Red Pepper Pasta Sauce

This is fast becoming one of my favourite dishes! I've been tweaking this recipe for a while now since I originally created it, but I think it's finally exactly how I like it. 

I usually serve this sauce with wholewheat spaghetti, prawns, wilted spinach, a few basil leaves to serve and of course, some parmesan shavings. 

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

• 1 jar of roasted red peppers 
• 200g of passata 
• A large handful of fresh basil, finely chopped
• 1 white onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• 3 tbsp of creme fraiche
• Pinch of salt & pepper
• Parmesan to serve

Method: 

• Finely chop the onion and garlic. Fry in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil on a medium-high heat until the onion and garlic starts to brown. 
• Roughly chop the red peppers from the jar and add to the pan with the passata and basil. Heat through for a few minutes. 
• Add the sauce to a blender or food processor and blend to your desired consistency, I like mine quite smooth. 
• Add the sauce back to the pan and heat through whilst stirring through the creme fraiche. Stir until the creme fraiche is completely combined. 
• At this point I stir through my cooked pasta, cooked prawns and wilted spinach.
• Serve with a grating of parmesan and a couple of fresh basil leaves. 

I usually make this sauce, use it for one meal for myself and then freeze the rest in portions. This sauce freezes really well and can be made in big batches which I love. 

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownies

Now I'm totally aware that this post is coming at the worst possible time of year. But bare with me... I made these brownies as my last major indulgence before swearing myself back to the life of green smoothies and kale salads at the beginning of January, so of course they needed to be as naughty as possible! Peanut butter cookie dough brownies, is there any better combination in the world? 

So apologies that this post is a little late, and probably well into your January detox. But if you fancy a big, sugary treat at the weekend to reward all your hard work, this is the recipe for you! 

MAKES 9

Ingredients

For the brownies:

• 225g butter
• 400g caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 140g plain flour
• 85g cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

For the cookie dough:

• 115g butter- softened
• 115g caster sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten 
• 175g plain flour
• 3 tbsp peanut butter

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C. 
2. In a boiling pan over a medium heat, melt the butter and stir in the sugar. 
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the eggs and vanilla extract. Set aside. 
4. In a large bowl mix the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Stir the pan mixture into the dry ingredients until combined. 
5. Line an 8" x 8" baking tray with greaseproof paper, pour the brownie mixture into the tray and set aside. 
6. For the cookie dough, cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl with a wooden spoon until pale and fluffy. 
7. Beat in the egg and fold in the flour.
8. Drop 9 tbsp-sized balls of cookie mixture into the brownie mixture (see picture below). 
9. Marble the brownie and cookie dough mixture together with a knife.
10. Cook the brownies for 50 minutes (cover in foil for the last 10 minutes if the top starts to catch). Allow to cool slightly before removing from the tray.