Tag: Spinach

Spinach and Cottage Cheese Quiche

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This is my brother’s favourite quiche. Full of delicious spinach, and a surprise ingredient, cottage cheese. I’ve added a few extra ingredients to the traditional recipe we originally used, this is to add a little extra fibre diversity, but also gives a little more depth of flavour.

The surprising use of cottage cheese in this dish means that some of the cream is replaced by this lower-fat dairy product. Cottage cheese is a low-fat cheese made using both curds and whey, meaning it retains some of the protein found in some dairy products. The little curds stay whole in the quiche so you get delicious nuggets of soft cheese throughout the quiche, giving an amazing texture and taste to the dish. No wonder it has been a favourite of my brothers for such a long time!

If you don’t have a 9″ flan tin, you can make smaller quiches using cupcake or muffin trays. Growing up my mum would always make these for birthday parties, so making mini individual quiches is perfect for hungry little fingers! It also freezes really well; if you want to serve them hot from the freezer, only partially cook them the first time round so you can re-crisp the pastry in the oven after defrosting.

This is perfect as a light dinner, or even served cold at a picnic or to take to work for lunch. I love serving it simply with a salad.

If you don’t want to make your own pastry then shop bought is fine. I use a full butter recipe in my shortcrust pastry recipe, but for those who need to watch their saturated fat intakes, using shop bought vegetable fat based shortcrust pastry is an option here. If you need to make a gluten-free version, use a gluten-free pastry, or alternatively if you want a crustless quiche butter the sides of a cake tin.

Serves 4 as a main, 6 for a lighter lunch or starter

Ingredients

  • 260g shortcrust pastry
  • 1 onion, finely diced
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 400g spinach, fresh or frozen
  • 1/2 nutmeg, grated
  • 300g cottage cheese
  • 3 large eggs
  • 50 parmesan, grated
  • 90ml double cream
  • 100g tomatoes, sliced

Method

  • Roll the pastry out to a thickness of 2mm and line a 9″ flan tin, leaving excess pastry overhanging the edge. Chill in the fridge.
  • Preheat the oven to 180°C fan, 190°C convection, and once up to temperature, prick the base of the pastry with a fork and blind bake the pastry case using non-stick paper and baking beans or dried rice for 15 minutes.
  • Remove the baking beans and paper and return the tin to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, gently fry the onion in the oil till soft before adding the spinach and cooking until all the water evaporates. Turn off the heat and allow to cool slightly.
  • Mix the cottage cheese, eggs, parmesan and double cream together and season with nutmeg and pepper to taste.
  • Once the spinach has cooled, add to the wet ingredients and mix before pouring into the pastry case.
  • Top with sliced tomatoes and bake for 30-35 minutes till puffed up and golden brown*^.

Per sixth of a quiche: 376kcal/ 22.9g fat/ 13.5g saturated fat/ 24.9g carbohydrates/ 2.0g fibre/ 16.4g protein

*If freezing, part bake for 15-20 minutes till puffed up but without a golden brown colour. Allow to cool fully before storing in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat, pre-heat the oven to 180°C fan, 190°C convection, place back into the tin, and bake for 15 minutes till golden brown.

^If making mini individual quiches cook for 15-20 minutes.

Spinach Macaroni

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I have lovely fond memories of walking into Godalming high street and lunching with friends in the local vegetarian and yoga café.

This gorgeous café, Café Mila, inspired this dish. Here I have had countless macaroni cheese dishes after walking several miles to get there, all as part of a team challenge to accumulate the highest number of steps.

I always remember the dish coming out, golden brown bubbling cheese covering macaroni with swirls of spinach. This dish is worth the trek! I do love my macaroni cheese, so sometimes I make my own “lighter” version by using reduced-fat cheddar cheese to help keep the total saturated fat under some control. However, if you don’t eat this all the time, and I don’t, using standard fat cheddar is completely fine. In addition, using mature or extra mature cheddar gives a stronger cheese flavour which can help you keep the quantity of cheese used overall lower.

This dish is perfect to make at the weekend when you have time, and then store in the fridge for a quick and easy meal later in the week. Alternatively, why not try making a larger batch and popping one in the freezer. Cooling cooked pasta has been shown to help further increase the fibre content through the formation of resistant starch, adding other benefits to this dish!

