Beat that Cold - Roast Parsnip Soup

Ok guys n Gal’s lets get cooking!

First let’s break down what we are going to need:

½ Onion
4 Medium Parsnips
1 Potato
1 Vegetable Stock Cube
Salt and Pepper
Level Teaspoon of Ground Cumin

Feeling under the weather? Get this down your neck! It’s guaranteed to lift your spirits and give you a nice energy boost!

First off Pre-Heat your oven to Gas Mark 5 (190c) Peel and chop your Parsnips and place them on a baking tray. Drizzle some over some olive oil and place in the oven. Keep a close eye on your parsnips because we want to cook them enough to bring out the sweet flavour but not so much that they start to brown. I would say 15-20 minutes in the oven should suffice but check regularly.

Finely chop the onion and slice the peeled potato. Sweat the onions on a low heat in a large pan and stir regularly so they don’t brown. Boil the kettle, pour out 550ml of boiled water and add the stock cube.

Once your parsnips are nice and soft remove them from the oven and throw them in the pan with the onions, add the chopped potato, Salt, Pepper and cumin then pour over the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 20 minutes. Once everything is falling apart nicely you can get out the blender and potato masher.

Now I like a nice runny, creamy texture to my soup so after mashing I blitzed half of it in the blender, if you want a nice chunky soup then simply mashing it will do. Add the Crème fraîche, mix and serve, Yum!

Seafood Pizza

Ok guys n Gal’s lets get cooking!

First let’s break down what we are going to need:

Toppings

1 Small Tuna Steak
6-8 Uncooked Prawns
6 Green Lip Muscles on the half shell
Mozzarella Cheese
Mushrooms
Onion

Pizza Base

400g Strong White Flour
1 Packet of Dried Yeast
1 Tablespoon of Sugar
1 Teaspoon of Salt
1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
200ml Tepid Water

Sauce

1 Tin of chopped Plum Tomatoes
½ an onion
Finely chopped Oregano and Basil
3 Cloves of Garlic
1 Tablespoon of olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Wow that’s a lot of ingredients! You can buy things such as pizza sauce and dough pre-made but as with all of my recipes I like to cook everything as fresh as I can.

First things first we need to make the pizza base. Pour the Flour into a mixing bowl and add the yeast, salt and sugar. Mix with together with your hands. Once you are happy it’s all mixed together make a well for your water. This is where your hands get really messy! Mix everything up until you have a single mass of dough. If the dough is too wet then add a little more flour and if it’s a little too dry and still floury add a little more water. Take the dough out of the bowl and need for about 3 minutes on a floured surface. Once finished put it back in the mixing bowl, pour over the olive oil and ensure its fully coated to prevent any dryness and leave it to rise in a warm part of the kitchen.

Whilst we are waiting for the dough to rise (normally takes 45-60 minutes) we can make the sauce. Finely shop your herbs, crush the garlic and put them into the mixer with some olive oil and the tomatoes. Once blitzed in the blender you can transfer it to a bowl and add the half onion finely chopped. This will give it a bit of texture. Leave this covered in cling film in the fridge until needed.

The dough is ready when it has reached about twice the size it was originally. Flour your work surface and place the dough there. Punch out any pockets of air. Separate the dough into two parts and roll out with your rolling pin (One thing I don’t own is a rolling pin so I am using a wine bottle with some tissue inside to keep it dry…How embarrassing!) It’s very difficult to get a perfectly round pizza so don’t worry if it’s a little wonky!

Spread some of the sauce over the base and add your toppings. Don’t forget, cheese melts so make sure you don’t go too overboard else it will go over the edge!

Put your pizza in a pre-heated oven for around 15 minutes on Gas Mark 5 (190c) until the cheese starts to go a light brown. Remove it from the oven, slice and serve. Enjoy!