Clean and lean pizza

Now I must admit this recipe is all thanks to last month's Waitrose magazine. I haven't even tinkered with the base recipe as I thought it was lovely as it was. The below recipe for the dough is taken directly from Waitrose and can be found on their website under 'Tom Hunt's spelt pizza with asparagus, radish and burrata'. I am simply putting it up here both so I have access to it if Waitrose ever decide to take it down and because I put a very different topping on mine! The great thing about this recipe is the dough only needs to prove for 1 hour and is made of ingredients I always have in the cupboard anyway.

Ingredients:

Dough:

200g wholegrain spelt flour, plus extra for rolling

1⁄2 tsp fine salt

1⁄2 tsp easy bake yeast

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for kneading and to serve

Sauce:

Passata

Bomba tomato puree (this is delicious but you can use plain tomato puree if you prefer)

Spicy BBQ sauce (not strictly clean and lean but adds a really tasty smokiness to the sauce)

Salt and pepper

Toppings:

1 red onion finely sliced

1 roasted red pepper (again these are the jarred ones I like) cut into long strips

Jalapeno pepper slices

Handful cherry tomatoes

Goat's cheese

Cheddar cheese (or mozzarella if you have it)

1 egg (I would have done more eggs but we only had one left in the fridge)

Method:

Put the flour in a bowl, make a well in the centre and add the other dough ingredients. Add 120ml warm water and mix to a smooth, slightly sticky dough. Knead for 5 minutes; add a little more oil if it sticks to your hands.

Leave to rise in a covered bowl for 1 hour - I put mine in the airing cupboard with a tea towel over the top but if you have cling film that’s probably easier.

You can prepare your toppings while the pizza dough rises although I tend to just add them straight on the the rolled out pizza as I go, either way if you are preparing in advance this would be when to do it.

Preheat the oven to 250 ̊C, gas mark 9.

Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and roll the dough into a rectangle about 30cm x 25cm (or in my case to the size of your baking tray so you can have the biggest pizza possible!).

Roll onto the rolling pin, then lay on your baking tray - the official instructions say flour the tray but I oiled it instead. Fit the base into the tray ensuring the edges are slightly raised so no topping can escape.

Squeeze a generous amount of puree onto the base, add a small amount of BBQ sauce and then as much passata as needed to give you a generous tomato base, season to taste. Spread this out evenly then arrange your toppings across the pizza, I used goats cheese and cheddar but mozzarella would obviously be preferable if you have it. Crack your egg on last trying to keep the yolk whole.

Bake for 10-15 minutes depending on how hot your oven is - all ovens are slightly different and mine took 12 minutes to cook.

NB: If I am making lots of pizzas for an occasion I make a healthier version of the tomato base, fry an onion and a few cloves of garlic until soft, add oregano and basil (dried is fine), a good squirt of Bomba or normal tomato puree and one tin of tomatoes - I will add a splash of red wine here too if there is an open bottle, if not rinse the tomato tin with a little water. Allow to cook down and reduce for 10 minutes or so. Once reduced, taste and season then blitz to a smooth sauce. This is also really nice with pasta (obviously I go wheat free but it's not necessary).

Clean and lean pudding for two greedy flatmates!

I'm a sucker for anything chocolatey and I had a real craving for mousse today. I wanted to do something that used clean and lean ingredients but I'm not keen on the idea of an avocado mousse. It's not that I doubt it will be nice but I like eating avocados so much as they are it seems a waste to hide them in a mousse. This is basically a mix of the ingredients I had in the fridge loosely based on recipes from Lorraine Pascale and Delia Smith - both recipes used 'forbidden' ingredients so I did a bit of tinkering. I hope you will like the result - me and my flatmate definitely did!

Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

85g dark chocolate

120-150ml double cream

1-2 tbsp amaretto

Vanilla extract

1 large egg separated

Squeeze, approx 25g agave

Handful of raspberries

Method:

Melt chocolate in double cream over a bain-marie, add a splash of amaretto.

Let it cool for a couple of minutes and stir through the egg yolk, you might need to add a tiny bit more cream if it seems too thick at this point.

Whisk the egg white with the vanilla extract, once it's getting stiff add a squeeze of agave syrup and whisk until stiff peaks form, you won't need much agave as the vanilla helps it seem sweeter.

Fold the whites carefully into the cooled chocolate mix, spoon into dishes (either 2 or 4 depending on the portions you want) and put in the fridge to set for a couple of hours.

Either eat as they are or top with raspberries as in the picture. Alternatively if you want something more decadent go for whipped cream/crème fraîche and a grating of dark chocolate.

