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Posts Tagged ‘Vegetarian’

Irish Champ

Posted in Food, Irish Food, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 26 November 2011| 7 Comments »

We love  champ, and this recipe adds an extra layer of deliciousness. This idea is from Jamie’s latest book and we especially liked the addition of yellow celery leaves at the end.

King of mash: Irish champ

  • 1kg potatoes
  • 2 scallions
  • 1 leek
  • 150ml milk
  • 1 fresh bay leaf
  • 50g butter
  • a small handful of watercress (we omitted this as there was none in the shop)
  • a small bunch of flat-leaf parsley
  • a small handful of yellow celery leaves

Peel the potatoes and bring a large pan of  salted water to the boil. Cut the potatoes into 2.5cm chunks then add to the pan and boil fast for 12-15 minutes, or until completely tender.

Meanwhile, slice the scallions and leeks as finely as you can. Put them in a saucepan with the milk, bay leaf, butter and plenty of seasoning. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently for about 7-8 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and let them steam dry for a few minutes in the hot pot. Mash the potatoes, adding spoonfuls of the milk as you go. Taste and season. Roughly chop the watercress (if using) and stir through the mash (discard any thick stalks).

Just before serving reheat the mash with a lid on over a gentle heat. Stir in the parsley and celery leaves and serve with more butter if you like.

(Original recipe from Jamie’s Great Britain by Jamie Oliver, Penguin, 2011.)

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Post Op Mac n Cheese

Posted in Cheese, Food, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , on 20 November 2011| Leave a Comment »

Poor Jono had to go into hospital to have his hand reset after breaking it on Monday and after a general anesthetic some comfort food was required!  This recipe has bags of flavour as well as the comfort factor required.

Macaroni cheese – to serve 6

  • 75g butter
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 75g plain flour
  • 900ml boiling milk
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 225g cheese (we used a mixture of Gruyère and double Gloucester or you can just use Cheddar)
  • 300g macaroni pasta

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the onion and cook gently until soft. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute, then gradually add the milk, keep stirring all the time, and the mustard. Stir in 3/4s of the cheese and let it melt, then season.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water with a tsp of salt, until just soft (a minute or two less than it says on the pack). Drain, then mix into the cheese sauce and transfer to a ovenproof dish. Scatter the rest of the cheese over the top and put under a hot grill until brown on top.

(Original recipe from Rachel’s Favourite Food at Home by Rachel Allen, Collins, 2006.)

Wine Suggestion: This would be great with a full-bodied, structured white. Structure usually comes from oak – a Pouilly-Fuisse would be fantastic!

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Spiced haloumi on a warm Beluga lentil, spinach & caramelised beetroot salad

Posted in Food, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 7 November 2011| Leave a Comment »

We’ve admired Denis Cotter from afar and when we got his new cookbook devoured it as usual. What we found was that each recipe had loads of component which built up a brilliant spectrum of flavours, and yet appeared so complex that unless you have time and patience (and sometimes the ingredients too) you’d rarely make the dishes. This one is an exception as it really comes together quite easily and the flavours are superb. We are definitely encouraged and will try more!

Spiced haloumi on a warm Puy lentil, spinach & beetroot salad – to serve 4

  • 2 medium beetroot, washed, cooked and peeled (we boiled ours for about 25 minutes)
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • olive oil
  • 200ml vegetable stock
  • 100ml red wine
  • 100g Puy  lentils (we used Beluga)
  • 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 4 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 4 scallions, thinly sliced
  • 2 dried bird’s eye chillies, ground (or less if you prefer)
  • 2 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, ground
  • finely grated zest of 1 lime and juice of 2
  • 200g haloumi cheese, cut into 8 slices
  • 100g baby spinach leaves

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4.

Slice the beetroot into thin wedges, toss with the balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil and roast in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until starting to caramelise.