Another great way to increase the fibre content of this dish is to use high fibre pasta. This could either be using wholemeal pasta, where the whole grain is used or alternatively, there are now ranges of high fibre pastas. These are where fibre, such as oat, are added to the pasta before it is shaped. Adding extra fibre to your diet in this way is a really easy method for increasing your fibre intake without much effort. On average UK people eat only an average of 18g fibre per day, and the target is 30g fibre per day. This dish contains 5.7g fibre, but a simple swap to fibre enriched pasta could boost the fibre up to 12g per portion!

Serves 2

Recipe 

  • 15g butter
  • 20g plain flour
  • 360ml semi-skimmed milk
  • ½ tsp English mustard
  • 100g mature cheddar cheese, grated
  • 150g dried pasta
  • 140g spinach

Method 

  • Set the oven to 180°C fan/190°C convection.
  • Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute before adding the milk a little at a time, stirring constantly till thick. Add the mustard and half the cheddar cheese and season with pepper to taste.
  • Meanwhile, cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than the packet instructions.
  • Once the pasta is cooked, add the spinach into the cheese sauce and mix, followed by the drained pasta.
  • Pour everything into an ovenproof dish and top with the remaining cheese and cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes till the top is golden brown and bubbling.
Spinach Macaroni Cheese

Per serving: 711kcal/ 28.9g fat/ 17.4g saturated fat/ 78.6g carbohydrates/ 5.7g fibre/ 31.7g protein

Spinach Pesto

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A delicious way to help increase your vegetable intake by hiding them in your pasta sauce – perfect for children who might be fussy! The vibrant green is also so alluring it may well entice them to give it a try.

It also happens to be a really quick and easy recipe. In the time it takes to bring the water up to the boil and cook the pasta, you will have made the sauce. I use this recipe to finish up big bags of spinach which we haven’t quite managed to eat during the week. Anything left over the can also be frozen for use another day. I always keep a jam jar of pesto in the freezer should I ever be caught short of a meal.

You also don’t have to limit yourself to using with pasta. It makes an excellent topping for roasted vegetables or roasted tofu. Additionally use it to make a crust on your favour meat or fish before cooking. Or try finishing of a soup with a spoonful just as you serve.

If you don’t have pine nuts, other nuts or seeds can be substituted in depending on what you have in stock.

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 180g baby leaf spinach
  • 1 small bunch of basil
  • 40ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 40g pine nuts, toasted and cooled
  • 40g parmesan, grated

To serve

  • Pasta, cooked

Method

  • Blend the garlic, spinach, basil, and olive oil together to a smooth paste. If you don’t have a blender chop the leaves as small as possible and use a pestle and mortar to make a paste.
  • Add the pine nuts and cheese and blend to your desired consistency.
  • Add to freshly cooked pasta with a little pasta water and cook over a low heat for 1 minute before serving.

Per serving of pesto served with pasta: 685kcal/ 39.6g fat/ 7.4g saturated fat/ 29.8g carbohydrates/ 4.0g fibre/ 18.1g protein

Spinach and Ricotta Pancakes

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While for many Shrove Tuesday will mean pancakes for breakfast, I prefer to have my savoury pancakes for dinner!

Whatever crepes you have left over can be donated to pudding in the form of lemon and sugar, but making this savoury dish is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

You can use ready made thin pancakes, or crepes, as long as they aren’t sweetened. If you’re making your own, this is a great opportunity to add some extra nutritious ingredients, such as I have (sesame and linseeds) to help increase the fibre content.

Serves 4

Recipe

  • 6-8 savoury pancakes
  • 400g spinach
  • 2 onions, I’ve used red, diced
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 400g passata
  • 500g ricotta
  • Zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
  • 1/4 nutmeg, grated
  • 1 ball mozzarella

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 170°C Fan
  • Cook the spinach in a pan on the lowest setting till completely wilted. Allow to cool and squeeze as much liquid out using a clean tea towel. Roughly chop.
  • Meanwhile, cook the onions in the olive oil and allow to soften and become translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes before adding the passata. Cook for 5 minutes while you prepare the pancake filling.
  • Mix the ricotta, lemon zest and nutmeg. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add the roughly chopped spinach.
  • Layer half the tomato sauce into a large ovenproof dish.
  • Add a generous spoonful of the ricotta mix into the middle of a pancake, spreading through the center. Roll the pancake up and place in the passata sauce. Repeat until all the pancakes and ricotta mixture are used.
  • Spread the remaining tomato sauce over the tops of the pancakes and top with torn pieces of mozzarella.
  • Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes till golden brown and bubbling.

Per serving 455kcal/ 24.7g fat/ 13.7g saturated fat/ 31.2g carbohydrates/ 5.9g fibre/ 24.2g protein