This page is an index of all the main meals or main components of a meal listed on Eco-Marketplace. It is sub divided as follows

• Quiches and flans
• Pasta dishes
• Everything else!

Each picture is a link to the corresponding recipe, so scroll through and pick out something to try today. Eat and enjoy!

Quiches and flans

• Asparagus flan
• Deep filled pea and pancetta tart
• Onion tart

Pasta dishes

• Carbonara ala Basevi storecupboard
• Corned beef lasagne
• Running mac and cheese
• Runner bean spaghetti bolognaise

Everything else!

• Bobotie
• Great Australian burger with the lot
• Leek and potato hot pot
• Pea and feta frittata
• Soufled omelette
• Traditional English cooked breakfast
• Totally Tasty Cottage Pie
• Unconventional salad niscoise

Save

Save

This recipe for Minted pea and Pancetta pea tart incorporates a classic flavour combination, that of ham and peas. As you know quiches and flans are one of my favouritest things and this version is also one of Simons. By using minted peas you get the hint of mint without it being too strong. If you aren’t keen on mint then use plain peas instead. This recipe also uses 6 eggs so it's great if you have a glut to get through. I could eat a savoury tart, flan or quiche every day of the week, hot or cold I love it.

Serves 8 or me and Simon with a little to spare!

Link to measurement conversion chart

Ingredients

• 1 quantity of shortcrust or gluten free pastry
• 170g pack of cubed cooking pancetta
• 2 shallots finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 350g frozen minted peas defrosted
• 6 large eggs
• 284ml single cream
• 100g mature cheddar grated
• Salt and pepper

You will also need

• 1 deep flan dish or loose bottomed cake pan, 20 cm diameter

Method

1.  Preheat the oven to 190c
2. Line the deep flan dish with pastry and blind bake for 15 – 20 mins then allow to cool slightly. Increase the oven temperature to 200c
3. Fry the pancetta until crisp, add the shallots and garlic then cook for a further 2 – 3 mins
4. Stir in the peas and combine thoroughly
5. In a jug beat the eggs then slowly add the cream beating to mix, season with a little salt and pepper
6. Combine the eggs, cheese pancetta and vegetables in a bowl
7. Pour the eggy mixture into the pastry case and sprinkle over a little extra grated cheddar
8. Bake in the oven for 40 – 45 mins until golden brown and set
9. Eat and enjoy!

Serving suggestions and variations

• Try using chopped ham ends instead of pancetta
• For a stronger minty flavour add a handful of chopped fresh mint to the eggs
• Flans make a great hot meal served with a jacket potato but are equally good served cold with salad or taken on a picnic. Save me a slice!
• Bake up a few spicy wedges at the same time as the flan and serving them with a few beans on the side
• Try adding a tsp of paprika to the eggy mix for a bit of bite
• Arrange a few slices of tomato on the top before you add the last sprinkle of cheese to add a bit of decoration to your tart or flan
• If you are trying to avoid pastry or need to be gluten free then bake on it’s own in a greased casserole or try forming and blind baking a crust using a Potato rosti mx instead. See below for a no crust version, we used a single protion silicon pie case and it worked perfectly.

Acknowledgements

The idea for this recipe came from Delicious magazine and has been tweaked by us. It is a flan combo I’d not tried before as I just never thought of adding peas and it works just fine. Thanks for the delicious idea all those at Delicious magazine

You might also like to try one of the following from our collection;

1. If you are looking for something tasty to have on the side of your flan then our potato salad works very well
2. Quesadilla make a great lunchtime snak with or without the black beans and rice
3. Got loads of eggs then Alex's chocolate brownies will help use them up in no time.

Happy eating!

This recipe is a tasty version of the traditional salad nicoise arrived at through years of just making it up. The combination of tuna and eggs is one I really love and as I am not keen on anchovies they don’t feature here. I do try using runner beans instead of fine or French bean as I prefer the texture and taste but of course if they are not in season I revert to the regular bean instaed. I have included a dressing for this recipe, however I don’t usually bother with a dressing either as I am usually being weight aware! This is a salad I normally put together with a few leftovers for lunch.

Link to measurement conversion chart

Enough for 1 for lunch, double up if you have someone to share it with

Ingredients

• 1 hard boiled egg, shelled and quartered
• 3 – 4 new potatoes cooked and cut into chunks
• 1 dozen cooked runner beans or fine green beans if runners are out of season, cooked and cut to 3cm lengths
• ½ tin of tuna
• 5 – 10 pitted black olives optional
• Salad leaves
• 1 tomato cut into 8 pieces
• Dressing – optional
  
  • 1 tablespoon of white wine or balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1 tsp French mustard

You will also need;

• to mix the dressing a screw top jar - an old jam jar works well

Method

1. Using a lidded jar mix together all the dressing ingredients and give it a good shake
2. Arrange the salad leaves in a circle on a plate
3. Decoratively arrange the remaining salad ingredients on top of the lettuce
4. Drizzle the dressing over all
5. Eat and enjoy!

