What a way to pasta time

Looking for something to do in lockdown? Many of us have taken to cooking up a storm in the kitchen and baking to a bake-off standard (or at least having fun in the process).

Last week my daughter decided to make pasta from scratch. Not having a pasta maker it was a long and laborious process resulting in aching wrists from all the rolling! She made butternut squash filled ravioli which was absolutely delicious.

Find a basic pasta recipe and away you go.

The filling was butternut squash roasted with sage leaves in olive oil. Keep half for stuffing inside the ravioli and mash and add the other half to a bechamel sauce made using butter, flour, milk with a grating of nutmeg and a pinch of mustard powder. Add grated cheese of your choice.

Fill the ravioli with the squash and cook in boiling salted water for a few minutes.

Drain and place in an open ovenproof dish and pour over the sauce, adding torn mozzarella, grated hard vegan cheese, sage leaves and a drizzle of truffle oil.

Bake in the oven for 30 mins on gas 7, 200C fan, 220C.

Easy peasy pizza

This week I tried to buy flour. Luckily I have plain and self raising but wanted extra strong for pizza dough. There wasn't a bag to be seen on the shelves. I'm guessing, with more time to spare, people are baking, cooking, pasta, pizza and bread making.

We could have ordered a Dominos but decided it was time to think outside the box (haha)! When the children were younger we used to make naan-bread pizzas, letting them add their own toppings. I managed to buy some naans at the supermarket and had plenty of topping ingredients at home so this is what I created:-

A Picasso Pizza! This was just a tomato base of choice (mine was Seeds of Change Tomato and Basil) plus grated cheese (or veggie alternative) and caramelised onions. So tasty served with salad and coleslaw. The world is your oyster when it comes to toppings - seriously anything goes so let your imagination go wild.

Next week I may try doing Edvard Munch's The Scream.

Create, nourish, cherish

We are living in strange times - you don't need me to tell you that. Living with fear for the safety of our loved ones, glued to the news channel and despairing at the egocentric behaviour of the minority. On the flip side there are the altruistic acts of kindness, the support for the hard working, risk taking NHS, the singing from balconies and the clapping at our front doors. It sometimes seems like the world has gone mad, the times are crazy and for some, the sense of loss insurmountable.

Taking my weekly visit to the supermarket I took my trolley and stood in a queue, 2 m apart from any other shopper. The banter was good humoured and everyone was courteous, calm and civilised. Some of the shelves were empty; pasta, rice, flour and tinned goods in the main. Bizarrely fresh produce was also well depleted. I am guessing people are batch cooking and freezing. Despite this I managed to find most of the items needed for my family and my elderly parents.

On the positive side, I have had more time to plan meals, making sure not to waste anything and to ring the changes and shake things up a little. Because we are all home for breakfast, lunch and tea it is important to find different ways of serving meals. At home by myself, before all this, I was happy to eat a peanut butter sandwich every day for lunch. Now I switch things around and we enjoy a variety.

More thought goes into making an evening meal with time for planning and preparation. Meals have always been the time we come together as a family but now it happens more regularly. For those working or studying at home it's time for a break, a chat and a distraction before ploughing back into work.

There's something satisfying in using up and wasting not. It's made me reach into the back of my cupboards, to the bottom of the freezer, to the pages in my recipe books and be creative with what I've got. Whatever you're doing, whether vegetarian, vegan, flexitarian or carnivore, enjoy having the time to create, nourish and and most of all, to cherish.

Vegan veracity

A few years ago I attended Veganfest in Leeds, Yorkshire. At the time I was a committed vegetarian and only mildly curious about being vegan. The festival opened my eyes to what vegans are all about but at the time it seemed quite radical. This year I plan to visit again and learn a bit more.

During the intervening years I have picked up information along the way. Supermarkets have got better at selling products, ingredients and ready meals, restaurants are catering for vegans and there is more about Veganism in the media.

Some foods you may think are vegan are actually not. Honey is actually a bee by-product and many bees are mass pollinated using a method called migratory beekeeping. This then affects many fruit and vegetables.

Many wines, beers and ciders use isinglass (from fish bladders) in the clarifying process. Gelatin can be used in some sherries and ports as well as in desserts, sweets and medication. Cochineal and shellac can also be found in sweets.

