Grilled Pork Steaks with Apple Mash

I love trying anything with apple and pork, it's one of my favourite combinations. I did make a mistake, the recipe says pork loin steaks and I only had pork leg steaks, so I used them. I think they they are more of a stewing cut rather than grilling and it was a bit tough after cooking. I have two more to use so I shall try and find something casseroley or stewy to make with them. The mash however was delicious and I made stewed apple and blackberries with the remainder of the apple, which I think is one of my favourite things ever! I served the pork and mash with roast spaghetti squash, broccoli and sugar snap peas.

Grilled Pork Steaks with Apple Mash
(Serves 4)
(9 WW ProPoints per serving)

4 boneless pork loin steaks
2 tsp clear honey
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp tomato puree
450g potatoes, peeled and diced
225g cooking apple, peeled, cored and diced
salt and pepper

Score a criss cross pattern across the top of each pork steak and place them in a shallow dish. Mix together the honey, garlic, soy sauce and tomato puree and brush this mixture over the steaks. Cover and leave to marinate for 20 mins.

Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the potatoes for 15 mins. Add the apple to the pan and cook for a further 5 mins. Drain well and mash the apple and potatoes together. Season to taste.

Grill the pork steaks under a medium to low heat for 5 mins on each side.

Divide the mash between 4 plates and serve with a pork steak.

Spaghetti with Artichokes

I made this on the spur of the moment when I was meant to be going out for dinner and it was cancelled. It's a really good store cupboard recipe and it nicely finished off a jar of artichokes. I used sugar snap peas instead of green beans as that's what I had and I added rocket to the original recipe as I thought it would go nicely and it did. Very tasty!

Spaghetti with Artichokes (adapted from WeightWatchers Magazine August 2012)
(Serves 2)
(9 WW ProPoints per serving)

125g spaghetti
100g green beans
75g artichoke hearts in olive oil, drained and sliced, plus 2 tsp of the oil
2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
50g rocket
zest half lemon
15g Parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta for 8-10 mins or until al dente. Add the green beans for the last 2 mins of the cooking time.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tsp oil from the artichokes in a small pan. Add the garlic and cook stirring for 1-2 mins until the garlic is pale golden.

Drain the pasta and beans, reserving 2 tbsp cooking water, then tip back into the pan with the reserved water. Toss through the garlic oil, artichokes, rocket and lemon zest. Divide between two pasta bowls and serve sprinkled with Parmesan.

Spaghetti Squash Lasagne

I have had a few spaghetti squash this year, not as many as last year but enough to keep me going! I'm always on the look out for things to do with it, and I knew that it was a good substitute for pasta, so when I came across this recipe on Skinny Taste I knew I had to try it. Gina's website is brilliant for healthy meals and although the WeightWatchers points system here is slightly different to in the States, I know that what I'm making is likely to be low in points and always delicious.

Spaghetti Squash Lasagne (adapted from www.skinnytaste.com)
(Serves 4)
(9 WW ProPoints per serving)

2 large spaghetti squash, cooked
150g mozzarella
40g Parmesan cheese, grated
100g ricotta
130g bacon or pancetta, cut into cubes
400ml tomato sauce

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Fry the bacon or pancetta until golden and crispy.

Ladle 200ml of tomato sauce into the bottom of a large oven proof dish. Top with the spaghetti squash and then the ricotta and bacon.

Sprinkle with half the Parmesan and half the mozzarella.  Add the remaining sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella cheese in layers on top

Cover with foil and bake for 15 - 20 mins, or until the cheese is melted and the edges begin to bubble; uncover and cook for an additional 5 mins. Serve with a green salad.

Baked Gnocchi with Mushrooms and Spinach

This is a delicious and easy dish to make and it makes a fantastic lunchtime time treat. It makes you feel naughty with the cream and the yummy gnocchi but it actually pretty healthy!

