Breakfast pie
Serves:
Ingredients
- 30g butter, melted
- 6 sheets filo pastry
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 rindless bacon rashers, finely chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 x 400g tin crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- handful of basil leaves, roughly chopped
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 6 tsp thickened cream
- 6 organic or free-range fresh eggs
- a few chives, finely chopped
Method
Lightly brush a 6-cup (large capacity) muffin tin with melted butter.
Take a sheet of filo pastry and brush with melted butter. Fold the pastry into thirds so you have a rectangle, then fold again so it becomes a square. Place the square of filo into one of the muffin holes, then repeat 5 more times to fill the tray.
In a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, add olive oil. Add bacon and onion and cook until bacon is crispy and the onion transparent, stirring frequently to avoid mixture catching on the bottom of the pan. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.
Add tomatoes, sugar, vinegar and basil and gently simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 10 mins. Season with salt and pepper.
Spoon mixture into filo molds. Pour 1 tsp of cream over the top of the tomato mixture into each pie. (You can be more generous if you desire). Carefully crack an egg into the top of each pie.
Place in the oven for 20 mins or until egg is just set.
Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper and chives.
Notes
- When working with filo pastry you need to keep the sheets moist until you are ready to use them. You can lay a moist tea towel over any unused sheets to stop them drying out.
- This recipe was created by Charlie Louie for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
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Homemade chicken nuggets
Serves:
Ingredients
- 2-3 chicken breast fillets (about 600g)
- half a cup plain flour
- 2 eggs
- 4 slices day old bread
- 1/3 cup cornflake crumbs
- 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- half a cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
Method
Tear bread into pieces and whiz in a food processor to get fine bread crumbs.
Slice chicken breasts into bite size pieces. Put the flour on a large square of baking paper.
Whisk eggs in a small bowl. Mix breadcrumbs, cornflake crumbs and parmesan cheese in a bowl. Coat the chicken pieces in flour, dust off, dip in egg wash and then coat in crumb mix. You may need to press the crumbs on. Place the coated chicken pieces onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 180C and bake the chicken for 10 minutes or until cooked through. To make the dipping sauce, combine mayonnaise and sweet chilli sauce in a small bowl.
Serve nuggets with dipping sauce.
Notes:
- This is a great entree or appetiser and prepare in advance and then just bake before serving. Serve with a potato salad and/or green salad for a main meal.
- I love sweet chilli mayo, but my kids are more than happy to stick with good old tomato sauce.
- Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.
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Chicken casserole with pom poms
Serves:
Ingredients
- 1 x 415g tin cream of mushroom soup
- 1 x 415g tin cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup (250ml) thickened cream
- 1 tbsp chicken stock powder
- 500g cooked chicken, chopped
- 1 x 500g bag frozen Asian-style vegetables
- 1 x 450g frozen pom poms
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C or 160°C fan-forced. In a 27cm x 19cm ovenproof dish, combine the mushroom soup, chicken soup, cream and stock powder.
Add the chicken and vegetables and combine.
Place pom poms carefully over the top and bake for 45-50 minutes.
Notes:
- This dish was inspired by the Duggar family Tater Tot casserole but I have varied a few things so New Zealand families can find the ingredients here. I also added 500g of vegetables so it is a meal in a dish.
- You can use a rotisserie chicken in this recipe. One whole barbecued chicken de-boned is equal to 500g of cooked chicken.
- This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
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Strawberry pops
Serves:
Ingredients
- 1 pkt skewers
- 1-2 punnet strawberries, hulled, washed and dried
- 1 pkt marshmallows
- 375g choc bits, melted
- 60-100g sprinkles
Method
Pick up a skewer/toothpick; slide on a strawberry followed by a marshmallow, making sure the marshmallow covers the tip.
Dip one half of the strawberry/marshmallow combo in melted chocolate and then dip it into the sprinkles.
Place on a plate and wait for choc to set (5-10 minutes depending on weather)
Eat!
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Note
- Kids of all ages LOVE to make these.
- I went to the local day care centre and got the preschoolers to make these and there was lots of excitement. I even heard the comment ‘I want one with a strawberry too’!
- You can swap strawberries for other fruit, and you may want to swap sprinkles for coconut, nuts or even currants.
