Asparagus, Courgette, Feta and Sesame Salad.

Hello again! It's been a while since my last post as I was really busy last week attending my Auntie's wedding which was absolutely stunning. My Auntie and I have really similar taste so naturally I absolutely adored everything about her wedding, from the gorgeous cake to the beautiful flowers and delicious three course meal complete with my favourite Heidi Pieminister pie and a delicious dessert trio of; lemon tart, chocolate brownie and raspberry meringue. Yum.

The venue was stunning, the Cham 69 cocktails were particularly delicious and I definitely could have helped myself to a few more of those. We danced along to 80s songs all night and even broke out the air guitar a fair few times to some rock classics which was pretty hilarious and more importantly my incredible cousins; Alfie and Hugo also looked completely adorable and handsome in their little blue suits as the page boys for the day too.

My Auntie's dress was absolutely gorgeous and I actually couldn't believe just how beautiful she looked and how amazing her dress was when I saw her. It was honestly breathtaking. I was also really lucky to be asked to be her bridesmaid which, was very exciting as I am really close to her and I felt really privileged to be part of her special day. 

It was honestly just an amazing day for an amazing couple and they really deserved it and I wish I could do it all over again. Weddings are incredible, people should definitely get married more often. 

I am back now though and on a mission to keep healthy and lose a few pounds so here I am sharing with you this yummy salad recipe so, that I can hopefully one day look lovely in my own wedding dress but, for now as a lonely, singleton I'll just take getting that nice bikini body and who knows, it might just help me bag that future husband of mine too.

This is a lovely, simple, light and refreshing salad and I really enjoyed it and hope you do to! The lemon zest and juice gave a delicious fresh and summery burst to a nice healthy and tasty salad which, will hopefully help towards trimming down the old waistline unlike the homemade banoffee tart I will be munching on later. Sorry! No one can munch on lettuce leaves all the time though, can they? Unless of course you add a nice crumbling of creamy feta, some juicy courgettes and a handful of delightful, crunchy spears of asparagus, then it's not so bad.

Recipe

3 tsp. sesame seeds

280g asparagus

100g peas

2 courgettes

2 tsp. sesame oil

rocket leaves

125g feta, crumbled

grated zest 1 lemon

juice 1/2 lemon

small handful of mint leaves, finely chopped

Method

1. Heat a small frying pan and add the sesame seeds. Cook, shaking the pan and making sure the seeds don’t burn. When they are fragrant and have turned a light teak colour, tip them onto a saucer.                                                                                                               

2. Steam the asparagus for 3-4 mins until almost done. Drop into a bowl of iced water to cool, then drain and wrap in a tea towel to dry really well. Cook the peas for 3 mins in the boiling water used to steam the asparagus, then drain and cool under a cold tap. Slice the courgettes on the diagonal, about 0.5cm thick.

3. Heat a griddle pan until very hot. Brush the asparagus and courgette slices with the oil, and cook in batches until nicely striped with dark brown. Cut the asparagus into 5cm lengths.

4. Mix the asparagus, courgettes, peas, rocket, half of the feta, mint, lemon juice and lemon zest. Grind over some black pepper and sprinkle with the sesame seeds and remainder of the crumbled feta before serving.

And now, just to leave you with possibly the cutest pictures you have ever seen in your entire life of my adorable nephew Charlie who may just be the most gorgeous boy in the world!

Summer Vegetable Pizza Pie.

I always find that whenever I do any baking, I tend to go straight to the internet to find new recipes to try even though I've got a huge stack of delicious cookbooks in my bedroom so, today I decided to make my first recipe out of my Higgidy Cookbook and I'm very glad I did as this pizza pie was lovely. It is very similar to a quiche so, perfect to serve alongside some salad in the summer or to even take as a yummy snack for a picnic. I literally fell in love with the croustade pastry, it is gorgeous and tastes like a rich, buttery cheese scone. Yum! The filling was also very tasty and quirky and tasted very fresh and summery with all of the summery vegetables and the addition of the lemon zest. 

I really loved this pizza pie and it was actually really easy to make too which is good as pastry dishes can often be quite faffy and require lots of skill and time to make them look neat. I love the rustic look of this pizza pie which, is perfect for me as I have always been pretty terrible at shaping pastry and haven't quite managed to make any gourmet looking quiches or pies in all my ten or so years of baking yet but, I didn't think this pizza pie looked too shabby. 

Has anyone else stumbled upon any delicious recipes recently in their mound of long forgotten about cookbooks? 

Recipe

For the Savoury Croustade Pastry:

200g plain flour, plus a little for dusting

A generous pinch of salt

75g unsalted butter, well chilled and cut into small cubes

50g mature Cheddar cheese, finely grated

1 medium egg, beaten

2-3 tbsp. ice-cold water

For the Filling:

A knob of butter

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 courgette, cut into discs and then halved or quartered to make small chunks

4 large spring onions, cut into 1.5cm slices on an angle

75g asparagus, chop each asparagus spear into three

250g full-fat cream cheese

1 medium egg

Zest of 1 lemon

2 tbsp. chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Topping:

1 ball buffalo mozzarella, torn

A little beaten egg, for brushing and glazing

Finely grated zest 1/2 lemon

Method

1. Start by making the savoury croustade pastry. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl, add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the grated cheddar and stir until the cheese is just mixed in. Add the beaten egg and a few splashes of ice cold water and mix just enough to bring the pastry together. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead lightly until smooth. Try not to handle too much or the fat will get warm and the pastry may turn out tough and chewy. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30-60 minutes before use.

2. Now prepare the pizza pie filling. Melt the butter in a large frying pan. When it's sizzling throw in the garlic, courgettes and asparagus and fry over a high heat for 2 minutes. Add the spring onions and fry for a further 4 minutes or until the veg is beginning to steam but, hasn't lost it's vibrant colour. Now set aside to cool.

3. Beat the egg in a medium bowl and then beat in the cream cheese until fully incorporated. Season with black pepper. Add two-thirds of the cooled vegetables, the lemon zest and chopped parsley and stir to combine. Preheat the oven to 200°C. 

4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry into a 30cm circle about 3mm thick. Transfer to a large baking sheet (the pastry may hang over the sides). Spoon the creamy mixture onto the pastry, leaving a border of about 5cm all the way round the edge. Sprinkle over a third of the torn mozzarella and a good grating of black pepper and a pinch of salt. Top with the remaining vegetables and mozzarella and turn up the excess pastry around the edges of the filling.

5. Brush any exposed pastry with beaten egg and bake for about 25 minutes or until the pastry is golden and crisp. Finally, remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes before slicing into wedges and serving.