As Lent begins, finding delicious meat-free dishes for Friday evenings can be a challenge. Here is a wide range of recipes you can try out.
Homemade Tomato Sauce
Serves Four
Three tablespoons of olive oil
One large onion, finely chopped
Two medium cloves of garlic, minced
Twenty-eight ounces of crushed tomatoes in puree
Three tablespoons of tomato paste
One teaspoon dried oregano
Half a teaspoon of dried basil
One pinch red pepper flakes, optional
Half a teaspoon of fine salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Heat three tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add one large onion, finely chopped, and cook until tender, about seven minutes. Add two medium cloves of minced garlic and cook until just fragrant.
Add crushed tomatoes in puree, three tablespoons of paste, one teaspoon of dried oregano, half a teaspoon of dried basil, and one pinch of red pepper flakes, if using. Add half a teaspoon of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring the sauce to a simmer.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the sauce thickens slightly, about twenty minutes. Adjust the seasoning with more salt and pepper, if desired.
Serve with your favourite pasta, and enjoy.
You could also add sweet peppers to sauté with the onion and garlic. You can cut the tomato's acidity with about two teaspoons of sugar. With this sweeter tomato sauce recipe, you could also include chopped carrots.
Fish Fingers
Serves four
Six hundred grams of Salmon
Plain Flour
Medium Egg
Breadcrumbs, ready-made or homemade
Preheat the oven to two hundred degrees Celsius. Spread the breadcrumbs on a tray, spray with oil, then bake for five minutes.
Dip each finger into flour, then egg, then Breadcrumbs, remove skin from salmon and cut fish into strips then dip each finger into flour then egg, then breadcrumbs or use a shortcut by placing the fingers into a Tupperware and shake to coat, one by one.
Put the coated fish fingers onto a greased baking sheet and bake for roughly twenty minutes.
You can substitute the Salmon for other fish such as cod, pollock, or haddock
Potato Cakes with Smoked Salmon
For the potato cakes
One kilogram of Baking Potatoes
One hundred grams of butter melted
One hundred grams of plain flour plus extra for dusting
One teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
For the topping
Two hundred and eighty grams of tub full-fat cream cheese
One hundred grams of double cream
Zest and juice one lemon
Two hundred grams of smoked salmon slices, cut into strips
Heat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Prick the potatoes all over with a fork, then bake whole for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until crisp on the outside and fluffy inside. Set aside on a wire rack to cool. Reduce the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them in half and scoop out the flesh into a large bowl, discarding the skins. Mash the potato really well, then mix in two-thirds of the melted butter, all the flour and the bicarbonate of soda. Season well.
Line a large baking tray with a piece of baking parchment and brush with half the remaining butter. Roll out the potato dough on a floured surface, then lay it on the lined baking tray. Brush the dough with the remaining melted butter and bake for forty-five minutes or until golden brown on the outside.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray. Meanwhile, whisk the cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth and light. Stir in the double cream and lemon juice, and season well with black pepper. Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the cooled potato cake. Use a large, sharp knife to cut the potato cake into 30 squares, then top with the smoked salmon strips and lemon zest.
