Healthy recipes

Serves 4

350g Spaghetti or similar pasta of your choice

130g pancetta

2 large ripe avocados

250g cream cheese

2 garlic cloves

2 egg yolks

½ tsp lemon juice

Parmesan cheese (optional)

2 springs of parsley (Can use dried parsley)

Salt and pepper to season

METHOD

1. Add the pancetta to a frying pan and cook until golden. Drain off any excess grease that will have come out of the pancetta.
2. In a large saucepan, bring cold water with a pinch of salt to the boil.
3. Once boiling add the spaghetti and cook for approximately 9-12 minutes (As per cooking instructions on the pack).
4. Whilst the pasta is cooking, add the avocado, cream cheese, garlic cloves, egg yolks and ½ tsp of lemon juice to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
5. Add the avocado sauce to the pancetta and cook on a very low heat.
6. Drain the pasta, keeping some of the pasta water aside to add to the sauce to make it silkier and to loosen the consistency to what is preferred.
7. Add the pasta to the sauce and season to taste adding some finely chopped/dried parsley.
8. Serve with some parmesan cheese if preferred and enjoy!

Serves 4

500g lean mince (can choose from beef, turkey, pork)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 white onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped finely

1 tin (400g) canned kidney beans

1 tin (400g) chopped tomatoes

1 red pepper, chopped

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder (less if you want it mild)

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

1 beef stock cube

300ml hot water

Long grain rice to serve or can serve with jacket potatoes

Salt and pepper to season

METHOD

1. Heat a large saucepan and add the olive oil and the onion and garlic, cook until golden. Add the minced beef, cooking it until browned. Drain any excess fat that may have drained from the mince.
2. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, spices, red pepper, kidney beans and stock cube and water. Stir well, bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cook the rice according to pack instructions or jacket potato.
4. Season the chilli with salt and pepper and serve with the boiled rice.

Chilli can be great for re-heating so don’t be afraid to batch cook it and freeze as needed. 

Serves 4

300g Pasta of your choice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 white onion, chopped finely

2 garlic cloves

1 red pepper, chopped

500g pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and chopped.

50g cream cheese

40g grated parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to season

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees/180 C fan oven/gas mark 6.
2. Place pumpkin on baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Try and coat the pumpkin evenly with olive oil. Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes until the veg is soft and cooked through.
3. Add olive oil to frying pan and fry the onion and garlic until soft and lightly golden- put to the side when ready.
4. Transfer the pepper and the garlic and onion to a food processor/blender and blend until smooth.
5. Bring a pan of water to the boil with a pinch of salt. Add pasta and cook as per directions (usually between 10-12 minutes dependant on pasta choice).
6. Add the pumpkin sauce to a pan and simmer down adding the cream cheese and parmesan and salt and pepper to season.
7. Drain the pasta when ready and save some of the pasta water to loosen consistency of the sauce as desired.
8. Add pasta to the sauce and mix in together. Stir in pasta water as required (this also makes it creamier due to the starch in the pasta water).
9. Serve with extra parmesan and parsley on top as desired.
10. ENJOY!

Serves 4

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

200g any type of mince (lean if possible i.e turkey, pork, beef or plant based)

1 egg, beaten

30-50g dried breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tin chopped tomatoes (400g)

2 tablespoons tomato purée

300g any type of dried pasta, like fusilli

2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs

You can add other vegetables as you like for example peppers, mushrooms, carrots! Chop finely and hide in the sauce.

METHOD

1. Mix some of the chopped onion and garlic with the mince, add the breadcrumbs and the beaten egg slowly, ensuring the mixture is not too soft. Shape the mince into small balls about half the size of a golf ball.
2. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and brown the meatballs on all sides. Remove and put on to a plate.
3. Add the remaining onion to the frying pan and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until soft. Add the remaining garlic and cook for another minute.
4. Add the tomatoes, tomato purée and herbs with 150ml water. Bring to the boil, then add the meatballs. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes.
5. Season with salt and pepper and you can add half a teaspoon of sugar to the sauce to remove the acidic taste of the tomatoes.
6. About 10 minutes before serving, put the pasta on to cook in plenty of boiling water. Serve with the meatballs and tomato sauce. You can serve with rice as an alternative to pasta, but remember that it takes 25 to 30 minutes to cook.
7. Enjoy!

