from Belleau Kitchen is "New Year, New Book". I received 1 cookbook for Christmas last year which has been on my wishlist for a while so I was extremely pleased to add it to my collection. It's red velvet chocolate heartache by Harry Eastwood. Its full of natural and healthy recipes that mainly use vegetables instead of butter or oil in cakes. It's brilliant for January baking when everyone is on some sort of diet or the other but this will definitely be used year round. It's particularly good for gluten free recipes that taste good. 

I opened the book to a random page and got page 18 which is Orange Squash Cupcakes. The cupcake contains eggs, sugar, butternut squash, white rice flour (I used brown rice flour as that was all I could find), ground almonds, zest and juice of an orange and baking powder. The icing given is a butter icing but I decided to keep it completely butter free so I made a simple glaze icing with icing sugar and fresh orange juice and orange zest. The verdict - absolutely delicious!! You will not believe that these cakes contain no butter or oil. It was moist and flavourful with a slight grainy texture from the ground almonds. I can't wait to try more recipes from this book! 

This recipe will also fit in nicely with a few other blog challenges this month. Made with love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior where the idea to make everything from scratch.

Cooking With Herbs hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage. She has chosen the theme citrus this month and this contains fresh orange zest and orange juice.

Four Seasons Food hosted by Louisa from Eat Your Veg and Anneli from Delicieux. The theme this month is Virtuous Food and these definitely fit the bill. 

 Treat Petite hosted by Kat from the Baking Explorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is "Free From".  This recipe is free from butter and oil and it's gluten free! 

Calendar Cakes hosted by Rachel from Dolly Bakes and Laura from Laura Loves Cakes. The theme this month is "If it makes you happy..." These little cakes made a lot of people happy and I love the brightness and freshness of it which reminds me of spring.

 

 adding butternut squash to the egg/sugar mixture. I couldn't find my grater attachment so had to grate it by hand which is why it's coarser than I'd like 

 ready to go in the oven 

 decorated with simple glaze icing and an orange slice 

Recipe from Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache by Harry Eastwood page 18. It has been republished here with kind permission from the publisher. 

Orange Squash Cupcakes

THESE CUPCAKES BELONG to July picnics with squashed sandwiches, cotton

dresses, Scotch eggs and cartons of juice.

MAKES 12

2 medium free-range eggs

160g caster sugar

200g peeled and finely grated butternut squash

finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange (juicing varieties, such as Seville, are best)

100g white rice flour

100g ground almonds

2 tsp baking powder

1⁄4 tsp salt

FOR THE ICING

75g unsalted butter, cold and cubed

200g icing sugar, sieved

finely grated zest of 1 orange

1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

FOR THE TOP

a little grated orange

zest

YOU WILL NEED

a 12-hole muffin tray

12 paper cases (see page xxvii for exact size)

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 and line the muffin

tray with paper cases.

2 Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl for 5 minutes,

until pale and quadrupled in volume. Add the grated butternut squash

and orange zest, and whisk again. Mix in the flour, ground almonds,

baking powder and salt, along with the orange juice, until they are

well introduced.

3 Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, aiming for it to come

four fifths of the way up each case. Place in the oven for 20 minutes

until risen and cooked. Don’t be alarmed that they are flat on the top

rather than dome shaped. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, before

refrigerating until cold enough to ice.

4 Whilst the cupcakes are cooling, make the icing. Whisk the butter

in a large mixing bowl with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy

before adding 100g of the icing sugar. Whisk again to incorporate the

sugar. Add the orange zest and juice, as well as the remaining sugar.

Beat once again to combine. Refrigerate until the cupcakes are cool

and ready to ice.

5 Ice when the cupcakes are cold, with the help of a small knife

or spatula.

TRUST ME TIPS

Don’t worry if the icing curdles when you add the orange juice.

It will come right and give up the tantrum when you add the final

batch of icing sugar. If for whatever reason it doesn’t quite right itself,

simply add more sugar until it has calmed down and is unified again.

Yorkshire Tea Biscuit or Fat Rascal

This month's AlphaBakes which I am hosting is the letter Y. I looked through my cookbooks as usual to look for inspiration. Yoghurt was the only choice in most books until I came upon Yorkshire tea biscuit otherwise known as a fat rascal. It originated in Yorkshire and is similar to a scone in taste and ingredients. The Fat Rascal is a bestseller at the ever popular Bettys Tea Room in Yorkshire, a place I've never visited but would love to particularly for the food! 

I used a recipe from the Hairy Bikers in the end instead of the recipe in my book as I wanted to use ingredients I had to hand. Most recipes call for a mix of currants, raisins and sultanas but this recipe asks for mixed dried fruit. It's also the perfect recipe to use up leftovers from Christmas. The recipe was simple and straight forward and was fairly quick and easy to make. It expanded a lot in the oven and I wonder if this is the reason it's called a Fat Rascal! 

I was really surprised at how tasty these were. I'm not a huge fan of fruit cake and I have to say I wasn't sure how these would taste but it was delicious. It tasted like a light fruit scone and I loved the hint of citrus and spice as well as the crunch of the almonds. The tin was empty at the end of the day so I'd say that everyone else enjoyed it too! 

I'm entering this to AlphaBakes which is hosted by myself and Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter this month is "Y". You can use the letter Y as the name of the bake/dish or as the main ingredient. 

It also fits in nicely with a few other blog challenges this month. The Biscuit Barrel Challenge hosted by Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... The theme this month is spices and this recipe contains ground cinnamon and nutmeg.

 Cooking With Herbs hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage. She has chosen the theme citrus this month and this contains the zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon.

Four Seasons Food hosted by Louisa from Eat Your Veg and Anneli from Delicieux. The theme this month is Virtuous Food and I'd say all the fruit and nut in here makes it virtuous. Plus it's not terribly sweet. 

 Tea Time Treats guest hosted by Jane from The HedgeCombers and run by Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is eggs, eggs, eggs! I have to send it to them as Karen has a fat rascal in the logo picture below and has a delicious recipe on her blog.

 I thought they looked really pretty before baking 

 And then they expanded massively! I'll have to make the Betty's signature face next time.

 yum! 

Recipe is from BBC Food - The Hairy Bikers

I followed the recipe exactly and made 14 Fat Rascals.