Indtant dinner: gnocchi and pesto

It was a drizzly old day, but it bucked up in the afternoon, so ended up exploring wine shops and a cocktail and coffee bar, and unexpectedly getting home latish and tired-ish - so dinner was gnocchi and pesto with a tomato and onion salad.

I really can't bring myself to call it a recipe as the gnocchi was out of a packet and boiled for 1 minute - the pesto was out fo a jar - but it tasted good, and it was super quick.

Mushroom and pea spaghetti "carbonara"

Our interesting dietary requirements mean that our dinners, if we are all to eat the same, need to be meat free, gluten free and lactose free - but I fancied something a little bit creamy, rather than the usual tomato based sauce ... so missing out the bacon, the cream and using gluten free pasta - came up with this, which was enjoyed by all.  It was improved by adding parmesan, for those of us who could.  I didn't want to, so had loads of black pepper ground on top.

Onion
Garlic
Mushrooms
Olive oil
frozen peas
gluten free spaghetti
egg
black pepper
parmesan (optional)

1.  Sweat onions gently in olive oil.
2.  Add mushooms and crushed garlic and cook together for about 8 minutes.
3.  Meanwhile boil pasta.
4.  Add frozen peas to mushrooms and heat through.
5.  Lightly whip the egg.
6.  When the pasta is done, drain and add to the mushrooms, take off the heat.
7.  Stir the egg into the pasta mixture and let it cook with the heat of the pan.
8.  Scoff

Potatoes, eggs and green beans

Our eggs from the bantams, and our potatoes from the allotment - some green beans and an onion ... delicious supper dish.

Olive oil
Onion - diced
New potatoes
Green beans
Garlic
chili

1.  Boil potatoes in salted water for about 8 minutes, steam the green beans on top.
2.  Sweat down onion in olive oil.
3.  Remove softened onion from pan and fry the potatoes in olive oil until they start to brown and crisp up.
4.  Add back the onions, the steamed beans and the crushed garlic and chili.
5.  Toss about for 5 minutes or so.
6.  Push the ingredients apart slightly, to provide little spaces for the eggs, break them in.
7.  Cover the pan so that the tops of the eggs, as well as the bottoms, cook.  It shouldn't take more than about 5 minutes.
8.  Serve with a grinding of black pepper.

Todmorden tapas

Some nibbly bits left over from a friend who brought them when they came for dinner last week ... and some random things which I wanted using from the freezer, along with veg box and store cupboard ... dah dah!  random stuff, some of which did not necessarily go together, but they ho ...

So ...

Patatas - boiled and then roasted to have with either bravas sauce, or aoili, depending on preference.  Calamari in cajun polenta crumb, (cremated) - griddled aubergine, tomato and fennel salad, manchego, vegetable spring rolls with sweet chili dip, olives and cheese stuffed pimentos ... don't mind if we do!  and we did ... and it was tasty

Onion bhaji, potato and pea curry, chickpea and pumpkin curry

Another end of veg box challenge.  Onions, butternut squash and kale ... and a handful of potatoes.

Onion bhajis

3 onions, finely sliced
chili flakes
bicarb
gram flour
oil


Potato and pea curry

Diced onion
black mustard seeds
cumin seeds
turmeric
crushed garlic
oil
diced potatoes
water
frozen peas
garam masala

Chickpea and pumpkin curry

Olive oil
diced onion
fennel seeds
cumin seeds
chili flakes
crushed garlic
butternut squash
tomato puree
water
chickpeas
shredded kale

1.  Start onion bhajis - sliced onions and add salt and spices.  Leave to sit - this will draw the water out of the onions, allowing them to bond better with the gram flour forming their own batter.
2.  Start other curries by sauteeing diced onion, and the spices and garlic.
3.  Add potatoes to one pan and butternut squash to the other, cook for a few minutes.
4.  Add tomato paste to butternut squash, and water to them both.
5.  Simmer curries for about 15 minutes, add more water if they get dry.
6.  Add chickpeas to butternut squash, and then cook a little longer.
7.  Add shredded kale to butternut squash and peas to potatoes, simmer for 5 more minutes.
8.  When other curries are ready, add bicarb and gram flour to the onions for the bhajis, and mix.
9.  Fry spoonfuls of onions, drain on kitchen roll and eat.

Salad nicoise

New potatoes from the allotment - some carrots, an avocado, green beans and carrots from the veg box - and a lettuce - well - seemed obvious really!  We have been picking up eggs, free range, from local farms recently - what a difference - look at the colour of those yolks!

So ...

New potatoes
Green beans
eggs
Garlic
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Cos lettuce
Carrots
Avocado
Black olive
Tinned tuna (pole caught in spring water)

1.  Boil potatoes, steam green beans.
2.  Hardboil the eggs - when cooked - cool under running cold water and peel.
3.  Drain potatoes, mix with green beans, crushed garlic and olive oil.
4.  Mix washed lettuce with ribbons of carrot, and sliced avocado, toss in a little lemon juice and olive oil.
5.  Place salad around edge of large serving platter, pile potatoes and beans in the middle - arrange tuna and eggs, chuck on black olives.

Call that cooking .... hardly!

Pizza - on World Vegetarian Day

The hens have started laying!  Yay!  and we have some of our own potatoes from the allotment, so wanted to do something a bit different.  Also, experimenting with gluten free pizza bases.  A success all round I say.

So, two different sorts of pizza a "fiorentina" of sorts with garlic, potato, spinach and the egg - and a vegatable one with tomato, courgette ribbons, olives and cheddar.



Pizza bases

I used "Isabel's" - and followed the packet instructions (flour mix, water, egg and olive oil), kneeded.

The difference, in cooking, between this and standard pizza dough is that after kneeding you don't prove them, they are rolled out and then they need pre-cooking for 10 minutes, before adding the topping and baking again for 15 minutes.

"Fiorentina"

Garlic
Olive oil
New potato
Spinach
Egg (pekin bantam egg in this case)

1.  Finely chop/crush the garlic and mix with the oil.
2.  Parboil sliced new potato and steam the spinach.
3.  Drain potato, chop spinach.
4.  Spoon and spread garlic oil onto pizza base, layer with potato slices and scatter on the spinach.
5.  Drizzle with a little more garlic oil, season, and put in hot oven for 5 minutes.
6.  After 5 minutes, crack the egg into the center of the pizza, and return to the oven for 10 minutes.

Vegetable one

Tomato
Courgette
Lemon juice
Onion
Olive oil
Oregano
Black olives
Grated cheddar

1.  Make ribbons of courgette using a speed peeler.
2.  Finely slice about half an onion.
3.  Mix the courgette and onion together, marinade in lemon juice, olive oil, oregano and a pinch of salt (for about 20 minutes as you faff with other things).  You could chuck the olives, sliced or otherwise into this mix too, or keep them separate to sprinkle over the top.
4.  Grate the cheese.
5.  Slice the tomato and layer over the pizza base.
6.  Drape courgette and onions over the tomatoes.
7.  Cover with grated cheese and a grind of black pepper (optional).
8.  Cook in hot over for about 15 minutes.

The crust was really good, a bit hard on exposed edges perhaps, but not that nasty chewiness or dryness that you often get with GF products.

It was nice cold too!