Harissa roasted chickpea and vegetable traybake

Posted on February 11, 2023 by Janet Davies @pigeoncottage

Tray bakes are brilliant for fast no-fuss family suppers and this one is really versatile because you can adapt it for vegans, vegetarians or meat eaters and it’s good for low-carb dieters. Roast the veg selection and chickpeas in my spicy harissa sauce first (vegan), top with sriracha yoghurt (vegetarian) and then top with roasted pulled lamb (I had leftovers – links are in the ingredient list), pork or chicken for the meat eaters. Try it, it’s pretty good!

harissa roast traybake

Serves 4

  • 1 aubergine, diced into 3cm chunks
  • 1 red pepper, chopped into 3cm pieces
  • 1 large red onion, peeled and sliced from root to tip
  • 1 large parsnip, peeled and diced
  • 1 large courgette, chopped into 5cm batons
  • 1 large green chilli, thinly sliced
  • 1 x 400g can of chickpeas, drained
  • 2 generous tbsps smoked harissa paste (I use Belazu)
  • 2 tbsps light olive oil
  • 1 tsp garlic paste
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 tsp roasted cumin
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
  • 2 tbsps thick Greek yoghurt mixed with 2 tsps of smoky sriracha sauce
  • Optional toppings: pulled roast lamb, pork or shredded roast chicken

To make…

  • In a large baking dish, add the olive oil, harissa, garlic paste, tomato puree paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Whisk it all together to create a smooth paste.
  • Preheat the oven to 210C.
  • Prep all the vegetables and add them to the baking dish along with the drained chickpeas. Using a couple of spoons or spatulas, carefully toss all the veg and chickpeas in the paste so the whole thing is evenly coated. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, remove from the oven and give it a stir so that all the contents get roasted. Return to the oven for another 10 to 20 minutes until the top is roasted. Remove from the oven and stir in the fresh coriander.
  • Until this point, the dish is vegan and can be served as is. If you top it with spoonfuls of the sriracha yoghurt (or serve it on the side) it is suitable for vegetarians. For meat eaters top it with shredded roast lamb, pork or chicken and then dot with the yoghurt.
  • Take it to the table and let everyone dig in!

Share, follow, like, enjoy!

  • To get the latest #TheFridayRecipe from the Pigeon Cottage Kitchen blog, just add your email address to the subscribe box at the top right-hand column of the website. 
  • Follow me on Twitter @pigeoncottage,  on Instagram at Pigeon Cottage Kitchen, and the Pigeon Cottage Kitchen page on Facebook.
  • Click on the link to get your very own copy of my family recipe book, Whats4teaMum?

Book your one to one cookery coaching session here! 

Posted in Eat to beat diabetes, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rhubarb and custard panna cotta

Posted on February 3, 2023 by Janet Davies @pigeoncottage

I love the beautiful soft pink of gently baked rhubarb and it’s perfect with this ‘custard’ Panna cotta topped with ginger crumble. It’s very easy to make and a total crowd-pleaser. Rhubarb season will start soon so make this your first dish. Enjoy!

Rhubarb and custard

Serves 6

  • 3 sheets of gelatine
  • 500ml semi-skimmed milk
  • 300ml double cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla paste
  • 75g golden caster sugar
  • 20g Birds custard powder
  • 600g rhubarb
  • 1 orange
  • 2 tbsps golden caster sugar
  • 3 ginger nut biscuits or 15g crystallised ginger, 25g unsalted butter, 25g light muscovado sugar, 50g plain flour

