The Cookbook Challenge Week 26 - Green - Spinach & Broccoli Pasticcio - 2 - $ - V

You will not beat me Cookbook Challenge! Slowly but surely I am catching up on my dishes. We've only got about 9 weeks/dishes to go. I personally have about 6 months worth of dishes to cook, so one per day should see me sorted...

This week I've got my cooking groove back on after a winter slump and lots of dining out recently. The more I go out to eat, the less I want to cook so it seems.
The following recipe from Issue 5 of the MasterChef magazine caught my eye because it was 'green' which ticked a Challenge box; I am in severe need of some vegetables; and I had a vegetarian friend coming round for tea. Perfect!

Green!

There is a fair amount of preparation for this dish but it's well worth it. The recipe said it serves 4 but we got 4 dinners (one with seconds) and 2 massive lunches out of it which was good going. However, bear this in mind when you make it because it won't freeze well.
Next time I make it I think I will roast some heirloom tomatoes to serve alongside the pasta so there is some acid to cut through the richness and give the plate some colour.

Golden haloumi goodness

Ingredients

360gm haloumi, grated
300gm sour cream (light is OK to use)
8 eggs
60ml olive oil
2 bunches spinach, washed and trimmed
500gm pasta (rigatoni, penne or anything tubular)
2 onions, finely chopped (I only used 1)
1 long red chili, seeded and finely chopped
2 heads broccoli, stems removed and roughly chopped
Lemon wedges to serve

Preheat oven to 190C degrees.
Reserve 1/4 cup of cheese for the topping (I used half a cup 'cause I like it really cheesy on top).
Divide the remaining cheese into two large bowls (make sure one is massive to fit all the pasta), then divide the sour cream into each bowl. Crack 4 eggs into each bowl, season and whisk to combine.


Heat 2tsp oil in a frying pan over a high heat (I used a wok which worked really well) and cook the spinach for a couple of minutes until wilted. Drain, finely chop and set aside.
Cook the pasta in salted water for 5 minutes. It won't be cooked, but don't panic. Drain and then add to one of the egg bowls, stir through to coat with the mixture.
Heat the rest of the oil in the same pan/wok and cook the onion and chili for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft. Add the spinach and broccoli and toss for 3 minutes or until the broccoli is just cooked. Add the veggies to the other egg bowl and mix well to coat these too.
You need an oven dish that is at least 7cm deep. Pour in half the pasta and make sure the pieces are all laying flat and side by side. Pour the broccoli mixture on top of the first pasta layer and spread out evenly. Add the remaining pasta to create another flat layer and then sprinkle the reserved cheese over the top. Bake for 30 minutes or until the pasta is soft and the top is nice and golden.
Serve immediately with the lemon to squeeze on top.

Enjoy!

Pesto, Mushroom & Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta - 1 - $ - V

Tomorrow is a very special day because my friend Wonder Matt is flying down from Brisvegas, just for the day, to celebrate his 40th birthday! How rock'n'roll is that! What he doesn't know is that we are going to kidnap him and his lovely lady and never let them leave the state again, so shhhhhhh.

Due to celebration shenanigans I have the day off tomorrow, so I left work quite late tonight after clearing the decks to ensure smooth sailing for those that will be in. Short on time, I had to come up with something toot sweet for dinner while driving home. I devised this super quick, slightly cheating pasta (it won't be cheating if you use homemade pesto) that literally took 15 minutes from pot to plate. Too easy!

Happy Birthday Wonder Matt!

Ingredients

Pasta - enough for enough of you
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes
mushrooms
Kalamata olives
pesto
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 200C degrees and pop the water on to boil for the pasta.
Put the tomatoes in a baking dish, give a tiny spray with olive oil and place in the oven while you prepare the rest of the meal.

Slice the mushrooms and sautee in a bit of the pesto.
Cook the past according the packet directions and then drain and put back in the pot you cooked it in.
Stir through the mushrooms, olives and as much or as little pesto as you fancy.
Divide the pasta between the bowls, top with the cherry tomatoes and shave on some Parmesan.

Enjoy!

Mushroom Lasagne - 2 - $ - V

I have taken a leaf out of the brave and fabulous Iron Chef Shellie's book in order to bring you a recipe that didn't quite work.

I figure that the sharing element of this blog should extend to what not to do, as well as what works well. So I hope you will please indulge me whilst I tell you how this recipe didn't work; in order to bring you one that will.

Porcinis before...

