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: ✔✔✔

Bean and Pasta Stew

From The Best of Vegetarian Cooking: Pasta Dishes, Janet Hunt, Thorsons Publishers, 1982.

Sometimes I really don’t know why I choose what I do to cook. I think occasionally it’s no more than tiredness, inability to choose, so whatever comes to hand will do. Sometimes this works and you are pleasantly surprised; other times you know you should have thought a little more about what you were doing. This, I think, was one of those moments where a little more thought might have been better employed. The day was hot and I ended up with a thick, comforting cold weather stew.

I chopped a carrot and an onion. I cut up a leek into pieces. I cut a peeled potato into cubes. These all went into a saucepan with some heated oil and were cooked for a few minutes.

I now cut a few fresh herbs from the garden (thyme, rosemary and chervil) and chopped them (about a tablespoon). These were added to the vegetables with 300ml water and about 2 tablespoons tomato sauce.. They were brought to the boil and simmered for about 10 minutes.

I now added about 2 handfuls of orecchiette pasta and roughly the same amount of cooked cannellini beans. The cooking now continued for another 10 minutes. It was tasted and salt and pepper added. It was now ready to eat.

This was a satisfying meal, easily made—though on the wrong night.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Chervil Pancakes with Aubergine Caviar and Pomegranate

From Vegetarian, Alice Hart, Murdoch Books, 2011.

The chervil in the backyard garden was growing well so it was time to use some up.

Firstly I needed to make the aubergine caviar. A garlic clove was mashed in a mortar and pestle with some salt. A teaspoon of cumin seeds was added and this was crushed in to make a paste. An eggplant (aubergine) was sliced in half lengthwise. The garlic mash was spread on both of the cut sides and they were then pressed together. The eggplant was wrapped in foil and placed in a 200ºC oven for an hour, after which it was taken out and left to cool.

When the eggplant had cooled the flesh was scraped out with a spoon and placed in a saucepan with a little olive oil. It was simmered for about 5 minutes then left to cool. Now a teaspoon of pomegranate molasses, a tablespoon of yoghurt and salt and pepper were stirred in. This was the caviar ready.

The pancakes were made by beating together 225g self-raising flour and a teaspoon of baking powder with 2 beaten eggs, 250ml buttermilk and a tablespoon of chopped chervil. When the mixture was smooth it was cooked on a griddle about a heaped teaspoon at a time. The pancakes were flipped over as soon as bubbles appeared to cook the other side.

To serve a teaspoon of the caviar was placed on each pancake with another teaspoon of pomegranate seed mixed with a little yoghurt. Some more pomegranate seeds were added on top with a sprig of chervil.

These made an appealing appetiser and proved to be suitably tasty.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔ 

Sandwich Soufflé

From Mrs Harvey’s Sister-in-Law and Other Tasty Dishes, Margaret Dunn, Murdoch Books, 2007.

Just the name of this was enough to make me curious enough to make it.

I decided to make it in individual casseroles. For each casserole (I was making two) I cut three slices of bread into rounds to fit. I now buttered one round of bread and placed it in the casserole with some slices of cheddar cheese on top. I did the same with two more rounds of bread ending with the cheese on top.

I scalded about 400ml of milk and when it had cooled beat in one egg, ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard and a little salt. This was carefully poured into the casseroles until they were full. They were now left for an hour for the liquid to be fully absorbed by the bread.

They were cooked in a 180ºC oven for half an hour at which time they had risen wonderfully and turned brown and crisp on top. I thought that they would not sink like normal soufflés so did not hurry to serve them. I was wrong they did sink a little but it made no difference. 

They were a cheap and very tasty dish. I’d make them again.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