READY STEADY COOK!

At the beginning of November, the Wellbeing, Activities, Volunteering and Education (WAVE) team at Harbour Housing, gave residents the opportunity to attend READY STEADY COOK SESSIONS. In preparation for these sessions, the residents involved were supported in completing the Food Hygiene certificate.

These sessions are run by our wonderful volunteer, Margaret, who after teaching her children how to cook, has been inspired to help others. The enthusiasm and energy have been fantastic, from everyone involved. Harbour was able to fund these sessions, with a kind donation, made by the local business; Perran Yarns, which is run by Steph. https://perranyarns.co.uk/

We will be uploading the recipes onto our Instagram channel https://www.instagram.com/harbourhousing/

where you can access them in our highlights, titled, Recipes.

Recipe 1: Garden Vegetable Pie (Sourced from tasted better from scratch)

A pastry base, an open pie with various vegetables and a creamy cheesy topping.

Ingredients

• One block of prepared short-crust pastry
• 3 tomatoes, peeled and sliced
• 1 courgette, sliced into rings
• 1 orange pepper
• 1 large red onion or 2x small
• 1 leek
• Fresh herbs chopped e.g. basil, oregano, thyme
• 200g  freshly grated cheddar cheese
• Small tub of Greek yoghurt
• 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
• Cayenne pepper 1 small tsp.
• 2 Tablespoons of grated cheese (preferably parmesan)

Equipment

A 9-inch metal pastry tin Sharp knife for preparing vegetables, Kitchen paper, Frying pan, spoons, plate, mixing bowl, grater, greaseproof paper, baking beans

Method

1. Wash hands
2. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.
3. Grease pastry tin.
4. Flour pastry board. Roll out pastry.
5. Line the tin by pressing the pastry into the fillets and down into the base, taking care to not tear the pastry.
6. Line with greaseproof paper and use the Blind-baking method with baking beans. (If you do not have these, you can use uncooked rice. The bonus to this; after cooling, you can cook and put the rice as an accompaniment).
7. Pre-bake for 15 – 20 mins
8. Place the tomatoes in a colander in the sink in 1 layer. Sprinkle with salt and allow to drain for 10 minutes to remove excess moisture. Use a paper towel to pat dry the tomatoes and make sure most of the excess juice is out. (You don’t want very wet tomatoes, or your pie will turn out soggy).
9. Wash and dry the other vegetables and chop them fairly small.
10. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Fry the courgette in a single layer, until golden brown and remove to a paper towel.
11. Gently sauté onion, pepper and leek to soften. Season with salt and pepper
12. Grate cheese and mix with yoghurt and mayonnaise.
13. Make sure the pie shell is pre-baked, and completely cool, (to avoid sogginess). Layer vegetables onto pastry base; onion, pepper and leek on the bottom, then the courgette and the tomatoes. Then sprinkle herbs on top.
14. Smooth the cheese mixture over the top and sprinkle on the parmesan cheese.
15. Bake for about 30 minutes at 180 C or until lightly browned. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes
16. To serve, cut into slices and serve warm
17. Store in the fridge to finish eating the next day. Does not freeze well.