Pumpkin pasta

A rainy day at home.
Mark’s out tonight.
I’m out tonight.
Thought I’d front load all food prep instead of amplifying the noise of the witching hour this evening. We’re heading abroad on Friday so I need to empty the fridge.
Found half a pumpkin.
Skinned it. Diced it. Roasted it with olive oil and some salt.
For about 40mins to an hour. Forgot it was in the oven.
Mashed it up.
Then, boiled up some spaghetti.
Would have liked to use risoni, but had run out.
Drained it, having reserved some of the pasta water.
Put the mashed pumpkin in the now empty pasta saucepan and stirred it around with five heaped tablespoons of cream cheese and the zest of a lemon.
Would have preferred mascarpone but didn’t have any.
Waistline is grateful.
Then, returned the spaghetti to the same pan, stirred around so the pumpkin /cream cheese mixture coated the pasta.
Chopped it up very finely for gutsy Lexi and into smaller pieces of Zach.
Sprinkle grated cheese on top. Ideally parmesan, but cheddar will do just fine.

The verdict:
Zach refused to eat his lunch.
Was sent to his room for being difficult.
Had the same plate presented to him for dinner.
He ate ALL of it.
Every last mouthful.
(NB: He was having a carpet picnic whilst watching The Incredibles for a rainy day treat).

Lexi ate hers up.
All of it.
And when she rejected her dinner that same evening she recognised it on Zach’s plate and tried to steal it.

I squeezed some lemon juice through my portion and ground some black pepper on top to cut through the sweetness of the pumpkin.
Very nice indeed.
Will definitely make this as a starter for a dinner party, albeit with mascarpone.

Mark will be having leftovers tomorrow. Will see what he makes of it.

Ottolenghi's roasted aubergine with saffron yoghurt

This does not necessarily conform to the Two Birds One Stone mantra, but I get asked for the recipe so often that I thought it would be easier to post it once.

I used to order this every time I went to Ottolenghi. Even for breakfast, if it was ready, although the garlic could be confronting so early in the day (I tend to use half the quantity of garlic suggested below).

Thankfully they published a cookbook so now that I no longer live nearby I can attempt to recreate some of the wonderful taste sensations they offered.

I’m reproducing this from ‘OTTOLENGHI the cookbook’ (Ottolenghi & Tamimi, London: Ebury Press, 2008, p. 29).

Should you fancy a copy of the cookbook the ISBN is: 9780091922344

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ottolenghi-Cookbook-Yotam/dp/0091922348/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269489583&sr=8-1

Ingredients to serve 4

3 medium aubergines, cut into slices 2cm thick or into wedges

Olive oil for brushing

2 tbsp toasted pine nuts

A handful of pomegranate seeds

20 basil leaves

Coarse sea salt and black pepper

Saffron yoghurt

A small pinch of saffron threads

3 tbsp hot water

180g Greek yoghurt

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 ½ tbsp lemon juise

3 tbsp olive oil

1. For the sauce, infuse the saffron in the hot water in a small bowl for 5 minutes. Pour the infusion into a bowl containing the yoghurt, garlic lemon juice, olive oil and some salt. Whisk well to get a smooth, golden sauce. Taste and adjust the salt, if necessary, then chill. This sauce will keep in the fridge for up to three days.

2. Preheat oven to 220 degrees C/Gas Mark 7. Place the aubergine slices on a roasting tray, brush with plenty of olive oil on both sides and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 – 35 mins, until the slices take on a beautiful light brown colour. Let them cool down. The aubergines will keep in the fridge for three days; just let them come to room temperature before serving.

3. To serve, arrange the aubergine slices on a large plate, slightly overlapping. Drizzle the saffron yoghurt over them, sprinkle with the pine nuts and pomegranate seeds and lay the basil on top.

Serve as an accompaniment to meat or as part of a smorgasboard of salads.

Your friends will be wowed. It is a visual feast.

Red chicken / beef

This is a family favourite and comfort food at its best. It was a treat to have a few cooler days last week. Was getting a bit bored of salads.