- Recipe created by Camilla Baker for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
Bells of St Clements muffins
Serves:
Ingredients
- 2 cups plain flour (gluten-free, see notes below)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- half a cup caster sugar
- zest of one orange, finely chopped
- zest of one lemon, finely chopped
- 1 cup (250mL) orange juice
- 1/3 cup oil
- 2 eggs
Method
Preheat oven to 180C. Place muffin paper cases into muffin pan. Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl, stir in sugar and zests. Combine juice, oil and eggs in a jug, whisk to combine. Pour liquid into dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Spoon muffin mixture into muffin pans and bake for 20-25 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Cool on wire trays.
Notes:
- I invented these muffins for my little girl who is on a dairy-free trial for 3 weeks. It is very challenging for her in this house full of Kidspot-goodies! I also made them gluten free so I could eat them too and believe it or not, they were very moist and tasty.
- Make these gluten-free using gluten-free plain flour and baking powder.
- Follow this link for the full nursery rhyme http://www.rhymes.org.uk/bells-st-clements.htm
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Easy chocolate chip muffins
Serves:
Makes 12
Ingredients
- 2 cup self-raising flour
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 60 g butter
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 3/4 cup choc chips
Method
Preheat oven to 200_C (180_C fan-forced).
Grease a 12 hole muffin pan with cooking spray or butter and line with patty cases.
Sift the flour into a large bowl and then add the sugar. Stir it all together to combine.
Melt butter in the microwave (about 30 seconds or less should do it).
Combine the egg and milk together – beat with a fork.
Add the melted butter, milk and egg mixture plus a teaspoon of vanilla essence to the dry ingredients in the large bowl.
Now add the chocolate chips and gently mix with a spoon until it is just combined.
Spoon mixture evenly into the muffin tin, about one tablespoon per muffin case.
Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack (or better yet, eat them hot, straight out of the oven, Yum!)
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Note
- This is the perfect basic muffin recipe that be adjusted by adding different ingredients.
- Substitute blueberries or sultanas for the choc chips if you want a healthier option.
- For the lightest, fluffiest muffins, be careful not to over-mix these. Just stir it all together until combined.
- This recipe was created by Penny Flanagan for Kidspot.
Easy crumbed fish
Serves:
Ingredients
- 300g firm white fish (fillets)
- pinch white pepper
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup corn starch
- 1 egg (lightly beaten)
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- Vegetable oil (for deep frying)
- ½ lemon (cut into wedges)
Method
Cut the fish fillets into 2cm-thick slices.
Add the cornflour to the beaten egg and beat together gently.
Add the fish pieces to the batter and then to the crumbs.
Heat the oil to medium in a large wok.
Fry the fish to golden, about two minutes, then drain well season with white pepper and salt and a squeeze of lemon.
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Caramel coconut slice
Serves:
Ingredients
- ½ cup plain flour
- ½ cup self-raising flour
- ½ cup desiccated coconut
- ½ cup caster sugar
- 100g unsalted butter, melted
- 385g can sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tbsp golden syrup
- ¼ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 60g unsalted butter, melted
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2/3 cups caster sugar
- 2 cups desiccated coconut
- 2 cups shredded coconut
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a rectangular slice pan.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flours, coconut, sugar and 100g melted butter. Press the mixture evenly across the slice pan.
Bake for 10 minutes or until the base is lightly golden. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, combine the condensed milk, golden syrup, brown sugar and 60g melted butter to make a caramel in a small bowl.
Combine the eggs, sugar and both types of coconut together in a small bowl.
Once the base has cooled, pour the caramel onto the base and spread it evenly.
Add the coconut topping over the caramel and spread out evenly.
Bake for 20-25 mins, or until the coconut topping is golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing.
Notes:
- This is a lovely slice that has a tasty combination of crunchy coconut and smooth caramel.
- The recipe for the caramel in this recipe is delicious! I think it would make a yum dessert poured on ice-cream.
- If you don’t have both desiccated and shredded coconut, you could just use one or the other.
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- This recipe was created by Ella Walsh for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
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Best ever chocolate brownies
Serves:
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup plain flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder (good quality)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/3 cup dark chocolate
- 1/4 cup espresso coffee (liquid) (strong)
- 1 tbs butter
- 3/4 cup caster sugar
- 2 egg (large)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbs low-fat sour cream
Method
Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced) and line a 20cm square pan with baking paper.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder and baking powder.
Place chocolate, espresso and butter into bowl, then place bowl over small saucepan 1/3 filled with water and bring to gentle simmer. Melt and set aside to cool slightly.