Meanwhile, bring the vegetable stock and red wine to the boil in a large pan. Add the lentils, thyme and garlic, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, uncovered, until the lentils are just tender but still firm. If there is any liquid left, turn the heat up and boil until it is almost gone. Stir in the roast beetroot and scallions, and remove from the heat. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix the chillies, cumin and lime zest together. Halve the haloumi slices diagonally.

Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry the haloumi until browned on both sides. Sprinkle the spice mix and juice of 1 of the limes over the cheese and toss to coat.

Place some spinach on each plate and scatter some of the lentil mix over. Arrange the haloumi slices on top and finish with the remaining lime juice.

(Original recipe from Denis Cotter’s For the love of Food, Collins, 2011.)

Wine Suggestion: You need something that’s earthy for the beetroot and lentils but also fruity and juicy to balance the heat of the spices. Try a Chilean red made from the Carmenere grape which is an emerging match for spicy food (including Indian curry!).

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Low-fat Curry for Autumn

Posted in Asian, Food, Healthy, Indian, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 1 November 2011| Leave a Comment »

This is a handy mid-week curry with nothing like the calorie and fat content of an Indian take-away!

Indian butternut squash curry – to serve 4

  • 200g brown basmati rice
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 butternut squash, diced
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • 2 tbsp curry paste (we used Patak’s Madras paste but you can go for a milder paste if you prefer)
  • 300ml vegetable stock
  • 4 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
  • 400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 3 tbsp fat-free Greek yogurt
  • small handful coriander, chopped

Cook the rice in boiling salted water according to the instructions on the pack. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the squash for a few minutes until lightly browned. Add the onion and the curry paste and fry for another 3 or 4 minutes.

Pour over the stock, then cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Add the tomatoes and chickpeas, then gently cook for a few minutes, until the tomatoes slightly soften.

Take off the heat and stir through the yogurt and coriander. Serve with the rice.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Roasted Mushroom Risotto

Posted in Food, Italian, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 23 October 2011| 1 Comment »

Another cracker from Jamie Oliver. We have posted other risottos on this blog but none quite compare to this one – no doubt due to the copious quantities of butter and Parmesan. This is definitely a weekend dish! It is supposed to serve 6 but we served it as a starter for 8. Delicious!

Risotto ai funghi e prezzemolo (Roasted mushroom risotto with parsley)

  • 1.1 litres vegetable stock
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • a knob of butter
  • 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 bulb of garlic, cloves peeled and halved
  • 1/2 a head of celery, trimmed and finely chopped
  • 400g risotto rice
  • 2 wineglasses of dry white vermouth or dry white wine
  • 200g wild mushrooms, wiped clean and torn
  • a small bunch of thyme, leaves picked
  • a small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, very finely chopped
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 70g butter
  • 115g freshly grated Parmesan plus a bit extra for grating over
Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6.

Heat the stock. Put the olive oil and knob of butter into a separate pan, add the onion and finely chopped garlic and celery, and cook slowly for about 15 minutes without letting it colour. When the vegetables have softened, add the rice and turn up the heat.

Keep stirring the rice as it lightly fries. When is starts to look slightly translucent and glossy add the vermouth and keep stirring.

Once the vermouth has cooked into the rice, add a ladle of hot stock and a good pinch of salt. Turn the heat down to a simmer and keep adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring and massaging, allowing each ladle to be absorbed before you add another. This will take about 15 minutes but you do need to taste the rice and check if it’s cooked. If not, keep going with the stock until the rice is soft but still has a little bite. If you run out of stock just use some boiling water.

Meanwhile, heat a heavy ovenproof frying pan or tray until medium hot and add a splash of olive oil. Fry the mushrooms for a minute or more until they start to colour, and season with salt and pepper. Add the garlic, thyme and the tbsp of butter and mix together. Put the pan in the oven and roast the mushrooms for about 6 minutes or until cooked through. We discard the garlic at this stage.

When your rice is cooked take it off the heat and add the 70g of butter , the chopped parsley and the Parmesan. Stir well. Put a lid on the pot and allow it to sit for a couple of minutes.

