Swordfish pie

Yum swordfish! I hadn’t had any for ages so when I went shopping and saw some I grabbed it. I wasn’t sure what I would cook with it but tonight I remembered the coriander pesto I had awaiting my ideas for it. Then it was a matter of seeing what I had in the way of vegetables and deciding whether to use phyllo or puff pastry. Then voilà! 

Ingredients

2 sheets puff pastry

140 gr swordfish fillet

Small carrot

1/2 red pepper

2 spring onions

2 heaped tsp coriander pesto

3 tsp crushed ginger root

Poppyseed

Mode

Preheat oven to 180c

If using frozen puff pastry remove sheets from freezer to thaw

Julienne the carrot

Clean and chop spring onions

Roughly cut the red pepper

Crush ginger

Place one sheet of pastry in base of baking dish

Place the swordfish fillet on pastry

Spread pesto over

Add spring onion and crushed ginger

Top with carrot pieces and red pepper

Place second sheet of pastry on top

Trim and seal pastry and decorate as desired

Sprinkle with poppyseed

Bake in oven at 180c for 45 minutes

Lentil lasagne

It must be quite a while since I last made lentil lasagne and the curious thing is that that I didn't plan to make it this time. The plan was to make lasagne with ricotta and a tomato sauce. However, when I was stirring my tomato sauce I suddenly decided to add some lentils.  And I am very glad that I did as it was delicious and I can't think why it has been so long since I enjoyed it.

 Ingredients

400 gr diced tomatoes
2 tbs tomato paste (without salt)
Bunch coriander
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp crushed ginger root
1/2 carrot
400 gr canned lentils
375 gr ricotta
6 sheets lasagne pasta (type that does not require pre-cooking)
Parmesan

Mode

Preheat oven to 180c

Chop coriander

Slice carrots into strips

Crush garlic

Place tomatoes in saucepan on stove

Add coriander, carrot, ginger, garlic and tomato paste

Stir to combine

Bring the boil and reduce to simmer

Add lentils and combine

Simmer until thickened

Place a couple of tablespoons of the sauce in the bottom of a baking dish

Add layer of pasta

Add half the remaining sauce and smooth

Spoon half the ricotta over the sauce

Add another layer of pasta

Spoon the remaining half of the ricotta over the paster

Sprinkle with Parmesan

Add another layer of pasta

Cover with remaining sauce making sure that all the pasta is covered

Sprinkle with Parmesan

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes

Salmon pie

Earlier in the year when I was doing a FutureLearn course, I experimented with making a couple of Elizabethan vegetable pies. This time I decided to experiment by making a pie which contained salmon as well as vegetables and using verjuice as before and Dijonaise rather than butter. This pie didn't have the richness from the butter but the more delicate flavours allowed the salmon to be tasted more.


 

Ingredients

250 gr salmon fillet with skin
1 carrot
2 cauliflower flowers
2 handfuls frozen baby peas
2 tbs verjuice
1 tbs Dijonnaise
Puff pastry

Mode

Preheat the oven to 180c
Remove the pastry to thaw to room temperature if frozen
Chop the carrots as you wish and add to baking dish
Break the cauliflower into florets and add
Add the Dijonnaise and stir
Microwave the carrot and cauliflower for 1 minute (or steam lightly)
Make space in the middle and place the salmon fillet there
Add frozen peas
Pour over verjuice
Cover the pie dish with a sheet of puff pastry and decorate as desired
Pierce the top in a few places
Cook in the oven for 45 minutes

Stir-fried vegetables with pickled octopus

After all the rich and rather heavy royal food I have been cooking and digesting for a few weeks, I felt like something light and filled with vegetables. This stir-fry of vegetables and pickled octopus hit the spot exactly and emerged simply because the ingredients were on hand. I ate mine with gnocchi as I had a yearning for some, but it is great with rice or noodles or alone.

Ingredients

3 tbs extra virgin coconut oil
1 bulb pak choi
2 spring onions
1 carrot
1 flower cauliflower
2 cloves garlic
3 tsp chopped ginger
2 tsp Thai sweet chilli sauce
150 gr pickled baby octopus


Mode

Clean the spring onion and slice
Peel the carrot and slice
Roughly chop the pak choi
Break the cauliflower into bite size flowerets
Place the oil in a pan to heat
Add the vegetables and stir to coat with oil
Add the octopus and stir to combine
Crush the garlic and add
Chop the ginger and add
Add the chilli sauce and stir to combine
Stir constantly until cooked to a crunchy consistency
Serve with rice or noodles.

