Baked goats cheese in tomato sauce

 

I've been meaning to share this with you for some time now as it is so easy and so delicious. The whole thing takes about 2 minutes to prepare and then less than 10 minutes to cook. You also only need two ingredients which is always a bonus. I came upon it out of sheer desperation one evening when these were among the only two ingredients that I had in the fridge and have made it quite regularly ever since. It even makes a lovely starter if you're cooking for others and it can be prepared in advance and then cooked at the last minute which makes it ideal for occasions like this. You will need:

• Tomato pasta style sauce- you can use jar sauce if you've found a good low carb one, or homemade if you prefer.
• A slice of goats cheese. I get mine from the deli counter and ask them to slice me a few slices as thinly as they can without them falling apart.
• Some dried herbs and seasoning.

To make it is just the most simple things ever!

• Take a small round dish, not much larger than the size of your slice of goats cheese. Pour tomato sauce in it until it's about half way up- this won't use much sauce- probably a couple of tablespoons at the most.
• Place your goats cheese slice in the centre
• Scatter with the dried herbs- you can at this point pop it in the fridge and save it until you're ready to cook it.
• Place in an oven heated to about 200 degrees and cook for 10 minutes.
• Remove and serve immediately, preferably with my low carb bread to dip in!

Egg and goats cheese bakes and decluttering my house

If you've followed my Instagram for any length of time you will probably have seen these pop up there from time to time. they're one of my favourite go to recipes for when I'm trying to be very strict on carbs and when I have very little food in. They have under 4g carbs per dish and are so delicious. they're also egg fast friendly and only require a couple of ingredients and a few minutes to make. What more could you want?!

I've been making these especially often recently as I have been trying to declutter my house and run down all the food supplies that I keep in as I have decided that I keep far too much food in at any one time. I've been following the Pop sugar 30 day declutter challenge which you can find here if you're interested. Basically each day for 30 days you focus on decluttering one area of your home. It is a very challenging task for me as I love buying stuff and hate throwing anything away. So far I'm doing pretty well though and have got rid of several bags and boxes of stuff, and the kitchen already looks a lot better. I must admit I have already fallen behind and am having to do a couple of days at a time sometimes because I didn't manage to do it the previous day, but the important thing is I keep at it. I'll keep you posted as to how I get on!

I have made them so far with cheddar and goats cheese, but you can make it with any two cheeses (or more if you fancy it!).

You will need (makes one):

• 30g grated cheddar cheese
• 30g crumbled soft goats cheese
• One egg
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs

• Take a small ovenproof dish and sprinkle the cheese into it, sprinkle it mostly around the sides leaving the middle mostly clear
• Crack the egg into the centre
• Sprinkle with the dried herbs
• Pop into the oven on a medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the egg looks cooked to your liking- I like mine still a bit runny.
• Make another one- you don't have to do this- but you will probably want to!

And that's it! they literally take about 15 minutes start to finish and taste amazing. Hope you love them!

Low carb cauliflower bolognese

I am so so excited about this recipe, I think it might be my biggest triumph yet! Needless to say it's another cauliflower recipe and for some reason, unlike nearly every other cauliflower thing I make, I haven't really seen this one doing the rounds on Pinterest/Instagram etc yet... I'm sure it's only a matter of time though as it really is a good one.

The idea came when I was about to make a cauliflower pizza and had just put the cauliflower into the food processor and noted that it looked a little bit like mince- well quorn mince which is what I usually use when making bolognese. So I gave a small bit a try and it worked! It tastes so good and if you flavor it sufficiently I really think you can hardly tell. Even better when you serve it up with zoodles (and miss out the red wine and cheese-which are optional) you are literally eating nothing but vegetables even though it has the feel of comfort food at it's finest! If you miss out the cheese on the top, which you easily can do then the recipe is also completely vegan. I am giving you my recipe for bolognese but of course if you have your own way of making it then just make it that way but sub in the cauliflower for the mince. 

Without further ado, here's how you do it:

You will need (serves 2 with enough for leftovers):

• One small/medium cauliflower- don't underestimate how much 'mince' this will make
• One small onion- chopped
• A couple of sticks of celery- chopped
• A couple of cloves of garlic
• A jar of passata or tin of chopped tomatoes
• One large courgette/zucchini
• Small glass of red wine - optional
• Some dried oregano
• Fresh basil and vegetarian parmesan to garnish- optional

Method:

• Cut the cauliflower roughly into medium florets and pop into a food processor.
• Process or pulse for a couple of minutes until it's all broken down and is in roughly a uniform consistency- you don't have to be very strict though
• Chop up your onions and celery
• Put a little olive oil in a large frying pan and let warm for a minute or so
• Add the onion and celery and fry for a few minutes until starting to turn translucent
• While that's going crush your garlic with the back of a knife and add that
• Stir well and fry for a minute or so longer
• Add the cauliflower, mix well in and fry for about 10 minutes stirring regularly
• Add the red wine and the tomatoes and a handful generous pinch of oregano and stir in well
• Leave this cooking while you spiralize your courgette. You can do this using either a spiralizer or a julienne peeler. If you are using a spiralizer I always chop the core that you get left with and pop that in as well
• If you want the zoodles cooked then pop tem in a new frying pan with a little olive oil and sauté for 5 minutes on a low hear, stirring frequently. I always have them raw though and skip this step. You also of course can just add them straight to the bolgnese mix and stir them al together.
• Plate or erm bowl up your zoodles
• Top with the bolognese
• scatter torn fresh basil over the top and sprinkle with cheese
• Enjoy in that virtuous way that you can do when you are pretty much eating a huge portion of nothing but goodness!