Author: bakesbymeguk

Christmas pasta bake

Christmas Leftovers Pasta Bake

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Christmas dinner is the meal that keeps on giving. I don’t know if your family do the same but we will make a meal big enough to feed at least double the number of people actually coming for Christmas day (there was over half a Turkey left this year). So the fun challenge over the next few days is finding ways to transform the leftovers into something completely different so it doesn’t feel like we’re eating the same meal over and over. This year I had the craving for pasta (what’s new?) so I though of a leftovers pasta bake which uses the turkey/stuffing and some cheese board leftovers. A pasta bake/mac and cheese/Christmas roast crossover. The most ambitious crossover event in history.

Christmas Leftovers Pasta Bake

Serves 6 | 30 mins

Ingredients

450g short pasta (fusilli, penne, rigatoni – I used some Christmas Pasta like this one)

50g butter

2 cloves garlic, crushed

50g plain flour

700ml milk

6 tbsp grated parmesan

500g turkey & stuffing (or other meats) leftovers, roughly chopped – I used turkey, chestnut & sausage stuffing

~100-200g leftover hard cheese grated (cheddar, Gouda or Gruyere would work well – something with flavour that will melt)

Juice 1/2 lemon

150ml 1/2 fat creme fraiche

1-2 slices day old sourdough (or whatever bread you have), processed into breadcrumbs

1 tsp olive oil

Method:

  1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add your pasta & cook until al dente (you may want to do this after you’ve started on the sauce, depending on the cooking time for the pasta)
  2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the crushed garlic & cook until lightly golden.
  3. Add the flour & cook stirring continuously for 1-2 mins
  4. Add the milk gradually, whisking until smooth between each addition. If you have any leftover gravy, you could also add this to the sauce as this point for some extra flavour.
  5. Cook this, mixing continuously, for a few minutes until thickened. Stir in some pepper, 4tbsp of grated parmesan & a few handfuls of your grated hard cheese of choice (make sure there is enough leftover to sprinkle over the bake at the end).
  6. Add the pasta, turkey meat/stuffing & creme fraiche to the sauce. The creme fraiche is needed to cut through what is otherwise a very rich dish.
  7. Season this to taste with salt, pepper & lemon juice.
  8. Turn your grill onto high heat.
  9. Pour the pasta into an 30cm x 20cm baking dish. Sprinkle the grated hard cheese over the top. In a separate bowl stir together the breadcrumbs, remaining 2tbsp of parmesan and 1tsp olive oil. Spread this mix over to the top of the pasta.
  10. Grill for a few minutes until the cheese is melted & the breadcrumbs have browned. Keep an eye on this as it can burn very quickly.
Frangipane Mince Pie

Frangipane Mince Pies

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This is the perfect festive pie for mince pie lovers & haters (but bad for almond haters). This combines a mince pie & a Bakewell – which is a great way to get mince pie haters to love mince pies, or at least a version of a mince pie. This elevates a mince pie from an afternoon snack to a fully fledged dessert when served warm with heaps of double cream.

This combines an extra short, melt in the mouth shortcrust, sweet mince meat & a buttery frangipane. An unbeatable combo. Speaking of melt in the mouth pastry, I’m gonna share with you the well kept secrets of keeping your pastry as short & crumbly as possible:

  1. Keep it as cold as possible
  2. Handle it as little as possible to stop gluten developing

Name a better way to get into the Christmas spirit than baking (& subsequently eating) a batch of these while watching a Christmas movie.

Frangipane Mince Pies

Makes 12 | 40 mins prep / 30 mins cooking (+2hour min chilling)

Ingredients

Pastry:

175g chilled unsalted butter

250g (+1tbsp) plain flour

1tbsp caster sugar

Pinch of salt

1 egg yolk

2-3tbsp ice cold water

Frangipane:

125g butter, room temp

125g caster sugar

2 eggs, room temp

125g ground almond

30g plain flour

Pies:

