recipes « Cooking with a Chilli Fiend

Chilli Chocolate Cake

July 29, 2011 at 12:37 pmCategory:recipes

Chilli and chocolate were meant for each other. The Aztecs would mix cocoa beans and chilli peppers to make a spiced cocoa drink and we all know how prosperous the Aztecs are today so no reason not to carry on the tradition! Umm, yes.

Chocolate Chilli Cake

This is a classic chocolate cake spiced up with fresh and dried chilli peppers. This isn’t a cake with the tiniest hint of chilli, this is a chilli chocolate cake. It’s not hot, it doesn’t burn but it has a distinct chilli flavour and mild heat mixed with the richness of dark chocolate.

Ingredients

The Sponge:
175g wholemeal self raising flour
175g soft light brown sugar
175g soft unsalted butter
3 large eggs, beaten
1 heaped tablespoon of cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 red chilli pepper, very finely chopped (sweet, mild chillis will work better than fiery ones)
1/2 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes

The Filling & Frosting:
250g dark chocolate (use chilli chocolate if you can find it, e.g. Montezuma’s Chilli Chocolate or Lindt Chilli Chocolate)
250ml double cream
1 small knob of butter (roughly the size of a large heaped tablespoon)
1 red chilli pepper, very finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon of hot chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes

To decorate I used a handful of crushed pistachio nuts and half a finely chopped red chilli

The baking tins I used were two 7 inch round sandwich tins, lined with greaseproof paper.

Chilli Pepper and Chocolate

Method
The cake itself is a basic sponge recipe, with chilli.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into a mixing bowl.
Add the sugar, butter, eggs, fresh chilli and dried chilli. Beat this together until you end up with a soft mixture that falls off a spoon when you hit it against the bowl. Add a drop or two of water if you think your mixture is too stiff.

Divide the mixture into two baking tins (I recommend 7 inch diameter) and bake at 170 degrees C (325F) for 30 minutes, or until springy in the centre and a knife inserted into the sponge comes out clear. Don’t worry if the mixture looks like it isn’t enough. Remember that this is made with self-raising flour and baking powder. It will rise and expand to fill the tins.

When the cakes are done take them out of the baking tins and allow to cool before decorating.

To make your filling for the middle and frosting for the top melt the chocolate over a medium heat. My method of doing this is to boil a pan of water and put a heat proof bowl on top of the pan, drop the chocolate in the bowl and stir until melted.

Once melted take the chocolate off the heat. Stir in the chillis, butter and cream. Cover with cling film and allow it to cool. When cooled, put the mixture in to the fridge for around an hour or until thickened enough to easily spread (but not set hard).

When thickened, spread the chocolate mixture as a filling and topping for your cake. Decorate with crushed pistachios and finely chopped fresh red chillis. Enjoy!

How Spicy Will This Be?
The recipe above is what I would call a mild to medium chilli spice. It’s doesn’t burn and isn’t as strong as chilli can be in savoury dishes. If you don’t like spicy food you probably won’t like this, but at the same time it won’t blow your head off.
Also remember that depending on how much of a chilli fiend you are, you can alter the amount of chilli you add to the cake. For the less fiendish among you, just using melted chilli chocolate for the filling & topping might be enough or if you’re a hardcore chilli fan you might want to experiment with more chilli powder in the sponge.

What Kind of Chillis Should I Use?
I recommend using sweet chilli peppers with a medium heat. The real heat will come from the chilli flakes and powder and the fresh chillis will add both texture and sweetness to the sponge and frosting.

I actually tried an experiment by putting popping candy in the middle of the sponge with the chocolate filling, but it failed to have any effect whatsoever so I’ve left this out of the recipe and have eaten the remaining popping candy. It was great.

Carrot and Coriander Soup

No Comments

July 25, 2011 at 2:39 pmCategory:recipes

This spicy carrot and coriander soup packs a small punch with the addition of a chilli and adding a little more black pepper than you normally would. Add more or hotter chilli peppers to get a spicier flavour, or alternatively tone it down a bit if you’re not too keen on the heat.

