Roast Tomato & Garlic Soup with a Basil Mascarpone Topping

For my mam and dad's 14th wedding anniversary, I decided that I would make dinner for them as an anniversary treat. I chose this recipe from my mam's book, Apron Strings, & I added some cooked spagettii and used the soup as a pasta sauce. This soup is full of flavour and it turned out really well.

Roast Tomato & Garlic Soup with a Basil Mascarpone Topping

Ingredients

850g fresh tomatoes, quartered

10 garlic cloves, peeled & cut in half

1 red onion, roughly chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 teasp sugar

salt & pepper

600mls chicken/vegetable stock

handful basil leaves

150g mascarpone

To Serve

100g mascarpone

2 tbsp basil pesto
small basil leaves

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
2. Put the chopped tomatoes, garlic cloves and onion in an over proof dish. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle over the sugar and season with a pinch of sea salt and some freshly ground pepper.

3. Wash your hands and massage all the ingredients together until the tomatoes and onion are well combined with all the other ingredients.

4. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes. 

5. Meanwhile in a large saucepan heat the stock, stir in the cooked roasted tomato mix and add the basil. Simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes.
6. Blend the soup until smooth with a liquidiser or hand blender.

7. Return to the heat and stir through the mascarpone.

8. To make the topping, combine the 100g of mascarpone with the basil pesto in a bowl.

9. Serve the soup in a bowl or teacup with a dollop of the basil mascarpone and a few small basil leaves to garnish.

Rachel Allen's Macaroni Cheese

Often at the weekend, I cook something nice for my family. While I was looking through Rachel Allen's Favourite Food At Home, I came across this recipe. I've always been a fan of Macaroni Cheese and when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it. This tastes delicious with salad.

Rachel Allen's Macaroni Cheese
Serves 6-8

Ingredients
75g (3oz) butter
1 onion, peeled and chopped
75g (3oz) plain flour
900ml (1½ pints) boiling milk
1-2 tsp Dijon mustard
225g (8oz) cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
300g (11oz) macaroni pasta

Method

1. In a saucepan, melt the butter, add the chopped onions and cook gently until soft.
2. Stir in the flour and cook for minute, then add the milk gradually, whisking all the time, and the mustard.
3. Whisk in three-quarters of the cheese and allow to melt into the sauce, then season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the pasta with a teaspoon of salt, until just soft.
5. Drain the pasta, and then toss into the cheese sauce and transfer into a gratin dish, about 25cm (10in) square.
6. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and pop under a grill for a few minutes to brown the cheese on top, or if you wish, put the aside for later.
7. Put the dish into an oven preheated to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6 to reheat. Leave in for about 25 minutes, or until golden and bubbling.

Knickerbocker Glory

Today my Mam went to my parent/teacher meeting and she came home delighted with my report. To celebrate, my Mam made me this super duper extra special treat.

Knickerbocker Glory

Ingredients

3 scoops of your favourite ice-cream per cup

4 mini marshmallows per cup

caramel sauce

hundreds and thousands

any chocolate bar of your choice, crushed

Chocolate Sauce

50ml cream

50g milk chocolate bar

Method

1. For the chocolate sauce, put the chocolate and cream into a saucepan over a low heat and stir until the chocolate has melted and you have a smooth sauce.
2. Assembly your Knickerbocker Glory by putting scoops of ice-cream into a bowl or a sundae glass.
3. Spoon the melted chocolate sauce and the caramel sauce over the ice-cream and sprinkle hundreds & thousands and the crushed chocolate bar on the top.
4. Enjoy!