Flatbread Pizza

This has got to be one of my favourite things to eat for lunch. It's so super quick and easy but so unbelievably delicious. All you need is some bought flatbreads (for example pita bread), some cheese and tomato and in less than 10 minutes you have an amazing lunch. Of course just like any pizza you can change the toppings to whatever you like. In the middle of Summer I will quite often add some thin ribbons of Zucchini but for the most part I can't resist the classic and very simple Tomato and Mozzarella.

Quantities make 1 pizza

1 flatbread of your choice ( I use wholemeal pita's that are thin)

Extra virgin olive oil

½ tomato, roughly chopped

Fresh mozzarella, roughly chopped or torn apart

4 Kalamata olives, pitted and cut in half

½ fresh chilli, finely chopped (optional)

scattering of fresh basil leaves

Maldon sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

To make the pizza simply brush a little extra virgin olive oil over one side of the flatbread. Scatter over the chopped tomato, mozzarella, olives and chilli and then pop onto a baking tray and cook under a hot grill for a couple of minutes until the cheese has melted and is bubbling and the edges of the flat bread starting to crisp.

Sprinkle over a little Maldon salt, some cracked black pepper and the fresh basil leaves then if you like finish with a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and if you want to take it up another notch some really good quality balsamic vinegar. So easy but so good!

Italian Eggs

Eggs are probably my favourite breakfast dish as they are so quick and easy to prepare and very versatile. This dish might take a little longer than your average egg dish but it is well worth the wait.

'Italian Eggs' might not necessarily be the correct name for this delicious dish, but I didn't want to call it 'Baked Eggs' since for this recipe I don't bake them but keep them on the top of the oven. That being said, if you prefer you could easily finish this dish off in the oven so that you can get on with other things while the eggs cook.

Regardless of how you cook the eggs what you end up with is a deliciously tangy and slightly spicy tomato sauce which becomes a silky smooth bed for cooking the eggs on, until they are just cooked with perfectly runny yolks which once broken dribble and ooze into the sauce. Finished with some fresh basil and plenty of bread of your choice for dipping in and mopping up and you have the most delicious egg dish perfect for breakfast, lunch or even a light dinner.

Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 x 28oz (or 2 x 400g) tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tsp sugar (optional)

½ – 1 tsp dried chilli flakes (optional but if using add as much or as little as you like depending on how hot you like things)

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

4 organic large eggs

scattering of fresh basil leaves

Bread of your choice for dipping

In a frying pan, heat the olive oil then add the crushed garlic and cook for a minute being careful not to brown. Add the tomatoes, sugar, chilli flakes, salt and pepper and stir well. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat slightly and leave to simmer for roughly 20-25 minutes until it has reduced slightly. Taste to check the seasoning and adjust if necessary. Stir in about half of the basil leaves then lower the heat so that it is just gently simmering, then carefully crack in the eggs. Cover with a tight fitting lid and leave to cook for roughly 3-4 minutes until the eggs are just cooked but still with a runny yolk.

As soon as the eggs are ready remove the lid to stop the cooking and sprinkle over a good pinch of sea salt and if you like a grinding of pepper. Finish with a final scattering of basil then serve in shallow bowls with plenty of bread or toast to mop everything up with.

*If you would like to make individual servings like the one pictured (which is what I do 99% of the time) simply make up the sauce as above then transfer ¼ of it to a small individual sized frying pan (keep the rest of the sauce for another day – unless you have 4 small pans and are doing it for presentation purposes!). Once the sauce is simmering follow the instructions as above then serve in the pan on a chopping board to protect your table from the heat!

A Very Simple & Delicious Breakfast.....

I know this doesn't really qualify as a recipe but this is one of my favourite things to eat just now for breakfast. Eggs really are the ultimate in fast food so if you have a few extra minutes you have time to make this for a great start to your day, and if you are like me and need a bit of a kick in the morning try having this with some spicy Siracha Ketchup on the side and a good cup of coffee! You'll be raring to go in no time!

My favourite way of cooking eggs quickly is to baste them (frying to start then finishing off with steam), however if you would rather fry or poach your egg feel free. This dish is all about how you like your eggs!

Goats Cheese & Pesto Cannelloni

A perfect Summer dish for using up some fresh basil pesto that you might have in your fridge desperate to be used! Light tasting and full of Summer flavours, this dish is sure to become a family favourite. Serve with some steamed seasonal greens or a nice crisp salad and once you have tried the original recipe why not mix things up a bit by using some Spicy Red Pesto or your favourite version of pesto. If you aren't a fan of Goats cheese you could try using Boursin, Ricotta or even cream cheese.

There are a few things to note about this recipe…. First of all regarding the tomato sauce, due to my husband's dislike to tomato chunks I always blend my tomatoes or use passata (sieved tomatoes). If you prefer a smooth sauce blend away otherwise keep the sauce chunky! Secondly, the lasagna sheets that I buy are quite large so I cut them in half – if yours are smaller don’t bother cutting them. Finally, I use a rectangular glass Pyrex dish to cook my cannelloni in – approximately 9” x 13 ½” – and it fits perfectly. If you don’t have a similar dish use what you do have – you can always cut the cannelloni to make them fit! This is real, fresh home cooking at its best.

A Summers Meal on a Rainy Day....

I have to admit, recently I have been feeling in a little bit of a blogging rut. Lack of inspiration, energy and time has left me drumming my fingers on the laptop and searching my pantry aimlessly, waiting for something to jump out at me that will fill me with a delicious meal and a renewed enthusiasm to write and share. I think it happens to all of us at some point (whether you are a blogger or not), even the most diehard food enthusiast gets stuck from time to time on that age old question “what's for dinner”. Monday night was no exception. Wee One was fed and Hubby was away for the week so it was just me wondering what to eat. I scoured the fridge and decided it was time to use up the asparagus that had been sitting there for the best part of a week and so I decided to opt for a light and delicious Asparagus Soup this time adding a handful of fresh basil at the last moment for an extra fresh Summer flavour.....it got me thinking and my taste buds tingling. Unable to resist the idea of a soup that was warming and filling yet so light and summery I started looking at what else I had that I could eat with the soup and I came up with my new favourite Bruschetta! Grilled and lightly scorched ciabatta, soft, sweet and mellow roasted garlic topped with creamy Boursin cheese and fresh juicy vine-ripened tomatoes mixed with a crisp spring onion and lots of fresh basil. A little dried chilli added a touch of spice and I finished the whole thing off with a good pinch of Maldon salt and a drizzle of Crema di Balsamico.....heaven! It was just what I needed and so good that I knew I would be having the same thing for lunch the next day.....now all I need is a little sun and it really would feel like Summer!

Asparagus & Basil Soup

This is just my usual recipe for Asparagus soup (minus the cream) with a small handful of fresh basil leaves added in at the last moment before blitzing. The result is light, fragrant and completely delicious and the addition of the basil helps keep the soup vibrant green....win-win!

My new favourite Bruschetta