Best Pasta Ever | Book of Elsa

 Put a large pan of water to boil.  

A little olive oil in a pan large enough to take everything later with a lid, add the chopped onion, garlic a little salt and cook on lowish heat with lid on for 10 minutes or until soft.  

Turn up heat add balls of sausage meat and season, go easy on the salt though supermarket sausages tend to be salty, you’re trying to get colour on all sides do not cook through.  

Once the sausages are all golden add a glass of wine, let it bubble until syrupy then around 200ml of stock. Turn heat down, cover and cook for 5 minutes.  

Now cook the pasta according to packet instructions adding 250g of frozen peas for the final 5 minutes. 

Taste sausage and sauce for seasoning, adjust if necessary. Pour in the cream, sprinkle the dried parsley drain the pasta and peas and toss into the sauce. Eat. 

so good, i ate it too fast to take a picture

Spinach and Ricotta Baked Pasta | Book of Elsa

WHITE TIRAMISU | BOOK OF ELSA

This was borne from a love of tiramisu and wanting to spread this love far and wide. To those who currently don’t like the espresso boozy concoction I suggest this will convert you. I call it ‘white’ simply because there is no chocolate and/or coffee and I realise the addition of cream means it stops technically being a ‘tiramisu’, however it is delicious.  

WHITE TIRAMISU 

Ingredients 

• 2 egg yolks 
• 1 egg white, whisked until foamy 

• 90g caster sugar 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 250g room temperature mascarpone 
• 300ml double cream, softly whipped  
• 2 shop bought madeira cake loaves 

• 160ml rum 
• 200ml milk 
• 2 punnets of strawberries 
• Juice of half a lemon 

Method 

1. Hull and halve strawberries, squeeze the lemon juice on top and cover with cling film.  

2. Place the egg yolks and caster sugar in a bowl big enough to take everything later and whisk until pale yellow and sugar has more or less dissolved.  

3. Add the vanilla extract, mascarpone, foamy egg white and whipped cream. Stir to combine, cover and set aside. 

4. In a jug combine the milk and rum 

5. Slice the cake loaves to 1cm thickness and arrange some at the bottom of a glass bowl. Your layer will depend on the shape of the bowl.  

6. Cover the cake slices with spiked milk, half the strawberries and half of the cream. 

7. Layer more cake, pour spiked milk on top add the rest of strawberries and the last of the cream. 

8. Cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight or at least 6 hours before serving.  

Turmeric & Lemon Loaf | Chetna Makan

Ingredients:

150g room temperature unsalted butter in cubes

150g caster sugar

150g plain flour 

3 large eggs

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

zest of a lemon

1 tbsp lemon juice

pinch of salt

2 tbsp black poppyseed <optional>

Icing:

50g icing sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 180℃. Grease and line a 900g loaf tin having said that: I use a disposable liner.

Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachement and mix until it resembles softened ice cream. 

Add all other cake ingredients and  mix for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for a futher minute.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer/uncooked spaghetti/knife comes out clean. 

Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 5 mintues before removing it.

Combine the icing sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl and pour onto the cake whilst it is still warm.

Serve warm or cold.

Near Instant Lentil and Franks Soup | Book of Elsa

Lemonade | Sort of | Book of Elsa

This recipe originated from the great Nigella Lawson, as always I've fiddled and here it is.

If you're lucky enough to have an almost grand-father in law with a garden full of mint, this is for you.

large bunch of mint 

100g caster sugar

1 lemon

2 easy peelers <or any other citrus>

625ml ≅water

In a small saucepan, put 125ml of water with the sugar, mint and and zest from the fruit. I use a potato peeler to keep the zest in large pieces. 

Place on high heat, once it's boiling turn then heat down to the lowest it can go and simmer for 5 minutes, take off the heat and let cool completely.

In the meantime, juice the fruit to give about 100ml then make up to 500ml with water.

Once the syrup is cool, strain both the diluted juice and syrup into a jug. Serve over ice.

