Hearty Eggplant Parmigiana Bake

I go through phases of being addicted to certain foods. Currently I'm completely stuck on eggplant. Soft and creamy when it's cooked properly, it's amazing how rich tasting a vegetable can be! And it's good for ya, so it's a win-win situation for me really. I end up eating it religiously for a few weeks then move on to the next thing, but it comes back around every few months, like an old loyal friend. Oh eggplant.

Anywho, I've done the eggplant schnitzel thang, and I felt it was time to layer and bake. I ate it like lasagne, with some veg on the side the first time but then realised, hey, eggplant is a vegetable, why double up? I made up for that by adding a ton of mozzarella ;)

Baked Eggplant Parmigiana

Serves 4

1 large eggplant
1 700ml jar tomato passata
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 pinch thyme (dried or fresh
250g grated or slice mozzarellla
1 handful of breadcrumbs (optional)
salt & pepper
olive oil


Slice eggplant in to ~1.5cm slices, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill under a medium heat in oven or on stove top until colored and nearly cooked through.

Meanwhile, saute the sliced garlic in olive oil for a few moments, add passata, thyme, salt and pepper, and let it bubble away on a low heat reducing slightly.

Layer sauce, eggplant and cheese in a medium baking dish (I used a square cake tin), in that order, and repeat ending with a layer of sauce, cheese then breadcrumbs if desired.

Bake at 200°c for about 20mins or until golden on top and eggplant is melting and soft.

Rest for 10mins before serving or it will slop everywhere.


PS: It's even better re-heated.

Autumn Pasta Greed

Motivation to exercise always ceases when the cool change sets in. Not wanting to get out of bed, wearing thick cardigans and eating lots of pasta are common themes for me. Pasta because it's tasty, but also because it's quick and comforting. It's funny how eating tends to replace exercise in colder months. A dangerous opposite.

Anywho, a favourite dish of mine from growing up was always spaghetti carbonara. I would get so excited when dad would make it for dinner and eat 2, 3, even 4 helpings before he told me that I should stop, and I would, but always reluctantly. Traditionally the addition of cream is not as common, as the egg is the star of the show, but make sure your eggs are fresh! And if it weirds you out too much just substitute an egg for an extra 100ml of cream.

Simple Spaghetti Carbonara

Serves 4, generously

8 rashers short cut bacon
1 small brown onion
2 cloves garlic
4 eggs
dash of cream or milk
salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley and parmesan cheese to garnish (optional)


Cut the bacon in to strips and fry with a little oil in a pan until browned, but not too crisp. I would brown mine a little more next time.

Chop the onion and garlic finely and add to the pan with bacon, fry on a low heat for a good 10-15mins so the onions are nice and soft (start heating your pasta water now). Best to avoid crunchy raw onion in your pasta.

 Meanwhile, boil the spaghetti (I used linguine because it's my favourite) in a large pot of well salted water.

While the onions and pasta cook, whisk the eggs with cream/milk and season with salt and pepper.

 Once cooked to al dente, drain and quickly place back in to the pot.

Add the bacon and onion, as well as the egg mix. Stir and let the egg slowly cook through the residual heat. If it's not doing much put it back on a very low heat and mix constantly, but make sure the egg doesn't just scramble on the bottom.

Pile generously on to a plate and eat on the sofa.

Addictive Chickpea Lentil Salad

Salad number two from my lentil salad list. List of two that is, haha. I started making this after having something similar from a convenience store. I thought, damn I could make this at home and it would be fifty zillion times better. And it was. It's so so ridiculously easy to make especially if you take the trashy route and use canned chickpeas and lentils (hey, sometimes a gal's gotta do what a gals gotta do) and can be a nice side to some meat or seafood, or a main meal on it's own. I made it so much over the summer and always bring it along to BBQ's/parties where it's always welcome!

The chickpeas are my favourite bit they're like little creamy nutty nuggets of goodness. I always try to fit as many on my fork/in to my mouth as I can in one hit. Not going to lie, I often just go for spoonfuls straight from the can...

 

Chickpea Lentil Summer Salad

Serves 4 as a main, 6+ as a side

1/2 generous bunch of parsley (curly or flat), finely chopped
1 400g can of chickpeas
1 400g can of lentils (or alternatively cook and cool 350g from dried)
2 ripe tomatoes de-seeded diced
1 cucumber de-seeded and diced
4 spring onions sliced
1 avocado diced (optional but delicious)

Dressing

2 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp tahini (if you don't have this you can substitute mayonnaise)
1 tsp mustard
salt and pepper to taste


Whisk all the dressing ingredients in the bottom of a bowl (serving bowl will do; less to wash). Dice salad veg how you wish (I like, little 1cmish cubes) and toss through with drained chickpeas and lentils. Then, shovel in to your mouth and enjoy!