Baked Gnocchi with Spinach and Mushrooms (from WeightWatchers Magazine September 2012)
(Serves 2)
(10 WW ProPoints per serving)

cooking spray
200g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
1 garlic clove, chopped finely
260g spinach
1/2 small carton single cream
10 small sage leaves
20g Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 200C. Heat a frying pan and spray with cooking spray. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring for 5 mins or until coloured and softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 min more, then add the spinach handful by handful, stirring until it wilts down and any liquid has evaporated (this takes about 5 mins).

Meanwhile, cook the gnocchi according to the instructions on the packet.

Turn off the heat, stir in the gnocchi and season well, then divide between two wide shallow gratin dishes. Add the cream, sage leaves and then the Parmesan and bake for 12-15 mins or until golden and bubbling.

Toulouse Sausage Bake

One of my tasks for the summer was to do out the freezer, a task I loath as I always get so cold trying to sort it all out! But it's done and I also did a nice inventory of everything in there and discovered several things that had been in there maybe a tad too long. So I set myself a mission to find new recipes using them, they have usually been there a while because I can't think of anything to do with them, and I have succeeded so far! The first of these were some Toulouse Sausages, and I made a bake with them. I served it with some cabbage which I had steamed, seasoned and squeezed a bit of lemon juice over. Delicious!

Toulouse Sausage Bake (adapted from WeightWatchers Fresh and Easy Everyday)
(Serves 4)
(15 WW ProPoints per serving)


3 slices wholemeal bread
3 tbsp parsley, chopped
cooking spray
4 Toulouse Sausages, cut into 4 pieces
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, sliced
425g chicken bread fillets, cubed
40g diced pancetta
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp English mustard powder
500ml chicken stock
2 410g tins cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

Preheat the oven to 190C. Meanwhile using a food processor, whizz the bread into fine crumbs. Add in the parsley and set aside.

Heat a large shallow flame and ovenproof pan and spray with cooking spray. Cook the sausage for 5 mins, turning until brown all over, then transfer to a plate. Spray the pan again and cook the onion, garlic, chicken and pancetta for 5 mins, until browned all over.

Sprinkle over the flour and mustard powder and then gradually add the stock, stirring. Bring to the boil and bubble for 1 min until thickened. Then stir in the cannellini beans and return the sausages to the pan.

Remove from the heat and scatter over the breadcrumbs. Spray with cooking spray and bake in the oven for 25 mins until lightly golden. Serve immediately.

Chicken, Courgette and Tarragon Quiche

It's that time of year again. Courgettes are in full flow and I am eating them with everything, although with doing WeightWatchers this year I have been able to palm some off on the ladies there as well as my neighbours! The original recipe for this doesn't include the courgettes but I couldn't see a reason for not adding them so I did! I took this quiche on a picnic and had it with the beautiful salad at the end of this post which used flowers from my garden as well as salad leaves and looked (and tasted) fantastic. I included nasturtiums, violas and marigolds in the salad.

Chicken, Courgette and Tarragon Quiche (adapted from WeightWatchers Ma Boite a Fiches Recette)
(Serves 4)
(4 WW ProPoints per serving)

cooking spray
2 chicken breasts, cooked
1 large onion, chopped
2 courgettes, chopped into rounds and then the rounds into halves
2 tbsp tarragon, chopped
2 eggs
2 tbsp creme fraiche
80ml skimmed milk
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Heat a frying pan and spray with cooking spray. Cook the onions for 5 mins until they are translucent and starting to brown. Add in the tarragon and cook for 1 more min. Shred the chicken. Put the onion, tarragon and chicken in the bottom of a quiche dish

In a bowl beat the eggs with the milk and the creme fraiche and pour into the quiche dish. Bake in the oven for 15 mins and then serve with salad.

Seafood Gratin

This beautiful Seafood Gratin was delicous and well worth a go even if the sauce did split a bit on baking.

Seafood Gratin (from www.weightwatchers.co.uk)
(Serves 4)
(5 WW ProPoints per serving)

cooking spray
4 spring onions, finely chopped
450g seafood selection, defrosted if frozen
2 tsp lemon juice
150ml skimmed milk
200g extra light soft cheese with garlic and herbs
1 tbsp dill or parsley, chopped
25g mature cheddar, grated
pepper

Spray a frying pan with the cooking spray and cook the spring onions for 2-3 minutes, until softened. Add the seafood cocktail and cook for 3 more minutes, then share between the dishes. Sprinkle with the lemon juice. Season with black pepper.

