… a bit of advice to my younger readers – don’t get old. It’s highly overrated. The thing is, i’ve got a bit of a hip issue. In my continuing effort to stay healthy i’ve been running quite a bit. I hugely enjoy running, even though I know it’s really not particularly good for you, I love the freedom that you can literally leave your front door and start running… with cycling you need a bike and with swimming you have to go find a pool, get changed and then suffer other humans but with running you can just go and do it. However my running days are officially over. I have torn a ligament in my hip joint and the pain isn’t fun. As with all males over 40 I avoided the doctors until I could barely walk and at that point I hobbled to the surgery. My GP recommended that I see a specialist who could scan me to see what the issue was… so last Wednesday i’m on my way to the clinic and out of nowhere my dodgy ankle (another story) twists underneath me I slip and fall flat on my face whilst crossing Marylebone High Street. I lay there for a few seconds whilst the people sitting outside the cafe opposite me do nothing but giggle openly at my embarrassment. If you’ve ever twisted your ankle you’ll know that sharp pain that floods your body and makes you feel sick to your teeth. I pushed myself up from the floor, ran around the corner and wept with pain and humiliation for a few minutes before gathering my self together and hobbled into the clinic. My doctor was waiting for me and exclaimed that I was in the right place for an injury of this kind… and changed my hip MRI into an ankle and hip MRI… which sounds brilliant but meant I had to spend an hour inside the dreaded and very noisy scanner. If you’ve experienced the MRI you’ll know how awful this experience was and if you haven’t then imagine being shouted at by a crow with a megaphone for an hour without being able to move a millimetre… I felt violated.
… the outcome is that i’ve ruptured the ligament in my ankle and torn a muscle in my hip – with added early onset of arthritis thrown in. It’s not been a fun week although the only up side to the whole adventure is that my doctor continually (and continues) to think that I am 37 and can’t possibly be 45, to the point where it’s now becoming annoying and a little alarming but, you know, i’ll take anything at this point…
red pesto and broad bean egg pie with poppyseed and lemon thyme crust
to be honest this is just a quiche with a common name but i’m straying away from my traditional quiche recipe here and playing around with ingredients. The red pesto is whipped up using some very basic items and a vegetarian hard cheese – although feel free to use a pecorino or a parmesan if you’re not bothered by such grievances and the broad beans were all I had in the freezer but let me tell you, the combination is adorable and this little pie was a big hit. I’ve been inspired by a colleague who is making frittata on a Sunday night and eating one of four quarters for lunch Monday to Thursday and then treating herself on a Friday… buying lunch can be expensive and this is a wonderful way to extend a simple bake to a tasty lunch.
for the cashew red pesto
100g cashew nuts
100g basil
100g sun-dried tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic – peeled
100g vegetarian hard cheese or pecorino
50ml extra virgin olive oil
the set of one lemon
1 tablespoon lemon thyme – torn
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
100g frozen peas
2 tablespoons red pesto
100ml soured cream (or cottage cheese / creme fraiche)
i’m using a 25cm, 3cm deep fluted tin with a loose bottom which i’ve greased well
pre-heat the oven to 150C fan
next make the pesto which is done by whizzing all the ingredients together in a blender for 5 mins until smooth – you may wish to adjust the olive oil up or down depending on how smooth you like it.
after 15 mins, remove the pastry and carefully lift out the beans – place the pastry back in the oven for another 5 mins to allow the base to turn golden
carefully tip the saluted vegetables into the pastry case – I do this by hand to get an even arrangement, finally pour the cream egg mix all over and bake on 160C for about 15-20 minutes until golden and risen, set aside on a wire rack to cool. The quiche should easily slide out of the tin.
eat and of course, enjoy!
I'm doing lots of frittata at the moment and this is a great twist…. The cashew red pesto sounds yum.
I agree, getting older is no fun physically. I've been out for a bike ride this morning and have been hobbling ever since! It's hard to believe that this body is required to keep going for another few decades…..
ha! I'm hoping I survive for a few more decades… I think cake helps.
Oh Dom, how awful. I do hope the hip and ankle are short lived issues that will mend and you can get back to running again. And the humiliation of falling over in public is awful and in my experience so very painful, but I never want to let on and have a good blub when everyone else clears off. Which they usually do pretty quickly as I tell everyone I'm perfectly all right thank you very much. Arthritis is no fun either, I've had it in my knees and toes for a few years now. I expect it might be something to do with the excessive amounts of sugar I eat – but that doesn't seem to stop me.
Anyway, your pie quiche tart sounds as scrummy as all of your others do.
What's not to like about this lovely quiche? I don't like hearing about your adventures in humiliation, pain and noisy MRIs. However, I feel sure you have many good years left. Enjoy them!
Best,
Bonnie
Oh no Dom that sounds horrible, cannot believe people just laughed? I hope you're much much better now and quiche, or egg pie (I prefer this name) made you forget the lousy incident. Brilliant idea for cheap tasty handy lunches, will be doing variations myself! x
That sounds like a true delight – the egg pie, that is, not the bodily betrayal. I was advised when young that I should avoid getting old but I thought they meant mentally. Now I'm not only old with dodgy knees but I'm immature as well.
it's crap growing up isn't it? At least we have solidarity in the arthritis of others xx
thanks Bonnie… I hope I have plenty of years left!! Ha HA!
people are mean but quiche (or egg pie) helps!)
oh yes, mentally i'm still a naughty teenager… it's just the blasted body that's letting em down!
Better stick to cooking, Dom – running is evidently too dangerous! I hope the present damage can be repaired, but I suspect you will really have to give up running. Arthritis will be even less fun for you. I have Fibromyalgia, which has some similarities with Arthritis. One of the big difficulties with these things is that they are not externally visible, and you get less sympathy from people than if you had a sticking-plaster over a cut finger!
Ahh what an awful experience, I hope your hip gets better soon Dom x
Just wait until you get to 65………the same pain, ignominy and anguish multiplied by twenty years or so…….but I keep telling myself that at least I'm still alive…….
Tart looks delish, By the way.
Thanks Mark… I know, I was thinking of wearing a bandage but maybe that's taking it a bit too far!
Thanks Charlene xx
oh crap… thanks x
Eek – sounds awful Dom. I love running too, but it's my calf muscles that don't – snap/ping that sort of thing. The pie sounds intriguing and a good way to indulge if feeling under the weather.
This egg pie looks amazingly scrumptious. Wish I can have a slice too.
Enjoy & have a great week ahead.
Blessings, Kristy
Oh Dom, you're so right about getting old, it absolutely sucks, I suffer with sciatica repeatedly. What a dreadful thing to happen and that no-one rushed to your help! You're lucky you weren't killed as I see so many pedestrian accidents on the news! Shame on those people for laughing! I have avoided MRI scanners at all costs so good on you for braving one, I thought they usually stick earphones on you and play soothing music? Hope you heal soon and do stay away from running, I tried it once at college and just didn't have the knees for it plus it's not good for your back. I much prefer cycling which suits my dodgy ankle which keeps going at the moment too – should we book the OAPs home now? Please send over a slice of you pie, looks lush:-) xx
this looks so different and delicious, not the sort of thing I would probably dare to make but I'm sure I would love it.
Looks yummy,i never tried this before,i will must try this once,you made tempting recipe..