LONDON MUMMA: #side dish

Thursday, 1 September 2022

Homemade Pesto

Pesto is our go to hero condiment, all throughout the year and I can not believe I use to buy this super easy, super tasty and all round awesome sauce when it is so easy to make.

Every week without fail I have to make a batch of this glorious green sauce, those days not wanting to be in the kitchen and make a grand dinner after a long day at work and want something fresh, tasty and super easy to make, bomb, pop this bad boy at of the fridge, boil up some pasta combine the two great gods together and a sprinkle, well who am I kidding a lovely and very generous sprinkle of parmesan and the family dish just comes together in the most perfect way.

This pesto works great in salads and sarnies too.

To start making this heavenly sauce, you got to toast up a cup full pine nuts until nice and brown, then toss into my blender.

I like to add 1 cup of olive oil.

Followed by 2 cup fulls of basil.

4 cloves of garlic

Juice of half a lemon

1 cup of grated parmesan, do not buy already grated parmesan the taste is completely different.

A pinch of salt and pepper, then give it all a whizz in your blender.

If you find that it is too thick a splash of water will loosen things up for you.

There is nothing more delicious than enjoying this, with family and friends and you know what the pesto's yet to come.

Lindsey

#family eats

Prawn Dumplings

Prawn dumplings are my jam, I eat them by the truck load and could happily do so every day. With the Chinese New year not far away, I thought why not make some myself, I was a little worried, but I took the plunge and made them and I did not realise how easy they were to make. Made with fresh raw prawns, tasty bamboo shoots and diced up water chestnuts and a dash of rice wine, these can be made for your Friday night dish instead of a take out, or over the weekend in time to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

The best things about the dumplings,they are so easy to make and you can customise the recipe to your liking, not a fan of prawns, why not go for a veggie option or even a chicken version, if you are wanting some with meat. This weekend I think I will be making a selection of veggie and protein filled dumplings with Leanora, her small hands are ideal too.

You will never make a small batch of these dumplings, but don't worry they are ideal for freezing too, so when ever you fancy one you'll have some stored in the freezer, added bonus is that you can steam from frozen, or even fry straight on to the skillet.

If you fancy another takeout dish to make at home, perfectly accompanies with these dumplings are my Chinese sticky chicken wings. I am also in the process of refining a new recipes which will be out in time for the Chinese New Year, another takeout treat in the form of noodles, so be sure to come back Friday, to complete your Friday night at home takeaway.

If you make these prawn dumplings or sweet sticky wings, be sure to tag me on Instagram, so I can see your photos.

Lindsey

#chinese new year

Cheese And Chive Scones

Cheese and chive are a match made in heaven, they go hand in hand and these scones are a perfect treat. Every day I struggle on what to have for

breakfast, I have to say I love a bacon sandwich, I’m also partial to a cheeky sausage roll from Greggs from time to time, whilst these are not great foodie eats to have on a daily basis, I really struggle on what to eat, I’m not a cereal person, I can just about manage granola and hell no to porridge! But a freshly baked scone, a cheesy one, now that’s my jam!

A scone is not only just for breakfast, it’s a great snack to enjoy any time of the day, served hot or cold and with a slither or chive butter spread on top when hot is a game changer, pressed for time this is the ultimate go-to dish that delivers total full flavour and can be made early in the morning before you head out and all you need are a few supermarket staples.

7, that’s it and that is the amount of ingredients you need to make these scones to eat on your own whilst hot out of the oven, serve up to friends and family at tea time or to score some brownie points with your colleagues, and a great after school treat for the kiddos, these cheese and chive scones are simply life changing!

Ingredients to make 12

2 cups of self raising flour

60 grams of butter

1 cup of milk

A pinch of salt

3 tbsp of finely chopped chives

1 cup of grated cheese

1 beaten egg

Directions

1. Preheat your over to 220c and pop in your muffin tray.

2. In a mixing bowl, pour in your flour, butter and salt, rub together until it forms a breadcrumb consistency

3. Make a well in the centre of your dough and pour in your milk, add your chopped chives and cheese. Using a flat cake knife, stir until it almost comes together, mine was a little wet, but don’t be put off.

4. Flour a clean surface and turn out your mixture and gently knead until dough comes together.

5. Press out your dough to about a 3cm thickness, I don't have scone cutter, but you can use a small drinking glass, or as I did, I tore off a handful size amount of dough rolled it into a ball popped into a muffin tin and brushed them with the beaten egg.

6. Place into the oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until light and golden on the top.

London Mumma

For more tasty dishes, check out my Recipes page