0 Potato, spinach, pea and basil soup - a tasty vegan feast

Another week has passed and we have another soup recipe for you, this one does have some reseamblence to shrek's swamp but trust me its very tasty and great for making when you hardly have anything in the cupboards. For the sake of economy I use frozen peas and spinach and there is no waste either.

                     

Vegan as it contains only vegetables, however if this isn't important to you then its delicious served topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese or swirled with creme fraiche or yogurt.

Thickened by blending half the ingredients in to the soup its low in fat and containes no flours or grains so its gluten free too.

What you need

• Onion - peeled and chopped
• 2 potatoes - peeled and diced
• 3 blobs of frozen spinach
• 1 cup of frozen peas
• Vegetable stock
• Salt and pepper
• A little olive or rapeseed oil
• Handful fresh basil

What you do

• Fry the onion and the potato in a little oil add the vegetable stock to the pan, simmer until softened
• Add the frozen peans and frozen spinach to the pan and bring back to the simmer and the spinach is defrosted. Add the basil 
• Now blitz half the pan with a stick blender until smooth and retaining some chunky vegetables for texture.
• Taste and season with salt and pepper as necessary.
• Serve piping hot

We are linking up to "Eat your Greens" over on Allotment 2 Kitchen , the challenge being to cook with a green vegetable and for the recipe to be vegeterian.

Detail: Potato, spinach, pea and basil soup - a tasty vegan feast

0 Smoked haddock, leek and pea fishermans pie

I love fish pie, nursery comfort food at its best. This week I decided to make a variation on the classic and it proved a popular dish, definately something I would make again. Pretty economical too as I was able to utilise mostly ingredients from the freezer or store cupboard, the tasty dish is gluten free and utilsed some of the stock powder I had kindly been sent by Essential Cuisine.

I really like Essential cuisines range of stocks as they are not over salted and very tasty, they are very like homemade stock, light in colour and allergy friendly. The smoked haddock I used in this recipe was from a frozen pack but I prefer if possible to use undyed smoked haddock if you can get it, any other white smoked would work too. The peas were frozen petit pois but you could easily use ordinary peas if that is all you have. I had the leeks and creme fraiche in the fridge and potatoes in the cupboard.

What you need

• 2 smoked haddock fillets, skinned and de boned - cut into bite size pieces
• 2 leeks, topped tailed and cleaned. Cut in to fine circles
• Essential cuisine fish stock powder - make to about 150ml stock
• Creme fraiche
• Dill 
• Cornflour
• Frozen petit pois / peas - ramekin full
• Salt and pepper
• Potatoes ( 1 used 2 large poatatoes for 2 people)
• Butter or vegetable oil

What you do

• Gently heat a little butter or oil in a large frying pan, add the leeks and cook for a few minutes until they are starting to soften
• Add the fish pieces and cook very gently until just coloured, now add the peas to the pan and the creme fraiche (I used about 2 tbsp), the fish stock and dill.
• Simmer gently until you have a sauce of your desired thickness, if necessary thicken with slaked cornflour. (Slaked is when the cornflour is mixed into a paste with little water or milk or stock). Taste and season
• Place the pie filling in your chosen dish and allow to cool
• Meanwhile cook your potatoes for your mash, once ready then mash with a little butter and season to taste
• Place the mashed potatoes on top of your pie
• Pre heat the ove to 180c and bake for approx 25 minutes until golden on top and the sauce is bubbling
• Serve immediately

Detail: Smoked haddock, leek and pea fishermans pie

0 Pea and gammon soup, a true winter warmer

I have fond memories of my childhood that involve homemade pea and ham soup, If I recall rightly it wasn't even strictly pea and ham, more like pea and bacon bones soup. I  think now a days I would probably struggle to get hold of bacon bones but channelling a similar frugal vibe and finding myself with a quantity of gammon stock and left over cooked gammon, I decided to try to recreate a taste of my youth.

Dried marrowfat peas are available in most supermarkets and also in your local health food store there are  pretty cheap too, as well as being the main ingredient for fabulous homemade mushy peas they are also great added to soups. They are also very frugal and bulk up into a satisfying soup which has that essential rib sticking winter quality that you are aiming for in a pea and ham soup.

All you need to do is soak them overnight (ideally) with a little bicarbonate of soda before cooking until soft with water or stock. They store well in an airtight jar for ages and also have the added benefit of being able to be germinated in a pot for pea shoots for salads in summer if the mood so take you.

What you need

• Soaked marrowfat peas
• Stock, ideally from cooking your gammon
• Leftover gammon, shredded

What you do

• Rinse your soaked marrowfat peas
• Simmer them with stock until softened and the peas have started to fall
• Thin your soup to your desired consistency , add the shredded gammon and simmer until the gammon is warmed through.
• Season and serve with crusty bread

Delicious and very comforting, the equivalent of a hug but in soup form......

