I absolutely love this recipe, it combines the crustiness of a fresh loaf of bread together with the mouthwatering flavours of a pizza. Together these flavours combine to make a Pizza Loaf which is so delicious you may have to make two because if it's anything like at our place, everyone will be coming back for seconds.
PIZZA LOAF
1 Unsliced White Tank Loaf (cylindrical) of Bread
250g Pork and Veal Mince
125g Salami, finely chopped
2 Spring Onions, chopped
1 small Green Capsicum, chopped
440g can Pineapple Pieces, drained
2 T chopped Black Olives
1/4 cup Tomato Paste
1 T fresh Thyme Leaves
4 slices Cheddar Cheese
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Cut one end off loaf of bread,
reserve.Scoop out centre, leaving a 1cm layer; use the centre to make
breadcrumbs.You will need 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs for this recipe.
2. Combine the breadcrumbs in large mixing bowl with mince, salami, spring
onions, capsicum, pineapple, olives, tomato paste and thyme. Spoon into
loaf, replace end of loaf, hold in position with toothpicks.
3. Place loaf on an oven tray, cover with aluminium foil, bake for 40 minutes.
Remove foil, bake for a further 30 minutes.Lay cheese slices over top, bake
for 5 minutes, or until cheese has melted,stand 5 minutes, serve sliced.
COOKING HINTS FROM VON:-
* Can substitute the salami with bacon.
* Can substitute any mince for the pork and veal mince.
There are a lot of lasagne recipes around but I have fine tuned this one and my family absolutely loves it.Apologies too to my Mum but the kids definitely prefer my Lasagne recipe over hers(which is saying something because my Mum is a great cook).I usually double this recipe so there's plenty of leftovers for lunches and so I can cut the remainder up into individual portion sizes, wrap them up in Cling Wrap and put them in the freezer for times when I'm short on time or just too tired to cook.
VON'S BEST EVER LASAGNE
375g lasagne sheets
MEAT SAUCE:-
4 teasp. Olive Oil
2 Onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 rashers bacon
500g lean Minced Beef
1 Jar Pasta Sauce
1 sml tin Champignons
1 teasp. Dried Mixed Herbs
2 teasp. white sugar
1 teasp. Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/4 cup Tomato Paste
CHEESE SAUCE:-
60g Butter
1/2 cup Plain Flour
2 1/2 cups Milk
1 teasp.Ground Nutmeg
125g Cheddar Cheese, grated.
Pinch of Salt and Pepper.
1. Grease a 30 x 20cm lasagne dish. For the meat sauce, heat the oil in a pan
over a medium heat. Add bacon,onions and garlic and cook for 5 mins. or
until soft. Add the beef and stir until browned.
2. Add the pasta sauce, mixed herbs, sugar, salt and pepper, tomato paste
and champignons. Stir well and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low; cover
and cook for 10 mins. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius.
3. For the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add
the flour, and stir constantly, with a wooden spoon, for 1 minute.
4. Add the milk and bring to the boil, stirring constantly.
5. Stir in the nutmeg,half the cheese, salt and pepper to taste.
6. Put a third of the meat sauce into the bottom of prepared dish.
7. Cover with a layer of lasagne sheets.
8. Spread a third of the cheese sauce over the lasagne and cover with
another layer of lasagne.
9. Continuing alternating meat sauce, lasagne and cheese sauce, finishing
with a layer of cheese sauce. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
10. Bake for 40 mins. or until the top is golden and the sauce bubbling.
Serve with a green salad and crusty bread. Serves 4-6.
COOKING HINTS FROM VON:-
* I usually double this recipe as I have an extra large lasagne dish and also
because I freeze half of it into smaller portions so I always have a ready-
made meal handy for those times when I don't have time to cook or the
inclination to (Yes, even the best of us have those moments, especially
when school nights also include all the kids' sporting commitments). When
I double the recipe, instead of doubling the pasta sauce I use only 1 jar
and also add a tin of canned diced tomatoes (or I use whole fresh or tinned
ones and dice them up myself).
* If you haven't got champignons you can use fresh ones or even any sort of
tinned ones, whether in sauce or not.
* I usually use the crushed garlic in a jar I keep in the fridge instead of fresh,
but only because it's more convenient and less messy, although I love it
fresh.
