Christmas was a wonderfully busy and hectic time this year, it was perfect. There have been so many inspirational things so I have lots of recipes planned for this year. One of things that I really enjoyed trying was a spelt truffle risotto at Castle Terrace in Edinburgh. It was amazing and I have made two risottos using spelt with my partner since. It has more bite than traditional risotto rice and has a wonderful nutty flavour. I will follow with a recipe for it shortly.
For Christmas my incredible partner got me a KitchenAid Free Standing Mixer, it is beautiful. As a result I have been making as many recipes as possible that require using it. This is the most interesting one that I have made so far. I fancied making something savoury and had some artichoke hearts in the fridge and lemons, for the copious amounts of gin and tonic I drank over Christmas and New Year, and came up with this recipe. It makes a great alternative to bread for dipping into soup or for when you want something savoury rather than sweet.
I have also shown a picture of the amazing Christmas Cake my Grandma made for me which I am still enjoying everyday with a cup of coffee.
Artichoke, Lemon and Cheese Muffins
Ingredients (makes 9 muffins)
- 7½ oz/225g cottage cheese
- 20z/50g hard goats cheese, grated
- 20z/50g wholewheat plain flour
- 3½oz/100g ground almonds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 40z/120g artichoke hearts, chopped
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 4 eggs
- salt and pepper
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Line a nine hole muffin tin with muffin cases.
- Place all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix.
- Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases and grate some more goats cheese over the top. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. Leave to cool slightly.
Enjoy! H x
