Cape Point Nature Reserve is a beautiful, narrow finger of land, covered in fynbos and home to picturesque beaches, bays and rolling green hills filled with an abundance of wildlife including the Cape Mountain Zebra.

I call this place a “little piece of heaven on earth” so if and when we get an invitation to go to Linga Longa in the Cape Point Nature Reserve, we cancel everything and just go……

Cooking up a storm is usually part of a weekend at Linga Longa, it needs a bit of planning as the shops are quite far away and the gates close at sunset…. we therefore divided the weekend into “family cooking slots”, and the first recipe I want to share with you is Mandy’s chicken for a crowd, “Puttenesca alla Mandy”….. one of those easy but impressive make in advance and no hassle one pot wonders…

For the “Puttenesca alla Mandy” chicken dish you will need:
16 pieces of good quality free range chicken
a little bit of canola or olive oil
1 x tin of whole italian tomatoes
1 x jar of puttenesca pasta sauce from Woolworths (about one and a half cup) *
1 x tub of creme fraiche
1 x cup of black pitted olives
1 x bag of chopped spinach
10 x large brown mushrooms
* to make your own Puttenesca sauce prepare a tomatoe based sauce with, tinned italian tomatoes, capers, olives, mixed herbs and anchovies…

Fry the chicken pieces in a hot pan until crispy but not completely cooked. Layer them in a deep oven dish, add salt and black pepper.

Mix the sauce: the tin of whole italian tomatoes, the jar of puttenesca sauce, the olives and the creme fraiche…

Cover the chicken with the chopped spinach, and layer with the sliced brown mushrooms….. cover with the tomato based sauce and bake in a preheated oven for about 1 hour untill well cooked.

With lunch safely tucked into the “gas oven – a bit of a scary thought for me” we could relax and enjoy a cup of tea with a slice of Chocolate Fudge Tart – recipe under Sweet Yummyness.

After a quick walk on the beach, the flavours of warm tomatoes and olives called us to the lunch table…

Mandy served the Puttenesca alla Mandy with cous-cous and a lovely spinach and cabbage salad.

The “green salad” was a combination of shredded spinach, cabbage, feta, and a sauce made of mayo thinned with a bit of milk and a spoon or two of pesto, served with a handfull of wallnuts…

Lunchtime at Linga Longa is a “Linga Longa affair”…. it goes on and on, and at around 4 o’clock Abby and Elzaan made us SMORES…. as you always needs a bit of sweetness after a good meal…

Walking in the beautiful Cape Point Nature reserve is a visual feast of greens and greys…. to follow is a couple of shots from our late afternoon walk…. a short walk, as I need to start prepping the Fish pie, as tonight, it is my turn in front of the “gas stove”…. a new recipe, super excited about how it will turn out…

Enjoy the Fynbos…..

Time to get back to the kitchen, there’s a Fish pie waiting to happen…..