Beet Fettuccine with Shredded Spinach and Walnuts

From The Inspired Vegetarian, Louise Pickford, Stewart, Tabori & Chang Inc., 1992.

Having a cooked beetroot left over after making a salad, I decided to make a pasta coloured with the beetroot. I don’t feel that coloured pastas seem to take on much of the flavour of the colouring vegetable but they certainly look good.

I took 2 cups of strong flour, added a teaspoon salt and mixed in 2 beaten eggs and a little olive oil. To this I added about half of the large beetroot that had been pureed in the blender. With my hands I kneaded the dough for a good 5 minutes adding olive oil occasionally to get it to the right consistency. When it felt right I covered it and left it for another half an hour.

The dough was now cut into four pieces and one at a time they went through the pasta machine until they reached thickness 4. They next went through the fettuccine cutter and they were basically ready. I ended up only using two pieces of the dough as this seemed ample for two people. The rest I’ll use to make some tortellini later.

I now prepared the ingredients for the sauce. I chopped a good couple of handfuls of walnuts and set them aside. Two garlic cloves were chopped. A handful of basil leaves was chopped. A lemon was zested and the zest put with the garlic and basil. Now I washed sufficient baby spinach leaves for the dish. I could only really go by guesswork for this. The leaves were now sliced very thinly. The best was to do this was to take a number of leaves, pack them together and then slice through the lot. They cut up quite easily.  All was now ready for the final step.

A pot of salted water was put on to bring to the boil. A large frying pan was put on to heat up a couple of tablespoons walnut oil. The garlic, basil and zest went into the frying pan. The pasta went into the boiling water. It only took a minute or two before the garlic was cooked sufficiently so the spinach leaves were added to wilt. A little nutmeg was grated into the spinach as it wilted.

By now the pasta was cooked so it was drained and then added to the pan with the spinach. Tongs were used to mix this all fully and then to serve it. Walnuts were sprinkled over the helping on the plates, together with a good pinch of salt and black pepper.

This certainly looked good with the green spinach contrasting strongly with the reddened pasta. It tasted good too. The pasta was nicely al dente and the spinach came through well with its hint of nutmeg. I am used to having parmesan cheese grated over pasta but it was not missed at all with the crunchy walnuts.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

In One Word: Colourful

Potato, Leek, ‘Bacon’ and Bean Soup

From a pamphlet by Sydney Markets

I was shopping at the market and walking past a display of recipe cards when my eye caught the word ‘leeks’ and I knew I had some leeks just desperate to be used up so I picked up the card.

The recipe was basically for a variation on a leek and potato soup. One of my favourite soups is such a variation: a leek and potato with chickpeas. This soup was not far different, using a can of cannellini beans. The ‘bacon’ I had picked up when I was buying some vegetarian ‘chicken’ breasts. I guessed it wouldn’t be anything like real bacon, just a highly salty flavoured soya bean product so expected it would work all right in the soup.

The soup was started by sautéing two finely chopped leeks, 2 chopped garlic cloves and some of the ‘bacon’ pieces in some olive oil. They needed to be stirred often but after about 5 minutes they had cooked down and softened. I now added 3 potatoes peeled and cut into pieces. These were stirred in for a few minutes.

Four cups of stock were added with a can of cannellini beans that had been drained and rinsed. The mixture was now brought to the boil and then reduced to a simmer to cook for another 20 minutes with the lid on.

A hand blender was used to puree the soup. About ¼ cup cream was stirred in and, when it was time to eat, the soup was gently brought back to heat for serving.

This was an easily made, full-bodied soup with plenty of flavour. The saltiness of the ‘bacon’ meant that no extra seasoning had to be added though a little black pepper was sprinkled on top with a few strips of the ‘bacon’. While the cannellini beans gave it a nice dimension, I still prefer the soup with the chickpeas.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

In One Word: Satisfying

Pine Nut and Basil Seared ‘Chicken’ with Mushroom Sauce, Braised Kale and Roasted Chat Potatoes

From The Conscious Cook, Tal Ronnen, William Morrow, 2009.