While chocolate is melting whisk eggs, vanilla and sour cream together. Mix egg and chocolate mixtures together with sugar and fold through dry ingredients until just combined (if you over mix it, the brownies will be crumbly).
Pour into pan and bake for 14-16 mins until just set. It may look uncooked to your practiced baking eye, but it will continue to cook in the pan while cooling. Cool brownies completely in the pan and store in an airtight container.
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Note
- These brownies are great for freezing – just wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container.
- Brownies usually use a lot of butter, chocolate and eggs, but you don’t need a lot to get a lovely fudgy consistency. The key is to use quality cocoa and chocolate – this gives you all the flavour without the fat.
- This recipe was created by Jay Rogers for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
Upside-down apple cake
Ingredients
- 1 x 400g tin pie apples
- 2 eggs
- å_ cup white sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 70g butter
- 60ml (å_ cup) low fat milk
- å_ tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
Method
Heat oven to 180å¡C or 160å¡C fan-forced. Line a square baking tin (20cm x 20cm) with baking paper. Pour apples over the base of the baking tin and set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla until thick. This should take around 5 minutes and is important in getting that lovely light, airy texture.
Melt butter with milk and leave to cool slightly before adding to egg mixture. Beat lightly to incorporate.
Sift in cinnamon, flour and baking powder and gently fold to incorporate. Pour over apples and bake for 30-35 minutes. Have a look at the 30-minute mark and see how you go. The cake should be golden brown with a soft texture, but not wobbly.
Allow to cool in the tin.
Notes:
- You can serve this cake warm or cold. It also freezes well for up to three months.
- 798kj (190cals); 6.9g total fat (4g saturated fat)
- This recipe was written by Jay Rogers for Kidspot,åÊNew Zealand’såÊbest recipe finder. You can follow Jay at The Moodie Foodie and on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.
Blueberry buckle cake recipe
Serves:
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup caster sugar
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 egg
- 2 cups plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- half a tsp salt
- half a cup milk
- 2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
Crumble topping
- 1/3 cup caster sugar
- half a cup plain flour
- half a tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
Method
Preheat oven to 190C. Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin.
Cream together the sugar, butter and egg.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir into the sugar mixture, alternating with milk.
Stir in blueberries and pour into the prepared tin.
To make topping, combine all the ingredients and rub together until the mixture resembles soft breadcrumbs.
Sprinkle the crumble topping over the cake batter.
Bake for 45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
Serve hot with cream.
Notes
- I stumbled on this old-fashioned American cake when I was looking for a recipe other than Blueberry muffins to use blueberries.
- I was intrigued by the name after all, what is a buckle cake? After a little googling, I discovered that it is a single layer cake that has a heavy batter on the bottom covered in fruit and then a streusel topping. As the cake cooks, the heavier batter begins to buckle and push the topping upwards. Apparently.
- I had a bit of trouble deciding whether the cake was cooked or not the cooked blueberries liquidise and make the cake appear uncooked. After stabbing my cake in various places with a skewer I decided it was actually cooked at the 45 minute mark, and it was perfectly cooked when I cut into it.
- Blueberries are considered a super-food and I dont think you can have enough recipes that include them. This cake is perfect to have with a cup of tea at morning tea.
- This recipe was created by Ella Walsh for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
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Honey and tea ice cream
Serves:
Ingredients
- 2 cups whipping cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¼ cup loose leaf tea
- 9 large egg yolks
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup honey
- 1 x ice cream maker (or see notes below if you don't have one)
Method
Combine the cream and milk in a heavy-based medium saucepan.
Bring to a gentle simmer over a medium heat, then add the tea and remove from the heat. Cover and steep for 15 minutes.
Place the egg yolks, sugar and honey in a large bowl and whisk for 2 to 3 minutes or until the mixture is thick and creamy.
Gradually whisk the milk mixture into the egg mixture to blend.
Return the custard to the same saucepan.
Cook the custard over a medium to low heat, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes, or until the custard coats the back of the spoon. Do not allow the custard to boil or it will curdle.
Strain the mixture through a fine-meshed sieve and into a large bowl.
Set the bowl of ice cream base over another large bowl of ice water and stir the mixture until it is cold.
Pour the chilled mixture into ice cream maker and process according to instructions or until almost set, remove ice cream from machine to a storage container and freeze ice cream covered until serving.
