HOMECOOKING WITH TERESA

This dish is perfect for making it ahead and just reheated the following day. It actually helps develop the flavours and it is even more delicious. The ricotta makes the meatballs very light and my husband reckons it would be the perfect dish to have with pasta. If you do so, make the meatballs smaller. This time it was our dinner for our Pure protein diet day, but I'd love to eat them next to oven cooked chips and a salad. The flavours are amazing.  See the end of the page to see a variation using the same recipe but on macaroni. INGREDIENTS 60ml olive oil 2 large onions, chopped finely 4 garlic cloves, crushed 20g oregano leaves, chopped, plus extra to serve 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes 500ml chicken stock 500g pork and veal mince 100g breadcrumbs (from 3-4 slices of crustless white bread) or bought 250g ricotta 60g parmesan 1 large egg 20g Italian parsley, chopped salt & freshly ground black pepper METHOD: First make the tomato sauce. Put 2 tablespoo

This recipe is easy to make and it is just delicious. I had some pears that needed to be eaten and was also looking for a dessert that was healthy but tasty. You can eat them next to vanilla ice-cream or just some cream if you prefer it.  INGREDIENTS 50g unsalted butter 1/2 cup (125g) firmly packed brown sugar 1/2 cup (125ml) Marsala Thickly pared zest and juice of 1 orange 1 cinnamon quill 1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped 4 firm, ripe beurre bosc pears 1/2 lemon 350g seedless grapes, cut into small bunches Vanilla ice-cream, to serve METHOD: Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the butter and sugar in a saucepan over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Add the Marsala and cook for a further 1 minute. Remove from heat, add the orange zest and juice, cinnamon and vanilla pod and seeds, then stir to combine. Peel and cut the pears in half lengthways and remove the cores (leaving stalks intact). Rub the pears with the cut side of the lemon to prevent

The original recipe, see below, was with mint chocolate, but even though I don't mind it, I can only eat a small amount. I thought I'd change the recipe, because in the cook book, the author says that in fact it is one of this recipes where you use whatever you have available in the pantry. This one turned up amazingly good. It is perfect to have next to a cuppa or just a little nibble after dinner. INGREDIENTS 100g orange-flavoured dark chocolate, roughly chopped  200g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) roughly chopped 120g unsalted butter, cut into 2cm cubes 100g golden syrup 1/8 tsp salt 50g currants  50g dried cranberries 2 Tbsp Cointreau   170g digestive biscuits 100g pistachios, chopped METHOD: Put the currants and the cranberries in a bowl with the Cointreau and soak for about 30 minutes. Line a 28 x 18 cm baking tray or glass dish with parchment paper and set aside. Chop the chocolate into 3cm pieces. Put the chocolates, the butter, golden syrup

According to Ottolenghi:"this will be a revelation to those who tend towards plain steamed basmati. The method is fail-safe and the result is stunning". And stunning it is!! It has amazing flavours and it combines extremely well with many recipes. I will certainly be cooking it again. The problem is that it is so yummy that you tend to eat more than you need.... 😅😜😋! See the Variations at the end of the page to have the recipe using a rice-cooker. INGREDIENTS 5 short cinnamon sticks (10g) 10 cloves shaved rind of 1 lemon 1 Tbsp lemon juice 2 stems of fresh curry leaves (about 25 leaves) or 35 dried curry leaves 400g basmati rice, rinsed  60g unsalted butter salt and pepper METHOD: Preheat the oven to  200°C. Soak the basmati rice for 15 minutes. Drain well. Put the cinnamon sticks, cloves, lemon rind, curry leaves, 1 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper in a medium saucepan. Cover with 680ml of water and place on a high heat.  As soon as the wa

I am not very good at making bread. I don't have the patience to knead it for a long time. However, I had some wholemeal spelt flour in the pantry that needed to be used. I found this recipe by chance and decided to have a go at it. The result was just great. A very delicious and wholesome bread. You only need a slice to feel satisfied. The actual recipe used white spelt flour, and it was obviously lighter than mine. The only change I made was to double the yeast. Wonderful recipe. INGREDIENTS 3 1/2 cups (830ml) water  1 sachet (15g) dry yeast 1 Tbsp maple syrup 3 tsp sea salt flakes 6 cups (780g) wholemeal spelt flour, plus extra for dusting 1/2 cup (90g) linseeds (flaxseeds) 1/2 cup (80g) sunflower seeds butter, to serve METHOD: Place the water, yeast, maple syrup and salt in a large bowl and mix to combine.  Add the flour, linseeds and sunflower seeds.  Mix well until a sticky dough forms. Turn out the dough onto a surface dusted with flour and