Homemade Burgers, Seafood Spaghetti and Carrot Cake To Die For: Kitchen Wonders For The Weekend

Shut down those computers and catch that bus home because a weekend of treats awaits you.

Every Friday we bring you our weekend treats and whether you're heading to the cinema or trotting to your local, there's always time for a few weekend wonders! 

Friday’s Succulent Pork Burgers With Roast Beetroot and Horseradish

We love Friday’s and tonight we fancy a real treat in the form of homemade burgers with one of our most loved veggies, beetroot! This yummy combination will pump up the volume of the boring old burger and make your Friday dinner a delicious one. Alternatively, these burgers can be made with beef mince. This recipe feed four.

Ingredients

500 grams of minced pork

Two cloves of garlic

One red onion chopped finely

One small handful of chopped coriander

100 grams of fresh breadcrumbs

One egg

Two large beetroots (you can buy these vacuum packed in supermarkets without vinegar)

Four fresh ciabatta rolls, halved and toasted

Horseradish sauce

Method

With clean hands, mix together the pork, garlic, onion, coriander, breadcrumbs and egg in a large bowl. Make sure everything is combined well before forming into four burgers.

Next preheat your oven to 220 degrees Celsius.

Slice your beetroots thickly and place on baking tray.

Lightly pour a glug of olive oil onto your vegetables, followed by a dash of balsamic vinegar.

Roast in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

In the meantime, place a non-stick frying pan on a medium heat and add a tablespoon of oil to the pan.

Place the burgers onto the surface and fry for five to six minutes on either side.

Lightly toast your ciabatta under the grill.

Arrange your burger in the warm bread and place two slices of roast beetroot on top. Finish with a gorgeous dollop of horseradish sauce.

If you’re bored of the usual chips, why not roast some butternut squash to finish off your burger in style.

Saturday Spaghetti with Prawns and Rockett

Thinking of heading for that long chilly walk on the beach this Saturday? This yummy dish is sure to warm you up and hit the spot. 

Ingredients

500g of peeled, raw prawns (if you are using frozen ones make sure they are thawed out)

Two cloves of garlic

One red chili

Two tablespoons of tomato puree

One glass of white wine

The juice and zest of one lemon

300grams of rocket

Balsamic vinegar

500 grams of spaghetti

Method

Cook your spaghetti in a pot of boiling water as the packet instructions indicate.

In a large frying pan lightly cook your chopped garlic and chili.

After a minute, throw in your prawns and fry for one minute. Add the glass of wine along with the tomato puree and cook for a three minutes.

Drain your pasta before throwing it into the sauce and mixing well. Turn off the heat and stir in your rocket.

Mix in the zest and juice of one lemon and serve with a dry glass of white wine.

Sunday is a Day for Jamie Oliver’s Pleasing Carrot Cake With Lime Mascarpone Icing

“This carrot cake is an exceedingly good cake made all the more pleasing by the twist of lime mascarpone icing,” said Jamie

“It’s delicious, it works and it’s better than any other carrot cake I’ve tried. I would normally bake this in a square or round cake tin, but for the picture I used a lovely old loaf tin and it came out looking gorgeous.”

Ingredients

For The Cake

250 grams unsalted butter, softened 

250 grams light brown soft sugar 

Five large eggs, preferably free-range or organic, separated 

Zest and juice of onene orange 

170g rams self-raising flour, sifted

One slightly heaped teaspoon baking powder 

100 grams ground almonds 

100 grams shelled walnuts, chopped, plus a handful for serving 

One heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon 

One pinch of ground cloves 

One pinch of ground nutmeg 

½ teaspoon ground ginger 

250 grams carrots, peeled and coarsely grated 

sea salt 

For The Lime Mascarpone Icing 

100 grams mascarpone cheese 

200 grams full-fat cream cheese 

85 grams icing sugar, sifted 

Zest and juice of two limes

Method

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Grease and line a 22cm-square cake tin or a round equivalent with greaseproof paper.

Beat the butter and sugar together by hand or in a food processor until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one by one, and add the orange zest and juice.

Stir in the sifted flour and baking powder, and add the ground almonds, walnuts, spices and grated carrot and mix together well. 
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff, then gently fold them into the cake mix.

Scoop the mixture into the prepared cake tin and cook in the preheated oven for about 50 minutes until golden and risen. You can check to see if the cake is cooked by poking a cocktail stick into it.

Remove it after 5 seconds and if it comes out clean the cake is cooked; if slightly sticky, it needs a bit longer, so put it back in the oven. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn it out on to a rack and rest for at least an hour. 
Mix all the icing ingredients together and spread generously over the top of the cake. Finish off with a sprinkling of chopped walnuts.