Notes
- If you don't have an ice cream maker at home you can still make this delicious ice cream. An ice cream maker breaks up the icey crystals to make the ice cream smoother as it freezes. You do the same thing by removing it from the freezer every half and hour for 2 hours and giving it a vigourous stir. After 2 hours it is usually close to frozen and ready to eat.
- Make sure that you do chill your mixture before putting it into the freezer. Otherwise it will raise the temperature of the freezer and it's contents.
- This recipe is ideal when you have a dinner party and want to make something a little bit special.
- This recipe was created by Coles Australia.
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Tim Tam brownies
Serves:
10
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (120g) self-raising flour, sifted
- 1 1/4 cups (285g) white sugar
- 1/2 cup cocoa, sifted
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (180g) butter
- 1 pkt (200g) Tim Tams
Method
Step 1. Gather all ingredients together. Line a slice tray (15cm x 30cm) with baking paper and set aside. Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced).
Step 2. Place flour, sugar and cocoa in a bowl and mix together. Add eggs, vanilla and butter and whisk until combined. Place 4-5 tablespoons of brownie mixture into the tray and spread to cover the base.
Step 3. Place 2 rows of 5 Tams on top of the brownie mixture. Pour remaining mixture into the tin and smooth over to cover the Tim Tams.
Step 4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly baked through. Cool and cut into squares or fingers and serve.
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Note
- You can use any of your favourite chocolate biscuits to hide in this brownie mixture. I do like the idea of a Mint Slice hiding in there.
- Baking time on these brownies will vary on how you like your brownies. If you want them soft and gooey then 25 minutes is perfect. If you want them firmer I would bake them for 35 minutes.
- This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand's best recipe finder.
Cheddar star biscuits
Serves:
Ingredients
- 1 cup plain flour
- one cup wholemeal flour
- half a teaspoon salt
- one cup cheddar cheese, grated
- 100g butter, diced and chilled
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon iced water
Method
In a food processor add flours, salt and cheese. Blend until combined (about 10 seconds).
Add butter; pulse until it has a breadcrumb texture.
With the motor running, pour in water and egg yolks – it will look like small grains.
Stop the motor, turn mixture into a medium bowl and kneed together with your hands.
Once in a ball, flatten into a disc, wrap in glad wrap and pop into the fridge for 20 minutes to firm up.
Preheat oven to 180C. Roll out dough on a floured board until 2 cm thick. Grab the kids and their favourite cutters and start cutting shapes.
Place on a baking tray with baking paper and cook for 15 minutes.
Cook on wire rack.
Notes
- When working the pastry, try not to kneed it for too long; as soon as it is well combined, let it cool down in the fridge.
- These biscuits store well in an airtight container for about a week.
- You can top them with ham, roast chicken, vegemite and butter or just eat them as is.
- These are also great for adult parties as a crouton for smoked salmon and cream cheese.
- Recipe created by Camilla Baker for Kidspot, New Zealand best recipe finder.
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Easy banana cake
Serves:
Ingredients
- 125g butter and dash of vanilla essence
- ¾ cup castor sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 ripe bananas – use 4 if you like it really banana-y
- 200g light sour cream
- 2 cups self raising flour
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate soda
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
Method
Cream butter, vanilla and sugar.Add eggs and mix.
Mash bananas and mix in sour cream. Add to rest of mixture.
Add all dry ingredients to banana mixture. Mix slowly.
Bake at 180ºC for 45 minutes.
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Note
- This makes a deliciously moist cake. It is fine on it’s own without icing and a perfect cake for afternoon tea.
- This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
Tex-Mex bean burgers
Serves:
Ingredients
- 2 tins borlotti beans, rinsed
- ½ cup breadcrumbs, plus ¼ cup more for rolling
- 2 tablespoons whole-egg mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup coriander, chopped
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus 3 tablespoons more for frying
- salt and pepper to taste
- 6 hamburger buns
- ½ cup light sour cream
- 2 small tomatoes, sliced
- 1 avocado, mashed
- Butter for toasted buns
- Tasty cheese slices
- 1½ cups salad greens
Method
Place the beans, ½ cup breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, coriander, 1 tablespoon oil, salt and pepper into a food processor and process gently until combined but still chunky.
Remove mixture and gently roll into 6 balls and then press into patties. Dredge each patty in the remaining breadcrumbs and set aside.
