Sometimes you don’t want a mince based pasta sauce and you certainly don’t have the patience to make meatballs. That’s when this winning meal comes in.
Meatloaf are a popular staple of many families Stateside. To explain what a Meatloaf is it’s literally what is says on the tin. It’s that simple.
I love meatloaf; its a simple humble meal you can tweak to your own desires. I serve mine with spaghetti and a simple sauce.
Why not get the children to mix the Meatloaf mixture?
Enjoy.
To serve 4/6) people….
Ingredients:
500 grams mince (I use lamb/mutton etc)
2 onions fried until soft
2 TBSP italian seasoning (herb mix) OR
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp crushed black pepper
Salt-to your taste
Optional: 1 tsp chili flakes (if you like it hot)
I egg
4 TBSP breadcrumbs
1 ball of mozerella cheese
For the sauce:
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 carton passata
2 TBSP rapeseed oil
1 large onion diced (or two smaller onions; diced)
6 cloves of garlic; crushed
2 TBSP Italian seasoning (herb mix) or
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp crushed black pepper
Salt-to your taste
Juice of one lemon (I feel it brings out the flavours of all the ingredients so if you don’t fancy it leave it out).
1) To make the Meatloaf:
Mix together all of the Meatloaf ingredients (apart from the cheese). Shape into a loaf and place in an ovenproof dish.
2) To make the sauce: Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onions. Fry until the onions are soft. Add the garlic, black pepper and herbs. Try for 2 minutes on a low heat (FYI: burnt garlic tastes horrendous). 3) Turn the heat back up to a medium flame. Add the tomatoes, passata and salt. Stir. Bring up to the boil and simmer on a low heat for 25 minutes. Turn the heat off. Add the lemon juice. 4) To complete the Meatloaf: Cover the Meatloaf with 1/4 of the pasta sauce and add the cheese. Cover loosely with foil and bake in the oven at 150 for 50 minutes. 5) To serve: Stir the sauce (the 75% you have left) through the pasta and serve with the Meatloaf. Squirt over the lemon. Enjoy!
Notes:
Meatloaf freezes well. Cut into slices, wrap up well and freeze.
To change things up: add chopped up olives, chopped up sun dried tomatoes and zest of a lemon.
You could also add a layer of cheese in the ‘middle’ of the meatloaf. Oh the possibilities!
I hardcore meal plan; however even I will admit there are times when planning can and will go wrong (e.g. you forget to pick up Naans for the curry and have no rice in your pantry). So I have a good stocked Pantry…actually it’s a wall cabinet. My kitchen doesn’t have a Pantry…but for the sake of the average reader we’ll stick to my imaginary Pantry.
1) Dried Mashed potatoes
This is most probably my most favourite item. Cheap and effective when you compare the price of potatoes, time taken to prepare them and the power it takes to cook them.
How I use them: in alu tikkis (which I serve as tikki burgers too), shepard’s pie topping, as mashed potato, potato cakes, potato pie…there’s so many ways to use them.
2) Tinned lentils and pulses (in particular red kidney beans, chickpeas, white kidney beans, black eye peas amongst others).
How I use them: I add them to stews, curries, cous cous, salads, mash them up as an alternative to potato mash, make tikkis (kebabs), add to chilis…and so on. You can make some great quesadillas from Pantry items too!
3) Chopped tomato tins
These guys are the king in the kitchen. The base of curries, soups, pasta sauces and bakes….these guys rule really. You can get tinned tomatoes with garlic and herbs added too which are great for pasta sauces.
How I use them: pretty much in what’s listed above! A staple in many recipes. I’ve also been known for adding a bag of pre cooked meatballs, herbs and a tin of tomatoes to the slow cooker to make a quick pasta sauce that I don’t have to stand over the stovetop to cook them.
4) Dried wild mushrooms
In all honesty I know you guys are looking at the screen thinking I’ve gone posh. Hear me out. These guys are a bit more posh than standard mushrooms but sometimes you need to treat yourself to something a bit more exotic.
I add these to risotto rice and make a simple baked risotto. I also add them to pasta sauces too. I love these guys. You can fry some off with garlic and top bruchetta for a supper.
How I use them: soak them first as per packet instructions and then use them as required. Great in risottos.
5) Various rices e.g. paella, risotto, basmati.
The list is endless to why we need carbs in the Pantry but most dishes call for them (especially one pot type or family meals).
How I use them: I use basmati in pulao rice dishes, paella rice in paellas and risotto rice in oven baked risottos (which require no stirring-yay). Also great for serving with curries or stir fries. There are other varieties too e.g. Jasmine, sushi, pudding.
6) Various Pastas
I keep a range of pastas around from spagetti to macaroni.
