Category: Chicken

I have seen many raves reviews about how adding ricotta to meatballs makes them super light and fluffy! After coming across the Ottolenghi recipe I knew I just had to try it out, I have made a few adjustments and even reduced the quantity of ricotta but these are still the juiciest and lightest meatballs I have even made.

Let’s get cooking…

Start by placing the mince in a large mixing bowl.

Add bread and parmesan to a food processor and blitz until fine, then add to mince. Add the onion and garlic to the food processor and blitz then add to the mince also. Next add in the remaining ingredients except oil and tomato sauce and mix well to combine. Form into golf ball size meatballs and add to a hot pan with the olive oil, this should make 16-20 meatballs.

Brown the meatballs and remove from the pan, add the tomato sauce and 1 1/2 cups of water to the pan and bring to a simmer, once simmering add in the meatballs, cover and let it simmer for a further 30 minutes until the sauce thickens.

Serve with crusty garlic bread or over pasta.

To me Portuguese food has the perfect amount of spice and flavor and I absolutely love it in any and all forms. Be it peri-peri prawns, a whole grilled chicken or simple custard tarts.

The recipe I’m sharing today has been “gifted” to me by a good friend who is married to a wonderful Portuguese lady and this is her family recipe! Needless to say it is goood! This is a spicy chicken recipe but not too spicy and not at all similar to a peri-peri chicken.

Let’s get cooking…

This recipe could not be simpler, literally mix together all of the ingredients and pour over the chicken. I really recommend allowing this to marinate overnight if you have the time, the flavor just intensifies so much more, although that being said I have tested marinating for just 1 hour and it is just as good.

Grill the chicken over coals until just cooked, about 20-30 minutes, turning regularly. If you don’t have a grill, you can pop this into an oven for 45 minutes, turning halfway. Serve with potatoes and veg for the best meal!

A mince pasta bake has always been one of my favorite meals growing up. It’s just comforting and homely that it’s almost impossible not to love! I’ve upped my game a little with this version by making the meat sauce with roasted tomatoes.

Yes it is an extra step but it’s totally unattended cooking time so you barely even feel it and it is so so worth it!

Let’s get cooking…

Mix together the ingredients for the tomatoes and bake fore 30 minutes at 180C, stirring halfway.

While the tomatoes cook, begin prepping the ingredients for the bolognese. Heat the olive oil in a heavy based pan, I always use a dutch oven here, Le Creuset is my brand of choice but any cast iron pan will do.

Cook onion and carrots until softened then add the mice and cook until it gets golden brown, about 20 minutes. When brown, add the wine to deglaze the pan (scrape the browned bits at the bottom of the pan) and allow to bubble vigorously for 5 minutes. Add herbs, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, honey, water and tomatoes. Mix to combine all the ingredients, cover and simmer on medium to low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. This quantity makes 3 portions of sauce, use one for the pasta bake and freeze the rest.

While the bolognese cooks, make the béchamel and boil the pasta.

For the béchamel, melt the butter and add the flour. Cook for 5 minutes then add the milk, whisk for a minute then stir occasionally for 10 minutes until sauce thickens. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Put the pasta, béchamel and bolognese into an oven dish, top with cheese and bake for 30 minutes at 180C until golden

There is nothing better than the rich buttery flavours of chicken marsala for a special night in. It is a simple dish to bring together but one that will truly make the person you’re cooking it for very happy.

The first time I cooked this for my husband was on a day that he returned home from his very first over night work trip. He had been away for 3 days and returned on a very cold winter evening so boy was he happy to come home to this meal. He loved everything about the dish and we both agreed this was a keeper.

Let’s get cooking…

Toss the chicken in salt, pepper and flour. Heat some oil in the pan and fry chicken until golden but not fully cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan and add in the butter.

Once the butter melts, add in the onions, allow to cook until translucent then add in the mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms start to release it’s liquid then add in all the other liquids and bring to a boil.

Add the chicken back to the pan and simmer until the sauce is reduced by half, approximately 10 minutes.

Serve on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes.

This is a really wholesome chicken pie recipe that looks fancy enough for entertaining and tastes delicious!

The filling is a little less liquidy because the pie is free form but the spiciness really gives it an added kick.

Let’s get cooking…

Brown chicken in oil, once nicely browned add in the ginger and garlic paste, peri-peri seasoning, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir for a minute and once fragrant add in all the vegetables.

Allow the veg to cook and colour slightly. Once it begins to soften sprinkle over the milk powder and allow it cook out for 2-3 minutes. Add in the stock, lemon juice and water and bring to a boil.

 The sauce should begin to thicken, turn down to a simmer until sauce starts to coat the back of a wooden spoon. At this point turn off the heat.

Place the puff pastry onto baking paper and fold into thirds to identify 3 equal parts of the pastry. Place the filling into the middle third then cut the left and right pieces of pastry into strips diagonally towards the outer edge.

Start folding each strip of pastry over the filling alternating between the left and the right side so that it starts to resemble a plait. Once fully plaited transfer to a sheet pan.

Brush with milk and bake at 180 for 35-40 minutes until golden

Serve with a crisp salad

With Christmas festivities being smaller this year it makes sense that the usual traditions would be scaled down also. This definitely doesn’t mean skimping on the turkey! Cooking a whole bird is not practical for small groups so I have found that turkey thighs are a huge win!

Smaller groups also allow for a bit more variation in flavours because you’re likely to have fewer picky eaters, etc.

I have created a turkey thigh roast that is filled with Asian flavour right throughout as a result of the butterflying.

Let’s get cooking…

Start by butterflying the turkey thigh join, basically you need to cut along the bone so that the meat pulls away from the bone so that you end up with a flat piece of meat. Then season both sides with salt and pepper.

In a pestle and mortar, crush together the basil and spring onion until paste like, then add in the ginger and garlic, mayonnaise and spice blend and mix thoroughly. Spread half the mixture evenly over the inside of the turkey thigh and the remaining half over the skin.

Roll the meat into a log, skin side up and place in a roasting dish so that it fits snugly. Roast at 170C for 1 ½ to 2 hours depending on the size of the joint, basting every 30 minutes.

A simple curry made of duck braised with just a few peas and simmered until tender has to be one of my favourite Indian dishes. Even though it sounds terribly similar to a chicken curry, the flavours are unmistakably unique and cannot quite compare to anything else.

this is definitely a dish that takes slightly longer to prepare to ensure tender, juicy meat but it is well worth the effort.

Let’s get cooking…

Fry onion and whole spices in oil until soft. Add in turmeric, Kashmiri chilli powder and curry powder and fry for a few seconds then add ginger and garlic paste and fry until fragrant. Add in tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, the oil should look like it bubbling to the top.

Add in the duck, salt and ground spices and stir thoroughly. Allow to saute for 5-10 minutes then reduce the heat to low and let the duck simmer for 45-60 minutes, stirring regularly so that it does not burn. the duck will realease quite a bit of water and as far as possible you want to use this to cook the meat and not add in any other liquids.

Simmer until tender. About 5 minutes before it is done, throw over a handful of peas. When cooked, turn off the heat and allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Garnish with coriander and serve with soft, buttery roti’s