It occurs to me that a glug or two of rum/vodka wouldn't be a bad thing.... 

  

Fish Tacos | Book of Elsa

Look, I'm not going to pretend I am mexican <or even that I have been to mexico> but these taste delish. Just what you want in a warm soft tortilla, spiky sauce and crunchy salad.

If you happen to be flush with cash, replace the fish with raw prawns and proceed as per.

Don't be daunted by the list of ingredients: it really is a chop <get him to do it> and assemble job.

Lemon Cake | Book of Elsa

• Ingredients:
• Finely grated zest of 3 large lemons mixed with 3 tablespoons lemon juice 
• 350g Plain Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 225g Unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 400g Caster Sugar
• 3 Large Eggs
• 200ml Buttermilk or Whole Milk with a table juice of lemon juice added

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180℃. 

Grease and flour your choice of baking tin. Or line a tin with parchment paper.

In a stand mixer using a paddle attachment whisk the butter until fluffy. 

Add the sugar and mix until it resembles soft ice cream.

Add all other ingredients except the zest and juice mixture and mix into a smooth batter.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the zest mixture and mix for another few seconds.

Pour batter into a prepared tin and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and half. 

Cake is done when a skewer comes out clean.

place on a wire rack to cool completely.

https://youtu.be/PxVLWt3fF4M

Gluten Free Clementine Cake | Book of Elsa

This is a cake more convincing as a pudding for a dinner party, it keeps well due to the high moisture content and taste better the next day. It happens to be gluten free and you could turn it vegan by substituting the eggs for mashed ripe bananas! Which I imagine would be a delicious hybrid, not to mention 'of the moment'.

Gateaux Bananes | Book of Elsa

Believe me when I say this is the easiest snack I know. I'm not even sure it can be classified as 'recipe' per se as there are only three ingredients: bananas, flour and salt.

The bananas have to be very very ripe, mashing them with a fork. Add a pinch of salt and enough flour to bind into a something resembling a thick pancake batter. Then fry in batches using teaspoons. Eat whilst still a little warm so not to burn your mouth.

Book of Elsa

Spruced-up Couscous | Book of Elsa

I'm not one to impose my will unto others. The way I see it its a live and let live kind of situation. However, I am goint to tell you this: Couscous is not BORING and this recipe is proof. Just season with salt and pepper, add some drained canned chickpeas, dried fruits and nuts of your choice. Pour over some hot vegetable stock and cover with cling for 20 minutes. Fluff it up with a fork and eat alongside whatever protein you have or as a lunch in and of it self.

Pizza | Book of Elsa

Okay so the premise is this: I cannot make bread.

Long ago I accepted that combining flour, water, yeast and salt just wasnt meant to be. I have wasted kilos of flour trying to make bread and everytime it has fallen flat <literally> until today!

The recipe below is WORKS. Just try it and you will not be disappointed.

Obviously any toppings you like will do, I used:

Pesto, cooked sausage, cheese and sweetcorn

Apple Turnover | Book of Elsa

<Large> Apple and Blackberry Turnover

The large is in brackets because I was lazy and couldn't be bothered to make a couple more reasonable sized ones which would be the normal thing to do here. 

Place a baking sheet in the oven and preheat at 200℃

Peel and roughly chop a couple of eating apples, I used cox but I mean please use whatever variety you want.

Add a few blackberries

Some lemon zest

2 Tablespoons of caster sugar

2 Tablespoon of ground almonds

1 Teaspoon of cornflour

Whisk a golden egg 

Roll out puff pastry into a rough circle

Pile the dry mixture on the left side of pastry; this amount is too much I took off about half, bagged it and am freezing it for next time. 

Brush the edges with the beaten egg

 Bring the right edge to the left making a half moon. 

Crimp edges with a fork 😼

Brush the top with more beaten egg, refrigerated for 30mins

Bake for 25mins.

Eat with lashes of cream or custard.