Lorraine Pascale - Lorraine Pascale’s Fast, Fresh and Easy Food

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Introduction

Canapés + cocktails

Quick-cook canapé crostini

Crispy, crunchy chicken strips with honey mustard dip

Pancetta & Parmesan puffs

Crunchy black pepper halloumi dip sticks with harissa hummus

Naughty, naughty nachos

Skinny dipping

Lemoncello jello shots

Watermelon jello shots

Strawberry & mint mojitos

Lovely limoncello

Starters, snacks + soups

Vegetarian mushroom & port ‘faux gras’ with tarragon & chestnuts

Pizza expressed three ways

Aussie sweetcorn breakfast fritters with avocado & rocket salad & sweet chilli jam

Simple salmon ceviche with tortilla chips

Gingerbread pancakes with Parma ham & maple syrup

Roasted new patatas & chorizo bravas with aïoli

Potato & leek vichyssoise with crispy bacon & chives

Thai chicken soup with coconut milk & ginger

Hot-and-sour king prawn soup

Red pepper, tomato & basil gazpacho with salt & pepper croutons

Broccoli & blue cheese soup with chive mascarpone & warm garlic bread

French onion & sage soup with big fat Gruyère & mustard croutons

Salads

Mango, feta & avocado salad with fresh lime juice

Wild Waldorf salad with toasted walnuts & Granny Smiths

Courgette ‘pappardelle’ with asparagus, avocado salad & rocket

Thai beef salad with roasted peanuts & chilli dressing

Prawn Caesar salad with olive oil croutons & pomegranates

Mackerel salad with horseradish crème fraîche

Nifty Niçoise salad with hot-smoked trout & sundried tomatoes

The Union cobb

Chicken + duck mains

Whole roast perky peri peri chicken

Really simple Sri Lankan chicken curry with coconut milk & cashew nut rice

Baked jerk chicken with pineapple salsa, coconut rice & beans

Sticky Asian BBQ chicken wings with sweetcorn rice & red cabbage slaw

My take on chicken tikka masala with fluffy basmati rice

Tandoori chicken wraps with cucumber raita & mango salsa

Scrumptious spicy chicken fajitas with guacamole, salsa & sour cream

Chicken cacciatore with harissa, bacon & rosemary

Chicken, apple & cider casserole with fennel seed roasted veg

Five-spice roasted duck breasts with cherry & Shiraz sauce & sesame noodles

Beef, lamb + pork mains

Good old-fashioned burger with rocket, red onions (plus all the trimmings) & garlicky potato wedges

Rich rump steak ‘sort-of-stew’ with port, porcini & herby dumplings

Rosemary roast cottage pie with a crispy rosti topping

Thai red beef curry with jasmine rice

The mighty moussaka

Maple and balsamic-glazed lamb chops with mint, toasted almonds & feta cous cous

Lozza’s lamb biryani

Slow-roast, fast-prep leg of lamb with Aussie Chardonnay, rosemary, sage & bay

Sweet & sour pork balls with crunchy peanut rice

Tasty tarragon pork steaks with creamy mustard mushroom sauce & spring onion champ

Pan-fried pork chops with a watercress, peach & Stilton salad & a lemon ginger dressing

Dad’s penne all’arrabbiata with crispy pancetta & basil

Fish + shellfish mains

Tapenade-crusted cod on a bed of crunchy ciabatta, tomato & basil

Blackened Cajun cod burgers with aïoli & paprika baked potato wedges

Buttered fish with roasted ginger butternut squash & pancetta petits pois

Moroccan pesto fish with caramelised onions & haricot beans served with minty pine nut cous cous

Pan-fried sea bass with basil & pine nut sweet veggie sauce & rosemary sautéed potatoes

Prawn linguine with chorizo & Cabernet tomato sauce

Tin foil Thai trout with red pepper noodles

Hot-smoked trout kedgeree with spring onions & basil

Seared tuna steaks with cannellini beans, feta & mint

Warm salmon & lentils with chorizo, asparagus & a balsamic dressing

Salmon saltimbocca with gremolata potatoes & crispy sage leaves

Filo salmon en croute with basil & curly kale pesto & pesto potatoes

Honey soy-glazed salmon with sesame & ginger noodles & stir-fried bok choy

Vegetarian mains

Goat’s cheese, toasted hazelnut & honey quesadillas with rocket salad

Butternut & sweet potato lasagne with sage, toasted pine nuts & nutmeg

Greek spinach, feta & pine nut pie with dill & crunchy filo

Spicy bean burgers with corn cous cous & coriander lime crème fraîche

Sweet potato tortilla with jalapeños & dill

Pan-fried mascarpone gnocchi with dreamy basil pesto

Cakes + puds

Little warm Bramley apple pies or ‘chaussons aux pommes’

Rum punch roast pears, figs & peaches with toasted hazelnuts & vanilla crème fraîche

Neat-and-tidy Eton mess with blackberries & stem ginger whipped cream

Homemade meringues

Chocolate mousse with raspberries

Strawberry & cream mini cakes with chocolate drizzle strawberries

Pear, almond & amaretto tart with stem ginger mascarpone cream

Doorstop vanilla cheesecake

Dulce & banana cake

Simply coffee, vanilla & walnut cake

Lemon & lime poppy seed drizzle cake

Let them eat cake, cake

Crouching tiger, hidden zebra cake

Bread + pastry

Aussie olive damper bread (soda bread’s antipodean cousin)

Crackle-top bread

Twister bread

Net bread (roti jala)

Puff pastry

Sweet rich brown sugar pastry

Sweet shortcrust pastry

Tasty treats

Little jammy tarts

Peanut butter squares

Vanilla hazelnut & brown sugar shortbread

Blueberry & oat muffins

Maple, pecan & cranberry granola

Port-preserved cherries with cinnamon & orange

White chocolate-dipped cherries

White chocolate lollipops with dried cranberries

Shameless shortcut cookies-and-cream lollipops

Homemade vanilla custard (crème anglaise)

Mango chutney

Salted caramel toffee sauce

Zesty apple sauce with cinnamon & ginger

Homemade vanilla extract

List of Recipes

Acknowledgements

Copyright

About the Publisher

Introduction

Staring at the blank page with my deadline looming, no words seemed to be coming. A relaxed, unpressurised atmosphere is usually when a flurry of inspiration hits, but it wasn’t until I was on a plane ride back from sunny, siliconed Los Angeles with a glass of Californian Chardonnay on my tiny table that the words began to flow.

I thought back to my first book, Baking Made Easy , a self-explanatory title packed with recipes that, in my own words, covered ‘anything cooked in the oven’. The broad definition allowed me artistic licence to develop meals and dishes both sweet and savoury. Exotic tarts and traditional cakes featured alongside night-time nibbles and Parisian patisserie. With my next book and series, Home Cooking Made Easy , came food with a more homely note: comforting casseroles and lasagnes, beauteous breads and simple puddings and desserts.

It felt, for the meantime anyway, that I’d had a significant part of my cooking repertoire covered and that this time I wanted to try something a little bit different, something that would hopefully prove even more useful for the (sadly) ever-decreasing time in which we have to prepare and cook food. I don’t know how often I have come home from a day whizzing around like the Energizer Bunny on the rampage to a family awaiting some culinary delight. I also don’t know how many times I have hung my head in shame and uttered the words, ‘Oh. Yes. Dinner,’ and then made the short trip to the local supermarket to try to buy from the near-empty shelves and then cobble something together for dinner.