Gently heat the low fat soft cheese and milk in a saucepan, stirring until smooth. Add the dill or parsley. Spoon into the dishes and sprinkle the grated cheese on top.

Preheat the grill to medium high. Grill the seafood gratins for 4-5 minutes or cook these in the oven at 200°C for 8-10 minutes, until the cheese melts and bubbles. Serve with a green salad.

Aubergine and Pesto Panini

I wanted to make this panini so much that I invested in a George Foreman grill, which is much more versatile that a panini press, just so that I could! The results were fantastic and I urge you to try this sandwich.

Aubergine and Pesto Panini (from www.skinnytaste.com)
(Serves 4)
(11 ProPoints per serving)

1 large eggplant
kosher salt to taste
cooking spray
4 panini buns
2 balls light mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp light pesto 
2 tomatoes, thinly sliced

Slice the eggplant into 1/4-inch thick slices. Preheat a griddle pan. Lightly spritz the aubergine with cooking spray, season with salt and pepper. When the grill is hot, griddle the aubergine for about 7-8 minutes, turning once half way through. Set aside.

Slice the bread open and place 3 slices of aubergine, 3 slices of mozzarella, 1/2 tablespoon of pesto, and 4 slices of tomatoes on each sandwich.

Close and lightly spray the top of the bread with cooking spray. Place on a panini press , close the lid and cook until the cheese melts and the bread is toasted. Cut in half diagonally and eat immediately.

Chicken and Broccoli Lasagne



This is another one of the French recipes. It's not a typical lasagne as the bechamel is not made with a classic roux and this leaves the sauce a little thin but it doesn't affect the overall dish. The amount of broccoli is huge and really pads the dish out and it turns out delicious.

Chicken and Broccoli Lasagne (adapted from WeightWatchers Ma Boite a Fiches Recette)

(Serves 4)

(13 WW ProPoints per serving)

4 chicken breasts, cut into strips

1 onion, chopped

800g broccoli, cut into florets

8 lasagne sheets, cooked

120g gruyere, grated

200ml skimmed milk

4 tsp cornflour

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Steam the broccoli for 5 mins. Cook the onion and chicken in a pan for about 5 mins until the chicken is golden and the onions are translucent. Add in the broccoli and season.

Meanwhile make the bechamel. Mix together the cornflour and 50mls of the milk. Heat the rest of the milk in a small saucepan and then add the cornflour mixture. Keep heating stirring all the time until the mixture thickens.

In a rectangular dish, cover the bottom with four of the lasagne sheets, put half of the chicken and broccoli mixture on top and then half the gruyere, repeat with the rest of the lasagne sheets and chicken mixture finishing with a layer of gruyere. Cook for 45 mins in the oven. Serve.



Courgette, Pea and Mint Soup

After the ridiculous few months of rain we had from March - June the weather has taken a turn for the better and there is now sunshine! It got up to 31C in London on Sunday! Beautiful! This doesn't seem to have stopped me from making soup though. The day that I served this for my Mum it was really humid and we couldn't finish the soup, it was just too hot for it! It was very tasty though despite all that!



Courgette, Pea and Mint Soup (from www.weightwatchers.co.uk)
(Serves 4)
(4 WW ProPoints per serving)

cooking spray
2 leeks, chopped roughly
2 courgettes, sliced
700ml vegetable stock
400g potatoes, roughly chopped
300ml skimmed milk
150g frozen peas
3 tbsp mint
juice of half a lemon
pepper

Spray a large, lidded saucepan with the cooking spray. Add the leeks and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the courgettes and 4 tablespoons of the stock. Cover and cook for 3 minutes. Mix in the potatoes and the rest of the stock, plus the milk. Bring to the boil and simmer, partially covered, for 12 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

Add the peas and mint to the pan and cook for 2 minutes more. Transfer the soup to a liquidiser, or use a hand held blender, and blend until smooth, adding the lemon juice and black pepper to taste. Return to the pan and reheat if necessary. Serve.

