Pesto Parmesan Chicken

I don't mean to pesto-r you, but you have got to try this.

It's so sinfully simple to throw together I almost feel guilty calling it a recipe!

But it really is that delicious. Think plump, juicy chicken, smothered in herby, nutty pesto & topped with gooey, ever-so-slightly crisp fresh parmesan shavings.

Abasilolutely nothing not to love.

To feed two, you're going to need:

2 chicken breasts, flattened with a rolling pin/other bludgeoning weapon of choice

2 dollops of green pesto, jarred is fine.

A chunk of fresh parmesan

Knob of butter

Salt & pepper

Turn on the grill and fetch your chicken.

Carefully bash the living crap out it so both breasts are evenly flattened and around about 3cm thick.

Stand back, (tell your boyfriend that the violence is now over and he no longer has to hide behind his laptop playing Football Manager all day in fear of his safety), and pour yourself a glass of wine.

Nothing says midweek suppertime quite like kitchen utensil weaponry and alcoholism.

Season the chicken well and pop your pesto.

In a large frying pan, melt the butter until it begins to sizzle.

Lay in your chicken and it leave to cook for 3-4 minutes before flipping sides.

Cook for a further 3-4 minutes, using a spoon to baste them with the fizzling butter as you go, and once golden brown and cooked through, they're done!

Transfer onto to a pre-heated oven tray

Dollop a good tablespoon of pesto onto each breast, smoothing as you go.

Fetch your chunk of cheese (strictly no nibbling allowed)

And grate over a generous, salty dusting until you have something like this:

Pop under the grill for just a few minutes, until the cheese has melted and turned golden brown at the edges. You're after somewhere between a crust and a spreadable layer.

I like to serve mine with sweet potato wedges and a big avocado, tomato and balsamic salad, so serve up your sides and prepare to plate up!

Sprinkle over a few toasted pine nuts and Hey Pesto.

A delicious home cooked dinner, served in under twenty minutes.

I don't mean to be cheesy, but I think that's just grate.

Oreo Stuffed Flapjacks

I’ve been keeping this little number up my sleeve for quite some time now.

It’s become my absolute go-to for a sweet tea time treat, perfect for Saturday afternoons snuggled on the sofa with a big mug of tea and your favourite person.

I also enjoy them with morning coffee on the way to the office, perched on the balcony reading a book, in the tub catching up on Made in Chelsea, upon arrival home from a boozy night out…

You get the picture. I’d eat an entire tray in my sleep if I could.

To make twelve chunky flapjacks (or 24 bite size ones if gobbling two diddy ones makes you feel more dainty) you’ll need:

300g salted butter

80g demerara sugar

8 tablespoons golden syrup

450g jumbo rolled oats

About 1 ½ packs of Oreo’s

100g frozen dark chocolate chips (which I stupidly forgot to add in this batch but have on good authority that they are an absolute must!)

Line and grease a 20x20 square tin and pop the oven on to 190 degrees.

Melt your butter in a medium sized saucepan and add the sugar and golden syrup.

Keep stirring until the mixture froths a little and becomes thick and creamy looking.

Keep an eye out and turn off the heat as soon as it’s ready!

Weigh out your oats and bathe them in the sugary, buttery syrup, slowly stirring to make sure everything is niiiiiice and evenly coated.

Allow to cool whilst you open your biscuits and fetch your chocolate chips.

Which I forgot to add, so don't have any pictures of.

Naturally.

Pour them in and dollop half of the mixture into your ready prepared tin, pressing down evenly as you go.

(TIP. I always store a couple of packs in the freezer for recipes like this one. The cooler the chocolate’s temperature, the longer it takes to melt and the better they hold their form in the oven. I also like to steal fistfuls of cold chocolate when nobody's looking.)

Top with as many Oreo’s as you like in a nice neat layer.

Smooth over the remaining oats, making sure the biscuits are completely hidden away.

Nobody would ever know they were there!

Chop any leftovers into halves (this requires a little bit of trial and error, I won’t tell anyone that you ate all of the crumbs though) and scatter around your flapjack, gently pressing them down as you go.

Bake for 25 – 30 minutes depending on how chewy you like them, until golden brown and crisp.

Leave to completely cool in the tin.

A minimum of one hour, which admittedly sounds like a lifetime in gooey, warm flapjack world, but you’ll thank me later I assure you.

Any sooner and you’ll be left with tomorrows apple crumble topping instead of deliciously pretty, chewy, bars of comfort.



(Erm hello money shot ^)

Enjoy as you like, but trust me on the Saturday afternoon, mug of tea and favourite person combo.

I think it’s the best way of the lot.

Pinot King Prawn Pasta

Now here's my kind of supper. 

Shrimple, but effective.

Yep. SHE'S BAAAAACK!!!

So in a matter of weeks, garden furniture up and down the country will be packed into sheds, locked up and forgotten about until next year.

We'll resume our places around the dinner table, or nestle into sofas with plates on laps, and forget all about lazy BBQs as we slurp on a chicken casserole. 

Now I for one found relaxation in those outdoors suppers.

The fresh air (and let's face it, separation from an earlier massacred kitchen) unwind me, and this is the dish I've chosen to enjoy whilst the curtains to a summer full of living are finally drawn.

Here's what you'll need:

Large handful of linguine. I use the gluten free dried stuff but fresh works just fine.

1 red chilli, roughly chopped

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 red onion, finely diced

Handful of mixed small tomatoes

1 large glass white wine

500g cooked and peeled king prawns

Handful fresh parsley, chopped

1 lemon

Cook your pasta in salted boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes until al dente. 

Whilst it's boiling, chop your chilli and garlic into chunks

Pop them in a food processor (if you don't have one just chop as small as you can)

And blitz until you're left with something like this:

Heat a pan with a little olive oil and give you pasta a twirl

And throw in the onion, chilli and garlic

Fry until softened, season and pulse your tomatoes

You don't want them liquidized, so go easy here. Pour them into the pan

By now your pasta should be ready, so drain, rinse off and put to one side

Go back to your sauce, glugging in the wine as you go

Drop in your prawns

Squeeze in the juice of a lemon and top with a sprinkling of chopped parsley

Season, add your pasta, stir it all together and leave it to bubble whilst you lay the table.

Light a candle, pull up a chair and soak in the evening.

Bye bye for now, al fresco suppers. Until next year...