Stuffed focaccia

There is a focaccia for every occasion and this is incredibly crunchy on the exterior but with a soft filling, you can use whatever greens you like and personalised it with what you have lurking in your fridge.

Ingredients:

• 500 g strong bread flour , plus extra for dusting

• 7 g of dried yeast

• 300ml of warm water

• 1 tsp salt

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• red hot chilli pepper (optional)

• 1 red onion or 2/3 shallots, diced

• 2/3 Spring onions

• 500 g of swiss chard or spinach

• salt and pepper

Method :

Mix the flour with yeast, salt, oil and warm water in a bowl.

If you have a stand mixer you can use the dough hook and let it work for 10mins otherwise once everything is combined pour the dough onto a floured worktop and knead it for 10 mins or until it becomes smooth.

Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and let it prove, covered with a cloth, for 2 hours or until it doubles in size.

In the meantime, prepare the filling washing your desired greens and chop them coarsely.

In a large frying pan warm some oil and sautee' the onion, spring onions plus red chilli if using.

Once the onion are translucent add the greens, season with salt and pepper and cover with a lid to let them cook for about 5 mins or until wilted.

Now turn off the heat and put aside.

Pre-heat the oven to 220ºC, line a baking tray 40 x 40cm with baking paper and drizzle with

generous amount of oil.

Divide the dough into 2 and thinly roll one half onto a floured surface then place it into the

baking tray, onto this you can pour your filling discarding any water that came out when

cooking the greens, be careful to leave 2 cm of uncovered dough all around.

Place the second half of the remaining rolled out dough on top and tuck in the corners to

close the focaccia.

Using a knife or a pair of scissors cut some of the dough to let the steam come out, drizzle

with plenty of olive oil and bake for about 20/25 min until golden brown.

You can freeze it portioned for up to 3 months, when ready to eat let it defrost overnight in

the fridge and give it a quick warm up in the oven.

Red cabbage soup

The season of soups has officially started in this household, I usually batch cook them then freeze the individual extra portions to have a quick meal handy when needed.

If you are looking for a delicious soup this is the one to go to. Spooky and naturally coloured by the red cabbage, could be good fun for the kids (and adults) for Halloween dinner.

Ingredients for 4 :

1/2 red cabbage

1 potato or 3 parsnips

4/5 shallots

1 leek

Extra virgin olive oil

salt

pepper

2 tsp Chinese five spice (optional)

Pumpkin seeds for garnish

Method :

Heat the oil in a saucepan over moderate heat and add the sliced leek and shallots then let them cook until soft, add the chinese five spice at this point if you like.

Add the shredded cabbage and the diced potato then cover with water or stock.

Let it simmer for about 20 min and then with an hand blender blitz it until smooth.

Adjust with salt and pepper and scatter on top some pumpkin seed, drizzle some olive oil and a swirl of creme fraiche.

Will keep for 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container or in the freezer for 2 months.

No bake cheesecake - Cheesecake senza cottura

Ingredients for 8 servings :

20cm spring form cake tin

• 200 g ginger snap biscuits (or digestive if you don't like ginger)

• 100 g unsalted butter

• 120 g icing sugar

• 400 g cream cheese

• 300 ml double cream

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 tbsp lemon juice

• Fruits, mint leaves and nuts for garnish

Method :

Melt the butter and crush the biscuits to a fine powder with a food processor or a pestle and mortar.

Mix the butter and biscuits until the crumbs are completely coated then line a 20 cm 8 inches loose bottom cake tin and spread the mixture onto the base, press gently with the back of a spoon to smooth the surface.

Set aside the base in the fridge for about 30 mins, in the meantime make the cheese layer.

In a bowl whip the cream and add sugar, cream cheese, lemon juice and vanilla. Combine thoroughly until smooth and pour over the base .

Let the cheesecake chill into the fridge for at least 6 hour or even better overnight.

Garnish with your favourite fruits before you are going to serve it and enjoy!