Bruschetta

Ingredients:

baguette or ciabatta

4 tomatoes, diced

2 spring onions, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, 1 minced and the other peeled and cut in half

basil leaves - approx 10, chopped

olive oil

salt and pepper

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees
• In a bowl mix together the tomatoes, spring onions, minced garlic and basil. Season and add a good glug of good quality olive oil. Put to one side for 15 minutes or so.
• Slice the bread and bake in the hot oven for a couple of minutes.
• Remove the bread slices from the oven and rub the halved garlic pieces on each slice. Drizzle with a little olive oil and top each slice with a spoonful of the tomato mixture. Cook in the oven for another 10-15 minutes until the edges of the bread are starting to crisp.
• Arrange the bruschetta on a plate and drizzle with a little more olive oil to serve.

Tapas

Tapas - herby lamb meatballs, patatas bravas, courgette and feta fritters and tomato salad

Ingredients and method (serves 2, add bread and a green salad and it would probably serve 4):

Tomato sauce:

glass of red wine

3 fresh tomatoes, chopped

tub of chopped tomatoes

dessert spoon of tomato puree

1/2 red onion, diced

1 clove of garlic, diced

4 mushrooms, sliced

olive oil

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees
• Fry the onion, garlic and mushrooms in olive oil until soft
• Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes
• Add the red wine and turn up the heat to allow the alcohol to cook off for 5 minutes or so
• Turn the heat back down, add the chopped tomtaoes and puree and let the sauce simmer for 45 minutes

Lamb meatballs:

approx 200g lamb mince

approx 200g lamb mince

1/2 red onion, diced

1 clove of garlic, diced

a handful of fresh herbs (basil, pasrley, thyme, rosemary) roughly chopped

salt and pepper

• Combine the lamb mince, onion, garlic and herbs and season
• Form into meatball shapes and refridgerate until needed
• Brown meatballs in a frying pan before placing them on top of the prepared tomato sauce. Be careful not to stir them in to the sauce too vigorously as they can break up
• Cook meatballs and sauce in a hot oven for 20-30 minutes

Patatas bravas:

2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

2 fresh tomatoes, chopped

1/2 red pepper, diced

pinch of red chilli flakes

1 small clove of garlic, diced

olive oil

• Par boil the potatoes before putting them in an oven proof dish with a splash of olive oil and placing them in the oven
• After 15 minutes or so fry the garlic and red pepper in olive oil until soft
• Add the tomatoes and chilli flakes to the garlic and red pepper and continue to cook for 5 minutes
• Add the garlic/pepper/tomato mixture to the potatoes and stir through
• Return potatoes to the oven for approx 20 minutes

Courgette and Feta fritters:

1 egg

1 table spoon of plain flour

1 courgette, grated

approx 25g of feta, cut into small chunks

3 spring onions, chopped

salt and pepper

olive oil

• Salt the grated courgette and place in a sieve over another bowl. Leave for 15 minutes and then press the courgette mixture to remove the exess water
• Mix together the egg, flour, feta, spring onions and grated courgette and refridgerate for an hour or so until needed
• Heat some oil in a non-stick pan
• Placed 4 heaped spoonfuls of the batter mixture in the pan and press each one down lightly. Turn each one over after 3-4 minutes to cook the other side

Tomato salad:

2 tomatoes, cut into chunks

1/4 cucumber, diced

handful of olives

approx 25g of feta, cut into chunks

olive oil

pepper

• Mix together the tomatoes, olives, cucumber and feta
• Dress with olive oil an black pepper
• Refridgerate or cover until needed

Sea bream with tomatoes, red onion and lemon

Ingredients (serves 2):

2 sea bream fillets

1 large potato, sliced

2 large tomatoes, sliced

1/2 lemon, sliced

1 red onion, diced

1 bay leaf

1 clove of garlic

1/2 glass of white wine

salt and pepper

olive oil

1. pre heat the oven to 180 degrees


2. par boil the potato slices and then layer them on the bottom of an oven proof dish with a drizzle of olive oil, season


3. layer the tomato and red onion slices on top of the potatoes and cook in the oven for 10 minutes


4. add the garlic, lemon slices, and bay leaf, season the fish and place the bream fillets on top side by side


5. pour over the white wine and put the dish back in the oven for 20-25 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets

Tomato and feta salad

This is almost a Greek salad, but as I don't like olives I prefer to serve them separately so Ross can add his own!

Ingredients (serves 4):

4 large tomatoes
1/3 cucumber

1 red onion

2/3 pack of feta

good olive oil

pepper

basil or parsley (if you like)

1. Roughly chop the tomatoes, red onion, cucumber and feta.


2. Dress with olive oil and season with black pepper. Leave to marinade for about an hour before you want to eat it. The raw onion should be much milder in taste after an hour of marinading.


3. Sprinkle with herbs (if using) just before serving.


4. Best served at room temperature.