You can find the original recipe here. It’s called ‘open ravioli’ but we think that ‘open lasagne’ might be a better idea

Ingredients

8 lasagne sheets

1 red onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 courgette, chopped

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 can of chopped tomatoes

100g feta cheese

Mint leaves, chopped (we left these out but used fresh thyme instead)

We also added a chicken breast, but this is optional

Method
1. Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the lasagne sheets until soft. Meanwhile, spray a frying pan with low calorie cooking spray (or use 1tbsp olive oil if you prefer), add the onion, garlic and courgette, and cook for 5 minutes or until soft. (Cook the chicken before adding these ingredients to the pan, if you’re adding it too.)
2. Stir in the tomatoes and chili flakes and cook on a low heat for another 5 minutes. Towards the end add the diced feta and a sprinkle of mint (or the thyme), reserving a few mint leaves for garnish. 
3. On a plate add a lasagne sheet and a spoonful of vegetable filling. Repeat the process, adding 3-4 layers and garnish with the extra mint. 

Enjoy!

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Finding really tasty but healthy meals can often be tricky. I found ‘The Diet for Food Lovers’ in a bargain bin in TKMaxx, and it’s a fantastic book full of delicious recipes that don’t make you feel like you’re scrimping on flavour! This recipe is fast becoming one of our favourites – if you’re not home too late then you can easily make it on a weeknight, which is always useful. If you don’t use all of the pesto it keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days, so it’s good for another meal too!

Ingredients (serves 4)

500g baby new potatoes, halved
2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into bite-size chunks
200g cherry tomatoes
3 courgettes, trimmed and cut into bite-size chunks
4 garlic cloves
Small handful rosemary leaves, finely chopped
Small handful thyme leaves, finely chopped
4 skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
Olive oil (or groundnut oil)

For the pesto
Large handful basil leaves
1 tablespoon pine nuts
30g Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200C/Gas mark 6. Place the potatoes in a large, shallow, non-stick ovenproof dish and cover with foil. Cook for 20 minutes.

2. Remove the potatoes from the oven and add the red peppers, tomatoes, courgettes, garlic, rosemary and thyme. Stir, then return to the oven and roast (uncovered) for a further 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Stir occasionally while roasting to prevent sticking.

3. While the vegetables are roasting, make the pesto. Place the basil, pine nuts, Parmesan and olive oil in a food processor and blitz to a stiff paste.

4. Heat a little olive or groundnut oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the chicken and stir-fry for 4-6 minutes or until it is cooked through. At the last minute, add the fresh pesto, stir and cover until you are ready to serve. Turn off the heat.

5. Peel the roasted garlic cloves, squash or roughly chop and mix back into the vegetables.

6. Mix the pesto chicken in with the vegetables before serving. Enjoy!

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This ‘Super Soup’ lives up to its name – it’s really healthy and tastes delicious! And it doesn’t take very long to make, which means that you could whip up a batch during the week. You can pretty much put any vegetables you like in a soup, but this seems to work well as a combination! This will make a huge pan of soup, which you can freeze in batches if you wish.

Ingredients

Olive oil
1 large onion
2 cloves of garlic
3 medium sized leeks,
2 sprigs rosemary, chopped
500g carrots
1 tin chopped tomatoes
600ml boiling water (you can always add more if you need to)
1 heaped tbsp bouillon
2 peppers
a handful of mushrooms
250g red lentils

Method

1. Finely chop the onion and garlic, and then heat the oil in a large stock pan before adding them to the pan.

2. Chop the leeks and carrots and add them to the pan once the onions have softened a little. Add the tomatoes, water and bouillon and stir well. Leave to simmer for a few minutes.

3. Next, chop the peppers and mushrooms. Add to the pan with the lentils, stir well and season (I don’t add extra salt here because the bouillon is quite salty, but do this to your own taste).

4. Put the lid on and leave to simmer away until the carrots and lentils are cooked. Use a hand blender to blend to your preferred consistency.

5. Enjoy with some crusty bread or oatcakes

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Before I begin with this super tasty recipe, I must apologise for this terrible photo! The light in our kitchen was truly awful last night and no matter how hard I tried, I could not get a decent snap. So one day I’ll make it again and get a photo in better light!

We decided to make this for a day-after-Valentine’s meal, as we were out with friends on Valentine’s night itself. It’s a super tasty and really healthy recipe, although we undid all of that by following it with Mississippi mud pie! We halved the original amounts shown below as there were only 2 of us, but it would be a great meal to cook for friends. This recipe comes from Gordon Ramsay’s ‘World Kitchen’.

