Wow, I was on a roll with British recipes in October! 🙂 I think I was probably just excited to try them out, and to try different products at the grocery stores in town. Seriously, shopping in a British grocery store was practically a scavenger hunt for me. A lot of things have slightly different names (especially with baking), and the aisles are arranged differently than what I was used to. That’s probably part of the reason why I only buy a few items off base now… it can be stressful hunting for items in an unfamiliar grocery store!

This Creamy Ham & Leek Cannelloni is very tasty, but I’m not sure what some of the American equivalents are. One of the ingredients is cheese sauce, and this is a white sauce found in the refrigerated section. I would say it is similar to an Alfredo sauce, but blander. So you may need to play around with that part, or just use Alfredo sauce.

Serves: 4
Takes: 40 minutes

15 g (1 T.) butter, plus extra for greasing (I just used cooking spray)
4 medium leeks, sliced
sprig thyme, leaves roughly chopped
150 g (5 oz) ham, cut into bite-size pieces (I got a pre-cooked ham, not sliced deli ham)
250 g (8 oz) ricotta
8 fresh lasagne sheets (I ended up having extra filling & used 12 sheets instead)*
350 g (12 oz) cheese sauce
handful grated cheddar cheese
green salad, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 375F/190C. Heat the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the leeks and thyme, plus a splash of water, then cover and leave to cook gently for 10 minutes, until the leeks are soft.
2. Cool for a couple of minutes, then stir in the ham and ricotta.
3. Spread a heaped tablespoon of the mixture across the shorter end of each lasagne sheet, then roll up. Put in a large, greased baking dish so they fit snugly.
4. Stir 100 ml (3-1/2 oz) water into the cheese sauce then pour over the lasagne. Scatter with the grated cheese.
5. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden and bubbling. Serve with some green salad, if you like.

**This recipe has about 488 calories per serving**

*I wasn’t really paying attention, and I bought dry lasagne sheets, so I had to cook mine a bit first. I cooked them to just shy of al dente, I would say.

I made these cookies mostly for something to do. I really don’t have a sweet tooth (weird, I know), but really good cookies are probably my biggest “sweet tooth” weakness. I made these with my friend, Rachel, who also had nothing much to do that day! 🙂

Makes: 4-1/2 dozen

1-1/4 c. butter, softened
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla extract
2 c. flour
3/4 c. baking cocoa
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 c. (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix well.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets.
3. Bake at 350F/180C for 8-10 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool 1 minutes before removing to wire racks.

**If you haven’t read the bit on the Recipes page about using a convection oven, go read it!

This is another recipe from a British magazine, and it is so yummy! It also has two of my favorite things: bacon & red onion. It’s also supposed to be fairly budget-friendly (it says 1.56 in pounds, but that’s roughly $3).

Serves: 4
Takes: 15 minutes

350 g (12 oz) fusilli pasta
1 T. oil
2 red onions, peeled and cut into wedges from tip to root
300 g (10.5 oz) bacon, cut into strips
150 g (5 oz) soft blue cheese, cubed
handful of chives, chopped

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta following package directions.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan until hot and fry the onion for about 5 minutes until lightly golden and softened. Add the bacon and fry for a few minutes more until cooked through.
3. Drain the pasta and add to the bacon and onions along with the cubes of cheese. Turn the heat down and toss everything, allowing the cheese to melt a little. Season with salt and pepper, scatter over the chopped chives, and serve.

**This recipe has about 669 calories per serving**

*I want to note that my cheese got really melty when I added it to the hot mixture of pasta. Next time, I would cube it, then stick it in the freezer while I cooked everything else. Those 10-15 minutes in the freezer would probably keep it from getting too melted before serving.