Stuffed tomatoes

with scrambled egg pesto! Trying to make good use of my homemade pesto. These were possibly one of the most glorious edible creations I have ever made. The aroma that filled the kitchen while baking these made me salivate uncontrollably. In fact my mouth is watering right now just thinking about it! Thanks again to my beautiful chef Taz for helping me with ideas.

To serve 2 people (3 halves each):
3x big tomatoes, halved horizontally through the middle and seeds scooped out.
basil pesto 3 teaspoons
bacon 1 rasher diced
4x sundried tomatoes diced
chives chopped, about 3 tablespoons
red onion diced, about 3 tablespoons
cheddar cheese 1/4 cup
parmesan cheese 2 tablespoons
breadcrumbs about 1/4 a cup (again made from scratch! I need to make a batch and store it)
3 x free range eggs
milk about 3 tablespoons (I had cows milk this time!)
butter
olive oil salt, pepper & sugar

On a tray lined with foil, arrange the tomatoes cut sides downwards. Drizzle olive oil over them and rub it over the skins. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and sugar and a bit of cracked pepper. turn them over and sprinkle a pinch of salt into the insides to absorb moisture.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, sundried tomatoes, a teaspoon of pesto and a bit of salt and pepper. In a saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter and fry the bacon, onion and chives until cooked through. Add the egg mixture and keep stirring for a few minutes, remove from heat when half cooked - scrambled but still soft and runny. Spoon the mixture evenly into each tomato half. Spoon half a teaspoon of basil pesto on top of each mixture. Top with some cheddar cheese, a sprinkling of parmesan then cover with breadcrumbs.

Bake at 200degrees for 5 minutes to brown the top, then for a 15 minutes on 150 degrees to slowly roast the tomatoes.

Serve hot with fresh basil!!!!!!!! God I love basil. And tomatoes. And boyfriends who are chefs.


Lined up ready to go into the oven

Out of the oven and ready to eat!

Oh my god extreme close up of deliciousness

The core of my beautiful creation

YUM!
xoxo

Basil pesto

I got another basil plant and thought I would have a go at making pesto.

What I learned from the experience:

That the Magic Bullet is the worst possible appliance for making pesto with.

And I had so much faith in you magic bullet, you failed me!!! In the end, I still managed to make a jarful, but the bits aren't blended evenly. Next time I will use a more trustworthy appliance, perhaps one that won't blend my ingredients into a meatball shaped glob.

What I used (without any measurements whatsoever):
lots of basil
pine nuts
walnuts (that I cracked open one by one - so much commitment!)
parmesan
garlic
olive oil



Here it is in an old jar in my fridge. My fingers smell like garlic and basil, so heavenly!
xoxo

Tuna pasta bake

pasta 2 cups, spirals or macaroni
broccoli 1 head
olive oil 2 tablespoons
flour 3 tablespoons
milk 2 cups
cheddar cheese 1/2 cup
tuna in springwater, 1 tin
basil a handful
breadcrumbs 1/2 cup *
salt & pepper
tandoori powder
soy sauce

Boil pasta in salted water with a tablespoon of olive oil. Add broccoli in the last minute then drain. In a saucepan on low, heat the oil, add the flour and coat. Gradually add the milk and whisk until thick (I used rice milk and it worked really well). Add the cheese stir in until melted. Season with salt, pepper, soy sauce and about a teaspoon of tandoori powder. In a large pot, mix the pasta, broccoli and tuna together. Pour in the sauce to coat the pasta and mix well. Pour the mixture into a baking dish, cover with a layer of grated cheese and then a layer of breadcrumbs. Grill for 15 minutes or so until the top is crispy. Serve with lots of torn basil! And I had tomatoes with it because tomatoes are delicious.

* I was clever and toasted some wholegrain bread and then used my Magic Bullet to process it into crumbs!




(No photo of it still in the baking dish, I was too impatient.)

I made up most of this recipe so for next time I really want to add some button mushrooms and use parmesan cheese instead of cheddar.
xoxo

B & E's

I don't make make bacon and eggs very often. That is Taz's job. Thank you for your help on the phone babe.

honey cured bacon fried until crispy
vine ripened tomatoes fried in the bacon fat
soy & linseed toast grilled in the oven
scrambled eggs free range eggs with butter, rice milk and chives

I think I need to work on the eggs, we just never have cream or cows milk, but they were still good. Those tomatoes were AWESOME!!!!!!!!! of course.

Lemon yoghurt cake

raw sugar 2 cups

eggs 3 small
butter 250g, melted
yoghurt 1 cup (I just used pottle yoghurt)
lemon juice 1/4 cup
lemon zest 1 tablespoon
self-raising flour 2 1/2 cups
walnuts 1/4 cup, chopped (or pistachio or almond etc.)

In a processor, process the sugar and eggs for a few minutes until thick. Add the butter and process until smooth. Add the lemon juice, yoghurt and lemon zest. Process for a further two minutes. Add the flour and process for a few seconds (until the flour is just blended with the mixture)

Pour the mixture into the pan and sprinkle the nuts on top. Bake for 45-50minutes until skewer comes out clean from the centre.

Remove from oven, while letting to rest and cool, make the lemon syrup glaze.

Lemon syrup glaze
raw sugar 1/2 cup
water 1/4 cup
lemon juice 2 tablespoons
cinnamon a pinch (optional)
cloves 3-4 (optional)

Stir sugar, water and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Sprinkle int he cinnamon and add the cloves and simmer for 5 minutes until the syrup has thickened slightly. Refrigerate in the saucepan for 15 minutes to further thicken.

Turn out the cake and with a wooden spoon spread the glaze over the top of the cake and watch it dribble delightfully down the sides :)




yum
xoxo