Jackets with Mushrooms and Pancetta

I had a wonderful couple of days food wise. This recipe is also delicious, such a good combination. Just as good if not better than yesterday and so simple! I made a fantastic tomato salad to go with the jacket potato and served it with pea shoots.

Jackets with Mushrooms and Pancetta (from WeightWatchers Magazine Sept 2012)

(Serves 4)

(8 WW ProPoints per serving)

4 200g baking potatoes

75g pancetta, I used cubes but you could buy the slices and chop

400g mushrooms, a mixture is nice

200g reduced fat sour cream or creme fraiche

2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped



Preheat the oven to 200C. Scrub the potatoes and pat dry. Prick all over with a fork and place on the oven shelf. Bake for 1 hour or until tender with a crisp skin.

About 20 mins before the potatoes are ready add the pancetta to a large warm frying pan. Fry, stirring for 5 mins or until crisp and browned. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside on kitchen roll to drain.

Add the mushrooms to the pan. Season with black pepper and fry over a medium heat, stirring frequently, for 10-15 mins or until the mushrooms are golden and any liquid has evaporated.

Return the pancetta to the pan with the sour cream and parsley. Stir to mix and heat for 1 min to warm through. Taste, season and set aside.

Split the jacket potato and fluff up the insides with a fork. Place the jackets on 4 serving plates and divide the mushroom and pancetta filling between them. Serve with green salad and tomatoes.

Cauliflower, Cumin and Chickpea Broth

This is one of the best things I've made in ages! It is just so good! It's lightly spicy with chunks of vegetables and chickpeas. It's lovely served with a Naan Bread.



Cauliflower, Cumin and Chickpea Broth (from www.weightwatchers.co.uk)
(Serves 4)
(4 WW ProPoints per serving)

cooking spray
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1l water
1 veg stock cube
1 tsp curry paste
1 cauliflower, cut into florets
400g chickpeas
2 tbsp coriander, chopped
4 tbsp virtually fat free plain yoghurt

Spray a large saucepan with low fat cooking spray and gently fry the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes, until softened. Add the cumin seeds and cook, stirring, for another minute.

Add the vegetable stock and curry paste and bring up to the boil. Add the cauliflower and chickpeas. Simmer for 8-10 minutes until the cauliflower is just tender. Transfer half the soup to a blender and blend until smooth. Return to the pan with the rest of the soup and add the coriander. Cook for another 2-3 minutes until the soup is piping hot.

Serve each portion with 1 tbsp of the yogurt, garnished with coriander sprigs.

Goat's Cheese and Mushroom Parpadelle

This is another one for Ethel the Goat, using the Parpadelle from the hamper. I love the combination of mushrooms and goat's cheese and I knew that they would work great with some pasta and it worked perfectly, such a good combination. The addition of the thyme is also delicious too.

Goat's Cheese and Mushroom Parpadelle
(Serves 1)
(10 WW ProPoints per serving)

cooking spray
150g fresh parpadelle
120g mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, sliced
60g goat's cheese
1 tbsp creme fraiche
2-3 springs of fresh thyme

Heat a frying pan and coat with cooking spray. Add the mushrooms and cook until they are golden brown and any water has evaporated. Add the garlic for the last minute.

Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook for about 3-4 mins or whatever the packet says.

Drain the pasta and add the pasta back to the pan with the mushrooms. Add in the creme fraiche and goat's cheese and stir until combined. Stir in the thyme and serve.

Guinea Fowl with Vegetables En Papillote

When I was in France a couple of weeks ago, I picked up a box of WeightWatchers recipes in French! I have an ok knowledge of French and I can read a menu so with the help of my trusty French dictionary I have worked out what the recipes say and this is the first recipe that I tried.

