Sweet Potato, Cumin and Ras-el-Hanout Spread

I don't like buying ready-made or processed foods. Instead, I look at the list of ingredients and most of the time find that I can easily recreate a product myself but without additives, preservatives etc. Of course, not all products have "bad" stuff in them such as the dips/spreads available on Saturday at the health food shop for customers to try. One was a sweet potato dip with ras-el-hanout and really tasty. When we saw the price for a 150-g-tub we checked the list of ingredients. Easy! We had all the ingredients at home. 

400-500 gsweet potato
1/2 can chickpeas
1-2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ras-el-hanout
sea salt
black pepper
juice of one lemon
good glug of olive oil

Cut a sweet potato lengthways, drizzle a little EVO into a roasting tray and roast for about 45 minutes at 200 °C/gas mark 6 until soft. Scoop out the flesh and leave to cool. Then season with pepper, salt, toasted ground cumin and ras-el-hanout. Add crushed garlic,  drained chickpeas, lemon juice and EVO. Blend, check the seasoning and enjoy.

Butternut Squash, Ricotta and Sage Lasagne

I'm often surprised at the leaps the mind makes. Today, a fellow foodie translator was making cannelloni filled with ricotta and spinach and I thought: "I've never made ricotta and spinach anything". Unusually, we had ricotta in the fridge but neither spinach nor cannelloni. So on the shopping list they went for tomorrow's trip to the supermarket. But what was I going to cook tonight? How else could I use the ricotta with the scarce end-of-the-week vegetables left in the house? After rummaging throught the cupboard I found some no-cook lasagne sheets and the root veg basket revealed two small butternut squashes. There's sage in the garden. We always have lots of tins of chopped tomatoes. And I had dinner sorted. At least in theory. I still had to cook it. A recipe for the tomato sauce can be found here.

Update: It was WONDERFUL!!! Might be even nicer by adding a handful of toasted pine nuts to the ricotta mix for a bit of bite.

(serves 2)

1 small butternut squash
fresh sage leaves, approx. 1 tbsp when chopped
200 g ricotta
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp of some liquid, e. g. vegetable stock, buttermilk, yoghurt or similar
chilli flakes, to taste
2 - 3 tomatoes
freshly grated parmesam
slow roasted tomato sauce as needed

1. First, make the tomato sauce and simmer it while you prepare the remainder of the dish. 

2. Chop the sage leaves and set aside.

3. Cut the tomatoes into slices and cover the bottom of an oven proof dish. Season with a little pepper and salt. Then place three lasagne sheets on top.

4. Cut the top and bottom of the butternut squash, cut in half lengthways and remove the seeds using a spoon. Slice into 4-5 mm thick slices. Heat a little oil in a frying pan and fry the butternut squash for about 10 minutes over a medium heat turning them once or twice until some slices are browned. Remove from the pan, place onto kitchen paper and pat the oil off.

5. In the same pan, heat about a 1tsp of olive oil and fry the chopped sage for about 10 seconds, then return it to its dish to cool.

6. Spoon the ricotta into a food processor, season with black pepper, a touch of salt and chilli flakes. Add a bit more than half butternut squash, the sage and whatever liquid you're using and blitz. Check the seasoning.

7. Spread the ricotta mix onto the lasagne sheets, then place the remaining butternut squash slices on top before adding the next layer of lasagne sheets.

8. Finish off with plenty of tomato sauce. Then bake in the oven (covered with tin foil or uncovered depending on your oven) at 200 °C/gas mark 6 for 30 minutes.

9. Cover generously with freshly grated parmesan and bake at 220 °C/gas mark 7 for another 10-15 minutes or until golden.

Spring Day Salad

I nearly didn't remember that yesterday was the first day of spring even though I enjoyed a very late breakfast in the garden for the very first time this year. After the indulgences of our trip to London last week what we really wanted was a large but filling salad. As usual, I had a rough idea of what I might put into it, e. g. buffalo mozzarella, but in the end it turned out entirely differently. And it took me a while to come up with a title for this raw and cooked salad with fruit and veg topped with tahini and roasted chickpeas.

Please note that you need to roast the chickpeas at least one hour ahead.