* If I haven't got any dried mixed herbs, or I have a little more time, I cut an
assortment of mixed herbs from my herb garden which always adds an extra
bit of flavour to this meal.
* I always use the dried lasagne sheets because they keep longer and are
more affordable, but if you feel like splurging, go for the fresh.
I have always enjoyed the spicy taste of chorizo and combined with the caramelisation of the onion, this tart is a perfect combination for chorizo lovers everywhere.All I can say about this tart is Yum, yum, yum!!!
ONION AND CHORIZO TART
2 T Olive Oil
1 Chorizo Sausage, thinly sliced
2 medium Red Onions, halved, thinly sliced
1 T Brown Sugar
200g Grape Tomatoes, halved
1 sheet Puff pastry, partially thawed
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius. Heat half the oil in a non-stick
frypan over medium-high heat. Cook chorizo, turning, for 1-2 minutes
or until golden. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel.
2. Heat remaining oil in pan over medium-low heat. Cook onion, stirring, for
10-12 minutes or until very soft. Add sugar. Cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes
or until caramelised. Add tomato. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until just
soft.Place into pie dish and top with chorizo.
3. Trim pastry corners to form a circle. Place pastry over onion mixture,
tucking in edges. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden. Turn out onto
plate. Slice and serve.
Pizzas are well and truly a family favourite at our place...there's nothing quite like making your own pizza and the different combinations you can try can seem endless. There comes a time however where pizza seems the easy option but you just want to come up with something new and parents be honest, you're a wee bit sick of the good old 'Ham and Pineapple' option most kids ask for. This Tex-Mex Pizza is the answer to this dilemma. It not only gives a new Mexican type twist to an old favourite but with it only needing a tiny 250g mince it definitely ticks the money-saving box. The addition of kidney beans gives the pizza an added fibre boost and the addition of guacamole provides a unusual twist to the usual toppings added to pizzas.You can use the pizza base suggestions provided or do as I did and used the rectangular pizza bases I buy from Aldi and keep in the freezer. I am often fortunate enough to come across them when they're marked down to $1.29 which in that case I always grab a few as they store well in the freezer for months.
TEX-MEX PIZZA
250g lean Beef Mince
1 Onion, chopped
3 cloves Garlic, crushed
Pinch Ground Chilli Powder
2 ripe Tomatoes, chopped
2 T Tomato Paste
1/2 cup Beef Stock
1/2 cup canned Red Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed.
4 ready-made individual Pizza Bases OR 1 x 20cm Pizza Base
140g tub ready-made Pizza Sauce
A few Red Kidney Beans and fresh Parsley for garnish
GUACAMOLE:
1 ripe Avocado, stone removed, mashed
3 teasp. Lemon Juice
3 T Sour Cream
1 clove Garlic, crushed.
1. Fry mince in a non-stick pan for 4 minutes. Add onion and garlic, cook a
further 5 minutes or until meat changes colour.
2. Stir in chilli, tomatoes, tomato paste and stock. Bring to the boil, reduce heat
and simmer 15 minutes. Add kidneybeans, cook 3 minutes. Keep warm.
3. Spread pizza bases with sauce. Place on a greased oven tray. Bake as
directed on packet or until golden. Remove from oven. Spoon the meat
sauce over the base.
4. Guacamole: Combine the mashed avocado, lemon juice, sour cream and
garlic. Mix well.
5. Top with guacamole. Garnish with a few kidneybeans and fresh parsley.
Serve immediately. Serves 4.
It has only been 16 days since I reached 3000 page views but here I am at 4000 page views already. Thanks to those who are reading my blog for the first time or those who are regular readers, to everyone I give my humblest thanks and indeed feel honoured and priviliged to be able to share my recipes.
Chicken Stroganoff is a variation on the old favourite Beef Stroganoff. This recipe is a slightly different take on the usual Chicken Stroganoff but is well worth trying.
CHICKEN STROGANOFF
4 Chicken Breast Fillets
1 T Oil
1 Onion, sliced
200g Button Mushrooms, halved
3 teaspoons Sweet Paprika
1 T Tomato Paste
2 teasp. Dijon Mustard
1/2 cup White Wine
1/3 cup Chicken Stock
1/2 cup Sour Cream
2 T chopped fresh Parsley
1. Slice the chicken breast fillets into strips. Heat the oil in a large heavy-
based frying pan. Cook the chicken over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes
until browned and cooked. Remove and set aside.