Bone char is sometimes used in the sugar making process and don't forget what bone china is made from!

Vegan bread may still have various E-numbers derived from animals.

What I probably hadn't realised was how hard it is to avoid animal products in everyday life. They seem to be in everything including shampoos, conditioners (both hair and fabric) and medication. Also LCD screens on phones, televisions, tablets and computers use animal cholesterol. I have no idea where you can buy vegan versions.

If you're interested in finding out more you can go along to a vegan festival near you. Leeds has two dates this year - Saturday June 6th and Saturday 29th November.

Do or Diet

Just attended a workshop concerning ketogenics, detoxing and fasting. Having had my all-inclusive (read greedy) holiday in January, I decided it might be time to do a bit of cleansing and shedding.

The talk was very informative, if a little scientific. A lot of it went over my head. What I did learn was that it was quite a difficult process when you're vegetarian. The ketogenics diet is high fat, medium protein and low carbohydrate. Being a non meat or fish eater, most of my protein intake has to come from eggs although some cheese and nuts could be eaten. I can't eat potatoes, rice, pasta, beans and pulses, currently a large part of my diet. Even vegetables were limited with no kale or spinach allowed. Fat could come in the form of avocado and cooking with coconut oil 'though I find this sometimes has an aftertaste. Ah, tricky.

Detoxing involved making sure I took in extra salt and used activated charcoal to bind various chemicals and filter them out of my system as waste. I questioned what happens to the medication I take on a daily basis. Is that filtered out of my system too? Ah, maybe.

Having mentally ruled out ketogenics and detoxing I thought maybe occasional fasting might do the trick. Slightly worried about my tendency towards migraines when I don't eat regularly, I asked if there were any tricks to prevent this. Ah no, don't fast if you suffer migraines because it messes with your blood sugar levels.

It all sounded quite complicated. I think without understanding a lot more and getting a nutritionist to give me a personal plan to follow, I'll give it a miss. I'm not overweight and actually probably just need to eat a little more healthily and do a bit more exercise. Everything in moderation.

Ah well, looks like I'll have to do it the hard way. Today I went for my first run of the year. Honestly it was more like a shuffle but it's a start. The diet starts tomorrow (or maybe the next day ...)

Posh Pancakes

As a child I enjoyed all the desserts and cakes that were on offer. Except, that is, Crepes Suzette. That was a dessert just for the grown ups. We called them posh pancakes. It wasn't until I got older and received a Marks and Spencer French cookery book that I understood why. They're laced in alcohol! Take your pick; Cointreau, Curaçao or Grand Marnier. 

Armed with the knowledge concerning the alcohol and a bona fide recipe to boot, you would think I might have made this boozy dessert by now, mais non! 

I am now looking forward to Pancake Tuesday this week and will let you know the outcome. If you want to give it a try here's how -

Pancakes cooked the way you enjoy (Vegetarian, vegan, gluten free ...)
3tbsp caster sugar
250ml freshly squeezed orange juice
Zest of one orange
1tsp lemon juice
1tbsp your chosen alcohol (see above)
50g unsalted butter

- fold pancakes into quarters
- melt sugar in non stick pan over a low heat without stirring until caramelised
- take pan off heat + add orange juice, zest, lemon juice + alcohol
- let them combine
- add small pieces of butter bringing to the boil and simmering gently until glossy
- add pancakes back into the pan and warm through
- serve immediately 

The Vegetarian Valentine

What to do on Valentine's Day? Restaurants are fully booked unless you're organised and booked in good time, otherwise it's a 5pm or 10pm booking! Dinner for two at home? Many supermarkets offer dine-in deals and we did succumb to a Waitrose offer. I had what would have been the starter (a pea and spinach risotto) whilst my other half enjoyed the salmon. We shared one side of cauliflower cheese and I cooked him roast potatoes. Obviously we ate the dessert and drank the prosecco! The other side dish was roast veggies which I have had for tea tonight. The other salmon en croute is in the freezer. Good value at £20.00

I did make a bit of effort on Saturday night by cooking my heart shaped pasta from Italy. I made a puttanesca sauce to go with it - black olives, capers and tomatoes with plenty of garlic and a kick of chilli. Good job we both ate it! 

Raw dried pasta hearts

Cooked pasta hearts