Oven baked
LASAGNE
This recipe is adapted from Marcella Hazan (via Tamasin Day-Lewis). It is simple, even if not exactly quick to make (I allow a couple of hours from start to finish) - but absolutely delicious and worth the time. I make the ragu fairly liquid, using a large can of tomatoes, so that I can use dried lasagne sheets (not the quick-cook sort) without boiling them first. They cook fine in the juicy sauce.
Serves 8.
Ingredients
2 T olive oil
2 large onions
3 sticks celery
3 carrots
4 large cloves garlic
2 lb Pym Farm ground beef (15% fat)
2 bay leaves
1 cup milk
1 cup white wine
1 large can (28 oz) Italian whole plum tomatoes OR in summer, about 2lb fresh tomatoes
1 box dried lasagne
Plenty of freshly grated Parmesan
For the bechamel sauce:
4 cups milk
6 T butter
6 T flour
Grated nutmeg
Method
1. Make the beef ragu: finely chop the vegetables. Saute the onion in oil in a large pan until translucent. Add celery, carrots and garlic and cook another 5 minutes. Add beef, a large pinch of salt and some freshly ground pepper. Saute until the beef is nicely browned. Add bay leaves and 1 cup milk and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Add wine and simmer until it's evaporated. Chop the tomatoes and add them with their juice. Bring to a gentle simmer (ie the occasional bubble) and cook, covered, for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 hours. Check seasoning.
2. While the ragu is cooking, make the bechamel: melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and stir over low/medium heat for 5 minutes or so to cook the flour. Add the milk gradually, stirring or whisking to keep the sauce smooth, another 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
4. Assemble the lasagne, starting with a layer of bechamel, then pasta, then ragu and repeating until your sauces are used up. Finish with bechamel and cover with freshly grated Parmesan.
5. Bake for about 40-50 minutes until the dish is bubbling and a knife slips through easily. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving with a green salad.
MEATLOAF
Simple and delicious. Serve with tomato sauce, mashed potatoes and a green vegetable.
Serves 8.
Ingredients
1 T olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
(1 stick of celery and 1 carrot, both finely chopped - optional)
4 large cloves garlic, chopped
3 lb Pym Farm ground beef (15% fat)
2 T dried thyme or handful of fresh, finely chopped
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 lb fresh ricotta
Method
1. Saute the onion and garlic (and celery and carrot, if using) in olive oil over low/medium heat until translucent, not brown.
2. Tip vegetables into a large mixing bowl and add the beef, thyme, eggs and ricotta. Season generously with salt and pepper and mix everything thoroughly (with your hands is easiest) but without packing the mixture too firmly.
3. Pack the mixture into two loaf tins and bake at 350F for 50 minutes or so. After the first 20 minutes, pour off any excess fat off the top of the tins.
Note: this is a very adaptable recipe. I've made it adding a cup of leftover tomato sauce and I imagine other leftover vegetables could be added (eg cooked leeks, mushrooms). Other herbs would work well (basil, parsley, oregano) and you could add some breadcrumbs to make it go further. Leftovers are great cold in sandwiches with chutney or with tomato jam.
KOFTE (TURKISH MEATBALLS)
This is a useful recipe for ground beef in summer, as a change from hamburgers.
These quantities serve 8, but I always make this amount and freeze any (cooked) leftovers.
Ingredients
4lb Pym Farm ground beef
2 medium onions, very finely chopped
8 cloves garlic, very finely chopped
1 or 2 cups of cooked bulgar wheat
Finely chopped fresh herbs: 1 cup parsley, 1 cup mint, 1/2 cup oregano if you have it
2 T ground coriander
2 T ground cumin
2 t cayenne
2 T salt
For the tahini sauce:
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 lemon juice
Method
1. For the meatballs: mix everything together really thoroughly with your hands. Form into balls (large golf ball size) and bake on ungreased baking trays at 400F for 15 minutes, then turn down to 375F and bake another 15 minutes. (They might need a bit more, or less, time - check inside is cooked through, but don't overcook.)
2. For the sauce: whisk together the tahini and lemon juice. Whisk in about 1/2 cup water until it's a pouring consistency. Add salt and more lemon to taste.
3. Serve meatballs with sauce separately in a jug to drizzle over. This is good with tabbouleh or indeed any salad. Leftovers are good in pita bread with hummus and salad.
CORNISH PASTIES
The original. Time-consuming to make, yes. But worth it. Excellent picnic food. Makes 6 pasties.
First make your pastry:
2 cups flour
1 stick (4 oz) butter straight from fridge
1/2 tsp salt
Process in food processor until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Then, with the motor still running, drizzle in 2-3 tbsp iced water, or just enough until pastry comes together. Wrap in clingfilm and rest the pastry in the fridge while you make the filling.
Filling:
1lb lean steak (I use ribeye or sirloin)
2 medium potatoes
2 medium onions
2 tsp salt
2-3 tblsp stock
To assemble: 1 egg, beaten
To prepare the filling, trim any fat from steak and cut into small pieces about 1cm square. (Everything cooks in the steam of the pasty so it must all be cut small.) Peel the potatoes and dice similarly small. Chop onion finely. Mix all together in a basin with salt, pepper and enough stock to moisten.
Next, assembly: divide the pastry into 6 pieces. Roll one out in a rough circle. Put a few tblsps of filling into the center and brush the edges with beaten egg. Draw the pastry over to make a semicircular shape, sticking it down with the egg, and seal the edges neatly. Brush the entire pasty with beaten egg and place on baking tray.
Bake at 200 C/ 400 F for 15 minutes, then at 190/375 for another 45 minutes, until golden.