Organic natural yoghurt with fruits of the forest and homemade honey granola

Breakfast tends to be the most rushed and probably most neglected meal of the day. We all know how bad this is for our health but we still struggle to make time for it and most of us tend to skip it completely.

You could have counted me in the ’skipping’ bunch just a few years back but now it’s very different. Time, or rather age and body aches, have taught me the hard way that I need to nourish my body properly if I want to have a top class performance during a demanding day.

This is why I started to make fresh pots of organic yoghurt, berries and homemade granola. Granola is definitely not part of a Mediterranean diet so I don’t have any childhood memories to relive as such, but homemade granola is delicious and once you have tasted it you want to make lots!

So, here is my very own version of millefiori honey granola:

• 400 g rolled oats
• 200 g whole almonds
• 200 g mixed hazelnuts, sunflower and sesame seeds
• 125 ml sunflower oil
• 300 ml millefiori honey
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• pinch of grounded clove

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 150°C.
• Put the oil, honey, cinnamon, vanilla, clove and salt in a saucepan and bring to the boil by stirring consistently.
• In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients and pour in the hot liquid, stirring well.
• The result should be a sticky, crumbly dough. Add oats if it is too runny or add a bit of water if it is too thick.
• Spread the mixture on a non-stick baking tray and pop it in the oven for at least 1 hour.
• Don’t forget to keep checking the granola, breaking it up to ensure that it turns an even golden colour.
• After an hour reduce the oven temperature to 100°C and cook for a further 30 minutes.
• When the granola is ready take it out and leave to cool for at least an hour or preferably overnight. Then cut the cool granola into small bites and serve with yoghurt and fresh berries.

The granola will keep for a week in an airtight container. However, in the shop we like to munch on it during the day so we keep making fresh batches all the time!

I also tend to chop some of the fruit to add in - strawberries are ideal - and cook them gently with a bit of sugar and a few drops of vanilla extract. The result is a syrupy base that, mixed with other berries or fruit, sits nicely at the bottom of the pot and makes for a sweeter fruit compote to mix with the yoghurt and granola.