To make…

  • Trim and cut the rhubarb into 5cm batons. Lay them in a single layer in a snug-fitting baking dish. Sprinkle over the sugar and the juice and a little zest from the orange. Cook in the bottom of the oven at 150C for 25 minutes until it has softened but still holds its shape. Remove and leave to cool.
  • To make the custard, cover the the gelatine in ice cold water and leave to soften. Pour 400ml of milk, the vanilla paste and the cream into a non-stick saucepan. Simmer gently. In a bowl, dissolved the sugar, custard powder and the remaining 100ml of milk. Pour half the warm milk into the bowl, whisk it together and pour it into the remaining warm milk. Simmer for 5 minutes, whisk constantly to stop it sticking. Drain the gelatine sheets and then whisk into the milk mixture until dissolved. Pass the mixture through a sieve into a large jug. Divide it into six lightly oiled dariole moulds or ramekins. Leave to cool and, cover tightly with clingfilm and leave in the fridge overnight to set.
  • To make the topping, either reduce the ginger biscuits to medium chunks of rubble with a rolling pin or make your own. Preheat the oven to 180C. Finely chop the ginger, and then put butter, sugar and flour in a food processor and pulse until chunks form. Scatter them over a baking tray and bake for 20 o 25 minutes until dark and golden, turning halfway. You can pinch pieces together to make different sizes.
  • To serve, pour some boiling water into a shallow bowl and submerge 3/4 of the pot or mould in the water and then turn it out quickly onto a serving plate. Turn all six out and then add a serving of rhubarb to each one and scatter with the ginger crumb.

Share, follow, like, enjoy!

  • To get the latest #TheFridayRecipe from the Pigeon Cottage Kitchen blog, just add your email address to the subscribe box at the top right-hand column of the website. 
  • Follow me on Twitter @pigeoncottage,  on Instagram at Pigeon Cottage Kitchen, and the Pigeon Cottage Kitchen page on Facebook.
  • Click on the link to get your very own copy of my family recipe book, Whats4teaMum?

Book your one to one cookery coaching session here! 

Posted in Desserts, Recipes | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rigatoni pasta bake

Posted on January 27, 2023 by Janet Davies @pigeoncottage

Sometimes, you just want a simple family crowdpleaser that uses store cupboard ingredients and can be scaled to feed more hungry mouths just by tweaking the amount of pasta you use. This is that dish. I’ve used chorizo as the main protein component here as it adds so much flavour but you could just as easily use chopped bacon, a can of tuna or tuck in chunks of raw cod into the pasta at the same time as the mozzarella balls – just reduce the baking time in the oven if you use fish so that it doesn’t dry out.

pasta bake

Serves 4

  • 1x 400g can of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp light olive oil
  • 1 green pepper, cored and chopped into 1/2cm pieces
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 Spanish chorizo ring, casing removed and chopped into 2cm pieces
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/tsp chilli flakes
  • 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
  • 1 tbsp milk
  • 300g mezzi rigatoni pasta (I use Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference range)
  • 1x150g pack of mozzarella minis (I use Essential Waitrose)
  • 6 large sun dried tomatoes – halved
  • 1 tbsp grated Parmesan
  • 1 tbsp Panko breadcrumbs

To make…

  • Prepare the chopped pepper, onion and chorizo pieces.
  • Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan over a medium heat. Add the chorizo pieces, cook for about 5 minutes and allow them to render their oil. Add the chopped onion and pepper and a generous pinch of salt. Stir thoroughly and cook for 8 minutes or so until softened and golden.
  • Cook the rigatoni in plenty of boiling salted water for 10minutes.
  • Add the paprika, canned and sun-dried tomatoes, chilli flakes, sherry and milk. Stir and cook through until the pasta is ready.
  • Lightly grease a medium sized baking dish and preheat the oven to 200C.
  • Use a slotted spoon to transfer the drained pasta into the sauce, add a couple of tablespoons of the pasta water and stir. This will thicken the sauce and make the texture feel silky. Taste the sauce and add a little more salt and black pepper if you feel it needs it.
  • Transfer the pasta into the baking dish and give it a little shake to make sure it’s even and fills the whole dish.
  • Drain the little mozzarella balls and tuck them evenly throughout the pasta – these will form lovely little gooey pockets of cheese in the final dish. Scatter over the breadcrumbs and the Parmesan.
  • Place the dish on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until the dish is bubbling hot and a crisp savoury crust has formed.
  • Serve with a simple green salad .

Share, follow, like, enjoy!