(serves 4)

lettuce leaves of your choice
1 ripe avocado
1 ripe pear
steamed sugar snaps
2 hard boiled eggs (optional)
3-4 cooked beetroot (no vinegar)

dressing:
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 part elderflower infused sherry vinegar
2-3 parts elderflower infused extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1/2 lime
1 tsp agave nectar or runny honey (local if possible)
fresh dill (as an alternative to the flavour of elderflower infused oil and vinegar)

topping 1:
2 tbsp of Greek or Turkish style yoghurt
2 tbsp unsalted tahini
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
touch of lime juice

topping 2:
1 can of chickpeas, drained
1-2 tsp of sweet paprika
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
drizzle of garlic infused extra virgin olive oil

1. First, get your oven on to roast the chickpeas. Place the chickpea into a sandwich tin or similar, season with pepper, salt and paprika, drizzle with olive oil and mix well. Bake in the upper part of the oven (doesn't matter where in a fan assisted oven) at full whack for 10-15 minutes, then turn so the soft side is up. Repeat this until the chickpeas are crunchy. Set aside and leave to cool.

2. Steam the sugar snaps for 3-5 minutes then plunge into ice cold water to stop them from cooking further. Drain and set aside.

3. Prepare your yoghurt dressing next by mixing all the ingredient. Keep refridgerated until neede.

4. Make the salad dressing. If you don't have elderflower infused oil or vinegar use finely chopped dill.

5. Use any lettuce you like, though I'd suggest something a little sturdier and more flavourful than round lettuce, and place into a large serving bowl. Julienne the cooked beetroot, core the pear and cut into chunky slices, spoon out chunks of the avocado with a teaspoon, chop up the boiled eggs (if used) and add to the bowl.

6. Dress the salad, top with a little tahini dip and a tablespoon of roasted chickpeas and serve the remaining tahini dip and chickpeas on the side for everyone to help themselves. Alternatively, serve on individual plates as in the photo at the top.

Rocket, Orange and Avocado Salad

Last week, there weren't any blood oranges at my favourite discounter and I thought that's the season over. Yesterday, however, they were back so I grabbed another bundle. Last night, we had a vegetarian carbonara, which I was going to acccompany with a rocket salad. That's when I discovered two very ripe avocados and decided to try something a bit different. Ordinary oranges will work well with this recipe.

1 bag unwashed wild rocket (approx. 100 g)
1 ripe avocado
2 (blood) oranges
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
balsamic
extra virgin olive oil (EVO)
1 tsp orange marmalade, optional

1. Make the dressing. Squeeze one of the oranges. Add salt, pepper, balsamic, EVO, orange juice and marmalade, if used, to a bowl and whisk together.

2. Wash and spin the rocket. Place into a salad bowl.

3. Peel the second orange and chop into the segments. Add to the rocket.

4. Cut the avocado in half, twist and separate the two halves. Gently squeeze the half that contains the stone so it drops out. With a teaspon, scoop out the flesh in chunks straight into the salad bowl.

5. Pour the dressing over the salad, mix and serve immediately.

Baked Avocado with Feta and Lime

I've not had baked avocado in more than 20 years and have to admit that I'm not that fond of it. Yesterday, a post in my foodie group reminded me of baked avocados and since we had guests for dinner I decided to experiment and make this for the only pescatarian among us. Having been a vegetarian for more than two decades and only eating meat again for a few years I do not like for the non meat eaters to have "an empty space" on their plate. It turned out really well and since my friend let me taste it I think I may even make it for us in future.

As I always found baked avocado too rich I decided to use a salty feta cheese and lime juice to make it feel less greasy. Even before baking this looks absolutely delicious and I'm sure it would also be great uncooked.

When baking avocados it's really important that the fruit is very ripe. Otherwise, the baked result may be slightly rubbery in texture and may also taste bitter.

(serves 2)

1 ripe avocado
60 g feta cheese
1/2 spring onion
freshly chopped red chili to taste, optional
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
freshly squeezed lime juice to taste.

Half the avocado and remove the stone. Using a tea spoon, scoop the flesh out in small chunks. Drizzle with a little lime juice. Set the empty skins aside. Crumble the feta and add to the avocado. Thinly slice the spring onion and chili, if used. Season with pepper and salt and carefully mix. Check the seasoning adding more lime juice if required. Spoon the mixture into the avocado skins and bake at 220 °C/gas mark 7 for 15-20 minutes.

This is what it looks like before baking. Scrumptious, don't you think?