I love guinea fowl, but it's not something you get very often here in the UK, so I brought some back with me. We popped into the supermarket in Lille on the way back and I picked some up, as well as a whole host of other things I can't get here. Guinea fowl tastes like chicken but better and it's a little smaller I think. This recipe was deliciously simple but fantastic. I really am majoring on en papillote! I love the juices of the meat/fish flavouring the veggies, so good!

Guinea Fowl with Vegetables En Papillote (adapted from WeightWatchers Boite a Fiches Recette)
(Serves 4)
(6 WW ProPoints per serving)

4 guinea fowl legs
300g green beans
2 shallots, sliced
2 carrots, julienned
1 courgette, julienned
40g light margarine
1 tbsp curry powder
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 210C.

Share the veg out between four sheets of greaseproof paper. Place the guinea fowl legs on the top, then sprinkle over the curry powder and put a little knob of butter on top of each leg. Fold the greaseproof paper on top and seal the parcel to form a papillote (the one that looks like a Cornish pasty).

Bake in the oven for 20 mins and serve.

Artichoke and Ham Pasta

I apologise for the lack of witty remarks or anything really! I'm currently on holiday and as I work in a school I get five weeks. Now this might sound fantastic but by now I'm actually really bored! I have cleaned the house from top to bottom and done almost all the gardening, so thing are not all that exciting at the moment! But I am still cooking, twice a day most of the time, so I have a huge backlog of things to post, hence updating pretty much every day, so I hope you're enjoying it!!

This is a really simple but delicious pasta. I have totally got into artichokes recently and they seem to go really well in pasta dishes. Originally this recipe uses peas but I used broad beans as I had loads of them from the garden, which works just as well!

Artichoke and Ham Pasta (adapted from www.weightwatchersfoods.co.uk)
(Serves 1)
(7 WW ProPoints per serving)

50g dried tagliatelle
30g broad beans
125g artichokes in salted water, drained and chopped
20g wafer thin cooked ham, chopped
30g reduced fat creme fraiche
1 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
1 tsp Parmesan, finely grated

Cook the tagliatelle in boiling water for 8-10 minutes, adding the broad beans for the final 4 minutes.

Drain and return to the pan with the artichokes, ham, creme fraiche, sage, Parmesan cheese.

Stir together and warm through. Season and serve.

You can reheat this pasta dish in the microwave for 3-5 minutes until piping hot.

Daring Cooks August 2012: Cornmeal

Rachael of pizzarossa was our August 2012 Daring Cook hostess and she challenged us to broaden our knowledge of cornmeal! Rachael provided us with some amazing recipes and encouraged us to hunt down other cornmeal recipes that we’d never tried before – opening our eyes to literally 100s of cuisines and 1000s of new-to-us recipes!

So apparently the only kind of cornmeal you can find a in a Supermarket in east London is polenta, and even that wasn't easy to find! But this challenge, challenged me to use it in a new way. My new way was as a batter for the fish in fish and chips. I know you were all expecting Polenta Chips but no, I made batter! Now as we all know I am losing weight, and it appears that polenta, so long as you don't add tonnes of milk and butter is fairly healthy and makes a healthy fish and chips! It worked, it actually made a really nice batter, I mean it's not exactly a delicious crispy beer batter but it's not bad!

I also made a more standard cheesy polenta mash to accompany steak.


















Polenta Fish and Chips (from www.weightwatchers.co.uk)

(Serves 4)

(8 WW ProPoints per serving)

cooking spray

200g potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 in wedges

salt and pepper

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

100g polenta, plus 2 tbsp

120ml milk, skimmed

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp dried mixed herbs

600g cod or haddock fillets

Preheat oven to Gas Mark 6/200ºC/400ºF. Coat two large baking trays with cooking spray.

Place potatoes in a large bowl and add vinegar, salt and pepper; toss to coat. Arrange them on one prepared baking tray. Transfer to oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine 100g polenta, beaten egg, milk, zest, herbs and a little more salt and pepper; mix well to make a thick batter. Dust fish with additional 2 tbsp polenta; add fish to batter and turn to coat both sides. Place fish on second prepared baking tray and spoon over any remaining batter, patting over fish to make an even coating.

