Pesto Mediterranean Tarte

An easy weeknight meal that simply needs assembly on the night. I put a little spin on it for my daughter, calling it Pesto Pizza. Chop all your toppings in advance and store in a tub or sealed freezer bag. I chose peppers, tomatoes, mushroom, chorizo and mozarella, but you really could put on anything you fancied...grilled aubergine, seared asparagus?

Unroll the sheet of puff pastry (I've always believed life is too short to make your own puff!) and score a light border around the edge. Spread your pesto over the base, top with toppings, making sure the wetter ones, such as tomatoes, are on top so they don't make the pastry soggy, and top with cheese. Bake in a hot oven until the base is crispy underneath - you may need to cover the top with foil to ensure it doesn't burn. Serve with a crispy green salad.

Smoked Garlic

How to use smoked garlic? Well, I bought some from the Chester Food Festival a few weeks ago and have been playing with adding it to recipes as I've been trying out new things.

1st idea:
Add raw, thinly sliced to home-made (or shop-bought!) pizza - bake the pizza as usual.

2nd idea:
Add to pasta dishes instead of the usual garlic. It's delicious with a smoked chorizo, red pepper and tomato sauce. Simply fry off gently after pan-frying the chorizo and onions so it doesn't burn but goes soft, sweet and smoky.

Ok, I know they're fairly basic, and I have used it in other things, but I can't remember at his present moment in time! as I add it to more things, I'll update this post!

Gnocchi 3 ways

As a teacher, we regularly have a 'book box' at school; cheap books from outside firms that we can order. As usual, before half term, there was the odd cookery book. Now, I'm someone who already has many, many cookbooks, but this one caught my interest. Firstly, the recipes all looked good. Secondly, they were short and simple and thirdly, each had relatively few ingredients. It was Gino D'Acampo's first book, 'Fantastico', and it was a pleasure to take home, sit in the sun in the garden and browse through.

I was so excited that I've tried two recipes, both on the same day! I hadn't however, thought this through. Gnocchi Pomodoro and Pizza Alla Napoletana were my two choices; pizza as it looked delicious and I had a 'bottom of the fridge' to empty so seemed a good idea. The second recipe was specifically for the boyf. as he loves Gnocchi and, whilst I've never particularly enjoyed it on previous occasions, I thought I'd give it a go. What I failed to consider was the fact that both were dough based and, as a consequence, by the time I had finished, the kitchen looked more like a bakery: flour covered and glued itself to every available surface, including me!

Both were very easy to prepare and I added a range of toppings to the pizza. It was the one and only pizza base I've ever made that actually went bubbly and crispy at the edges, a first for me!

Since I'd spent so long making it, even I had a bowl of the gnocchi. The most exciting part is waiting for it to bubble up into the pan and float to the top! I served it with the suggested sauce, a simple tomato and basil reduction.

The second recipe for the Gnocchi, since I had at least another two servings left, was an even simpler basil pesto. Simply blitz basil with salt, pepper and olive oil. roast some halved cherry tomatoes in the oven until soft. Mix the cooked hot Gnocchi with the pesto and serve topped with the tomatoes. It was even better than the first recipe and perfect as a summer starter for a dinner party.

The third recipe is also very easy but particularly tasty. Toss the cooked Gnocchi in butter, salt, pepper and torn sage leaves. Serve hot.

If, like me, you don't really like Gnocchi, this is definitely the recipe to try, and all the sauces really are delicious, so I urge you to give them a go. I do, however, suggest that you make either the Gnocchi or the Pizza and don't do them on the same night! Unless you like looking like Fred!

Cote D'Azur

Apologies for not writing sooner, but I've only just managed to dig a laptop out from the dust after having a little building work done. It's not the one with the photos though, so you'll have to wait a little longer for me to add those! (Since added!)

Why is it that French airport shops are generally much more attractive than English ones? Is it because even if you buy a children's book from the newsagents there, they wrap it as a present and take time to do it beautifully, despite the queue building up? Or is it simply that the produce looks so much more appetising? Rather than selling everyday chocolate and giant bags of sweets, they sell a range of delicious French cheese, magnums of French champagne, foie gras, saucisson...the list could continue, but those are just a few of my favourites.

The restaurant food is a self-service affair but not as we know it in England. Admittedly, there isn't a choice as at Stansted - see my post about the simple and delicious food at the airport, but the food all looks quite appetizing; the best thing being that you can buy wine in a carafe from a tap! How good is that?! Red, White or Rose from a machine that in England, only dispenses soft drinks -wonder if we could get one installed in the staffroom at school?! No Tartiflette on the menu unfortunately, so we both ordered pizza -not frozen from a packet, but made there in front of you with fresh dough and toppings of your choice, and cooked in a feu-de-bois (wood burning oven). Just a reminder, this is a self-service restaurant in the airport! Usually these are delicious, but unfortunately this once, the girl left it in a little too long and the base was certainly crispy in parts, if not burnt and black. Oh well, the carafe of wine made up for it at just 4 euros!