Courgette & Brie Pasta

pasta (4 portions)
2 courgettes
1 medium onion
1 garlic clove
brie
1 -2 tbsp creme fraiche
1 tbsp olive oil

Boil pasta in a saucepan of water.  Chop courgettes and brie into dice sized chunks, thinly slice onion and crush garlic.  Heat oil in a frying pan and when hot fry the courgettes, onion and garlic with a little seasoning until just cooked and a light brown tinge.  Once the pasta is cooked, drain and tip back into saucepan.  Add the courgette mixture along with the brie, some creme fraiche and season to taste.
Serve immediately with a fresh salad and some fresh bread.
It was delicious.  Yum! Yum!

Welcome to 'Carrots from the Allotment'

We have been renting an allotment for around 18 months.  We have just about got the plan of the plots laid out and rotated for the second year.

It is getting towards the end of the season now so most crops are ripening and ready for picking.
Today we harvested some cucumber and tomatoes which I made into a salad.  We also collected some courgettes and onions which Added to a delicious and simple pasta dish for dinner.
Check out my dish of 'Pasta with courgette and Brie' in the 'Kitchen News' blog.

Japanese Onions...

Had my delivery of Japanese onions yesterday...

Used Grow Bags....

Here is what I do with the used grow bags when it's time to throw out the old tomato plants...

1st pumpkin grown on my allotment.

Roasted the seeds in the oven.

Scraped out the flesh and made soup.

Remaining shell artisticly carved by Dyl.

Apple Sauce and Cup Cakes

This Sunday we had a lovely roast port dinner with some delicious apple sauce made from a couple of Bramley apples picked from the tree in the garden.  After lunch I had plenty of apple sauce left over.  I put some into the freezer and the rest inspired me to make some cupcakes flavoured with the apple sauce.

Apple Sauce

To make the apple sauce I peeled and diced 2 Bramley apples and put into a small saucepan with a large table spoon of sugar (granulated or caster) and a little water so the apple mixture is not dry.

Start to gently simmer the apple and add a splash of water if the apple becomes a little dry.  The sauce is ready once the apple is nice and soft and squishy.  Take the apple off the heat and use a potato masher and mash the sauce not so it is smooth but just not with too many large lumps in.   If you like it lumpy to go with your roast then just mash the apple prior to making the cakes.

Cupcakes

3 tbsp apple sauce

1 tbsp golden syrup

150g self raising flour

150g light muscavado sugar

150g sunflower spread

3 eggs

Put sunflower spread and sugar in a bowl and cream together.  Add the eggs and whisk together.  Add the flour and mix gently and not for too long.  Stir in the apple sauce and golden syrup.

Spoon into cupcake cases and sprinkle some muscavado sugar on the top.

Bake in a preheated oven at 170C for about 15 minutes.  Test they are cooked by gently pressing the top and they should spring back.   When they are done, leave to cool on a wire rack.

Leek and Potato Soup

5 small – medium Leeks

5 small potatoes

1 small white onion

vegetable stock

bouquet garnet

crème fraiche

Peel and chop potatoes, chop leeks and onion.  Put into a large saucepan with the bouquet garnet and just cover the vegetables  with the stock.  Add a sprinkling of black pepper.  Simmer the soup for about ½ and hour then leave to cool down for about another hour or so.

Once cooled a little remove the bouquet garnet then blend/liquidise until smooth and creamy.  Stir in a table spoon or two of crème fraiche and season to taste.

Can then be cooled and kept in the fridge for day or two, frozen if you want to keep it longer or re-heated and eaten straight away with some lovely fresh bread.

It didn’t make it to the freezer.  It all got scoffed for tea.

Courgette and Bacon Liguini

Linguini pasta

1 large courgette cut into cubes (from allotment)

1 small onion thinly sliced (from allotment)

3 rashers smoked streaky bacon chopped

½ tub crème fraiche

Boil pasta. While pasta is boiling fry onion, courgette and bacon in some olive oil and season with a little black pepper.  Once courgette starts to soften and starts to turn golden turn down heat and stir in crème fraiche and warm through gently.  Add to cooked pasta.

Serves 2 - Yum!