Serving suggestions and variations

• Add any other salad ingredients you fancy to the plate, I really like sprouting lentils, try cucumber, onions and celery, then of course there are the anchovies!
• Use sundried tomatoes instead of fresh
• Experiment with different dressings
• For larger quantities, do not make this up as a tossed salad, the egg and tuna will make an unsightly mess. Make up a large platter and serve the dressing on the side.
• Try using cooked prawns instead of tuna
• Use leftover cold potatoes instead of cooking up new ones
• For a small portion I steam the potatoes, beans and egg in one pan together
• I have tried fresh and canned tuna and prefer the canned, which is probably not very PC but is easy to have in the store cupboard and this is a store cupboard salad for me.
• Use potato salad and miss out the dressing

Acknowledgements

There are loads of versions of salad nicoise, everyone appears to have their own. The key ingredients across the board are tuna, hard boiled eggs and green beans, so sorry I am unable to acknowledge anyone but myself for this one.  I did however use a dressing from the Hamlyn All colour cookbook that I know is a tasty combination.

If you enjoyed this recipe you might also like to try one of the following;

1.  If you are looking for fun ways to use runner beans have a go at runner bean spaghetti with bolognaise sauce, or any other pasta sauce for that matter
2. Corned beef lasagne is a great alternative to the standard lasagne and has become a family favourite in our house
3. If you have time for baking try Pasteis De Nata, or Portugese custard tars, they make a great tea time snack or dessert and are very easy to make.

I hope you enjoy this version of the classic as much as I do. 

Happy eating!

A traditional English fried breakfast is truly the one meal of the day. It will get you going and keep your tummy busy until supper. If you get peckish mid afternoon you could always top up on a cream tea! There are any number of versions of this breakfast and the truth is, it is really down to personal taste. The ingredients will vary slightly depending upon the region of England you are in, one common ingredient should be the egg and it really should be a fried egg. The only real trick to getting this breakfast right is timing, as each component takes a different length of time to cook. It is ideally a meal to have at the weekend when you have plenty of time to cook it and enjoy the results of your labour. As there is a fair amount of work involved, it is always best to have at least one, someone else to share it with. Note ALWAYS serve your breakfast on hot plates, you have gone to a lot of trouble you don’t want your food to go cold before you get to eat it.

Ingredients
Select a number of the following possible ingredients for your plate.

• 1 – 2 eggs fried
• 2 rashers of smoked back bacon
• 1 – 2 breakfast sausages, a Lincolnshire or basic pork sausage not one of the ones with lots of added flavours and it has to be pork
• 1 2cm slice of black pudding, a blood sausage that is skinned once cooked
• 1 tomato
• 4 – 6 medium button mushrooms
• Either 1 medium potato cut to 2 cm ish cubes preferably pre boiled or steamed, or 2 tbsp of bubble and squeak, which involves a bit of pre
• planning as it contains mashed potato and chopped steamed cabbage. Bubble and squeak is a traditional leftovers dish.
• 2 tbsp baked beans
• 1 – 2 rounds of fried bread or toast

You will also need

• 1 large frying pan 
• 1 saucepan for your beans

Method
Written in order of the length of time it takes individual components to cook. If you are a good multi tasker and you have a good sized frying pan then you can cook more than one item at a time. Cook all with a little oil in the pan.

1. Sausages take the longest to cook properly. If this is a problem then pre cook them and heat through. Cook over a medium to low heat for 20 – 30 mins turning occasionally until browned all over. Alternatively cook in a hot oven for 30 minutes
2. Bubble and squeak needs it’s own pan and should be fried stirring occasionally for 20 minutes. What you are after is a mixture of hot potato and cabbage with brown crunchy bits mixed in. Don’t get the heat too high as it will burn.
3. Potatoes if raw should be cut to 1 cm cubes and cooked in oil over a medium heat for 15 minutes
4. Beans should be cooked until the start to go mushy this takes at least 10 minutes in a pan over a medium heat or 7 mins in the microwave, stirring occasionally. If you like your beans solid cook for 3 – 5 mins until they are warmed through.
5. Black pudding should be fried over a medium heat for 10 mins until it goes black and crispy, turning half way through the cooking time
6. Bacon should be fried over a medium heat until the fat starts to crisp this should take 7 – 10 mins turning half way through cooking time.
7. Potatoes if pre cooked, mushrooms and tomatoes approx. 5 mins on a medium heat turning as they cook, the potatoes should be crispy on the outside
8. Toast and fried bread take 3 - 4 minutes depending upon how brown you want them. Fried bread soaks up all the tasty meat juices from the frying pan.
9. Last of all cook your eggs how you like them. Add a little more oil to the pan if you have already cooked fried bread
10. Serve on hot plates immediately.
11. Eat and enjoy!

Serving suggestions and variations

• What can I say really beyond pile it decoratively on your plate and eat it.
• There are plenty of individual ingredients to work with so choose the ones you feel like adding and go for it.
• Substitute fried eggs for;
  • Poached
  • Scrambled
  • 1 egg omelette
  • boiled

Acknowledgements

Who knows who invented the cooked breakfast really? Some say that it was an American invention around the time of the 2nd world war but I wasn't around then. It’s something we were brought up with so I acknowledge my mum!

Fancy something else from our collection then why not try one of the following;

• An alternative to the full English but equally british try eggs Basevi,
• if you need some cooked potatoes for your breakfast go for hot aloo potatoes and precook extra for the next day,
• want something else that a british classic then have a go at our oaty apple crumble.

Happy eating!