Olive and Pistachio Pesto

A rather unusual alternative to basil pesto, this uses more specialist ingredients than I usually go in for but looked so interesting I couldn't resist trying it out. It was delicious. If you can't get hold of green peppercorns, I'm sure black would be fine. Be careful to use unsalted pistachios or this would be far too salty. The recipe I used called for parmesan but since I am a strict vegetarian, I substituted for strong cheddar. However, feel free to use parmesan (or a vegetarian equivalent if you can find it) instead. The recipe I used actually called for double the quantities here and it made a lot of pesto so I've halved it to a more manageable amount. I kept mine in the fridge for a couple of weeks and it was fine. 

Olive and Basil Feta Cheese Spread

A lovely and quick dip/sandwich filling which is super easy to make. The original recipe was double the quantity but I halved it. If you are using as a dip for a gathering, you could double the quantities below. The original recipe called for Kalamata olives but I used black olives because I am cheap, so just use any colour olive you prefer.

Pesto Pasta with Halloumi, Asparagus and Olives

One of those random 'why don't I throw a bunch of things together and see if it works' recipes. This is a relatively quick and simple dish to make, but tastes fantastic. If you don't like olives, you can omit them and the dish would still be lovely. Similarly, if asparagus isn't in season, you could substitute for courgette or other green vegetable of your choice.

Red Onion, Feta and Olive Tart

This recipe comes from one of my random vegetarian recipe books and is a firm favourite in my house. Apart from the caramelizing of the onions, the rest of the tart requires virtually no prep whatsoever (especially as I usually use pre-rolled puff pastry). Green or black olives will do just as well in this recipe, so use whatever you prefer/can get your hands on. It's also great cold for lunch the next day.

Potatoes, Green Beans and Olives

So we're coming up to the end of what I like to call 'the warm weather recipes'. Autumn is beginning to kick in now in the UK and so my attention turns to soups and stews. However, I wanted to share this lovely one pot recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall. Nothing fancy here really - just potatoes for carb, beans for veg, and olives and garlic for flavour. You could also add halloumi if you wanted a bit of protein/a heavier dish.

Mediterranean Vegetable Rice with Cannellini (white kidney) beans

One of mine and Pete's favourite dishes to make is something we call 'blue cheese rice thing' (as in 'what should we have. I've been meaning to blog it for a while, but never got round to it, and now I'm pregnant (32 weeks!) blue cheese has been off the menu for the last seven months. Which makes me very sad, and as soon as I've had the baby (sometime in November) I plan to practically eat my own weight in blue cheese, so expect a lot of recipes containing it then!

Moving on to this recipe, it has a similar base (rice + cannellini beans) but no cheese. It was one of my 'I'll just throw some ingredients together and see how it turns out' recipe. Thankfully, it worked really well. The olives are entirely optional but do really add to the dish, so I'd recommend keeping them in, unless you dislike them, in which case go ahead and omit them. I've found in the past that dill can be a really over powering flavour, so if you want to omit it (or don't have it in your store cupboard) then go ahead; I added only half a teaspoon to add to the flavour of the dish without being too dominant.

The dish is sort of like a risotto but using basmati rice instead of risotto rice because risotto rice is a) expensive and b) a bit too much effort. I cook this using the 'reduction method' of rice cooking which basically means adding twice as much liquid as rice (in volume), putting a lid on the pan and leaving it to cook.

Slutty Spaghetti (aka Puttanesca)

This is one of my favourite recipes of all time. There are recipes for this all over the place, but I first came across it in one of my favourite vegetarian cookbooks - Linda McCartney's 'Recipes from around the world' which I found in a charity shop a few years ago and was one of the best £1.99 I've ever spent. It's quick and takes around 15 minutes from frying the garlic to serving with pasta. It also happens to taste amazing; not for the faint hearted, it's full of very strong flavours, and I always go massively over the top with the garlic and the chili. Words can't do it justice. This recipe serves 2, but I'll happily admit when I'm home alone and cooking for one, I often just have the whole sauce with my pasta because I can't get enough of it. It's my ultimate comfort food!