Tomato, Egg, Chorizo and Feta Dip & Share

This is one of my favourite meals at the moment. Mainly because it encompasses all my favourite ingredients but also because you can eat it directly from the saucepan. Yep. I'm that adverse to washing up! The chili flakes make it really warming and there's just so many ways to cook it too; add any leftovers you've got in the fridge and you've got yourself a yummy brunch or dinner.

So here's what you'll need:

Olive oil

  2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped/ crushed

1 small uncooked chorizo sausage

1 can of tinned tomatoes

6-8 cherry tomatoes

  1 pepper, chopped

Sprinkle of salt, smoked paprika and dried chili flakes

A teaspoon of honey

  2 hand fulls of chopped coriander

2 eggs

Handful of feta

And sourdough bread (or whatever you fancy!)

If you've got a rustic style griddle pan then I'd use this, but if not a standard non stick frying pan ill do just fine. 

Put your pan on the hob and heat up a glug of olive oil. While you're waiting for the pan to warm up chop the chorizo into slices, the cherry tomatoes into halves, the garlic as finely as possible and also the peppers into slices. This will save you some time later on. 

 One the oil has heated up, put your chorizo and garlic into the pan and heat until the sausage is cooked and the garlic is golden. Then add your cherry tomatoes and your peppers. Stir for about 2-3 minutes to get all the flavours together. 

Next you want to add the chopped tomatoes. Stir until all the ingredients has been mixed together and then add a sprinkle of salt, paprika and chili flakes. Stir again until mixed and leave to reduce for around 15 minutes. 

Now you want to add one of the two handfuls of chopped coriander. Stir together and then make two little "holes" in the mix ready to add your eggs. Crack the two eggs directly into the tomato mix and let them poach until they are cooked to your liking. If you like a well cooked egg you may want to put the saucepan under the grill for a few minutes.

Finally you want to sprinkle your feta and the last handful of chopped coriander and your done! 

We love eating this with some toasted sour dough bread but you could easily eat it with some greens and chicken or alternatively some rice. It's entirely up to you! We've also been known to add some mozzarella as well as the feta which can be super yummy. Equally some butter beans and/or some kidney beans would be really yummy in this too. The possibilities are endless!

If you decide to give this a go be sure to show me some pics of your finished dish! Tweet me @Dizzy_Miss_Liz or tag me in an Instagram pic @sophy_victoria.

Lots of Love,

DML

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2 Simple Autumn Inspired Side Dishes

I'm sorry it's been so long since I posted something food related. I'm going to try and post a bit more of my cooking from now on, promise.

I thought I'd start off the season with a simple recipe (or 2...) so I'm going to tell you how I make some really yummy, simple, autumn inspired side dishes. They don't take much preparation and they certainly aren't difficult but they make the perfect healthy accompaniments to any meal!

First up, we have my spiced kale and asparagus! To make this you'll need:

3 handfuls of curly kale
1/2 a teaspoon of chili flakes
a 1/4 of a log of soft goats cheese
4 stalks of fresh asparagus
Salt & pepper to taste


First you want to wash your kale and the asparagus stalks thoroughly. After you're done, chop the asparagus stalks into 1-1.5 inch sections and put into a bowl. Get your kale and mix in with the asparagus. 

Now you want to steam the kale and the asparagus together. We don't have a steamer so to cook ours, we fill about a third of a saucepan with water and bring to the boil. We then put our asparagus and kale into a colander and put it on top of the saucepan. The water should only just be touching the bottom of the colander, if at all. You then want to cover the colander with a saucepan lid so the steam remains inside the colander. 

It takes about 6 minutes in total for the asparagus and kale to cook, depending on how al dente you like your veg. If you're not sure just keep a close eye and stick a fork into the asparagus and ensure it's soft but not mushy. The kale wants to have wilted but still have a crunch to it.

Once cooked, you want to take the colander off the boiling water (or take your veg out of the steamer if you have decided to use one) and spoon it into a serving bowl. Get a teaspoon and start spooning little bits of goats cheese and mixing them into the asparagus and kale mix. Once you've got a good goats cheese to veg ratio, grab your chili flakes and sprinkle over the top. Stir together and then serve!


Variations

If you don't like chili then you can leave it out.
If you're not a fan of goats cheese then any other soft cheese will do; cream cheese or La' Roulle would taste nice.
Sometimes I put a bit of butter into the veg before I add the goats cheese, for a richer taste. 


We eat this side with a roast or sometimes with a garlic chicken breast and some roasted vine tomatoes. Yum!!



