Churritos with Chocolate and Hazelnut Sauce

If you live in Southeast London, you have probably been to Greenwich Market, and have most likely seen the Brazilian churro stand in there.

I went for dinner with my friends yesterday and passed by the market, in the corner of my eye I could see the empty stand, and that’s when it hit me, the big urge of having their chocolate filled churro…

Apparently, my willpower is weak, and the path of bikini bod is not the smoothest.

Some of you might know that I already have a churro recipe on here, but I have found an easier and quicker way to make them. Heads up, I have tried it before just hand rolling the dough, but it is not the same. Therefore, for the best result possible, I would recommend using the piping bag.


For the Churros:

  • 175ml boiling water
  • 25g melted unsalted butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • 125g plain flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1l sunflower oil for frying

 

For the chocolate and hazelnut sauce:

  • 50ml condensed milk
  • 50ml milk
  • 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
  • 10 hazelnuts, crunched

 

For the cinnamon sugar:

  • 50g white caster sugar
  • 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

 

In a measuring jug, add the water, melted butter and vanilla extract. Sift the flour and baking powder in a bowl and make a little well in the centre. Pour in the liquid and very quickly beat into the flour with a wooden spoon until it’s combined. Let it cool for about 10 minutes.

In the meantime, start making the chocolate sauce by combining all ingredients in a pan and gently melting everything together. Keep it warm on a low heat stirring it occasionally.

As some of you might know, I have a deep fryer, which makes it handy when making this kind of recipes. If you do not have one, simply use a large deep saucepan to fry your churritos in.

Put the churro dough in a piping bag with a star nozzle fitted. Start by piping finger length churros into a greaseproof parchment paper. Make sure you have a pair of scissors nearby, as you will need to cut the dough. Unless your aim is to have the Guinness world record for the largest churro.

Fry 4 or 5 at the time until golden brown and crisp. Once they are ready, remove them from the fryer or the pan – I like using wooden chopsticks for this job. You will need to kitchen towel, to drain any excess oil. Don’t forget to toss them in the cinnamon sugar. For that, you just need to mix the sugar and the cinnamon in a plate or bowl.


Serve the chocolate and hazelnut sauce in a small ramekin to dip the churritos in.

 

Penne with Pesto and Black Olives 

Happy new year by beautiful people! Sorry I haven’t been very active with my posting, you have to understand that I have been in multiple food and alcohol comas during the holiday season! 

My other excuse is that I can’t take good pictures of the food due to the stupid winter and not having natural sunlight! However I have solved that problem by buying a mini studio set up with lights. 

  
I’ve decided to post quite an easy, healthy and quick meal for you today (also I haven’t done food shopping yet and I was dying to test out the studio set and lights. 

I’ve chosen to use penne, but you can use any pasta you have – if you have fresh pasta that’s even better! 

Ingredients you will need for this recipe:

  • 1 cup of pasta
  • 1 tablespoon of pesto
  •  8 black olives (chopped) 
  • 1 fresh chilli (chopped) 
  • salt and pepper

Cook the pasta to your liking, I like mine al dente, about 10-11min on boiled water in medium high heat. 

While your pasta is cooking, start prepping your sauce. Cut the fresh chilli in half and remove the seeds by scrapping it with the back of your knife – I love spicy food but I think this pasta benefits with just a bit of heat. Chop up the black olives, or if you want you can mince it, it’s to your preference. 

Once your pasta is cooked, make sure you drain it well and add all the ingredients. Salt and pepper is to your preference, I like to let the pesto speak for itself so I barely add any salt. 

I will be posting  my recipe for the pesto soon, I think everyone should try and make their own pesto st least once! 

Enjoy! 

Ana