Ricotta Frittata with Rocket & Pine Nut Pesto.
Rarely will I turn down a challenge to create a dish from a handful of disparate ingredients. So when my friend Elle “demanded” that I create something to showcase her two favourite ingredients, eggs and pine nuts – I eventually took the bait. So today, I created a rather delicious lunch for myself which went down a treat. A lovely light frittata using ricotta to liven things up accompanied by an earthy and tasty pesto. Top marks for using these two together – top of the class for making them so tasty!
INGREDIENTS:
For the frittata:
3 eggs
1/2 cup fresh ricotta cheese
1/2 cup baby rocket leaves
salt & pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
For the pesto:
1 cup (tightly packed) rocket leaves
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
salt & pepper
DIRECTIONS:
To make the pesto, blend all the ingredients together in a food processor until semi smooth. Set aside.
Preheat grill.
To make the frittata, Whisk together the eggs and ricotta, stir in the rocket leaves, salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a medium frying pan until just hot then pour in the egg – cook for 2 minutes then place under the grill for 3-4 minutes until the egg is completely set.
SERVING:
Serve the frittata with a spoonful of pesto and some crusty bread or toast.
Prawns with Lemongrass, Chilli and Coconut
This is a simple little Thai inspired dish that went down an absolute treat. Using the inspiration of a Thai curry, I narrowed down the ingredients to be much less complex, while still trying to retain the 4 flavour profiles, sweet, sour, salty and spicy. The results were great – a lovely balance of all four. I’m loathed to use the “curry-in-a-hurry” cliché – but this was created in a snap and really rather special. Give it a try.
INGREDIENTS: (serves 2)
300g tiger prawns (peeled and deveined)
3 lemongrass stalks (white parts only, sliced)
1 tablespoon fresh ginger (roughly chopped)
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
3 hot thai chillies (chopped – seeds in)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 tablespoons coconut oil (or vegetable/peanut oil)
250ml coconut milk
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 cup red capsicum (cut into slices)
100g French beans (cut in half lengthways)
Garnish
Fresh coriander
2 tomatoes (cut into segments)
1 lime (cut into segments)
DIRECTIONS:
In a food processor, blend together the lemongrass, ginger, garlic, chilli, salt and pepper into a course paste. Add a couple of tablespoons water if needed to get it going.
Heat a wok with the oil over a moderate/high heat until hot. Add the paste to the pan and stir fry for 2 minutes until lightly golden. Add half the coconut milk and stir once. Reduce the heat slightly then let the sauce simmer gently for 3-4 minutes, stirring regularly until reduced and the oil is just beginning to separate. Add the prawns and stir fry for 3-4 minutes more until they’re cooked through. Add the remaining coconut milk, the capsicum, beans, fish sauce and about 1/3 cup water and stir until just boiling. Cook for 1 minute then remove from the heat and serve.
SERVING:
Sprinkle over lots of coriander and tomatoes and serve over fluffy Jasmine rice. Serve the lime alongside to squeeze over as you see fit!
Spaghetti with Cavalo Nero and Almonds
It’s been a while since my last post. This is not a suggestion that I have either given up on the blog, or stopped eating – merely that I have been inundated with real life issues like work and… work But today I felt compelled to share this delicious recipe I created using the delicious Cavolo Nero cabbage (or Tuscan Cabbage as it goes by in the English speaking world). I picked up a huge bunch at the Sydney Markets on friday and after much thought decided it would make a lovely Sunday lunch pasta – the weather in Sydney was sunny, but cold – so this was a perfect dish to warm the soul. I had no idea that this would pack such a hit of flavour. The cabbage is earthy, creamy and so so delicious when mixed with the spaghetti. The almonds add a little nuttiness in both flavour and texture – it’s a simple dish to put together and in my opinion one of the tastiest pasta dishes I’ve eaten in a long long while. This is a must cook!
INGREDIENTS: (serves 2-3)
250g cavalo nero (leaves removed from stems, and stems discarded) (as an alternative to Cavalo Nero, you could also use Green Cabbage, Swiss Chard leaves or Kale).
4 garlic cloves (peeled and left whole)
50g slivered almonds
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
250g spaghetti
Salt & pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Heat 2 large pans filled with water and 1 tablespoon salt until boiling. To one of the pans, add the Cavalo Nero and garlic and cook for 6 minutes. Add the almonds and cook for a further 7 minutes. Drain the leaves, retaining about 400ml of the water.
