This recipe is taken from the July 2015 issue of Olive Magazine.

Ingredients

200g shortcrust pastry (I made my own – see this recipe for quantities and method)

150g fat-free quark

1 egg, beaten

1 lemon, zested

A small bunch of dill, finely chopped

3 courgettes, sliced into long thin strips

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4. Roll out the pastry to fit a 21cm x 4cm deep tart tin. Cover with baking parchment and pour in some baking beans, before blind baking for 15 minutes or until the pastry is set and the base no longer looks damp. Remove the beans and cook for another 5 minutes.

2. Mix the quark, egg, lemon zest, dill and season well. Spread into the cooked pastry case.

3. Stack a handful of the courgette ribbons on top of each other, then start to roll into a pinwheel, continually adding lengths. Position this i the centre of the pastry case, on top of the quark mix, and keep adding new outer layers to the wheel to create the circle (holding on to what you have already put in as you do so). Keep adding the slices until the courgette slices start to lean on the edge of the case and hold themselves in.

4. Cook for 40-50 minutes, or until the courgette has softened and is turning golden, and the liquid given off by the courgette has evaporated. Rest the tart for 10 minutes before cutting into slices. Serve with salad and a few new potatoes – yum!

Hope you’ve all had a super weekend!

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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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Ingredients

Olive oil, for cooking

2 large red onions, finely chopped

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

400g red lentils

800ml vegetable stock – plus extra boiling water to avoid sticking

6 skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

2-3 tablespoons madras curry paste (or use a milder one if you prefer)

300g baby spinach leaves

Sea salt and black pepper to taste (we don’t usually add additional salt)

Thick live probiotic yoghurt, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Heat a little olive oil in a pan, add the onions and garlic and cook for 4-5 minutes until softened.

2. Add the lentils and a little of the stock and simmer. Keep adding small amounts of stock bit by bit as the lentils cook and soften, as if you were cooking a risotto.

3. Once the lentils are starting to soften and break down, add the chicken and curry paste and stir well. Continue simmering and adding the stock until the chicken has cooked through. If the lentils start to stick to the pan at this point, just add a little extra boiling water to loosen it. We have found that we usually add at least 300ml extra boiling water as they do tend to stick quite a bit.

4. Add the baby spinach at the last minute, season with salt and pepper and stir until the spinach has wilted.

5. Serve immediately, with a dollop of yoghurt on top, if you like. Enjoy!

Edit: Want to make your own curry paste?

Little One absolutely loves this curry! We’ve been doing Baby Led Weaning with her since she was almost 6 months, and we must have tried this with her a couple of months in. We didn’t want to use a jar of curry paste with her because of the salt levels, so we made our own curry paste using a recipe from The Baby Led Weaning Cookbook. It’s so delicious! She loves naan bread too so we always serve this with naan and a little bit of rice, which helps to make this go further too.

This curry paste will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks. You can either use ready ground spices or grind your own in a grinder (or use a pestle and mortar). We usually leave out the chilli at the moment, but you can make this as hot as you like!

1 fresh mild/medium chilli pepper, deseeded (optional)

5-6 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated

2cm (3/4″) piece of fresh ginger, grated

4 tbsp ground coriander seeds

4 tbsp ground cumin seeds

2 tbsp mustard seeds, crushed

1 tbsp chilli powder (optional)

1 tbsp turmeric

1 tbsp paprika (we use sweet smoked paprika)

Olive oil

Put all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add as much oil as you need to get the desired consistency.

Post updated 6th May 2017.

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I was quite surprised when I looked through my blog posts earlier and discovered that I haven’t posted this recipe before – it is one of those ‘tried and tested’ ones that I’ve been making for years! In fact, my Mum used to make it when I was younger and it was one of the few things that I could actually cook when I left home to go to uni. You can use any pasta you like for this – macaroni works really well – but I used penne today. It was either that or our Simpsons pasta that Helen bought us – but you wouldn’t have recognised the Simpsons for the courgettes so we’re saving that for another day!

Ingredients

120g pasta
1 tin chopped tomatoes
2 tsp mixed herbs
Black pepper
1 tin tuna in brine (or spring water – but not in oil)
150g low fat cottage cheese
1-2 medium size courgettes
1-2 cloves of garlic
4 mushrooms
A handful of spinach
Grated cheese of your choice

Method

1. Put the pasta on to boil and preheat the oven to 200/400/Gas mark 6. Tip the tomatoes into another pan and add the herbs and some black pepper. Leave to simmer.

2. Slice the courgettes and chop the garlic. Put some olive oil in a pan and add the courgette and garlic, cooking until softened.

3. Drain the tuna and put into a bowl. Add the cottage cheese, season with black pepper and mix well.

4. When the pasta is cooked, drain and mix in the tomatoes, before adding the tuna and cottage cheese mix. Add the vegetables and stir well, before pouring into an oven proof dish.

5. Grate some cheese over the top before cooking in the oven for around 20 minutes. Serve with some salad and enjoy!

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