James Villa Holidays got in touch recently to invite me to share my favourite holiday dish. I was struggling to think of whether I actually had one that I could pin down, but then I saw that they have villas at destinations across the Mediterranean, one of which is in Fuertaventura.
Ah memories!
In my early twenties I went on a girly holiday to Fuertaventura and because we couldn’t afford much we went self catering, which ended up being a lot more fun than we originally thought! We’d get up in the morning and head to the local supermarket to pick up fresh ingredients, overfilling our baskets with goodies because we all lived with our parents at the time and hadn’t quite sussed out that it’s best to take a list.
After a day at the beach relaxing on sun loungers, talking about boys and reading chick lit, we’d head back to the apartment and cook together.
It was during our Mediterranean adventure that I first discovered sun-dried tomatoes and fell in love with the sharp, sweet, juicy taste. We used them as pizza toppings, on posh cheese and toast and in sandwiches. To this day whenever I see sun-dried tomatoes I smile at the memories of that holiday and have to pick some up.
Of course that was quite a while ago now and my cooking has come on a bit since then, so I thought I’d share an easy recipe using those lovely sun-dried tomatoes as well as other mediterranean vegetables as a tribute to that holiday abroad! It’s a breeze to prepare, doesn’t take long to cook and yet looks quite impressive and tastes delicious!
The leftovers will keep in the fridge for a couple of days, which work well hot or cold.
Serves 2
1/2 courgette
4 sun dried tomatoes
3 normal tomatoes (preferably from the vine)
4 tbsps low fat cream cheese
1 tbsp milk
2 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsps parmigiano reggiano or parmesan cheese
1 puff pastry sheet
Dried oregano
Rocket (to serve)
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Slice the courgette into discs, as thin as you can, and do the same with the vine tomatoes. Cut the sun-dried tomatoes into small pieces.
Gently toss the courgette in the olive oil until they’re all coated, then fry them in a large non stick pan on either side until lightly browned. It’s best to do this in two batches so that you can keep them spread out.
Line a tray with baking paper, then lightly grease it. Roll the pastry sheet out, then score a line 1 cm from the edge to make a border.
Next, mix the cream cheese, milk and sun dried tomatoes together, then grate in half of the cheese. Mix it all together and spread it onto the pastry inside the border. Layer on the courgette, then the tomatoes, and sprinkle the orgegano over.
Season with salt and pepper, then bake it in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
Finally grate over the rest of the cheese, top with rocket and drizzle over a little more olive oil.
Best served in the garden with a glass of something chilled! (Sun loungers optional).
I hope you enjoy my holiday dish, what’s yours?
*This post is written in collaboration with James Villas, who have shared their own holiday dishes over on their blog which you can find here: James Villas Blog. I’ve got my eye on the recipe for Prawns with Sherry and Chorizo!
