The Mad Scientist's Casual Chicken Cacciatore

The Mad Scientist was given a packet of chicken drumsticks that was going to be used for a medical training session but was surplus to requirements in the end, so began to think about creative ways to use them. Like a flash of lightning the idea of a quick and easy 'Chicken Cacciatore' was born! This simply involved combining the chicken drumsticks with a jar of Italian-flavoured pasta sauce and some halved (pitted) Kalamata olives.

Being somewhat health-conscious, the Mad Scientist removed the skin from the chicken prior to cooking.

The chicken was combined with the pasta sauce and the olives in a Pyrex baking dish and then baked at 180 degrees Celcius in a pre-heated fan-forced oven until it was bubbling and the chicken appeared to be cooked through (approximately one hour).

The finished product was served on a bed of mashed potatoes which had been 'spiced up' with a dash of pepper and chilli sauce, and received very favourable reviews!

The Mad Scientist's Moroccan Fish Lasagna

This is the final instalment in the story of the pureed Roasted Vegorama! This was combined with some Basa fish fillets, sheets of lasagna and Moroccan-flavoured chopped and diced tomatoes. A packet of crumbled Haloumi cheese was used for the topping. A deep silicon baking tray was utilised.

A layer of Vegorama was placed in the bottom of the dish and then a layer of lasagna sheets was placed on top.

The (defrosted) fish fillets were placed on top of the lasagna.

A layer of the Moroccan tomatoes was then spread over the fish.

Another layer of lasagna sheets was added, followed by another layer of the Vegorama.

A small packet of Haloumi cheese was crumbled and spread over the top of the final layer.

The lasagna was cooked in a 180 degree Celcius pre-heated fan-forced oven until it was bubbling and golden brown on top (approximately an hour in this case).

The finished product tasted brilliant, and the slight sweetness of the vegetable mix was ably complemented by the salty tangyness of the Haloumi cheese. No leftovers here!

The Mad Scientist's Vivacious Veggie Slice

As the Mad Scientist's Roasted Vegorama is infinitely versatile, this is another variation on the theme. Slabs of the Vegorama were bundled up in half a sheet of puff pastry which was pinched together and then scored and lightly brushed with milk. In this instance some cumin seeds were sprinkled on top (but a variety of other seeds could be used instead).

The slices were baked in a 180 degree Celcius pre-heated fan-forced oven until golden brown on the outside. They proved to be simply delicious!

The Mad Scientist's Smashing Samosas

The Mad Scientist was "on a bit of a roll" with baking, and used a quantity of the pureed Roasted Vegorama to make some delicious samosas. Store-bought sheets of puff pastry were used, and these were lightly brushed with milk prior to baking in a 180 degrees Celcius pre-heated fan-forced oven until golden brown.

As well as eating them on the spot, the cooked samosas can be packaged up in small quantities for lunches or to put them in the freezer for later consumption.

The Mad Scientist's Scintillating Sausaroni

This is an old favourite and oh so easy! All it requires is a few sausages (as per personal preference) cooked and sliced thinly, some pasta sauce (the Mad Scientist used some out of a bottle) and some cooked pasta (once again as per personal preference - plain or filled).

Mix the sausages together with the pasta sauce and then gently mix together with the pasta until evenly distributed. This has a lovely rich texture and flavour (the Mad Scientist also added a dash of pepper sauce as "some like it hot"!).

The Mad Scientist's Piquant Pies

This recipe firstly involves a quantity of the Mad Scientist's Roasted Vegorama which has been pureed and added together with a jar of antipasto and some green stuffed olives and pureed again. This provides a tangy 'sweet and sour' mixture. Some sheets of shortcrust pastry are also required, together with a couple of fish fillets. These were simply cooked in the microwave and then cut into small cubes. The pies were cooked in some small metal pie dishes. These were lubricated with some canola spray but this turned out to be unnecessary.

The lid of the pie was created by inverting the pie tin on the pastry sheet and cutting a circle around the widest part.

The vegetables were mixed together with the cubes of fish.

The pastry circles to line the tin were made by once again inverting the tin on the pastry and then cutting a circle about 1cm out from the rim. The pie mix was placed into each tin once lined.

The 'lids' were then placed on top of the mix and pinched down by hand to seal them.

The Mad Scientist was feeling creative so cut out some pastry leaves and 'nuts' to put on top of the pastry case. The pies were brushed with some milk (but egg yolk or another substance could be used as per personal preference).

The pies were baked in a 180 degree Celcius pre-heated fan-forced oven until golden brown on top.

The Mad Scientist was immensely proud of these little beauties and they not only looked good but tasted good too! The basic principles could be applied to any pie mix.