Transfer to oven to bake with potatoes for a further 18-20 minutes, until potatoes and fish are fork tender and polenta batter just starts to crack.

The second recipe I made was Goat's Cheese Polenta Mash. I actually didn't like this. I'm not sure if I just put in too much goat's cheese or if goat's cheese just doesn't go with polenta but it was way too cheesy and old sock tasting!

Fillet Steak with Goat's Cheese Polenta Mash
(Serves 2)
(12 WW ProPoints per serving)

2 lean beef fillet steaks

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp dried oregano

cooking spray

400ml veg stock

100g dried polenta, quick cook

40g goat's cheese

salt and pepper

On a clean board between two sheets of greaseproof paper, bash each steak with a rolling pin until it is about 1 cm thick. Put the steaks in a shallow bowl and toss with the garlic, oregano and seasoning.

Heat a griddle pan or a non stick frying pan. Spray the steaks with the cooking spray and then cook in the griddle pan for about 1-2 mins on each side or until cooked to your liking. Remove from the heat and then leave to rest, covered, for 5 mins.



Meanwhile, put the stock in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the polenta and stir continuously for 1 min until thickened and cooked. Add in the goat's cheese and stir to combine. Divide the polenta between two plates and top with a steak. Serve.

Cheese, Onion and Pepper Tortilla Pizza

A different kind of pizza, but it uses caramelised onion instead of tomato sauce again. As you can see it burnt a bit round the edges, but my oven cooks really quickly and I didn't keep enough of an eye on it! It was delicious though and I love the taste of the caramelised onion with the cheese.

Cheese, Onion and Pepper Pizza Tortilla (adapted from www.weightwatchersfoods.co.uk)
(Serves 1)
(8 WW ProPoints per serving)

1 corn or flour tortilla

40g caramelised red onion chutney
30g grated mature cheddar
1 spring onion, sliced
2 pepperdew peppers, sliced

Preheat the gill to high.

Place the tortilla on a baking tray and spread the caramelised red onion chutney over it. Sprinkle over the cheese, spring onions and pepper.

Grill for 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden. Serve immediately with mixed salad.

Gingered Pork Noodles

These lovely noodles were really simple to do. I ended up using buckwheat noodles, which worked ok, but not as well as egg noodles I suspect. Tasty too!

Gingered Pork Noodles (adapted from WeightWatchers Complete Kitchen)
(Serves 1)
(10 WW ProPoints per serving)

50g dried egg noodles
cooking spray
100g lean pork fillet, trimmed of all visible fat)
1 small onion sliced
1/2 yellow pepper, sliced
juice of a small orange
2 tbsp thai sweet chilli sauce
1 cm root ginger, grated
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp fresh basil, shredded

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add the noodles and return to the boil. Cook according to the packet instructions and then drain.

Meanwhile, heat a non stick frying pan and spray with cooking spray. Add the pork and cook for 2-3 mins over a high heat. Add the onion and pepper and cook for a couple more minutes until starting to brown.

Mix together the orange juice, chilli sauce, ginger and soy sauce. Add this mixture, plus the drained noodles, to the frying pan and cook for 1 min, stirring to coat and mix thoroughly.

Add the basil, mix in quickly and serve immediately.

Salmon En Papillote

This is more of an unusual en papillote, I would never have put salmon and tomatoes together, but it seemed to work. This was actualy a really light and refreshing, not to mention easy supper.

Salmon En Papillote (from Rachel Allen's Easy Meals)

(Serves 1)

(7 WW ProPoints per serving)

4-6 thin slices of tomatoes

2 pinches of granulated or caster sugar
3-4 basil leaves
6 thin slices cucumber
125 g salmon fillets, skin removed
10 g butter

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.

Place the tomatoes on the square of baking parchment (see Cook’s Tips), season with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar, then add the basil leaves followed by the cucumber. Next, place the salmon fillet on top, followed by the butter.

