No Dough Halloumi Pizzas with Spiced Carrot, Puy Lentil and Feta Salad.

So, it's Wednesday - hump day - but we've certainly not hit a bump in the road here. No slump in eating a week full of tasty autumn dishes will be had! Who said that all hearty, warming Autumn meals have to be unhealthy? Well not this one, no siree. Here we have a very flavoursome; very delicious and nutritious dish comprising of a scrumptious salad and a very different and very delightful no dough pizza. No dough? I hear you say with a touch of horror in your voice but, I must assure you that these little pizzas are really quite addictive and you honestly would not have a clue that the base was made from a combination of ground cashews, oats and grated parsnip - it is unbelievably moist and doughy! Topped with a scrummy tomato and sage sauce; slices of salty halloumi; wedges of sweet caramelised red onion and a sprinkling of crunchy pecan nuts and you have yourself  a lovely little snack or the perfect partner to this tasty salad; complete with its earthy puy lentils; refreshing flavours of lemon and mint; creamy crumbling of feta and the gleaming star of the dish; the luscious lightly spiced roast carrot batons. Yum.

I decided to try these no dough pizzas after watching Jason Vale whip them up on Lorraine a couple of weeks ago. You can find the original recipe here however, I have made a few tweaks to make it more autumnal; with the replacement of basil with sage in the tomato sauce and the use of caramelised red onion and pecans to top the pizzas rather than cherry tomatoes and pine nuts.

Recipe

Makes 4 servings... or 2. It's healthy afterall, why not help yourself to an extra portion? Nobody will ever know!

For the Halloumi Pizzas:
Base:
100g oats
120g cashew nuts
A pinch of salt and pepper
2 large parsnips, peeled and grated
Sauce:
2 cloves of garlic
14 cherry tomatoes
A large handful of fresh sage leaves
160g sundried tomatoes
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to season
Topping:
250g halloumi
1/2 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium red onion, sliced
1/2 tbsp. dark brown sugar
1/2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
20g pecan nuts, chopped

For the Spiced Carrot, Puy Lentil and Feta Salad:

2 tbsp. olive oil                                                                   

1 tbsp. cumin powder and 1/2 tbsp. cumin seeds  

500g carrots, peeled, halved and cut into batons

1 tbsp. clear honey or maple syrup
250g pouch cooked Puy lentils 
1 red onion, finely sliced 
½ lemon, juiced 
large handful mint leaves, roughly chopped 
100g lamb's lettuce
100g feta cheese, crumbled

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/ fan 180°C and start by preparing the pizza base. Place the oats, cashews, salt and pepper in a blender and whizz for 10 seconds to form a 'flour'. Now, pour the flour into a mixing bowl with the grated parsnip and mix, scrunching until the mixture comes together and forms a dough. 

2. Next line a large baking tray/ sheet with baking paper. Divide the base dough into 4 and flatten each one with your hands onto the baking tray, forming a round. Place the baking tray into the oven and cook the pizza bases for 15 minutes. Set aside.

3. Now move on to preparing the spiced roast carrots. In a shallow roasting tin, toss together the oil, the ground cumin and cumin seeds, carrots and some seasoning. Roast for 30-35 mins, turning halfway through cooking. Once softened drizzle over the honey or maple syrup, stir and roast for 5 mins more.

4. Whilst the carrots are cooking, prepare the tomato sauce. Into a blender, add the garlic, cherry tomatoes, sage, sun-dried tomatoes, vinegar, salt and pepper and blend until smooth. 

5. Caramelise the red onion. Into a small saucepan, heat the red onion in oil until softened. Add the brown sugar and stir until dissolved and the red onion sticky- stir through the balsamic vinegar. 

6. Spoon the sauce onto the cooked pizza bases and spread evenly leaving a small gap around the edge. Arrange the slices of halloumi on top and finish with the caramelised red onion and a sprinkling of chopped pecan nuts. 

7. Pop into the oven for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, finish the salad. Gently heat the lentils in a frying pan with the onion, lemon juice, remaining oil and some salt and pepper. Allow to cool slightly while the carrots finish cooking. Toss the dressed lentils with mint and lamb's lettuce and lay the warm spiced carrots on top before scattering with the crumbled feta. Serve a pizza alongside a big pile of salad and enjoy!

Thank you for reading!

Onion Bhaji Burger with Bombay Potatoes, Cucumber and Mint Raita, Mango Chutney and Rocket.