2. Add the onion to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms
and sweet paprika. Cook for a further 1 minute. Stir in the combined
tomato paste, mustard, wine and the chicken stock. Bring to the boil,
reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the sour cream and the chicken strips. Heat through. Season well
with salt and pepper. Garnish with the chopped parsley to serve. Serves
4-6. ***Ready to eat in 30 minutes***
'Easy' says it all about this Spinach and Corn Pie. Easy to make, packed full of vegetable goodness and goes as well with a light summer salad as it does with warm steamed vegies.
EASY SPINACH AND CORN PIE
1 T Oil
1 Onion, finely chopped
250g Pkt frozen Spinach, thawed
310g can Creamed Corn
1/4 cup S.R Flour
5 Eggs
1 cup grated Tasty Cheese
1. Heat oil in a frying pan, add onion;stir over heat until onion is soft. Add
spinach; stir over heat for further 2 minutes.
2. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; stir in corn and flour, mix well. Add eggs
and cheese, mix to combine. Pour mixture into a lightly greased 24cm
quiche or pie dish.
3. Bake at 180 degrees celsius for about 50 minutes until set in the centre.
4. Serve with salad and fresh bread rolls. Garnish with red capsicum strips if
desired. Serves 4-6. Pie is best made close to serving time.
COOKING HINTS FROM VON:-
* Heat your favourite bottled tomato pasta sauce and serve over slices of pie.
It makes a great accompaniment.
* Meat lovers can add 2 rashers chopped bacon to pan with onion in Step.1.
Whenever I publish seafood recipes on my blog I always seem to get comments about how could that possibly be cooking on a shoestring?? However whilst using fresh is always the ultimate, there is a lot of great tinned seafood like tuna, prawns and crab meat that make beautiful tasting meals at a fraction of the price of the fresh stuff. So I say to the doubters, cooking on a shoestring doesn't have to equal bland, boring, tasteless meals and crab doesn't have to be a luxury item. By using tinned crab meat, you too can make this delightfully light Crab Souffle and impress your family and friends when you tell them that you're having Crab Souffle for dinner tonight.....I'm sure once you taste this no one will be any the wiser that the beautiful meal you served up started out in a tin!!
CRAB SOUFFLE
20g Butter, melted PLUS 60g extra
1/4 cup dried Breadcrumbs
1/4 cup Plain Flour
1/2 teaspoon Mustard Powder
1 1/2 cups Milk
4 Eggs, separated
125g Crab meat
1/2 cup finely grated Tasty Cheese
2 T chopped Parsley
1 teaspoon finely grated Lemon Zest
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius. Brush 6 x 1 cup capacity ramekins
with melted butter. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs to coat, shaking out excess.
2. Melt extra butter in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add flour and
mustard. Cook, stirring, 1 minute. Remove from heat. Gradually blend in
milk until smooth. Return to heat and cook, stirring until mixture boils and
thickens. Reduce heat to low and simmer 3 minutes. Allow to cool slightly.
3. Whisk egg yolks into sauce, then add crab meat, cheese, parsley and zest.
Season to taste.
4. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until soft peaks
form. Using a large metal spoon, gently fold into crab mixture.
5. Spoon mixture evenly among ramekins. Place on an oven tray. Bake for
15-20 minutes until well risen and just set. Serve straightaway.
COOKING HINTS FROM VON:-
* The key to success with souffles is to prepare the base then, when ready
to serve, beat egg whites, fold through the base and bake.
This recipe was chosen out of one of my recipe books by my youngest daughter Amelia. I have to commend her on her choice as the ingredients were not only in season and thus affordable, but it was easy to make but most importantly was delicious. We had these tarts together with a crunchy salad but it would also go well with steamed vegetables.
LEEK, BACON AND EGG TARTS
1 frozen Puff Pastry, thawed
1 T Olive Oil
1 Leek, finely sliced
2 rashers rindless Bacon, chopped
4 Eggs
1/4 cup grated Tasty Cheese
Salad, to serve
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius. Line oven tray with baking paper.
