Spicy Spanish Eggs with Manchego Cheese or Chorizo

Spicy Spanish Eggs with Chorizo

My absolute favourite thing about the weekend is eating eggs for breakfast. By Thursday I’m really excited at the prospect of only 2 days to go and start planning my early morning meal.

I usually walk my little dog first to build up an appetite so by the time I eat, it’s more like brunch than breakfast, this also gives me an excuse to have an extra large portion.

Today spicy eggs are on the agenda and to follow my theme of Spanish cuisine I added paprika and cumin for a Moorish twist.

Serves: 1 Vegetarian, 1 meat-eater

1 Spanish onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped

1 can chopped plum tomatoes

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp smoked paprika

Few sprigs of fresh thyme

4 free range organic eggs

Sea salt and black pepper

Olive oil

V: Chunk of Manchego cheese, cubed

M: Chunk of chorizo sausage, sliced

In a large frying pan fry the onion and garlic in a little olive oil until the onion starts to brown. Add the cayenne pepper, cumin and smoked paprika and cook for a minute, stirring constantly. Pour over the tin of tomatoes and add half a tin of water. Give it a good stir, season, sprinkle over the thyme and leave on a medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

M: In a small frying pan gently fry the chorizo until it starts to crisp up. Add half the tomato sauce and crack in 2 of the eggs. Fold the white into the sauce and leave to cook for a few minutes. Half cover with a lid to cook through the top of the egg too.

V: Add the other half of tomato sauce to another small frying pan, sprinkle over the cheese cubes and crack in the remaining 2 eggs. Fold the white into the sauce and leave to cook for a few minutes. Half cover with a lid to cook through the top of the egg too.

Don’t bother with plates and just eat from the pan, dipping fresh crusty bread into the gooey egg yolks.

Spicy lentil stew: chorizo or tofu

Spicy lentil stew with chorizo

It was such a lovely sunny day today that I mentally prepared the perfect salad to have for dinner. Unfortunately for me a minute before I was about to jump off the bus to leisurely visit the vegetable lady, the rain started to pour down uncontrollably like it wasn’t going to stop. Everyone on the bus was in a state of panic and people in the streets were darting for cover. Something took over me and I automatically joined in with the panic and ended up running home and knocking over anyone in my way. Suddenly feeling cold in my spring outfit I had a rummage through my fridge and came up with this warming dish. By the time it was ready, the sun was shining again but I was happy to be eating a dish full of flavours. The vegetarian liked his tofu version too.

Approx 250g puy (French) lentils

1tsp ground coriander

1tsp ground cumin

1tsp paprika

1tsp chilli flakes

1 tin chopped plum tomatoes

1 tin or equivalent of water

A few sprigs of thyme and rosemary

Squidge of tomato puree

1 small red onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped

2 red peppers, chopped into chunks

Olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

V: Chunk of tofu, chopped

M: Chunk of chorizo, chopped

Fry the onion and garlic in a little olive oil for about 8 minutes. Once the onion has softened add the spices and stir for a minute. Stir in the red pepper and add the tinned tomatoes, lentils and water. Bring to the boil and tomato puree and herbs. Leave to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, and adding more water if necessary so that the sauce doesn’t dry out.

After 20 minutes, divide the mixture into two pans. Add tofu to one and chorizo to the other. Continue to cook both for a further 20 minutes.

Serve with salad and crusty bread.

Courgette Potato Rösti with Pan Fried Tomatoes: Goats Cheese or Chorizo

Courgette Potato Rösti with Pan Fried Tomatoes and Chorizo

Serves: 2

Rösti 

2 King Edward potatoes, peeled and grated
1 courgette, graded
Sprig of fresh rosemary
Olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper


Pan Fried Tomatoes: goats cheese or chorizo
Green salad leaves
Balsamic vinegar
V: Handful tomatoes
   Chunk of chèvre buche goats cheese 
M: Handful tomatoes
   Chunk of chorizo, cubed

Place the grated potato and courgette in a sieve and squeeze to get rid of excess moisture.

Heat a glug of olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the rosemary to the grated potato and courgette mix, season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and place half the mixture in the frying pan. Use a wooden spoon and press down to make a cake shape.

Fry the rösti for 3-4 minutes on each side until crisp and golden-brown. 

Remove from the pan and set aside to drain on kitchen paper. Repeat with the rest of the rösti mix.

Serve with a green garden salad and pan fried tomatoes.

Pan Fried Tomatoes: Goats Cheese or Chorizo

V: Pan fry the tomatoes in a glug of olive oil, dash of balsamic vinegar and seasoning for 5 minutes. Meanwhile grill the goats cheese for 5 minutes or until soft.

M: Pan fry the tomatoes and chorizo in a little olive oil, dash of balsamic vinegar and seasoning for 5 minutes.