Landlocked Mermaid

It's been a while since we ventured into the kitchen. Naturally, I have been baking and making (anyone see the mammoth bake or green icing on my personal insta?). But they were all recipes I have thrown at you before. However, with this lockdown and all the panic buying, a few weeks ago I found that the only pasta Morrisons had was cannelloni. We needed something and have since been experimenting with tubular pasta. My first attempt, not pictured, was made with philly (ahem, saver's soft cheese) rather than ricotta because there was none in stock. It worked well enough but was definitely way too sweet. We made a couple more mistakes too; over reduced the tomato sauce, not enough tubes, and did not chop the spinach. That last one meant we got these massive long slugs of spinach followed by a mouthful of just philly. They did not mix well together. I didn't mind the mouthfuls of philly, the slugs were a little off putting, but my partner is not a big fan of soft ...

A while back, my mum and I went to the Chinese supermarket in Birmingham. I went with the goal of getting condensed coconut milk (for fudge) and dumplings (because I love a good dumpling). As well as coming away with a few other gems, I came back with gyoza skins with the aim of making my own dumplings. I decided to have a go this week. Pretendy Duck Dumplings I figured I should start with something simple, in case it all went horribly wrong. It was also a little bit of an impromptu decision, so I hadn't shopped specifically for it. But I remembered that we had the Linda McCartney vegetarian shredded duck in the freezer. Nothing says simple like hoisin duck dumplings. At the very least I know the flavours work, and that I'm not likely to make myself sick from not cooking it properly! All you need. INGREDIENTS Linda McCartney vegetarian shredded duck, Hoisin sauce, Gyoza skins. These are so simple to make, it is hardly worth writing out a method!...