Ingredients (serves 4)

4 thick cod fillets, with skin (about 175g each)
3 tbsp olive oil
100g blanched almonds
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
A pinch of dried chilli flakes, to taste
6 ripe beef tomatoes, skinned and finely chopped
1 bay leaf
Sea salt and black pepper
85g good quality white bread (about 2 slices), toasted and roughly chopped
2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra to finish (we left this out!)
3-4 tbsp water
3 tbsp sherry vinegar

Method

1. Check the cod fillets for pin bones and pull out any that you come across. Chill until ready to cook.

2. Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas 4. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add the almonds and garlic and fry gently until lightly golden. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate.

3. Add the onion to the pan and fry gently until lightly golden. Add the dried chilli flakes, tomatoes and bay leaf. Stir well and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes or so, until the tomatoes are soft.

4. Meanwhile, put the almonds and garlic, bread and parsley into a blender or food processor with 1 tbsp of water. Blend to a rough paste and then stir into the tomato mixture, along with another 2-3 tbsp of water. Add the sherry vinegar, then taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

5. Arrange the cod fillets in an ovenproof dish, pour over the romesco sauce, cover the dish loosely with foil and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish, until it is just done. Serve straight from the dish, sprinkled with a little chopped parsley if you like.

The post Cod with romesco sauce appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

There are occasions when I open the fridge and realise that I should have gone shopping…today was one of those days! But the weather has been pretty rubbish and I didn’t fancy going out, so I decided to cobble something together with what we had. What we had turned out to be a couple of leeks, some potatoes, some mushrooms and a bit of bacon, which could only mean one thing: SOUP! You could make this without the bacon for the traditional potato and leek soup and it would be great – either way, it tastes even better with a bit of homemade bread.

Ingredients

2 leeks, chopped
5 rashers of streaky bacon, cut into medium-sized pieces (optional)
8 small/medium-sized potatoes, chopped (I left the skins on, but peel if you prefer)
700ml boiling water
1 vegetable stock cube (I used a heaped tablespoon of Bouillon)
A teaspoon of mixed herbs
Black pepper
A small handful of mushrooms, chopped

Method

1. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a large pan and add the leeks (and bacon if your wish). Leave to cook for a few minutes before adding the potatoes.

2. Add the stock cube to the boiling water and stir well before pouring into the pan. Add the mixed herbs and pepper and stir well, before leaving to simmer for a few minutes (I didn’t add salt because the Bouillon is quite salty, but you could add some if you wish).

3. Add the mushrooms and stir again, cover the pan and leave to simmer for around 15 minutes (or until the potatoes are soft).

4. Blend a little before serving if you prefer, or leave chunky. Serve with some freshly made bread and enjoy!

The post Potato and leek soup (with optional bacon!) appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

This super simple and delicious soup is really healthy and takes no time at all to prepare (about 30 minutes!), which means that it can easily be made on a week night. If you have more time, then you could make your own bread to go with it! This recipe comes from the BBC website.

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, sliced
450g/1lb carrots, sliced
1 tsp ground coriander
1.2 litresl/2 pints vegetable stock
large bunch fresh coriander, roughly chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onions and the carrots. Cook for 3-4 minutes until starting to soften.

2. Stir in the ground coriander and season well. Cook for 1 minute.

3. Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Simmer until the vegetables are tender.

4. Whizz with a hand blender or in a blender until smooth. Reheat in a clean pan, stir in the fresh coriander and serve.

The post Carrot and coriander soup appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Ingredients (for a 12″ tin, or 2-3 smaller tins)

(For the pastry)
225g/8oz plain flour
125g/40z margarine or butter
A pinch of salt
About 2-3 splashes cold water

(For the filling)
2 medium sized courgettes, grated
2 tins tuna in brine or spring water (but not oil!)
3 eggs
Semi skimmed milk
Black pepper

Method

1. To make the pastry, put the margarine, salt and flour into a food processor and blitz (or rub together if using hand method). Slowly add the cold water and mix – just add as much or as little, making sure the mixture is not too wet. Knead a little and then wrap in cling film before chilling in the fridge for at least half an hour.

2. When chilled, roll out the pastry. Grease the tin and then line with the pastry, before blind baking (this works best with baking beans) for around 20 minutes at 200/400/Gas mark 6.

3. Whilst the pastry is cooking, prepare the filling. Grate the courgettes and then squeeze out as much of the water as you can – this is really messy, but much better than a soggy quiche!

