Pasta with Roasted Peppers - Inspired by Nigel Slater

Nigel Slater is one cool dude. He's my food hero!

While most famous chefs show signs of being a megalomaniac, Nigel comes across as a quiet, chilled out, low profile chef who is highly respected in the industry. There's no yelling in his kitchen, no puffed out chest or big noting himself. He's just a man in black working quietly and comfortably at his own pace.

Having watched a few of his DVD's, read his memoir "Toast"  and a number of other cook books he has published, I am a true Nigel Slater 'Groupie'. Somehow he seems to blend the right amount of herbs or spices in the simplest way and team ingredients to give un complicated and delicious dishes. If you are unfamiliar with Nigel's work, then just go to this link.

Inspired by one of his couplings - Pasta with Peppers, I have tried to recreate the dish without his actual recipe. I hope I have done it justice.

I served this to a group of friends for lunch, just before Christmas and it went down really well. I was feeling pretty rushed at the time and wasn't sure what to make as it was quite a warm day and we were eating outside.  I made up a big Mezze Plate for Entree, stuff I didn't have to cook; Dolmades, Greek Beans, olives, semi-dried tomatoes, dips, etc. Such an easy way to entertain a lot of people when you have little time.

PASTA WITH ROASTED PEPPERS 

I have worked on the ratio of 2 capsicums (peppers) per person, but only one if they are very big. Once cooked they do tend to shrink a little.

Serves 4

6 Capsicums (peppers) red, green or yellow 1. 5  - 2 per person

large bunch of basil

6 shallots finely sliced

6 - 8  cloves garlic peeled, finely chopped

250g ripe cherry tomatoes

olive oil
100g pine nuts, lightly toasted

250g pasta - I use penne or spirals
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley

salt and pepper
Crème Fraîche -optional

In a dry pan, toast the pine nuts until golden and set aside.

Take each pepper and take a small slice out of it lengthways. The capsicums are going to act as little 'boats' to support the tomatoes and garlic. Place the capsicums into a lined baking dish. 

Put the garlic, shallots and tomatoes into a bowl.  Chop the slivers of capsicum that you sliced off and add this to the bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and using your hands, mix the whole lot together and divide the mixture between the capsicums, filling up the cavities.

Take a large bunch of basil and a very large slug of olive oil and blend the two together, until they resemble a thin sauce.  Add a pinch of salt. 

Tip the basil sauce over the capsicums, and bake in a preheated oven at 170º fan forced for around 40 - 50 minutes until the capsicums are nicely charred, soft and very very juicy.

While the capsicums are cooking, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and cook the pasta following the recommended guidelines.

Remove the cooked capsicums from the oven, place them on a serving dish and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts. Retain all the lovely juices from the pan. 

Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the juices in the pan, warming slightly on the cook top. Tip the pasta into a serving bowl and add chopped parsley. It is advisable to serve the pasta and capsicums separately.

I remember Nigel served his peppers with a dollop of Crème Fraîche and that is a option, if you don't mind the extra calories.

A New Year - Time for Salads

Happy New Year to you all. A big THANK YOU, to everyone that has been so supportive over the last 12 months especially my family and friends and the many visitors and comments from people I do not know. 

Winners of the Birthday Celebration Cook Book Give Away are: -

Diana from Geelong, Victoria - the 'Organic Book' is on its way and Malcolm from Plympton, South Australia - just posted 'Spain,' to you - enjoy! Thanks to all of you that entered, it was fun selecting winners!

I hope you had a great Christmas, Hanukkah, festive holiday or just plain absence from work. Are you enjoying the sunny summer in the southern hemisphere or skiing, log fires and Gluhwein in the north? Either way I hope you have safe and happy holidays and a great 2015!

I spent a lovely Christmas with my family in the mountains near Sydney - it was hot, rainy, foggy and cold ,all in one day! Here's a few photos showing how lovely the area is. We stayed at this place, nice, comfortable and plenty of room to spread out.

 Foggy start to the morning, Blue Mountains

Echo Point, Katoomba at dawn

Dawn, Echo Point, Katoomba 

Sunlight on a Banksia

Planning 2015 things to do! Do you make a list every year, month, week? I love lists, they keep me focussed. I haven't yet got into lists of lists, but maybe one day I will get that crazy!