  • To get the latest #TheFridayRecipe from the Pigeon Cottage Kitchen blog, just add your email address to the subscribe box at the top right-hand column of the website. 
  • Follow me on Twitter @pigeoncottage,  on Instagram at Pigeon Cottage Kitchen, and the Pigeon Cottage Kitchen page on Facebook.
  • Click on the link to get your very own copy of my family recipe book, Whats4teaMum?

Book your one to one cookery coaching session here! 

Posted in Pasta, Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sri Lankan moules

Posted on January 20, 2023 by Janet Davies @pigeoncottage

I love a classic French Moules a la Marinere with a crisp Muscadet and cream sauce but this Sri Lankan version makes a delicious change. I was given a copy of the Hoppers cookbook (a small chain of excellent Sri Lankan restaurants in London) for Christmas and this is the first recipe I tried. I’ve adapted it slightly to make it easier and, I think, tastier. The sauce contains lots of beautiful aromatics so the sauce is best made ahead to allow all the wonderful flavours to develop fully. It only takes 10 minutes to make the sauce and the mussels cook in just a few minutes. Rope-grown mussels from Waitrose are my ‘mussel of choice’ – clean, plump and delicious. You can buy curry leaves from Asian grocery stores – buy a lot and freeze what you don’t use for another time. Serve with rice noodles or plain rice to soak up the fragrant coconut sauce and you’ve got a seriously delicious treat on your hands.

Sri Lankan moules

Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a starter

  • 1kg rope grown mussels (I buy them from Waitrose)
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil or light rapeseed oil
  • 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
  • 1 small cinnamon stick
  • 1 medium red onion, finely sliced
  • 2 lemongrass sticks cut into 5cm pieces
  • 12 fresh curry leaves
  • 3/4 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1x 400ml tin of coconut milk
  • 2 green chillies, halved lengthways (retain the seeds)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • Garnish: defrosted frozen or freshly grated coconut, chopped fresh coriander, samphire tips
  • To serve: plain rice or rice noodles

To make…

  • To make the sauce, heat the oil in a large saucepan, medium heat. Add the fenugreek and cinnamon stick and allow to fry for 30 seconds. Add the sliced onion, garlic, lemongrass and curry leaves and continue to cook for another couple of minutes until the onion is soft but not browned. Add the turmeric and cook for another 15 seconds. Stir in the coconut milk, salt and green chillies. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for 4 minutes being careful not to allow it to boil. Take it off the heat and set aside. Once cooled, allow the flavours to infuse for at least an hour in the fridge before cooking the mussels.
  • Prepare the mussels carefully. Rope grown mussels tend to be pretty clean to begin with so just rinse them in clean water, remove the beards with a paring knife and discard any that have cracked shells.
  • When you’re ready to cook, add the sauce back to your large lidded saucepan, bring it to a high simmer and then add the mussels. Stir and cover with the lid. The mussels will cook in the steam in 2 to 3 minutes and begin to open. Shake the pan every 30 seconds or so.
  • After 3 minutes, discard any that haven’t opened. Share out equally into warmed serving bowls and scatter the garnish over them.
  • When you serve the mussels, give everyone a half of a fresh lime so they can squeeze the juice over the mussels and to sharpen the sauce. I find the coconut sauce a little rich without plenty of lime juice. Serve the noodles or rice on the side, it’s delicious mixed in with the sauce, garnish and the sweet juicy mussels. Make sure you add a big bowl onto the table for all the discarded shells and provide plenty of napkins.

Share, follow, like, enjoy!

  • To get the latest #TheFridayRecipe from the Pigeon Cottage Kitchen blog, just add your email address to the subscribe box at the top right-hand column of the website. 
  • Follow me on Twitter @pigeoncottage,  on Instagram at Pigeon Cottage Kitchen, and the Pigeon Cottage Kitchen page on Facebook.
  • Click on the link to get your very own copy of my family recipe book, Whats4teaMum?

Book your one to one cookery coaching session here! 

Posted in Recipes, Seafood | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment