'Whatever I had in my fridge' Calzone.

 

Today I got home from work, opened the fridge and let my culinary instinct take over.

It pretty much went like this: *sees left over pizza dough* - "hmm don't fancy pizza. What could I do instead? Flat breads? Nah. Hmm. Not sure. Err…CALZONE." (yes I talk to my fridge).

I stuck it in Google for inspiration and ended up taking Jamie Oliver's advice that anything could go in one very seriously. This is literally a once around my fridge concoction.

If your not a ridiculous food enthusiast and don't have a bread maker a pizza dough recipe can be found here - http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/uncategorised-recipes/pizza-dough.

Makes 4 Calzone.

1 Pizza Dough recipe
Either shop bought or homemade tomato sauce
1/2 a butternut squash, cubed
1 bulb of fennel
4 rashers of bacon
2 cloves of garlic
small bunch of parsley
1/2 a red chill
1/2 a bag of rocket
pinch of dried oregano
Cream Cheese
Parmesan

In a deep frying pan fry off the bacon and then throw in the squash.

After another few minutes sweat the garlic, oregano and chill in until fragrant, add the tomato sauce and a good glug of water.

While the squash softens roll out balls of dough into circles and spread the cream cheese on the dough leaving a 2 cm cheese free zone around the perimeter.

When the squash is soft  and the water has evaporated in the pan add the fennel (added late to retain crunch) parsley, rocket and season. Let the rocket wilt and then allow the mixture to cool.

 Spoon the mixture into your rolled out circles of dough and top with a healthy dose of Parmesan. Try and resist the temptation to over fill them.

 

Fold the dough over into semi circles and then crimp the edges (probably with more talent than I demonstrate here), sprinkle with Parmesan again and bake until golden and crisp (about 15 minutes). 

Venison Sausage Ragu.

So it’s been a while but I think I’m now back in the blogosphere for good (well, I can only hope). The last month has been crazy with getting degree results, two weeks of waitressing at Wimbledon Tennis and being in London for a bit. However I’m back in Brighton from next week for my graduation, (yes. GRADUATION. I feel so old. Sob.) so normality should soon resume.

This was a recipe I threw together as a result of getting very overexcited about some venison sausages I found on deal in the supermarket. Needless to say I indulged and inspired by the ‘pregnant Jools pasta’ episode of Jamie’s 30 minute meals I put together this ragu.

It delicious, meaty and rich meaning that the accompanying simply dressed salad is a really lovely addition, you could use any sausages you want really as long as they’re reasonably good quality, I just got very excited as a student with the prospect of venison.

Serves 4

6 sausages

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

½ red chili, chopped

handful of mushrooms, chopped

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

good glug of red wine

1 tsp sugar

fresh basil, stalks chopped and leaves shredded

enough pasta for 4, cooked to packet instructions with a ½  mug of the starchy pasta water saved

parmesan

bag of salad (I used a watercress and peashoot mix)

olive oil

lemon juice

salt

pepper

In a dry pan on a medium heat, squeeze out the innards of the sausages and break up with a wooden spoon until you have a mince-like-consistancy. When the meat has started to develop caramelized edges, reduce the heat, add a glug of olive oil, the onions and mushrooms.

Once the veggies have sweated down, add the garlic, chilli and basil stalks and sweat until fragrant.

Throw in the tomatoes, sugar, wine and a good tin full of water, season to taste and leave to simmer until the majority of the liquid evaporates.

When your happy with consistency of the ragu add the pasta and the pasta’s cooking water. This will help the sauce take on a velvety-coat-all-the-pasta vibe.

Serve with the salad drizzled with some extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice, scattered with parmesan shavings.

Holly's Bake.

This is one of those recipes that has real a family legacy. Whenever we serve it the story that comes with it is obligatory, so obviously I feel compelled to share it here.

Back in 2000 my dad took a sabbatical off work and as a family we went traveling, the trip culminating in us living in New Zealand for 5 months. My sisters and I went to school there, we rented a house and adopted a full on Kiwi lifestyle for the duration of our stay.

A family favorite was always this bake. It features layers of chicken, mozzarella and grilled vegetables on a bed of homemade tomato sauce. 

One time Elle, my older sister, had a friend called Holly around and my parents served this for dinner. Holly enjoyed it so much she asked for the recipe and attempted to make it at home for her parents.

Before I continuing I should point out that there was not much of a foodie culture out there, not in the way us Brits do it anyway.

One of the most prominent issues I recall having was the fact that they didn’t have Heinz tomato ketchup. Instead, they had this monstrosity of a condiment called ‘Whatties tomato sauce’, the local replacement for my beloved Heinz. Its tag line was ‘you’ll always be a Kiwi if you love our Whattie’s sauce’, needless to say, not being a Kiwi, I was not a fan.

But anyway, back to Holly. It transpires she had later attempted to make this dish but instead of making a tomato sauce with chopped onions, garlic and tinned tomatoes etc, she had simply up-ended several bottles of ‘Whattie’s tomato sauce’ into a baking dish and then layered the chicken, veg and mozzarella on top. Not so yummy me thinks.

So, to honor her valiant effort my family named the dish after her.

Here is my (I promise more yummy than Holly’s) version:

2 tblsp olive oil

2 chicken breasts

2 large courgettes

1 block of mozzarella

1 small bunch of basil, leaves picked and stalks finely chopped

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 onion, chopped

2 fat cloves of garlic, chopped

½ a chili, chopped

1 tsp dried oregano

large handful freshly grated parmesan

Salt and Pepper

Pre heat your oven to 200 Degrees.

In a pan sweat the onions in half the oil.

When soft throw in the garlic, chili, oregano and basil stalks. Sweat until fragrant then add the chopped tomatoes and half a tin of water.

Season and leave to simmer until it thickens.

While that simmers slice your courgettes, brush with rest of the olive oil and stick under the grill, turn when golden and remove when soft and golden on both sides.

Meanwhile, slice your chicken breasts lengthways into 4 strips and your mozzarella into slices. 

When everything is ready assemble the bake;

Put the tomato sauce in the base, then in rows layer the courgette, chicken, and mozzarella until the dish is full. Push some basil leaves in between some of the layers and then sprinkle with the parmesan.

Bake until golden on top and bubbling. 

Serve with pasta, crusty bread or whatever you fancy.