Multi-option risotto

There's nothing like a bit of comfort food on a bank holiday weekend. Sunday's can be a bit depressing - after all even if you love your job it's still not quite the same as swanning around town over the weekend - luckily it's bank holiday so I've been able to stay up a bit later to write. Risotto is one of the ultimate comfort foods in my opinion. The carb aspect goes without saying, having a creaminess to the dish helps even more. The fantastic thing about risotto is you can chuck pretty much anything in you like - mushroom is one of my favourites!

Chicken and Spinach Risotto

(or Chicken and Lemon depending on your available ingredients!)

Ingredients:

400g risotto rice (I use arborio)

1 white onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

100-250ml white wine or vermouth (I used 100ml vermouth on this occasion as it was all I had available but you can add as much or as little as you like and top up with stock)

2 pints of chicken or vegetable stock (you might need a bit extra if you are using less wine)

400g chicken breast, poached in the stock you will be using then chopped into bite sized pieces

Spinach (I used 5 cubes of frozen and defrosted but a bag of fresh is great)

20g coconut oil (flavourless is better if possible)

80g butter

Juice of two lemons

150g parmesan cheese plus extra to grate over the top

Salt and pepper

Method:

Poach your chicken in advance and set aside to cool, I used mini-fillets and cooked them for only about 5-8 minutes. Make sure you do reserve the stock you poach them in as it will be perfect for cooking your risotto.

Heat your coconut oil on a medium heat, once hot add 20g of butter and sweat your onions and garlic off. You do not want them to colour just to soften so I add a pinch of salt here too to help draw the moisture out.

Add your risotto rice, coat in the oil and allow to cook for a couple of minutes. This will toast off the grains and give them a nuttier flavour.

Once toasted pour in your wine and stir slowly to allow it to absorb.

Add your stock ladleful at a time, stirring slowly and allowing to absorb each time. Don't stir too vigorously or you will be left with a claggy mess. I think the best way to cook risotto is make sure you are drinking a glass of wine at the same time. It gives you the right relaxed atmosphere of keeping an eye but not obsessively stirring away - I'm sure there is healthier advice out there but that's my method!

Taste it as you are getting towards the last few ladlefuls - you want a bit of bite to the rice but no starchy quality left. Once you are nearly there add in your chicken to allow it to heat back through.

At this point you can decide how many extras you want to add - if you are going for Chicken and Lemon you just need to let the rice finish cooking, stir through your lemon juice, remaining butter and parmesan then leave to stand with a lid on for 5 minutes.

Alternatively if you want to add more then stir through your other ingredients, I've used spinach here but peas or mushrooms would also be great. Once these are incorporated you can continue as above - I'd lose the lemon if you're going for mushrooms but with both others it will work well.

Once you've left it to stand this is your last chance to adjust and taste for seasoning, you might want to add more parmesan here or a bit more stock if it seems too set.

Serve up, top with more parmesan and a good grinding of black pepper.

Chicken and Lemon Risotto

Chicken and Spinach Risotto

Tuesday night dinner!

I love stir fries (and basically any form of Asian food) so cook them a lot for our evening meals. They are healthy, filling and a great way to pack in loads of veg. As you will have noticed from previous posts I am from the 'chuck in what's in the fridge' school of cooking.

I always keep a packet of raw prawns in the freezer (you can buy them already frozen or freeze your own if you have a great local fishmonger). Using prawns as the base you can add whatever vegetables you have handy. If I've got one I'll always start with an aubergine because I think it takes on the flavours for a stir fry amazingly well, it does need to be cooked through though so add to the pan first. If you're hungry or want to stretch the meal out I'd also add some rice noodles or cold cooked rice - this route is also very good with an egg or two added.

Tonight's version is prawns, various vegetables and rice noodles (we'd run out of eggs) with enough for a meal for two and packed lunches the next day. Now I must admit to using a bit of ready made sauce but I am of the opinion than life is too short to be obsessive over staying clean and lean. I want a healthy new way of life, not a diet I feel I must stick to very prescriptive guidelines. Obviously if you are being super strict you can easily make your own sauces.