12tsp mince meat

Method

  1. Cut the butter for the pastry into cubes, toss with 1tbsp of plain flour and put in the freezer for 5 minutes.
  2. Add the remaining flour, sugar & salt to a food processor & pulse to combine. Add the cold butter and pulse to form a breadcrumb-like texture. (See the note if you are making the pastry by hand)
  3. Add in the egg yolk & blend to combine. Then add the water in small amounts, blending to form a dough that sticks together when squished in your hand. You want to add as little water as possible to reach this stage, so add it in stages.
  4. Tip the dough onto a work surface and kneed very lightly until it just comes together to form a ball. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 2 hours.
  5. In the meantime, make the frangipane. Beat the butter & sugar together. Then add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well between each addition.
  6. Add the ground almonds and sift in the flour and stir to combine
  7. Preheat your oven to 180°C/160°C fan
  8. Remove the pastry from the fridge & cut in half, return half to the fridge.
  9. Roll the other half out on a lightly floured surface to just under 0.5cm thick. Cut into rings big enough to line your muffin tin.
  10. Push the pastry disks into the tin. Use a small ball of pastry offcuts to push the dough into the bottom of the tin & into the edges. Squish any offcuts together & return to the fridge
  11. Repeat with the other half of dough & any offcuts (don’t re-roll the dough more than once, after this it’ll start to get tough).
  12. Once all 12 holes are lined, start on the filling. Spoon in 1tsp of mince meat into the base of each pastry case & spread to an even layer. Spoon on ~1tbsp of frangipane on top & spread flat (this should be very close to the top of the pastry case)
  13. Bake for 25-30 mins until golden.
  14. Dust with icing sugar & serve warm with heaps of double cream

Note: To make your pastry without a food processer, combine the flour, salt & sugar in a bowl. Add in the ice cold butter and rub with your fingers to form a breadcrumb texture. Add in the egg yolk & stir with a palette knife until combined, then add water in small amounts & stir to form a dough that sticks together when squished.

Miso Peanut Butter Noodles

Miso & Peanut Butter Ramen Noodles

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This is one of my all time favourite recipes that I’ve created. When I finally got this recipe spot-on, I knew I’d created something great. So great that I made another bowl of if for breakfast the next day… And then again for dinner later that week… This dish combines miso, peanut butter & mushrooms for a rich, thick sauce that really packs an umami punch. My favourite way to have this is with sausage & a jammy boiled egg, but this can easily be made veggie by swapping the sausage for a different protein & the beef stock for veg stock, and vegan by removing the egg! The ultimate upgrade for your packet ramen. Speaking of packet ramen, you can use whichever brand you like for this dish. I use Chapaghetti because I love the thickness of the noodle (slightly thicker than your average packet ramen). I cannot stress enough how much you need to try this recipe – you will not be disappointed.

Miso & Peanut Butter Ramen Noodles

Serves 1 | 20 Mins Prep + Cooking

Ingredients

1 packet instant ramen noodles (I use Chapaghetti)

1.5tbsp chunky peanut butter (my fave is Manilife Deep Roast)

1.5tbsp white miso paste

2tsp soy sauce

1/2tsp beef stock concentrate

150g Chestnut mushrooms, sliced ~0.5cm thick

1 large garlic clove, minced

A handful of parsley, finely chopped

1 egg

Optional: 1 sausage, removed from casing

Method

  1. Boil the egg for 7 mins, once cooked set aside in a bowl of iced water until ready to use.
  2. Heat a small frying pan medium high heat adding ~1tsp olive oil. Break the sausage meat into chunks and flatten slightly. Fry for a minute or two (depending on how hot the pan is) on each side until caramelised and cooked through. Set aside until ready to use.
  3. Add the mushrooms to the same frying pan, add a little more oil if it’s too dry, and fry until all the water has been released, has evaporated and the mushrooms are starting to brown.
  4. Add your crushed garlic and fry, stirring often, until fragrant.
  5. Next add the miso, peanut butter, soy sauce, stock & enough water so that once the noodles are added, they will be submerged. Stir this until well combined & smooth apart from the mushrooms.
  6. Bring this mix to the boil & add the noodles. Cook this, stirring frequently, until the noodles are cooked through and the sauce has reduced and thickened to the texture of thick double cream.
  7. While this is cooking, roughly chop the sausage into mouth-sized chunks. Peel and half the egg.
  8. Once the noodles are cooked, stir through the parsley. Serve in a bowl with the egg & sausage on top.

