Gozleme of Lamb,mint, fetta and spinach.

Here is the yummiest snack/meal I’ve made in recent times. As my partner is gluten intolerant, I’ve just substituted the normal Self Raising flour for Orgran brand gluten free SR Flour. Give it a try!
This recipe serves 4 depending on your hunger 😉

Ingredients 200gm plain yoghurt (natural, unsweetened)
250gm Self Raising flour (substitute for gluten free here)
1 tablespoon olive oil
150gm minced lamb
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
a pinch of ground cumin
a pinch of chilli flakes
a pinch of dried mint
4 tablespoons of tomato juice (I used Passata)
50gm baby English spinach
100gm Fetta, crumbled
8 fresh mint leaves, torn
olive oil for frying
50gm butter, melted (optional)

Beat the youghurt and a pinch of salt in a large bowl until smooth. Gradually add flour until it is a stiff dough, then knead on a lightly floured bench till it is soft and only slightly sticky. Transfer to an oiled bowl and leave, covered for 30 minutes.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the lamb with a pinch of salt and pepper until browned. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the garlic, cumin, chilli flakes and tomato juice. Cook for another minute or until dry. Turn off the heat and leave to cool, then drain if needed.
On a floured surface, split the dough into four equal sized balls. Roll each ball into a 30cm circle. Place a quarter of the spinach over half of each circle, then sprinkle with a quarter of the fetta, then add the lamb and mint leaves and season. Fold the dough over and seal the edges with a fork.
Preheat a barbecue hotplate or large frying pan. Brush one side of each Gozleme with olive oil and cook until the base is golden. Brush the top with olive oil, turn and cook until golden.
Brush with melted butter, cut into four pieces (or two 🙂 ) and serve with a pinch of sea salt and lemon wedges if liked. Would also be good with an ice cold beer if your that way inclined.

These are so yummy and for a little bit of effort, you get a huge amount of flavour and enjoyment.
Enjoy!

Pumpkin soup for sick people.

I made my partner a big pot of Pumpkin soup today. He is feeling poorly after having 2 flu shots, one in each upper arm. Bit of a nasty reaction to the pneumonia one poor baby. Anyway, he craves Pumpkin soup when he’s feeling low, not chicken soup. He doesn’t eat pumpkin at all in it’s fleshy, gorgeous orangey yellow state, but loves it in a velvety soup.

Recipe,

Take one whole Butternut Pumpkin (or squash as it is also called), quarter it lengths ways, leaving skin on. Place in baking dish flesh side up and cover with baking paper. Cook at 175 degrees Celsius for an hour or so till the flesh can be easily scooped out with a spoon. Scoop out the flesh into a pot on top of the stove and add a couple of cups of either chicken stock (homemade is better if you can, don’t sweat it if you can’t :)) or vegetable stock. Bring back up to boiling and mash it all together or using a stick blender as I have, blend it till it turns into an unctuous, velvety soup. I like to add a 250ml tin of coconut milk once it has been blended and some coriander and a sprinkle of chilli to make a kind of Thai inspired soup which is great for colds and flus. You can also add some crumbled fetta or a blob of yoghurt or any other soft cheese instead of the chilli and coriander and just adjust seasoning to taste on serving.

My partner swears by it. I bake the pumpkin in the oven rather than on top of the stove initially because it gives the soup a deeper, caramelised flavour. This recipe only needs a minimum of 2 ingredients so is also cost saving.

Happy eating 🙂