Love Bites Aubergine Parmigiana

This dish is an Italian favourite in Love Bites style. Very easy to assemble and looks and tastes delicious. A nice alternative to lasagne without the pasta and full of your five plus a day!  Feel free to add more layers as you wish but this recipe was just perfect for two. 

A sure winner for some warming comfort food, yum! 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 aubergine sliced widthways in about .5cm slices
• 1 courgette sliced widthways .5cm slices
• 1 300g jar of Lloyd Grossman tomato and basil sauce
• 1 ball of mozzarella 
• 100g feta 
• 1/3 cup of fresh bread crumbs
• 2 tbspns toasted pine nuts
• 1 handful of basil leaves

METHOD

• Heat the oven to 180 degrees
• Lightly fry the aubergine and courgette slices On a medium heat in a fry pan on both sides
• Remove from the heat and layer the aubergine in the bottom of a medium sized lasagne dish 
• Pour over half the tomato sauce mixture and layer over the courgette
• Tear over half the mozzarella and feta then layer with another layer of aubergine and courgette if you have some left over. Repeat with the sauce and cheese, top with the bread crumbs, half the basil leaves and pine nuts
• Cook the Parmesan in the oven for 20 minutes until the aubergine and courgettes are cooked through. You can test this by pricking a knife through the centre of the dish. 
• Remove from the beat sprinkle with the remainder pf basil leaves and serve with a side salad.

2am Pizza

Coming home at 2am when no one will deliver pizza calls for some drastic measures to raid ones fridge and make ones own! Here is my recipe for 2am Pizza that is guarenteed to taste saucy even if its not after a few wines!

Ingredients

• x2 Tortilla / flatbreads or pita (leftover from dinner two nights ago)
• 1/2 Red onion sliced (leftover from yesterdays salad)
• 1 Tomato sliced or a handful of cherry tomatoes (same as above)
• A few slices of salami, pepperoni or choizo, sliced halveways
• A handful of rocket
• Grated cheese (as much as necessary to cater for ones aquired gooey-ness)
• Heinz tomato sauce

Method to the Maddness

• Turn the oven up to about 180 degrees
• Spread the Heinz tomato sauce like a tomatoe paste over the base of the tortilla or chosen pizza base
• Sprinkle the red onion, tomatoes, rocket and cheese on one pizza and meat and cheese on the other
• Bake for approx 5-10 minutes until the cheese has melted and the tortilla has crisped up
• Slice as desired and consume!

This recipe can be cooked at any hour and is especially good as a snack, lunch or just to use up leftovers!

LoveBites Summer Spaghetti

This recipe is an inspiration from a favourite Brit chef of mine Jamie Oliver.  The oily lemon and parmesan sauce recipe is a keeper for any type of pasta but works particularly well with spaghetti, linguine or fettuccine. For this recipe version I have added a few of my favourite Italian condiments to the pasta - prosciutto, rocket, and parmesan and so, I give you my Summer Spaghetti...

Ingredients

Lemon / Parmesan Sauce

• 1 large handful of spaghetti (fresh or dried) per person
• zest of one lemon, juice of 2
• 2-4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Fillings

• 6 slices of prosciutto or parma ham
• 1 red chilli deseeded, and 2 cloves of garlic chopped finely together
• 1 cup sliced button mushrooms
• 4 spring onions sliced thinly
• grated parmesan cheese to garnish
• 10 approx cherry tomatoes halved
• rocket to serve.

To Make

• Cook pasta as per packet instructions
• Zest and juice the lemons
• Beat the lemon zest, olive oil and lemon juice together until the liquid thickens. Add the parmesan and beat until the sauce turns creamy, set aside
• Once the pasta is cooked,remove from the heat and drain thoroughly, return to the pot
• Saute the mushrooms, garlic, chilli, and spring onions in a saucepan until soft (do not burn)
• Rip in the prosciutto in small pieces and stir fry over a low heat for 2 minutes, remove from heat
• Stir the lemon sauce mixture into the pasta
• Add the mushroom mixture
• Serve pasta on top of a handful of rocket and top with cherry tomatoes and parmesan.