Note: If you don’t have stock concentrate, swap the water for stock of your choice

Veggies/Vegans: Make this dish veggie by swapping the sausage for a protein of your choice & swapping the beef stock for veg stock. Omit the egg to make it vegan

Italian Sausage Rolls

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These are my go to for pretty much any occasion. Picnic on a park? Italian sausage rolls. People coming for dinner that you want to impress? Italian sausage rolls. Think all the comfort of a sausage roll but with the push of Italian flavours. Im talking garlic, pecorino, fennel & my secret ingredient anchovies. These sausage rolls are so simply but always seem to impress. And the best part: frying up the sausage meat to taste for seasoning (chef’s perks).

Italian Sausage Rolls

Makes ~20-24 mini rolls | 20 min prep / 25-35 min cooking

Ingredients

400g sausage meat (or sausages removed from casing)

2 fat cloves of garlic, minced

3 anchovy fillets, finely chopped

Handful of parsley, finely chopped

2 tbsp fennel seeds,  ground (use pestle mortar, coffee grinder or a sharp knife)

1tbsp freshly grated parmesan

1tbsp  freshly grated pecorino (or another tbsp parm)

½ tsp dried thyme

1.5 tsp oregano

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp onion powder

A few shakes of chilli flakes

1 roll puff pastry

1 egg + splash milk beaten

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan
  2. Add all ingredients apart from the pastry, egg and milk to a bowl. Add some freshly ground pepper and a pinch of salt (you won’t need much as the cheese and anchovies are already quite salty). Mix until combined
  3. Taste the sausage mixture by frying a small amount and adjust seasoning accordingly
  4. Once happy with the seasoning, unroll your puff pastry and cut in half lengthwise. 
  5. Form half the sausage mix into a log going the length of one piece of the pastry. The sausage should be even in width and reach end to end.
  6. Brush the egg mix along the far side of each pastry piece running parallel to the sausage. Roll the near side of the pastry over the sausage, keep rolling until it hits the egg wash. Repeat on the second piece of pastry.
  7. With the seam pointing down, brush the top of the logs with egg wash. Cut each log into 10-12 pieces (or less, depending on the size you want). Arrange these on a baking sheet lined with non-stick paper.
  8. Bake for 25-35 mins until golden brown. Enjoy still warm from the oven!

Bread & Truffle nutty and creamy focaccia sandwich

Bread & Truffle – London Fields, E8

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I’m calling this place the silver lining of East London lockdown. Days on days of endless walks in lieu of an actual social life led me to this gem, and I’m not mad about it. When I first discovered Bread & Truffle it was a little wooden stall near London Fields, now they’ve upgraded to a shop round the corner. On the same street as E5 bakehouse, London Fields is a true foodie destination.

I’m not being dramatic when I say I’ve had some of the best sandwiches ever from this shop (I eat a lot of sandwiches so that’s really saying something). They specialise is high quality Italian ingredients sandwiched between the most amazing focaccia. The perfect amount of sponginess to crunch, oiliness to saltiness; I’ve never had a bread like it. Living in delivery radius of this shop was really a dangerous move from me. Any excuse & I’ve got one of these on the way. A reward lunch for getting that promotion. Special Birthday lunch. A consolation for a mild inconvenience. Bread & Truffle is perfect for any occasion.

If you don’t believe my hype, let me show you a few of my faves that I’ve tried.

The Nutty & Creamy, A.k.a the most photogenic of the bunch. This is filled with ricotta, pistachio pesto & pistachio crumble inside that perfectly soft focaccia. This really is something special. It makes for a really rich & decedent sandwich, but the flavours are balanced perfectly. I think they now do a version of this with mortadella which I haven’t tried yet but can imagine it would be wonderful. I would recommend taking a friend & getting 2 sandwiches and splitting, firstly because this guy is suuuper rich, secondly because then you get to taste more sandwiches (no brainer).

