Creamy tomato & coconut dhal

May 21, 2021 ~ Corrie ~ 3 Comments

This May has been particularly wet, blustery and cold. So let’s save the summer salads for better weather and cook up a big hearty batch of my creamy tomato and coconut dhal with cavolo nero. This vegan one-pot wonder can be easily doubled and teamed with rice, naan and chutney for the perfect Friday night fake-away. Summer will just have to wait.

Tomato and coconut dhal with cavolo nero
Serves 2 or 4 with rice / Hands on time 15 min / Total time 40 mins / V Vn Gf Df ❄
1 tbs garlic oil
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp chilli flakes
1 tbs tomato purée
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 can full-fat coconut milk
1 can green lentils (rinsed and drained)
½ tsp gluten free bouillon or half stock cube
2 large handfuls chopped cavolo nero or kale
To serve:
Brown basmati rice (50g per person)
Handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
Brown toasted pita bread (optional)
Mango chutney (optional)

TIP: Don’t have garlic oil? Simply use whatever cooking oil you have and add 2 peeled and chopped garlic cloves. Allow to infuse in the oil over a medium heat for a couple of minutes before adding the spices.

TIP: This recipe is easily doubled so stock up your freezer with this healthy batch cook.

Method
1. In a large pot of saucepan, heat the garlic oil over a medium heat until warmed through. Add the cumin, coriander, turmeric, garam masala, chilli flakes and the salt until you heat them fizzing. Cook for 2 minutes before adding the tomato purée along with a dash of water (this helps loosen the paste) and cook for a further 2 mins.
2. Rinse and drain the green lentils and add to the pan along with the tin of coconut milk and tinned chopped tomatoes. Sprinkle over the bouillon or the stock cube and stir well until fully incorporated. Bring to the boil.
3. Simmer uncovered for 20 mins stirring occasionally. If serving with rice, now is a good time to get it on.
4. After 20 mins the dhal should be thick and glossy. Take off the heat and stir in the cavolo nero and cover with a lid for 4-5 mins.
5. Serve topped with chopped fresh coriander with either rice, toasted pita bread or naan and a goof dollop of mango chutney.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V – Vegetarian Vn – Vegan Gf – Gluten free Df – Dairy free
To freeze, omit the cavolo nero and cool fully before freezing. Consume within 3 months

Red pepper & tomato lasagne

January 21, 2019January 21, 2020 ~ Corrie ~ 4 Comments

I tend to find myself crying a lot these days. Not about anything important – in fact, it’s the trivial things that really set me off. A slightly sentimental advert, a chick and a cat becoming friends or even just spilling coffee granules on the kitchen floor.
For example, today I’ve already cried twice, and both times were during the first half hour of Harry Potter film ‘The Goblet of Fire’. Bear in mind, nothing upsetting had actually happened yet. Thinking about it, the first cry was over Brendan Gleeson, until I realised he wasn’t actually dead in real life (thanks, Google). The second was the realisation I may never get to go to a glamorous wizarding ball.
So, to cheer myself up, I needed some serious comfort food and that came in the form of my mum’s red pepper and tomato lasagne – aka tomato and cheesy pasta realness. In fact, this recipe was one of the first-ever recipes I blogged about many moons ago, but I have to be honest, the picture was a bit shit and so was the recipe. So I spent the day rewriting, reshooting and re-eating it. It was so good it made me cry… Again.

Red pepper & tomato lasagne
Serves 6 / Hands on time 30 mins / Total 2 hour 10 minutes / V ❄
You’ll need: Rectangular oven-proof dish 22cm x 28cm and foil
9 dried lasagne sheets
24 tomatoes, cut into eighths
4 red peppers, de-seeded and finely chopped
2 tbs dried oregano
2 tbs dried basil
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
300g mild/medium strength vegetarian cheddar, grated

