Because the sun is finally out and everyone likes to be able to have lunch or dinner outside at the beach or park, I hope you’ll enjoy my vegetarian portable slice recipe.
Then, for a decadent but easy and simple to make dessert, you can wow your friends with this delicious, lower sugar, lemon and passionfruit tart. This flaky, all-butter puff pastry with a silky, custardy filling is going to be your new favourite dessert!
Claudine xxx
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Portable Veg-En-Croute
This make-in-advance vegetarian lunch or dinner is full of healthy ingredients and is so, so tasty… the whole family will adore it!
It’s made in one pan and can be a great way to use up left over veggies.
Filled with super nutritious ingredients like hemp, seaweed (but no one will know) and shiitake mushrooms, it’s a great all-in-one family meal.
This recipe is easy to make, with only one thing to chop (unless you have left overs), but if you’d like a few tips on chopping safely and efficiently there is a blog on my website all about knife skills, with lots of video and hacks.
Watch the reel here for step-by-step guidance on how to make it.
Serves 4-6:
🥧 150g mushrooms, roughly chopped (I use nutrient-dense shiitake)
🥧 90g ghee, butter or oil
🥧 3 garlic cloves, crushed
🥧 500g sweet potatoes (or 300g cooked left overs), roughly chopped into small pieces
🥧 50g spinach leaves (or frozen, defrosted)
🥧 1.5 tbsp soy sauce
🥧 1.5 tbsp lime juice
🥧 1 tsp seaweed flakes
🥧 25g hemp seeds (or pine nuts, toasted)
🥧 100g grated cheddar
🥧 25g dried barberries, chopped
🥧 90g cream cheese
🥧 2/3 tsp sea salt
🥧 5g herbs, chopped such as chives (optional)
🥧 1 packet rectangle-shaped ready-rolled all-butter puff pastry
🥧 1 egg, beaten
🥧 1-2 tbsp black sesame seeds
🥧 4 tbsp pomegranate seeds for sprinkling at the end (optional)
Fry the mushrooms in a large sauté pan in half the ghee. Once cooked, add the garlic and cook for 2 mins more. Remove and add to a bowl.
Add the sweet potatoes and remaining butter to the pan and cook for 10 minutes or until slightly soft and golden (if using cooked left overs just add them to the bowl of mushrooms). Add the spinach and cook for a few more minutes until wilted.
Stir in the soy sauce and lime juice. Remove from the heat and add the mushrooms back to the pan along with all of the remaining ingredients, except for the puff pastry, beaten egg, sesame and pomegranate seeds and stir well. Leave to cool down.
Cut the puff pastry in half (horizontally / a square shape is easiest but you can make a long log shape too if you prefer).
Brush the edges with some of the egg then place the filing on the pasty on one piece of the puff, leaving a 2cm gap all around the edges. Roll the other piece of pastry out a tiny bit thinner then place over the filling sealing the edges with a fork. If it’s messy you can trim it with a knife.
Brush all over the pastry with the egg, cut a few slits in the pasty to let the steam out and sprinkle with the sesame seeds (if you’re making in advance chill it in the fridge at this point).
Cook at 200c for 25 mins or until golden. Sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds and enjoy!
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Lemon & Passionfruit Slice
Also known in our family as the 'Sunshine Slice', you won't believe that only five simple and healthy ingredients can make such a delicious silky tart!
With bought pastry (or see below for a homemade, gluten-free, nutritious alternative*) and healthy eggs, this low-sugar, easy-to-make, silky passionfruit slice is going to be your favourite dessert of the summer!
In my reel here showing you how to make it, I use a long rectangular tin, but you can use a normal round tin and cut slices rather than bars.
☀️ 1 x packet all butter puff pastry
☀️ 6 eggs plus 2 eggs yolks
☀️ 60g sugar
☀️ 1/4 tsp turmeric power (optional, it just makes it brighter)
☀️ 300ml double cream
☀️ 2 lemons, juiced (85ml)
☀️ 3 -4 passion fruits, shells discarded and pulp placed in a bowl (optional - its still delicious without it)
Line a fluted, removable base tart tin with the puff pastry. Top with baking parchment and baking beans and cook for 15 mins at 200c until almost cooked. Remove the paper and beans and prick the base all over with a fork. Continue to cook for another 5-10 mins until the base is golden.
Meanwhile place the eggs, yolks and sugar in a bowl and gently whisk until combined. Heat the double cream in a saucepan until it just starts steaming and then pour onto the egg mixture, stirring. Add the lemon juice and stir.
Mix well then pour into the cooked base tin (top tip- its best to pour it into the tart tin already in the oven so you don’t spill it while carrying it/moving it) and cook at 150c for 25 mins, or until set. It should wobble a lot as it will keep cooking as it cools down.
Chill for an hour or two then top with the passionfruit pulp and cut into slices.
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*Homemade / No-Flour Alternative Base:
Mix together the following in a magi mix until you have a rough paste:
☀️ 50g toasted coconut flakes or raw chips
☀️ 60g salted roasted cashews
☀️ 70g ground almonds
☀️ 15g coconut flour
☀️ 20g sugar
☀️ 75g melted butter
☀️ 1 tbsp vanilla paste
Push into the bottom of a 23cm fluted tin, making sure to push up the sides. A glass can help get it all evenly on the base and sides!
Place the tin on a tray and cook for 10 mins at 180c. Remove from the oven. Continue with the filling.
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