Bread & Truffle The Great Beauty focaccia sandwich

This one is the Great Beauty & I can’t argue with that. It’s filled with Prosciutto, mozzarella, tomato & balsamic vinegar. This sandwich is really fresh, which makes it the perfect counterpart for the nutty & creamy (which you can see in the background). This is a fantastic version of a really classic Italian sandwich, owing to the quality of the ingredients they use. I remember this day, sat on a bench in London fields eating these sandwiches with every passer by staring at our food. I can understand why.

Bread & Truffle Porky Pig focaccia sandwich

And now, for my all-time favourite & go to order – the Porky Pig. This guy is made of tuscan sausage (yum), pecorino (yum x2), red chicory, truffle oil (yum x3) and TRUFFLE CACIO E PEPE CREAM (YUM x10000). I could EAT that cream by the bucket load. This with a side of truffle parmesan fries is just *chef’s kiss*.

So there you have it, my first review and it is a glowing one. If you’re ever in the area these are not ones to be missed (tbh even if you’re not it’s very much worth the journey). Let me know in the comments if you’ve had these already or if you try them from my recommendation!

Find them at 376 Mentmore Terrace, London E8 3DQ – or on Deliveroo!

Turkish Eggs With Spicy Sausage

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Have you been searching for a breakfast that takes less than 30 mins but will have anyone who eats it thinking you’re a professional chef who got up at 5am to cook their breakfast? Well, I have some great news for you – I’ve created this recipe for the non-morning people who want sleep AND a tasty breakfast.

The best thing about this recipe is that the yoghurt is white so its hides how badly done my poached eggs are… Not really, the best part is how unbelievably TASTY this thing is. Turkish eggs have been a firm brunch fave of mine since I had them in a deli once when I was 17 but I haven’t found them in many restaurants since. We have creamy garlicky yoghurt, sweet & spicy sausage, spicy oil and runny eggs, all scooped up with some good quality bread. Can it get any better than that at breakfast time?!

Turkish Eggs With Spicy Sausage

Serves 2 | 30 mins prep + cooking

Ingredients

Sausage Mix:

4 pork sausages, casings removed OR ~250g sausage meat

1tsp smoked paprika

1/2tsp cayenne pepper (more if you like spicy, less if you don’t)

1/4tsp cinnamon

1 large clove garlic, minced

2tsp honey

Salt, to taste

Turkish Eggs:

250g full fat Greek yoghurt

1 large clove garlic, minced

30g butter

1-2tbsp olive oil

1/4-1/2 tsp chilli flakes

4 eggs

A few sprigs of parsley to garnish

Good bread to serve, e.g. focaccia, sourdough

Method

  1. Add all ingredients for the sausage into a bowl and mix with your hands until all the spices are fully incorporated. Taste for seasoning by frying up a small amount of the mix, adjust as needed.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Add gold ball sizes of sausage meat, flattened (this doesn’t need to be neat as you’ll chop them up later), into the pan. Don’t overcrowd the pan, do in batches if necessary. Cook for 2-3 mis on each side until cooked through, cooking time will depend on you pan, hob and thickness of the patties (test a patty by cutting into it and checking for any pink). Set the sausage aside and chop roughly into chunks.
  3. To the sausage pan, add the butter and cook on medium heat until the foaming subsides. At this point, remove the pan from the heat and stir in your chilli flakes. It should froth slightly.
  4. Heat some water in a wide deep pan over medium heat.
  5. In a heatproof bowl, combine the yoghurt, garlic and salt to taste. Warm this mix in the hot water to body temperature.
  6. Next step is to poach your eggs (see note)
  7. To assemble, spoon the yoghurt into a wide bowl. Place 2 eggs on top and arrange the sausage around the eggs. Spoon over some of the chilli/oil/butter mix. Serve with some chopped parsley and good bread.

Note: I am by no stretch of the imagination an eggs-pert at this so please use whatever method you prefer. But if you want to try method, here it is:

  1. Add 1-2tsp of white wine vinegar to the wide pan of water. Heat the water to 180 degrees C.
  2. Crack your fridge cold eggs into a small bowl or ramekin.When the water is to temperature, scrape away any bubbles that form in the pan. slightly submerge the bowl so some water from the pan enters, the tip the egg out.
  3. Scoop around and over the egg to try and form its into a ball
  4. Cook for 2-4 mins, until to your desired runnniness.