PixieCooks

This is based on a toastie that a cafe near my parents used to make when I was small, the cafe is still there (it’s the Hunny Pot in Ayr) but alas they no longer make the toastie .

Serves 1
Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp crunchy Peanut Butter
• 3 Sticks of Celery, Diced
• 40g/1.5oz/0.5 Cup Grated/Shredded Cheese (I used a medium cheddar)
• 1 Baguette

Method
Spread the peanut butter equally on both sides of the baguette (crunchy really is better for texture, but use smooth if you absolutely must) and sprinkle over the celery.

Cover the baguettes with the grated cheese and pop under a hot grill (broiler) until the cheese is melted.

This is a recipe that I’ve taught D how to cook, and it seemed like a plan to include it here. It’s incredibly simple but very tasty and easy to scale up for larger numbers; it makes a great dish for casual entertaining if you serve it with a large leafy salad and some good crusty bread. It also reheats pretty well if you want to keep some back for lunch the next day – box it up with the cheese already on it and just nuke for a couple of minutes.

serves 2 hungry people
Ingredients

• 150g (or a generous 1/2 cup) Pancetta (or dry cure bacon) cubed
• 2 Medium onions, diced
• 2tsp dried basil*
• 2tsp dried oregano
• 400g/14oz tin of tomatoes (chopped is fine, if they’re whole either break them up with the spoon in the pan or blitz them first)
• 2tsp crushed garlic or garlic puree
• 2tsp tomato puree
• Enough pasta for 2
• Fresh parmesan to taste (if not, any hard cheese can be grated (shredded) on top)

Method
Gently brown off the pancetta in a little olive oil.

Add the onions and gently sauté.

Once the onions are translucent and just beginning to colour, add the herbs, garlic, tomatoes and tomato puree and simmer very gently, stirring regularly until the sauce thickens.

Whilst the sauce is thickening, cook the pasta according to the instructions, drain and then stir in the tomato sauce.

Serve in a shallow bowl with a grating of Parmesan cheese on top. Goes well with green beans (if it’s chilly outside) or a leafy salad.

*Or fresh, use twice the amount and add it later in the cooking process

I went to my parents’ house for Easter and managed to persuade my mum to let me take pictures of one of her meals. (Of course, this ended up being in exchange for a lot of stirring, but I don’t mind helping!)

Risotto is a lovely, comfortable meal – and not nearly as hard as people think it is. Yes, there’s a lot of stirring, but it’s only 20minutes over a nice warm pan – what better on a miserable dreich day!

For 3, easily adapted
Ingredients

• 225g/1 cup Arborio (or other risotto) Rice
• Slightly More Stock Than The Rice Packet Suggests (you keep it warm, so allow for evaporation)
• 2 Onions, Diced
• 2 Smoked Haddock Fillets
• 1 Salmon Fillet
• Butter for Frying and Seasoning

Finely dice the onion and saute in a little butter – the trick is to soften, not brown.

Whilst the onion is softening put the stock on to boil (you want to keep it at a rolling simmer in a separate pan throughout the whole process of cooking the rice) and prepare the fish in a foil parcel – dot the fillets with butter and form the foil around the fish in a loose parcel to keep in the steam. You can actually use any fish you like here, and it’s a great way to serve those frozen fillets you can pick up in supermarkets.

Once the onion is browned, add the rice and stir for a couple of minutes

Add a couple of ladle-fuls of stock to the rice and stir in, keep the rice pan and the stock pan at a gentle boil throughout.

Place the fish in the oven. Depending on the size of the fillets they will take 15-18 minutes at gas mark 4 (180C/160C fan/350 F). This is almost exactly the amount of time it’ll take to finish cooking off the rice

Keep stirring the rice, to stop it sticking and to help break down the carbohydrate into that lovely gooey creaminess that risotto should have.

Every time the rice starts to almost catch (see picture, below), add a ladle-ful more of the boiling stock

Just before the fish is due out of the oven, taste the rice. It should be soft with only a little “bite” to the grains. Provided it is, keep stirring until it is nice and thick (if it is not keep stirring in more stock until it is!) and add a little bit of butter to finish it off.

Serve the risotto heaped on a plate with the fish stacked on top, for the eater to break it into the rice with their fork.

We finished out the meal with a simple pudding of plain yoghurt topped with honey and flaked almonds (very good for calcium!).

Thanks mum!

This sandwich is absolutely inspired by Subway’s Meatball Marinara © but contains a fair bit less salt, no meat and costs a fraction of the price. I also think it’s much tastier!

Serves 1, but easy to multiply
Ingredients

• 1 Baguette (I used one of those par-baked things, so it was warm. If yours isn’t, grill/broil it briefly to warm it through before assembly
• 1 Small Onion, Diced
• 6-12 Smallish Tomatoes, Past Their Best (if they’re new and very firm, half first)
• 2 Tsp Dried Basil (If you’re somewhere where herbs don’t come to die, use double the amount of fresh, shredded and add last minute)
• 1 Tsp Dried Oregano (See basil for instructions on fresh)
• 1 Clove Garlic, Minced
• 1 Tbsp Tomato Puree/Paste
• 50g/2oz Hard Goat’s Cheese
• Your Choice of Green Salad, Dressed as you like it (I used batavia lettuce, 3tsp extra v. olive oil, 1tsp lemon juice and 2tsp mediterranean herbed sea salt)

Method
Saute the onion in olive oil (be fairly generous). Once it is cooked but not coloured add the tomatoes, garlic and herbs. Using a wooden spoon, roughly break up the tomatoes.

Once the tomato juice (from the broken up tomatoes) has thickened a little, add the tomato puree and stir through. Continue to cook over a low heat until the sauce is thick and yummy.

Split the baguette lengthwise and cover one side with a layer of the tomato sauce. Lay the goats cheese in slices over the tomato sauce. Grill (broil for you american types) for a couple of minutes until the uncovered side is lightly toasted and the cheese is beginning to melt.

Add your salad. Eat. Delightful .

This is the perfect side dish for the thyme-stuffed chicken; the crusting is the same mixture as the stuffing and the soothing creaminess is the perfect foil for the salty bacon. If you’re not serving it with something fairly salty you might want to season it before cooking (there’s no need to go heavy on the salt, especially given the cream and butter health attributes, a good cracking of black pepper is wonderful)

Serves 1/2 but easy to scale up
Ingredients

• Enough Stuffing mixture to form a thin layer on the bottom of your casserole dish (see thyme-stuffed chicken for the recipe)
• 1 Large(ish) potato, washed and sliced thinly
• 100ml/Scant 1/2 Cup Double/Heavy Cream
• Small Amount of Butter
• 1 Large Clove of Garlic, finely sliced
• The leaves from 2 Stalks of Thyme

Method
Press the stuffing into the bottom of the dish to form a thin crust. Lay slices of potato over the crust, overlapping to form layers.

Sprinkle the garlic and thyme over the potatoes and pour over the cream (slowly, it will take its time finding the gaps to flow to the bottom). Dot with butter (you could leave that out, but it won’t go as golden)

Bake in a hot oven for around half an hour – until golden brown.