In 2015, I plan on spending more me time with my cameras. Time to play, explore and have fun.

The gym will also be seeing me a lot more - gosh, that sounds like a chore - but it isn't really!  Then there is food! Yes of course I will be spending more time testing out ideas and recipes. But I am back into a 5:2 fasting period, so I will be posting a few photos of what I eat on my 500 calorie days.

But enough about that. We needed a salad in a hurry over Christmas, this is what I came up with. - It has great flavour,  easy to prepare and very low in calories. A good salad to start off the New Year!

Roasted Cauliflower and Chick Pea Salad

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 brown onion, finely sliced
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
handful of pine nuts
3 tbls basil, chopped
1 400g tin of chick peas
dash of olive oil
knob of butter
salt and pepper
juice of 1 lemon

Pre heat oven 180º fan forced/350º degrees.  

Take one cauliflower and slice across it into 4 or 5 slabs and place into a baking dish. I used about 3/4 of  large cauliflower. Add a sprinkling of olive oil, salt and pepper and cinnamon and roast until it has a nice golden colour, approximately 30 - 35 minutes.

Take out of the pan and let it cool.

While the cauliflower is roasting, dry fry the pine nuts until golden and set aside.

Add knob of butter and olive oil to fry pan and add onions and garlic and cook on a very low heat for around 20 -30 minutes or until the onions are golden and caramelised. Set aside.

In a large serving bowl, add drained chick peas, basil, onions and garlic, pine nuts. Break up the cauliflower and add this to the bowl. Adjust seasoning. Add lemon juice, so the cauliflower is pretty tangy.

Add a sprinkling of olive oil and toss thoroughly and you are ready to serve.

Serves 6 as a side salad.

Yeast Fruit Scroll with Basil

Something in a recipe caught my eye; Basil in a yeasty fruit bun - no way!

But I tried it and something went horribly wrong with the recipe and what was suppose to be a soft yeast dough turned into cardboard. I followed the recipe exactly, or so I thought. The taste was pretty good, a little too sweet for my palette but the fruit combined with a hint of basil was fantastic.

I wanted this to turn out well, I had been longing for a very fruity yeast bun and it was not going to get the better of me.

A couple of days later, I decided to try again but this time I combined my own sweet dough recipe and a combination of fruit that I liked and just added the basil and sugar to the base of the dough.

My dough recipe allows you to make it and store it in the fridge for between 3 hrs - 3 days ahead of time and providing it is covered and refrigerated it is still very easy to use even after 3 days.

Oh my goodness, I am in heaven. Here is a doughy, fruity, sticky, basily (if there is such a word) bun you can eat by itself or with cream, ice cream or yoghurt. It won't last long once your friends or neighbours get a whiff of this, so get in first and help yourself to the biggest slice.
And yes, I did use a lot of flour and eggs and fruit, but it was well worth it because the second time around it worked a treat.

1. Yeast Fruit Scroll with Basil

Ingredients

1. Make the dough first because it needs to rest in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours and this will give you time to prepare everything else.

For the  Sweet Dough

1/2 cup of milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
60g butter
1/4 cup warm water
1 tsp dried yeast
1 egg
2 cups plain flour, sifted

Scald the milk in a saucepan over a low flame ( Take the milk temperature to 82º C or 180º F) Take it off the heat and stir in the sugar, salt and butter. Cool to lukewarm.
Measure the warm water and put it into a large bowl which has been warmed. Add the yeast and stir until it is dissolved. Add the lukewarm milk mixture, the beaten egg and half the flour. Beat vigorously until the mixture is smooth and stir in the remaining flour. Add this stage the mixture looks a little ragged, but it should be the consistency of a thick batter. Cover with cling wrap and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

*Basil Sugar

1/2 cup caster sugar
6 basil leaves

In a pestle and mortar add the sugar and basil leaves, pounding until the leaves and the sugar are well combined and the sugar is green. Set aside.