4. Drain the tuna and add to the courgettes, stirring well. Season with black pepper.

5. Beat the eggs and add milk, making it up to around 450ml. Season with black pepper and then add some of it to the tuna and courgette mix, stirring well.

6. When the pastry case is cooked, add the filling and spread the mixture evenly. Then slowly pour the egg over until it almost reaches the top of the case (you might need to squash the mixture with a fork to make sure the egg will bind everything together).

7. Place in the oven and bake for around 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. You will need to keep squashing the mixture with a fork during cooking time to make sure that the liquid comes to the top – this will help it to cook quicker and ensure that it is cooked right through.

8. You can eat this hot or cold – if serving hot, it is better to leave to stand for 5 minutes before serving. It goes well with summery salads or winter veg, so enjoy!

The post Tuna and Courgette Quiche appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

I was surprised to discover that I have not blogged about what is one of our staple meals – this yummy spaghetti bolognese. It probably isn’t the most authentic recipe but we love it! It doesn’t include carrots or celery (I really don’t like celery) so kids seem to like it a lot! Great for a weekday or a weekend, you can make a huge batch and freeze the rest.

Ingredients

Olive oil
2 medium brown onions, finely chopped
800g-1kg lean beef mince
Black pepper
Mixed herbs
Henderson’s relish (optional – you could add a dash of tobasco)
Bouillon (or veg stock cube)
1 tbsp Bisto gravy granules (or a crumbled beef OXO cube)
Red wine
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tins chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 red peppers, chopped
250g chopped field mushrooms

Method

1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the onions, cooking until softened. Add the beef mince and cook until browned.

2. Season with black pepper, and add the herbs, Henderson’s relish, bouillon, gravy granules and as much red wine as you like!

3. Add the garlic, chopped tomatoes and tomato puree and leave to simmer for around 10 minutes.

4. Add the peppers and leave to simmer again before adding the mushrooms. Stir well and leave to simmer again until the veg is cooked.

5. You could serve with pasta, a jacket potato or make a lasagne. Freeze the rest in portions and you can enjoy it again and again!

The post Simple Spaghetti Bolognese appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Ingredients (serves 4)

For the rice:
1 mug (300g) of quick cook basmati rice
1 big pinch of dried porcini mushrooms (or a handful of field mushrooms)
1/2 a lemon
A few sprigs of fresh lemon thyme

For the pork:
500g pork fillet
1 heaped tsp ground coriander
1 heaped tsp sweet paprika
Olive oil
1 small red onion
A few sprigs of fresh sage
1 swig of Marsala
70ml single cream (we used 2 heaped tbsp low fat creme fraiche instead)

For the broccoli:
250g trimmed tenderstem broccoli
Zest and juice of 1/2 unwaxed lemon
30g parmesan (freshly flaked or supermarket tub)
1 x 15ml tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Put one mug of rice and two mugs of boiling water into a pan, tear in the porcini mushrooms and add a pinch of salt, the lemon half and lemon thyme. Put the lid on the pan and leave to simmer. (If you’re not using porcini mushrooms, follow the steps minus the mushrooms – we cooked ours separately and added them later.)

2. Score lengthways halfway through the centre of the pork, open it out like a book and then flatten it slightly with your fist. Rub it with salt, pepper, the ground coriander and paprika, then put it into the frying pan with 1 tbsp of olive oil, turning regularly until cooked through.

3. If using fresh mushrooms, chop them into pieces and cook in a little olive oil. Finely chop the red onion, pick the sage leaves and add them both to the pork to fry for a few minutes. Heat a pan of water (we pre-boil the water to speed up the process) and add the broccoli, which should be cooked until the stalk is tender.

4. Once the pork is cooked through, add a good swig of marsala – you can light it if you wish (we didn’t) and then let the flames subside. Then transfer the pork onto a board, add the single cream or creme fraiche to the pan and reduce to a good consistency.

5. Fluff up the rice (adding the mushrooms if you have cooked them separately) and carve the pork into 1cm slices. Drain the broccoli and transfer into a warmed bowl, adding the lemon zest and juice. Toss to coat before adding the parmesan flakes and the olive oil, tossing again.

6. Pour the sauce over the pork with the greens and rice to the side.

The photo on this post isn’t amazing (sorry!), but I promise that this Pork Marsala with Mushroom Rice and Broccoli with Lemon and Parmesan tastes amazing. You might also enjoy Jamie Oliver’s chicken pie or Nigella’s chocolate olive oil cake.

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