How I use them: in bakes, with sauces, in soups…. I’d say pastas are the top UK carb (or in the top three). Cheap and filling too so work out for budgets too.
7) Cous Cous and other ‘grains’
I love moroccan food and if you offer me a holiday to Marrakesh right now I’m likely to beat you to the airport. Cous Cous go great with Tagines and also with seekhs, kebabs (as a nice side dish) and also make a great salad too.
How I use them: with Tagines, as an alternative side to rice and in salads.
8) Dried herbs/spice blends/rubs/waters
I have loads of these and in all honesty could write a huge article on them. To save you time I will say look at what type of foods you enjoy and stock up in accordance to that. So if you love making curries go for chili powder, tumeric, cumin powder and coriander powder. You can also purchase whole ‘garam masala’ and grind some as when needed (the ready grinded stuff is horrible).
Rubs: you can make your own signature blend again depending on your own preferences.
Herbs: if you love pasta and pizza mix a batch of Italian inspired herbs to keep on hand to add a bit of snazzy to your meal.
There’s also more ‘posh’ things you can add to the Pantry such as dried rose petals, saffron and rose water.
9) Pizza Base mix packets
All you have to do is add liquid, knead and voila homemade pizza!
How I use them: with passata, herbs and cheese for a simple pizza for making homemade calzones.
10) Plain and Self Raising Flours
If you want to introduce the children to cookery baking is a great way…and should keep their attention too!
How I use them: in cakes, blondies, pie crusts, homemade naans… the list is endless.
There’s a host of flours you can try on the market. You can get strong flour to make your own bread. Rye flour for an alternative flavour…get experiment if you want to get the children involved too.
11) Sugars
If you enjoy baking there’s a huge possibility that you need sugars. I have castor sugar, granulated sugar, soft light brown sugar, soft dark brown sugar and sugar crystal sticks.
How I use them: I use castor sugar is most cakes. Blondies call for brown sugar. I use dark brown sugar in caramels. Granulated sugar is used to make sugar syrups. Sugar sticks are used in things like mint tea (or as a photo prop if you are a food photographer).
Tip: you can make your own flavoured sugars really easily. Just add the flavouring to a jar (e.g. a tablespoon of rose petals and a level tsp of fennel seeds to 500 grams of castor sugar to make rose and fennel flavoured sugar for cookie making.
12) Cocoa Powder
Cocoa is a bakers best friend. And also makes great hot chocolates too.
How I use it: in brownies and fresh made from scratch hot chocolates.
13) Various chocolate bars
I have a range of bars in stock at home. From the cheaper 100 gram plain bars to mars bars and so on. And no I don’t spend all day gauging on chocolate.
How I use them: I add them to cookies, ice cream, chop them up and add them to ice-cream sundae bars, melt them down with double cream and make naughty sauces…..
14) Old Fashioned oats
One of the best grains out there.
How I use them: in overnight oats, traditional porridge and in my favourite chocolate chip and oat cookies! Can also be added to smoothie bowls to make the smoothie more filling. You can also make granola with them.
15) Long life milk
As a parent my fear is running out of the white stuff….
How I use them: as a standby for if I forget to go the stores. When the date is nearly running out I can make porridge, rice pudding etc etc. Milk is never wasted in my house.
16) Vac packed Naans and Tortilla wraps
Sometimes you simply forget things and that’s fine. These guys are heroes (especially the wraps when you are preparing packed lunches for children).
How I use them: Pantry quesadillas, burritos, torilla ‘lasanga’ and the naans with a curry or kebabs.
17) Dried (dehydrated) garlic and onions. And fried onions too.
Fried onions are my favourite for making a quick pulao or curry (no cutting or frying off onions what’s not to love right). I use dried garlic and onions in ‘tarka daal’ which is my favourite comfort food ever.
How I use them: in tarkas, garlic in pasta sauces, fried onions in curry and pulao bases. No onion cutting=no tears or headaches.
18) Dried lentils
In all honesty I cannot see a Pantry with no lentils in it. Is this because I’m Asian? Possibly.
How I use them: mainly in daal (lentil curry) dishes. Masoori (split red lentil) is ready in less than 20 minutes. What’s not to love about a protein packed curry like that?
19) Jarred olives (green and black, stuffed too)
Olives add a great punch of flavour to dishes as well as being something the girls can graze on (always rinse them off first).
How I use them: in pasta sauces, smashed up on brushetta and as part of my girls snack boxes.
20) tinned/jarred fish
I love anchovies! I cannot get enough of this salty delight. I also love tuna….
How I use them: I use anchovies in my quick pasta sauce dish. I use tuna in salads, in sandwiches and in quick tuna fish cakes (using dried mash potatoes).