A Crazy Summer's End

It's been a rather hectic last few months, I've taken a long hot break over the summer from the blog but I can't be neglectful forever and have finally made my return. I have a handful of summery recipes that I'll post up for anyone wanting to hold on to the last ray of warmth before the autumn chill sets in. It's going to be lovely and warm for the next week or so, even though it is technically autumn, I feel like it's okay to pretend for a little longer...

So while you kick back in your front yard with an old book and iced tea pretending that you're not too cold why not make a little something to nibble. Here are my two favourite lentil salads from the summer. Lentils are the best, such an all rounder. They're a carb, vegetable and protein substitute. Plus they are quick to cook and inexpensive. Always a win. I just use plain old brown ones but whatever you fancy! Just stay away from the dahl varieties (red, yellow) or anything split because they will just turn to mush, you want the skins on.

 

Lovely Lemony Lentil Feta Salad

Serves 4-6

2 cups lentils, cooked and cooled
1 cup crumbled feta
1 small head lettuce (butter, cos, baby spinach or cress would work, just please no iceberg)
From here you can freestyle, add whatever you like, tomato, carrot, avocado, cucumber... I just left it as is but utilise what's in your fridge!

Dressing

juice of 1 lemon
4 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp mustard
1 tbsp whole egg mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste (not too much salt, feta is very salty)


Whisk dressing ingredients in a bowl (the salad serving bowl will do; less washing up). Tear lettuce in to small pieces and toss it all together! Pull out your cutest salad servers and dig down to the bottom for the best tangy, salty feta lentil stash.

 Next salad, next post ;)

Fake Fancy

I've always been a firm believer in not having to spend much money to eat well. That said, you can also spend lots of money and eat well, but I don't see it as necessary. As long as you have the right mindset and know the best way to prepare/utilise certain ingredients, you can eat damn good food.

Everybody loves pasta right? It's cheap, it's fast, it's filling, and it's loaded with carby goodness. It's definitely my go-to meal when I'm feeling lazy and poor.

So, here's something I came up with on a whim, I really wanted some sort of fancy pasta dish but didn't have much money and was so tired of the regulars; bolognese, carbonara, etc. It turned out delicious and took very little time to prepare. As an added bonus it's vegetarian too, but either way you've gotta be crazy to not love big chunks of mushroom.

Most of the ingredients are pantry staples. So buying the rocket, mushrooms and parmesan only set me back around $10.

Portobello Mushroom Pasta

Serves 4

8 small portobello mushrooms
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp butter + splash of oil
1 500g packet of linguine/any shape really
1 150g bag of rocket
Grated parmesan to garnish*

Method:

Bring a large pot to the boil and salt well. Meanwhile slice mushrooms and garlic.

Saute mushrooms and garlic with butter and oil. At the same time as adding mushrooms to pan, add pasta to boiling water.

Once mushrooms are nearly cooked through season well** with salt and pepper. Do this later and not first to avoid the water leeching out of the mushrooms.

Cook pasta until al dente (I ALWAYS ignore the packet instructions and just taste it till its ready). Drain, then toss through the mushrooms and rocket.

Pile on to plates and top with grated parmesan to impress your guests.


*Don't tell anyone but I won't hate you if you use that stuff kept in the aisles
**Remember that once the mushrooms are tossed through the pasta the flavour will be less strong. Don't stress if they're a little over salted, it's probably a good thing!

Silverbeet!

My housemate has a friend who grows abundant amounts of silverbeet in her yard and every time they visit each other we get adorned with a mountain of the stuff. I'd never tried it until the first time she brought it home and I loved it! So delicious and nutty, not what I was expecting at all. I sort of imagined a watery bland leaf with a bitter nasty flavour, but that's just the anti veg child in me coming out.

We had so much that I thought I should utilise it well and make something that required a large amount. I tossed around some ideas and then remembered a failed attempt at quiche I had long ago and wanted to redeem myself. Okay, so I didn't make quiche, but turned it in to a silverbeet-rich baked frittata (I guess you could call it).

The beet was mostly leafy with small stems which is preferable to me, I shredded it and tossed it in olive oil with sliced mushrooms and some saute'd garlic and  spring onions to wilt it a little and mixed it up with beaten eggs, cream salt and pepper before covering with a nice layer of parmesan and baking ;)

 

Silverbeet and Mushroom Frittata

Serves 6

1 large bunch silverbeet, sliced
500g mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 spring onions, sliced
olive oil
4 large eggs
150ml cream
150ml milk
1/2 cup parmesan, gruyere or cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste


Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Slice silverbeet, musrooms, garlic and spring onions. Saute garlic, onions and mushrooms until mushrooms begin to cook. Add silverbeet and toss until wilted.