Ingredients

450g carrots
1 large potato
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
1 red chilli pepper
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 pints (1.2 litres) of vegetable stock
a handful of fresh coriander leaf (chopped)
a large pinch of ground black pepper
a pinch of salt
vegetable oil

Makes 4 servings

Method

1. Peel and chop the carrots and potato into small chunks. Finely chop and onion, garlic and chilli (keeping the seeds).

2. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion, and stir until lightly browned. Then add the garlic and chilli – stir for around 1 minute.

3. Add the ground coriander, the potato and the carrots. Stir for 1 or 2 minutes on a medium heat until they soften but do not brown the vegetables off. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.

4. Pour in the vegetable stock. Bring this to the boil and then reduce the heat to allow the soup to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.

5. Stir in your fresh coriander leaf, add a little more black pepper to taste. Then blend the soup in a food processor until you have a soupy consistency. Return the soup to the pan to warm through again, then serve.

If you like your soup thicker, you could add another potato at the start of cooking. Or if you like it runnier, add more vegetable stock.

Spicy Mashed Potato

1 Comment

June 8, 2011 at 4:07 pmCategory:recipes

Here’s my attempt at spicing up some boring old mashed potatoes. This recipe is very, very vaguely based on Aloo Bonda, a spicy deep fried Indian potato snack. By that I mean that I just added some lovely spices to give the mash a nice aroma as well as a spicy kick.

Ingredients

Mashed potato! I used about 5 large Maris Piper potatoes
2 teaspoons of dried red chilli flakes (or less, or more, depending on your taste)
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon of fenugreek powder
A big pinch of ground black pepper
A small pinch of salt

Method

Mash your potato as you usually would. Add all of the above spices and carry on mashing to give it all a mix. Hey presto, spicy mash!

Best served with spicy Welsh dragon sausages and gravy.

You could play about with different spices and ingredients and see what you get. Next time I think I’ll add some finely chopped red onion.

Insanity Lasagna

1 Comment

May 5, 2011 at 1:10 pmCategory:recipes

A classic lasagna spiced up with Dave’s Insanity Sauce – delicious but go sparingly if you’re not a truly hardened chilli fiend! Or just leave out the chilli sauce and make a normal lasagna (boooring).

Ingredients

500g beef mince
1 onion, finely chopped
1 green pepper, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
tomato passata (as much as you feel your recipe needs)
a handful of oregano and basil leaves (fresh if you have them, dried if not)
a splash of red wine (optional)
a pinch of black pepper and salt
Dave’s Insanity Sauce (as much or little as you can handle)

fresh lasagna pasta sheets (if using dried, soak them in warm water while you cook the mince)

For the white sauce:
25g butter
25g plain flour
500ml milk
salt and pepper

Makes around 4 portions.

Method

Fry the chopped onions in olive oil until lightly browned, add the garlic and the chopped green pepper. Once softened, add the mince and stir until browned. Depending on how lean the meat is, I usually remove a large portion of the fat that comes out of the beef.

Add the chopped tomatoes and stir. Add a small amount of passata depending on how saucy you like your lasagna to be! Stir in the oregano and basil then add the salt and pepper to taste. Stir in a few drops of the chilli sauce, taste and hope you don’t burn your taste buds off!

To make the white sauce:
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 or 2 minutes. Be careful not to burn it.
Take the pan off the heat and slowly stir in the milk to get a smooth sauce. Turn the heat on and slowly bring the sauce to the boil.
Simmer gently for around 5 minutes and season with salt and pepper.

Layer the meat, pasta and white sauce into a lasagna dish. Warm in the oven for around 25 minutes at 180 degrees C or until the top goes golden.

Monkey Cupcakes

2 Comments

February 9, 2011 at 8:26 pmCategory:recipes

Mr Chilli Fiend recently finished a documentary for the BBC featuring the Chimps of the Kyambura Gorge. As a celebration for the film being transmitted, I made some happy monkey cupcakes.

Ingredients
For the cake mix:
250g unsalted butter
250g caster sugar
250g self raising flour
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (optional)
a drop or two of milk (if needed)

For the frosting:
90g butter
80ml water
110g caster sugar
240g icing sugar
35g cocoa powder

Decorations:
Large chocolate buttons
Mini marshmallows
Black writing icing
Asda’s “Build a Burger” sweets (the buns made perfect monkey mouths) or anything else monkey-mouth-shaped you can find!

12 large cupcake or muffin paper cases

Method
The cupcakes
Preheat your oven to around 190C (gas mark 5).

