Testaroli with Pesto Sauce

Testaroli with Pesto Sauce

from Tuscany, Phaidon Press, 2011.

The different types of pasta are always worth investigating. I found this one in Tuscany, a beautifully put together book which manages to combine regional information on Tuscany together with good looking food.

The book is a definite encouragement to actually visit the different regions. An added incentive is a list of food festivals throughout the year. Photographs of the food and the area are scattered throughout the book together with loads of fascinating information.

The testaroli comes from the Massa-Carrara region (known for Carrara marble). The pasta is made in a particular type of dish called a ‘testo’. From the description is sounds rather like a tagine and that’s what I made my testaroli in.

It was very similar to making a pancake although the batter was just flour and water with a pinch of salt. Once the pancakes are made they are cut into diamond shapes—not very satisfactorily in my case as it’s somewhat difficult to turn a circular shape into regular diamonds unless you discard a lot.

The pesto was a breeze as this is one item that I make regularly, although each recipe I see is slightly different. The one I make is made up, though the ingredients are generally the same as those in recipes. Mine is made without measuring and with the addition of chopped red chillies. Nevertheless, in this case, I followed the given recipe which included two types of cheese: parmesan and pecorino.

The resulting meal was tasty though I think I overcooked the pasta as it was a little on the soft side—and it looked like it too. I think I might give it another try sometime and see if I can master it as I rather enjoyed the process.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Spring Vegetables with Crunchy Walnut Crumble

Spring Vegetables with Crunchy Walnut Crumble

from New Vegetarian Kitchen, Nicola Graimes, Duncan Baird Publishers, 2011.

Spring vegetables in the middle of winter but the vegetables were readily available—carrots, green beans, courgettes, asparagus—so why not?

Recipes from this particular book have been pleasant though nothing to really get excited about. They all look especially enticing from the coloured photographs but don’t always match up in taste. I was looking forward to this one being a bit more than average.

There were three elements: the vegetables, the mayonnaise and the walnut crumble. The vegetables were steamed—easy—though I did not totally copy the pattern. The recipe calls for them to be steamed in different batches of vegetables. I put them all together.

The mayonnaise had garlic and harissa added to it. I left out the garlic but the harissa made the mayonnaise magic. I’ve been adding harissa to mayonnaise ever since.

The crumble was no problem, just a little bit of tossing in a pan.

When all the ingredients were put together the dish turned out to be a pleasant way to have a dish of vegies. It was eaten with rissoles made from left-over risotto.

I’ve given it four ticks for taste mainly for the mayonnaise.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Pistachio and Rosewater Palmiers with Spiced Coffee

Honey-coated Pistachio and Rosewater Palmiers

from Moroccan, The Australian Women’s Weekly, ACP Books, 2011. 

I don’t often cook cakes or biscuits but, when I looked at the illustration of these palmiers in Moroccan, I was tempted. I also had some pistachios in the cupboard and puff pastry in the fridge.

I had bought this book for the vegetarian tagines in it: it has more than you usually find in other Moroccan cookbooks. The tagine I cooked, Spicy Pumpkin Tagine with Harissa, was very successful so I was hoping that the palmiers would also work out well. I have found that recipes from The Australian Women’s Weekly are usually good ones.

The palmiers were fun to make. All that had to be done was to make a paste from the ingredients, spread this onto the puff pastry sheets and then fold them in the precise manner which was described in the recipe.  The folding was the secret to making the particular shapes of the palmiers. They then only had to be sliced and baked. Dipping them into a honey mixture was the final process.

Tasty and moreish (not intended as a pun). The batch did not last very long at all.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Spiced Coffee with Rosewater Cream

from Moroccan, The Australian Women’s Weekly, ACP Books, 2011.

To go with the palmiers I made spiced coffee from the same Moroccan cookery book. It was made with instant coffee and I thought this would be a good way to improve it.

The spices flavoured the coffee really well but it was very strong, too strong for both of us. The heart was pumping at a furious pace when I finished.

Taste: ✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Spiced Spinach with Lentil and Rice Pilaf

Indian Spiced Spinach with Lentil and Rice Pilaf

from Vegetarian Dinner in Minutes, Linda Gassenheimer, Chronicle Books, 1977.

I needed something to go with a dish of curried chickpeas. This looked as if it would be just right.

Linda Gassenheimer’s book is divided into sections according to the cuisine. This one comes from a section entitled ‘Foods of the Far East’. I dare say since this is a US publication the ‘Far East’ is from the American perspective although it’s not really east of that country. Perhaps it comes from the period of European colonisation.

Both dishes were easy to make. The spinach, though not looking terribly appetising, was full of flavour. 

The rice and lentils with its spices and raisins was a pleasant change from plain boiled rice.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Chickpea Curry

Chickpea Curry

from Thai Vegetarian Cooking, Vatcharin Bhumichitr, Pavilion, 1991.

I have two different Thai vegetarian cookery books. My impression is that each one approaches their recipes from a different direction. One uses traditional recipes and then modifies them to make them vegetarian. The other creates the recipes from the start.

The few recipes I have cooked from the former have not been overly successful as far as flavour has been concerned. They have missed out on the rich tang of Thai cooking.

From the second book I have only made two recipes and these have pleased with the richness of the flavour though, so far, they have not, to my mind, been flavours that have been particularly Thai. Nevertheless this is the cookery book which I prefer out of the two.

In all fairness to the books I'll keep cooking from both. Once I've tried a bit further it's quite possible I could change my first impressions.

The chickpea curry from Thai Vegetarian Cooking was an easy one to make once the herbs and spices were pounded in the mortar. From then on it was only a matter of adding the ingredients into the saucepan in the specified order. A warm and satisfying meal.  

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Potato, Fennel & Pea Tagine

Potato, Fennel and Pea Tagine

from A Month in Marrakesh, Andy Harris, Hardie Grant Books, 2011.

I found a vegetarian tagine in this book—only one—and, of course, many others with meat. Naturally I had to try it out. I had previously cooked stuffed potato croquettes from A Month in Marrakesh and had really enjoyed them so I looked forward to what this tagine would turn out to be.

There were no difficulties at all with the cooking. It was just a matter of adding all the ingredients in the specified order and letting them cook. The result was well flavoured but had a rather thin, watery sauce. Cooking to reduce the sauce didn’t really thicken it sufficiently. Next time I’ll use a thickener of some kind.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Miso Soup

Ginger Miso Noodle Soup

from Vegetarian Bible, Margaret Barca, Penguin Books, 2008.

Ginger, for me, is one of those ingredients that can easily be overdone. Frequently when I have used it following a recipe I have found it has been overpowering. So, now I tend to always use less than the specified amount. However, when I read through this recipe and found that it was used more as an infusion element I thought it would be worth giving it the full treatment.

I had not used this particular book before so took it cautiously. I’ve had some cookery books that cause no end of concern due to editorial errors or just bad recipes. A simple soup like this one seemed like a good starting point.

The book is a small one but packed with recipes and photographs. There is a small introduction explaining ‘vegetarian’ and giving some information on proteins and carbohydrates. At the back is a glossary of some of the more unusual ingredients. The recipes are clearly set out and easy to follow.

The soup was simplicity itself. The result was pleasing, a mild flavoured but satisfying dish. I think, though, that I would add a little more miso should I make it again.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