And that concludes my top 20. What’s on your list? Drop your comments below or why not share your essentials on our Social Media.
When I switched my diet to low carb I started to notice exactly how many dishes contain carbs…soups with pasta being one of them. So one day I got thinking and came up with this soup that I have to admit I really really like. Packed with lots of protein it’s pretty amazing really. It also uses my browned mince hack that helps cut prep time on the day no end.
Now this is a recipe INSPIRED by Bolognese (the American-Italian pasta sauce). Note that I have added cannelloni beans. You can however use any beans that you feel fit your taste buds.
Even my daughters love it. So to add carbs to their meals I add cooked pasta. The oldest takes this to School with her Thermos (apparently the other kids wanted to know what the awesome smell was-result).
As you can see from the ingredients list I have my ‘mince hack’ on there which is mince browned with onions.
This soup tastes awesome to the last drop. It’s that good.
If you want to serve this to the family and want to add pasta then that’s cool too. I didn’t miss the lack of carbs so doubt anyone else would…enjoy.
PS: you can switch the mince for Quorn mince and make it vegetarian.
To serve 4/6
Ingredients: 500 grams browned mince (with onion and garlic) 1/2 can of chopped tomatoes 1 carton of passata 125 ml of water 1 tablespoon dried Italian herb mix (or x1 tsp basil, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp thyme) Salt-to taste Handful of kale 80 grams sliced mushrooms 1 can white cannellini beans rinsed and drained (or use any pulse you wish)
1) Place all the ingredients APART from the kidney beans in a Slow Cooker and cook on a high heat for 2 hours. Stir half way.
2 Add the kidney beans 15 minutes before the end cooking time.
3) Turn off the Slow Cooker and serve.
70 DAYS until we are greeted by the holiest month of the Islamic year. As promised here is a breakdown of goals I am setting to get best out of Ramadan.
Life & Spirituality:
Break down your responsibilities over Ramadan and sort out your time table for the Holy month. Then you can plan your time WISELY. But the first step is to sort out your calendar/dairy.
Ideally you only want to keep the responsiblities that cannot be moved or take a back burner until post Ramadan.
These in my opinion are: Work, responsibilities towards family (School runs etc), College/Education and of course your development as a Muslim (prayers, meditation etc).
For some these may include community volunteering and even the gym. But you get the idea.
What can be delayed/moved?
Meeting up with friends, sleep overs for the children, other social events, binge watching box sets…you get the picture.
Knowing how much time you have to commit to Ramadan activities exclusively will help you map out what you want to achieve better. It helps me not over commit and under achieve.
Long fasts….Iftaar parties are so tiring….
As Ramadan 2019 is during the hotter months (with a long day) organising Iftaars is a lot of work and can be very tiring.
Instead of organising Iftaars consider the following:
Donating food to a Food Bank
Volunteering the time to a Soup Kitchen
Send a Food Hamper to close family
Send cookies/Fruit platters for Iftar to friends (you can bake the cookies with children before Ramadan and package them and distribute them on the first of Ramadan).
Send a box of dates. We actually do this. We also send ‘fancy a date’ cones to the School for the Teachers. It’s a nice gesture and includes those that are around your children for such a long period of time to enjoy some of the festivities too.
So what are your goals for Ramadan? Why not leave us a comment below and inspire others too.
I have a confession to make; I love Nargasi koftas but I seriously cannot stand the hours needed to create these egg filled delights and cook them. Most probably because I’m usually cooking around other tasks and don’t have hours on end to commit to cooking one dish.
So my compromise is this dish: Kofta and Egg Masala. It contains koftas and eggs and it doesn’t take all day to cook and it tastes awesome. There isn’t much ‘sauce’ (curry/gravy-whatever you choose to call it) so it’s not a wet curry. I just thought I would mention that.
I’ve actually broken this recipe down so that if you cannot actually cook it all in one go you can break up the workload over 2 days. If you wish to cook it in one go just work your ways through the steps.
As I utilise the use of my oven I can place the dish in there to cook and get on with other tasks.
I actually serve this rich dish on Eid; it’s that good.
Serves 4/6
Ingredients:
500 grams minced lamb/mutton
1 slice of bread (whizzed up in a food processor)
Salt-to your taste
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp cumin powder
1 tbsp coriander seed leaves chopped finely
1 green chili chopped finely (optional)
1 small onion finely chopped
To fry the koftas: 1 tbsp oil
Non-stick frying pan
For the masala:
1 400 gram tin of tomatoes (pureed/liquid in a food processor)
1 medium onion finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic crushed
1x 1 inch piece of ginger (Whole-remove before serving)
1 large cassia bark stick (can be removed before serving-it’s not edible in case you were wondering)
2 tbsp coriander leaves finely chopped
2 tbsp rapeseed oil (or other oil to your liking)
Salt-to your taste
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp coriander seed powder
1 tbsp cumin powder
3 bullet chilies sliced in half
6 hard boiled eggs-peeled (you’ll need to cut a small slit into each egg to prevent them from possibly exploding in the oven. Chances are slim but I despise cleaning the oven!).