Roughly chop chop half the mushrooms and stir into the risotto, adding a good squeeze of lemon juice too. Divide between plates and sprinkle over the remaining mushrooms and a bit of freshly grated Parmesan.

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Anna Del Conte’s Pasticcio di Penne con Formaggi e Funghi

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 17 October 2011| 1 Comment »

We’ve been looking out for Anna Del Conte’s Gastronomy of Italy for some time now. This is a book in serious need of reprinting – a true Italian bible. The recipe’s are straightforward and authentic and there is an excellent section on the regions of Italy. We snapped this up when at last a second-hand copy became available on Amazon and suggest you do the same if you get the chance.

This is a really nice dish for autumm – a bit like macaroni cheese but with mushrooms. There is no place for calorie counting here!

Baked Penne with Cheese and Mushrooms – to serve 4

  • 20g dried porcini, soaked, drained and chopped
  • 500g fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 50g unsalted butter
  • 300g penne
  • butter for the dish
  • 150g Bel Paese cheese, thinly sliced (we couldn’t find Bel Paese so substituted Taleggio)
  • 150g fontina cheese, thinly sliced
  • 75g freshly grated Parmesan
  • 200ml double cream

Heat the oven to 200ºC/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Sauté the porcini and fresh mushrooms with the whole garlic clove in 25g of the butter over a high heat. Add salt and pepper, lower the heat and cook for 3 minutes. Throw away the garlic.

Cook the pasta according to the pack. Drain and dress with the remaining butter.

Butter an ovenproof dish and cover the bottom with layer of pasta. Spread about a quarter of the mushrooms and sliced cheese over the pasta and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan. Add another layer of pasta and cover with mushrooms and cheese. Repeat this until all the ingredients are used, finishing with a cheese layer. Pour over the cream and season with salt and pepper.

Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes, or until a light crust has formed on the top. Settle for 5 minutes before serving with a green salad.

Wine Suggestion: We drank a Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley  in California that our friend Jen kindly brought back from her holidays. There are some great wines being made here that we rarely see outside the US so it was a treat and a really good match for the dish. If you haven’t been travelling we’d suggest finding a pinot noir with juicy, ripe fruit balanced by a lightness of touch – avoid anything too alcoholic or jammy which will overwhelm the food. If you find a nice “earthy” pinot from Hawkes Bay in New Zealand or Burgundy then you’re on the right track.

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Hot Buttered Beetroot

Posted in Food, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , on 7 October 2011| 2 Comments »

Here’s a really lovely side dish. Good with roasts or grilled meat.

Hot buttered beetroot – to serve 6

  • 3 medium beetroot, trimmed but not peeled
  • 25g butter
  • 1 tbsp chopped thyme leaves.
Cook the beetroot in a large pan of boiling salted water for 20-25 minutes or until tender. Allow to cool slightly, then peel off the skins – gloves are advisable! Chop the beetroot.

Melt the butter in a frying pan. Add the thyme and cook for a minute before adding the beetroot and tossing to coat in the butter.

(Original recipe by Tom Kerridge in BBC Good Food Magazine, October 2011)

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Woohoo it’s sunny! An Irish/Italian Salad

Posted in Food, Italian, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 10 September 2011| 1 Comment »

Irish SaladThis caprese salad is made from all Irish ingredients – even the mozzarella (fellow Dubliners can pick some up in Fallon & Byrne). Perfect for what will probably be one of our last sunny lunches for this year.

Caprese di Mozzarella – serves 2

  • mozzarella cheese
  • 2-3 tomatoes, sliced
  • basil leaves
  • olive oil
  • salt
Drain the cheese and cut into thin slices. Arrange the tomato and mozzarella slices in concentric rings on a nice plate. Sprinkle with basil leaves, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt (salt is a necessity here!).

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Pasta al forno con pomodori e mozzarella

Posted in Food, Italian, Italy, Pasta, Vegetarian, Wine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 29 August 2011| 2 Comments »

Otherwise known as “Jamie’s Pasta Bake”; a simple, tasty dish that can be easily doubled for parties. Delicious hot for dinner with some garlic toasts and also cold the next day for lunch.