Pop the leaves into a food processor and add 1 tablespoon butter, half the Parmigiano-Reggiano, the extra virgin olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Add about half a cup of the cabbage cooking liquid. Blend the mixture into a semi smooth paste then set aside.
To the other boiling pan, add the spaghetti and cook to the packet instructions until done. Drain the pasta and return the empty pan to the heat. Add the remaining butter and half the cabbage paste. Tip in the spaghetti then the remaining paste and then another half a cup of the cabbage cooking liquid. Stir well for 1-2 minutes until well combined. Remove from the heat.
SERVING:
Spoon the pasta into serving bowls and sprinkle with the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano – a grinding of black pepper and a final drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Bellissimo!!
Fatoush Salad
This is one of my all time favourite salads. Lebanese food is up there with the greats, simple healthy and incredibly tasty – I could eat it all day, every day. As is the way, Lebanese food tends to be eaten as small mezze plates, so that the eater gets to enjoy little mouthfuls of all manner of treats. Accompanying any good spread is a leafy salad – the king of which, in my humble opinion, is Fatoush. A melange of crunchy vegetables alongside crispy, fried Lebanese bread (a great way to use stale bread). The whole thing is dressed in a sharp, citrus dressing using lemon and pomegranate molasses. The result is a sweet and savoury sensation! Recipes differ from place to place, and I often change up the ingredients slightly depending on what’s in the fridge, but so long as you keep the major ingredients the same, there’s room for manoeuvre.
INGREDIENTS: (serves 4-8 as a side dish)
1-2 lebanese flat-breads
3/4 cup olive oil
1 medium Lebanese cucumber (seeded and cut into 2cm cubes)
2 tomatoes (seeded and cut into 2cm cubes)
6-8 red radishes (trimmed and cut into 2cm cubes)
5 spring onions (cut into 2cm pieces)
1 small yellow capsicum (cut into 2cm cubes)
1/2 cup fresh parsley (chopped)
1/2 cup fresh mint (chopped)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cups Iceberg lettuce (torn into small pieces) (substitute with other salad leaves if you like)
1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds (optional)
1 lemon (juice of)
3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
DIRECTIONS:
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a moderate heat until hot. Break up the bread into bite size pieces then fry in the oil both sides until crisp. Drain on paper towels and leave to cool completely. Discard the oil.
Combine all the vegetables and herbs in a large bowl and leave in fridge.
Whisk together the lemon juice, molasses, extra virgin olive oil and salt. Just before serving, toss into the salad the bread pieces. Pour over the dressing and stir well. Serve immediately otherwise the bread will lose its crunch.
SERVING:
Serve alongside pretty much any Lebanese treat – check out some of my other Lebanese recipes for perfect partners
Persian Feta, Peach & Red Onion Salad
I’m glad it’s peach season – they’re one of my favourite fruits. They’re great on their own obviously, and also in sweet dishes but they’re equally great alongside savoury ingredients. This Persian inspired salad uses one of my favourites, soft and creamy Persian feta together with peach and red onion. The saltiness of the feta marries very well with the sweetness of the peach – and the sweet sharpness of red onion brings the two together perfectly. A refreshing little side dish to meat, poultry or fish. Good stuff.
INGREDIENTS: (serves 2)
4 tablespoon sized chunks of Persian Feta
1/4 cup rocket leaves
1 medium peach (cut into thin slices)
1/2 red onion (thinly sliced)
1 lime (juice of)
Salt & Pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh pomegranate seeds (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
Toss the sliced onion in half the lime juice and leave for 5 minutes – Toss together with the peaches. Arrange the rocket in the base of a serving dish then add the onion, peach slices and then top with the feta then pomegranate seeds (if using). Season with salt and pepper then drizzle over the remaining lime juice and a final drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
SERVING:
Serve as a side to whatever takes your fancy – fish, meat or poultry! Particularly fantastic with lamb!
Kale with Tahini Sauce, Pine Nuts and Pomegranate
This delicious dish turned out fabulously well. It came about whilst preparing a Middle Eastern spread for dinner tonight. I’d found some Kale at the market (not something we usually see in ready supply in Australia), so devised something rather tasty to accompany my other dinner dishes, which made good use of it. Kale is much like silverbeet or spinach – dark green leaves with a slight bitterness. Unlike silverbeet or spinach the leaves hold their shape well during cooking and the green colour isn’t lost either. A perfect accompaniment to the earthy bitterness of the leaves was a rich, nutty tahini sauce topped with more toasty nuttiness from roasted pine nuts and a final burst of sweet sharpness from some fresh pomegranate. All in all – a splendid little side dish that almost stole the show.
