I also have my eye on this summer spelt recipe from Mostly Eating – keep up the good work Sophie!

To cut this story short, I was leafing through Jamie’s Italy earlier in the week and hit a small jackpot – tuna meatballs!

I made them last night and they were surprisingly pleasant. The cinnamon on the tuna was a great mix.

Le migliori polpette di tonna (Serves 4)

For the sauce:

• olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 x 400g tin plum tomatoes
• red wine vinegar

For The Tunaballs:

• 400g steak tuna
• olive oil
• 55g pinenuts
• 1 level teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• handful chopped fresh parsley
• 100g stale breadcrumbs
• 55g Parmesan
• 2 eggs
• juice of 1 lemon

How to Do It

1. Chop the tuna in 1″ squares
2. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan
3. Add the tuna, cinnamon and pinenuts. Season with salt & pepper and cook until tuna has browned on all sides
4. Tip the tuna mixture into a big bowl and leave to cool for 5 minutes
5. Once cooled, add the other ingredients and using your hands mix together
6. Squeeze the mixture into small balls (slightly smaller than a golf ball)
7. Pop the meatballs on an oiled baking tray and leave them in the fridge for an hour

As soon as the meatballs go in the fridge, start the tomato sauce:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil on pan and gently fry the onion and garlic until soft
2. Add the oregano, tomatoes and season with salt & pepper
3. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes
4. Then using a hand held blender liquidise until smooth
5. Taste for seasoning & add a dash of red wine vinegar if needed
6. Once out of the fridge, heat oil in the same frying pan as before and gently fry the meatballs until golden all over – be careful as my first batch crumbled away into lots of bits!

Serve with the tomato sauce and spaggetti

I made 1/2 the tuna amount but the full amount of tomato sauce and have frozen it for next time – or another pasta dish.

Over the last two weeks I have made a tomato curry, took my first (self-taught) lesson in sugar craft, made more soup (roasted tomato and pepper with tarragon) and made up a claire original butternut squash tart. So here goes…

Tomato Curry – it turned out ok but definitely needed more sauce to it..

I made the curry on a Friday night & I will add the recipe when I can lay my hands on it. It was tasty just a bit too dry.

Cake Art – this is something I hope to play with more over the coming months. I’d really like to be a able to bake and decorate some really nice cakes. Anyway this was my first attempt at icing sugar paste and making flowers…

And the final product… (they did taste good!)

Next on my list of accomplishments is another soup (sorry if I’m getting boring here, but it’s that time of year).

This time it was Slow-roasted tomato and red pepper soup – it was really tasty & we have 2 servings in the freezer…

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 4 Red Peppers, halved lengthways & deseeded
• 3 tbspn extra virgin olive oil
• 1kg vine tomatoes
• 2 garlic bulbs – halved horizontally
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 400ml vegetable stock, hot
• 1 tbspn sundried tomato paste
• 1 tbspn chopped fresh tarragon

Serving suggestion – toasted baguette with a slightly melted topping of Crottin de Chavignol AOC (Goats Cheese)

How to Do It

1. Preheat oven to 200 °c
2. Put peppers in a roasting tin & drizzle with 1 tbspn oil
3. Put tomatoes and garlic in another roasting tin, drizzle 1 tbspn oil & season
4. Put peppers on top shelf of oven with tomatoes & garlic underneath – roast for 30 minutes
5. Transfer the peppers to a plastic bag, seal & leave for a few minutes to allow the skins to peel off
6. Heat remaining oil in a large pan, add onion and gently fry for 5 minutes
7. Squeeze in the roasted garlic and add the tomatoes
8. Discard the pepper skins & add the flesh to the pan
9. Add the stock, sundried tomato paste and tarragon – bring to the boil & then reduce the heat

We served with crusty bread & butter.

The tarragon added a creamy sort of taste – it really was very nice. Possibly one of my favourite tomato soups.

Lastly we have my original Butternut Squash Tart… based on Simon Rimmers Feta & Spinach Free-form pie in Septembers Delicious Magazine. I made it to use up the left over butternut squash from the soup the other day.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 1/2 packet of filo pastry
• 3 tbspn melted butter
• 1 butternut squash
• 1 sprig rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 tbspn olive oil
• 100g feta
• 5 shallots, cut into quarters
• 3 tbsn balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar

How to Do It

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °c
2. Cut the butternut squash into about 8 large chunks (spooning out the seeds)
3. Place the pieces of squash on a baking tray, drizzle with the oil & sprinkle over the rosemary + a pinch of salt
4. Roast the squash for 45 minutes then take it out & leave it to cool down
5. Once cool, scoop of the flesh & cut into smaller sized chunks
6. Mix the butternut squash with 2/3 feta cheese, season with pepper
7. Meanwhile 1tbspn melt the butter in a small saucepan & add the shallots
8. Once the shallots are glossy and starting to warm through add the sugar
9. Leave for 2 minutes but keep an eye on them and mix them about
10. Throw in 2 tbspn of balsamic & keep the shallot pieces moving until the balsamic has thickened to a glossy coating
11. Put the shallot pieces in with the main mixture & add the last tbspn of balsamic vinegar. Put to one side.
12. Heat up 2 tbspn butter
13. Using a loose bottom cake tin – firstly brush the tin with melted butter, then add a layer of filo pastry brushing on butter in between each layer
14. Add the butternut squash mixture & crumble the remaining feta over the top.
15. Lift the overhanging pastry on top of the tart & scrunch it up
16. Cook for 20-25 minutes

To serve 5 (or 2 hungry mains & 2 lunches):

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon garlic oil (or normal oil + 1 smushed up garlic piece to remove before eating)
• 1 x 410g chopped tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon of double cream
• 500g penne pasta
• 65ml vodka
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Parmesan for serving

How to Do It

1. Heat oil & gently cook onion until soft (with a good sprinkling of salt) – about 15 mins
2. Tip in the tomatoes & simmer for 15-20 minutes nb. 10 mins before your ready put your pasta on.
3. Take sauce off heat & stir in cream.
4. Drain pasta & put back in pan with butter & vodka
5. Mix pasta in with sauce and serve with parmesan and some black pepper

Its so simple but deliciously moreish

Nigella says she thinks the pasta is especially good cold – I don’t agree, its much better warm but by making this much we have plenty for an easy lunch the next day and with a nice side salad it fills me up for the afternoon.

Puy Lentil Salad

• 4/6 tomatoes halved (drizzle with oil)
• 100g puy lentils
• 1/2 lemon juice
• 1/2 garlic clove
• 1/2 small red onion, sliced
• handful of coriander

1. Heat oven to 180°c & roast tomatoes (I put the chicken in for 15 mins first, then added the tomatoes for another 15/20 mins)
2. Cook puy lentils in a pan of cold water for 20 minutes
3. Mix lentils with lemon juice, garlic, onion & 2 tablespoons of olive oil (*).

Serve & eat.

(*) not necessarily required as I forgot this!