The recipe suggests using orecchiette but any pasta shapes will do so it’s a great way to use up all the packets lying around the cupboard.

Baked pasta with tomatoes and mozzarella (serves 4 generously)

  • 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped (white onions are suggested but any other onion lying to hand will do)
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
  • 1 to 2 dried chillies, crumbled
  • 3 x 400g tins of good quality plum tomatoes
  • large handful of basil, torn
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 400g short, any shaped dried pasta, preferably orecchiette
  • 4 very big handfuls of freshly grated parmesan
  • 3 x 150g balls of mozzarella, sliced
Preheat oven to 200C / 400F / Gas 6.

Heat a saucepan on Medium-low heat and a couple of glugs of olive oil, onion, garlic and chill. Slowly fry for 10 minutes until softened but not coloured.

Add tinned tomatoes and a small glass of water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Wizz sauce until smooth add basil leaves, red wine vinegar and season.

Boil a large pot of salted water and cook the pasta shapes according to packet instructions. Drain and then toss with half the tomato sauce and a handful of parmesan.

Rub a little olive oil in a baking tray and layer a third of the pasta in the bottom. Follow by a layer of tomato sauce a handful of parmesan and 1 mozzarella ball. Repeat two more times and until ingredients are used up. Make sure that there is a good layer of cheese on the top.

Cook in oven for 15 minutes or until golden and bubbling.

Original recipe: Jamie’s Italy

Wine suggestions: This will work equally well with a nutty, dry white like a Verdicchio or Greco di Tufo or  a mid-weight red like Barbera, Montepulciano d’Abbruzzo or a fruity Chianti. You don’t need to get too complex as this is a very social dish so it suits a social and easy style of wine.

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Roasted Garlic Toasts

Posted in Brunch, Food, Italian, Side dish, Uncategorized, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , on 28 August 2011| 4 Comments »

We love garlic bread but often the garlic is too raw and over-powering and it doesn’t love us back. For these toasts we roasted the garlic first before making the butter which gives a more subtle flavour.

You can make the garlic butter in advance.

Garlic Toasts (serves 4, easily multiplied for larger quantities)

  • 3 fat Garlic Cloves, peeled
  • 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/2 tablespoon Flat-leaf Parsley, chopped
  • 4 slices of Crostini, or a demi-baguette, sliced diagonally
Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Put garlic and olive oil in a small roasting tin and season with salt and ground black pepper. Cover with foil and roast for 20 minutes.
When cooked and golden, remove from oven, cool slightly and then mash the garlic cloves in a small bowl with a fork. Add the butter and parsley and mix thoroughly.
Put bread on baking tray, spread with the garlic butter and bake until crisp (roughly 5-10 minutes).
We served this with Jamie Oliver’s Pasta Bake to great effect.
Original recipe: Bill Granger’s “Every Day”, Murdoch Books

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Spicy sweet potato & feta salad

Posted in Food, Uncategorized, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 13 August 2011| Leave a Comment »

This was supposed to be Thursday night’s dinner but we were seduced by some Minervois and French food in La Cave instead. Thankfully it works just as well on a Friday night! The spicy sweet potatoes make this a main meal salad but you could also serve it as a side to some barbecued meat or even a starter.

Sweet potato salad – to serve 8 (we adjusted quantities to serve 2)

  • 4 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed
  • olive oil
  • 1 tbsp cumin seeds, crushed with a pestle and mortar
  • 3 dried chillies, crumbled 0r some chilli flakes
  • 4 scallions
  • 400g vine tomatoes
  • a small bunch of basil leaves
  • balsamic vinegar
  • 100g watercress
  • 200g feta cheese
  • a handful of mixed seeds, toasted (we used pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds)

Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Roughly chop the sweet potatoes into large chunks then toss in olive oil, salt and pepper, the crushed cumin and chillies until well coated. Put on a baking tray and roast for about 25 minutes or until they are soft inside and crispy outside. Let them cool a bit.