TIP: This is an easy recipe but does take a couple of hours to cook so best make when you have plenty of time. Perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Method
1. Slice off the core and roughly chop each tomato into eighths and put in a large pot, over a medium heat with a tbs of extra virgin olive oil. Meanwhile, de-seed and finely chop the peppers and add them to the tomatoes. Sprinkle over the dried herbs, a tsp of salt and mix well.
2. Bring to the boil (you may have to dig down to the bottom to see the juices bubbling away). Put the lid on and cook the sauce down for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and continue to simmer for a further 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Meanwhile grate the cheese.
3. Preheat an oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400F/gas mark 6. Once the sauce has thickened, take off the heat and start assembling the lasagne.
4. Oil the oven dish and start layering. Begin with a layer of pasta sheets (feel free to break the pasta sheets to fit your dish if needs be). Cover the lasgane sheets with an even layer of sauce (3 ladles worth) and top with an even sprinkling of cheese. Continue to layer like this a couple more times before topping with the last layer of cheese. Season with salt and pepper and cover loosely with foil (ensure the foil isn’t touching the cheese – you don’t want the cheese to stick and peel the whole top layer of the lasagne off).
5. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes before removing the foil and cooking for a further 10 minutes to brown the cheese a little. Leave to stand for 5 minutes before serving with a simple green salad.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V– Vegetarian
❄– Suitable for home freezing before cooking. Wrap the lasagne well in 2 layers of cling film and 1 layer of foil. Defrost fully before baking.

Mozzarella & tomato tart

September 4, 2017July 10, 2022 ~ Corrie ~ 3 Comments

Smoked mozzarella is a wonderful thing and something I’m relatively new to. My friends Tom and Dan invited us round their new house for dinner (this by the way, literally never happens). I’ve been friends with Tom for 18 years (gadzooks) and not once has he ever cooked me dinner… He gave me a Smint once but I’m pretty sure he bought that. Anyway, we prefer to drink our calories when we’re together but on this occasion, I agreed to let him feed me. So I opened my mouth and let one of my oldest and dearest friends shove in a bruschetta topped with smoked mozzarella.
“Good lord, what sweet heaven is that?” I splutter ‘attractively’ as Jamie grimaces.
“Smoked mozzarella babe” Tom says before turning on his heel to go and help Dan in the kitchen.
“Yeah but where did you get it?… Some poncey Italian deli in St Albans I’ll bet” I say more to Jamie and catch him stuffing a few slices in his mouth, minus the bruschetta.
“Err no, just Waitrose” Tom yells from the kitchen…
Now, as luck would have it, we recently moved house and guess what our local supermarket is? Yep, you’ve guessed it, WAITROSE! So I scampered home and decided to build an entire recipe around an entire ball of smoked mozzarella and here it is! I really must make it for Tom and Dan, maybe in another 18 years when it’s my turn to cook.

Mozzarella & tomato tart
Serves 4 or 6 as a starter / Hands on time 15 / Total time 50 – 55 mins / V ❄
You’ll need: A 10 inch non-stick loose bottomed tart tin or a large baking tray
1 tsp olive oil
Baking paper
300g mixed tomatoes, sliced
250g vegetarian mozzarella or *smoked mozzarella, sliced
320g ready roll puff pastry
Handful black olives
Handful fresh basil leaves
1 egg, beaten
1 tbs Pomora extra virgin olive oil

Method
1. Preheat your oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas 6. Spray your baking tray/tart tin with spray oil and top with a layer of baking paper. Spray again with oil and put to one side.
2. Slice the tomatoes (halve the cherry tomatoes) and slice the cheese. Roll out your puff pastry and roughly stretch it over your tart case (you don’t need to be very neat about this, this tart isn’t supposed to look perfect). Layer the bottom of the tart with the mozzarella, leaving a good inch around it for the crust. Top evenly with the tomatoes and season well with salt and pepper. Pull the edges of the tart in on itself, creating a kind of crust. Top with a handful of black olives and scattering of fresh basil leaves.
3. Beat the egg in small bowl and using a brush, wash over any visible pastry crust.
4. Bake in the oven for 30-35 mins until golden brown. Leave the tart to cool for 10-15 minutes before topping with more fresh basil and a good drizzle basil oil. Serve with dressed salad leaves.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

*Smoked mozzarella tends to be made with animal rennet, so if you’re vegetarian, swap for vegetarian mozzarella.
❄– Freeze before baking. Freeze unwrapped on the baking tray for a couple of hours to allow the tart to harden before removing and wrapping well in a few layers of clingfilm. Return to the freezer and consume within 3 months. To cook from frozen, place on a an non-stick baking tray and cook for 45-50 mins.

