Last days of summer....

Last Saturday, on a gloriously sunny day, myself, my boyfriend, his sister and her boyfriend spent a day on a canal boat. We couldn't have asked for a better day, the weather really made it. We had great fun learning to drive the canal boat and enjoying the weather as we slowly cruised through the Cheshire countryside.The day before I prepared a range of goodies to enjoy throughout the day. I made a bottle of lemonade, baked a Bakewell tart, some mini pizza wheels and prepared a couscous salad. There was also a banana bread loaf and half a dozen or so blueberry muffins in the freezer so they were packed too.

The pesto couscous salad is something I came up with last summer and has been a regular summer lunch since then. Its really simple to prepare but very tasty to eat. Perfect for picnics, lunch boxes for work or just to enjoy as a quick weekend lunch. The quantities are quiet vague as it depends which flavours you prefer and can be adjusted accordingly. Sometimes I add a handful of pine nuts &/or some fresh basil leaves at the end. The recipe is at the end.
I also decided to try out an idea I remember seeing a magazine sometime back. The basic idea was to make a pizza, roll it up and then cut into slices and bake in the oven. The result is perfect picnic finger food. Delicious hot or cold.Pesto couscous salad
serves 2

100g couscous
Chicken or vegetable stock, hot
1-2tsp pesto
handful of feta cheese, cubed
5-6 sun-dried tomatoes, diced
handful of olives, halved

• Pour the hot stock over the couscous until the couscous is just covered, cover the bowl and leave for 5 minutes or until the couscous has soaked up all the moisture. Fluff up the couscous with a folk.
• Add the pesto and stir through well.
• Add the other ingredients and mix well.
• Serve while still warm or once cooled.

Mini pizza wheels
Makes approximately 20

For the dough
500g strong white bread flour
5g fast action yeast
10g salt
300ml warm water
1 tbsp olive oil
For the topping
4 tbsp passata or pizza sauce
1 ball of mozzarella
Topping of your choice
1 tsp dried oregano

• Mix together all the ingredients for the dough. Knead either by hand or with a mixer for 10 min until smooth and silky. Shape into a round and leave to rise in a covered bowl for 1-2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.
• Knock the dough back. Knead again very briefly. Divide the dough in two. Use a rolling pin to roll each piece out on a lightly floured work surface into a rectangle which is about 1cm thick.
• Spoon on 2tbsp pizza sauce onto each rectangle. Add the toppings of your choice (I did one with a couple of slices of torn up parma ham and one with olives and sun dried tomatoes), grate or tear the mozzarella over the two pizzas and finally sprinkle over the dried oregano.
• Have the pizza so the longest edge is in front of you and then carefully roll it up like a Swiss roll.
• Cut the roll into 2 cm thick slices and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Leave a good few cm around each one as the dough will rise slightly.
• Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 200C.

Chicken and pesto pizza

I've been meaning to make a roast chicken (leftovers from Sunday lunch) and pesto pizza for some time and tonight I finally got round to it. It was definitely worth the wait! Sorry about the poor picture of one lonely slice but in our eagerness to try it I forgot to take any pictures until it was nearly too late! Pesto makes a delicious pizza sauce and a nice change from the classic tomato sauce.

Chicken and pesto pizza

For the dough
makes 3 pizza's or 1 pizza and a focaccia to go with it

325ml warm water
5g dried yeast
1 tbsp olive oil (I usually use extra virgin for breads/pizzas)
500g strong white bread flour
1-2 tsp salt

For the topping
Pesto
shredded leftover roast chicken
ball of mozzarella cheese

1. Place all the dry ingredients in a food mixer (if using) and fit the dough hook to the mixer head.
2. Put the mixer on low speed (2 for KitchenAids - consult the manual for other mixers) and slowly add the liquid ingredients to the bowl.
3. Once all the ingredients are combined leave to knead for 3-5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and springs back when prodded.
4. If you don't have a mixer place all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the liquid to the well and use a wood spoon to mix until it is too difficult and then use your hands. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth and springy.
   
5. Leave to rise until doubled in size (around 1 to 1.5hrs).
6. Preheat the oven to 250C or as hot as the oven gets.
7. Gently knock the air out of the dough.
8. Remove a third of the dough and on a lightly floured surface roll out the dough into the desired shape size.
9. Spread a layer of pesto over the dough, leaving a 2cm boarder around the edge.
10. Scatter over the shredded chicken pieces.
11. Top with mozzarella cheese.
12. Bake in a hot oven for around 1o minutes or until the crust is golden.

Enjoy!

Watercress and Walnut pesto

Another seasonal recipe! This time using watercress.

This was a recipe in March 2009, Essentials, Magazine. I love traditional basil pesto but I'm keen to try experimenting with different herb and nut combinations this summer (planning to grow my own herbs again). This recipe caught my eye whilst flicking through this magazine. It is really simple to make (like all pesto's) and although it doesn't beat basil pesto, it is a very nice, fresh tasting pesto. Not only is it a great tasting, seasonal alternative to basil pesto, it is incredibly good for you. Watercress has more calcium than milk, more iron than spinach and more vitamin C than oranges!

I used some of mine to top some white fish fillets before grilling and there is twice as much again in the fridge for use over the next week or so. I'm thinking of using it with some pasta and feta or chicken or maybe just spread on some wholemeal toast.

Watercress and Walnut Pesto
(this is an adaption of the recipe from essentials)

In a food processor I whizzed 1 x 75g bag of watercress, 40g walnuts, 2 garlic cloves, 25g parmesan, a squeeze of lemon juice and enought extra virgin olive oil to form the correct consistency (the recipe in the mag used 1ooml but i didn't bother measuring). Salt, pepper and sugar can be added to taste but I was happy with mine without. Spoon into a sterilised, airtight container, pour a layer of oil on top and store in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

Enjoy!