Let’s eat Al Fresco!

– ROAST CHICKEN SALAD

WHAT YOU NEED
• 1 large chicken (about 2kg)
• 2 lemons, halved
• ½ a small bunch thyme
• olive oil, for drizzling
• 1 ciabatta loaf, torn into pieces
• 1 pack diced bacon
• 1 garlic bulb, halved horizontally
• 200g pack green beans
• 1 bunch spring onions, sliced
• small bunch parsley, chopped
• 1 lettuce, separated into leaves

For the dressing
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• juice 1 lemon

HOW TO DO IT
Season the chicken inside and out, stuff the cavity with 1 lemon and the thyme. Drizzle with olive oil, scatter ciabatta pieces around the chicken and sprinkle over the bacon. Add the garlic and remaining lemon halves. Roast everything together for 40 mins and remove from oven. Leave to cool. Cook the green beans and add to a big bowl with spring onions and parsley. To make the dressing, squash the roasted lemon and garlic in the roasting tin with the chicken juices.

Stir in olive oil and lemon juice and season. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, strip the meat off the bones. Just before serving, add the dressing, chicken, croutons, bacon and lettuce to the green bean mix in the bowl, toss together and scatter over a large serving platter. 

– PINWHEEL PIZZA

WHAT YOU NEED
• olive oil , for the tin
• 500g pack bread mix
• flour, for dusting
• 50g mature cheddar, grated

For the filling
• 4 tbsp tomato purée
• handful basil , roughly torn
• 1 whole roasted pepper, from a jar,
   cut into strips
• 70g pack pepperoni, chopped
• 125g mozzarella, torn into chunks

HOW TO DO IT
Oil a 25cm springform tin. Make up the bread mix following pack instructions. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to an oblong 35 x 22cm using a rolling pin. Spread the tomato purée over the dough (leaving a border
of dough plain all the way round), then scatter with the basil, pepper, pepperoni and mozzarella.

Carefully and firmly roll up from the longest side to make a Swiss roll, then slice evenly into 8 thick pinwheels. Arrange 7 around the edge of the tin and put the eighth in the centre. Cover the tin with cling film and leave in a warm place until
well risen. Depending on the heat in the room, this can take up to 1 hour.

Heat oven to 240C/220C. Remove the cling film, scatter with the cheddar and bake for 12-15 mins until golden.

– CURRIED PASTA SALAD

WHAT YOU NEED
• 225g penne/fusili/screws/macaroni
• 4 tbsp light mayonnaise
• 4 tsp rogan josh curry paste
• 150g natural plain yogurt
• juice ½ lemon
• 2 tbsp mango chutney
• 50g sultana
• 15g pack coriander, chopped
• ½ cucumber, deseeded and diced
• 2 celery sticks, diced

HOW TO DO IT
Boil the pasta in salted water for 8 mins. Drain, then cool under the cold tap. Meanwhile, mix the mayo, curry paste, yogurt, lemon juice, chutney and sultanas with plenty of seasoning. Add the pasta, coriander, cucumber and celery,
and toss everything together to coat in the curried mayonnaise. Pack into a container or bowl and enjoy! 

 – LITTLE STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES

WHAT YOU NEED
• 50g butter
• 6 digestive biscuits, finely crushed

For the dressing

•250g tub ricotta
• 50g icing sugar
• zest 1 lemon, juice of ½
• 1 egg and 1 yolk
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 150ml double cream

For the topping

• 2 tbsp strawberry jam, melted
• 3 strawberries, halved

HOW TO DO IT

Heat oven to 150C/130C and line 6 muffin tin holes with muffin paper cases. Melt butter, stir in the biscuit crumbs until well mixed, then press as firmly as you can into the bases of paper cases. Chill them while you make the filling.

Beat the ricotta with the sugar, lemon zest and juice, whole egg, egg yolk and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk the cream until it holds its shape, then fold into the cheese mixture. Spoon evenly into the paper cases, right up to the tops, then
tap the tin on the work surface to flatten the filling. Bake for 30 mins, then turn off the oven and allow to cool completely inside. To decorate, top each cheesecake with 1 tsp jam and a strawberry half.