Lentil Bolognese

I’ve been having certain negative and guilty feelings lately about food. This is NOT normal for me, I do not get guilty over food. Sometimes I might regret certain food decisions while I am laying on the floor struggling to breath from over consumption of something particularly delicious but I have always felt there is no room in my life for food guilt. I eat what I like and I enjoy it thoroughly, especially now that we eat real food! But in the last 6 months or so I have started getting a real complex about eating meat. I aways try to buy meat that is Organic, Free Range and Family Farmed if possible as I like to know that the hunk of meat I am about to tuck into had a good life, and was slaughtered in a way that was least stressful. But I can’t do it anymore. Even writing about it now makes me feel terrible. Don’t get me wrong… I LOVE meat. It is DELICIOUS but I just can’t stop thinking about the animals while I am eating it.

So we are taking a break. You will have heard me before saying that I don’t like labelling people in certain food types so I won’t label us as “Vegetarian” although for the time being that is how we are eating. Dairy and Eggs are ok (although I have certain views on that as well but one step at a time) but no meat or meat by products (which means no pan gravy!!!) I also don’t want to be a problem and make a big deal of it, I am not trying to “convert” or change anyone else’s food habits (although I do want you all to start cooking your food from scratch!!!) and we certainly don’t want people to find us difficult to feed etc.  (although if you are planning on inviting us over, I would prefer not to have a steak… oh god I love steak.)

So the recipes I will be sharing in the immediate future will be meat free. Most will be adapted from our favourite meat dishes so it’s just substituting one meat thing for something else so feel free to add your own meat in!!

Do NOT be afraid of lentils. I have never cooked with them before but they turned out great! We really did not miss the meat at all in this dish it was so hearty and rich and delicious! Do not knock it until you try it!!

Lentil Bolognese

Ingredients

Olive OIl
1 ½ Cup Lentils (Dried or Tinned)
½ Cup Dry White Wine
2 Cans Crushed Tomatoes
½ Cup Water
1 Brown Onion chopped
2 Cloves of Garlic crushed
Italian Herbs, Fresh or Dried, Basil, Thyme, Oregeno ½ cup of each fresh, 1 tablespoon each dried
Pinch or Two of Salt
Pasta to serve (we used to gnocchi, but any pasta would work!) make your own here.

Method

Brown your Onion and Garlic for a few minutes in a large saucepan with a dash of olive oil.

Add the Cans of Tomatoes, Wine, Lentils, Herbs and one pinch of salt

Give all the ingredients a good stir in the pot making sure everything is mixed thoroughly.

Put the lid on the saucepan and let simmer at a medium low heat for 30-40 minutes stirring frequently (if using tinned lentils you can probably halve this time and you will not need to add the extra water)

If using dried lentils, you will need to add the ½ cup of water at some stage during the cooking process as they will suck up all the liquid from the tomatoes pretty quick smart. I would suggest you keep an eye on the sauce and just put a bit of the water in when required.

When the lentils soften, taste and add salt as required.

Cook your pasta and when that is done simply drain and serve with Lentil Bolognese over the top!

 

Sprinkle some parmesan cheese for extra bite!

Happy Cooking, (from scratch!)
Erica

Homemade BBQ Sauce

Have you ever been really driven to do/make something and found it insanely difficult to find an easy way to do it? That's the problem I came across when wanting to make a BBQ sauce to go with our pulled pork tonight!! Should it be this hard to find a recipe for a sauce that was actually from scratch? There are hundreds of recipes on the internet for BBQ sauces that contain Worcestershire sauce and pre-made tomato sauce/ketchup, but I struggled so much to find one that didn't contain either one or both of those two ingredients, which themselves contain lots of ingredients, and when store bought contain many additives and extra's that I go to great pains to avoid in our daily cooking!!! I decided to do what I have done quite a number of times and simply read the ingredients on the back of a bottle of BBQ sauce and then use the key ingredients to make at home! Added bonus... it turned out quite a bit simpler than I thought it would be!! I will store the rest in the fridge, as this made around 500 mls and use during the week on other meals!

Homemade BBQ Sauce

Ingredients

Can of diced tomatoes

50g of tomato paste

1 medium sized chilli chopped roughly

1 onion chopped roughly

1 garlic clove chopped roughly

4 tablespoons of brown sugar (you could substitute with Rice Malt Syrup for a fructose free version)

1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon of Smoked Paprika

1 teaspoon of mustard seeds

pinch (and I do mean a small pinch of crushed cloves (or 1 clove)

Method

Put all ingredients in a saucepan

Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer until the sauce has reduced to a thick consistency.

As with most of my recipes, make sure you taste as it is simmering and add any extra's of the ingredients as required to taste!

Whiz it up in a blender so its nice and smooth and wallah!! Your very own homemade BBQ Sauce ready to pop on... anything!!!

Hope you enjoy this recipe!! If you would like to request me to cook something you have struggled to find a recipe for simply respond below and I shall see what I can do!!

Till next time, Happy Cooking (from scratch!)

Erica xx

Homemade Ricotta

Don't be nervous, this is such a simple thing to make and it is SO DELICIOUS.  I make it to use straight away, it wouldn't last long anyway! It's great in salads, on pizza, on toast with honey, on its own... its damn delicious!!!

Apparently this is a very similar way to making paneer cheese (Indian Cheese) so if you give that a go let me know!

Please excuse the crappy photo!!

Homemade Ricotta

Ingredients

2 litres full cream milk

1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons cream

4 tablespoons white vinegar or lemon juice 

(I prefer to use vinegar for this one, just gives a little bit more of a bite than lemon juice)

Method

Place the milk, salt and cream in a saucepan and heat until almost boiling (it needs heat to curdle properly).

Then add the vinegar and stir it once or twice very gently just to distribute the vinegar. Do not constantly stir, just leave it be.

Simmer for 1-2 minutes and then allow to sit for 10 minutes and most of the ricotta curds will float to the top leaving the whey at the bottom.

Line a pasta drainer with cheesecloth (I used a very thin brand new pillow case as I didn't have cheesecloth, which worked well) and place it over a large bowl to drain.

Gently pour the ricotta mixture through the cheesecloth and the whey will separate at the bottom in a clearish yellow liquid and the soft and creamy ricotta will sit at the top.

You can mold the ricotta into a ball by holding all the sides of the cloth, twist the cloth so the cheese is in a ball at the bottom. This will also help to drain out any excess liquid.

Your ricotta is now ready to use! If you want a more solid ricotta, drain for an hour or overnight. 

Keeps for 2-3 days in the fridge in an airtight container, use a little bit of the whey in the container to keep the cheese moist.

Happy Cooking (from scratch!)

Erica xx