🥘 Carole’s nectarine, feta and yoghurt salad…

**🥘 1 mixing bowl 🍽 Serves 6 🛒 10 ingredients ⏱ 30 mins £6**

This combination of flavours makes a delicious summertime salad. Nectarines, tomatoes and basil with feta and Greek yoghurt – what’s not to love?

Ingredients:

3 ripe nectarines
3 large ripe tomatoes
Salt & black pepper
Basil – a large handful
7 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
100g feta
200g full – fat greek yoghurt
50g chopped pistachios
1 tbsp zaatar

Step by step:

Cut your nectarines and tomatoes into bitesize wedges. Place them in a bowl and scatter over some sea salt and a good grind of black pepper. Tear in the basil, add 4 tbsp of olive oil and the vinegar, leave to steep for 30 minutes.
Blitz half the feta with the yoghurt and a tablespoon of oil in a food processor until you have a smooth and silky dressing. Spoon this into a bowl, cover and store it in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
Chop your pistachios into small pieces and stir in the zaatar.
Assemble the nectarines, tomatoes and basil, spoon over the dressing. Finish by crumbling over the remaining feta and sprinkling over the pistachio and zaatar mixture.

**Serve with a small dish of extra dressing**

Tips and variations:

If your nectarines are under ripe, place them in a fruit bowl with some bananas for a day or so. If you want to use them straight away, pop the slices on a griddle pan and you will have nicely striped, soft, sweet fruit.
Add toasted breadcrumbs instead of nuts if you prefer, garnish with some anchovies or add some gherkins or capers.
Add some thinly sliced red onions and finely chopped garlic if you like a stronger flavour. If you want a really tangy flavour, substitute the feta for gorgonzola.

What is Zaatar? A spice used in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cooking. A combination of herbs, sesame seeds, sumac and salt, it is one of the world’s unique and best seasonings.

Choose a zaatar like the one shown above which contains sumac, cumin seeds, oregano and marjoram. Cheaper alternatives substitute these ingredients for citric acid.

🥘 Carole’s quiche Lorraine (new)…

🥘 1 pot 🍽 Serves 6 🛒 10 ingredients ⏱ 80 minutes £8

Made with a soft crumbly pastry base, this delicious quiche Lorraine will feed 6-8 people and is ideal served with a jacket potato or a few crisps and salad leaves. If time is against you, use a shop bought ready rolled shortcrust pastry.

Crumbly Butter Pastry Recipe

50g porridge oats
175g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
125g butter, chilled and cubed
Iced water

To make the pastry, place the oats in your food processor and blitz until powdery. Add the flour and butter, then pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add 2-3 tablespoons of water and pulse to combine.

When the mixture clumps together, knead briefly. Shape it into a flat disc, wrap it in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. You can make the pastry ahead as it will keep for up to 2 days in the fridge.

Ingredients:

200g bacon, chopped in large pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
4 eggs, 2 whole and 2 yolks
250ml double cream
200ml crème fraîche
100g gruyère, coarsely grated

Step by step:

Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Fry the bacon with a little olive oil until cooked then drain on kitchen paper. Beat the whole eggs, yolks, double cream and crème fraîche together and season.
Roll out your pastry or ready rolled shortcrust pastry and line the tart tin and prick the base all over with a fork.
Line the pastry case with parchment paper, fill with baking beans and bake blind for 15 minutes.
Take out the paper and beans and return to the oven for 5 minutes. Trim off any excess pastry with a sharp knife. Turn the oven down to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3.
Scatter the bacon and cheese (keeping back a small handful of cheese) into the pastry case, add the egg mix and scatter the rest of the cheese. Bake for 40 minutes or until just set in the middle and lightly golden. Serve at room temperature.

Tips:

Gruyère is the traditional cheese, Comté or good old Cheddar work just as well. Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Gruyère has a superb flavour.

Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference dry cured smoked bacon is worth the extra money and makes a good quiche Lorraine even better.

No time to make your own pastry? Use a ready rolled shortcrust pastry for excellent results.

Best buys for baking beans:

John Lewis £8.50
Lakeland £6.99
Dunelm £5.00

All sold in 700g quantities. John Lewis in Kilner jar, Lakeland and Dunelm come in plastic tubs

More information about tart tins and beans HERE

Asparagus Quiche Recipe HERE

🥘 Carole’s sausage tray bake…

🥘 1 pot 🍽 Serves 4 🛒 10 ingredients ⏱ 60 minutes £8

This is a favourite in our house. The children love it and any leftovers are great the next day.

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, sliced lengthways into wedges
2 red peppers deseeded and diced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
500g baby new potatoes, halved
8 mushrooms
12 sausages, pricked with a fork
200ml white wine, or stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Step by step:

Preheat the oven to 220C / 200C Fan / Gas 7.
Put everything in a large bowl and turn the ingredients until they are fully coated in the oil. Alternatively, pop all the ingredients in a large plastic freezer bag and squish it around until everything is coated in the oil.
Tip everything into a large roasting tin, spreading the ingredients out into one even layer and ensuring that the sausages aren’t covered by any of the vegetables. Season well with salt and pepper. Roast for about 30–35 minutes until golden-brown.
Remove from the oven, turn the sausages over and toss the vegetables in the cooking juices. Pour in the wine and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes or until browned and the sausages are cooked and the potatoes tender.
Serve hot with a dollop of mustard on the side.

