I’m not one to follow recipes very often. Much of my cooking is inspired by a recipe and then I go forth and experiment. Such was the case with this soup which was inspired by this post – Chilled Red Pepper Soup with Yogurt and Herbs – though what I made was nothing like the recipe.

I also like my recipes to have “offramps” – points at which you can stop and tada, it is done. This recipe has a couple of offramps..

So here’s what I did, with pics. This is super simple!

1. Chop and prepare 5 capsicums – any colour you like. I chose red today because they were on super special at Aldi. Peel some potatoes – amount is up to your preference, some people might like more potatoes than I used to roast but I knew I would be adding a couple more in at Slow Cooker Time.

2. Check in with your Kitty Supervisor to make sure you have done step 1 correctly. Set the oven to 200 degrees C (400F).

3. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil on base of roasting pan. Smoosh the capsicum and potatoes around in the oil to make sure they are covered with olive oil. Layer your items thoughtfully in your roasting pan so they will provide each other with flavour.

4. Get spicy! Add your choice of spices – you could use any you like, I chose paprika, cinnamon, cayenne, parsley and cracked pepper. Put this in the oven for 1 hour in a covered lid pan – you may need slightly longer and/or a lower temperature for uncovered pans.

5. Remove from oven. Delight in the smell.

Offramp 1

Here, you could boil the kettle, prepare a litre of stock – chicken, veg, your choice. Add the roasted items and stock to a blender, whizz, add some cream, sour cream, or yoghurt, and your soup is ready. If not, continue on with the recipe as follows.

6. Cut up one onion, one fresh red pepper, a few carrots. Saute and sweat these in a saucepan if you are planning to get off at the next offramp, or your slow cooker if you are in this for the long haul.

7. Add in 1 litre stock of your choice, extra potatoes or other vegetables if you would like. Sweet potato (yams) would be wonderful in this. If slow cooking, set for 6 hours.

Offramp 2

If you are not slow cooking, simmer soup on the stove for an hour or until everything is cooked through and mushy. Remove from heat, allow to cool a little, whizz in your blender, add some cream, sour cream, or yoghurt, and your soup is ready.

8. When your slow cooker beeps, remove the soup and allow to cool a little.

9. Whizz in your blender, add some cream, sour cream, or yoghurt, cheese if you like it, stir well, pop it back on the stove to get the soup piping hot again, and your soup is ready

It has been years since I have made *real* lasagne. Once I found out about fake lasagne and how easy it was to make, without all the layering, I just make the fake version all the time.

So I bet you are wondering what fake lasagne is. You’re about to find out how to make it. :)

You will need –

500G cooked pasta, spread out into baking dishes.

Pre-prepared bolognese sauce – you can also use napolitana or a non-meat sauce, that works just as well and there have been times I have used jar sauce, when I am too lazy. On this occasion I made bolognese sauce in the slow cooker the day before.

To prepare the bottom layer –

Combine 6 eggs, 600mls cream, 500g tub of ricotta, whatever herbs and spices you like – I use paprika, cinnamon, parsley -in a large bowl.

Pour egg mixture over the cooked pasta.

Layer your red sauce layer on top, making sure to cover the bottom layer.

Once your layering is complete, sprinkle with cheese and place into 190C oven for 45 minutes. If you do not like your cheese crispy, make sure to cover with alfoil.

On taking out of the oven, make a small hole in the middle. If the bottom layer is still liquid, it needs more time. It should be foofy and look a bit like whipped cream, but a cooked version.

How do you Lasagne?

Let me know if you try this recipe! :)

My good friend Sephy just reached 200 posts today. Congratulations! I know it hasn’t been easy for you but it is worth the hard work in the end.

What many people don’t know about Sephy is that he is quite a good cook. Some time ago I was looking for a Jamie Oliver recipe. He managed to find it and cooked it and then blogged about it here.

So here’s a recipe for you to cook and blog about. It’s one of my favourites. I’ve made it twice in the last week. What you choose to have with it is up to you – because it is getting cold here I’ve been making potato dishes to go with it, but in summer I would eat this with lots of fruit cut up nicely, or an avocado/greek style salad. It’s getting warm where Sephy is so those might be options. ;)

I usually mix the marinade together in a mixing bowl, mix it well with a fork and then add the chicken to that, cover and put in the fridge for 20 minutes. But you can try the bag thing if you like. You may need slightly more oil, I usually put 1/4 of a cup and keep a little bit of that aside for the frypan.

INGREDIENTS

* 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
* 3 teaspoons crushed garlic
* 3 teaspoons ground ginger
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 4 limes, juiced

DIRECTIONS

1. Pound the chicken to 1/2 inch thickness. In a large resealable plastic bag combine the garlic, ginger, oil and lime juice. Seal bag and shake until blended. Open bag and add chicken. Seal bag and marinate in refrigerator for no more than 20 minutes.
2. Remove chicken from bag and grill or broil, basting with marinade, until cooked through and juices run clear. Dispose of any remaining marinade.

Do you accept the challenge Sephy? ;) If yes, when he blogs the recipe I’ll link to it so we can all enjoy it.

If you like this recipe – it is very simple – you can try using other citrus juices instead of limes. Orange is nice, lemon can be good too, I’ve tried them both. Lime sets off the ginger perfectly but limes aren’t cheap here right now.. I paid $3 for just one lime earlier this week. I’m getting a lime tree. Speaking of trees, my lemons are finally ripe! ;)