🥘 Carole’s minestrone and kielbasa soup…

🥘  1 pan |  🍽 Serves 4 | ⏱ 25 mins
🛒 12 ingredients | £1.50pp

Kielbasa is the generic name for any Polish meat filled sausage and is available in most Polish supermarkets.

The smoky flavour of the sausage and addition of gnocchi makes this a delicious and hearty soup. Ready in less than half an hour, it freezes well in the very unlikely event there are any leftovers.

Ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large carrot, chopped
  • 1 medium size onion, chopped
  • 2 sticks celery, chopped
  • 1 small red pepper, chopped
  • 6 mushrooms, chopped
  • 2 low salt vegetable stock cubes to make 500ml stock
  • 1 tin cannellini beans
  • 1 tin tomatoes
  • 1/4 Polish sausage, chopped
  • 1/2 packet gnocchi
  • Chopped parsley

Step by step:

  1. Sauté the chopped vegetables in the olive oil, approx 5 minutes
  2. Add the tomatoes, stock and sausage. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables are cooked
  3. Add the gnocchi which will thicken the soup and cook for another 3-5 minutes

Notes:

We use Kallo® organic vegetable very low salt stock cubes.

£1.50 for 8 cubes – Waitrose Special Offer

🥘 Rhubarb cheesecake…

This attractive cheesecake is ideal for a dinner party dessert. Serve with stewed rhubarb pulp.

Equipment needed:

A loose bottomed 20cm round cake tin and a food processor

Ingredients:

FOR THE BASE

  • flavourless oil, to grease
  • 200g digestive biscuits
  • 75g butter, melted

FOR THE CHEESECAKE

  • 4 sheets of leaf gelatine
  • juice and zest of 2 lemons
  • 500g mascarpone
  • 2 x 180g packs full-fat soft cheese (we used Philadelphia)
  • 100g caster sugar

FOR THE RHUBARB JELLY

  • 400g rhubarb, chopped
  • 125g caster sugar
  • 4 sheets of leaf gelatine 
  1. Line the base of the cake tin and brush the sides lightly with oil.
  2. For the base, blitz the biscuits into crumbs in a food processor, combine them with the melted butter and stir well so all the crumbs are coated in the butter. Press into the base of the tin in an even layer. Chill in the fridge while you make the filling.
  3. For the cheesecake layer, soften the gelatine in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes. Put the lemon juice in a pan and heat until just simmering. Remove from the heat. Squeeze out any excess liquid from the gelatine, then add it to the lemon juice. Stir until dissolved, then set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
  4. Put the mascarpone, soft cheese, sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl and whisk together. Add the lemon and gelatine mixture and continue to whisk until fully incorporated. Pour into the tin and smooth the top, making sure that it’s as level as you can make it. Chill in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours or until set firm.
  5. To make the jelly, put the rhubarb and sugar in a saucepan. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved, then bring to a simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until the rhubarb is very soft. Meanwhile, soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes until soft.
  6. Press the rhubarb through a sieve, catching the juice in a jug underneath, then set the rhubarb pulp aside. Add the gelatine to the hot rhubarb liquid and stir until dissolved. Set aside to cool to room temperature, then pour the jelly over the top of the cheesecake. Cover and chill for at least 4-6 hours, or overnight if possible, to set firmly.
  7. To serve, remove the cheesecake from the tin and slice into 8 slices.
£2.12 from Ocado
£2.20 from Tesco £1.20 with Clubcard

🥁 LP’s and 12″ Collectables…

Here is a selection of albums and 12″ singles. All are in fine shape and I hope you find something of interest.

Ace Spectrum – Live And Learn…

Special promo disc (same song both sides) £20

Kent – For Dancers Also…

EX/EX+ £15

Kent – Club Soul…

EX/EX £15

Kent – Floor Shakers…

EX/EX+ £15

Kent – On The Up Beat…

EX/EX+ £15

Kent – Big City Soul…

EX+/EX+ £15

Kent Stax – Various Artists…

EX/EX £15

Greg Perry – It Takes Heart…

12″ Single EX/EX+ £10

Inferno – Soul Galore…

EX/EX+ £15

Marvin Gaye – Lucky Lucky Me…

EX+/EX+ £15

Barbara Lynn – You Don’t Have To Go….

VG+/EX £10

Post & Packing…