INGREDIENTS: Serves 3-4 as a small side dish.
For the sauce:
2 heaped tablespoons Greek style natural yoghurt
1 tablespoon tahini paste
1 small garlic clove (crushed into a smooth paste)
1/2 small lemon (juice of)
Pinch of white pepper
For the Kale:
2 large leaves of fresh kale (stems trimmed and discarded)
Pinch of bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 small red onion (chopped)
2 garlic cloves (chopped)
1/2 cup dry white wine
Salt & Pepper
Other:
2 tablespoons pine nuts (dry roasted in a pan)
2 tablespoons fresh pomegranate seeds
DIRECTIONS:
To make the sauce, combine all the ingredients well and add about 2 tablespoons of water to loosen slightly. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
To make the kale. Heat about 300ml water in a large pan until boiling. Tear the kale into bite sized pieces and add to the pan with the bicarbonate of soda. Cover a cook for 2-3 minutes until just soft. Remove from the pan and drain in a colander – set aside.
Heat a large frying pan with the olive oil over a moderate heat until hot. Add the onion and garlic and fry gently for 3 minutes. Pour in the wine and let this bubble for a minute or so until reduced by half. Shake the excess water from the kale then add to the pan and sauté for 1-2 minutes until hot. Season well with salt and pepper then remove from the heat.
SERVING:
Arrange the kale in a serving bowl then spoon over the tahini sauce. Sprinkle over the pine nuts and pomegranate seeds. Then, if you like, sprinkle over a little paprika. Serve with meat or fish.
Beef Goulash
After 3 days of near torrential rain, my patience was wearing paper thin. I hadn’t left the house and I was going a little stir crazy. This also meant that I hadn’t been out to purchase anything fresh to eat. After a quick wrestle with my over stocked freezer, I yanked out a large piece of beef. Physically unable to put it back, I was forced to make a quick recipe decision. The misery of the rain reminded me other misery of Hungary… Well, the “Central European cheeriness” at least. Hungarian food is one of my secret favourites. Rich, heavy and absolutely delicious. I decided to change up my old favourite goulash recipe as it’s a little on the fatty side, so created an altogether more friendly version instead. I hope you enjoy – I most certainly did.
INGREDIENTS:
1kg chuck steak (cubed)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, thinly sliced
8 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds
4 tablespoons paprika
4 fresh bay leaves
1 cup red wine
600ml beef stock (hot)
salt & pepper
2 tablespoons sour cream
parsley (for garnishing)
DIRECTIONS:
Heat the oil in a large casserole pan until just hot. Add the onions an sweat for 3-4 minutes before adding the garlic, caraway and bay leaves. Turn up the heat and add the beef. Fry for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally until browned. Add the paprika and then the red wine. Stir well. Reduce the heat to medium and let the sauce bubble for 3-4 minutes, adding a little water it if becomes too dry. Pour in the hot stock and season with plenty of salt & pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to low. Simmer partially covered for 2 1/2 hours until the beef is soft – add more stock or water if needed throughout that time if it becomes too reduced. At the end of the cooking time, stir in the sour cream and bring to light simmer. Remove from the heat, check for seasoning and then FINALLY serve!!
SERVING:
Sprinkle over the parsley and serve alongside rice or spätzle with lots of vegetables! Be sure to add a little dollop of sour cream over your portion just before eating…
Mexican Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup
After buying a whole lot of chicken thighs on special, and after realising that my freezer was was way beyond capacity, I needed something to use up a few. This soup killed two birds with one fell swoop. Fresh sweetcorn in undeniably delicious, but for a reason unknown to me, it is one of those vegetables I purchase then, almost wantonly, watch deteriorate over a week. I’m often at a loss of how to use it creatively. Ultimately, I have lost many hundreds of corn cobs to the bin as a result. This recipe puts them to excellent use. Bringing their sweetness to a rustic, spicy soup. It’s a hearty and filling soup that was perfect for a pretty cold (yes cold!) Sydney summer’s day.
INGREDIENTS:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion (finely diced)
1 carrot (finely diced)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 chicken thigh fillets (left whole)
½ teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
5-6 stems fresh coriander (leaves and stalks chopped)
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 fresh corn cobs (corn removed)
1 litre (hot) chicken stock
1 lime (juice of)
fresh coriander (for garnish)
DIRECTIONS:
Heat the oil in a large pan over a moderate heat until hot. Add the onion, carrot, garlic and oregano and fry gently for 4-5 minutes until soft. Add the chicken and fry on each side for 2 minutes. Add the chilli, cumin, nutmeg, salt, coriander and pepper and stir well. Add about two thirds of the corn and set aside the rest. Now add the chicken stock. Bring this to a boil then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pan and simmer gently for 45 minutes. Remove the chicken pieces and chop into smallish chunks then set aside.
