Sausage & Bacon Pasta Bake

I always make this in two dishes, one for supper,
one for the freezer.

Serves 8

FOR THE SAUSAGE & BACON MIX

445g skinless pork sausages, cut into small chunks

125g bacon bits

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

250g button mushrooms, sliced*

150 ml white wine

½ chicken stock cube
3-4 tbsp tomato passata

1 tbsp tomato purée

FOR THE SAUCE

50 ml olive oil

50g plain flour

600 ml milk

freshly grated nutmeg
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt
100g vintage cheddar cheese, grated

500g pasta spirals

300g fresh spinach

75g vintage cheddar cheese, grated

1.  Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan, add the onion and fry for 5 minutes until softened and golden.

2.  Stir in the garlic and chilli flakes, then stir in the sausage chunks and bacon bits and fry until starting to lightly brown. Stir in the mushrooms and fry for a few minutes more.

3.  Stir in the wine, stock cube, tomato passata and tomato purée. Bring to the boil, then simmer uncovered for 15 minutes until thickened. Remove from the heat.

4.  Put 50 ml oil and flour into a pan, stirring together, then gradually whisk in the milk. Gently heat, whisking, until thick. Grate in a good pinch of nutmeg, season with lots of black pepper and salt to taste and simmer for 2 minutes.  Stir in 100g grated cheese, then remove from the heat.

5.  Preheat the oven to 190°C.  Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add the pasta. Stir well, then cook uncovered for the time indicated on the packet, until tender. Remove from the heat, stir in the spinach until it just wilts, then drain well in a colander.

6.  Pour half the pasta into a large, shallow oven-proof dish. Spoon over the sausage mix, then cover with the remaining pasta. Pour the white sauce evenly over the top and sprinkle with the cheese. (If you have made one for the freezer allow it to cool at this stage, cover tightly with tin foil and freeze.)

7.  Bake for about 25 minutes until golden brown.

* I am lazy and use an egg-slicer to slice my mushrooms, it's very satisfying, but only if they're fresh...

Banana & Plain Choc Chip Muffins

Makes 12 large muffins

300g plain flour

175g sugar

15g baking powder

125 ml sunflower oil

50 ml milk

2 large eggs

3 large or 4 medium very ripe bananas, mashed

100g dark chocolate chips

3g bicarbonate of soda

12 hole muffin tray, lined with cases

1.  Preheat the oven to 190°C.

2.  Sieve the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together into a large bowl. Stir in the chocolate chips.

3.  Mash the bananas (I save overripe odd bananas in a ziploc bag in the freezer for these sorts of recipes). 

4.  Lightly beat the egg then add to the oil, milk and mashed banana.

5.  Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and mix gently, until all the ingredients are just combined and no flour is visible.

6.  Divide the mixture equally between 12 muffin cases and bake in oven for about 20-25 minutes, until they are well risen and firm to the touch.

7.  Remove from the oven, and leave in the baking tray for 5 minutes to rest, before placing on a wire rack to cool.

Eat warm or cold. Store in an airtight container and eat within 3 days.

Cherry & Coconut Loaf Cake

200g tub of glace cherries, drained of syrup, halved

150g butter, softened

150g caster sugar

3 medium eggs, lightly beaten

30 ml milk

200g self raising flour

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

75g dessicated coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a loaf tin with baking parchment.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together, then slowly add the eggs while mixing thoroughly. 

3.  Stir in the milk.

4. Sift in the flour and cinnamon, with the cherry halves in the seive (this coats them in flour so they won’t sink to the bottom of the cake as it cooks). Then fold in the flour.

5. Fold in the coconut, then fold in the cherries.

6. Bake for about 45-55 minutes. It’s cooked when a wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

7.  Optional:  Mix half a cup of icing sugar with a teaspoon at a time of water until it can be spooned and smoothed onto the cooled cake. Sprinkle with dessicated coconut & allow to set.

Good Old-Fashioned Crumpets

Makes 14-16 crumpets

350 ml milk

225g strong white flour

125g plain flour

2 tsp dried yeast

½ tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

150 ml warm water

sunflower oil for cooking

You need some crumpet rings (or egg rings or cooking rings), 8 cm diameter and a crêpe pan (or frying pan or flat griddle).

1.  Whisk together the milk, flour, yeast, salt and sugar until the batter is thick and smooth.

2.  Cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm, draft-free place for 1 - 2 hours, until thick and slightly bubbly.

3.  Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the warm water and mix into the batter. Cover and leave to rest for half an hour. 

4.  Put some sunflower oil in a small bowl to a depth of 1 cm or so, then put the crumpet rings in and swirl round to coat well. Place rings in the crêpe pan over a low to medium heat.

5.  Fill each ring with a tablespoon of batter. Leave to cook for about 5 minutes, until bubbles start appearing and the top starts drying out. Remove the rings, then flip the crumpets over for 30 seconds to cook the top. 