Filling

zest of 1 lemon
2 tbls lemon juice
4 tbls soft butter
1 cup of fresh or frozen raspberries and blueberries combined
*Basil sugar

Topping
1 cup icing sugar
lemon juice extra

Combine 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, lemon zest and butter with the basil sugar and mix together.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface to measure a rectangle about 45 x 35 cms 18 x 14 inches.

Spread the basil sugar over the entire dough area evenly. Then sprinkle the fruit over the dough leaving a small edge clear all the way around. Once you have done this, start to roll up tightly from the long edge, like a swiss roll. Once you have done this pinch the seam to seal it.  Then place in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm it up.

Using a sharp serrated knife cut it into about 10 even pieces and place in a small pie dish or sandwich tin which has been greased. At this point, it may feel a little strange cutting up the dough and if the filling seems to be seeping out, don't worry because it will leave a lovely jammy kind of crust.

Bake in a preheated oven, 180º  fan forced / 375º and bake for 20 - 25 minutes

Leave it in the tin to cool and then add the icing.

Mix the icing sugar and lemon juice until it is creamy and runny and drizzle on the cool scroll.

Then, take out a slice for yourself before anyone else gets the hint that you have made it. Prepare for the rush of people wanting to taste it.

A Little French Soup

Pistou, a condiment from the Provence region of France was introduced by the Italians in the 19th century. 'Pistou' is really the French equivalent of a 'Pesto' and consists of a mix of fresh basil, garlic, oil and a little parmesan cheese. Generally the ingredients are pounded together in a mortar and pestle and added to a broth to enhance the flavour.

Soup au Pistou is my all time favourite French soup although one which I haven't made for a fair time. 

When I lived and worked in Paris, I was introduced to this soup au pistou by an elderly French woman who could dress a chicken, chop it into piece and turn it into an amazing cassoulet, even though she was completely blind. She stunned me with what she could do just by the feel and she never seemed to make a mistake.
I shared a kitchen occasionally with this woman and when we cooked she told me stories about her childhood in the country and how making a 'pistou' reminded her of her so much of her family who used to grow all their own vegetables, keep chickens and pigs and the odd horse to work the fields.

I was reminded of this relationship a couple of weeks ago when I was rummaging through my old postcards and I found one that I had received from a friend who had visited the picturesque town of Sauve. This is the town where my elderly friend had lived as a child.  This sent me on a long hunt through an old trunk, finding a few dolls, some odd magazines (not sure why I kept those) and a heap of old exercise books to try and find the recipe that she had given me many years ago. I am delighted that I found it and can share it with you.

Madame Leroux, ici c'est votre recette. Merci beaucoup.

Soup au Pistou

Ingredients - Serves 8 - 10 people

500g white dried haricot beans

1 large leek sliced

300g French green beans

300g carrots diced

3 zucchinis diced
3 large tomatoes chopped

300g potatoes, peeled and diced

Salt and pepper

2 litres of vegetable stock (see below)

100g pasta (I use Risoni)

For the Pistou

5 cloves garlic crushed

bunch fresh basil

Olive oil

Grated parmesan

Vegetable Stock

Making your own vegetable stock is very easy and so much better than using commercial ones, however if you are short on time then do what you have to and use a ready made stock.
2 carrots chopped
1 onion chopped
1 zucchini diced
a few stalks of celery or tops of celery chopped
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
2 litres of water
Olive oil
Knob of butter
Parsley

In a large saucepan heat olive oil and a knob of butter.
Throw in all the vegetables, parsley and caramelise for 5 mins, stirring continually. Add, water, bay leaves, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and cook for approximately 1 hour. Strain the stock, and it is ready to use.

Soak the haricot beans overnight with enough water to completely cover. Strain the following day and they are ready to use.

Soup

• In a large saucepan bring your stock to the boil, add drained haricot beans, potatoes and carrots and bring back to the boil.
• Add French green beans, leek and zucchini and bring back to the boil. Add tomatoes and continue to cook on a low heat until the vegetables are almost soft and add pasta. If you use Risoni it will only take a few minutes to cook.
• Adjust seasoning.

Serve the soup with a spoonful of 'Pistou', a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and a good chunk of baguette!

Pistou

You can put all the ingredients into a mortar and pound with your pestle or put into a blender and blend together. Add as much oil as you need to make a nice paste, but try and keep some texture to it.