Tasty Recipes For July

Starter: Butternut Squash Soup

• Serves: 10
• Prep Time: 0hrs 25 mins
• Cooking Time: 1hr 0 mins

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash
• 1 knob ginger grated
• 2 onions
• 5 cloves garlic
• splash of olive oil
• sprinkle of dry chilli
• 1 litre chicken / veg stock
• 1 large Pumpkin

Method

1. Chop up onions and garlic and fry till soft
2. Cut open pumpkin and butternut and deseed
3. Place on baking tray sprinkle with salt and pepper and crushed garlic and shaking of olive oil and roast for 25 minutes 180 °C
4. Scoop out the plup and put in large pan with the garlic and onions
5. Pour in the stock and simmer for one hour
6. Then add ginger and chilli if you like it a bit spicy
7. Blend with a hand blender until smooth

Main Course: Scrummy Fish Pie

• Serves: 8
• Prep Time: 0hrs 15 mins
• Cooking Time: 1hr 0 mins

Ingredients

• 2kg Potatoes
• 1kg Fresh Fish - cod or coley
• 75g Butter
• 2 Onions chopped
• 1 tbsp Parsley chopped
• 142ml pot Single Cream
• 700g White Sauce
• 60g Cheddar Cheese, grated

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190ºC, gas mark 5. Chop the potatoes into small chunks and add to a large saucepan of boiling water. Return to the boil and cook for 5-7 minutes until just tender. Drain.
2. Pat the Fish (cod) dry with kitchen paper. Cut the cod into chunky pieces and season lightly. Melt half the butter in a large frying pan and fry the cod in 2 batches, until opaque. Transfer to a plate pouring away any excess liquid.
3. Melt the remaining butter in the pan and fry the onions for 3-4 minutes or until softened. Stir in the parsley and remove from the heat.
4. Tip the cheese sauce into a saucepan and stir in the cream. Gently heat the sauce through. Arrange half the potato chunks in the base of a large, shallow ovenproof dish with a 3.5-4-litre capacity. Arrange the cod over the top, making sure all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Pour half the cheese sauce over and scatter with the onions. Arrange the remaining potatoes over the top in an even layer, and spoon over the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with the cheese.
5. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 45 minutes or until the surface of the pie is golden. Leave to stand for 10-15 minutes before serving.
6. Optional: You can also add prawns or other seafood to this. Alternatively mash the potatoes and place on top of the fish with a little grated cheese.
7. Tip: Coley is much cheaper than cod - making it a cheap, economic, healthy dish for all the family to enjoy.

Dessert: Blueberry Muffins

• Serves: 12
• Prep Time: 0hrs 5 mins
• Cooking Time: 0hrs 20 mins

Ingredients

• 300g Self raising flour
• 1 tbs baking soda
• 100g castered sugar
• 50g porridge oats
• 300ml buttermilk
• 5 tbsp oil
• 2 eggs whites
• 150g blueberries
• 2 ripe bananas

Method

1. Heat oven to 180C and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper muffin cases.
2. Mix flour and baking soda into a large bowl. Add 1 tbsp of the sugar, then mix the remainder with the flour and 50g oats.
3. In a separate bowl, mash the bananas until nearly smooth. Stir the buttermilk or yogurt , oil and egg whites into the mashed banana.
4. Pour the liquid mixture into the well and stir with a wooden spoon. The mix may have the odd fleck of flour still visible - but that’s fine.
5. Mix in the blueberries and give it just one more stir. Fill in the muffin cases - then sprinkle the tops the rest of the sugar.
6. Bake for 18-20 mins until risen and dark golden.

Enjoy!