In Greek cooking, when meat is braised in a tomato based sauce, the dish is referred to as ‘kokkinisto (insert meat of choice)'. This essentially translates to reddened. I grew up eating red chicken and beef and while it’s the simplest dish in the world to make and to make well, my yiayia Koula’s is still the best kokkinisto I’ve eaten. It’s such a thrill to visit her and find a pot of it on her stove.

Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
A knob of butter
1 medium onion, finely diced*
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 teaspoons ground cinnamom
500g chicken thighs(or chuck steak), diced into two cm pieces
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomato
3 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
Optional
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon sugar / 1 apple, peeled, cored and diced.


Preheat oven to 160 C

Heat the oil and butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan or casserole dish(one that can also be place in the oven). When the butter has melted and is starting to bubble, add the onion and stir around until covered in oil. Reduce heat to low then add the garlic and stir occasionally until the onion has started to soften. Take care to avoid burning the onion.
When the onions are soft, add the cinnamon and stir to combine, allow to cook until you kitchen smells deliciously cinammony, usually 1-2 mins.
Push the onions to the sides of the pan, and add a splash more oil to the pan. Add your chicken (or beef) to the pan and brown it on all sides.
Once this is complete add your tomatoes and stir occasionally until it comes to the boil.
If you want to season your dish, now is the time to do it. However, If your child is under one, it is advised to season it at the table or after you have served theirs. Do add the apple at this stage though.
Put a lid on your dish and transfer it to the oven for one hour.

When you take it our, the chicken should be very tender and the tomatoes should be lovely and oily.

Serve it with boiled rice or risoni. Mum used to use individual jelly moulds to make mountains of rice and the sauce on the side with a drizzle of tomato on top.

Children are very susceptible to presentation so do experiment and do what works for you.

* When your children are a bit older, I’d recommend cutting the onion in half then very finely slicing it instead. This is purely for aesthetic reasons.

My kids both love this. Lexi has hers blitzed a bit, but we're gearing up to chunkier textures.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Everyone has a spag bol recipe up their sleeve. It’s a staple. Even for those who don’t like to cook.

Mine has evolved, over time, from my mother’s to a version inspired by Giorgio Locatelli. His Bolognese, as cited in Made in Italy, turns it into an art form.

I’ve been loyal to the Locatelli way for a few years now, but he has found a competitor in the form of Mrs Joe of ‘Joe and Roy’s’ fame.

Mrs Joe (I’m embarrassed, but I don’t know her name as conversations with Joe reference ‘the magician in the kitchen’) simply cooks extra of whatever Italian goodness she’s making for the family’s evening supper, and they sell in it single portions in their corner grocery store.

Suffice to say, her Bolognese is DELICIOUS. Like seriously wow. And if I ever need to ensure that Zach eats all of his dinner I will buy a portion.

I’ve tried making it many, many times and it has never tasted like Mrs Joe’s. I’ve talked to Joe about it but, frankly, he’s been very little help. Then last week, I met the magician herself. She talked me through it and…………………. I did it! And I think passata (rather than tinned tomatoes) is the trick.

We all ate it with gusto.

So here’s what happened:

1 large brown onion, finely diced

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 carrot, finely diced

2 sticks celery, finely diced.

500g pork mince

500g veal mince

2 jars passata (the ones I use are 720ml each)

1 Bouquet garni

Salt & pepper to taste

Have you ever seen so few ingredients? Mrs Joe doesn’t actually use carrot & celery, however I can’t help but use mirepoix as the base of a Bolognese, mainly because I like knowing there are at least a few vegetables in my children’s dinner.

Heat olive in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat and add a knob of butter.

When the butter has melted, add the onions and garlic. Stir to ensure all of the onion is coated and turn the heat down to low. If I was making this for adults only I would add a pinch of sea salt at this stage, and with the addition of every vegetable. A little trick I learnt from Mr Locatelli’s minestrone. However, as it’s for juniors I wait until after they’ve had their fill before I season. Cook until onion is soft. Take care not to burn the garlic.

Add the carrots, stir to combine with the onions and cook for a few minutes, until that hardness has left the carrot.

Add the celery and stir occasionally until celery is soft.

My casserole dish is only 26cm wide so at this stage I remove the mirepoix from the pan with a slotted spoon and leave to the side.

Then, turn up the heat and add a bit more oil to the pan if you think it needs it.