Season again with salt and pepper and sugar and fold the baking parchment to form a parcel as above. Place on a baking sheet and cook in the oven for 12–14 minutes or until the salmon is just opaque all the way through.

Pizza Capriossa

More pizza! There were two bases in the pack and the box suggested a Pizza Capriossa, which sounded delicious. I love parma ham, especially when its crispy, but I think this would also be nice if you added the tomatoes and parma ham after cooking for a nice fresh taste.

Pizza Capriosa
(Serves 1)
(10 WW ProPoints per serving)

1 150g pizza base
2 tbsp tomato pizza sauce
80g light mozzarella, sliced
2 slices prosciutto crudo
4 artichoke hearts, halved or quartered
5 olives, sliced
1 tomato sliced

Preheat the oven to 220C.

Spread the pizza sauce onto the pizza base and put the mozarella on top. Add the tomatoes, artichokes, olives and the prosciutto last.

Bake in the oven for 10 mins or until golden and crispy.


Summer Risotto with Trout

I always thought I didn't like trout. Salmon yes, but trout always seemed a bit bland. I'm coming round though, just like I'm coming round to cauliflower as a vegetable too! This lovely risotto includes broad beans from my garden, which seem to have gone a bit mad! The trout broke up a little more than expected but the aniseedy flavour of the fennel complemented the trout and broad beans.

Summer Risotto with Trout (adapted from WeightWatchers Members Favourites)
(Serves 2)
(11 WW ProPoints per serving)

500ml vegetable stock
100g broad beans
1 fennel bulb, sliced
cooking spray
1 onion, diced
2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tbsp dill, chopped
125g risotto rice
4 tbsp dry white wine
150g poached trout, flaked into bite size pieces
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Spray a saucepan with cooking spray and warm over a high heat. Add the onion and fennel and cook for 5 mins, stirring often until softened and starting to colour. Mix in the garlic and dill and continue to cook for a further minute.

Reduce the heat to low. Stir in the rice and cook for 1 min. Add the wine and continue stirring until the liquid has been absorbed. Add in the broad beans and the stock and bring to the boil. Put a lid on the pan and transfer to the oven. Cook for 30 mins in the oven until the rice is tender. Fold in the trout and put back into the oven for 1-2 mins. Garnish with more dill and serve.



Prawn Pasta Parcels

This is a lovely and different way to have pasta. Although you have to cook the pasta first it really works steaming the tomato sauce and prawns. Very simple but delicious.

Prawn Pasta Parcels

(Serves 4)

(7 WW ProPoints per serving)

600g cooked pasta

2 tbsp rosemary, chopped

6 spring onions, finely sliced

400g cooked prawns

16 cherry tomatoes, halved

300g passata

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Take four large pieces of foil, each measuring abo9ut 45cm x 30cm and lay them on the ork surface.

Share the pasta between the foil pieces, placing it in the centre of each piece. Sprinkle the rosemary on top, then share out the spring onions, prawns and tomatoes. Spoon the passata on top and season with a little salt and lots of black pepper.

  

Fold over the foil and seal to make four neat parcels, making sure that there are no gaps.

Put the parcels onto a baking tray and bake for 15 mins. Open up the parcels and serve.

Caramelised Onion and Goats Cheese Pizza

Another one for Ethel the Goat. I love trying different sauces on pizzas rather than tomato. This caramelised onion chutney works really well, it's sweet but not too sweet and it goes really well with the goat's cheese, a delicious alternative to normal pizza!

Goat's Cheese and Caramelised Onion Pizza

(Serves 1)

(12 WW ProPoints per serving)

1 150g pizza base

3 tbsp caramelised red onion chutney

80g Capricorn goat's cheese, sliced into rounds

1 medium tomato, sliced,

2 canned artichokes, halved

3-4 black olives, pitted and sliced

Preheat the oven to 220C.

Spread the red onion chutney onto the pizza base and add all the other ingredients on top. (If you're not doing WeightWatchers you could drizzle a little olive oil over the top).

Bake in the oven for 10 mins or until golden and crispy.