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Spanish spinach and ricotta penne

6th May 2012 by Regula 6 Comments

Our first dinner in the garden, spring has been cold this year… the blossoms have been blown away by storms of rain and hail. We have had a few days of fine spring weather in March and then winter came back to taunt us. All I want to do is sit by the stove and read a good Jane Austen novel. Wrapped in a blanket and sipping a cup of Earl grey tea…

This morning the sky looked a little blue so we left the house early to go to the organic market in Brussels. I bought fine looking Spanish spinach and found freshly made Ricotta at an Italian stall. That was dinner sorted. I just love simple pasta dishes, simple is gorgeous in Italian cuisine.

I generally don’t use recipes, I mostly just start cooking and see how it goes. Don’t get me wrong I love cookery books but I don’t really use them for cooking. Unless for pastry, you need to follow the recipe there!

We eat pasta nearly every day at our house, vegetarian ones as we only eat meat once a week. There’s nothing more soothing than a good bowl of pasta after a busy day at the office.

So here we are, one of my favourite easy dishes, penny with spinach, Ricotta and Pecorino.

What do you need

1 bunch of fresh spinach (I used Spanish but you can also use the regular one)

150 g of Ricotta

Pecorino cheese grated

Pepper and sea salt

Method

Boil salted water and add the spinach, cook for 30 seconds and drain.

If you are using Spanish spinach, keep the flowers and buds separate to decorate your dish.

Put all the Spinach leaves in a container with a few teaspoons of the cooking water and puree with a handmixer. If the mixture is too dry, add more water.

Add the penne to the cooking water you used for the Spinach.

Wait for 4 minutes, put a heave based pan on the hob and add the spinach to it.

Add the Ricotta and stir, you might need some more cooking water so if you do, add until you get a good consistency.

Add a handful of grated Pecorino and stir well so you don’t get lumps.

Taste and add pepper and salt if needed.

The sauce shouldn’t be on the stove too long, so add the pasta as soon as it’s ready and fold in the sauce.

Put your flowers and buds on top of the pasta and serve with extra grated Pecorino cheese.

Enjoy

Asparagus ribbons and pomegranate pearls salad

18th April 2012 by Regula 13 Comments

Spring is finally here.

The trees are parading their lovely blossoms and the days are starting to get longer again.

The thing I love most about spring are the colors, the vibrant green of the new leaves on the trees and plants. The scent of flowers and the snow of blossoms when the wind blows through the trees.

I enjoy sitting in the garden enjoying the first rays of sun, wearing a warm jumper and big scarf. I’m reading a cookbook and the leaves of the Magnolia flowers are tumbling down on the pages of my book like bookmarks pointing out delicious recipes.

It’s quite chilly, apart from the blossoms the branches of the trees are still bare and showing off their slender forms.

I run inside with rosy cheeks and try to create spring on a plate.

The first green, the first flowers.

This dish is spring for me, welcoming one of my favourite veg: the green asparagus.

Green
asparagus aren’t easy to come by where I’ from. Mostly they are imported from Peru so I can only buy them the few times I can find them from local farms. There are loads of
white asparagus, but I crave for the green ones. Asparagus grow red
berries which are poisonous so here we have the pomegranate pearls to accompany the asparagus in color and in taste giving some acidity to the dish.

What do you need (serves 2-4)

1 bunch of green asparagus

half a cucumber

half a pomegranate

a bunch of Rucola

a handful of parmesan shavings

some good quality olive oil

Method

Use your mandolin or hand slicer to create ribbons from the asparagus.

You can use a knife, but try to slice it as thinly as possible.

Slice the cucumber into thin discs.

Wash you Rucola and arrange on a plate.

Remove the pearls from the pomegranate.

Boil salted water and blanch the asparagus, have a bowl with cold water standing by.

Remove the asparagus after you counted slowly to 10.

Add to the cold water to stop them cooking.

Arrange the slices of cucumber over the Rucola.

Dry the ribbons with some kitchen paper and arrange over the cucumber.

Sprinkle the pomegranate pearls over the dish.

Add the parmesan shavings

Drizzle some nice olive oil over the salad.

All done!

Lovely with a dry but flowery white wine.

Enjoy!

Next week I have a guest post for you!

Please leave a comment, I love reading them!

Pasta with Haak or Collard Greens

11th April 2012 by Regula 13 Comments

I had never seen this type of kale before and to be honest, I had to do some research.

‘Haak’ or ‘Collard greens’ is a leafy green vegetable from mustard – cabbage family.

They are native to the Mediterranean region but I bought them in Kent.

The leaves look like outer cabbage leaves but darker in color and sometimes almost black. The aroma and taste is something between cabbage and mustard leaves and the leaves do not get very soft after cooking like spinach leaves tend to do.