As it's National Curry Week I thought why not try a bit of a different style of dish to celebrate with which combines my love of burgers with my favourite accompaniment to a curry - the delicious onion bhaji. As a vegetarian, it's nice to see more and more quirky dishes becoming available on restaurant menus including; a whole host of different veggie burgers in many burger restaurants however, in not many have I seen an onion bhaji burger and boy would they be a welcome addition to the menu as you can pack them full of flavour and texture, just as I tried to do with this recipe. Into my soft, pillowy brioche bun I housed a crunchy, lightly spiced onion bhaji topped with oodles of sweet mango chutney which sat on a bed of refreshing mint and cucumber raita; punchy bombay potatoes and a sprinkling of crisp rocket leaves - well it's always worth attempting to get a bit of a healthy, nutrient rich ingredient in there somewhere but, something about the doughy burger bun, deep fried bhaji and creamy yoghurt raita tells me that there is no shortage of calories in this recipe. Nevermind though, a little bit of what you fancy does you good as my Nana always used to say so with that in mind, if you do fancy giving these onion bhaji burgers a go then please do; please enjoy; please indulge in onion bhaji burger heaven and please let me know what you think!

Recipe

Makes 4 utterly moreish bhaji burgers and without too much faffing about, that's what we like to hear!

For the Onion Bhajis:

2 medium red onions

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

100g gram flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. curry paste or powder (this time I used medium curry powder as I already had a pot in the cupboard but, feel free to use any powder you fancy- mild, medium or hot - or any paste as I have also tried these with Patak's Tikka Masala paste and a Tesco Goan Massala paste before and all have been yummy)

vegetable oil for frying

For the Cucumber and Mint Raita:

150g natural yoghurt

2 tbsp. chopped fresh mint

8-10 slices of cucumber chopped into small chunks

For the Bombay Potatoes:

450g potatoes, peeled

15g fresh ginger

3 cloves of garlic

2 large tomatoes, 1 chopped into quarters and one into slim wedges

4 tbsp. vegetable oil

3/4 tsp. cumin seeds

1 tsp. mustard seeds

1 large onion, chopped fairly finely

2/3 tsp. turmeric

2 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. garam masala

1/2 tsp. chilli powder

A handful of finely chopped fresh coriander leaves

4x Brioche burger buns

Mango Chutney (I used Tesco Finest Mango and Apricot Chutney which was delicious)

A sprinkling of Rocket Leaves

Method

1. Start by mixing together all of the raita ingredients with a little salt and pepper to season; then spoon into a small bowl and refrigerate until needed.

Note. Next, begin preparing the bombay potatoes. This recipe is scrumptious however, I am aware that it has a long old list of ingredients so, feel free to empty your store cupboard and trial whatever spices you already have in this recipe and keep trying and tweaking until you are happy as I am sure as long as you have enough spices to give a bit of a kick you will probably not require every single spice that I used but, if you do want to make this recipe in full then the good news is that your spices will keep for a long time in the cupboard so that you can make this recipe as many times as you like!

2. For the bombay potatoes, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil; place in the potatoes and boil until just tender. When cool enough to handle, chop into 2.5cm cubes.

3. Now blend together the ginger, garlic and quartered tomato until smooth.

4. Next, heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Add the cumin and mustard seeds and cook over a medium heat. Once the cumin starts to darken, add the onion and cook for a minute before adding the ginger, tomato and garlic mixture; ground spices and salt. Sauté gently for one to two minutes or until the garlic smells cooked.

5. Add the tomato wedges, stir well and cook for 3-4 minutes before tipping in the potatoes and cooking for a further 5 minutes to allow the potatoes to absorb the flavours. Set aside.

6. Now prepare the bhaji mix. Finely chop one onion and thinly slice the other. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the curry paste or powder, chopped chilli and a good sprinkling of salt. Add about 150ml of cold water to make a thick batter and stir in the chopped and sliced onions until they are well coated.

7. Heat about 5cm of oil in a wok or deep pan. Add a tiny speck of batter, if it rises to the surface surrounded by bubbles and starts to brown, then the oil is hot enough. At this point, add a heaped tbsp. of onion mix to the pan to make 1 onion bhaji (feel free to add more if your pan is big enough). Cook the bhaji for a few mins, turning once, until they are evenly bronzed and crisp - about 3-4 mins before draining on kitchen paper and keeping warm until you have prepared all of the bhajis you need.

8. Finally, heat the bombay potatoes through, stirring in the fresh coriander and plate up your burgers. Onto the base of your burger bun- spread 1-2 tsp. cucumber and mint raita and onto the top of your burger bun- spread 1-2 tsp. mango chutney. Now onto the base add your rocket leaves; a small dollop of bombay potatoes and your onion bhaji. Place on the mango chutney covered top and hold your mammoth of a burger together with a cocktail stick. Serve with whatever you fancy- sweet potato chips are a great accompaniment. Last of all, get stuck in!

Thank you for reading!