goat's cheese, aubergine & spinach lasagne.

A super cheesy vegetarian lasagne featuring the lovely goat's products from St. Helen's Farm. Goat's cheese lovers will enjoy the combination with roasted aubergine and wilted spinach. Diners who avoid cow dairy will be a fan because - there's none of that here! Layers of roasted vegetables, a creamy goat's cheese sauce and extra cheese on top for good measure make this a weekend treat or make-ahead meal.

goats' cheese, spinach and red pepper puff pastry tart.

this is my current favourite "cheat eat" which would be perfect for an easy midweek meal, sliced up with a salad for lunch or cut into pieces as party food. all you need is a puff pastry sheet, a sauce base and some tasty toppings! here i made it with tomato and marscapone sauce, wilted spinach, sliced somerset goats' cheese, half a red pepper and a couple of button mushrooms. put it in the oven on 200 degrees for 15-20 minutes and bam it's ready to devour!

red onion and goats cheese tart.

shopping list

♥ two red onions, chopped
♥ one small goats cheese
♥ five eggs
♥ 150ml milk
♥ ready to roll shortcrust pastry

 

both this red onion and goats cheese tart and the asparagus and cheddar tart below made up my starter this christmas day. we went over to my grandparents this year, with me providing the starter, my grandma in charge of the main event, my mum and sister in charge of desserts and my aunt bringing along a fab cheese board.

 

so for this tart, you follow the same whisking eggs and milk together for the tart. then, for the filling, add the chopped onion followed by the egg and milk mixture.

 

for the sheet of pastry to fit, you can see (to my mother's horror) i went for a rustic look. i laid the pastry sheet on top as i came in a rectangle, then tore off any excess and played jigsaw with the pastry.

 

i then baked for around 25 minutes at 200 degrees and once set (ish) placed the slices of cheese on top and baked for another 10 minutes, or until the crust and goats cheese rind goes golden. mmmmm!

 

easy peasy red pepper and goats cheese tart.

shopping list
♥ 250g savoury ready to roll shortcrust pastry
♥ a handful of cherry tomatoes
♥ one red pepper
♥ one small red onion
♥ 200g mini goats cheese
♥ a clove of chopped garlic
♥ a couple of squirts of tomato purée

preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

begin by rolling out the pastry, sprinkling a little flour over your worktop and prevent sticking. do not feel guilt in buying pastry from a shop. i mean, by all means make it from scratch. but even delia herself has proved making basic pastry is seen as no feat these days when you can get such good ready made products. and besides, this recipe is supposed to be easy peasy

lay the pastry into your chosen dish, press into the
edges (click on the picture for a closer look) and if
there are gaps just use excess pastry to patch it up.
use a sharp knife to trim the edges.

cut up your onion, tomato, de-seeded pepper and garlic and toss into a pan with a little oil or butter. keep a couple of slices of pepper for a topping. squirt in your purée to thicken it up and if the mixture begins to stick don't be afraid to add a little more. keep it on quite a low heat and simmer until the red pepper in particular has softened.

spoon the pepper and tomato filling into your pastry
and layer slices of goats cheese and the extra red pepper on top.

put in the oven to bake for around twenty five minutes or until the pastry is hardened and golden and the cheese looks melted and delicious.

this particular dish made two servings. one which i had fresh and warm, the other i had cold with salad.
the tart will also be perfectly fine to reheat or
keep in the fridge for a couple of days.

other ideas for fillings or toppings could include mushrooms, bacon, ham, spinach, other colours of pepper, different cheeses. the possibilities are endless.

but most importantly, easy peasy.