Classics updated
It’s fun to update a few classic dishes. Harissa, a wonderful North African paste of pounded peppers, chillies and tomatoes is a delicious way to spice-up and reinvent a roast chicken. Mashed roasted butternut makes a delicious and complimentary topping to a classic cottage pie. If you have any leftover roast beef, cut it into small pieces and add it to the mince. The low fat chocolate sponge is made without butter and sandwiched together with strawberry jam making it much lower in fat than a regular sponge cake. It is great topped with sliced strawberries and best eaten on the day it is made.
Harissa roasted chicken
1 x 1.8-2kg large free-range chicken
1 lemon, halved
2 tablespoons harissa
salad
1 cos lettuce, shredded
5 radish, thinly sliced
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses
2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
Preheat the oven to 180C. Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Line the base of a roasting tin with non stick baking paper. Place the chicken, breast side down and squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the bird. Roast for 30 minutes, then turn the bird over. Spread with the harissa paste then return to the oven (breast side up) and roast for a further 45 minutes. Check if the chicken is cooked by piercing the flesh between the thigh and leg – if the juices run clear, it's ready.
Transfer the roasted chicken to a warm dish, and leave to rest in a warm place, (covered loosely with foil) for 20 minutes. Serve with salad. To make the salad combine the lettuce, radish and fennel in a large bowl. Whisk together the oil and pomegranate and pour over the salad. Season to taste and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds. Serves 4
Cottage pie with butternut topping pie
1 medium sized butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled, crushed
1 onion, peeled, roughly chopped
2 carrots, chopped
250g lean beef mince
400g can chopped tomatoes
1-2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 fresh bay leaf
150ml vegetable stock
Flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Preheat the oven to 200C. For the topping, cut the squash into chunks, spread on a baking tray, drizzle lightly with oil and roast for about 25 minutes, or until tender. Mash and season with a little salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan and gently fry the garlic, onion, and carrots for 7-10 minutes, or until softened. Add the beef and fry until coloured, breaking up any lumps with a fork. Add the chopped tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf and stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes until the liquid has reduced by half. Season to taste. Stir in the parsley. Spoon the beef mixture into a medium dish and top with the butternut mash. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Serves 4
Low fat chocolate sponge
4 large free range eggs, beaten
125g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
100g (3/4 cup) plain flour
30g (1/4 cup) cocoa
6 tablespoons strawberry jam
150g strawberries, hulled and halved
Icing sugar, to dust
Preheat the oven to 180C (fan-forced 160C). Lightly grease a 20cm round cake tin and line the base with non stick baking paper. Alternatively spay the tin with light cooking oil. With an electric beater whisk the eggs and sugar until the mixture is pale, fluffy and almost doubled in volume. Sift in the flour, cocoa and a pinch of salt, and use a large metal spoon to carefully fold in the dry ingredients.
Tip the mixture gently into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until risen and firm to the touch. A skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean.
Set aside to cool. When cold, slice the cake in half and spread the bottom half with the jam. Place the other half on top and pile with the strawberries. Dust with icing sugar, if desired. Serves 8
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