Serves 4

400g frozen peas

30g pine nuts

3 sprigs of fresh basil

Vegetable stock cube

40g grated parmesan

300g penne pasta or similar

1 clove garlic

Tablespoon of olive oil 

METHOD

1. Add the peas to a pan of water and bring to boil with the vegetable stock cube. Once the water is boiling, allow the peas to cook for approx. 4-5 minutes.
2. Drain the peas (save the stock water that the peas have cooked in to loosen the consistency of the pea pesto if needed).
3. Bring a pan of water with a pinch of salt to the boil and then add the pasta and cook as directed (usually between 10-12 minutes dependant on the pasta).
4. Put the cooked peas in a blender along with the olive oil, garlic clove, parmesan, basil and pine nuts- blitz until smooth.
5. If the consistency is too thick then add some of the stock that we kept aside until it reaches the right consistency.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve. Add extra grated parmesan on top as desired.
7. ENJOY!

Serves 4

350g Pasta of your choice

5 red peppers

300ml double cream

1 tablespoon butter

2 garlic cloves, chopped finely

1 white onion, chopped finely

30g grated parmesan

2 springs of fresh parsley (dried will also work)

½ tsp paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/ 200C fan/gas mark 7.
2. Cut the red peppers in half and remove the seeds and white membranes from the inside. Put the peppers on a tray cut side down and roast in the oven for approx. 30-35 minutes until the skin shrivels and is slightly blackened.
3. Allow to cool completely before peeling the skin off the peppers.
4. In a frying pan melt the butter and add the finely chopped onion and garlic and allow to fry gently on a low heat until soft and golden.
5. Bring a pan of water with a pinch of salt to the boil. Add the pasta and cook as instructed (usually between 10-12 minutes depending on type of pasta).
6. Add the peeled red peppers and the softened garlic and onions to a blender along with the paprika, parmesan and double cream and blitz until smooth.
7. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add the finely chopped parsley or dried parsley.
8. Pour the sauce into a pan and add the pasta and mix this together.
9. Serve and enjoy!

Serves 2

150g Linguine/spaghetti

250g Raw, Peeled King Prawns (optional)

500g Passata

1 tsp of sugar (optional)

2 garlic cloves, chopped finely

1 tbsp olive oil

50g diced chorizo

Pepper

Mixed herbs (optional)

METHOD

1. Add the olive oil to a pan and fry the chopped garlic until lightly golden.
2. Add the chopped chorizo and allow to fry to release the flavours and natural oils from the chorizo
3. Boil a pan of water with a pinch of salt. Add the pasta when it is boiling and allow to cook as per instructions (usually around 8-12 minutes).
4. Add the king prawns to the pan with the chorizo and allow the prawns to turn pink.
5. Add the passata and allow to reduce down and simmer for approx. 5-10 minutes.
6. Season to taste adding a tsp of sugar to the sauce to remove the acidity (although this is optional) and mixed herbs and pepper. Shouldn’t require any salt as the chorizo will already release the flavours.
7. Drain the pasta whilst still al dente (a bit of a bite to it) and add the sauce on top.
8. Serve and enjoy!

Serves 4

350g Spaghetti or similar pasta of your choice

130g pancetta

300ml double cream/elmea or similar

3 eggs

40g parmesan cheese

2 springs of parsley (Can use dried parsley)

Salt and pepper to season

METHOD

1. Add the pancetta to a frying pan and cook until golden. Drain off any excess grease that will have come out of the pancetta.
2. In a large saucepan, bring cold water with a pinch of salt to the boil.
3. Once boiling add the spaghetti and cook for approximately 9-12 minutes (As per cooking instructions on the pack).
4. Whilst the pasta is cooking, beat the eggs in a container and season to with a small amount of salt (as the pancetta will already be quite salty), pepper and parsley.
5. Add the double cream to the pan with the pancetta and allow to heat on a very low heat.
6. Drain the pasta and add to the cream and pancetta mixture and parmesan cheese.
7. Finally, add the beaten egg removing from the heat so it does not become scrambled and mix together.
8. Serve and enjoy!