Pretty. Summery and Easy Beetroot and Goats Cheese Salad Starter

Hello food.....

Beetroot and Goats Cheese Salad

Many moons ago it was Father's Day and I wanted to do a tasty 3 course meal for my dad to show him how great he is.

As I was doing 3 courses and none of the family have the massive-est of appetites the starter had to be especially light, but we do like strong and interesting flavours. I decided to do a nice, light Beetroot and Goats Cheese Salad... with a slight twist.

Serves 4

What do you need?

300g Cooked Beetroot (not pickled)
2 Limes (Juice)
1 Red Chilli (Finely diced)
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Shallot
200g Soft Goats Cheese
2 Tbsp Double Cream
Handful of Chives
Pea Shoots
Salt and Pepper

For the Dressing:

1 Lemon (Juice)
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Tbsp Honey
Salt and Pepper

How do you do it?

1. Very finely slice the beetroot into small discs, use a Mandolin if you have one and are confident with them - but don't cut yourself, they really hurt!
2. Place slices in a shallow baking tray or similar. Mix in a ramekin the Lime juice, Red Chilli and Olive Oil and season. Pour over beetroot and toss the beets in mixture. Ensure all are covered then cling film and place in fridge for at least 30 minutes.
3. Very finely dice the shallot and fry very slowly in a small amount of oil, until soft - but careful not to colour.
4. Place Goats Cheese, cooked Shallot, Double Cream and finely sliced Chives in a bowl and combine. I found it easiest to use my hands, but you can obviously use a spoon to stay nice and clean. Taste and adjust seasoning. Place to one side.
5. Make the dressing - combine all ingredients and whisk.
6. Ball up the goats cheese into small spheres, at least 20 of them if serving 4 people.
7. Place 5 discs of beetroot around the place, and a ball of goats cheese on top, then another disc on top of that.
8. Drizzle over some of the dressing and scatter the pea shoots.
9. Serve and enjoy!

Now, just wait and see what I did for Mother's Day!!!

Perfect Pizza Recipe - easy, homemade, tasty pizzas!

Hello food.....

Selection of Pizzas and Potato Wedges

I've been pretty obsessed with making pizza recently. Ever since my Jess's Messes pizza making party I just can't get enough of it. It's so easy to make some lovely light pizza dough and then it's just a case of making a tasty tomato base and choosing your toppings.

So, here is a recipe for the dough and the tomato base and a few topping suggestions!

Pizza Dough
What do I need?

• 300g Plain Flour
• 1 sachet (7g) of yeast
• Pinch of salt
• 10ml Olive oil
• 200g Warm water

What do I do?

1. Place the flour, yeast and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and add oil and half the water.
2. Combine using your hand and gradually add the rest of the water until you have a soft, not too sticky dough, you may not need all the water!
3. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes until the dough is springy and shiny.
4. Place in a bowl, cover, leave to rise for an hour.

Tomato Base

What do I need?

• 200g passata
• 1 clove garlic
• Handful of fresh basil and oregano
• Salt and pepper

What do I do?

1. Place all ingredients in a bowl and combine.

The pizza making

1. Roll out the dough until reallllllllllly lovely and thin and cover with a thin layer of tomato base.
2. Add toppings and mozzarella cheese and bake in oven for 10-15 mins at 200 degrees C.
3. Eat and enjoy.

Toppings suggestions:

• Cherry tomato and basil
• Chorizo, red pepper and red onion
• Hoisin sauce (instead of tomato base), pork belly, spring onion and coriander
• Goats cheese, caramelised red onion, rock salt
• No tomato base - garlic butter and parsley

Pizza and Garlic Bread

Recipe of the week: Full of Beans Veggie Chilli

Hello food.....

One of the cheapest and tastiest meals around. Jess's Messes does not claim the rights to this recipe, it is entirely from the lovely Ms Sarah Morrison, however I would like to share and spread it around so others can enjoy the beauty of this dish!

What do I need? - 4 portions

• 200g Mixed dried beans (suggest - kidney, butter, cannellini)
• 1 Red onion (diced)
• 1 Garlic clove (crushed)
• 1tbsp Hot chilli powder
• 400g Chopped Tomatoes
• 1tbsp Tomato Puree

What do I do?

1.  Soak the beans overnight in a large bowl of cold water.
2.  Drain and place in saucepan, cover with water and bring to boil - boil quickly for 10 minutes on a high heat.
3.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes. Drain.
4.  Place beans, onion, garlic, chilli powder, tomatoes and puree in a pan and bring to the boil.
5.  Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 25 minutes.
6.  Serve with tortillas/pitta/rice.
7.  Enjoy!

It might take a while to make, but it's certainly worth it. So so tasty!

Thanks for the recipe Sarah!

Saving Money on Food

Hello food.....

Day to day Jess's Messes.

There is no doubt that when you want to eat relatively healthily and freshly that it becomes very expensive, so the housemate and I decided to create 5 pretty cheap meals, 1 each day of the week and make 6 portions of each. That way we could eat 2 portions on the day and freeze the 4 remaining ones, covering us for 30 meals!

The meal ideas had to still be tasty, as we want to enjoy food, but we just want to be able to spend a little less on it (and have more to spend on fun!).

Sarah and her amazing Lasanges!

So the meals we made were as follows:

1. Veggie Bean Chilli - Guest Recipe
2. Tasty, Tangy, Lovely Lasagne
3. Terrific Thai Green Curry
4. Chorizo and Roast Pepper Pasta
5. Sausage Casserole

I unfortunately only have the recipe for the curry on here currently, but I will be adding the other recipes from now on, 1 a week! So for money saving, but incredibly tasty recipes - follow this blog! :)

Recipe of the week: Sizzling Sausage Casserole

Hello food.....

Sizzling is used in this Jess's Messes recipe, not to describe the noise of a sizzling sausage sizzling away in a sizzling pan (sizzling mentioned too many times?), it is in fact used to describe the spiciness of the dish. I made it nice and spicy to take the edge of a freezing cold day in rainy Manchester, but you can easily adjust the amount of Paprika to make it to your taste. I also added loads of vegetables. This is not necessarily essential, just a way of using things up!

What do I need?
(Serves 6)

A Sizzling Sausage

• 1 Tbsp Sunflower Oil
• 6 Sausages (chopped into about 6 pieces each)
• 1 White Onion
• 2 Cloves Garlic
• 2 Carrots
• 3 Medium Potatoes
• 1 Courgette
• 1 Red Pepper
• 600g Chopped Tomatoes
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 1 Tsp Oregano
• 2 Tsp Paprika
• Salt and Pepper

How do I do it?

1. Place the oil in a heavy based pan and heat. Add the chopped up bits of sausage and cook quickly until golden brown. Remove from pan.
2. Dice the onions and crush the garlic - add to pan. Add a small amount of salt and the paprika and cook until onions have softended, but not coloured.
3. Add the roughly chopped: carrots, potatoes, courgette, pepper and the chopped tomatoes and bring to the boil.
4. Return the sausages to the pan and add oregano and bay leaves.
5. Cover and leave to cook ont he hob at a medium heat for 30 minutes (or until potatoes have softened completely).
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.

* You could add lentils if you want to bulk it out a bit! :)

Enjoy.

Check out the website: www.jesssmesses.co.uk