2. Cut pastry into 4 squares. Place on tray. Score a 1cm border around each.
Bake for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a frying pan on medium. Saute leek and bacon 4-5
minutes, until leek is tender and bacon golden. Remove from heat.
4. Spread leek mixture over each pastry square. Make indents in centre with
back of spoon, break eggs into recesses. Top with cheese.
5. Bake 5-10 minutes, until eggs are set. Serve with salad.
COOKING HINTS FROM VON:-
* I spread some of the pastry bases with ready-made Sun-Dried Tomato
Paste before adding the leek mixture and the end result was tasty.
This scone recipe is another that the girls made as part of Cooking at school so they were very keen to show me how well they can make scones. So all the credit for making these scones sits solely with my beautiful girls.I am so proud at the effort they put in making these, and as you can see from the photo they turned out very well. The irony however is that despite growing up watching my Mum make scones, I have never made them myself. It is on my list of things to make but as you can see, the girls beat me to it!!
2 cups S.R Flour
2 T Butter
1/4 teasp. Salt
1 cup Milk
SCONES with Jam and Cream
1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees celsius. Grease an oven tray.
2. Sift flour and salt together.
3. Rub butter in lightly with tips of fingers.
4. Pour nearly all the milk in at once, keeping a little for glazing.
5. Mix quickly into a soft dough.
6. Turn onto floured board; knead lightly and quickly.
7. Roll or press out to a round shape about 2cm thick. Cut out with scone
cutter then glaze with remainder of milk.
8. Cook for 10-15 mins, remove from oven then allow to cool on tray.
This Cheesy Fish bake was absolutely delicious.I am always looking for new ways to prepare fish for my family as the health benefits for everyone eating fish are so well documented that I try and have at least 2 fish meals a week. This is the first time I have ever made this dish but I don't think it will be the last.
1 Red Onion, chopped
200g Swiss Brown Mushrooms, sliced
375g can Evaporated Milk
250g softened Cream Cheese, diced
2 teasp. Wholegrain Mustard
500g boneless Fish, chopped
1 cup grated Tasty Cheese
2 cups Baby Spinach leaves
1 cup fresh white Breadcrumbs
300g dried elbow Macaroni Pasta, cooked and drained.
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Lightly grease an 8 cup ovenproof
dish.
2. Heat 2 teasp. olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Cook onion
and mushrooms 4-5 minutes. Pour in milk, and add cream cheese and
mustard. Stir until combined and heat until simmering.
3. Add fish, half the cheese and spinach. Stir over low heat for 2 minutes.
Add pasta, toss and transfer to casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese
and breadcrumbs. Bake for 20 mins. Serve with steamed vegetables.
My girls came home from their cooking class at school wanting me to make sure that we had all the ingredients so we could make them one night for dinner.I must admit however when they said they wanted to make "Free Form Tarts" I didn't have a clue what they would look like or consist of. I am happy to say,we made them and the photo below is the result. All I can say is they were absolutely beautiful and I would make them again without any hesitation. As one of the girls said, you could use whatever fillings you liked and that it is very similar to a pizza yet lighter and tastier.
FREE FORM TART
4 sheets Puff Pastry
4 T Tomato Paste
4 slices Ham, sliced
16 pieces Pineapple
1 Onion, diced
1/2 Capsicum, diced
2 Mushrooms, sliced
1 1/3 cup grated Cheese
GLAZE:-
1 beaten Egg
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius and spray oven trays with
cooking spray.
2. Using a plate as a guide, cut out a 20cm round from each of the pastry
sheets. Place rounds on oven trays.
3. Spread tomato paste over the pastry, leaving a 4cm border around the
outside edge.
4. Sprinkle with the filling, then, using your hands, turn the 4cm edge round
over the edge of the filling.
5. Using a pastry brush, brush the egg glaze over the pastry.
6. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until browned.
Wow!! 3000 page views of my blog in a little under 3 months. Now I know for more well-established blogs or websites this is no big deal but for someone who had but a simple premise, and that was to share the recipes she loves with those that matter to her and then maybe a few more....well that few more has expanded and makes me feel so proud to have the opportunity to share my recipes and cost-saving ones at that with so many people. So to everyone who has viewed my blog, THANK YOU
