Carrot Mac & Cheese (from pinchmysalt.com on facebook)

I found this recipe on pinchmysalt page on facebook. Though I am a massive fan of the pinchmysalt blog this is actually the first recipe of Nicole's which I have actually got round to cooking and it was just as delicious as it looked and a great option whether you are vegetarian or not. Here is the original link. 

Ingredients

8 oz. medium pasta shells
3/4 pound carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, diced
1 t. olive oil
1 t. butter
1/3 c. dry white wine
1/3 c. water, plus more
1/4 c. half and half (or whole milk)
3 oz. cheddar cheese
1 oz. grated parmigiano reggiano
1 T. chopped fresh tarragon (will probably leave out next time)

Topping:
1/3 C. panko bread crumbs (or whatever breadcrumbs you have)
1 t. butter
dash of garlic salt

Some more grated cheese to finish off

Method

Cook onions and carrots in 1 t. olive oil and 1 t. butter until slightly browned, 10-15 minutes. Deglaze with 1/3 cup white wine. Allow the wine to boil off then add 1/3 cup water, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Scrape carrots, onions and liquid into a blender and puree until very smooth. You might have to add a bit of water and scrape down the carrots to get a good puree. Carrot puree should be thick and very smooth.

Meanwhile, boil pasta shells for 8 minutes (or until al dente) then drain. Return carrot puree to the pot over low heat, stir in 1/4 cup of half & half (milk). Add pasta and stir until pasta is well coated. Stir in cheeses and herbs then season well with salt and pepper.

Pour into greased casserole and top with buttered crumbs (in a small skillet melt butter over medium-high heat, add panko, cook stirring until evenly coated with butter and crumbs are starting to brown. Stir in a dash of garlic salt)

Bake at 350(F) degrees (about 180’C) for 20 minutes, place under broiler (grill) for a minute to brown the top.

Serves 4

nutrition info per serving:

Calories: 465
Total Fat: 15 grams
Saturated Fat: 8 grams
Total Carb: 61 grams
Dietary Fiber: 5 grams
Protein: 18 grams

*Philly Carbonara* (adapted from the Philadephia website)

 Ingredients

• 600 g spaghetti
• 6 rashers bacon cut into stripes
• 180g/ 1 tub Philadelphia Light or the supermarket equivalent
• 2 eggs
• 3 stalks flat parsley leaves picked and chopped, or whatever fresh or dry herbs of choice
• 300 ml vegetable stock
• Shavings of parmesan to garnish
• 1 onion
• 1clove of garlic

Instructions

Cook the pasta according to the pack instructions. While it’s cooking fry off the onion and garlic in olive oil, then add bacon pieces in a large pan, add the veg stock and simmer for a few minutes till the liquid is reduced by half.
Beat together the Philly and the egg  in a separate bowl. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and return it to the hot pan, add the bacon and stir through, add the philly and egg mixture and stir through well to combine everything.
Divide between 6 bowls scatter with the parsley and a few shavings of Parmesan. YUM! Original recipe link

Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes (for the lucky ladies at my new work)

I got this recipe from the gorgeous cookbook which I got from Adam's sisters at Christmas; Best Ever Recipes: Cupcakes. 

 A book which I thought would be widely available online but having just had a quick look, the only link I can find to it is from this Australian website . It doesn't seem to be available on Amazon from what I can see which is odd.

Here's the recipe:

 

 

 along with their illustration of the result.

Here's my ingredients:

And here's my result:

 

They certainly went down very well at work. x

 

Chickpea and Potatoes Croquettes

This is a recipe which we had on the global retreat weekend at the Global Retreat Centre in Oxfordshire. The food was vegetarian all weekend and so delicious I bought the cookbook:

 

This is the first recipe I have tried from it:

  

One thing I might try next time is adding some sweetcorn to the mix too... 

 

They were very yummy indeed...

I served them with rumbledethumps and tomato salad with homemade honey and mustard dressing....

 

Enjoy! x

Nigella's HOME MADE INSTANT PANCAKE MIX (with a couple of adaptions)

This is another one of my favourites from Nigella's Express Cookbook. I have added a couple of ingredients to the original recipe, the juice and zest of one lemon and a handful of raisins but the rest is all Nigella (aka Domestic Goddess).

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE PANCAKE MIX
600g flour
3 x 15ml tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon salt
40g vanilla or caster sugar
TO MAKE THE BATTER AND THE PANCAKES
For each 150g pancake mix, add and whisk together:
1 egg
250ml semi-skimmed or full-fat milk
1 x 15ml tablespoon melted butter

Juice and zest of one lemon  

Handful of raisins

Serving Size : Makes 15 pancakes, each about 8cm in diameter 

METHOD

1.	For the Pancake mix: Mix all the ingredients together and store in a jar.
2.	When ready to make the pancakes, proceed as follows: Heat a flat griddle or pan with no oil.
3.	Spoon drops of 1 1/2–2 tablespoons of batter onto the hot griddle or into the pan and, when bubbles appear on the surface of the little pancakes, flip them over to make them golden brown on both sides. A minute or so a side should do it.   Serve with jam and butter! Yum! Weekend treat breakfast! Another great thing about these pancakes is that they are freezable, just put them in a tuppawear box, similar to the one below and freeze. As you want to use them simply reheat in the toaster. Perfect!