🥘 Carole’s chicken and broccoli noodles…

🥘 1 pot 🍽 Serves 2 🛒 12 ingredients £8

This quick, low fat stir-fry is easy to make and ideal for a quick lunch or speedy supper. The sauce adds a wonderful flavour.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp sesame oil
1 large chicken breast, chopped
1/2 an onion, finely sliced
1/2 a yellow pepper, finely sliced
1/2 a red pepper, finely sliced
4 mushrooms, finely sliced
1/2 head of broccoli, cut into small pieces
60g peanuts

For the sauce:

1 tbsp runny honey
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp teriyaki sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp water (if required)

To make the sauce:

Mix together all the ingredients, simply shaking them in a clean lidded jam jar.

Step by step:

Add 2 tbsp of oil to your pan or wok, and fry off the chicken breast (approximately 5-8 minutes). When it’s cooked, lift the chicken out of the pan with a slotted spoon (this will leave much of the oil in the pan), and set it aside covered in foil.
In the same pan, fry off the onions adding a little more oil if needed. Then add the peppers, broccoli and mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, put your noodles on to cook as per the pack instructions and make the sauce.
Stir the sauce into the stir-fry vegetables, add the chicken and noodles. Serve with the peanuts sprinkled over.

Notes:

Did you know Broccoli is high in vitamin C? 100g gives you 148% of your daily requirement and counts only 34 calories.

* Prices were all checked July 2024

🥘 Carole’s Roasted, Sausage Stuffed Onions…

🥘 2 pots 🍽 Serves 4-6 🛒 10 ingredients ⏱ 60 minutes £8

This is a flavoursome side dish to serve with meat or fish. You will need an oven proof baking dish, or 30cm oven proof pan.

Ingredients:

6 large red onions
3 tbsp olive oil
sea salt
1 head garlic
500ml low salt chicken stock
1 tbsp flour
150ml single cream
white wine
1/2 kilo sausage meat
fresh thyme

Step by step:

Preheat your oven to 200C / 180C Fan.
Prepare your onions by peeling off the papery outer layer(s). Cut a thin sliver from the base (root end) to make the onions flat but not through the root so they stay intact. Trim the top of the onion by about 1/4 as per the photo (1) above.
Drizzle some olive oil (approx 2 tbsp) into your hands and rub it into the onions and sprinkle each with sea salt. Place the onions in the roasting dish.
Peel your garlic, make a small incision into each onion and insert some trimmed garlic cloves into the centre of each onion. Lay a good few sprigs of thyme over the onions and a good drizzle of olive oil. Pop them in the oven for 15-30 minutes (depending on the size of your onions).
Bring your stock to a boil and remove from the heat to cool slightly. Stir in the wine, cream and the flour.
Brown your sausage meat in a pan for a few minutes.
Take your onions out of the oven and remove the garlic and a few inner layers of the onion. Chop these finely and set aside. Add onions and garlic to the sausage meat and spoon these back into your onions. Pop them back in the baking dish. Pour over the stock and cream mixture and bake for another 30 minutes. Baste the onions regularly.
Serve, one per person with a good spoonful of the sauce and extra sprig of thyme

Tips:

We have used small red onions because we like the slightly sweeter flavour. Experiment with large white / Spanish onions if you prefer. Try grated cheese or use chopped pancetta instead of sausagemeat.
Step 8. We use a teaspoon to excavate smaller onions, if you are using large onions, a tablespoon will work well. If you have the right size pan or baking dish the liquid will come about 1/2 way up the onions.
Your sauce should be thick and creamy but not gloopy, add a little hot water if necessary. Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper if required.
Use double cream if you prefer and vary the amount of garlic you use to suit your own taste.

🥘 Prune juice…

Everyone knows that prune juice is ideal to keep the bowel working well. But did you know prune juice is also rich in iron and potassium? Our body uses iron to make hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells. Potassium helps our nerves, muscles and heart function well.

Whilst Biona is excellent, James White is equally as tasty and best value for money.

If you’re buying 1 litre cartons Morrisons own brand is excellent value. Sainsbury’s is also good. However, both have design problems with opening spout which make pouring difficult and resealing nearly impossible. Sunsweet with a screw top is the outright winner in carton juice.

240ml (1 cup) of prune juice provides 30% of the recommended daily allowance of iron for men and 17% for women.

For tinned prunes, Princes is the overall best value for money and best taste with our tasters.

🥘 Carole’s Kedgeree…

Quick and easy, kedgeree is a nice light meal for lunch or supper.