Roughly chop the scallions and tomatoes and add to a bowl with the basil leaves. Dress with a good splash of balsamic vinegar and twice as much good quality olive oil, then season with salt and pepper.

Squidge the sweet potato on to a big platter and top with the dressed onions and tomatoes. Pile the watercress on top and crumble over the feta. Drizzle some more olive oil over and sprinkle with the toasted nuts. Delicious!

(Original recipe by Jamie Oliver for Sainsbury’s magazine, August 2009)

 Wine suggestion: try a white wine with good food ability and fresh fruit flavours. We chose a white Bordeaux, G de Guiraud, the dry white wine made by famous Sauternes producer Chateau Guiraud. The Semillon gives it a great food friendliness and structure to stand up to the many flavours in the salad, while the Sauvignon Blanc brings a fruitiness which balances the spicy chilli flavours.

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Silver Spoon Penne with Saffron

Posted in Food, Pasta, Uncategorized, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , on 7 August 2011| 12 Comments »

This is made just like a risotto, except you use penne pasta instead of rice. Sounds strange but apparently it’s quite common in the south of Italy, according to our Italian friend. The pasta ends up really soft instead of al dente like we’re all used to but it melts in the mouth and is not at all like over-cooked pasta. We served this as a dinner party starter and it was really simple to stir up while we all had an aperitif.

Penne Gialle (Penne with Saffron) – to serve 4 (or 6 as a starter)

  • about a litre of vegetable or meat stock
  • 40g butter
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 350g penne lisce (this is the smooth type but if you have ridged penne that will do)
  • pinch of saffron threads
  • 40g Parmesan cheese, grated
Bring the stock to the boil. Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan, add the onion and cook over a low heat for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add the penne and stir until shiny and coated with fat. Add a ladleful of hot stock and stir until it has been absorbed. Continue adding stock, a ladle at a time, until the pasta  is completely cooked. Stir the saffron into the last ladleful of stock before adding it to the pan. Mix well until everything turns an even yellow colour. Remove from the heat and sprinkle with the Parmesan.
(Original recipe from The Silver Spoon Pasta published by Phaidon – we highly recommend it!)

Wine Suggestion: We had a Friulano from the north-east of Italy but any fresh Italian white with good roundness and medium body will do. Stay clear of Pinot Grigio as it doesn’t tend to taste of much.

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Tuesday Night Veg & Black Bean Soup

Posted in Food, Healthy, Soup, Uncategorized, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 2 August 2011| Leave a Comment »

Easy, tasty, low-fat, cheap, hearty… need we say more? We had carrots and celery that needed used so we added more than the recipe suggests – it was a good idea!

Black bean and chilli soup – to serve 2 

  • 1 onion chopped
  • 2 sticks celery, sliced
  • 1 carrot, diced small
  • olive oil
  • a pinch of chilli flakes
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 400ml vegetable stock
  • 400g tin of black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 150ml natural yogurt
  • a small bunch of coriander, chopped
Cook onion, celery and carrot in 1 tbsp olive oil until softened. Add the chilli flakes and cumin and cook for another minute. Add the tomatoes, stock and beans and simmer for about half an hour, or until the veg is soft. Serve with a dollop of yogurt and some coriander on top.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Crushed pea & broad bean crostini

Posted in Food, Uncategorized, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 25 July 2011| Leave a Comment »

We will definitely do this recipe again; the flavours burst in your mouth and taste so summery. Our inspiration was our friend Carol who had some pea puree with radishes at a lovely Sunday lunch recently and Sheila from Gimmetherecipe posted a similar recipe and reminded us to try it. Such an easy summer starter.