Prawn and vegetable stir fry with rice noodles

Ingredients:

200g rice noodles, cooked according to packet instructions and cooled

250g frozen, raw prawns

1 aubergine

1 red pepper

1 pack button mushrooms

2 pak choi

Very large thumb size piece of fresh ginger, peeled

2 red chillies

4 large cloves of garlic

5/6 spring onions thickly sliced

Bunch of fresh coriander - stalks finely chopped and leaves torn or roughly chopped

Shaoxing wine

Rice vinegar (preferably white)

Soy sauce

Fish sauce

Chilli sauce - I use Lee Kum Kee 'Chilli Garlic Sauce'

Juice of 1 lime

Dried chilli flakes

Chinese five spice

Sichuan pepper

Coconut oil

Method:

Chop all your veg before you start cooking, stir frying is too quick to be chopping as you go. I always chop the ginger, chilli and garlic very finely. I chop the aubergine into small cubes then slice the red pepper, quarter the mushrooms and slice up the pak choi reserving the leaves separately.
Once you have all the veg chopped heat some coconut oil in a wok until it's smoking hot, add your aubergine, ginger, chilli and garlic.
Fry off for about a minute then add a good slosh of shaoxing wine, rice vinegar, soy and a couple of shakes of fish sauce - I would guess I use about a tablespoon or two of wine, vinegar and soy with a teaspoon of fish sauce.
Cook until the aubergine has softened as the last thing you want is crunchy aubergine in your stir fry, the aubergine will probably absorb most of the liquid.
Once the aubergine is soft add the strips of red pepper and the mushrooms, fry off for a couple of minutes then add the frozen prawns, pack choi (white part only for now), chilli flakes, chinese five spice and some finely chopped coriander stalks.
Keep stir frying, once the prawns are defrosted add the noodles with a splash more soy and the chilli sauce and heat through, at this point you should also add the pak choi leaves and spring onions.
Take off the heat, stir everything through, add the lime juice and coriander leaves reserving a few for on the top.
Dish up into bowls and/or lunch boxes, top with the reserved coriander and crushed sichuan pepper (I use a pepper grinder for this because I add it to lots of things but a pestle and mortar will work equally well). Tuck in!

Creamy greens with wheat-free pasta

I've always loved pasta but since going wheat-free I try not to eat too much of it. Sometimes when I have a real hankering for it I will resort to the wheat-free varieties. In an ideal world I'd probably steer clear of even that and go for spiralised veg instead. I've recently discovered the joys of courgetti but sometimes only pasta will do! This is one of my favourite combinations of lots of green veg with a lovely creamy cheese sauce, if you wanted to you could also make it into a pasta bake.

Creamy greens with wheat-free pasta (Serves two)

Ingredients:

150g Wheat free pasta - I used Free-from penne pasta
1/2 head of broccoli, chopped into florets
50g frozen peas
40g frozen, shelled edamame beans
50ml double cream
100g goats cheese - I used a mix of soft and semi-soft
50g parmesan cheese with extra to top
Salt and pepper
Chilli flakes

Method:

Add your pasta to a large pan of boiling salted water, after a couple of minutes add the broccoli.
Once the pasta has been cooking for 5-6 minutes add the peas and edamame beans.
Cook until the pasta is done then drain reserving a mug of the pasta water, return the pasta and veg to the saucepan - for me this took about 10 minutes but it will depend on your cooker and how al dente you like your pasta.
Ideally your broccoli should be slightly overcooked so it can be mashed up slightly with a fork.
Add the cream, goats cheese and parmesan, stir through to melt the cheese, add a bit of the reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce slightly.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve up and top with chilli flakes and extra parmesan.

Lunchbox quinoa salad

I'm forever trying to come up with nice lunches which will travel to work and not end up a soggy mess. Quinoa is one of my favourite grains which I've neglected of late while having a lovely time eating vast amounts of rice with leftover casseroles - what is it about winter that makes you feel the need for a hot lunch even in an often overheated (or freezing cold in our case) office!

However, the weather is improving so my mind turns to salad. I've never been one for rice in salads whereas I do think quinoa is a great base. It's a grain that takes on flavour really well but has a bit more bite and body (as well as a great deal more protein) than couscous or rice. It really does deserve it's reputation as a superfood and is even better when combined with other delicious vegetables.

The salad below could be a mix of just about anything but I thought I should include a recipe as a place to start. Use any vegetables you have in your fridge and any combination of cheeses, meats or seeds as your extra bit of protein and flavour. The ingredients given below are per lunchbox, you will see a lot of halves as I was making up two lunches but vary the ingredients as much or as little as you need.