Add the pork and veal to the pan and using a potato masher ensure that the base of the pan is covered with meat. Then, DO NOT move the meat until it starts to brown on the bottom. I’m talking proper colour, not just not raw anymore, without overcooking it. Once the meat has the colour you need, use a fork to separate it and stir it around to cook the rest of the meat. Once it is browned, return the mirepoix to the pan and stir to combine.

Then add the passata and bouquet garni and stir to combine.

I think the reason the passata works is that it doesn’t have the bitterness of the tinned tomato seeds. It’s more refined.

Bring to the boil, then turn the heat right down and allow it to simmer for an hour or so.

Keep checking it to ensure the bottom doesn’t stick.

It is done when the sauce has thickened and has that lovely oily, tomato-ey consistency.

Mrs Joe use spaghetti # 5.

It was seriously delicious, even if I do say so myself.

The kids did and so did Mark – although I was out that evening and he bit into the bouquet garni, which took some of the joy out of his experience!

An unexpected success

Too distracted by the Academy Awards to check whether there was food for dinner.
There wasn’t. Whoops.
Thank god for the freezer.

I found a bag of diced frozen vegetables (carrots, peas, corn & beans) and a fillet of barramundi.
Steamed them in the microwave. Separately.
4 mins for about one and a half cups vegetables and three mins for fish.
Blitzed two thirds of the vegetables with a third of the fish. Added a knob of butter, a generous pinch of (ready) grated cheddar and blitzed again. Stirred through a cube of frozen apple puree to cool it down . This was a very last minute supper after all.

But did they eat it?

Lexi T. could not get enough. She is a piggy, it can’t be denied, but her appetite for this was voracious. She cried every time I took the spoon away.

Zach ate the remaining un-blitzed veg and fish. No sauce or salt or anything. Let’s not pretend that this was an inspired supper, but the promise of half a Curly Wurly ensured the plate was left clean.

Bird, who has been poorly (flu? man flu? whatever) was presented with his favourite comfort supper: fish fingers, chips and peas and was very happy.

And the washing up was but one steamer and one baking tray.

Love thy freezer.

Salmon, carrot and sweet potato puree or fish cakes

This was inspired by a conversation I had with my friend Clair and a fridge full of carrots and sweet potato.

2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil

1 knob of butter

1 onion, diced.

1 garlic clove, crushed, finely chopped, whatever rocks your boat

2 medium sized sweet potatoes, peeled and diced to 1cm cubes

4 carrots, peeled and diced into 1 cm cubes

1 large zucchini (or 2 – 3 small), coarsely grated

1 400g tin of salmon – you can use fresh salmon if you prefer but I had a tin in the cupboard and was trying not to spend money

Heat oil and butter in heavy bottomed pan over medium to low heat.

When butter has melted, add onion and garlic and sauté until onions soft and glistening.

Take care not to burn them. I always burn the damn garlic.

Add sweet potato and carrots to the pan and stir until they’re coated with oil.

Then (just) cover with water, bring to the boil and reduce heat to a simmer.

When you feel they starting to get soft add the zucchini and stir around.

Simmer until a sharp knife passes through the veg easily.

Add tinned salmon and stir until salmon is heated through.

Mash or coarsely puree depending on the palate of your youngest eater. Mine is 9 months old so it was not-quite-smooth.

Freeze a third to a half of the mixture in ice cubes.

The add the following to the remaining salmon mixture and combine:

1 cup of breadcrumbs

1 eggs

½ cup flour

If you think the mixture is not stiff enough to make fishcakes then add breadcrumbs/flour until you have a consistency that works for you, so that when you fashion them into 3cm balls / fishcakes they don’t fall apart.

Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan, place balls into the pan and press down to partly flatten. Cook until golden brown on each side.

Serve with salad, peas, chips or whatever you fancy. There’s lots of veg here already so don’t sweat about adding extras to the plate.

The consumption reality:

Baby: Loved it. But then she’s a bit of a guts and isn’t the most discriminating audience.

Toddler: Always risky. Meal times have become opportunities to exercise control. Grrrrr. However, he thoroughly enjoyed them.

Adults: Soooo delicious. A lovely rocket and cherry tomato salad, crisp glass of semillion. Very happy.