Crostini with pea purée rocket & broad beans – to serve 6

  • 200g double-podded broad beans
  • 400g frozen peas
  • 85g butter
  • 100g natural yogurt
  • leaves from a small bunch of mint
  • 1 ciabatta, sliced
  • 1 small bunch dill, chopped
  • couple handfuls of rocket
  • 140g radishes, thinly sliced
  • 85g pecorino cheese
  • extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle
  1. Cook the broad beans for 4 minutes until just tender. Drain, , cool under cold running water, then drain and set aside. In the same pan, fry the peas in half the butter until just cooked. Allow to cool, the blitz in the food processor (or use a hand blender) with the yogurt, mint and seasoning.
  2. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Melt the rest of the butter in a small pan, stir in the dill, then brush over the ciabatta slices. Bake for 10-12 minutes until crisp and golden.
  3. Spread some pea purée onto each slice, top with rocket, broad beans and radishes. Shave some pecorino over the top. Drizzle with oil before serving.
(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)


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Glazed veggie kebabs for the bbq

Posted in Barbecue, Food, Healthy, Uncategorized, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , on 13 July 2011| Leave a Comment »

This is a veggie version of our Easy BBQ Kebabs and this time we made our own honey-mustard marinade. Another convenience item that we won’t be buying again as it’s just so simple to make (and we always have honey and mustard in the cupboard). These should keep your veggie friends happy or you can serve them as a side dish for the carnivores. We had them with baked potatoes and parsley butter as there was leftover parsley in the fridge. Very yummy indeed.

Veggie kebabs to serve 4

  • 2 tbsp clear honey
  • 2 tsp grainy mustard
  • 4 tbsp oil
  • 2 courgettes, thickly sliced
  • 1 aubergine, cut into chunks
  • 1 red onion, cut into thin wedges
  • 12 cherry tomatoes
  • 1 orange pepper, cut into chunks
If you only have wooden skewers you need to soak them for about 30 minutes or they will burn on the barbecue. We like metal ones.

Blend the honey, mustard and oil with seasoning.

Thread the vegetables onto the skewers and brush with the glaze.

Cook for 20-30 minutes on the barbecue.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

If you have leftovers stir them through some couscous with some toasted nuts and herbs for lunchboxes.

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We like people who grow their own veg …

Posted in Food, Uncategorized, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 12 July 2011| 2 Comments »

… they always need help eating them. According to Johnny and Vivienne Mitchell, this courgette season is so good in Dublin that they can’t keep up. We were the lucky recipients of this courgette and another one so far – yay!

Courgette, basil & almond pasta – to serve 2 

  • 175g/6oz orecchiette pasta
  • 2 tbsp toasted blanched almonds (we only had flaked almonds so we toasted these and they did the job)
  • 2 small or 1 medium courgette (or a chunk off a massive one)
  • 1 garlic clove
  • large bunch basil
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 rounded tbsp grated parmesan
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
Cook the pasta in salted water according to the instructions on the pack.

Meanwhile, finely chop the almonds, chop the courgette into small chunks, crush the garlic and pick the basil leaves from the stalks.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the courgette for a few minutes until it starts to soften, then add the garlic and half the basil and cook for another minute.

Drain the pasta and add it to to the courgettes, along with the almonds, the rest of the basil, the parmesan, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Toss everything together and serve with extra parmesan.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

 

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Summer Mezedes: a scrumptious feta starter

Posted in Food, Greek, Uncategorized, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 11 July 2011| Leave a Comment »

Tiromezes

This is so simple to make and was an excellent way to start a Greek meal (see main course below). The saltiness of the feta becomes imperceptible with grilling, and it balances perfectly with the sweetness of the tomato and mild heat of the chilli. We’ll definitely do this again!

Tiromezes: easy cheese appetizer – serves 4

  • 4 square, thick slices feta cheese
  • 1 large tomato, cut into 4 rounds
  • 1 long green chilli, thinly sliced
  • pinch of dry oregano
  • pepper
  • olive oil for drizzling

Preheat the grill. Put the cheese slices side by side in a shallow flameproof dish. Put a tomato slice on top of each feta square and top with the slices of chilli. Sprinkle with oregano and pepper and drizzle with a little bit of oil. Grill for 6-8 minutes, until the tomato and chilli are lightly browned. Serve immediately with a glass of ouzo if you have some (we didn’t 😦 maybe next time).