6.  Remove to cool on a rack. Repeat until you have used up all the batter.

Serve hot with lots of butter.

The crumpets will keep in an airtight container for 2 - 3 days. To use, put them in a toaster for a couple of minutes to crisp them up again.

(If you have a bread machine, you can use the dough setting for steps 1 and 2).

Walnut & Dulce de Cabello de Ángel Pastries

Dulce de Cabello de Ángel is a traditional Spanish sweet jam made from Angel Hair Squash. If you can't get it, use a jam or pie filling such as peach or apricot instead.

Makes 8 Pastries

1 packet (2 sheets) of ready-rolled puff pastry

1 tin of Dulce de Cabello de Ángel

100g shelled walnuts

1 egg, beaten

60g icing sugar

1tsp water

1.  Preheat the oven to 220°C.

2.  Lay the pastry out on a floured surface, cut each sheet into 4 squares. 

3.  Brush the squares all over with beaten egg, then make a diagonal cut from each corner of the square to within 1 cm of the centre. Fold alternate cut corners to the centre to form a windmill shape. 

4.  Add about 1 tbsp walnut pieces to the centre of the pastry windmill, top with 1 tbsp Dulce filling. Brush any exposed pastry with beaten egg.

5.  Place the pastries on a baking tray lined with baking parchment, cook in the oven for 15 minutes, or until golden. Allow to cool on a rack.

6.  Mix the icing sugar and water in a small pan over a very low heat until the mixture is transparent. Immediately brush over the pastry tops.

Spicy Sausage Pasties

Makes 4 pasties

for the pastry:

200g plain flour

55g butter or margarine

55g suet

pinch of salt and pepper

3-4 tbsp cold water

for the filling:

1 tbsp chilli olive oil

½ small onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp sundried tomato paste (or tomato purée or ketchup)

100g tinned pinto beans, drained but not rinsed

200g good quality, skinless pork sausages

25g frozen peas, defrosted

½ tsp chilli powder (or to taste)

salt and pepper

1 egg, beaten

1.  Firstly, make the pastry. Put the flour, butter, suet and salt and pepper into a food processor and pulse until it resembles fine breadcrumbs (or, by hand, put it into a bowl and rub the butter and suet into the flour).

2.  With the processor running, slowly add the water through the funnel, a little at a time, until the mixture just comes together in a ball (or add the water a little at a time into the hand mixing bowl, stirring with a metal knife until the dough binds together).

3.  Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

4.  Now make the filling. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the onion for about 5 minutes until softened, then stir in the tomato paste.

5.  Add the sausages and fry for about 5 minutes, breaking the sausagemeat up with the back of a wooden spoon, until browned and cooked through.

6.  Stir in the chilli powder, peas and pinto beans and season with salt and pepper. Leave to cool.

7.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out the flour until it is the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut out 4 x 16cm discs, using a saucer, re-rolling the trimmings as necessary (I got a snazzy pasty cutter/folder/crimper thingy in the charity shop for about 40p, hence the pasty-making :-)

8.  Pile 1 heaped tablespoon of the sausage mixture into the centre of each disc. Brush the edges with beaten egg, fold over and press down to form a seal. Pinch the edges together and brush all over with beaten egg. Top with a grind of fresh black pepper.

9.  Chill on a lightly floured baking sheet until ready to bake, or for at least 15 minutes.

10.  Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden.

Serve hot or cold.

Murkey Meatloaf

This rustic meatloaf is loosely based on the Wartime Mock Turkey (Murkey) recipe from The Open University's Wartime Farm.  I have adapted it into a meatloaf, rather than trying to shape it like a turkey! The apple makes it really tasty.



Serves 6-8

450g good quality rustic, skinless pork sausages

400g bread, whizzed or grated into breadcrumbs

(I save crusts in the freezer,

so used a variety of wholemeal & rye bread)
350g apples, cored & grated
250g onion, grated
200g streaky bacon
1 rounded tsp dried thyme
½ tsp sea salt
1 large egg

1.  Preheat the oven to 170°C.

2.  Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well with your hands by kneading and squeezing.

3.  Oil and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking paper, then line with the strips of bacon, leaving enough to top the packed meat. (I didn't line my tin with baking paper & the bacon stuck... Hence the 'rustic' appearance in the photo!)

4.  Fill the lined tin with the meatloaf mix, packing down well. Finish off with a layer of bacon, pressed down firmly.

5.  Top with a piece of foil over the top and tuck the edges under well.

6.  Place in the oven for 1 - 1½ hours, or until thoroughly cooked through (check with a meat thermometer).

7.  Allow the meatloaf to rest for 20 minutes in the tin, covered with foil, before turning it out.

Serve, cut into slices, hot or cold.