Tomato, aubergine and feta linguine

Image Souce: Taste.com.au

Ingredients

• 1 medium aubergine/eggplant, cut into 2cm cubes
• 1 red onion, cut into wedges
• salt and cracked black pepper
• 3 vine-ripened tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 400g fettuccine
• 1/3 cup (80ml) olive oil
• 1/2 cup (100g) fetta, roughly crumbled
• 1/4 cup basil leaves
• crusty bread, to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190°C. Place the eggplant and onion on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Spray with olive oil spray, and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 10 minutes. Add tomato and spray with oil spray. Cook for a further 15 minutes then remove and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water according to packet instructions or until al dente. Drain, return to pan and cover to keep warm.
3. Add olive oil to pasta. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Divide pasta between serving bowls. Serve with crusty bread

Source: Taste.com.au

Delicious tea-time cinnamon loaf

Cinnamon is one of my favourite spices, perfect for these autumn days. Although available throughout the year, the fragrant, sweet and warm taste of cinnamon is a perfect spice to use during the winter months. Cinnamon has a long history both as a spice and as a medicine. I will use it a lot between now and Christmas, sprinkled on top of baked apples, added to fruit crumbles, and a component of this simple and delicious tea-time treat.

Ingredients

2 medium-size eggs

1 cup caster sugar

½ cup vegetable oil

2½ cups sifted self-raising flour

¾ cup semi-skimmed milk

1 cup raisins

Topping: 3 tbsp cinnamon mixed with 2 tbsp sugar

Method

1. Mix oil, caster sugar and eggs until thick and creamy (using a mixer).

2. Fold in (by hand) flour, milk and finally raisins until smooth.

3. Empty into a 2lb loaf tin well greased with Bakewell Paper.

4.Sprinkle the mixed sugar and cinnamon evenly over the top of the cake.

5. Place cake in cold oven and then switch on to 160 C/ gas 3 for 1hr.

6. Leave cake to cool before slicing and buttering.

Baked peaches with an almond crust

This rough, buttery almond crust works with nectarines and apricots, too. Just scatter it over the halved and stoned fruit just before baking. Serves 4.

4 ripe peaches or nectarines
50g shelled almonds
50g golden caster sugar
45g butter

Set the oven at 180C/gas mark 4. Wipe the peaches or nectarines and cut them in half. Tug out the stone, then place the halved fruits cut-side up in a shallow baking dish. Put the almonds in a food processor – there is no need to skin them – and blitz them. They should be somewhere between gravel and traditional ground almonds. (You just want them to lend a crunch to the soft fruit.) Add the sugar and butter and briefly continue to mix. Spoon the almond mixture on top of the peaches and bake for 45 minutes or until the fruit is melting soft and the top is crisp. An occasional basting with the buttery juices can only help.

Source: Nigel Slater

Oven baked red pepper risotto

Image source: BBC Good Food

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil

1 onion , chopped

300g risotto rice

100ml white wine (optional, or use more stock)

400g can chopped tomatoes

200g frozen roasted peppers

500ml vegetable stock

handful flat-leaf parsley , chopped

parmesan  to serve (optional)

Method

Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Heat the oil in an ovenproof pan, then fry the onion for a few mins until softened. Turn up the heat, tip in the rice, stir, then fry for 1 min more. Pour in the wine, if using, stirring until absorbed, then pour in the tomatoes, peppers and 400ml of the stock. Cover and bake in the oven for 25 mins until the rice is tender and creamy.

Stir in the remaining stock and parsley, season and scatter with Parmesan, if you like.

 Source: BBC Good Food

Nigel Slater’s Courgette Cake

Courgettes have the ability to make a cake as moist and sweet as if you added ground almonds to the recipe.

Serves 6.

200g butter
200g caster sugar
2 eggs
150g courgettes (about 2 small ones)
1 small apple
200g plain flour
a large pinch salt
½ tsp baking powder
pinch cinnamon
60g pecans
80g sultanas (half cup, packed)

Preheat oven at 180C/gas mark 4. Butter and line the base of a loaf tin measuring 20cm x 12cm x 9cm deep. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs and mix them in, one at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Coarsely grate the courgettes and the apple. Squeeze them with your hands to remove any excess moisture, then add to the mixture. Mix the flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon, and gently fold into the mixture. Stir in the nuts and fruit. Transfer to the lined loaf tin and bake for about an hour, or until golden and firm to the touch. Allow to cool in the tin before turning out.