Mix together the butter and sugar until you have a creamy, pale mixture. Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl or cup and add the vanilla to them. Once whisked, add the eggs to the butter and mix.

Sift in about half of the flour and mix everything together. Add the remaining flour and add some drops of milk if your mixture looks a little too thick (or if the flour isn’t mixing in very well).

Splodge the mixture into cupcake or muffin cases (this mixture made 12 large muffin sized cakes for me). Don’t worry if the mixture looks messy and uneven in the cases, it will settle and rise nicely in the oven.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. When done, they will have a golden top.

The icing:
Heat the butter and water in a pan on the hob until warm (not hot) and add the caster sugar and stir until dissolved.
Sift the icing sugar and the cocoa powder into a mixing bowl, add the melted butter-water-sugar mixture and mix together. This will be pretty runny at this point.
Allow to cool until thicker. Stir well before icing.

Decorate your cupcakes as required and enjoy! Yum yum!

PS. Save the chimps.

Butternut Squash Curry

1 Comment

November 11, 2010 at 3:21 pmCategory:curry | recipes

Trying to decide on something to eat the other night, my options were limited. The cupboards were going bare – just the odd tin and bag of dried pasta, the bag of frozen spinach in the freezer looked lonely, the fridge looked somewhat neglected – half empty with a couple of half used veggies in the bottom tray.

A plate of pasta? No. Takeaway pizza? No, the diet fairies will haunt me for weeks. Leftover veg mushed together into something spicy and delicious? Why the hell not?

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients
1/2 a butternut squash, cubed and par boiled for 5 mins
2 medium sized maris piper potatoes, cubed and par boiled for 10 mins
a handful of spinach leaves (fresh or frozen, it works either way)
1 red pepper, sliced
1 onion, finely chopped
2 hot green chillis, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4 or 5 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 a tin of chickpeas
1 tin of coconut milk
a cup of water
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon of ground fenugreek
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon of garam masala
a good pinch of ground black pepper

fresh coriander leaf
basmati rice (boiled in a pan with 2 cardamom pods and a bay leaf – optional)

Method

Fry the onion, chilli and garlic in oil (I used groundnut oil) until translucent. Add the ground spices and mix in, allowing them to fry for about 30 seconds. Try not to burn the spices – you’ll know if they’re burnt because not only will your pan have black marks but the smell will be bitter, pungent in the bad way and won’t have that yummy-curry-esque aroma.

Add all of the vegetables and the coconut milk, stir well and leave to simmer for about 10 or 15 minutes. Add the water (or stock) if you think your curry needs a bit more liquid to it.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with spices – add more if you think it needs it, add different ones if you have them. You can always do a little cheat and add a small spoon of curry paste if experimenting isn’t your thing.

Stir in some of the coriander leaf 5 minutes before serving. Keep some of the leaves for decoration on the plate.

Serve with rice, naan or chapatis. Enjoy!

“Rub-A-Dub” Venison Steak

No Comments

September 25, 2010 at 7:31 pmCategory:recipes

Venison is lean, tender and full of flavour. It’s not that popular these days – although I have no idea why.

I have recently discovered venison steaks and sausages for sale in Asda and Tesco for a very reasonable price. If you’re lucky and get there at the right time, you can get great deals in the ‘reduced meat’ section as for some reason lots of people don’t buy it and the shops are desperate to get rid of it before the sell by date.

Levi Roots‘ “Rub-a-Dub Venison” inspired this recipe.

Ingredients
1/2 teaspoon of allspice
1/2 a teaspoon of ground black pepper
1/2 a teaspoon of chilli powder
2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme
a dollop of groundnut or sunflower oil

Method
Combine all the ingredients into a bowl and mix. Rub the mix into venison steaks and allow to marinate for as long as possible – overnight is best but try to leave it for at least 2 or 3 hours before cooking.

Pre-heat the oven to 200C (gas mark 6). Sear the venison lightly in a griddle or frying pan on the hob. Put into the oven for around 5 – 8 minutes (depending on how well you like it cooked).

Always allow red meat to stand for about 5 minutes on a warm plate to help it stay juicy and delicious!

I served this with spicy sweet potato wedges and a fiery pepper sauce.

