cheesy artichoke & spinach bake

I was going to make my creamy cheesey spinach srtichoke chicken stew then realised I didn’t have the right chicken in the freezer (it works best with boneless thighs, not breasts). So then I thought… what else can I do with spinach and artichokes? Found a few recipes online for artichoke & spinach dip, but I didn’t really want a dip. Then I wasn’t sure if I wanted something to serve on crusty bread, or over roasted potatoes… in the end toasted ciabatta won because I had some on hand that needed using up today. Done. I also wanted a version I could bake in the air fryer. Also… done. And so this “not a dip kinda sauce” happened and it turned out great.

The second time I made it I added some chopped toasted marcona almonds for some crunch… also great!

Ingredients and instructions below…
Continue reading

garlicky cream cheese and almond puff pastries

This is a riff on my already versatile cream cheese and almond… what? Filling, spread, topping, snack?  I mean really, what can’t it do? Anyhow, I discovered this option recently when I was defrosting my freezer and had to use up some puff pastry AND THEN realised it could also be used as a pastry filling and omg. So fast, so simple, so good. The first time I just used the basic stuff that I seem to always have in the fridge now. A dollop of it on a square of puff pastry, fold it over, crimp it and… wow. I showed a photo of them to my friend Paul and he said “if you stuck spinach in it would almost be healthy”. So yes, next time I made them I added chopped wilted baby spinach and hey – Paul was right. Crispy cheesy crunchy deliciousness with virtuous green stuff inside. In fact the spinach works really well.

Then over the Christmas holidays, probably the only time I have smoked salmon at home, you guessed it. I tried a version with all of it all together. Garlicky cream cheese with toasted almonds, baby spinach and smoked salmon. Fabulous. Still working on getting my triangles to actually look like triangles but they’re so good nobody actually cares what they look like.

Ingredients and instructions below…
Continue reading