(I do this in the dish I'm about to bake in) Mix eggs, cream, milk and salt/pepper in the dish an add beet/mushroom mix. Carefully stir together to combine and make sure the beet is distributed evenly/there are no air pockets.

Sprinkle cheese on top and bake for 40 minutes or until set in the middle and cheese is browned on top.

Makes a nice lunch served with a simple side salad.

Better than Bolognese

One day I had absolutely nothing to do so I ended up lounging around watching Jamie Oliver TV shows on my computer. It was great! But it made me sooo hungry. I was inspired to make a 30 minute meal, but you know, it's pretty much impossible to do if you don't have the insane chopping skills of Jamie.

I figured since I'd taken inspiration from this one dish he makes on 30 minute meals and makes 4 in that whole 30 minutes that this one would be easy peasy and take no time at all. So it didn't take that long, but I think I managed it in about 40... Mostly because I have a silly electric stove which doesn't like getting hot and had to wait for the ingredients to brown.

Anywho, it was a delight to eat! I got hooked and was glad I made such a large amount so I could still have it for the next 3 days. The sweetness and aniseed flavours from the balsamic and fennel seeds are addictive. I didn't think I was going to like it because I used to be a sweet-in-savoury food snob, but now this is my go-to when I want something tomatoey but am totally over plain old bolognese. Don't be put off by me saying it's sweet, it's not like a sugary sweet it's very mildly sweet with a nice mellow tang.

Pork, Fennel and Balsamic Pasta

Serves 4 large or 6 small.

500g g pork mince
500g g pasta of your choice
1 carrot
1 brown onion
4 cloves garlic
2 celery stalks
1 tspn fennel seeds
1 pinch salt and pepper
1 splash olive oil
1 700ml jar of tomato passata

Method

Place carrot, onion, garlic and celery in a food processor and blitz until finely chopped.
Saute over med-high heat in a large fry pan with olive oil.

Once the mix begins to caramelise, push to one side and add the pork mince and brown.
Give it a good lug of balsamic – about 3 tbsp and let it sizzle off the tart vinegar tang and leave behind the sticky sweet balsamic taste.

Season generously with salt and pepper and add the fennel seeds.

Add the passata and simmer gently, tasting and seasoning with salt and pepper again if required.

Drain your pasta but reserve some cooking liquid and toss it all together with the sauce (this is why you need a large pan) which will help to emulsify the sauce and stop that horrible water-in-the-bottom-of-your-bowl problem.

Enjoy!

Optional: Toss through some fresh chopped parsley and garnish with grated parmesan.

Cold Rolls

These things go by so many different names, I've met people who have no idea what I'm talking about when I mention them. Sometimes people call them Vietnamese rolls but that generally refers to those crazy french inspired pork baguettes filled with fresh herbs and mayo. Rice paper rolls, fresh spring rolls and cold rolls are common names.

Anywho, I love them! I'd never had them really until I moved to Adelaide and my first housemate introduced me to them. She put avocado in them too which was so delicious! They're the best lunch on a hot day because they're so refreshing. I love that fresh herb and chewy rice paper goodness.

The concept is so fun because you can fill these with all sorts of leftovers, doesn't need to be ~authentic~ just as long as it tastes good. They're super transportable and can be eaten with your hands so they make the perfect picnic or packed lunch addition. Going to be making many more of these over the summer.
 

Chicken Avocado Cold Rolls

300g chicken thighs
1 tsp soy
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp palm (or brown) sugar
1/2 a lime's juice

16 round rice paper sheets (available in the Asian section at most supermarkets)
1 bunch coriander
1 bunch Vietnamese mint (or regular if you can't find Vietnamese)
100g rice vermicelli or glass noodles
Cucumber slices
Shredded lettuce
4 spring onions sliced
1 large avocado, cut in to slices


Method
Marinade the chicken in the soy, fish sauce, sugar and lime juice. Pan fry until cooked through and browned on the outside. Let rest then slice thinly.

Prepare the rice vermicelli or glass noodles as instructed.

Lay all the ingredients out along with a large shallow bowl/tray filled with recently boiled water and assemble as follows (I love to put this all on the table and let people DIY)

1. Quickly dunk rice paper in the hot water ensuring it is wet on all sides. Do not let it soften and wilt in the water otherwise you will struggle to handle it later. It will continue to soften as it sits.

2. Place on to a clean damp tea towel and lay chicken gracefully down the middle of the sheet.

3. Top with avocado, herbs, lettuce, cucumber and spring onion then adorn with a generous pinch of the noodles.

4. Wrap like you would a burrito, bringing two opposite sides in then folding a third over and rolling to seal shut.

Serve with a dipping sauce of choice, I like to keep it simple and just eat them with soy or a mix of 2/3 soy, 1/3 rice vinegar, a dash of fish sauce and a squeeze of lime.