‘Haak’ or ‘Collard greens’ are also very nutritious, a 1 cup portion of cooked collard greens has about 50 calories. It is an excellent source of vitamins C, A, and K. This same serving will provide a good source of calcium, fiber, and beta-carotene, as well as vitamin E. Rich in nutrients and antioxidants, ‘Haak’ or ‘Collard greens’ are beneficial for supporting the immune system.

the paste

The taste does take some getting used to but after you do, you will enjoy the warm mustardy flavour. I made the leaves into a pesto-like paste and mixed them with parmesan. The parmesan softens the mustard flavour a bit and the Ricotta gives the greens a sweeter touch.

What do you need

serves 4
1 bunch of Collard greens
1 clove of garlic crushed
1 cup of grated parmesan
4 tsp of olive oil
2 tsp of ricotta
parmesan to serve
olive oil to serve

Method
– Rinse the Collard greens well
– Remove the stalks from the leaves
– Boil salted water
– Cut the leaves to create strips
– Add to the boiling water, do not put the lid on
– Boil for 5-7 minutes
– Drain the Collard greens and keep the cooking water to cook the pasta in.
– Add the pasta to the boiling water
– Divide the Collard greens so you have 2/3 and 1/3.
– Add the 2/3 of the Collard greens to a food processor or mixing bowl
– Add the olive oil, parmesan and garlic to the Collard greens and puree.
– Add the Ricotta to the paste and stir
– Drain the pasta and keep some of the cooking water
– Stir the Collard greens paste trough the pasta, if its to dry, add some of the cooking water.
– Finally stir in the 1/3 of Collard greens leaves
– Serve with a generous amount of parmesan and drizzle some olive oil over the dish to finish it of.

This dish is delicious with a fruity white wine.

Enjoy

Please leave a comment, I appreciate every single one!

Vegan chocolate, beetroot and walnut cake

28th March 2012 by Regula 16 Comments

Today is my birthday, the day I look forward to all year…

I’m a child when it comes to my birthday, I start counting the days from August.
You would think I have it all planned out, but indecisive as I am about this -on the day- no reservations for dinner have been made and no outfit is chosen.
The only certain thing is that I will most likely be in a little village in East Sussex.
Today is my day, the day that I am allowed to be a child again, sing very loud, blow out candles and dance in the street.
I don’t care what people think, I hold on to this joyful occasion and cherish it.
Because you have to hold on to your inner child and keep that little fire burning. That’s where creativity thrives and tales are invented.
Today anything is possible, I have wings to fly to magical places, where the grass is greener, the flowers enormous and the food, of course the food delicious and plenty.
Today I fall into a hole in the ground and have tea with talking rabbits.
Today is truly mine.

So on this day I bring you a birthday cake.

The past
year a lot of things changed, I started this blog, got married and got to
know who my friends are. I feel I grew up just a tiny bit more.

One of the new things in my life is experimenting with vegan cooking, especially for cakes and cookies. I love to make sweet things slightly more healthy and as I don’t really have a sweet tooth, I don’t make them overly sweet.
As you might have guessed from my Parsnip and apple breakfast cake, I have a thing for putting vegetables into sweets. The classic carrot cake used to be my all time favourite tea time treat, until this cake came along…
This mouth full of yummyness is moist, full of the darkest chocolate and contains one of my favourite veg: beetroot.
Beetroot is incredibly healthy as it is a rich source of antioxidants, nutrients including sodium, magnesium and vitamin C.

I love the way beetroot colors your hands…

What do you need

Wholemeal spelt flour: 3 cups

cooked beetroot: 2 cups
dark chocolate: 1 cup

maple syrup: 0,5 cup

honey: 0,5 cup (you can use 1 cup of maple syrup if you object to honey)

baking powder: 2 heaped tsp

baking soda: 2 heaped tsp

walnuts: 1 cup chopped

cocoa: 4 heaped tsp

1 cup of soy yoghurt

sunflower or hennep oil: 0,5 cup

a pinch of seasalt

Icing

1cup of dark chocolate

2 heaped tsp icing sugar

1 tsp maple syrup

2 tsp of soy milk

• Peel the beetroots and slice into 1 cm cubes, cook until soft and mash.

• Preheat your oven to 160°

• Get your dry ingredients in one bowl and your wet ingredients in another.

• Add the baking powder and soda last as it has to get in contact with the wet ingredients straight away to give the best result.

• Melt the chocolate and add to the wet ingredients, mix the ingredients.

• Add the wet to the dry ingredients and mix, let it rest for 10 minutes.

• While the dough is resting, line a spring form with baking paper and dust with some cacao.

• Pour the batter into the springform and put in the oven for 55 minutes.

• Be very careful when you take it out of the oven, let it cool in the tray.

Decorate with the icing and some chocolate shavings.

Enjoy with a glass of oat milk or Earl grey tea!

Also check out this vegan chocolate cake by my friend Zita, a fabulous vegetarian and vegan blog. She inspired me to give this vegan thing a go.

29 on the 29th of march

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