Pastitsio

This dish is what they call a Greek Lasagne, you usually use lamb mince, but as i couldn't find any extra lean lamb mince i used extra lean beef mince, it was just as tasty. I love the warmth you get from the cinnamon and nutmeg.

The whole dish is syn free on extra easy.

These ingredients make enough ragu for a large Pastitsio and some left over ragu which you can use for a topping for a baked spud, or just mix it into pasta with some rocket leaves, you could even make a Sloppy Joe sandwich out of it!

Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

1 kg extra lean lamb or beef mince
1 onion chopped
1 garlic clove finely chopped
500g mushrooms chopped
1 tbsp dried mint
1 tbsp dried oregano
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp all spice
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tins tomatoes
1 litre lamb stock

500g macaroni cooked as per packet instructions, and cooled

1 500ml tube fat free yogurt
1 250ml tube quark
2 eggs beaten
½ tsp nutmeg

Method

In a large pot brown the lamb or beef mince then remove.
Fry the onion until soft then add the mushrooms, fry until golden, stir in the garlic and all the herbs and spices cook for 1 minute, return the mince, stir in the tomato puree and tinned tomatoes, then add the stock, bring to a boil, then simmer on a low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Mix together the yogurt, quark, eggs and nutmeg, and season.

Mix a couple of large spoonfuls of the quark mixture with the pasta.

In a large baking dish, layer the meat on the bottom, top with the pasta, then pour over the white sauce. Bake in the oven for 30/35 minutes.

Orange and Chilli Lamb Kebabs

Beautiful tender lamb with a kick from the chilli, warmth from the cinnamon and allspice and a sweet touch from the orange.
They are beautifully paired with sweet potato chips, a greek salad and mint yogurt sauce.
If you want to use some syns a pitta bread would be good too!
This dish is 2 syns on extra easy for all the kebabs. in our house it served two.

Ingredients

4 large lamb leg steaks cubed with all the fat removed

4 garlic cloves minced

2 bay leaves torn

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp all spice/chinese 5 spice

100ml orange juice 2 syns

3 red chillies sliced in half and deseeded then quartered

salt and pepper

Method

In a large plastic bag mix together all the ingredients apart from the salt, massage the marinade into the lamb and leave to marinade overnight.

Skewer the lamb and chilli sprinkle with salt and spray with frylight, then griddle for 4 minutes on each side, until cooked through.

Serve with side dishes of your choice.

Spicy Sweet Potato

Sweet soft potato with the kick of chilli and the warmth of Cinnamon and allspice and the saltiness of feta cutting through the sweetness.

I served it with roasted salmon, salad and Mint Yogurt Sauce

Syn free on extra easy as long as the feta is used as your healthy A


Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes
2 red chillies finely sliced
extra virgin olive oil frylight
2 tsp Ras El Hanout
1 tsp flaky sea salt
90g feta cheese

Method

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into 1cm slices.
Put one potato onto kitchen foil, spray with frylight, sprinkle with 1 chilli and 1 tsp of the Ras El Hanout, and ½ tsp of salt. Wrap it up in the foil. Repeat with the second potato, and bake them for 40 minutes, serve and sprinkle with feta cheese.