Roast pepper & goats cheese timbale

Ingredients 4 red bell peppers, 3 eggs, 150g goats cheese, basil

Serves: 4 Preparation: 45 minutes

Roast pepper and goats cheese is a combination that I will never get tired of, and these adorable little timbales make such a lovely supper.

1) Slice the tops from the bell pepper and remove the core and seeds. Slice between the membranes and then cut half the peppers into slivers, and leave the remaining two peppers as they are.

2) Roast the peppers for 15 minutes at 220 degrees until the skins just begin to blacken, then remove from the oven and allow to cool.

3) Lightly butter the 4 moulds and line the sides and bottom with the larger pieces of pepper.

4) Whisk the goats cheese roughly with the eggs and add a little chopped basil. Stir in the remaining slivers of pepper and then pour the egg, cheese and pepper mix into the moulds.

5) Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 200 degrees and serve.

Greek baked beans

Ingredients 1 can butterbeans or cannellini beans, 1 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes, 50g passata tomatoes, coriander

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes

Last year I worked on a number of Greek inspired recipes, and since creating this, I have eaten it four or five times in the last month - that's how much I LOVE this dish. Butterbeans have long been a favourite of mine for their delicate flavour and yielding texture and they are a fantastic base for this tangy, comforting tomato sauce. Served hot, dolloped with Rachel's Organic Greek Yoghurt,  they make a fabulous side dish.

1) Drain the can of beans and rinse away the brine. Bring to the boil in a pan of hot water, then strain in a colander and set aside.

2) Stir the paprika, chilli flakes and coriander into the passata and then stir in the beans.

3) Transfer to an ovenproof dish and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

To make more of a meal of this, try adding some finely diced, sauteed onions to the sauce and topping with slices of tomato before baking.

Greek roast potatoes with halloumi

Ingredients 2 King Edward potatoes, 100g Halloumi, 1 lemon, olive oil, parsley, oregano, mint

Serves: 2 Preparation: 1 hour

The combination of lemon, parsley, mint and oregano is so utterly Greek that I can never resist it. Whether cooking fish or making a salad, it never fails to excite my senses so as a marinade for roast potatoes and halloumi, it's sheer perfection, and a definite favourite of my husband's.

1) Dice the potatoes (I don't peel mine because there's so much flavour in the skin but this is entirely your choice) and parboil for 5 minutes in hot, salted water. Drain in a colander and set aside to cool and dry.

2) Squeeze the juice of a lemon into a bowl along with a good glug of olive oil and some freshly chopped parsley, oregano and mint. Add the potatoes to the bowl and shake to coat the potatoes in the dressing.

3) Transfer to an ovenproof dish and roast at 220 degrees for 30 minutes.

4) Turn the oven down to 200, dice the halloumi and stir into the potatoes, before transferring to the oven for a further 10 minutes. At this stage I like to season with a little salt and black pepper before roasting. Additional oil shouldn't be necessary but if you would prefer this to be tangy, an extra squeeze of lemon is lovely and helps to brown the halloumi.

Spinach & ricotta cheesecake

Ingredients 400g spinach, 75g ricotta, 30g walnuts, 1/4 nutmeg, 10g parmigiano, 3 eggs

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes

Spinach and ricotta, when done well is a marvellous combination. Without the addition of freshly grated nutmeg, cheese, or the contrast of a piquant tomato sauce or juicy vegetables it can be a little bit bland though, even for a spinach freak like me. This juicy little cake (I suppose one could consider it an incredibly lazy souffle) is marvellous for lunch with salad, or could be served with sides as the protein part of an evening meal.

1) Blitz the spinach in a blender and add the ricotta, freshly grated nutmeg, finely chopped walnuts and parmeggian.

2) Whisk the eggs in a bowl and stir the spinach and ricotta mixture into the eggs.

3) Spoon into lightly buttered ramekins and bake at 180 degrees for 20 minutes.

By buttering the ramekins they will slide effortlessly out but be careful not to burn yourself!

Toasted goats cheese with fig pesto

Ingredients 2 dried/fresh figs, 1/2 orange, 75g hazelnuts, 150g basil leaves, olive oil, goats cheese, rocket

Serves: 2 Preparation: 15 minutes

In my previous post, I brought you paprika pesto - earthy and comforting it's the exact opposite of my fig pesto which sets the tongue tingling with flavour stimulation. My personal favourite pesto is Genovese style, with the addition of black kamalata olives to add a juicy richness, but I can honestly say that this fig pesto goes to another level and will blow your mind. Some rich cheese and soft bread and you've got yourself the perfect summer lunch. I have always used fresh figs when making this, but as they're out of season, I tried using sticky, sweet, meltingly soft dried figs and it gave this a delicious, autumnal twist.