I knew when I looked at this recipe that I would have to modify it. It was a vegan recipe, which didn’t worry me, but there were also ingredients listed that were specific to US conditions and were proprietary named. They were unavailable here in Australia.

I managed to find some vegetarian ‘chicken’ breasts so that was a good starting point. That was basically what persuaded me to try this.

Some chat potatoes were halved, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and black pepper and fresh thyme leaves. They went into a 200ªC oven for half an hour.

A handful of pine nuts were roasted then churned in a blender with some plain flour and some basil leaves. The blender was only given a couple of bursts, sufficient to break down the leaves and nuts but not break them down completely. The ‘chicken’ breasts were now seasoned and pressed into the flour mix on both sides. They were then fried in a little oil on both sides until crisp. They were now kept warm while the sauce was made.

Two shallots were thinly sliced and sautéed in some olive oil until softened. Mushrooms for the sauce were sliced thinly and added to the shallots for a few minutes more. About ¼ cup white wine was now added and cooked until it had well reduced. I then added ¼ cup cream and cooked it for a few minutes more. It was now taken off the heat and 4 tablespoons margarine beaten in one at a time. Salt and pepper was added to taste and a squeeze of lemon juice. The sauce was ready.

A few leaves of kale were torn into pieces and the stems removed. The torn leaves went into a frying pan for a minute or two until they wilted. A little water was added and they continued the cooking for a minute or two more. Seasoning was added and they were ready.

To serve, kale was placed in the centre of a plate. The ‘chicken’ breasts were leaned against the kale, the potatoes placed around and the mushroom sauce poured over.

This was tasty enough though the ‘chicken’ was really tough. I suspect this was because it had had to be kept warm while the sauce was being made and the kale cooked. In future I would make the sauce first then, while the kale was cooking, would quickly fry the breasts. I also did not like the way the breasts just had the coating pressed into them. This did not really work too well. I would prefer to give a flour coating, then egg and breadcrumbs which would make a crunchier—and possibly tastier—result.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Orecchiette with Mozzarella

From The Silver Spoon: Pasta, Phaidon, 2009.

I’m always ready to try a new pasta and I rather liked the idea of this one that was basically an all fresh sauce—only the pasta had to be cooked.

To begin I peeled and chopped three plum tomatoes and placed them in a large bowl. I sprinkled on a little salt and pepper. I then cut into cubes about 200g mozzarella. These were added to the bowl with a few basil leaves torn into halves. A little olive oil was dribbled over all of this.

Now the orecchiette were cooked in boiling salted water until done. They were then drained and quickly added to the bowl of ingredients. A quick stir so that the hot pasta would part melt the cheese, some capers were added and the dish was ready to eat.

I did enjoy this. The little ear shapes of the pasta managed to pick up cubes of mozzarella or pieces of tomato and the freshness was evident in the eating: wonderfully ripe tomatoes, the occasional salty tang of a caper and the chewiness of the part-melted mozzarella. A great meal starter.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔✔

Roasted Capsicum and Beetroot Salad

From Moroccan, The Australian Women’s Weekley, ACP Books, 2011.

Despite the cold weather, a salad is always a good accompaniment for a meal.

For this salad I wrapped some beetroot in foil and placed them in a 200ªC oven. On the same baking dish I placed a red capsicum and two yellow bullnose chillies. After about half an hour the capsicum and chillies had softened sufficiently to be taken out and placed in a plastic bag until cool. The beetroot had another half hour before they were cooked.

When the peppers had cooled they were skinned and seeded and cut into edible portions. The beetroot when cool were topped and tailed and the skin removed. The beetroot were cut into eighths.

Now I placed some rocket on a serving plate. This was not called for in the recipe but I like to have a few greens with a salad. The capsicum, chillies and beetroot were placed on the rocket base then sprinkled with some chopped red onion, parsley and the rind of preserved lemon.  I sprinkled on some salt and freshly ground black pepper. Over it all was drizzled some olive oil and a little lemon juice.

A salad always goes down well and this one looked good and tasted to match. The little touches of preserved lemon peel were especially good.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