Tomato penne with greens & butter beans

January 27, 2017January 21, 2020 ~ Corrie ~ Leave a comment

I really should stop buying horrible cheap tomatoes, I mean they aren’t even red for starters, tomatoes should be red right? These were more of an orange colour. I’ve tried several times to ripen them in a fruit bowl but they stubbornly just stay the same – the little shits. I refuse to be out-smarted by a tomato.
Tasting literally of nothing and with a firm almost furry texture, these ghastly toms are franky not worth the 70p I paid for them… But that’s such a reasonable price I remember thinking, staring down at them on the supermarket shelf. Whatever, I’m sure they’ll taste fine so I chuck them in my basket. NOOOOOOOO! Why do I always make the same mistake?!
Well that’s an easy question, I’m always skint, so spending £2 on Taste The Difference tomatoes (even though they look devine and juicy) makes me wince ever so slightly, especially when I know I could buy at least 4 Snickers bars for the same price. But as I chomp down on my sad, flavourless, sandwich, I realise my 70p tomatoes are duds. Perhaps tomatoes are just one of those foods you should spend the money on? I guess it wouldn’t kill me to eat a few less Snickers bars – cue sad face.
Anyway, so now I’m left with five, unripe, tomatoes so it’s either ruin my sandwiches for the rest of the week, or turn them into pasta sauce. Not only is this a great way to use up unwanted tomatoes but it makes enough sauce to jazz up your pasta dishes for the rest of the week. It’s easy, healthy and turns those rock hard tasteless toms into something rather splendid. Good times.

Tomato penne with greens & butter beans
Makes 1 jar of sauce / Serves 2 / Takes 30-40 minutes / V ❄
You’ll need: Food processor or a hand blender
Pasta Sauce
½ red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
5 tomatoes
2 tbs tomato puree
4 tbs vegetarian red wine
1 can plum tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp olive oil
To serve
140g wholewheat penne
3 handfuls kale
½ can butterbeans, rinsed and drained
Handful mature vegetarian cheddar, grated
Pomora extra virgin olive oil

Method
1. Roughly chop the onion and pop it in a large pot or saucepan with a tsp of olive oil, on a medium heat. Cook for about 5 mins until it starts to soften. Once soft, add the chopped garlic and cook for a further 2 mins (add a dash of water to help them steam if they start to sizzle).
2. Roughly chop the tomatoes and add them to the pan along with the tomato puree. Give it a good stir and cook for a further 5 mins, until the tomatoes start to break down a bit. Add the wine and the can of plum tomatoes. Break the plum tomatoes up with a spoon and give it another good stir. Up the heat until the sauce begins to boil, then reduce down to a simmer. Add the dried herbs and season with salt and pepper and cook for a further 10 mins, stirring frequently.
3. Meanwhile rinse and drain your butterbeans and put to one side (you’ll steam/boil them 5 minutes before you serving).
4. Weigh out your pasta and bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. When you’re sauce is 10 mins away from being cooked, add your pasta to the boiling water and season with salt (follow packet instructions). This is also a good time to get a smaller saucepan ready to steam/boil your kale and butter beans together (I tend to steam mine but it’s up to you, just remember to season them).
5. Whilst the pasta is boiling and your veg steaming take the tomato sauce off the heat and blitz with a hand blender or pop into a regular blender. Be careful not to over blend the sauce, you still want a bit of texture.
6. Finally drain your pasta and portion onto plates. Top with grated cheese, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Serve with the steamed butterbeans and kale. Good times.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V– Vegetarian
❄– The pasta sauce is suitable for home freezing once cooled. Consume within 3 months.