Using a stick blender, blend the soup into a smooth texture. Return the chicken to the pan and then add the remaining corn. Bring back to a simmer then remove from the heat. Check for seasoning then serve hot.
SERVING:
Spoon into a bowl then squeeze over a little lime juice. Sprinkle over some fresh coriander then serve with either crusty bread or freshly fried corn tortilla chips.
Chickpea and Pancetta Soup
I made this on the fly today as a huge hunger overcame me. Being just after an epic Christmas week, I never thought I’d be hungry again but out of nowhere – a ravenous greed took hold. After clattering around the cupboards looking for something, I happened upon my stash of canned chickpeas. They’re one of those things I think I always need when I’m at the supermarket. Once home I remember I already have 15 cans… and so the collections grows. This Italian soup is fast, simple and rather filling to boot. It’s also incredibly tasty. A rich, creamy texture that managed to completely hit the spot – and left me doing the only other thing other than eating I’ve been doing this Christmas… napping.
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion (finely chopped)
1 garlic clove (finely chopped)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon dried oregano
100g thinly sliced pancetta (roughly chopped)
2x400g cans chickpeas
500ml chicken stock
DIRECTIONS:
In a large pan, heat the oil over a moderate heat until hot. Add the onion, salt, pepper, oregano and garlic and gently fry for 4 minutes until golden brown. Add three quarters of the pancetta and let this fry for 4-5 minutes until golden and most of the fat rendered. Add the chickpeas with their liquid and the stock to the pan and turn up the heat. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat slightly and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and then using a stick blender, blend the soup for a few minutes until completely smooth. Return to a very low heat to keep the soup hot.
In a small frying pan, with a little oil, fry the remaining pancetta for 3-4 minutes until crisp. Remove from the pan oil and all.
SERVING:
Pour the soup into a bowl, and then spoon over some of the pancetta and a little of the cooking oil. Grind over a little more black pepper and the serve piping hot with some crusty bread.
Rabbit Liver Pâté
It’s fast approaching… Christmas that is, and I have been tasked with making a starter for all to enjoy. As there’ll be about 15 of us, all of whom are greedy and appreciate good food, I will be revisiting an old favourite of mine from this very blog. Rabbit liver pâté is rich, smooth and incredibly luxurious. The liver is sweeter than chicken, duck or goose liver and more delicate in flavour. This pâté is simple and quick and the results are so lovely. One of my most favourite things to eat in the world.
The tricky part is finding a butcher who sells rabbit livers… once you discover a source (like I have) tell NOBODY – or they’ll be constantly sold out. That’s the Christmas spirit for you isn’t it?!
INGREDIENTS:
200g rabbit liver (trimmed and cut into chunks)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion (very finely diced)
1 clove garlic (finely diced)
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme (very finely chopped)
1 teaspoon parsley (finely chopped)
generous splash fino sherry
salt & pepper
3 tablespoons cream (whipped to peaks)
DIRECTIONS:
Melt the butter in a small pan until bubbling. Add the onion and garlic and fry gently fot 5 minutes until golden brown and soft. Add the liver and cook for 2 minutes before adding the sherry, parsley, thyme salt & pepper stir for 1 minute then remove from the heat and leave for 2 minutes.
Place in a food processor and blend for a few minutes until the pâté is smooth.
Leave to cool for 5 minutes, then gently fold in the whipped cream. Spoon into a ramekin and smooth out. Cover with some plastic wrap or if you’re feeling fancy – melt 2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter in a saucepan and pour over the pâté to form a protective skin.
Leave in the fridge for a few hours to develop in flavour and to firm up.
SERVING:
You can’t beat pate with some crunchy oven toasted bread – or even just crusty fresh bread.
Lee: I LOVE these skewers!!! I want them right now. Damn it!!!...
Ben Lee: Mate, cooked these up the other day. Didn't last long. In fact when I ...
heymrleej: He Vanessa, thanks for the post. I know it's not a traditional recipe ...
Vanessa: ..forgot to mention...I am looking forward to trying your other recipe...
Vanessa: Sounds delicious and I shall try it. However, the spices used in an au...