Salad of roasted squash, beetroot and feta cheese

Image source: Daily Mail

Ingredients

1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into small wedges

4-6 small-medium raw beetroot, washed and cut into wedges

1tbsp olive oil

1 bag of rocket, watercress and spinach salad leaves

200g (7oz) feta cheese

50g pine nuts, lightly toasted

1tbsp balsamic vinegar

3tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 200degrees C/gas 5. Place the butternut squash and beetroot in a roasting tray, toss in 1 tbsp of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 30-45 minutes (depending on the size of the pieces), until tender and the squash is just becoming golden.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly, or leave until completely cool if you prefer a cold salad. Arrange the salad leaves on a large platter or divide up onto individual plates along with the squash and beetroot. Place spoonfuls of the goat’s cheese on
top, and scatter with the mustard cress and pine nuts.
Mix together the balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil
Adapted from Daily Mail recipe

Creamy Vegetable Casserole

I am not going to give any vegetable amounts here – just add as much or as little of your favourite vegetable. The following are some suggestions:

onion, sticks celery, garlic, carrot, parsnip, mushrooms, butternut squash.

You will also need:

• 3 rounded tbsp tahini
• 425 ml vegetable stock
• 400g tin blackeye beans
• fresh parsley

To cook the casserole, pre-heat the over to 200C or equivalent.

Sweat the onions, celery and garlic in a tbsp olive oil until they are soft.

Add the carrots, butternut sqush or your choice of vegetable.

Dissolve the tahini in the vegetable stock and add this too.

Add half the blackeye beans to the casserole and mash the remaining beans to break up before adding.

Add the parsley, and cook for 1 hour in the oven.

When you remove it from the oven, give it a stir and check to see if it needs more seasoning.

Serve with baked potato or rice.

(Adpated from Cooking without made easy)

Sophie Grigson’s Summer Fruit Pudding

Image: bbcgoodfood

Summer pudding is traditionally made with berries – small, fleshy fruits full of tasty juice, such as raspberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants and loganberries. The juice is an important part of this dessert, which is why strawberries generally don’t figure in classic summer pudding recipes, even though they are in season at just the right time. Their juice content just isn’t high enough for a satisfactory result.

The ideal summer pudding should not be too sweet. Some of the berries, such as redcurrants, impart a tartness to the pudding which is balanced by the other ingredients, and the overall sweetness of the pudding is variable, which is why it’s a good idea to taste the fruit before you use it and adjust the sugar content accordingly. Connoisseurs and those with a discerning palate will be able to fine-tune the sweetness of their pudding to an exact degree.

Good-quality white bread is best for summer pudding. Standard sliced white bread doesn’t have the body to maintain the shape of the pudding once it’s released from the mould – it simply turns to an unpleasantly slimy mush. Most wholewheat breads have a little too much body, and their own distinctive taste can easily overpower the delicate flavours of the fruit. The berries – not the bread – are the star of this show. It should have a tight, even texture with no large holes.

This simple seasonal pudding is the perfect summer dessert. You’ll need a 1litre/2 pint pudding basin to make it in.

Ingredients

750g/1lb 14oz mixed summer fruit (such as raspberries, red, white and blackcurrants, loganberries, blackberries, cherries and blueberries)
185g/6½oz caster sugar
1 medium loaf good-quality white bread, slightly stale
2 tbsp cassis or blackcurrant cordial

Method

Place the fruit in a pan. Remove the stems from the redcurrants (if using) with a fork, pour the sugar over the fruit and stir gently to mix together.

If you have time, cover the pan with a tea towel or cling film and leave for 3-5 hours (or overnight) to get the juices running. Place the pan over a moderate heat and bring gently up to the boil.

While the fruit is simmering, cut the bread into thin slices and remove the crusts.

When the juices are beginning to flow, raise the heat slightly and simmer for about 2-3 minutes. Then turn off the heat and stir in the cassis or blackcurrant cordial.

Cut a round out of one slice of bread to fit the bottom of the bowl, then cut the remaining slices into triangular wedges.

