Vegetarian Lasagne

This is a non-white sauce lasagne and I left out the kidney beans (not a big bean fan, you could also put in chickpeas)....... there's really no cooking in and it's really tasty and fun to make looking at all the colours.

You'll need..........

1 aubergine
1 red pepper
1 yellow/orange pepper
2 red onions
1 sweet potato
1 teaspoon of oregano
1 teaspoon of thyme
 Few glugs of extra virgin olive oil

2 cans of tomatoes
2 dessert spoons of sun-dried tomato pesto
4 gloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1 tablespoon of Italian herbs
1 packet of lasagne sheets (I used wholewheat)
200g mozzarella grated or else goat's cheese crumbled on top

So down to business then.....

You'll need to preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius

Then wash and chop all the veg, put them into a big bowl (holding back one of the onions) and with your hands mix them all up and add in oil and herbs. Lay them out in a single layer on a tray and cook in oven for about 30 mins.

In a pot heat some oil and throw in the remaining onions and at a medium heat fry them until soft. Add the garlic, herbs, sugar then for about a minute and then add in your cans of tomatoes (always use organic tomatoes). If you wanted to put in kidney beans or chick peas now is the time. Also add in two dessert spoons of sun-dried tomato pesto for extra flavouring now. I used one I got in the natural food market The Happy Pear

Leave all to simmer nicely and then the veg and sauce should be ready at the same time. Now mix up all the sauce and veg like below.

Now you're nearly there........ here's the fun bit......when it all comes together.........

In a square dish pour a layer of the veg sauce on first then a layer of the lasagne sheets - no need to soak the sheets beforehand. Now a layer of the sauce, then the sheets and finishing with the sauce.

Then sprinkle on the cheese. I have a secret taste weapon here that I use also for pizzas. Once the cheese is on sprinkle a dessert spoon of oregano on top and insert in oven. Cook in the oven at 190 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes. Also another handy trick is to cover with tin foil for the first 20 minutes of cooking to stop the cheese blackening.

Now I'm afraid I don't have a final cooked picture to show you because this was donated to my brother's family for sustenance during the week leading up to his sister's wedding......

They liked it.

This will freeze well also.

Thai Squash Red Curry

So this took no time, lasts for a god few days, went down a hit with meat-eating folks cos it's chock-a-block with flavour and it's just all round so easy to make.

It has all the colour of a thai red curry but you don't have to skin any chicken breasts or debone any wings. It's quick to clean up after and the flavor develops in the left over containers. Even colleagues smelt it as I ate my lunch and remarked how good it seemed. Honestly kids it's a great little dinner for up the sleeve.

You'll need....

1 butternut squash
200g basil
3 dessert spoons of red curry paste
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 can of coconut milk
1/2 a lime
3 stalks of lemon grass
6 kaffir lime leaves
3 dried, sliced, deseeded chillies
1/2 teaspoon of crushed ginger
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of dried coriander, garam masala, paprika, cayenne pepper and paprika
1 clove of crushed garlic

Sesame seeds to garnish

Serve with fluffy basmati rice (I'll get Neil to do a blog post on boiling the perfect rice - he's such a dab hand)

You'll need to......

Peel the squash and chop it into cubes. Then boil it for about 15 minutes until soft.

Heat the pan to a medium heat and add in some oil. Throw on the garlic, ginger and chillies. After a minute add the curry paste and cook for two mins.

Add the kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass (chopped into small pieces) and half the can of coconut milk. Also add your can of chopped tomatoes. ***Warning: always get the organic canned tomatoes because the cheaper ones can contain unripened tomatoes that were canned green***** Cook for another two minutes.

Add the rest of the coconut milk and soy sauce and simmer for a good ten minutes at a low heat till sauce has reduced.

Add in your squash, basil and lime juice. Leave on a low heat while you boil your rice.

Serve with lime on the side and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

Box the leftovers :)

Sweet Potato Falafel

God how I wish I could take credit for this recipe....... full of all sorts of crazy goodness, bursting with insane flavours, cheap as chips to make, keeps for ages and was raved over by the four palates that tried it, one a complete carnivore,  but I can't......

It is the genius of the two boyos from the Happy Pear in Greystones.

You'll need........ (now the ingredient list looks overwhelming but DON'T GIVE UP -  most of it's spices you have in your cupboard anyway - highlighted in red below)

• 500 grams cubed sweet potato – approximately 4 cups
• 2 cups cooked chickpeas
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoon soya sauce
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 teaspoon cumin seed
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon cayenne
• 1 small bunch (15g) fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 small bunch (15g) fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• 1 bunch scallions, chopped
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• ¼ cup wholewheat/gram/chickpea flour (this is just for binding)
• 2 tablespoon sesame seeds

Right so get chopping and prepping....... get all your ingredients lined up and know what order they go in in because you don't want to go into overwhelm and to have to keep looking back at the recipe as you make.

You'll need to........


Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Spread sweet potato onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes until soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Keep the oven on.

Then....... In large bowl mix together sweet potato, chickpeas, garlic, soya sauce, lemon juice, cumin seed, ground cumin, ground coriander, paprika, salt, pepper and cayenne. Like below.

When the sweet potato is cooked like below....... Mash together with a potato masher, fork, hand blender or mixer until everything is well combined and the chunks of sweet potato are broken down nicely.

Now for fun-ness.......

Add the fresh parsley, coriander, scallions and red onion. Mix until everything is combined.

Next add your flour of choice and bind your little burgers together.

Get your sesame seeds in your hands and squish them into your patties, they hold no bother.

Now pop them in the oven on a baking tray and leave for 30 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius, turning them half way through. 

Once cooked they'll look like this........ yum! Serve with hummus, serve with relish (I used Ballymaloe Relish) and it worked a treat. Also if you don't want to cook them all up (I made 6), wrap them up in clingfilm and store in the fridge and cook as needed. My pal in work had hers cold and with a slice of hard goat's cheese. She said it was gorgeous that way and she knows how to cook.