Bring a frying pan or barbecue grill to a medium heat , then add 3 tablespoons oil. Carefully add each patty and cook on each side for about 2 minutes until golden. Add a slice of cheese to the cooked side of the patty. Remove the patty from the heat when the cheese has melted.
In the meantime, slice and toast the buns under the grill. Spread the bottom half of the bun with avocado, add salad greens, and butter the top half.
Place the bean patty on top of the greens, top with tomato, a dollop of sour cream and the other half of hamburger bun.
Serve immediately.
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Notes:
- I love my sandwiches and burgers to be crunchy, so feel free to stick a few good-quality corn chips inside the burger before you serve.
- Make each patty an appropriate size for whoever will be eating it – this recipe will make six adult portions so you could get 10 smaller patties out of the mixture for kids.
- This is so delicious! This recipe easily wins over anyone who is normally suspicious of veggie burgers.
- This recipe was created by Kristine Duran-Thiessen for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
B̩arnaise sauce
Serves:
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- ½ cup (125ml) white wine vinegar
- 2 eschallots, peeled and finely diced
- ¼ cup loosely packed tarragon, leaves and stems, finely chopped
- ¼ cup loosely packed chervil, leaves and stems, finely chopped
- 4 egg yolks, at room temperature
- 125g butter, at room temperature, cubed
Method
Crush the peppercorns in a mortar and pestle until they form a coarse powder. Place this, with the white wine vinegar, eschallots and herbs, into a small saucepan over a high heat. Bring mixture to the boil and let bubble (uncovered) for 5 minutes or until reduced by half.
Strain this liquid into a bowl, extracting as much moisture as possible. Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water), add egg yolks and whisk for a couple of minutes or until mixture starts to thicken.
Add the butter, one cube at a time, whisking constantly. Don’t add another cube until the previous one is incorporated into the sauce. Once all of the butter has been added, remove bowl from heat and season to taste. Keep sauce warm and covered.
Notes:
- Béarnaise sauce is am emulsified sauce. It is really important that you follow the direction for the ingredients to be at room temperature as it can really make a difference to the success of the sauce.
- If you aren’t going to serve your sauce immediately, you can lay cling film over the surface of this sauce so it doesn’t develop a 'skin' on top.
- This recipe was created by Sophie Hansen for Kidspot, New Zeaalnd’s best recipe finder. You can follow Sophie on Local is Lovely, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.
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French raspberry butter cake
Serves:
Ingredients
- 250g butter, room temperature
- 250g caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
- 4 eggs
- 250g self raising flour
- 1 cup raspberries
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C or 160°C fan-forced. Butter a 20cm springform cake tin and set aside.
Cream butter and caster sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla paste and then the eggs 1 at a time, beating well between each addition.
Fold through the flour and finally the raspberries. Pour the mixture into the tin.
Bake for about 35 minutes. It will be ready when the sides of the cake are just beginning to pull away from the cake tin and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Let the cake cool on a wire rack.
Notes:
- You can skip the fruit in this cake and make it as a beautiful plain vanilla cake. This served with warm chocolate sauce and ice cream is my husband’s ideal dessert. Otherwise swap the raspberries for apples, pears, plums or any other fruit.
- Instead of vanilla, you could add a teaspoon of finely grated orange rind, some mixed spice or a tablespoon or two of cocoa.
- This recipe was created by Sophie Hansen for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
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Baked penne with fennel meatballs
Serves:
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 cup (100g) wholemeal breadcrumbs
- 600g minced beef
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup (40g) parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- 2 tbsp sage, chopped
- 2 tbsp parsley, chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp fennel seeds, toasted
Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 red onions, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
- 500g penne
- 1/4 cup basil leaves
- 1 cup (80g) parmesan, freshly shaved
Method
Preheat oven to 200°C or 180°C fan.
To make the meatballs; combine all ingredients in a bowl and season to taste. Wet your hands and roll the meat mixture into small balls (about half the size of a golf ball works for me). Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and brown the meatballs on all sides, in batches.
Meanwhile, heat olive oil over medium and cook onions until soft and translucent. Tip in the canned tomatoes, lower heat and cook for 15 mins. Season to taste.
Cook penne according to packet instructions. Drain, keeping 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid, and tip back into the saucepan. Carefully stir through the meatballs, cheeses and basil. Add the reserved pasta cooking liquid to thin the dish out and then tip into a large (8-cup capacity) baking dish.