If you’ve never tried it, give it a go and ignore any “awww Bambi” thoughts!

Homemade Pizza

6 Comments

August 25, 2009 at 11:47 amCategory:recipes

Most people like pizza. There’s so many options for toppings and flavours. Almost everyone can find something they like. Some crazy fools even substitute the traditional tomato sauce for barbeque sauce! Weirdos!

I suppose that’s a great reason for making your own pizza: you have complete control over everything – how crispy the base is and what kind of toppings to use.

If the thought of making your own dough puts you off there are easy ways to cheat. You can buy pre-made pizza bases in the supermarket, although in my experience they don’t taste great, or buy a packet of pizza dough. This stuff is great because you just need to add water and kneed it into shape.

My favourite pizza toppings are all the classics: finely chopped onions, peppers, tomatoes, olives and chillis, of course. A nice bit of cheddar, parmesan and fresh mozzarella add the cheese-factor.

Ingredients

For the sauce
passata (sieved tomatoes)
a handful of chopped basil leaves
a handful of chopped oregano leaves
a sprinkle of salt & pepper

For the dough
a packet of pizza dough
warm water

For the toppings
anything you fancy! I used:
1 red onion
1 green pepper
2 red chillis
a few black olives
a few cherry tomatoes
sliced mozzarella
grated cheddar
grated parmesan

Method

Follow the instructions on your packet of pizza dough. Remember to leave it to rise for about 20 minutes. If you feel brave then have a go at tossing your pizza. If not, get your other half to do it for you (so if he drops if you can blame him!)

Pour the passata into a saucepan and warm it up (don’t boil it). Add the basil, oregano and salt & pepper. Stir the sauce while gently warming it. If you think it needs thickening up add a small amount of tomato paste.

You may want to pre-cook your pizza base a small amount before adding any sauce or toppings. I put mine in the oven for about 5 minutes on 220 degrees. This helps it to crisp up a bit so that the sauce doesn’t make it too soggy.

Spread the sauce over the pizza base. Sprinkle your chosen toppings on to the pizza. Place in the oven for around 20 minutes at 220 degrees.

Seriously Chocolatey Chocolate Cake

3 Comments

March 23, 2008 at 11:23 amCategory:recipes

Not only am I a chilli fiend, but also definitely a chocolate fiend. So, I spent a good while looking for a nice cake to bake for Easter. I considered trying my Mum’s recipe for a beetroot chocolate cake – she promises that it tastes far better than it sounds – or a carrot cake. Instead I went with what I really wanted: a big, fat chocolate cake. After all, it is Easter – a time for indulgence after 40 days of giving things up for Lent (I gave up giving things up).

Anyway, I found a recipe for an Ultimate Chocolate Cake by Angela Nilsen but reduced the amount of sugar and butter because after weighing up the ingredients, I decided that I didn’t want this cake to be the single reason for giving myself and my housemates heart attacks and diabetes. Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

The Cake
200g dark chocolate (I used Lindt’s 85% cocoa bar)
150g unsalted butter
85g self raising flour
85g plain flour
1/4 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
100g muscovado sugar
150g caster sugar
3 medium eggs
75ml buttermilk

The Icing
200g dark chocolate (I used Lindt’s dark cherry chocolate but any will do)
260ml double cream
1 tablespoon of caster sugar

I used two round cake tins, 7 inches diameter.

Method

Butter the cake tins and pre-heat the oven to gas mark 3 or 160 degrees.

Melt 200g of the chocolate. You could do this by boiling a saucepan of water, then placing a heatproof bowl over the saucepan and put the broken up chocolate squares into the bowl. When the chocolate is melting, add the butter and stir until it’s all melted together.

Put the self raising and plain flour into a mixing bowl, along with the bicarb of soda and the sugars. Mix these ingredients together with your hands, removing any lumps that you feel.

Beat the eggs in a bowl and add the buttermilk to them. Add the egg mixture and the melted chocolate to the flour and sugar. Stir the mixture until smooth. It won’t be very runny, but nor should it be too tough so add a drop more of buttermilk if you think it needs it.

Pour into your tin or tins, whack it in the oven and bake for about 1 hour 25 minutes. When cooked, you should be able to stab a skewer through the cake without it leaving any cake mixture on it. If it does, just cook it for a few more minutes and check again.

