The Chunky Veg Bolognese

• The Chunky Veg Bolognese
• 
  
• Rapeseed Oil for frying
• 2 rashers of Bacon
• Mixed dry herbs - usually Oregano and some Basil
• Bay leaf, salt & pepper
• 2-5 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced, depending on my mood
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• 1 large sweet potato, chopped
• 2 sticks of celery, chopped
• 1 medium courgette, chopped
• 500 g quality British beef mince
• 2 x 400 g tins of tomatoes
• 1 tsp of sugar (depending on your tomatoes)
• 500 g dried spaghetti
• extra virgin olive oil

Fry off the bacon, then add your stock veg (onions, celery, sweet potato) and brown a little, add the rest of your vegetables - everything should be roughly the same size, inch chunks are my preference. Toss in the beef and colour it up a bit. Add the tomatoes, herbs, whatever else is left, a bit of salt and pepper, a bay leaf and the chopped garlic cloves. Bring everything to the boil, add 400ml of water and leave on a decent but low speed and leave bubbling for around an hour. Check occasionally for sticking. Taste an add more salt, pepper, sugar, tomato paste, ketchup or whatever you like.
Serve over whatever pasta or spaghetti you like, chick pea fusilli or gluten free options are all delicious.

Variation is to double everything and use an additional packet of Pork or Turkey meat. Or soya mince, or Quorn mince. Alternatively boil off a hundred grams of red lentils for 5 minutes and chuck those in, these are more prone to sticking they make the sauce very .... thick so probably add more water or stock for this option.

Enjoy.
 

Profiteroles, Choux Buns & Eclairs

Choux-fun!

Expect to yield around 40 profiteroles from this recipe but you can also pipe larger rounds to make choux buns, or sausage shapes to make Eclairs.

With mixing, rest times, cooking time and decorations it is best to set aside a couple of hours to do this beginning to end. Measure and prepare before you begin to minimise mess. Mount your piping bags over glasses, ready to fill.

For the Choux Pastry

200ml/7fl oz cold water

85g/3oz Lactofree butter, plus extra for greasing

4 tsp caster sugar

115g/4oz plain flour

3 medium free-range eggs, beaten

For the filling

600ml/1 pint of Lactofree Cream (whipped)

For Chocolate Sauce

100ml/3½fl oz water (or Lactofree Cream)

80g/3oz caster sugar

200g/7oz good-quality dark chocolate, broken into pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Place a small roasting tin in the bottom of the oven to heat.
2. For the choux pastry, measure the water, sugar and butter directly into a large saucepan. Heat gently until the butter has melted.
3. Turn up the heat, then quickly pour in the flour and salt all in one go.
4. Remove from the heat and beat the mixture vigorously with a firm whisk or sturdy spoon, until a smooth paste is formed. Once the mixture comes away from the side of the pan, transfer to a large bowl and leave to cool for 10-15 minutes.
5. Whisk your eggs whilst the batter cools, and prepare your trays for piping on to. Two trays in the oven at the time is enough or air won't circulate and the pastry won't rise. Lightly grease your baking sheet. 
6. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, until the mixture is smooth and glossy and has a soft dropping consistency - you may not need it all.
7. Using a piping bag and plain 1cm/½in nozzle, pipe the mixture into small balls in lines across the baking sheet. Gently rub the top of each ball with a wet finger - this helps to make a crisper top.
8. Place the baking sheet into the oven. Before closing the oven door, pour half a cup of water into the roasting tin at the bottom of the oven, to create more steam in the oven and make the pastry rise better. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden-brown - if the profiteroles are too pale they will become soggy when cool.
   

   
9. During baking, whip your cream and place into a colander or sieve to 'rest' and drain the cream which will sometimes release moisture and/or collapse. It is best kept in the fridge to prevent this happening.
10. Remove profiteroles from the oven and turn the oven off. Prick the base of each profiterole with a skewer. Place back onto the baking sheet with the hole in the base facing upwards and return to the oven for five minutes. The warm air from the oven helps to dry out the middle of the profiteroles.
11. When the profiteroles are cold, use a piping bag to pipe the cream into the profiteroles.
12. For the chocolate sauce, place sugar, chocolate and cream into a small pyrex bowl and microwave until warm enough to melt altogether. Refrigerate to firm up the sauce so it is pourable but quite thick.
13. To serve, place the stuffed profiteroles into a large serving dish and pour over the chocolate sauce. If you make a thicker topping then spread it on.

For fun and variety you could use any flavoured cream to fill the profiteroles (chocolate, rose, raspberry, vanilla bean etc) or alternatively you can fill with custard, flavoured with anything you like. Though I prefer cream every time. You can also make a caramel toffee sauce with sugar and cream to top them with, which is glorious!

For a two bite profiterole pipe a ball shape with a base the size of a 10p from a piping bag with a 1cm hole, leave the same gap either side for expansion.

This recipe is adapted from James Martin's http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chocolateprofiterole_86196