(Original recipe from Vefa’s Kitchen)

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Multi-vegetable paella

Posted in Food, Uncategorized, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 5 July 2011| 5 Comments »

Another recipe from our favourite veggie cookbook, Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi. This is easy-peasy with fantastic results. A long list of ingredients but you may have some of the spices in the cupboard already and the vegetables are all in season so you should be able to pick them up for relatively cheap. We thought the olives weren’t really necessary so if you don’t have any you could leave them out.

Multi-veg paella – to serve 2 generously (but you’ll manage it)

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • half a Spanish onion, finely chopped
  • 1 small red and 1 small yellow pepper, cut into strips
  • half a fennel bulb (we just used the whole fennel bulb), cut into strips
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 15og Calasparra rice (or another paella rice – or if you’re stuck long-grain rice will do)
  • 100ml good-quality medium Sherry (we never go by Lustau)
  • 1 tsp saffron threads
  • 450ml boiling vegetable stock
  • 200g shelled broad beans (fresh or frozen)
  • 12 mini plum tomatoes, halved
  • 5 small grilled artichokes in oil from a jar, drained
  • 15 pitted Kalamata olives, crushed or halved
  • 2 tbsp roughly chopped parsley
  • 4 lemon wedges

Heat the olive oil in a paella pan, or large shallow frying pan, and gently fry the onion for 5 minutes. Add the peppers and fennel and continue frying on a medium heat for about 6 minutes, or until soft and golden. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Add the bay leaves, paprika, turmeric and cayenne to the vegetables and stir well. Then add the rice and stir for 2 minutes before adding the sherry and saffron. Boil down for a minute, then add the stock and 1/2 tsp salt. Reduce the heat to the minimum and simmer very gently for about 20 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Don’t cover the pan and don’t stir it.

Meanwhile, pour plenty of boiling water over the broad beans in a bowl and leave for a minute, then drain and leave to cool down. Squeeze each bean gently to remove the skin.

Take the paella pan off the heat. Taste and add more salt if needed but still try not to stir it too much. Scatter the tomatoes, artichokes and broad beans over the rice and cover tightly with foil. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.

Take the foil off. Scatter the olives on top and sprinkle with parsley. Serve with the lemon wedges.

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Something to use up courgettes and feta cheese

Posted in Food, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 21 June 2011| Leave a Comment »

We came across this while searching for inspiration on how to use some courgettes and feta cheese that had been lurking in the fridge since the weekend. It was really tasty, very quick and cheap to make (even if you don’t happen to have any courgettes and feta in the fridge). All we had to buy today was some salad leaves and ciabatta bread to go with it. Perfect summer fare for a weeknight.

Courgette & bean bake with feta – to serve 4 (easy to half)

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 courgettes, halved lengthways and sliced into half moons
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 tbsp chopped oregano
  • 3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
  • 2 x 410g tins cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
  • 200g pack feta
  • crusty bread and salad to serve
  1. Heat half the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the courgettes for 5 minutes or until golden. Stir in the garlic and half of the oregano and cook for 30 seconds before gently folding in the tomatoes and beans. Heat through for about 4 minutes. Season to taste, then heat the grill to medium.
  2. Transfer to an ovenproof serving dish. Crumble over the feta, drizzle with the remaining oil, then grill for 5 minutes until the cheese has turned golden brown. Sprinkle with the rest of the oregano and serve with crusty bread and salad.
Wine Suggestion: Stick to the summer theme with a glass of rosé – we recommend the 2010 Chateau de L’Engarran from the Languedoc (€13.95 from Mitchell & Son). Perfectly dry and fresh; a great accompaniment to food.
(Original recipe from BBC Good Food Magazine, June 2009).