Carrot and Carrot Top Pesto

While I've used a small amount of feathery green carrot leaves when making stock I've often wondered if I could use them in larger quantities in other ways, such as pesto and salads. Last week, I bought some bunched carrots with the intention of making either one of these carrot pesto recipes. The tops were so fresh, I had to explore how they could be used and my fellow foodies in a Facebook group confirmed that it is indeed a very tasty herb and came up with all sorts of suggestions. While intending to still go ahead with my original pesto idea and intending to turn the leaves into a thick herb oil I changed my mind halfway through the preparation. The result is stunning. As I didn't loosen the pesto too much it's thick and creamy and will make a great sandwich spread. Next time, I buy bunched carrots I'll make carrot top pesto.

500 g bunched carrots, including the carrot tops/leaves

50 g fresh Parmesan

1 handful of hazelnuts

3 garlic cloves

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

extra virgin olive,  as required

Cut the leaves off the carrots and trim off the stems from below the bottommost feathery leaf. Top and tail, then peel the carrots and slice them into 5 mm thick slices. Bring a pan with about an inch of water to the boil. Steam the carrots for 10-12 minutes until they are just tender.

Coarsely chop the carrot tops and place into a food processor along with all the other ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. Add a generous amount of olive oil and process to a paste adding more olive oil until the desired consistency has been reached. Check the seasoning, then put in the fridge until ready to use. If you're not eating all the carrot pesto over the next day or two, transfer into a sterilised screw top jar and top with olive oil to seal. This wy, it should keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

Sautéd Leek with Maple Syrup

Sautéd leek with garlic mash and grilled broccoli and blood orange salad
(the salad is a modified recipe from an Ottolenghi cookbook)

I really like leek but don't make it that often as a side veg and if I do I tend to oven roast or barbecue it. The other day, however, I decided to sauté it. I'd planned to add mushrooms and a touch of soured cream and serve it with pasta but my other half wasn't keen so I kept it simple. Turned out it was delicious and we'll certainly make it again this way.

3-4 leeks
olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
maple syrup

Finely slice the leek, wash and shake out the excess water.
Heat olive oil in a large frying pan. Sauté the leek over a high heat until the water has evaporated. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Keep cooking until the leek starts to brown. Turn down the heat and cook until soft. Drizzle with maple syrup and turn up the heat for a minute or two. Serve.

Carrot and Mango Soup

When my mum mentioned a few weeks ago that my cousin had made a carrot and mango soup for Christmas I knew this was something I'd like to try out. I bought a couple of mangoes but never got around to ask him for his recipe. With the mangoes overripe and threatening to go off I made up my own recipe. The soup is quite fruity with a lovely hum from the chili. If you prefer it less sweet use just one mango.

1 kg carrots
1-2 ripe mangoes
1 smallish red onion (ordinary's fine)
2-3 garlic cloves
1 red chili
1 inch fresh ginger
1 l vegetable stock
1 400 ml tin coconut milk
freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
fresh coriander or parsley for serving, optional
toasted seeds for serving, optional

1. Peel and slice the carrots and set aside. Peel the mangoes and cut the flesh off the stone. Place into a bowl. If the mangoes are very soft squeeze out as much juice as possible from the remaining flesh into the bowl.

2. Use the chili with or without seeds depending on how hot you like your food. Peel the onion, garlic and ginger and chop finely. Heat some oil in a large saucepan and soften the veg over a low to medium heat for 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile boil the kettle and make the stock or heat homemade stock.

4. Add the carrots to the saucepan and mix until coated. Add the mango. Season with pepper and add the stock. Bring to the boil then simmer for 20-30 minutes until the carrots are just cooked. Add the coconut milk, bring to a simmer and simmer at a low heat for 5 minutes.

5. Blend the soup. Check the seasoning and serve sprinkled with fresh herbs or toasted seeds.

Vegetable soup with tortellini and parmesan

My partner used this recipe for the cooking group she runs at her work and found it very tasty. Though not one of my own, I have to share it here. It will definitely become one of our staples. The original is finished off with pesto and served with garlic bread. We thought this sounded very rich and decided to use 2 packets of tortellini instead of garlic bread. We also grated the vegetables as it speeds up the cooking time and gives the soup a thicker consistency.

