Super comforting potato bake

Warning! Don't let the broccoli in this dish fool you. It's rich, indulgent, packed with goodness (cheese! potatoes!) - perfect comfort food. I don't make it often because my thighs cry at the mere thought of the calorific value of this beauty. But every now and then conditions are perfect to make this bake. It's cold and salad just won't cut it. It's gloomy, dark and grey outside, pavements covered with slimy leaves. You just need a big hug. This bake is IT. It's easy to make, but a tad time consuming, so wait until the weekend to make it. 

To make enough for 4 (or 2 gluttons in need of a BIG hug) you'll need:

2 white potatoes (I used Maris Piper)
1 sweet potato
1 onion
4 rashers streaky bacon (smoked or unsmoked)
1 small broccoli
200 g cheddar cheese
about 200 ml cream (I would normally use single, but my local shop only had double - double the calories, gulp!)
a few rosemary leaves, chopped (optional)
dried basil/oregano/Italian herb mix
olive oil
salt and pepper

Start off by chopping the onion, garlic and bacon.

Fry them in the pan until bacon is crisped up and the onions translucent. Take off the heat and put aside.

Cut broccoli into little florets and boil in salted water for about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Get the potatoes ready - wash them and peel the sweet potato. You can leave white potatoes unpeeled. Now slice them all very thinly - the easiest way to do it is by using a mandoline (watch these fingers!)  but if you don't have one you can slice them up with a knife (it will take a bit longer). Grate the cheese.

Preheat the oven to 200 C.

Now get a small heatproof dish and pour a tiny bit of oil on the bottom. Place the first layer of white and sweet potato slices, sprinkle with pepper, basil and chopped oregano (I tend not to use salt as bacon is already quite salty).

Spread half of the bacon and onion mix on top of the potatoes and follow by another layer of potatoes.

Spread the rest of the bacon mix and add another layer of potatoes, followed by drained broccoli.

Add the final layer of potatoes and sprinkle cheese on top.

Now pour cream all over in a thin stream; take your time - you want the cream to go through all the layers of potato.

Bake in the oven for 40-60 minutes until potatoes are soft. The easiest way to check whether the bake is ready is to poke it with a fork.

Slice up and eat! And maybe, just maybe plan to go to the gym the next day. It's all about balance, people :)

Squash and sweet potato lasagne

I love lasagne as much as the next person, but I think we can all agree it's not an every day treat. Put it this way: it's a calorie bomb. But replace the meat with veggies and you'll find you won't have to feel so guilty. I got inspired to make this dish by watching Lorraine Pascale's new show (which is pretty cool, though I seriously doubt she ever eats any of her creations. But hey, that's just me); as soon as the words butternut squash and sweet potatoes reached my ears I was sold. 

Lorraine's version uses a ton (ok, 600 grams) of ricotta cheese instead of white sauce, which frankly, is a bit too much for my liking. I ended up modifying the recipe a lot, adding the much feared by some white sauce (it is super easy), but trust me, the finished lasagne is delicious. Indulgent, but a bit healhier than its meat cousin.

To make 4 generous portions you'll need:

350 g sweet potato, peeled and cubed

350 g butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cubed

50 g grated parmesan

12 lasagne sheets (I used lasagne verdi)

2 big handfuls of spinach

100 g pine nuts

a big handful of fresh basil

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp dried thyme

salt

pepper

a pinch of cayenne or cajun spice

Sauce 1

50 g grated parmesan

2 egg yolks

100 g ricotta

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

salt

pepper

Sauce 2 

2 -3 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

500 ml milk

salt

pepper

nutmeg

Start by putting two pots of water on the stove - get the water boiling and prep your ingredients.

Peel and cube butternut squash and sweet potato, then put in the first pot of boiling water and cook until soft. Drain and set aside.

 

Get a sheet of parchment paper (or grease proof paper) and spread it on your workbench. Once the water in the second pot is boiling, add a splash of oil and drop 3 sheets of lasagne into the pot. Cook them for about 2-3 minutes, then fish out and lay on the parchment paper. Prepare 12 sheets of lasagne this way. This is a bit messy, but it speeds up the cooking process later!

 

Now make the first sauce. Simply mix parmesan, ricotta and 2 egg yolks together in a bowl, add salt, pepper and nutmeg and set aside.

Off to the second sauce. Start off by gently melting butter in a small pot. You want the gas on its lowest setting. Get the whisk and flour and milk ready. 

Once the butter is melted, add the flour and quickly whisk. You've just made roux. How awesome are you? 

 

Now start pouring milk into the roux whisking quickly to avoid lumps. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg and keep stirring the mix with the whisk. After a few minutes, as the milk gets hotter, the sauce should start thickening. 

Keep stirring and take off the heat once the sauce has the consistency of a pouring yoghurt. 

Transfer into a measuring jug and set aside.

Toast the pine nuts in a small dry frying pan.

Now add thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper and cayenne/cajun spice to drained sweet potatoes and squash and mash together.

Get a heat proof dish (I used a square pyrex form which fitted 3 sheets of slightly overlapping lasagne).

Start by pouring a bit of sauce at the bottom of the dish, then cover with 3 sheets of pasta.

Spread sweet potato mix on top, sprinkle with pine nuts and basil leaves.

 

Top with spinach leaves and cover with 3 more sheets of pasta. Pour a bit of the white sauce and spread on top of the pasta layer. Add sweet potato mix and spread the ricotta sauce on top. Sprinkle pine nuts and basil, cover with pasta. Repeat.

The last layer will be pasta, parmesan and the rest of the white sauce.

Bake in 190 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes or until the pasta is cooked through. I like to use a scientific method called 'Poke It With a Fork'.

 

Serve with a mixed leaf salad. Yum.

Thai salmon noodles

Despite what you might think I don't rely on chicken and bacon in all my dinners.

Fish is good too (I just wish it was a bit less expensive!). This recipe comes from BBC Good Food (again! well, what can I do? This website rocks!) I grew a bit tired of eating the same noodles with stir fry sauce over and over again and when I saw the salmon and sweet potato combination I knew I had to try it. I wasn't disappointed - the dish is incredibly fragrant, with the red Thai curry sauce complimenting the fish and potatoes and coriander adding freshness. 

To make enough for two you'll need:

1-2 salmon fillets, skin removed

1-2 tsp red Thai curry paste

4-5 spring onions

2-3 cloves of garlic

500 ml vegetable stock powder

250 ml milk

1 sweet potato

fine egg noodles

fresh coriander

black onion seeds, to garnish

Start by prepping your ingredients. Slice salmon fillet into 1'' cubes, mince garlic and chop spring onions.

Peel the sweet potato and cut into small cubes.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan (or a wok) and fry off the Thai curry paste. Add garlic and spring onions and keep frying.

Pop cubed sweet potatoes in the pan, add milk and stock and turn the heat down. Simmer for 15 minutes until the potatoes are soft.

While the sauce is simmering, boil a pot of salted water for noodles and throw them in. Most fine egg noodles only need 3 minutes.

While the noodles are cooking add salmon to the pan and gently stir it in. Cook for another 3 minutes - the salmon is very delicate and cooks quickly.

Drain the noodles, divide between two plates, then spoon the sauce over (it should be quite liquidy!). Sprinkle with coriander and black onion seeds. Eat!

Last week I made this dish with onion instead of spring onion and prawns instead of salmon - equally delicious - one dish two ways.