Fabulous five: oven dishes

I love making oven dishes for my family. Here are some of the reasons why:

  • They fit in my busy schedule. You can often assemble the dish in advance, store it in your fridge or freezer, and warm and crisp it up in the oven when you want to eat it. This means I often make multiple oven dishes in the weekend which can be warmed up after a busy day in the office.
  • They are healthy. For my oven dishes I use lots of fresh veg and homemade sauces. All I do is warm the ingredients up. Oven baking a dish filled with fresh ingredient, in my mind, is a lot better than a microwaving or frying instant meals.
  • They are easy to prepare. Once your oven dish has been made, any family member that knows how the oven works can prepare dinner. While the dish cooks in the oven, we have time to relax or play, or the rest of the family can drive home from work.

These are our family favorites:

  1. Traditional lasagna with bolognese sauce and a bechamel and crusty top
  2. Moussaka – our tasty vegetarian version
  3. Spinache lasagnespinach
  4. Gnocchi bake
  5. Shepards pie – I like using leftovers from a stew and covering this with a layer of mashed potatoes.

 

BBQ favorites : Carrot soda bread

I love making soda bread. It makes the perfect dipping material with a freshly made tzaziki or with plain olive oil and vinegar. I inspired this bread on a recipe by Lorraine Pascale. I was out of olives at the time. Which meant adding sweet carrots to the mix, and a matching herb; caraway.

Remember this is a soda bread: Which means no kneading, just mixing and combining! This creates that light and cake-like texture.

carrot soda bread

Carrot soda bread

  • 450 grams self raising flower
  • 1/2 tsp of salt
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup of finely grated carrot
  • 2 tsp caraway seeds
  • 225 ml water

Preheat your oven at 200 degrees C.

Combine all the dry ingredients and the carrots. Combine the olive oil and water.

Mix all ingredients with fork. When it all seems combined, tip the bowl on your counter and combine into a ball. Place the ball on a baking tray which you dusted with flower against sticking.

Flower the handle of a wooden spoon. Push the handle into your loaf to create, halves, quarters and then 1/8 wedges.

Bake your loaf in the oven for 35 minutes. Leave to cool for 15 mins before eating, bon apetit!

BBQtable