Given that this recipe is made using leftovers and frugal marrowfat peas I am entering this post in Credit Crunch munch created by Helen over at Fussfreeflavours and Camilla at Fab food for all, this month hosted by My Golden Pear.

                       

I am also including it in Elizabeth's Kitchen diary "Shop local" blogging challenge as the  gammon was bought from the local butcher and the peas from Booths the amazing north west supermarket chain which has a great passion for local regional produce.

                                

And last but no means least the No Waste Food Challenge over at London unattached and Elizabeth Kitchen diary.

                                            

Detail: Pea and gammon soup, a true winter warmer

0 Prawn, pea and rocket risotto

The rocket patch in the garden is now in full overtime mode, its beaten us into submission and just gone for broke, overflowing the paths and despite our best efforts giving batches away to all visitors to our household,  yet still more grows.

The flavour of our wild rocket is really spicy with notes of parmesan cheese so it needs careful combining with other ingredients, this recipe is nicely balanced with sweet peas and king prawns and green spicy hints from the rocket. Depending on your preference you can either cook it in the oven or by the traditional method on the hob.

What you need

• Olive oil
• 1 small white onion - finely chopped or you could use a shallot
• Garlic - couple of cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• Hot fish or vegetable stock
• Raw king prawns or frozen defrosted
• Good handful fresh rocket, 3/4 of it chopped finely, few leaves still whole for garnishing
• Ramekin of frozen petit pois or garden peas, defrosted
• Risotto rice - about 200g

This recipes makes enough for 2 greedy adults

What you do

• Firstly decide whether you are going to cook your risotto in the oven or on the hob, if you are plumping for oven baking then you will need a flameproof casserole dish, I use my trusty Le Crueset shallow casserole with lid otherwise you will need a large frying pan.
• Heat the oil in pan and add the onion and cook slowly without colouring until soft, now add the garlic and cook for a few minutes longer, now stir in the rice.
• Now if cooking in the oven add most of the stock on a high heat, cover with the lid and place in you oven heated to 180c, if cooking on the hob, gradually stir in most of the stock and simmer until absorbed. It normally takes about 15 minutes either way.
• Were back on the hob now, stir in the prawns and the remaining stock and cook stirring until all the stock is absorbed and the prawns are pink.
• Stir in the peas and chopped rocket, cook very gently just to warm the peas through, remove from the heat cover and let stand for a couple of minutes.
• Serve garnished with the whole rocket leaves and a drizzle of olive oil.

Detail: Prawn, pea and rocket risotto

0 Smoked haddock, leek and pea risotto , using DelishFish

I recently placed my first order with DelishFish on the recommendation of a number of other food bloggers, its a delightfully easy website to find your way around and gives good information about the different types of fish available,  So I chose a variety of fish, all which arrived really quickly at the peak of freshness right to my door,the courier even called first to check I would be in to receive my delivery and John the owner tweeted me to check everything had arrived Ok.

The quality of the fish was second to none, lovely large fillets, all individually packed and labelled so its easy for the cook, the packaging was great too, so everything arrived lovely and cool and intact. The fish was very good value for the quality of fish so I will be ordering again from John at Delish Fish.

I love smoked haddock and John's is reputed to be the best in the country ( as per River Cottage website) so I wanted a recipe that would really show off this ingredient to its full, I make smoked haddock chowder a lot but wanted a more evening meal dish so I thought risotto, peas for a sweet hit to contrast with the smoky fish and a soft oniony backnote coming from the leeks. 

Ingredients

• 1 large fillet Smoked haddock - undyed DelishFish's preferably
• 1 Leek - cleaned and cut into fine rings
• Risotto rice - 
• Frozen petit pois - handful
• Fish stock - I used Essential cuisine
• Parsley or dill to garnish
• Olive oil

If feeling especially decadent you could top with a poached egg 

Method

• In a large frying pan warm a little olive oil, gently softened the leeks without colouring
• Next add your risotto rice and stir gently to coat the grains in the olive oil and cooking juices from the leek
• Next add a small quantity of your fish stock, stir and gently simmer until absorded
• Keep adding stock in small quantities and stirring until the rice is tender
• Microwave your fish on a plate covered with cling film and a couple of drops of water - a couple of minutes should do the trick.
• Once the rice is pretty much cooked add the frozen peas and little more stock , simmer for a few more minutes then stir in the flaked cooked fish and any juices on the plate
• Sprinkle with parsley and serve

This is lovely dish creamy in texture but with no added diary and light but satisfying, great if you are watching your figure too.

Detail: Smoked haddock, leek and pea risotto , using DelishFish