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Spaghetti Squash Bolognaise

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spag-bol

Autumn time is the season for squash, although butternut squash is readily available in supermarkets, you will hopefully be able to find a spaghetti squash too.  This squash is named spaghetti because when it is cooked the flesh can be pulled away like the pasta and if you think this won’t fill you up like regular pasta, think again!  It contains roughly the same amount of fiber as pasta but with all the added nutrients such as vitamin A and potassium.

This one was delivered in my Abel and Cole Organic box but keep your eyes peeled for this versatile squash.

spaghetti-squash

After you cut the squash in half and roast in the oven for 30 minutes, you just need to use a fork to gently pull away the fibrous vegetable so that it appears  like spaghetti.  It doesn’t taste quite like pasta, (courgette noodles are probably closer to the texture of pasta) but it makes a great accompaniment to bolognaise and the perfect way to add in an extra portion of vegetables.

squash-with-fork

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Spaghetti Squash Bolognaise
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Italian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 1 large spaghetti squash
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 teaspoon of coconut oil
  • 450g of grass-fed beef mince
  • 2 cups of veal stock (beef stock could also be used here)
  • 2 cloves of crushed garlic
  • ¼ teaspoon of sea salt
  • 1 tin of tomato paste
  • 4 large tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon of oregano
Instructions
  1. Finely dice the onion, cook in a large saucepan in the coconut oil until soft on a medium heat, remove from the pan and set aside to stop the onion from further cooking
  2. Add the mince to the pan and cook till fully browned, about 10 minutes
  3. Add all the other ingredients including the onion
  4. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 40 minutes, stir occasionally.
  5. Cut the spaghetti squash in half and put in the oven for 30 minutes, remove the seeds and use a fork to pull the squash apart like spaghetti.
  6. Plate up and serve.

 

Spiced Pork belly with griddled asparagus and hollandaise sauce

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Spiced-pork

Asparagus is very much in season at the moment, readily available in all the supermarkets and I adore asparagus.  Asparagus is packed with nutrition, it is full of fibre and is a naturel source of folate which is used for the development of red blood cells and supporting the nervous system and most well-known for its supplementation when pregnant as folic acid.  It also has strong antioxidant capabilities containing a compound called glutathione which is also found in avocados and kale but has been shown to negate free radicals in the body to protect cells against cancer and the aging process.

pork-belly-2

This recipe will test your fear of fat, but don’t be nervous of eating fat especially these ones that are very healthy, natural fats.  One of the biggest myths to loosing weight is that we should only be eating the whites of an egg and discarding the yolk but this is very bad advise because this is actually the healthiest part of the egg to eat.  Choose your eggs wisely and eat organic eggs, you are only adding about 20p to the price of your egg but there is a substantial difference in taste and nutrition.  An organic egg will come from a chicken allowed to roam and peck at the grass, the egg subsequently laid contains a high % of omega 3 fats, it’s kinder to the chicken and kinder to your body too.  The colour from these eggs, as you will see in the picture is also a much more vibrant yellow yolk and it tastes far creamier.  This sauce is very easy to make, it takes 5 minutes maximum and is worth every minute.

Pork belly is incredibly reasonable to buy and once you’ve added some spice very easy to cook too.  Nothing better than a crunchy piece of crackling!

Tip:  Hold the asparagus at either end and snap it, you will break off the edible longer piece and leave the tough woody part in the other hand.

 

5.0 from 4 reviews
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Spiced Pork belly with gridded asparagus and hollandaise sauce
Author: 
Recipe type: Main course
Cuisine: Spiced pork belly
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2
 
Ingredients
  • Pork belly
  • 1 teaspoon of cumin
  • 1 teaspoon of turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon of sea salt
  • Ground black pepper
  • 12 asparagus
  • 1 tablespoon of EV Olive Oil
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
  • 2 tablespoons of butter
  • ½ a lemon
  • Handful of rocket
  • Parmesan shavings
Instructions
  1. Make a rub with the cumin, turmeric, pepper and a pinch of the sea salt and rub all over the pork belly both sides. Place on a sheet of greeseproof paper and put into the oven on 200 degrees for 30 minutes. Then turn down and cook for a further 1 hour on 180 degrees.
  2. minutes before the end turn your griddle pan on and allow it to heat up (you can just use a frying pan if you don't have a griddle), when hot add a little olive oil and put asparagus crossways against the griddle lines and roll over every minute to create a beautiful slight charring on the skin. They take about 3 minutes to cook so not long.
  3. Pour boiling water into your blender and tip out, this will enable you to cook the eggs while you're creating your sauce.
  4. Add the egg yolks and lemon and blend with the lid on and mix.
  5. Melt the coconut oil and butter in a pan and add slowly to the blender whilst it is on a lower setting for blending. Keep blending for a couple of minutes while the sauce thickens.
  6. Serve a generous chunk of spiced pork belly with hollandaise sauce, griddled asparagus, rocket and a few shavings of parmesan to top (I just used my potato peeler). Enjoy.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust with Chorizo and Mozzarella

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chorizo-pizza

I never particularly liked pizza as a child, the thin based crusts were ok but they always left me feeling bloated and uncomfortable after and so I stopped eating them.  If you know me well, you’ll know there are not many foods I don’t like, a few that I now avoid but not dislike…

Then I came across cauliflower pizza bases and I’ve suddenly fallen in love with pizza.  This is the perfect recipe for children, the main ingredient is cauliflower and shhh… they will never know!!  Cauliflower is full of fibre and vitamins, especially vitamin K and is an anti-inflammatory so if you’re body is in an immune response, (swelling to protect) it can counter this and help you heal.

I’ve seen lots of complicated recipes for pizza bases but I wanted to keep it simple, most people don’t have the time to spend ages making pizza bases.  It takes me about 10 minutes to make this base and if I chop a whole cauliflower, I save the rest and use it as an alternative to rice (another great substitute).

These are some of my favorite toppings, I’ll post some other combinations soon but be creative and enjoy discovering your favourite pizza variety.

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Cauliflower Pizza with Chorizo and Mozzarella
Author: 
Recipe type: Pizza
Cuisine: Italian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2
 
Super simple pizza base, ready for your favourite toppings!
Ingredients
  • ½ a cauliflower
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup of cheddar cheese
  • Pinch of sea salt
  • Black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon of oregano
  • 1 tin of tomato paste
  • 1 onion
  • 1 tablespoon of butter
  • ½ a chorizo
  • Handful of black olives
  • 1 mozzarella
  • ½ teaspoon of chilli flakes (optional)
  • Handful of basil leaves
Instructions
  1. Use a food processor with a chopping S-shaped blade and chop the cauliflower till it looks like very small grains of rice, you want about 2 cups of the "rice"
  2. Mix the rice in a bowl with the 2 eggs, cheese, oregano, salt and pepper
  3. Take a pizza tray or baking tray and use a little olive oil to grease the pan
  4. Take handfuls of the mix and press out on the baking tray to form a round, the ingredients will seem wet but don't worry the bases will firm up as they cook, you should have enough to make 2 bases.
  5. Cook the bases for 15-20 mins till golden on 180 degrees.
  6. While these are cooking, cut the onion in half and slice and cook in the butter until translucent
  7. Spread the bases with tomato puree or your own home-made tomato sauce
  8. Add the rest of the ingredients and add back to the oven for 5 minutes for the mozzarella to melt, enjoy!