Creamy chicken and bacon pasta

 

Serves 2 (rather large portions!!!)

200g dry pasta

6 medium chestnut mushrooms

2rashers extra lean bacon1large leek

2 egg yolks

2splashes of milk (1syns)

5tbsp fresh grated Parmesan (5syns in total) 

Salt pepper and fresh parsley

Chop the leek and mushrooms thinly.

Chop the bacon and chicken into bite size pieces.

Get a frying pan hot and dry the bacon until crispy then add the chicken till half cooked.

Add the pasta to boiling water now as this will take the time the rest of the sauce takes to cook.

Add the leeks and mushrooms to the chicken add salt and pepper.(cook for 5-7 minutes)

Meanwhile mix the egg yolks with the milk and parsley.

Drain the pasta and add to the chicken mixture.

Stir through, turn off the heat, add the sauce mix stirring constantly until the sauce thickens and sticks to the pasta (this means the egg is cooked) 

Serve immediately! 

Luscious leek and potato soup

Something so simple can be so so comforting when you are under the weather or the weather is getting you down. Shut the curtains, curl up on the sofa with this addictive soup, and the best thing is it is free and easy!

2 large baking potatoes (i find they break up easier, washed and roughly chopped)
1 large white onion (roughly chopped)
3 large leeks (washed and sliced roughly)
1 large clove of garlic
generous pinch of salt and pepper
(parsely or chives to top is completely optional)
2.5 litres of vegetable stock

In a large soup pot, in fry light, fry off the onion, garlic and leeks until they start to soften and colour a little.

Add a generous pinch of salt and pepper.

Add the potatoes and stock and cook until the potatoes start falling apart.

Turn off the heat and use your immersion blender to blend the soup to the texture of your liking.

Taste and season to your liking.

Speedy risotto

I will be uploading videos soon and this will be the first recipe video i upload in a long time onto youtube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4ururmkHVMaRmnB7aVAOcA

so i know i would be shot if in italy so i am sorry to any italians reading this!!

so we start off with a low syn microwave rice (the one i have is currently syn free)
but any ole packet will do! serving 2 people or 1 hungry person!

you will need about 100ml of stock
salt and pepper
2 tbsp parmesan (2 syns)
your packet of rice
and i am going with mushrooms in this! a good few handfuls of sliced mushrooms
your base is a finely diced onion and a grated garlic clove and obviously the rice!

So we start by softening the onion in a frying pan with low cal spray.
Add your mushrooms and cook to your liking (you could use any veggies you want or chicken, ham etc)
Add in your rice and stir fry for 3-5 minutes. Add in your stock and stir. cook for 2 minutes, remove from the heat, stir in the parmesan and a generous pinch of pepper and adjust for salt (bearing in mind that the parmesan is salty)
I like to serve mine with a big handful of spinach on top.

I hope you enjoy!

crispy chilli beef

Okay, so it may not be JUST like the takeaway version but tastes just as damn good! low fat, low syn.. good for a chinese dinner party whats not to love?
wrapped in lettuce leaves or served with rice and steamed greens this low syn delight is too good not to try!
depending how you serve can serve 4-6 people or it will serve as a brilliant chinese buffet dish if you have a get together.

you will need: 500g beef mince (extra lean/less than 5%)
1 tbsp cornflour ( 1 syn)
2 tbsp light sweet chilli sauce ( 2 syns: if you like spice you can always add some fresh chopped chillies to this too! but i am a wimp!)
1/2 tsp sesame oil (1 syn)
1tsp grated ginger
1 very large clove grated garlic
1tbsp soy sauce
pinch of salt and pepper

Start by frying off your mince you want it to start to turn nice and crispy (you will hear it start to crack and start to turn a lovely brown colour)
meanwhile mix the sweet chilli sauce, salt, pepper, sesame oil, soy sauce and 2 tbsp of water.
Sprinkle the cornflour over the beef evenly. Toss to coat and leave for a little then toss again so the other side gets crispy. do this a couple of times so the cornflour coating the beef turns crisp. (not only will it help it to be crisp but keeps moisture in!)
toss in the garlic and ginger tossing or stirring for a minute or 2 until the smell of garlic and ginger aromatics smacks you in the face like a cold winters day!
pour in your sauce constantly tossing to make sure all the beef is coated. keep cooking until the sauce reduces and completely coats your beef and you are ready to serve!

i hope you guys like my recipes :) i would love to know if you give them a go!

My ultimate comfort food: carbonara

I cannot even fathom where to begin in explaining this low syn, delicious dish! Comforting, creamy, savoury and only 2 syns a portion? what.. the.. heck?
This is my twist on carbonara, it is closely related to the traditional version, this is (i think) a rather big portion so you could probably split it between 2 if serving with a side salad (or veggies) and some form of meat!