(serves 4 as main course)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed or very finely chopped
2 carrots, grated
1 parsnip, grated
1 l vegetable stock
1 400-g tin of chopped tomatoes
250 g frozen peas
1 400-g tin of butter beans, cannellini beans, borlotti beans or similar, including the liquid
400-500 g fresh tortellini, e.g. with spinach and ricotta filling
dried mxed herbs
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
grated parmesan to serve
pesto (optional)

1. Heat the oil in a pan. Sauté the onion, garlic, carrot and parsnips for about 5 minutes until the vegetables start to soften.

2. Add the stock and tomatoes, then simmer for 10 minutes.

3. With 5 minutes to go, add the peas and beans.

4. Once the veg is tender, add the tortellini. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes until the pasta is just cooked. (Tortellin and similar float when ready.)

5. Season to tast with pepper and salt.

6. Serve with a dollop of pesto (optional) and grated parmesan.

Spiced Apple and Date Chutney

I'm not an expert in chutney making so when my next-door neighbours gave me 2.5 kilos of apples a couple of weeks ago I had to research some recipes on the internet and found two I liked bits of, in particular an apple and pear chutney that didn't use ordinary sugar but dark moscovado. From the other recipe, I used the cayenne pepper and allspice. I still had quite a lot of elderflower infused cider vinegar from last year so I used that – the first time round. Then another neighbour send an e-mail to everyone in the street as they also have a glut of apples. I loved the first chutney so went and got another 2.5 kg. This time I used balsamic vinegar. Can't wait to find out what it tastes like!

2.2 kg apples, peeled and sliced
2 large onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
thumb sized piece of ginger, finely chopped
500 ml balsamic + 100 ml white balsamic or 600 ml cider vinegar
2 lemons or limes, juice and zest
1 tsp mustard seeds
250 g dates
250 g raisins
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp allspice
1 tbspoon sea salt
1 kg dark moscovado sugar

1. Place the apples, 500 ml vinegar, mustard seeds, onions, garlic and ginger into a large saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer until the fruit is almost cooked.

2. Add all the other ingredients, incl. the remaining vinegar, bring to the boil and simmer for 20-25 minutes stirring occassionally.

3. Rest for 15 minutes and fill into sterilised jars. Leave for 3-4 weeks.

Creamy Savoy Cabbage with Herbs and Seeds

Wonderful with pasta and great as a vegetable side dish.

1 savoy cabbage, shredded
1 green chili, seeded or deseeded
4 tbsp toasted seeds (sesame, pumpkin, sunflower)
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt
boiling water
300 ml soured cream
1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
1 bunch coriander, finely chopped
olive oil

Sauté the cabbage and chili in olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Once it starts browning, add the water and gently cook until almost al dente. Add the soured cream and heat through. Mix in the chopped herbs, check the seasoning, sprinkle with the seeds and serve.

Stuffed Aubergines

I've probably said this before: Aubergines are among my favourite food and I try and vary the way I make them because we have them every week. Just enter "aubergine" as a search term on this blog for different ideas.
(serves 2-4)

2 aubergines
2 pointed red peppers
400 g mushrooms
1 onion
1 whole bulb garlic
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp toasted ground cumin
1 tsp whole fennel seeds
1 mozzarella
extra virgin olive oil

Hollow out the aubergines using a table spoon. Chop the aubergine flesh, mushrooms, peppers into small cubes. Finely chop the onion and garlic. Heat some olive oil and sauté the veg until golden and starting to soften. Add the cumin and fennel. Sauté for a minute or two. Season with salt and pepper.

Brush the skin of the aubergine halves with olive oil and arrange in a baking tray. Season with salt and pepper. Fill with the sautéd veg, cover with tin foil and bake at gas mark 5/200° C for 45-60 minutes or until the aubergines are cooked.

Turn the oven up. Thinly slice the mozzarella and top the aubergine halves. Return to the oven for 10 minutes or until the mozzarella is browned.

Serve with brown rice and a leafy salad.

Pineapple Salsa

1/4 fresh pineapple, very finely diced
1 heaped tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 spring onion, finely chopped
juice of 1/2 lime, or more to taste
1/2 red chili incl. seeds, very finely chopped
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Mix all the ingredients and marinate for approx. 30 minutes.

Sautéed Savoy Cabbage with Balsamic Glaze

My other half loves cabbage and I have to admit the savoy cabbage looked great at the store last week – dark green, very curly leaves on the outside, tender yellow on the inside. Still it's supposed to be summer and cabbage in summer. I wasn't too happy but in the end came up with something light and very tasty.