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A very impressive pasta dish

Posted in Food, Italian, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 20 June 2011| 3 Comments »

Jamie Oliver recommends you practice this recipe before serving for a crowd and we agree. We cooked this about a year ago for our friends Rob and Megan and while the flavours and presentation were great we made the pasta just a bit too thick. Second time around we slimmed down the pasta, with the help of our new pasta machine and it improved dramatically, but we miscalculated the width so had to trim the rotolo after rolling. So Jono’s tips for success:

  • You need a fish kettle;
  • make the pasta very thin, but not quite as thin as usual (we used setting 6 instead of 8). Jamie says the thickness of a beer mat, but make it a fraction thinner than this;
  • measure the width of your rotolo against the fish kettle before constructing it – allow a little of pasta at the edge to keep it sealed nicely; and
  • this takes ages, but it’s really worth it, tastes great and looks super impressive.

First you need to make some fresh pasta so here’s a recipe for that:

  • 600g type 00 flour
  • 6 eggs or 12 yolks (the 12 yolks makes a richer, more yellow pasta)
Put the flour on a board, make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into the well. Use a fork to beat the eggs until smooth. Mix the eggs with the flour as much as possible so it’s not too sticky and start to knead. It’s actually quite hard to knead pasta dough but keep at it for about 10 minutes and it will come together and form a smooth, silky and elastic dough. Cover with cling film and rest for an hour.
Rotolo di zucca e ricota (Rotolo of spinach and ricotta)
  • 455g fresh egg pasta dough (see above)
  • half a butternut squash, deseeded
  • olive oil
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • half a dried red chilli or half a tsp of chilli flakes
  • a handful of fresh marjoram or oregano
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
  • 800g spinach, washed
  • 250g unsalted butter
  • a third of a nutmeg, grated
  • 150g ricotta cheese, crumbled
  • 55g freshly grated Parmesan
  • 20 fresh sage leaves
  1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/gas 7. Chop the squash into big chunks and rub them with a little olive oil. Bash coriander seeds, fennel seeds and chilli in a mortar and pestle with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Dust this over the squash and put into a snug fitting roasting dish or tray. Cover with a piece of damp greaseproof paper and roast for 30 minutes. Take off the paper and continue to roast for another 15-20 minutes or until golden.
  2. Heat a large pan and add a little olive oil, the marjoram or oregano and the garlic. Toss around for 20 seconds before adding the spinach. Keep moving the spinach and add a couple of knobs of butter and the nutmeg after a minute or two. Cook until the moisture has cooked away, then season to taste and leave to cool.
  3. Roll the pasta using a pasta machine into long thin strips (see tip above). Stick the strips together using a little water. Keep it in a rectangular shape but trim off as you need. Lay onto a  clean tea towel (remember to measure the long side against your kettle).
  4. Spoon a line of squash along the long edge of the sheet. Sprinkle the spinach over the rest of the sheet leaving the top 5cm clear. Crumble the ricotta over the spinach and sprinkle over the Parmesan. Brush the clear edge of the pasta with a little water then use the near edge of the tea towel to roll the pasta up and away from you. Roll up in the tea towel and tie firmly at the end with kitchen string. Tie a few bits of string round the middle too to keep the shape and tie an extra bit of string at one end so it can hang out of the kettle and act as a handle.
  5. Fill the fish kettle with boiling salted water. Lower the rotolo in and use the fish kettle rack on top to keep it submerged. Simmer for at least 25 minutes.
  6. While the rotolo is cooking you need to clarify some butter. Put the remainder of the butter into an ovenproof dish and put in a low oven (about 80C/170F) for about 10 minutes or until clear and melted. The milky whey will have sunk to the bottom, discard any white bits from the top and spoon out the clear butter. Discard the whey. You’ll have too much but the leftovers can be used for roast potatoes another day.
  7. Put 3 tbsp of clarified butter into a small pan and heat it up. Add a sage leaf and if it fries nicely add the rest of the leaves and fry until they start to crisp. Keep to one side.
  8. Carefully remove the rotolo from the pan, remove the string, unroll the tea towel and slice it up. A couple of slices per portion. Scatter sage leaves and drizzle with the sage flavoured butter and grate some Parmesan over. Serve with a leafy salad.
(Original recipe from Jamie’s Italy)

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