Now, i know i am likely to get lots of questions about the 'raw egg'. The raw egg you add, is cooked by the heat of both the pasta and heat of the pan, if you are that worried add a little water or stock, top with cheese and bang it in the oven for a good 15 minutes at 200oC for a delicious mac and cheese!

You will need:
150g pasta of your choice (if you are baking do not use spaghetti etc)
2 slices of fat removed bacon (chopped into smallish dice)
5 medium mushroom (white mushrooms or the brown chestnut mushrooms will do (if you can get a bag of mixed mushrooms around mid autumn why not turn this from a carbonara to a creamy mushroom carbonara?)
100g small cut broccoli florets.
1 egg
2 tbsp grated parmesan (1 syn per tbsp)
salt, pepper

Start by getting your pasta on the go with the broccoli, (while you are doing this get a large frying pan hot with fry light) but cook it for 2 minutes less than it says on the packaging.
While your pasta is cooking, fry your bacon until it is crispy with fry light.
Add the mushrooms and cook until softened.
By now your  pasta should be cooked. use a slotted spoon or tongs to move the pasta from the water directly to the pan with the bacon in, stir and add a good pinch of salt and pepper. (keeping the pan on the heat.
crack an egg into a cup, add the parmesan and whisk well. turn the pasta off the heat, pour in your egg and stir constantly until the sauce thickens (if it is too thick add a little more of the pasta water)
You are done and ready to serve.

This is great if you have picky kids who refuse to eat broccoli because it breaks up completely and coats the pasta. If your kids do not like mushrooms, just omit them and add a couple of handfuls of peas :)

I hope you enjoy this quick recipe. I will post again soon my lovelies! :)

Jambalaya

This recipe is brilliant for leftovers or if you just want to make a delicious dish!
serves 4-6
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs (in bite sized cube or use leftover roast chicken!)
4 heck chorizo style sausages (currently 2.5 syns each so 2.5 if serving 4 but 1.5 if serving 6, skin removed)
3 sticks of celery and 2 carrots (finely diced or grated)
1 large white onion (diced finely)
1 large green pepper (slightly larger dice)
1 large red pepper (same as green pepper)
4 large tomatoes (cut in half and grate into the stock, its the easy way to remove the skin!)
3 cloves garlic
1tbsp paprika (not smoked)
450ml chicken stock
250g long grain rice (basmati works well)
1 bay leaf
1tsp dried thyme and oregano
sprinkle of chilli flakes (optional)
(6 large prawns to serve ontop are optional)

okay it sounds like a lot of ingredients but its a very very easy recipe.
Fry the sausage braking it up while it cooks. when it is cooked add in the chicken. cook until the chicken is 3/4 of the way done. add all the vegetables and garlic. stir until the onion becomes translucent. add in the rest of the ingredients. stir thoroughly, sprinkle in some salt and pepper, cover, cook on low for 15 minutes, remove the lid give it a stir. cover and let cook for a further 10 minutes on low.
Done :D

enjoy.. i know it sounds like a lot but this recipe is pretty basic 4 tomatoes, 450ml of stock, garlic, paprika 250g rice.. then you can add anything else you want! any veg that is starting to go over (fry that first though to give it a head start)
and the best thing... its a one pot meal! yaaaahhh!

Enjoy!

Syn free scotch eggs

You really do not miss the bread crumbs here. Now if you want to make mini scotch eggs i would suggest mashing up the egg and mixing with the smallest amount of extra light mayo, at which point you would get a tablespoon of mince, flatten it out, put a little of your egg mixture inside then conceal it inside the meat and roll into the ball ready to bake.
Here are the large versions!

6 medium eggs (boiled to your liking, just remember they are going to bake in the oven! another tip is to add 1/2 tsp bicarb to the water, it makes the eggs easier to peel)
500g extra lean pork mince
1tsp dried sage
generous amount of salt and black pepper
3tbsp water (yes, my water trick again)

Pre heat the oven to 170oC
peel your eggs
mix the mince with the water thoroughly so it absorbs the water and becomes smooth.
mix in the sage, salt and pepper (a good half tsp of each!)
cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
 get a bowl of water to help you wet your hands to mold the scotch eggs.
seperate the meat into 6 and one at a time take 1/6 of the meat, flatten it on your hand, place the egg in the middle and wrap the meat around it, place it onto a lined baking tray and repeat with the rest of the eggs and mixture.
bake for 7 minutes then turn over to cook for another 7 minutes.
these will last for 3 days in your fridge.

Enjoy :)