Day 22 – Courgette and Chick Pea Filo Pie (page 93) & Apple & Walnut Cake (page 36)
Yesterday was a Nigella day with two lovely recipes to try. The first one ‘Courgette and Chick Pea Filo Pie‘ had been eye-candy for me for a while. I was debating whether or not to cook it for a family dinner or to save it for a special evening when Paul and I were eating alone. Would the usual cries of “blluurrghhh courgette” ruin things or not? It looks impressive in the photo in the book:
So, what the heck it’s Friday night, celebration of the weekend night, let’s give it a whirl. The recipe itself is extremely easy to follow and quick to make. Shop-bought filo pastry and a collection of ingredients gently sauteed in olive oil and stock – brilliant. I enjoyed stacking in the layers of filo, brushing each one with melted butter, then tipping the rice/courgette/chick pea mix in and popping a filo lid on. So simple!
Into the oven for about 20 mins and voila!
It was a huge hit with the children as well. Felix declared “chick peas are my favourite superfood“, Rohan shovelled lots and lots in – always a good sign and even Maddie managed to eat more than just the filo pastry! This one is definitely going to get made again.
Marks out of 10: 10
Bakers comment: very quick and easy to make, yet the results make you feel like you must have spent ages on it – winning combination.
Apple & Walnut Cake
This was a quick after dinner bake, we wanted to finish Friday evening with a sweet treat. No picture in the book so no visual point of reference. Another fast recipe to follow – all ingredients in to the mixer, whizz up and into the oven. My only reservation was how big to chop the apple – Nigella says into ‘small cubes‘ but how small is small? I think I may have left them a little too large. She’s not kidding either when she says the mixture will be ‘fairly stiff‘ – it really was.
Cooked it for an hour, but made a school-girl error in removing it from the oven when it looked done, rather than testing it. I don’t know what I was thinking!! The glass of Prosecco had gone to my head 😉 So, on cutting it was baked perfectly…apart from the rather runny and batter-like centre. Grrrrrr.
Anway, the family loved it and snaffled it up with gusto so all was fine!
Marks out of 10: 7.…would have been more I think if I’d baked it properly.
Bakers comment: check and check again. Good flavours in the cake, maybe cut the apple pieces smaller than I did.
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