It's probably best to start at the beginning, and that would be that I have been quite disappointed with the last few issues of a certain Australian food magazine. They seem really repetitive, uninspiring and at times, down right boring. It's a real shame because I have often used the recipes from past issues in the Cookbook Challenge.
Today I attempted two recipes from the June and May issues, because for the first time this year I felt inspired to give some of the mag's recipes a try. Unfortunately, one was an epic fail and one was OK - only because I managed to rescue it. As I was yelling in the kitchen with only the pets for an audience, I really did wonder if anyone at said magazine has actually been testing the recipes before publication?

Porcinis after

The following ingredients and method are minus the water that the original recipe says to use for the sauce. Against my better judgement I did add it, and then strained the mushies afterward when I realised what a wrong turn I had taken following the instructions to the letter. I also don't think you need the litre of milk suggested for the bechamel sauce, 500ml is well enough.
I've taken the liberty of changing loads of quantities without mentioning them at all, in order for you to not even go there - ergo your lasagne should be perfection!
(Also, don't burn your tea towel like I did trying to cook two brand new, pear-shaped-headed-meals, at the same time.)

Another tea towel bites the dust

Ingredients - will make one 30cm square baking dish

10gm dried porcini mushrooms
2tbs olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
500gm Swiss brown mushrooms, sliced
500ml passata
1 large ball of buffalo mozzarella, finely sliced
fresh lasagne sheets - I bought two from the market, just tell you pasta person you need two sheets and the size of your dish
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs thyme
Parmesan cheese

Whole lotta 'shrooms

You need to make a bechamel sauce to go with, so you can read how to do that over here. You need about 1 1/2 times the quantity of that recipe. Add a pinch of nutmeg just to jazz it up a little bit.

Better luck next time...

Preheat oven to 180C degrees and grease the baking dish.
Soak the dried porcinis in 1/2 cup of boiling water for at least 10 minutes. If they are very big, you can chop them up once they are rehydrated.
At the same time, heat the oil in a large pan and fry off the onion for 5-6 minutes over a medium heat. Once they are soft add the garlic and the Swiss brown mushies and cook stirring for 10 minutes until they are soft.
Add the porcinis and the water they were soaking in and cook for a few more minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated.
Stir in the passata, reduce a little and set aside.
Make the bechamel according to these instructions (remembering to increase the amount as mentioned above).
To construct the lasagne, use half the mushroom sauce to cover the bottom of the baking dish, (don't forget to remove the herbs) then top with some bechamel and then add a layer of half the mozzarella. Cover with one sheet of pasta. Repeat the process and then for the final layer just use bechamel and grate parmesan over the top.
Cover the lasagne loosely with aluminium foil and cook for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and then cook for a further 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Let the lasagne rest for a few minutes before attempting to cut and serve.

Enjoy!

Cheat's Spaghetti Bolognese - 2 - $

Before we get started, if you are Italian, or of Italian heritage, I implore you - PLEASE LOOK AWAY NOW. If you must keep reading, please don't dob me into your nonna.

The whole idea behind these 'Cheat's' recipes is to have it from pot to plate in under 30 minutes, which means tradition sometimes falls by the wayside. That doesn't mean it isn't good, it just means it isn't straight from a villa in Bologna.

This will make a giant pot of sauce so make sure there's room in the freezer or make a lasagne. Like most dishes of this kind, it always tastes better the next day.

Ingredients

1kg lean beef mince
1 tbs olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed
140gm tub of tomato paste
400gm tin of chopped Italian tomatoes
700gm bottle of passata
2-3 tbs fresh parsley chopped (or 1-2 tbs of dried parsley, we're cheating remember)
1 tbs fresh oregano (see above and make it 2 tsp of dried)
2-3 bay leaves
salt and pepper to season
1/2 cup red wine (optional)

In a large pot, brown off the beef over a medium-high heat. When it's cooked I like to strain it; even lean mince is quite fatty, so let your thighs decide if you complete this step.
Reduce the heat to a medium-low, add the olive oil and then gently fry off the onion. It needs to be soft and translucent so be careful not let it brown, when it's just about done add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
Return the beef to the pot and then add all the other ingredients, stirring very well to combine. Season with salt and pepper and increase the heat. Bring the sauce to the boil and then reduce the heat to the lowest setting and simmer covered for 20 minutes, stirring once at the halfway point.
Give it a taste and adjust seasoning as required.
Serve on top of spaghetti or your other favourite kind of pasta.

Enjoy!