1 savoy cabbage
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
water
balsamic glaze

Finely shred the leaves of a savoy cabbage, removing the stalks. Heat a generous amount of olive oil in a frying pan and sautée the savoy until it starts to brown. Season with pepper and salt. Add a little water and simmer adding water as necessary until the savoy is cooked to your liking. There should be very little cooking liquid left. Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool until tepid or at room temperature. Drizzle over some balsamic glaze, toss, check the seasoning and enjoy.

Potato and Aubergine Hot Pot

My other half runs a cooking group at work, twice a week. Funny, she never cooks at home, well hardly ever... Erm, change of subject ;)

Today, they made stovies and tonight we used the idea at home and came up with this.

(serves 4 as a main course, 8 as a side dish)

1 kg potatoes
1 large aubergine
5-6 large tomatoes
1 onion
1 red onion
1 pint of stock of your choice
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
dried herbs of your choice
1 red chilli
3-4 cloves of garlic


Slice all the vegetables very thinly and layer them in a roasting tray seasoning with pepper and salt as you go: potatoes sprinkled with pepper and salt, onion rings. tomatoes sprinkled with pepper and salt and dried herbs, aubergines sprinkled with pepper and salt. Repeat the veggie layers.

Finely slice the red chilli, optionally removing the seeds, and finely grate the garlic. Mix with the stock. Pour over the veg. They'll be half covered in stock. Cover with tin foil and cook in a preheated oven at 220 °C for approx. 30-45 minutes. Check if the veggies are done or almost done. Remove the tin foil and cook uncovered for another 15 minutes.

Serve with a green salad for a main course or as a side dish.

White Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce

I've just returned from a few days in my home state in Germany where I was just in time to catch the end of the asparagus season. White asparagus is not readily available in Scotland and it'd been three years since I last tasted it. Even though it wasn't that cheap I bought nearly two kilos of the stuff, enough to accompany two meals.

My godson love asparagus with an Hollandaise sauce but is generally happy with the powdered stuff enriched with an egg yolk and/or some cream. He also thinks the world of my cooking so I decided to  give him and the rest of the family a treat: homemade Hollandaise sauce!

It's been decades since I last made it and without any internet connection we first checked my mum's sparse selection of cookery books – no joy – then phoned around without reaching anyone nearby. In the end, we spoke to my other half's sister in London who did an internet search and, knowing we like Jamie Oliver, gave us his recipe, which I modified as I simply couldn't bring myself to make a sauce, in which two servings were made using 2 egg yolks and 100 g (!) of butter. Admittedly, that was probably meant as a main course but still...

Spring Onion Quiche with Herby Short-Crust Pastry

We love quiche and make it fairly regulary always trying out new toppings and this time, also a new base.

(serves 4-6)

1 quantity of herby short-crust pastry
2 bunches of spring onions, roughly chopped
2 large cloves of garlic
1 small bunch of parsely, finely chopped
4 large eggs
150 ml soured cream/crème fraîche/ordinary cream
splash of milk
sea salt
black pepper
pinch of nutmeg
extra virgin olive oil

Make the pastry according to the recipe. Grease a 26 cm fluted flan dish with a tiny bit of olive oil. Place the pastry ball into the middle and with your knuckles spread it evenly. Stab a few times with a fork, cover in greaseproof paper, pour on ceramic baking beads (or failing that uncooked rice, chickpeas, beans or similar).

Preheat the oven to 200 °C/gas mark 5 and blind bake for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the topping. Clean and wash the spring onions, then coarsely chop them. Heat a little oil in a frying pan and sauté the spring onions over a medium heat until just softened and lightly brown.

Beat the eggs, season with pepper, salt and nutmeg. Add the cream and milk and mix well. Squeeze the garlic through a garlic press and finely chop the parsley. Add to the egg mix.

When the 15 minutes are up remove the pastry from the oven using oven gloves, pour off the beads and remove the paper. Pour the topping onto the pastry and bake at 200 °C/gas mark 5 for 35-45 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

Beetroot, Carrot and Strawberry Salad

We eat salad year round but I am looking forward to the warmer months when salad as a main dish is irresistable.

Today at the supermarket, I couldn't resist the shiny, plump looking strawberries from Spain but I should have shown some restraint. They taste only faintly of strawberries. Ach well, as we say in Scotland. I'm not going to waste them. Some of them, I spontaneously added to a side salad tonight.