Smoky tomato & chickpea soup

August 31, 2015January 26, 2020 ~ Corrie ~ Leave a comment

I couldn’t be bothered to leave the house yesterday, so decided to invent a soup out of the bits I already had in the fridge. This is what happened…

“Oh, I only have half an onion… Why do I have so many cans of butter beans? I don’t even like butter beans!… Oh wait, I have chick peas, yes! I swear I had some cumin?! No? REALLY?! Shit!… Oh wait, smoked paprika, that could be interesting… Maybe with some sweet potato?… No wait, they’re Isabelle’s… Half a bag of spinach could work though with some tinned tomatoes maybe? Yes, a smoky tomato chickpea broth… Hope I have some cheese… YES! Right, sorted, lets do it…

Smoky tomato & chickpea soup
Serves 2 / Hands on time 15 mins / Total time 35 mins / V Vn Gf* Df
1 tsp rapeseed oil
½ an onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbs tomato purée
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed
½ tsp smoked paprika
500ml vegetable stock*, I use Knorr
100g spinach
Handful grated vegetarian cheese to serve (optional)
Extra virgin olive oil to serve

Method
1. In a medium sized saucepan, sweat the onions and garlic together in the oil over a medium heat. Put the lid on and allow to sweat for 10 mins.
2. Add the tomato puree, smoked paprika and cook for a further 2 mins before adding the tinned tomatoes and seasoning well with salt and pepper. Give it at good stir, add the stock and bring to the boil before reducing down and simmering for 15 mins
3. Add the drained chickpeas with the spinach and cook for a further 5 mins.
4. Serve topped with a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkling of cheese (optional).

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V– Vegetarian Vn– Vegans forgo the cheese Df– Make dairy free by leaving out the cheese
Gf– I use Knorr vegetable stock pots because they are gluten free but other stock pots/cubes may not be. Always check the label.
❄ Suitable for home freezing once cooled. Consume within 3 months.

Mum’s red pepper lasagne

June 28, 2015January 29, 2020 ~ Corrie ~ 7 Comments

Big news everyone… I HAVE A MAN COMING TO DINNER! Yes mum, an actual man, with a pulse and a head and everything. Although, if he has a weeping abscess on his leg, lets hope he keeps that information to himself, unlike my last date.
Was it a mistake to mention I had a food blog? Probably. Presumably his exceptions will be sky high, so that’s good. AGGHHH! What the hell am I going to cook him and what if it goes horribly wrong?! I’ll forever be known as ‘the food blogger who can’t cook and can’t kiss’… Not that I’m a bad cook or a bad kisser, in fact I’m an excellent kisser so not sure why I said that.
Anyway, I need to cook something safe, something I know and something I can prepare in advance to stop me getting frazzled like Robin Williams in Mrs Doubtfire. I don’t want to burn my tits.
Lets bring out the big guns, my mum’s tomato and red pepper lasagne. Now then, this aint no a regular lasagne, there’s no béchamel or mince, just a simple sauce of cooked down tomatoes and peppers. This was a week night staple in the Heale household throughout my childhood, until my mum had to give up dairy (selfish woman). Luckily my dad heroically stepped up and managed to cobble it together occasionally for my brother and I, thank god. In fact, it was the only thing my dad could cook apart from a jacket potato.
Over the years I’ve managed to cook it entirely from memory for all kinds of people, all of which have loved it. The sauce is easy to make but quite time consuming, so I recommend you make it the day before. Wish me luck! :S

Mum’s red pepper & tomato lasagne
Serves 6 / Hands on time 30 mins / Total 2 hour 10 minutes / V ❄
You’ll need: Rectangular oven-proof dish 22cm x 28cm and foil
9 dried lasagne sheets
24 tomatoes, cut into eighths
4 red peppers, de-seeded and finely chopped
2 tbs dried oregano
2 tbs dried basil
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
300g mild/medium strength vegetarian cheddar, grated

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V– Vegetarian
❄– Suitable for home freezing before cooking. Wrap the lasagne well in 2 layers of cling film and 1 layer of foil. Defrost fully before baking.