Zucchini Carbonara

This is one of my favourite dishes:

Ingredients:

Serves 2:

• 1 large breast of chicken chopped up into bite sized pieces 
• 4 strips of streaky bacon chopped up 
• 5-6 large sundried tomatoes chopped up 
• 75gms Creamy feta (more or less depending on your taste preference) 
• Handful of Toasted Pinenuts 
• 100-200mls Heavy Cream 
• 2 Egg Yolks 
• 2-3 zucchinis julienned 
• 1 Tbsp Basil Pesto 
• Knob of butter 
• Garnish: Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese and Salt & Pepper

Instructions:

First toast your pinenuts!
Then fry your bacon, once browned put aside, fry the chicken using the bacon drippings. Once the chicken is almost cooked throw back in the bacon, sundried tomatoes and pesto.

In a bowl add your egg yolks, cream salt and pepper. Add the wet mixture and let simmer on a very low heat, you don't want the egg to curdle. Only cook for about 2 minutes. Add your feta and take off the heat.

In a separate non stick frying pan melt a knob of butter and flash fry the zucchini, you don't want to do it for long otherwise your zucchini will go mushy, add the zucchini noodles to the creamy chicken and serve immediately, grate some fresh parmesan on top and some freshly cracked pepper and salt.

Warning: Super rich!!!

Zucchini Pesto Muffins

This awesome recipe was sent in by one of my readers Megan Roberts who is a fantastic cook, she has even worked out how much they will cost you! Thank you so much Megan, you are a legend!!!

Zucchini Pesto Muffins

• 6 free range eggs
• 90gms cream cheese, softened
• 40gms pesto (a large tablespoons worth)
• 1 large tomato, deseeded and chopped
• 1 spring onion, chopped
• 2 decent sized zucchini (150gm each), grated and moisture squezzed out

Mix all these together, I whisked the eggs, cream cheese and pesto together so there were well combined, then added the veggies.

• 20gms coconut flour
• 20gms almond meal
• 1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
• a good pinch of salt and a good grind of pepper

Sift all these together and then mix the wet and dry together, spoon into large texa muffin cups (I use silicon ones) bake at 180C degrees for approx 40 minutes, I checked mine at 20 minutes, then 30, then took them out at 40 minutes when they were starting to go golden brown.

I cost these out on my spreadsheet and for 6 muffins it was NZD $11.80, $3.00 for the free range eggs (at 50c each), $3.00 for the zucchini and $1.40 for the tomato - these two things will get cheaper as the weather gets warmer.

Creamy Feta Chicken with Zucchini Noodles

First off thank you to one of my readers Megan Roberts for reminding me how good zucchini "pasta" can be! I have made zucchini strips a while back http://primaljourney.blogspot.co.nz/2009/11/i-think-its-about-time-i-posted.html and http://primaljourney.blogspot.co.nz/2011/06/its-been-crap-week.html but I don't do it much because slicing it super thin with a knife is pretty time consuming, so I got a julienne peeler and viola it's easy peasy!

This is one of my favourite concoctions:

Ingredients:

Serves 2:

• 1 large breast of chicken chopped up into bite sized pieces
• 4 strips of streaky bacon chopped up
• 5-6 pieces of Dutch salami chopped into strips
• 5-6 large sundried tomatoes chopped up
• 75gms Creamy feta (more or less depending on your taste preference)
• Handful of frozen or fresh spinach
• 200-250mls Cream
• 2-3 zucchinis julienned mixed with 1 Tbsp Basil Pesto
• Knob of butter
• Garnish: Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese and Salt & Pepper

Instructions:

Fry the bacon, once browned put aside, fry the chicken using the bacon drippings.  Once the chicken is almost cooked throw back in the bacon, salami, sundried tomatoes, spinach and the cream, start to reduce the sauce by just simmering for a few minutes on a low heat, then add your feta for the last remaining minutes.  Take off the heat and put aside.

In a separate non stick frying pan melt a knob of butter and flash fry the zucchini and pesto mixture, you don't want to do it for long otherwise your zucchini will go mushy, add the noodles to the creamy chicken and serve immediately, grate some fresh parmesan on top and some freshly cracked pepper and salt.

Warning: Super rich!!!