To serve: lemon wedges & naans (I also serve this with Pulao rice or Jeera Rice).
1) Take the mince out of the bag. Do not wash it. That will create a big mess so please ask your butcher to just wash the meat before they mince it. Add all the ingredients listed for the koftas. Now mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed. I find the easiest way to do this is by hand. Yes your hands will get messy but your hands really are the best tool for the job.
Now comes the fun part: shape your meatballs (koftas). I take about a walnut size piece (a heaped tablespoon even) and squish the mixture together as tight as possible. Place on a plate/tray. Shape all the koftas. You can either place the shaped meatballs in the fridge for 30 minutes to 3 hours and then move onto step 2 or just move onto step 2. Seriously. I rarely chill the koftas I never have the time.
2) Heat one tbsp of oil in a medium sized non stick frying pan. Now fry your koftas to basically seal them and give them a bit of colour. Do not keep turning them over; they will break. Instead check them by gently lifting one after 3/4 minutes and if they are golden turn them over. Seal on the other side. This step takes around 15 minutes.
3) Once the koftas are brown take them out of the pan and place them on kitchen paper to drain off any excess oil. I usually give the koftas a pat all over with kitchen paper and I don’t like lots of grease. That’s optional.
IF YOU ARE PREPARING THIS DISH STEP BY STEP: once the koftas have cooled down place them in a ziplock food bag or a freezer proof container with lid. Place in the freezer and use within a month.
4) Once you’ve got the koftas done you’ve actually got the hardest bit done. To make the masala heat the two tbsp oil in an oven proof cooking dish on a medium heat. Add the onion and fry until lightly brown. Add the ginger and garlic and fry for 2 minutes or until the garlic is lightly brown. Now add the salt, cassia, powdered spices and stir. If you find the mixture is sticking to the pan feel free to add a tbsp of water. Repeat if required. Fry for 3/4 minutes. At this stage you are cooking out the spices.
4) Now add the tomato liquid/puree. Stir well. Now add the sliced chilies (if using) and half the chopped coriander leaves. Cook on a gentle heat until you start the see puddles of oil literally separating from the tomato mixture. This indicates your masala is done. Yay!
5) IF YOU ARE PREPARING THIS DISH STEP BY STEP: You can turn off the heat once the masala is done. Cool it down and place the mixture in a ziplock food bag or freezer container and freeze the mixture for up to a month. Or if you wish you can make the masala up to two days in advance and cool it and place it in a suitable container in the fridge. Yes it really is that simple.
6) If you are cooking this recipe in one go: add 400 ml of water to the masala and turn the heat up and bring to the boil. The masala may look at bit watery. Don’t worry, this is normal. The texture improves in the oven. Turn the heat off.
IF YOU ARE PREPARING THIS DISH STEP BY STEP:
Defrost the koftas and masala overnight in the fridge. Alternatively defrost in a microwave and ensure both items are thoroughly defrosted before use. By preferred method is defrosting in the fridge.
To cook complete the dish using frozen products:
Place the masala in an oven proof dish. Spread it out evenly. Add 250 ml (approximately a glass) of water and place the dish in the oven at 180 for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven. Lower the oven temprature to 150. Proceed to step 7.
7) Add the Koftas to the masala. Stir to cover the koftas. Cover the pan before placing in the oven. If your dish doesn’t have a lid (or let’s face it you cannot locate it in your overloaded cabinets) cover loosely with a piece of foil-shiny side outwards). Now bake at 150 for 45 minutes.
8) After 45 minutes take the koftas out of the oven. Your koftas will be cooked at this point. Now add the eggs. Stir so they are covered in the masala. If the masala has evaporated you can add 3 tbsp of boiling water (be careful) to the mixture and stir well. This will give you a bit of sauce to work with. Cover the koftas and return the oven for 10 minutes.
9) Take the koftas back out of the oven…and your dish is ready to serve. Sprinkle on the remaining coriander. Serve with naans and a wedge of lemon. Enjoy.
NOTES:
This dish isn’t suitable for freezing unless you remove the eggs.
Do not refreeze the kofta masala if you are using frozen koftas or masala.
I find this dish also goes superbly with jeera and lemon rice.