Cheat's Spaghetti Marinara - 1 - $

This recipe is the perfect hump day quickie to help resist the mid-week takeaway urge.



Fifteen minutes from pot to plate, cross my heart!

The portions below will feed two, so double or halve as you need to.

Ingredients

Spaghetti
Olive oil
300gms good quality marinara mix (from the fish monger please, not the stupormarket)
1-2 Small red chillies, finely chopped
1 Clove garlic, crushed
2tbs flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup white wine (optional)
Juice of half a lemon
Parmesan to serve

Put the pasta on to cook as per the packet instructions.
While the pasta is doing its thing, heat a glug of olive oil in a pan on a medium/low heat and fry off the chillies and garlic for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
Increase the heat and when it really starts to sizzle add the marinara mix and white wine. Cook/stir until the fish is almost cooked (approximately 3-4 minutes).
The pasta should be nearly done, so remove your marinara from the heat and stir through the parsley and lemon juice.
Drain the pasta then put it back in the warm pot and tip your seafood in. Use tongs to toss the marinara through the spaghetti.
Serve in large pasta bowls and shave some cheese on top with some extra parsley to garnish.

Enjoy!

Eds' Winter Pasta Bake - 1.5 - $

This recipe and these pics have come from one of our readers - applause for Eds please everyone!

Thanks for sending this in and big WELL DONE YOU for being man enough to send in a recipe - c'mon the rest of you fellas out there, show us what you've got in the kitchen.

Here's one for a Friday night in. You have friends coming over but can't go anywhere due to appalling wet and windy weather. You want comfort food, a lot of it. The kind that you can see stretching your belt as you eat it, the kind that means going back for seconds is mandatory and non-negotiable. Wash this down with either a lighter, easy drinking red (Pinot Noir) or a few beers (think Coopers Sparkling).
I pilfered the bare bones of this recipe from some vegetarian German backpackers who stayed for two weeks and cooked something similar to this nearly every night for us. Serves 4 people, up to 6 if stretched out, but no one will go hungry.



Ingredients:

400 grams penne pasta
2 chorizo sausages, sliced
2 tins diced tomatoes
1 tin broad or butter beans, drained
1 well diced onion
250 grams Fetta
250 grams tasty/cheddar cheese
50 grams Parmesan
Pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 180-200c.

2. Boil pasta for 10 minutes (it will cook more while it is in the oven so no need to go al dente here). While this is going, cook sausages in a little olive oil and remove from pan once browned. Don't throw out the oil in pan.

3. Brown the onions and add pepper to taste, then add the drained beans. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the sausages, cook 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, cook until it starts to simmer.

4. Cut Fetta in to large rough chunks, and add to mix. Stir in lightly. Do not break the Fetta up too much; keep it chunky. Turn off heat.



5. Drain pasta well, add to large baking dish, pour in 200 grams of the tasty/cheddar cheese. Add the rest of the ingredients from the pan to baking dish and mix it all up. Evenly spread the rest of the cheese and Parmesan on top. Cover with foil.

6. Cook at 180-200c (depending on oven) for about 45-60 minutes (not an exact science). Stand with foil off for a few minutes before serving. The cheese should be a little tough on the top* and the protruding pasta should be a little crusty.

When you get that first partially melted chunk of Fetta on your fork, you will know the reason why it says "keep it chunky"!

Enjoy!

*What's For Tea? reckons foil off for the last 10minutes to brown off the cheese - just a thought.

Cheat's Tuna Pasta - 1 - $

Put your hand up if you're all for non-cooking on hump day...well this one's for you.

This dish is so quick and easy it barely rates as 'making' dinner, the sauce will be ready in the time that it takes to cook the pasta.



Ingredients

Pasta of your choice
185gm can of tuna in oil (Italian style is good, you're making pasta after all)
Jar of good quality tomato based pasta sauce
6-8 Button mushrooms, sliced
12-15 Kalamata olives, halved
100gm baby spinach leaves
Capers and thinly sliced marinated peppers (optional)
Parmesan to serve

Put the pasta on to cook.
In a medium sized pot fry the mushrooms off in a bit of the oil from the tuna. Cook them for 5-7 minutes and then add the olives. Drain the rest of the oil from the tuna and add that to the pot to warm through. Pour in the sauce and a minute before the pasta is ready add the spinach (and capers/peppers) and stir through until it wilts.
Spoon the sauce over your pasta, top with shaved Parmesan and serve.

Enjoy!