chicken & pumpkin lasagne

Baked pasta dishes, and especially lasagne are loved by most people i know. My trouble is that as much as I think they're delicious I often find that healthier versions don't always hit the right spot. What I've tried to do with this recipe is create 'lighter' version by upping the veg quota, cutting down on the pasta layers and not having too much meat. You could very easily make this an entirely vegetarian dish by using more mushrooms, no chicken and using vegetarian cheeses.


Pumpkin & Tomato Sauce
600g pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and cut into 3cm chunks
6 large cloves of garlic
1 tbsp vegetable oil
400g can of peeled plum tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
25g butter
1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half

White Sauce
500ml milk
30g butter
30g plain flour
200g grated cheese (I used a mixture of parmesan and cheddar)

250g cooked chicken (about 1 chicken breast), cut or shredded

handful of green beans, cut into bite sized pieces

couple of handfuls of spinach, washed

200g oyster mushrooms

1 medium aubergine

1 medium courgette

dried lasagne sheets

small bunch of basil

ground all spice
salt and pepper
vegetable oil for frying

Tomato & Pumpkin Sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Place the peeled, cubed pumpkin and un-peeled garlic cloves on a baking tray, pour over the oil and rub everything together with your hands so that everything has a coating of oil and is in a single layer. Roast in the oven for around 40minutes or until the pumpkin is cooked through and slightly coloured on the edges. Take care not to burn the garlic.
2. Meanwhile prepare the tomato sauce base by placing the tomatoes, halved onion, butter and oregano in a saucepan, place over a low heat and leave to gently bubble away, stirring occasionally and breaking up the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon if you wish for about 30 minutes. Once the tomatoes have reduced down and are not all watery remove from the heat and take out the onion.
3. In a food processor or blender put the pumpkin chunks, tomato mixture and peeled, roast garlic and blitz until smooth. You may need to add a little water to loosen it up - you're aiming for a thick, pouring consistency. Taste then adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and ground allspice as needed.  

White Sauce

1. Put the butter and cornflour in a saucepan over a medium heat and stir constantly until the butter is completely melted and you've got a thick paste. Cook the flour out for a minute. 
2. Next add the milk a little at a time, stirring thoroughly as you go. Make sure you have an even consistency before you add the next bit of milk. Continue you until you have a fairly thick white sauce and cook out for a couple of minutes and the taste of raw flour has disappeared. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon. 
3. Remove from the heat and stir through 160g of the grated cheese, a little ground black pepper and a pinch of allspice or nutmeg. 

Vegetables

1. Slice the courgette and aubergine lengthwise to a about half a centimetre thickness. 
2. Put some oil for shallow frying (about a centimetre depth) in a wide frying pan over a medium heat.
3. Once the oil is at temperature (you'll know it's ready when a piece of aubergine sizzles as soon as it touches the oil) fry off the courgette and aubergine slices in batches until the are a light golden colour on both sides then set to one side to drain on kitchen paper until you're ready to assemble the lasagne. NOTE: If you want to be particularly healthy don't fry the aubergine and courgette slices instead griddle them. I didn't because I don't currently own a griddle pan.
4. In a pan of gently boiling water quickly blanch the green beans for about a minute then remove and place straight away in ice cold water. 
5. Heat another pan, add the chopped, washed spinach and quickly wilt it then remove to a colander to allow the excess water to drain away. Set to one side.
6. Chop up the oyster mushrooms.

Putting it all together

1. Preheat the oven to about 200C. Combine the chopped mushrooms, beans, cooked chicken and pumpkin and tomato sauce.
2. Place a little of the white sauce on the base of your oven proof dish then put a single layer of lasagne sheets. Spread over the spinach followed by the aubergine slices, half the reserved cheese, half of the chicken and pumpkin mixture and scatter over some of the basil leaves.
3. Next place another pasta layer, followed by the courgette slices, the rest of the cheese, remaining chicken mixture, basil leaves, and top with a final pasta layer followed by the white sauce.
4. Put the dish in the oven for around 30 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown on top. Serve with a crisp salad and maybe some garlic bread too.

chorizo, potato and pumpkin stew with butter beans and spinach

I rarely have a particular plan when I visit the local farmers market, I just go looking for whatever looks tastiest and is the best deal. Today I came home with chorizo, potatoes and pumpkin and couldn't resist putting together a tasty stew. The nights are getting colder and there's nothing I like more than something warming and a little spicy on nights like this.

Ingredients
700g pumpkin/sweet potato/butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into bite size chunks
1 medium sized onion, finely diced
1kg potatoes (any will work, I used 'exquisite' potatoes)
1 ring of chorizo picante (use the dulce type if you prefer, picante is my favourite though)
1 x 400g can of butter beans or chick peas drained
1 x 400g can of tomatoes in juice
2 chicken stock cubes
2 tbsp hot smoked paprika
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp dried oregano
2-3 bay leaves (I used fresh ones from my garden)
1/2 tsp ground all spice
1 cup decent red wine
water
120g spinach, washed and chopped
Sliced spring onions and feta cheese to garnish

1. Peel the thin skin off the chorizo and cut into bite sized chunks.
2. Heat a large saucepan/casserole dish over a high heat then add the chorizo and cook for around 5 minutes or until the oils and spices are released and the meat is crispy on the edges.
3. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes until translucent and soft.
4. Throw in the fennel seeds, oregano and all spice followed by the red wine and bubble away for 5 minutes or so until you can no longer smell the harshness of the alcohol.
5. Now you will need to add the bay leaves, paprika, chicken stock cubes and tinned tomatoes, stir throroughly.
6. Add the the potatoes and pumpkin, stir so that it is coated in the tomatoey spicey goodness then fill the tomato can with water and then pour into the pan.
7. Cover and allow to bubble away until the potatoes and pumpkin are cooked, around 20-30 minutes. The pumpkin may well disappear into the sauce and break down more than the potatoes. This is a good think as it will help to thicken the sauce. If you don't want this to happen cook the potatoes for 5 minutes or so on their own then add the pumpkin later, or cut it into bigger chunks.
8. Add the butter beans and cook for a further 5 minutes until everything is cooked through. 
9. Throw in the spinach, stir through until it has wilted completely.
10. Serve garnished with some finely sliced up spring onions, crumbled feta and some chopped parsley if you have it. Some good crusty bread and glass of dry sherry or a red wine would be pretty awesome too.

herby orange barbecued chicken

This recipe started life as an experimental marinade for some chicken we were grilling for a recent barbecue. It was so tasty I felt I should share it.

Ingredients
Juice and zest of an orange
2 skin on chicken breasts (thighs and legs would also work well)
couple of sprigs of tarragon
1 tsp dried oregano
sprinkle of chili flakes (optional)
sprinkle of fennel seeds
1 tbsp agave syrup/maple syrup/brown sugar/honey
1 tbsp oil
2 whole, peeled cloves of garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
salt & pepper

Slash the chicken in several places taking care not to go all the way through. This will help cover more of it with the marinade and speed up the cooking process.
Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a container large enough to also hold the chicken.
Put the chicken in the marinade making sure it is worked into the meat. Cover then leave to marinate for about 20-30 minutes.
Heat up the grill, griddle pan or barbecue.
Place the chicken on to the hot grill flesh side down (or up if you are using a traditional grill) for 3-5 minutes until it leaves cleanly away from the grill.
Turn the chicken so that it is skin side down and cook for about 10 minutes or so until the skin is golden and crispy and the juices run clear.

Serve with a simple salad and some flat bread rice salad.