Sprinkle with the parmesan and cook for 20 mins or until bubbly and golden.
Notes
- If you don’t think your kids will like the fennel then either leave it out or swap for extra herbs.
- If you’d like this dish to be extra ‘cheesy’, then dot some bocconcini cheese on the top before baking.
- This recipe was created by Sophie Hansen
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Pasta bits with cherry tomatoes and pesto
Serves:
Ingredients
- 375g packet fresh lasagne sheets
- 4 tablespoons prepared pesto
- 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
- freshly grated parmesan, to serve
Method
Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Rip lasagne sheets into large bite size pieces (this bit is very fun). Place lasagne bits in pot, return to the boil and cook for 2-3 minutes until al dente. Drain into a colander, return pasta to the pot and stir through pesto and tomatoes. Serve garnished with parmesan.
Notes:
- This is a super quick dish. By all means make it more time consuming (but also more tasty) by making your own pasta and pesto!
- I had been to the farmers market the day I made this pasta, so we had it with amazing Italian and fennel sausages AND locally grown cherry tomatoes. The tomatoes were so tasty and sweet if you have inferior tomatoes, roast them in a bit of olive oil at 180C until starting to collapse, this really intensifies their flavour.
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Meatloaf cupcakes
Serves:
Ingredients
Frosting:
- 1kg potatoes (the varieties recommended for creamy mash)
- 1 cup grated cheese
- 25-50g butter
- 1/2 cup (125ml) cream or milk
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp dill, chopped
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 punnet cherry tomatoes
Meatloaf:
- 1kg minced beef (or 500g Pork and 500g beef)
- Worchestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp tomato sauce
- 1 red capsicum
- 1 onion
- 1/4 cup chopped mushrooms
- 2 eggs, lightly beated
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
- handful of parsley
- generous pinch of rosemary
Method
Preheat oven to 170°C (150°C fan-forced)
Steam or boil peeled potatoes.
Mash and whisk potatoes with all the other frosting ingredients except the dill and paprika (while warm) to make cheesy creamy mash potatoes. Put aside to cool.
Place all meatloaf ingredients into a bowl and combine well using clean hands.
Line a 12-cup muffin pan with liners. Place a large handful of mixture into each liner.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Stick a skewer into it to make sure it's cooked through. Remove from muffin tray and leave to cool for about 10 mins.
Spoon potato mixture into a piping bag. Pipe frosting on top of the cupcakes. Sprinkle dill and paprika over the top of the frosting to look like sprinkles and then top with a cherry tomato.
Find related mince recipes
Serving Suggestions
Note
- Cook the potatoes first because you want to give them time to cool before piping onto the cupcakes.
- Unlike normal cupcakes these don't rise in the baking so make the top nice and round to get a muffin top and press it into the muffin tray to get the base shape.
- You can use rolled oats or breadcrumbs in your mixture but I found oats give a better texture.
- If you don't have a piping bag, you can use a zip-lock sandwich bag and snip the end off.
- Other modifications can be to swirl tomato sauce or caramel balsamic over the top like chocolate sauce.
- This recipe was created by Alexandra Morey.
Apple cake
Serves:
Ingredients
- 125g unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup self-raising flour (see notes below for gluten-free)
- 2 tablespoons cream
- 2 small red apples
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon caster sugar, extra
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin.
Core and quarter apples, then slice each quarter into further quarters (i.e. 16 slices per apple).
Use an electric mixer to cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add eggs one at a time until well combined. Add flour and cream, beat until smooth.
Pour into prepared tin and press apple slices, skin side up, into batter.
The apple slices will be nearly touching. Sprinkle with cinnamon and caster sugar.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Allow cake to cool for 5 minutes in the tin and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Notes
- My school friend Beck gave me this recipe when we were about 16 years old (I take a small moment to acknowledge the years passed). It has become part of the family cookbook.
- It is a wonderfully moist cake, quick to make and if there is any leftover, great for lunchboxes or after school snacks.
- I used Pink Lady Apples.
- Make this cake gluten-free by using gluten-free plain flour (e.g. Orgran) and 2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder.
- A smidgeon (about 1/8 teaspoon) of xanthan gum (from health food shops and some supermarkets) gives the ‘gluten-like’ consistency.
- Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.
Serving Suggestions
Note