Sugo d'Arrosto

So I read about this sauce in a book I have and was drooling through the whole chapter. I made some tortellini recently and decided to pair the two, it was filled with chicken and covered in a beefy sauce which I thought might be a bad pairing but it was seriously delicious. I regret nothing!

I changed a couple of things around from the original recipe but I'll just write the original and add my changes in brackets.

Sugo d'Arrosto (Sage and Meat Sauce)

1 tbsp butter
6 large fresh sage leaves
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 (scant) cup grated parmesan

This will make enough for 500g of dried pasta or 4 generous serves of fresh.

Melt butter in a pan, add sage leaves and garlic clove (I used 2 cloves and more sage), brown lightly.

Add broth and simmer for a moment then remove from heat (I added some salt and pepper also and removed the garlic before the next step).

Toss through pasta and parmesan cheese. Enjoy!


Tip: Because the sauce only coats lightly make sure its well seasoned otherwise it will be bland. Also of course home made beef stock is going to be the best but if you want something super easy and quick you could substitute for a good quality store bought liquid stock.

Rocket and Walnut Pesto

This pesto is really delicious and easy to make, it's amazing just slathered on a piece of toasted crusty bread, spread or dolloped on to pizza or tossed through hot pasta for a quick meal. I recently made it along with some potato gnocchi and it was so so good.

Rocket and Walnut Pesto

50g of Rocket
50g Walnuts
50g Parmesan Cheese (good quality please!)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper to taste


If you're using parmesan from a block (which I hope you are) then cut it in to thin slices first to ensure you don't get surprise cheese chunks in your pesto.

Pop all of the ingredients in to a food processor, blender or use a stick mix and whiz until not quite smooth (you want a few chunks). I use a mini food processor it's fantastic for curry pastes, pesto's and chopping small amounts.

Spicy Thai Style Pumpkin Soup

It was rainy and cold today and my house mate messaged me asking what I wanted for dinner. I had a pumpkin in the fridge that had sadly gone bad but had been planning to make pumpkin soup for days and was craving it so she brought home the ingredients as per my instructions. She was even surprised by how tasty the end result was!

It's simple and comforting on a rainy day. We toasted some bruschetta slices she had spare in the freezer to accompany. The recipe is just basic and we used what I had on hand however you can add lemongrass or kaffir lime leaves to make it a little more exciting.

please excuse the crinkled tablecloth...

Spicy Thai Style Pumpkin Soup

serves 4

1kg (about 1/2 of a large butternut) pumpkin chopped in to small cubes
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 large thumb sized knob ginger
200ml coconut cream/milk
2 cups vegetable stock/water
fresh or ground chili to taste
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
fresh coriander chopped last minute
salt and pepper

Chop the onion, garlic and ginger and sweat onions in a pot with a neutral oil (canola, vegetable, rice bran etc.) for a few minutes on medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and saute until fragrant.

Add cubed pumpkin, stock and coconut milk/cream along with chili, fish sauce and lime juice. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10-15mins or until the pumpkin has cooked through.

Transfer to a blender (you may have to blend in batches depending on your blender size) and whiz until smooth.

Alternatively, stick mix it all up in the pot! If you have one.

Stir through the chopped coriander and enjoy!

Tips: Remove the middle insert in the blender lid and secure over the lid with a tea towel (and your hand!) while blending. The tea towel trick means that you won't get that pressure build up from the sealed lid + hot soup which is the culprit of the old press-blend-scalding-soup-goes-everywhere. It might mean you get a little soup on your tea towel from covering the hole but its a price I'm willing to pay to save my kitchen from soup projectile.

If you like it thicker add more pumpkin/less stock or vice versa for thinner.

And if you're in a mad rush and need your soup fix replace onions with spring onions/shallots and grate the pumpkin and it'll cook in no time!

Hummus

You will never buy hummus again once you make it, even from plain old canned chickpeas it is so much tastier and so much cheaper to make!

You can get a bit fancy with additions like roasted garlic, roasted pumpkin or using white beans instead of chickpeas but the plain old stock standard is always delish.

Hummus

 

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp of tahini
1 tsp lemon juice
a lug of olive oil
1 small clove of garlic (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
water if needed

Put everything in to a food processor, blender (or you can use a stick mixer) and puree until smooth, if the mix is too thick and not blending properly add a little water to loosen it. I like to sprinkle a little hot paprika on top and add a drizzle of olive oil.

1 can of chickpeas will make about the same amount you'll get in a med-large tub of dip, and about twice as much as in the photo (I was hungry).