Stuffed Zucchini Rounds

Sep 21, 2015 ~ cocoandlentil ~ Leave a comment

Stuffed Zucchini with butternut squash, peppers and cheddar

Zucchini or courgettes and olive oil are a simply delicious traditional Italian combination. Elizabeth David is credited with bringing this vegetable, previously reserved for the aristocracy, into the ordinary English kitchen. In her book, A Book of Mediterranean Food, published in 1950, she shares a simple courgette recipe, combining the “very young marrow” with butter and tomatoes.

Taking a cue from the September sunshine over the weekend, we’ve gone for a summer – autumn vegetable flavouring, combining the zucchini with butternut squash. It’s a light but comforting dish, which we hope you’ll enjoy as much as we have.

This dish is an easy dish that is perfect for getting little hands involved in the kitchen and Lentil had great fun stuffing all the ingredients into the zucchini and sprinkling the cheese on top (a lot of which ended up on the baking tray)!

The what:

3 Round zucchini, topped and flesh removed

1 onion, quartered

1 yellow pepper, topped, de-seeded and quartered

1/2 roasted butternut squash (you can roast the other half too and use it to make our roast Butternut Squash and Courgette Risotto). Continue reading →

Beetroot Risotto

Aug 23, 2015Sep 16, 2015 ~ cocoandlentil ~ 6 Comments

Colourful Beetroot Risotto for a veggie meal or side dish

If you’ve seen my Beet, Carrot and Barley Salad you’ll know that thanks Grigson’s Vegetable Book, my bible for all things vegetable, I now know how to prepare and cook beetroot! This recipe brings together the heavenly combination of beetroot and goats cheese with risotto.

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Fish Pie

Aug 17, 2015Sep 16, 2015 ~ cocoandlentil ~ 7 Comments

Comforting fish pie with salmon, white fish, potatoes and cheese

The only fish and indeed the only pie I ate as a child was my mother’s fish pie topped with crumbled cheese and onion crisps. And not just any cheese and onion crisps: a very special brand called Tayto, which are only available in the 4 fair provinces of Ireland. It was such a special dinner. As a young girl I wasn’t a great eater and dinnertime was a bit of a chore. Fish pie day on the other hand was such a joy – who ever heard of having a treat like crisps with dinner??

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Homemade Gnocchi with Butter and Sage

Aug 10, 2015Sep 16, 2015 ~ cocoandlentil ~ 10 Comments

Quick and Easy Potato Gnocchi

This is an old recipe that has been handed down from grandmother to mother to granddaughter and I’m feeling very privileged that it’s now been passed to me by my fairy godmother! The recipe was hand-written on a piece of paper and included just the raw ingredients, no measurements. So we’ve been eating a lot of gnocchi recently (not that we’re complaining!) in the trial and error process of finding the perfect balance. And we think we’ve cracked it!

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Bacon and Mushroom Quiche

Jan 20, 2015Aug 12, 2015 ~ cocoandlentil ~ Leave a comment

Quiche is a great sharing meal and your little ones will enjoy eating what Mama and Papa are eating too! Quiche is also an easy and healthy option for kids (or adult!) parties. I usually do a meaty and a veggie option.

You can use shop-bought shortcrust pastry or if you’re feeling a little bit of the chef pâtissier why not make your own! Click here to see how. Cooking with my own pastry makes me feel like a culinary goddess, if only momentarily!

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Simply Shortcrust

Jan 16, 2015Aug 12, 2015 ~ cocoandlentil ~ 1 Comment

I learnt how to make pastry a couple of years ago and was amazed at how easy it is. You really can’t go wrong (unlike some of the experiences I’ve had making bread!). It’s so much tastier than shop-bought pastry and I actually find the process quite relaxing and therapeutic. It also freezes well so I usually make extra and use it to make another quiche or fruit pie at a later date. Here’s a quick recipe for shortcrust pastry, which is great for quiches and savory or sweet tarts or pies.