Potato and Cheddar Tortellini

From Simon Bryant’s Vegies, Simon Bryant, Lantern, 2012.

When I am in the right mood, I thoroughly enjoy making pasta. There is something truly relaxing about making a dough and pounding it, then squeezing it through the rollers again and again until it is the thickness that you want.

I did not use Simon Bryant’s recipe for the pasta; his was very rich with 500g flour, 3 whole eggs and 9 yolks. I used my favourite one of 250g flour with 2 whole eggs and one yolk. This was mixed with a little olive oil and a little water until the consistency that I wanted. It was then put in the refrigerator for an hour.

Meanwhile the filling was made. I simmered 9 garlic cloves (unpeeled) in a little milk for about 10 minutes. They were then taken out of the milk and placed in a small dish with a little butter and a sprinkling of salt. They went in the oven (200ºC) for about 15 minutes. Then were taken out and left to cool.

I boiled two large potatoes and when done they were mashed with 5 of the garlic cloves squeezed from their skins. A dollop of butter was added with about 100ml cream. These were stirred in and then into the mix went a grating of nutmeg, a good pinch of cayenne, quite a bit of white pepper, a handful of chopped parsley, a little extra virgin olive oil and almost a cup of grated cheddar cheese. The mixture was stirred until combined then tasted and some salt added. Over stirring was avoided.

The pasta was now rolled thin, cut into 10cm rounds, a tablespoon of filling added, and they were then formed into the tortellini. They went into a pot of boiling salted water and were cooked until they had floated to the surface. I gave them a minute or two extra in the water before dishing them up.

The tortellini went onto serving plates. Two squeezed garlic cloves went onto each plate. A sprinkling of cayenne was added as well as freshly ground black pepper. I added a little grated cheese and an extra dribble of olive oil.

These were fun to make and as I only made sufficient tortellini for two I still have pasta and filling left over. I have other plans for using these up.

These were richly different tortellini. They were smooth, peppery and satisfying to eat. I could certainly consider making these again.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Watermelon Salad with Pistachios, Basil and Vincotto

From Simon Bryant’s Vegies, Simon Bryant, Lantern, 2012.

The recipes from Simon Bryant’s book all look great but often require a little searching to find all of the ingredients because they are not always mainstream. However when I get the chance I’m generally keen to try them and the ingredients for this salad were pretty easy to come by: watermelon, tomatoes, basil, mint, pistachios.

The watermelon was sliced and peeled leaving triangles of flesh. These were brushed with olive oil and placed on a grill for a couple of minutes each side. They were then put on the serving plate, a couple of tomatoes cut into pieces mixed with them and some torn basil and mint leaves sprinkled over. A good handful of roasted pistachios went on top. Olive oil was then dribbled over as well as a couple of tablespoons of vincotto. A good helping of freshly ground black pepper was sprinkled over.

This was a refreshing salad as watermelon always seems to give. I loved the tangy sweetness of the vincotto and the mint against the juicy melon slices.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔✔

Spinach Sambal Tempeh

From Simon Bryant’s Vegies, Lantern, 2012.

This was the first time that I had used Simon Bryant’s book so I made sure that I followed carefully and measured everything out.

Firstly I made a burnt chilli sambal which was quite fun to make and also gave more than was necessary so I have some on hand for the future.

Before getting into the main part of the dish the tempeh had to be broken up and deep fried until golden and crispy.

The main dish then began with slicing half an onion (I was making sufficient for two) and frying it in the wok until it had softened. Two chopped tomatoes were then added and cooked until they had broken down somewhat. I then added the chopped stems of half a bunch of English spinach.  They went in the wok with a tablespoon and a half of the sambal. A minute or two later the spinach leaves were added and stirred around until they wilted. Now the remainder of the sauce ingredients (vegetarian oyster sauce and light soya sauce) were added with a little water. Once it had thickened a little the tempeh was added. When it was warmed through the dish was ready to be served with rice.

I did enjoy this meal though I generally don’t find that tempeh is my most favoured ingredient. Frying it first had altered its nature somewhat so it was quite acceptable. The flavours were subtle but I think I would have added more of the sambal. It was quite hot so I had been cautious with it but next time I’ll increase the quantity.

This is a book worth investigating further. Bryant has been strongly influenced by Asian cuisine that comes through strongly in all of his recipes. The rich flavours enhance vegetarian cooking so I look forward to trying out more and also using some of the rarer ingredients I have noticed when browsing through the pages of the book.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔ Once the sambal is made the dish is a breeze to make.