Let the cake cool down completely before you add any icing to it, otherwise the chocolate in the icing will melt while you try to get it to stay on the cake.

If you made the cake in one tin, you might want to cut it into two pieces, or not – it’s your choice! I made two sections so that I could add some of the icing in the middle.

To make the icing – warm up the cream in a saucepan but don’t boil or burn it! When it’s very warm add the sugar then break up the chocolate and stir it in until melted and smooth.

Let the icing cool a little then spread a bit on the top of the bottom layer. Sandwich the layers together. Pour the rest of the icing over the top of the cake and spread it around the sides.

As you can see from the photos, I’m terrible at icing cakes but the mess doesn’t bother me – it’s the taste that matters! I added some Mini Eggs, as it’s Easter, and some chocolate sprinkles.

Butternut Squash Soup

1 Comment

January 29, 2008 at 4:33 pmCategory:recipes

Butternut squash (along with the good old pumpkin) is such an unappreciated vegetable; most people will, at best, only ever eat it around Halloween time, but it’s in season all through the Winter so there’s no reason not to make much more of it.

Ingredients

1 butternut squash
1 large brown onion
2 large potatoes
3 cloves of garlic
around 1 pint of chicken stock (or veggie stock)
1 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
a generous pinch of salt and pepper
olive oil

Makes around 4 portions

Method

Chop the squash in half, lengthways. Remove the seeds then chop the squash into chunks, leaving the skin on. Peel the potatoes and the onion, then chop these into chunks as well.

Put the squash, potatoes, onion and garlic (with skin on) into a large roasting tin. Drizzle oil over the vegetables and sprinkle the cumin, salt and pepper all over. Roast for around 25 minutes at about 200 degrees.

The vegetables should have softened up in the oven. Take out the garlic cloves and remove their skins.

Place the roasted veg (and skinless garlic) into a food processor and whizz them up while gradually adding the stock, until you get a tasty mush of vegetables.

Transfer the puree to a saucepan and warm it through. You can add more stock/water if you like a runny soup, or you can boil off some of the stock already added if you like it thicker.

You could serve this with a small amount of creme fraiche, some chopped spring onions and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Tasty, warming Winter food. Delicious!

Sausage and Leek Pasta

No Comments

January 24, 2008 at 12:35 pmCategory:recipes

Leeks are a favourite of mine; not only do I think they taste great but they’re a national symbol of Wales. I have to admit that on St David’s Day I tend to wear a daffodil instead but I do eat my fair share of leeks!

They’re a really versatile vegetable and carry other flavours well, such as chilli. I usually steam leeks and have them as part of a roast dinner but in this recipe I stir fry them to add colour and flavour to a pasta dish.

Ingredients

4 Lincolnshire sausages
1 large leek
1 red pepper
1/2 an onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 red chillis
a pinch of dried thyme
a knob of butter
a small bit of grated cheese
pasta shapes

Serves 2-3 people

Method

Begin by cooking the sausages under the grill. They’ll take around 20 minutes so you can stir fry the other ingredients while they’re cooking. You could also begin to boil your pasta too.

Chop the vegetables then melt the butter in a warmed frying pan or wok. Add the onion and red pepper. Cook until the onions begin to brown then add the dried thyme, garlic, chillis and leek.

When the vegetables have softened take the cooked sausages and chop them into small chunks. Stir them into the veggie mixture and cook for a further two-ish minutes.

Just before serving, stir a small amount of cheese into the sausages and vegetables.

Sausage and Leek Pasta

Enjoy your tasty and colourful pasta meal!

One Pot Spicy Rice

2 Comments

January 23, 2008 at 3:09 pmCategory:recipes

Washing up is probably nobody’s favourite after-dinner activity (incidently mine is to slump on the sofa and finish off a glass of wine) but it needs to be done eventually. One pot meals are great for those of us who just can’t be bothered!

This spicy rice dish makes a great lunchtime snack (make it the night before then heat it up in a microwave when you’re hungry) or can be an accompaniment to something meaty – I had this with leftover chicken drumsticks.

One Pot Spicy Rice

Ingredients

basmati rice
boiling water
2 teaspoons turmeric
1/2 teaspoon garam masala (optional)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (chilli powder)
1/2 red onion
1/2 green pepper
1 or 2 red chillis
a handful of peas

Method

Chop the onion, green pepper and chilli. In a large, deep frying pan or wok, fry these ingredients for a few minutes until they soften.

