Category: Kitchen

Vege Bake

It is always a joy when I can prepare a dish that is not only delicious, but, where most of the ingredients come straight from the garden. Vege  Bake satisfied both of those criteria and our hunger.

 

 

 

We ate the Bake with a roasted beetroot salad and a baked potato.

 

 

 

 

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Vege Bake

A cross between a Bake and a Frittata. 

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Vegetarian
Servings: 2
Ingredients
  • 250 gm pumpkin peeled and sliced
  • 1/2 Red Capsicum
  • 1/2 Green Capsicum
  • 1 small onion sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic peeled
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • 1 ½ cups pureed carrot
  • 1 cup tomato pasta sauce
  • 125 gm cottage cheese
  • 3 tomatoes - wedged
  • ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
  • 4 eggs
  • 200 ml cream
  • salt & pepper
  • Grated Cheese
Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 190C. Line a deep oven proof dish with tinfoil and then baking paper.

  2. Cook carrot and mash. Spread on base of deep oven proof dish.

  3. Place pumpkin, capsicum, onion, garlic, and rosemary in a roasting dish with a coating of olive oil. Cover with baking paper and and roast until tender - about 40 minutes.

  4. Cover carrot with tomato pasta sauce and season to taste.Spread cottage cheese over tomato layer.

  5. Layer pumpkin mix and tomato wedges next and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and salt & pepper to taste.

  6. Whisk eggs, cream and salt to combine. Pour over vegetables. Sprinkle with grated cheese and pumpkin seeds. Cook for 1 hour.

SharonLeave a comment

Sicilian Caponata

I love Gordon Ramsay’s recipes, for me they never fail, perhaps because he never omits an ingredient. So many recipes leave out the seasoning, or are unclear about small details; this can be so frustrating for the home chef.

I have become used to asking the ‘gardener half’ what vegetables I need to use before planning menus, and last night he surprised me by saying “Eggplants” this was a surprise because we have been eating courgettes for months. I thought about Ratatouille, but – you guessed it – I wanted to stay away from courgette, although we still have tons of them. I browsed the web, I thought for a long time about Eggplant Parmigiana but it seemed it should be the star, not the side. I passed the bookshelf and pulled out Ramsay’s Best Menus, and there it was: Sicilian Caponata. (Another good thing about this book – the recipe was under ‘aubergine’; so many cook books index by name rather than main ingredient).

 

Eggplant or Aubergine? Apparently those of us ‘down under’ use the term eggplant, as do the Americans, while the Brits use aubergine. I think of aubergine as a colour and eggplant as a vegetable – go figure.

 

I served this as a side with beef casserole and garlic mash.  Gordon served it as a starter with rustic bread. I prepped all the other ingredients while the eggplant was soaking, had a glass of wine and then cooked the caponata, so all up 45 minutes to table (for the caponata).

This was the STAR dish, it is absolutely amazing, I can see how it would be fabulous as a starter with bread.

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Sicilian Caponata
Ingredients
  • 1 eggplant aubergine
  • 5 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 2 Celery stalks trimmed & chopped
  • 1 Red Pepper deseeded & chopped
  • 1 Onion peeled & chopped
  • 2 Garlic cloves peeled & chopped.
  • 5 large Tomatoes
  • 2 Tablespoons Caster Sugar
  • Sea Salt
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
  • Freshly ground Black Pepper
  • 100 gm Olives chopped
  • 50 gm Capers rinsed
  • Handful Basil leaves torn
  • 50 gm toasted Pine Nuts
Instructions
  1. Cut the eggplant into chunks, place in colander and sprinkle with sea salt, leave for 30 minutes; then rinse and pat dry.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a wide, heavy based pan and add eggplant, onion, celery, and red pepper with a little seasoning. Saute over a high heat for 5 minutes.
  3. Add chopped tomatoes, (Gordon skins and deseeds the tomatoes), garlic, sugar, vinegar, olives, and capers.
  4. Continue cooking over high heat for another 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until eggplant is tender. Check seasoning.
  5. Scatter basil and pine nuts over top and serve.

SharonLeave a comment

Cauliflower Mac Cheese

 

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Cauliflower Mac Cheese
Servings: 2
Ingredients
  • 90 gm dried pasta
  • 1/3 small cauliflower chopped
  • 1 1/2 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp dry mustard
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 1 1/2 cups cheese grated
Instructions

  1. Cook pasta and cauliflower until al dente, drain and rinse immediately under cold water to stop cooking.

    Preheat oven to 375C.

    Over medium heat melt butter, add flour, salt, mustard, and pepper. Stir constantly for a minute to cook flour.

    Remove from heat and stir milk in slowly. Return to heat and stir constantly until sauce thickens.

    Remove from heat and stir in 1/3 of cheese and cooked pasta and cauliflower.

    Place half of the pasta mix in a casserole. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the remaining cheese, top with the rest of the pasta mix and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

    Bake for 25 minutes.

Sharon1 Comment

Aioli

 

Just a quick recipe to get started. I use this Aioli in place of mayonnaise and it makes a great dip or spread for sandwiches.

 

 

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Aioli
Prep Time
10 mins
Total Time
10 mins
 

Creamy, garlicky, easy. What more could you ask for?

Course: Side Dish
Servings: 6
Author: Sharon Mosley
Ingredients
  • 1 egg
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup neutral oil
Instructions

  1. Place all ingredients, except oil, in food processor and process for 1 minute to mix well. 

  2. With the motor running drizzle oil very slowly through feed tube until thick.

Recipe Notes

My mini processor does not have a feed tube, so I added oil 1 teaspoon at a time until mixture started to thicken, then about a tablespoon at a time till I reached a thick pouring consistency. I used nearly all the oil, but just keep an eye on it.

 

 

 

 

 

SharonLeave a comment