Lunchbox quinoa salad

Ingredients:

3 heaped tbsp cooked quinoa (packet instructions vary but soak then cook in salted water or stock for 12-15 minutes)
Feta, around 40g, broken into rough cubes
Cherry tomatoes - a handful
1/2 roasted red pepper (jarred again although as with previous posts you can make your own)
1/2 little gem lettuce
1/2 avocado
1/4 cucumber - seeds scraped out with a teaspoon
1.5 spring onions
Dressing made from zatar spice mix, dried chilli flakes, salt, pepper, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil - mix to taste but I use approx 1 tsp of zatar and chilli, pinch of salt and grind of pepper, juice of 1/2 lemon and a splash of oil

Method:

Chop up all your veggies into bite size pieces.
Spoon your cooked (and cooled) quinoa into lunchboxes.
Add the chopped vegetables and cheese.
Dress the salad and taste to check seasoning.
Seal the box up ready to enjoy for work the next day!

NB: You may wish to take the dressing in a jam jar or similar to avoid the lettuce going soft although I quite like giving the dressing a chance to soak in and mingle with the other flavours - also I hate taking too many containers to work!

Spicy red pepper houmous

I love houmous (or hummus if you prefer) and it's one of my favourite snacks. I tend to make my own because I prefer to know exactly what is going into my food wherever possible. I'm also not massively keen tahini so my recipes are almost all a flavoured houmous without tahini. I often take small pots to work with me along with vegetable crudités and rye crackers - it also makes a great snack at home as in the picture below. The recipe I've given here makes a big batch because I always like to have leftovers for snacks, extras for dinner etc.

Spicy red pepper houmous

Ingredients:

2 x tins of drained chickpeas
4 roasted and skinned red peppers (as before I use jarred but I have included the method to make your own in the recipe for 'Steak, chickpea and avocado salad')
4-5 large cloves of garlic
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp hot smoked paprika
Juice of one lemon (I like my houmous fairly lemony so sometimes use a bit more)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil - a good glug

Method:

Put the chickpeas, peppers, garlic, chilli, paprika, lemon juice, a good pinch of salt and grind of pepper into a food processor.
Whizz everything together and taste - it's at this point I will adjust the salt, pepper and lemon, you may want to add more chilli or paprika too.
Depending on the constancy you can then add a good plug of olive oil, the amount you will need will depend on how thick or loose you want your houmous to be.
Serve up in whatever pretty bowl you have available, if you want to be a bit fancy then drizzle a bit of oil and sprinkle a little paprika over the houmous. As you can see below I didn't follow this step - I'm afraid it would be lost on my housemate!

Huevos Rancheros with Guacamole

As it's the bank holiday weekend I thought it was the perfect time to share my favourite brunch recipe - huevos rancheros! Not only it is entirely clean and lean it's also delicious and very filling. My version of this dish is very much a 'chuck in whatever vegetables you have in the fridge' type recipe. I believe a traditional version would have just the onion, garlic, pepper and tomato but I think a bit of courgette or aubergine goes very nicely as well. This one serves two but with the amount of veg that went in you could stretch to three if you wanted, just add two more eggs.

Huevos Rancheros

Ingredients:

1 onion (white in this case but red would work equally well)

Garlic - I love garlic so used about 3 large cloves but do this to taste

1 red chilli

1 red pepper

1/2 an aubergine

Black olives - about a handful will do

Tinned tomatoes 400g

Tomato puree - a good squirt or approximately a tbsp

Coconut oil

Hot smoked paprika

Oregano

4 large free range eggs

Large ripe avocado

Lime juice (or lemon will do at a push)

Salt and pepper

Method:

Chop all your vegetables beforehand so you can just add as you need to. While you are doing this heat your coconut oil in a frying pan deep enough for all your ingredients and the eggs. I cut the onion and chilli finely but the onion, peppers and aubergine can be cut into dice. With the olives you can either leave them whole or chop them up - if I'm honest I normally end up tearing them into halves or thirds as I add them to the pan but some might prefer to chop in advance.

Fry off your onions, garlic and chilli until soft then add in your peppers and aubergine and fry everything for a further 5-10 minutes.

When everything is softened add in your olives, tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, paprika and oregano. I'd probably also season the dish now as it's tricky to season after you've got the eggs in there. I normally rinse the tomato tin out and add the water in so if you do this then let it reduce a bit.

This is the point to create little dents to crack your eggs into. If you're worried about breaking the yolk then use a small bowl and transfer them from there.

Let things bubble away, as the sides of the eggs start to look more set and the liquid is reducing then cover the pan - if you don't have a lid that fits your frying pan I always use a baking tray balanced over the top.

While the eggs are cooking mash up the avocado with lime and salt. If you want to make proper guacamole you will also need to add crushed garlic but I think for this it's nice to just have the avocado.

Once the eggs are done ladle everything out onto a plate or bowl - I always think a soup bowl is easier as it seems the best of both worlds (to the extent than in our flat they get called the 'bowl-plates'). Top with guacamole and get munching.