Pasta bake

I'm not usually a big fan of pasta bakes, I prefer fresh pasta with a simple sauce, but I thought this was more interesting with the butternut squash and the creme fraiche.

Squash and bacon pasta bake

1 butternut squash
Olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
400 g pasta
100 ml creme fraiche
100 g cheddar cheese (or your choice of grated cheese)
12 slices of bacon

Peel the squash and chop into small cubes.

Heat a splash of olive oil in a pan and fry the garlic over a medium heat until it starts to brown.

Add the squash and a small glass of water. Cover with a lid and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the butternut squash is soft. Then uncover and cook until the water has almost disappeared.

Remove from the heat and mash the squash. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions, then drain.

Mix the pasta with the mashed squash and the creme fraiche on a bowl. Stir in most of the cheese and then spoon into a baking dish. Top with the rest of the cheese and the bacon slices.

Bake in the oven at 200C for 30 minutes, until the bacon is crispy.

Irish soda bread

Another quick bread, with no rising or proving needed. However, a bit of kneading is necessary, but all in all this is an easy, good looking bread!

Irish soda bread

250 g plain flour
250 g wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
30 g unsalted butter, diced
300 ml buttermilk

Sift together the flours, the soda and the salt into a a large bowl.

Add the butter and rub it into the flour using your fingers, until it's evenly mixed.

Make a well in the flour and pour the buttermilk. Mix with a wooden spoon until the mixture is soft and crumbly.

Knead on a lightly floured surface for about 3 minutes, until the dough is smooth and silky (I used the mixing Kenwood for this).

Shape into a round (15 cm diameter and 5 cm thick approx). Dust with flour and cut a cross on the top (about 2 cm deep) from side to side.

Bake at 200C for 35 minutes.

Cover with a tea towel and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Buttermilk muffins with a jam heart

This is my first recipe with buttermilk... In a few days I'll also be uploading the results of my first go at Irish soda bread, but for the moment here's the recipe for this surprisingly good muffins!

Jammy buttermilk muffins

280 g plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

125 g caster sugar

1 egg

250 ml buttermilk

50 ml water

90 ml sunflower oil

Jam of your choice (I used raspberry)

Preheat the oven to 195C and prepare the muffin tins.

Sift together the flour, bicarbonate, salt and sugar in a large bowl.

In another bowl, beat the egg with a fork and add the buttermilk, water and oil, mixing it all together.

Add the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just enough to mix it (don't overstir!).

Spoon half the batter into the tins, then add a dollop of the jam an cover with the rest of the batter.

Bake for 23 minutes.

Petit pains au lait

A pretty simple recipe for very soft milky bread...

Petit pains au lait

2 tsp fast action yeast
450 g strong white flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp caster sugar
55 g butter, diced
300 ml milk

Add all the ingredients to the breadmaker in the right order for your machine and start the white/dough programme.

Once it's finished, turn the dough into a floured surface and divide it in 12 portions.

Shape each portion into a long bread roll. The way I do this is by first making a ball with both my hands (with a circular motion) and then making the roll on the kitchen top like I was working with plastiline (forwards and backwards with the palm of my hand). Place in an oven tray with some space between them.

Leave to rise for 30 minutes, until doubled in size.

Make some cuts diagonally in each roll with a sharp knife and brush with milk.

Bake in the preheated oven, at 200C for 30 minutes until golden on top.

Turn to cool into a wire rack.

Seeded Moroccan loaf

It doesn't feel very Moroccan-ish to me, maybe the honey? In any case it's turned out to be quite good... Really soft inside and full of sunflower seeds, mmmm... The original recipe suggested sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds, but I added what I had, sunflower, sesame, linseed and flaxseed.

Seeded Moroccan loaf

1 1/2 fast action dried yeast

350 very strong white flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp honey

225 ml warm milk

3 tbsp each of sesame, linseed and sunflower seeds (or whichever seeds you have/prefer)

Some extra seeds for sprinkling

Put the ingredients in the breadmaker in the right order for your machine and start the dough/raisin programme.

Once it's finished, turn the dough into a floured surface and shape into a round loaf.

Leave to rise for 45 minutes covered with a tea towel, until doubled in size.

Brush with egg and sprinkle with sunflower seeds (or any other seeds).

Bake in a preheated oven at 200C for 30 minutes.

Turn to a wire rack to cool.

Zopf

This bread looks great and it tastes even better! It's a plaited white loaf with milk.

Zopf

2 tsp fast action dried yeast

500 g strong white flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp white sugar

60 g unsalted butter

egg glaze (1 egg and 1 tbsp milk)

Add the ingredients to the breadmaker in the right order for your machine. Start the white/dough programme. Once it has finished divide the dough in three equal pieces.

Roll each piece into a long rope (around 40 cm). Starting in the middle of the ropes, plait the bread (first to one side and then the other). Press the ends of the ropes together and tuck them neatly under the plait. 

Leave to prove until doubled in size for 40 minutes, covered with a tea towel. Then brush the top with the egg glaze.

Bake in the oven at 180C for 40 minutes. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Quick seedy yogurt bread

I love this bread... It's really quick to make, no kneading, rising or proving, and it's perfect for breakfast. It's made with normal plain flour so no need for bread flour. It's easy to cut, freezes and toasts well - what else can you ask for?
You can make it with mixed chopped nuts or with a mixture of seeds and either way it tastes great.


Seedy yogurt bread

1 tbsp sunflower oil
375 g plain flour
125 g wholemeal flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp each of sesame and poppy seeds (or 90 g of mixed chopped nuts)
90 g sunflower seeds
1 tsp runny honey
170 g yogurt *
340 g milk *
2 tbsp sunflower seeds, for sprinkling

Grease a loaf tin with some sunflower oil.

Sift the flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cream of tartar in a large bowl. Add the seeds (sesame, poppy and 90g of sunflower) or the mixed nuts and stir.

Mix the honey, milk, yogurt and oil together and then stir into the dry ingredients. Mix to form a soft dough.

Pour the dough into the loaf tin and flatten the top with a spatula. Sprinkle the sunflower seeds.

Bake at 180C for 1 hour until golden and risen. Take out of the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.

* In total you need 500 ml between the milk and the yogurt. I buy 170 g pots of yogurt, so I need to use 340 g of milk to complete the 500 ml. If you have a different size of yogurt, adjust the milk to get to 500 ml.