Lentil, ricotta and spinach lasagne

Well here I am at home struck down by the dreaded shingles.  What to cook and what to eat becomes what is in the pantry or what is in the freezer. This is going to be a long haul, I fear. Did I mention that I hate shingles? But one thing I do like about it is that it means I am going through the pantry and freezer and sorting them out.  And I really liked the outcome of my latest foraging.  Thanks Leonie for suggesting I blog it.  Otherwise it might have stayed on a scrappy piece of paper for eternity.



So the outcome of my latest foraging?  A lasagne made by alternating layers of a lentil and tomato sauce with a mixture of ricotta and spinach. And it really is so yummy!  You will notice that this really is about staples in the pantry for me.  If you want to soak and cook your own lentils that is fine: I used canned. Likewise with the lasagne sheets!



Ingredients

For lentil sauce
400 gr canned lentils
400 gr canned chopped tomatoes
2 tbs tomato paste
1 onion
2 tbs olive oil
2 handfuls dried basil
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp ginger
2 small carrots
1/2 cup water

 

For spinach/ricotta sauce
375 gr ricotta
250 gr frozen spinach
2 spring onions
2 cloves garlic

Lasagne sheets (not needing precooking)
Grated or shaved Parmesan

Mode

Preheat the oven to 180c
Put the oil in a pan to heat
Finely chop the onion and add to oil
Crush garlic and ginger and add
Stir constantly until soft
Add tomatoes and tomato paste and stir
Drain lentils, rinse, add and stir
Crush dried basil and add
Chop carrots and add
Stir to combine and add water
Leave simmering on stove top
Meanwhile, place frozen spinach in microwaveable bowl
Chop spring onions and add
Crush garlic and add
Cover and microwave for 5 minutes
(Alternately cook in a steamer until tender)
Place ricotta in bowl and add spinach when cooked
Stir to combine
Assemble the lasagne in an oven-proof dish commencing with a thin layer of the lentil sauce
Add lasagne sheets
Then add a thin layer of the spinach and ricotta
Add lasagne sheets
Continue with this process until the baking dish is full
Make sure to end with a lentil sauce layer to ensure that the pasta cooks properly
Sprinkle with grated Parmesan
Bake in a 180c oven for 45 minutes

Lunch - without bread!

Another day, another lunch without bread for those of you who think you can't eat lunch without bread!  I do eat bread sometimes, but I try not to most of the time, particularly when I am at home.  This meal is a fresh combination of salmon, egg and vegetables.  My salad greens were a mixture of endive, rocket, and cos, but you could use whatever you had at hand. Or just one type.

Ingredients

Mixed salad greens
105 gr can pink salmon
6 cherry tomatoes
1/2 Lebanese cucumber
1/2 red capsicum
1 small carrot
1 hard-boiled egg
1 tbs lemon-infused olive oil

Mode

Place salad greens in serving bowl
Chop cucumber and capsicum and add
Peel and cut the carrot in strips and add
Slice egg and add
Add the tomatoes and salmon (including liquid from the can)
Stir to combine
Sprinkle over the oil
Toss thoroughly until all ingredients are combined and the oil and salmon liquid cover the other ingredients.

Lunch!

I snapped a photo of my lunch earlier and not long later got a comment on Instagram that it was not at Couple Cinos, a cafe run by some friends!  True.  Well, Nemo, this is just to prove to you that I often prefer the comforts of home at lunch-time!

This is a quick, fresh lunch put together quickly from a range of ingredients that were on hand.  The flavours were lovely and I could easily have eaten more serves. However, the time has come to get on the straight and narrow after the eating excesses of the Christmas and New Year season.

For the wholegrain rice pilau, I used the remains of a packet of Tilda wholegrain pilau which I am very partial too.  It is wholegrain basmati flavoured with cummin, curry leaf and fenugreek.  If you wanted to add your own rice, I would add some extra cummin, curry leaf and fenugreek to get the added flavour. I like Vietnamese mint a lot, so I added quite a lot. You can add what feels good to you.


Ingredients

105 gr can pink salmon
200 gr cherry bocconcini
1 Lebanese cucumber
1/2 red capsicum
1 small carrot
Vietnamese mint
40 gr pomegranate seeds
150 wholegrain pilau
1 tbs lemon-infused olive oil

Mode

Drain the bocconcini and place in serving bowl
Chop cucumber and capsicum and add
Peel and cut the carrot in strips and add
Add the pilau, pomegranate seeds and salmon (including liquid from the can)
Stir to combine
Chop the Vietnamese mint and add
Sprinkle over the oil
Toss thoroughly until all ingredients are combined and the oil and salmon liquid cover the other ingredients.