Add the rice into the pan, followed by the water. I used 1/2 a mug of rice (enough for two people, feel free to use more if you want more) and roughly 1 1/4 mugs of boiling water. Stir the rice, making sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
Tip: You may want to add the water in bit by bit as it gets absorbed. This will make sure you don’t use too much water and get soggy rice.

Stir in the turmeric, chilli powder and garam masala (if using). Bring the rice to the boil and add the peas.

Simmer until the rice has absorbed the water and serve (then wash up!).

Jimmy’s Curried Pasta

3 Comments

January 2, 2008 at 2:26 pmCategory:recipes

My other half, Jimmy, loves pasta and curry. Being the genius he is, he combined the two to make curried pasta!

Curried Pasta

This pasta dish is great hot or cold and goes well with almost everything!

Ingredients

pasta shapes
a large dollop of mayonnaise
a dollop of curry paste (we used Rogon Josh in this example)
a handful of fresh coriander, chopped
the juice from half a lemon

Method

Cook and drain the pasta. If you want to make this as a cold side dish (great for BBQs and parties) run cold water over the cooked pasta.

Place pasta in a large bowl and add the mayonnaise and curry paste. Mix together well then stir in the coriander and lemon juice. Done!

Spicy Crispy Chicken Pieces

No Comments

January 2, 2008 at 2:08 pmCategory:recipes

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas and New Year celebrations. It’s such a fantastic time of the year for foodies and I certainly had a great time cooking and eating!

It’s been a while since I made a post but I’m back with a super tasty treat which is easy and quick to cook: chicken!

Spicy Crispy Chicken

These chicken pieces taste great and you can vary the spices and herbs each time you cook them. I can say with some certainty that they’re better and more enjoyable to eat than any of that junk you get from fast food stores.

Ingredients

6 chicken drumsticks (with skin on)
around 80g of breadcrumbs (whizz some slices in a food processor)
1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
ground salt and pepper
1 large egg, beaten
2 tablespoons of milk
2 tablespoons of plain flour
a few drops of vegetable oil

Method

Coat the chicken pieces in the flour by shaking them in a freezer bag or rolling them around.

Mix together the breadcrumbs with the herbs and chilli powder and season with salt and pepper. Place the mixture onto a plate.

Put the beaten egg into a bowl then stir in the milk and oil.

Take a flour-coated piece of chicken and dip it into the egg mixture first, followed by the breadcrumbs. Coat each piece of chicken in this way.

chicken drumsticks

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes at 190 degrees (gas mark 5). Alternatively, you could fry the chicken gently in butter for around 20 minutes.

Tomato Salsa

No Comments

November 4, 2007 at 12:17 pmCategory:recipes

Not only is tomato salsa easy to make but you can use it in so many ways: as a dip for potato wedges, a relish for burgers or stir it into a boring pasta sauce to give it a kick. I like to dollop it in chicken fajitas.

Tomato Salsa

When buying a pre-made salsa from a shop you can never be sure what you’re getting. Salsa varies from the mild, fruity versions to the incredibly spicy, garlicy versions. It can swim in a liquidy sauce or just be a tomato pulp – when making your own salsa it really is up to you.

This recipe is a tangy, spicy and saucey variety but you can alter the ingredients to match your taste.

Ingredients

4 ripe tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic
1 large green chilli
1/2 a red onion
1/2 a lime (optional)
a handful of coriander leaves
a small squirt of passata (sieved tomatoes)
a drop of olive oil

Method

Finely chop the tomatoes, garlic, chilli, onion and coriander leaves. You can de-seed the chilli if you want to tone down the spice but I’ve left them in for this recipe.

Put the ingredients into a bowl and add a dribble of olive oil and squeeze the lime all over.

Chopped salsa ingredients

Now add the passata. Do this slowly and carefully so you can get the consistency you want. Leftover passata can be used to make a pasta sauce.

Alternatively, you could substitute the fresh tomatoes and passata for a tin of chopped tomatoes which should contain all the juice you need to make the sauce.

No cooking or warming required – just stir, serve and enjoy!

If you make more than you need place the leftovers in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Older Entries