Next we have my honey roasted sweet potato's! To make this you'll need:

1 large sweet potato (this feeds about 2 people)
2 tablespoons of runny honey
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Start by washing your sweet potato/s. Then peel them. You then want to cut them up into smallish chunks; it's entirely up to you how small or large you want them! Use the picture above for a guide if you're not sure.

Once you're done prepping the sweet potato chunks you want to arrange them on a baking tray; make sure they are all on one layer as opposed to on top of one another. Then drizzle over the olive oil followed by the honey.

To cook, place them in the centre of the oven for around 25-30 minutes at 170 degrees (fan), 190 degrees or gas mark 5.


Let me know if you have any autumn inspired side dishes!

Sophy's Roasted Butternut Squash, Red Pesto and Goats Cheese Tart

Hey there guys!

I'm so sorry it's been a while since my last food related post. I've been really busy with my YouTube channel and my beauty blog (check it out if you haven't done so already!) and I really apologise for neglecting you all. To those of you who are new to my food corner -  as well as all things fashion and beauty related, I cook too (mutli-tasking o'clock!) I cook pretty much everything and anything and I love experimenting with flavours and ingredients.

Over the next few weeks I'm going to try and focus on quick meal ideas. I work Monday to Friday and myself and my boyfriend are at the gym or training pretty much 4 evenings a week which leaves little time for gourmet meals! I know that many people out there are strapped for time during the week too so I wanted to share with you a few of my simple, quick and easy meals to help keep your dinners fun but not too time consuming. 

So here's my first recipe in the series! Sophy's Roasted Butternut Squash and Goats Cheese tart. It's a recipe that I can take full credit for as I made it up myself! Granted, with a little bit of inspiration from a few other recipes.. But hey! It's still mine :)

Here's what you need:

Half of a medium sized butternut squash, precooked.
I like to have one of these already roasted in the fridge as there are a few recipes I like to cook using a good old squash! To cook one, I prick the skin and put it in the oven whole for around an hour - an hour and a half depending on it's size. Half way through cooking take it out of the oven and cut in in half. This will make it cook quicker and believe you me, its easier to cut half cooked than fresh! You'll only need half a squash for this recipe so wrap the other half up and put it in the fridge for another recipe... Maybe my butternut squash, chilli, and blue cheese rigatoni? ;) 


1 sheet of puff pastry, ready made
If you can make it yourself then by all means go for it. I'm lazy and I like to save time. Pre rolled puff pastry still does the job!


1 Jar of red pesto OR tub of fresh red pesto
Either or. It's up to you. I bought some fresh for mine but the jarred stuff would taste just as yummy.


1 roll of goats cheese
You're only going to be using around 6-8 teaspoons of this so I would recommend getting the long tube like rolls of goats cheese, or the 175g tub of the French stuff they do in Sainsbury's.
 

Small tub of single cream
You're only going to need to use a few drizzles of this so just a small tub will do fine.


Dried chilli flakes (optional)
I think Butternut Squash and chilli go together perfectly, so I like to add some to the top of mine. Don't feel like you have to though if chilli isn't really your thing. 

 

Step 1
Roll out your puff pastry sheet onto some baking paper, or onto a clean baking tray. You'll be using the whole rectangle so don't worry about cutting it or shaping it. I find the pastry works better when it's been out of the fridge for a good 10 minutes so try and leave it to warm up a little before rolling it out.

Step 2
Get your chosen butternut squash halve and scoop out the pips if you haven't done so already. Then start scooping out the inside of the squash and spreading it onto the sheet of puff pastry. Leave a good inch or 2 round the edge though as we're going to be folding that in when we're done to make a puff pastry crust... Mmmm!

Step 3
Once you've spread a nice even layer of the squash onto the puff pastry sheet, you're going to want to season with salt and pepper and drizzle a little single cream on top. I'm not sure why squash cooks better with cream but it just does... It makes it a little more creamy and yummy!

Step 4
Even add between 6-8 teaspoons of goats cheese onto the squash layer. Think of it a bit like a pizza, you want there to be little blobs of goats cheese on top all evenly spaced out. Then drizzle some pesto on top, again as evenly as you can.

Step 5
Finally you want to add your chilli flakes if you're using them. Just sprinkle them lightly and evenly on top.

Step 6
Now you're going to want to fold in your edges. You should have amount half an inch to an inch of crust when you're done folding. You can rub some melted butter round the edges if you fancy a slightly more crispy golden crust but it's entirely up to you!

Put the whole tart into the oven for around 30 minutes, gas mark 7/ 200 degrees for a fan assisted and 220 for a non fan assisted. If you're using a fan assisted oven then keep an eye on the tart during cooking as you may need to reduce the time slightly. 


So there you have it! My Roasted Butternut Squash, Red Pesto and Goats Cheese tart! I hope you enjoy!

DML xxx