Ingredients:

225g smoked haddock
175g long-grain rice
salt, pepper and cayenne
1 onion, finely chopped
55g butter
2 hard-boiled eggs
150g petit pois
chopped parsley to garnish

Step by step:

Pour boiling water over the haddock and leave it to stand for 5 minutes, remove any bones and skin, and flake the fish coarsely.
Bring 600ml of water to the boil in a large saucepan with seasonings to taste, pour in the rice and stir in the seasoning, cover and cook over a very low heat for about 25 minutes until all the water is absorbed and the rice is fluffy. While the rice is cooking, fry the onion in a little of the butter until soft and transparent.
Cook your petit pois for a few minutes.
Chop the hard-boiled eggs. Stir the flaked fish, the onion, egg whites, peas and the rest of the butter into the cooked rice, and season well.

Tips:

Nigel Slater finely chops the whites and presses the yolks through a sieve to make a decorative topping for whole dish. If you’re entertaining this can be a nice idea.

🥘 Carole’s apple and celeriac soup…

Easy to make and packed with vitamins A, C and K.

Ingredients:

1 onion diced
1 tbsp olive oil
3 small apples or 2 large, peeled, cored and cut into small pieces
1 medium celeriac peeled and cut into cubes
1 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp salt
750ml vegetable stock
250ml almond milk (optional)
2 tbsp walnuts roughly chopped
1/2 tbsp thyme

Step by step:

Heat the olive oil in a large pot on medium heat. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes until it begins to soften.
Add the cubed apple, celeriac, thyme, salt and 500ml of the vegetable stock and simmer for 20 minutes until the celeriac is soft.
Use a stick blender to puree everything in the pot. Once smooth return the mixture to the pot and add in the remaining vegetable stock and almond milk (if using). Stir and bring to a boil. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt, thyme or vegetable stock if too thick.
In a bowl combine the chopped walnuts and thyme and mix
Serve the soup topped with the walnuts and thyme.

Notes:

Using milk / cream ingredients will make the soup richer and creamier and if you like to fry off some sage leaves, they make a welcome addition. As always, a few shards of chopped bacon are also welcome for meat eaters.

🥘 Carole’s vegetable and frankfurter soup…

This really is one of those make it up as you go along soups and an ideal opportunity to use up any vegetables you have to hand.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 red pepper. peeled and chopped
1 red onion, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp flour
1 litre hot vegetable stock
1 tin sweetcorn (about 80g drained)
80g frozen peas
2 mushrooms, peeled and chopped
2 frankfurters, chopped
150g cooked chicken torn into strips
1 pack noodles
Chopped parsley

Step by step:

Add the oil to your pan and then add the chopped vegetables (except the peas and sweetcorn). Sautee for 5 minutes. Sprinkle over the flour and stir.
Add the stock, and cook until the vegetables are tender, then add the remaining ingredients and cook for another 5 minutes
Serve piping hot with a drizzle of oil and sprinkle of chopped parsley.

Notes:

You can obviously leave out the Frankfurter and chicken for a vegetarian option.

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

£1.50 for 8 cubes – Waitrose Special Offer

🥘 Carole’s arancini…

**🥘 1 pan 🍽 Serves 6 🛒 14 ingredients £6**

Arancini rice balls are a perfect light lunch or starter and ideal way to use up any leftover risotto. Easily prepared and cooked using a variety of fillings. Fresh herbs and petit pois are a favourite and chopped bacon or ham also goes well.

If you’re making from scratch, this is a good basic recipe:

Ingredients

For the filling:

2 tbsp olive oil
15g unsalted butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
350g risotto rice
150ml dry white wine
1.2 litres hot chicken or veg stock
150g parmesan finely grated
1 lemon finely zested
150g ball mozzarella, chopped into 18 small pieces
vegetable oil, for deep-frying

For the coating:

150g plain flour
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
150g fine dried breadcrumbs (panko are ideal)

Step by step:

Heat the oil and butter in a large pan until foaming gently. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and fry gently over a low heat for 15 mins, or until softened and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
Stir in the rice and cook for a further minute, then pour in the wine. Bring to the boil and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Pour in half the stock and simmer, stirring continuously, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Add the remaining stock a ladleful at a time as the rice absorbs the liquid, stirring, until the rice is cooked through (approximately 20-25 mins). Stir in the parmesan and lemon and season to taste. Spread the risotto out into a lipped tray and leave to cool to room temperature.
Scoop the cooled risotto into 18 equal portions – they should be slightly larger than a golf ball. Flatten a risotto ball in your hand and put a piece of the mozzarella in the centre, then enclose the cheese in the rice and roll it into a ball. Repeat with the remaining risotto balls.
Put the flour, eggs and breadcrumbs into three separate shallow bowls. Dip each prepared risotto ball into the flour, followed by the eggs and finally the breadcrumbs. Transfer to a tray and set aside.
Half-fill a large, heavy-based saucepan with vegetable oil and heat over medium-low until it reads 170C on your cooking thermometer or until a piece of bread turns golden brown in the oil within 45 seconds. Lower the risotto balls into the oil in batches and cook for 8-10 mins, or until golden brown and melted in the centre. Set aside on a tray lined with a clean kitchen towel.
Serve warm with a salad garnish and pesto / romesco sauces for dipping.

Tips: Don’t try and fry all the arancini at once as the temperature of the oil will drop too low and affect the crispiness.

Another good recipe is Carole’s courgette fritters > Here