I think that some toasted chopped walnuts would go well with this. For a non-vegan version, add chunks of buffalo mozzarella or goats cheese.

1 carrot
1 raw beetroot
1 handful of strawberries
1-2 tbsp fresh basil
1-2 tbsp fresh parsley
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp maple syrup (or honey)
2 tbsp balsamic
4 tbsp extra virgine olive oil
juice of half an orange

Peel the carrot and beetroot, then coarsely shred. Chop the herbs. Half the strawberries lengthways and slice. Mix the veg, herbs and fruit. Make the dressing and toss the salad. Leave to marinate at room temperature for at least 15 minutes.

Cooked vegetable salad with mozzarella and croutons

1 head of broccoli
frozen or fresh green beans
frozen or fresh peas
1 (buffalo) mozzarella
1 bunch of basil
2 tbsp red onion
bread
olive oil
vinaigrette

Cut the broccoli into florets and steam for 5 minutes. Steam the beans and peas for 3-5 minutes. Rinse under cold water. Drain and pat dry. Place into a serving bowl and dress with a generous amount of vinaigrette.

Finely chop the onion. Tear the basil and break the mozzarella into bite-sized chunks. Scatter over the vegetables and toss the salad.

Cut the bread into bite-sized pieces. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and fry the bread until golden. Drain on kitchen paper. Top the salad with the croutons.

Fast(ish) Pizza

We love home made pizza but making a proper yeast dough takes time, even in the breadmaker. My other half runs a cooking group at work but there's no time to make a "proper" dough, cook and eat within 2 hours. Somewhere on the internet she found an alternative recipe. In fact, it's similar to a recipe for a Flammkuchen base I brought back from my last visit in Germany. So lately, we've been making a lovely, crusty pizza base with baking powder. We like it so much we're having pizza once a week these days.

With regards to the topping, we use a "standard" method: drained chopped tomatoes out of a tin and sautéd vegetables. We vary the veg, the cheeses, the meats (see the picture legends for details). I do recommend using drained tinned tomatoes rather than tomato purée which IMHO is vile as a pizza "sauce". Plus, it goes black in those areas that aren't covered with topping.

The recipe below is from a couple of days ago. Feel free to get creative or check out the photos and captions at the end of this post, which I keep adding.

BTW, for two servings we use just 300 g of flour but roll it out very thinly so it still covers most of the tin.

Base:
400 g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt (the original recipe calls for 1 tsp of salt, which we find far too much)
2 tsp baking powder
150 ml water
olive oil for brushing

Topping:
1 tin of chopped tomatoes, drained of all the juice
freshly ground pepper
grated garlic
1/2 chili, deseeded
dried herbs (basil, oregano or Herbes de Provence)
1/2 courgette, cored and cut into strips
1/2 aubergine, cut into strips
1 pointed red pepper, cut into strips
1 bunch of spring onions, but into 4 cm pieces
1/2 chili, sliced
garlic, grated
freshly ground pepper
sea salt
1/2 avocado, sliced
1 mozzarella, cut into thin slices
1 kabanossi sausage, thinly sliced
parmesan shavings
olive oil

Mix flour, salt, baking powder and water until most of the water is absorbred. Then put on a floured worktop and knead until just workable and spreadable. This takes about 2 minutes. Add a little more water, if necessary, to achieve the desired consistency

Roll out on a floured surface and line your baking tray. Brush the dough with some olive oil to prevent the tomatoes from soaking in.

Sauté the courgette, aubergine, pepper, spring onion, garlic and chili in a little olive oil for about 10 minutes at a medium heat.

Mix the tomatoes, garlic and chili and season with pepper. Spread onto the base. Place the mozzarella slices on top of the tomatoes, then scatter the sautéd vegetables, kabanossi and sliced avocado over the mozzarella. Bake at 220 °C/gas mark 7 for 15 minutes. Scatter the parmesan over the top and bake for another 5 minutes.

Sautéd red onion and mushrooms, mozzarella slices and feta, chopped up cooked ham/ham sausage/Schinkenwurst, uncooked green asparagus, halved lengthways, drizzled with oil and seasoned with a touch of salt and pepper.

Sautéd red onion, pointed red and yellow peppers, salami slices (quartered), crumbled feta cheese.

Thinly spread tomato sauce, sautéd onion, red onion, red pointed pepper, quartered slices of salami-style chorizo, gorgonzola, fresh, finely chopped rosemary