1) Add a good handful of fresh basil leaves to a mortar bowl and grind to a fine pulp.

2) Add a pinch of coarse sea salt, the hazelnuts and grind thoroughly.

3) Add a squeeze of orange juice, the olive oil and finely diced figs and stir to combine.

4) Spoon onto the goats cheese and toast under the grill for 3-4 minutes, serve with rocket as a salad or spread onto fresh bread.

Paprika pesto

Ingredients 150g Basil leaves, 1/2 lemon, 75g pine nuts, 1 tsp paprika, parmigiano, olive oil

Serves: 2 Preparation: 15 minutes

There is nothing like a good pesto. With just a mortar and pestle and 10 minutes of elbow grease you can achieve any number of fabulous, vibrant flavour coatings for pasta, salad, bread or even to jazz up meat and vegetables. It's quick, cheap and there is absolutely no excuse for buying some sad, faded mush in a jar instead of making your own. Over the last (almost) 2 years I have brought you both the perfect classic pesto (Basil and Pine Nut) and also pestos made with: Mint and Walnut, Basil and Pistachio, Olive, Peashoot and Pine Nut, Sage and Pistachio and finally Pistou - which is a French variant made with Basil and Almond that is AMAZING in soup.
Most nuts and most herbs or even salad leaves such as rocket, will make a good pesto - experiment with using lemon, lime, orange and grapefruit, with different oils and you'll be amazed at the results. My latest triumph, this smoked paprika pesto in particular has a wonderful, earthy flavour.

1) Add a good handful of fresh basil leaves to a mortar bowl and grind to a fine pulp.

2) Add a pinch of coarse sea salt, the paprika and handful of pine nuts and grind thoroughly.

3) Add a squeeze of lemon juice, the olive oil and grated parmeggian to taste.

I served my pesto with fresh linguine

Veggie Scramble

Ingredients 4 eggs, 200g spinach, 4 baby plum tomatoes, 1 avocado, 50g gruyere, bread, salt, black pepper, butter

Serves: 2 preparation: 15 minutes

There's a reason that this blog is called Everything Goes With Toast - in my humble opinion, when it comes to quick snacks, there is little in this world better than gilding a piece of toast with beautiful cheeses, vegetables, fruits, jams... I don't think I'll ever exhaust the potential of a slice of toast.
This is one of my favourite lunches - a thick wedge of crunchy, seedy bread topped with meltingly soft - well seasoned eggs and the juicy, silky combination of tomato, avocado and spinach. Packed full of goodness, super quick to make and utterly irresistable.

1) Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk thoroughly. Season with salt and black pepper (I've discovered this amazing seaweed salt recently - soooo savoury) and set aside.

2) Pop the tomatoes off the vine and slice in half. Add to the pan with a knob of butter, the spinach and stir through until the spinach has just begun to wilt.

3) Halve the avocados and scoop the fruit from the shell, discarding the stone. Cut the avocado into chunks and add to the pan, along with the eggs and grated gruyere.

4) Stir constantly for 3-4 minutes until the eggs are cooked, then spoon the veggie scramble onto a slice of toast and serve immediately.

Since becoming pregnant, I have really enjoyed spreading hummus onto the toast before adding the eggs... but I can't guarantee that this will suit everyone's tastebuds! It's a good source of extra protein if nothing else!

Moroccan roast vegetable salad

Ingredients 1 sweet potato, 1 carrot, 1 tsp garam marsala, 1 tsp coriander, olive oil, 2 oranges, 1/4 cup sultanas, 1 cup wild rice, Quorn "chicken" pieces

 
Serves: 2 Preparation: 1 hour

Well my little toasties, it has been quite some time since I have updated this blog. Everything Goes With Toast will be 2 years old in March, which is coincidentally the same month I will be giving birth to my Starchild, and the same month David Bowie releases his first album in 10 years. A month of excitement all round! Due to the whirlwind of pregnancy I have neglected this horribly, but I hope this lovely Eastern spiced rice salad will make up for it.

1) Peel the carrot and cut into chunks, then cut the sweet potato into equal sized chunks. Add to a casserole dish along with the juice and zest of 1 orange, a teaspoon of garam marsala and a teaspoon of olive oil. Put the lid on the dish and shake thoroughly to coat the vegetables, then roast at 180 degrees for 30 minutes, shaking again after 15 minutes.

2) Add the Quorn pieces and shake to coat with flavour. Roast for a further 30 minutes.

3) Juice the other orange and put the sultanas into the juice to plump up. Set aside.

4) Rinse the rice and put on to boil. When the rice is cooked, strain the water away and add the sultanas and orange juice.

5) Add the coriander to the casserole dish and shake to coat the Quorn and vegetables, then serve the vegetables with the rice.