Dip one side of the bread circle into the juices in the pan containing the fruit, then place the circle in the bottom of the pudding basin, juice-side down. Do the same with the bread triangles, dipping one side of the bread into the juices before placing them around the edge of the bowl, with the dipped side facing outwards. The tips of the bread triangles will be sticking up from the top of the bowl at this stage.

Once the bowl is completely lined with the juice-soaked bread (be sure to plug any gaps with small pieces of bread if necessary), spoon all of the fruit and its juices into the pudding basin. Trim the tips of bread from around the edge. Cover the top of the fruit with more wedges of bread. Place the pudding basin on a plate to collect any juices.

Find a saucer that fits neatly inside the bowl. Place it on top to cover the upper layer of bread, then weigh the saucer down with weights – bags of rice, tins of baked beans, or whatever comes to hand. Let it cool, then place in the fridge overnight.

The next day, remove the weights and the saucer. Run a thin blade around the edges, then invert the basin onto a shallow serving plate.

Turn the pudding out, cut into thick slices and serve the summer pudding with cream.

For a step-by-step guiding on making this pudding, click here

Adapted from BBC h2g2

Quick and easy lentil salad

This is just as good if you use dried lentils and cook them first (follow the instructions on the packet, throwing a couple of peeled cloves of garlic into the cooking water, but not salt which will toughen the lentils if added before they are properly soft).

Ingredients

• 4 rashers of thin cut streaky bacon
• 3 tbsp olive oil a sachet or tin of cooked puy lentils
• a clove of garlic
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• a handful of frisee lettuce

Method

• Heat a frying pan to very hot, and add 1tbsp oil.
• Snip the bacon across into strips with a pair of scissors and add to the pan.
• Cook briskly for a minute, then add the lentils, rinsed if they came from a tin, and a splash of water (or stock).
• Crush in the clove of garlic and cook, stirring constantly until really hot.
• Taste and season with salt, pepper and maybe a splash of chilli sauce, or a little more oil if the bacon wasn’t very fatty.
• Serve tumbled over the frisee lettuce.

Source: Telegrah Food & Drink

Watch video of recipe here

Nigel Slater’s Strawberry and Mascarpone Tart

Nigel Slater suggest using “posh” biscuits, such as almond, orange or sweet oat biscuits, but I find that plain old digestives works just fine for my purposes. Mascarpone is a soft Italian version of cream cheese, rich and sweet and delicious. I love it. And of course strawberries are everywhere at this time of year, so it’s a perfect summer recipe for entertaining. What I love about it is that it can be assembled ahead of time yet it looks like you have gone to a lot of effort to make it.

Ingredients
For the crumb base
250g/9oz almond, orange or sweet oat biscuits
75g/3oz butter, melted in a saucepan
For the filling
1 large egg
1 tbsp caster sugar
250g/9oz mascarpone cheese
2 drops vanilla extract
250g/9oz strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced

Method
You will need a rectangular tart tin with a removable bottom. Nigel uses a long, thin one, 34cm x 12cm/13in x 5in, but you can make it in something shorter and wider if that is what you have. I use a round tart tin, as that is all I have.For the crumb base, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Crush the biscuits to a coarse powder. A food processor will do this in seconds or you can put the biscuits in a plastic bag and bash them with a rolling pin., which is my preferred Jamie Oliver style method and it has the added benefit of getting all my frustration out. Do it gently or the bag will split though.

Thoroughly mix the crumbs with the butter. Spoon the crumbs into the tart tin and smooth them into the corners and up the sides. Press firmly, but not so hard that they become compacted. The biscuit base is better when short and crumbly. Refrigerate until the base has set.

Make the filling. Separate the egg, put the yolk in a bowl with the sugar and beat for a few seconds until thoroughly mixed. Beat in the mascarpone until you have a custard-coloured cream. Stir in a little vanilla extract; a couple of drops should be enough. With a clean whisk, beat the egg white until it stands stiff, then fold it into the creamed mascarpone.

Spoon the mascarpone into the biscuit crust, spreading it smoothly right out to the edges. Hull the strawberries, slice them thinly, then arrange them on top of the mascarpone. Keep cool, removing the tart from the refrigerator a good twenty minutes before serving.