The Kitchen Playground

February is the new December. Busy, busy, busy. Not to mention often too hot to cook. This little meal is not only versatile in the time of day that it suits but it’s delicious and can be made in 10 minutes from start to finish. What more could you possibly want?

Poached salmon, egg and asparagus with hollandaise.
500g salmon, cut into bite sized pieces
4 eggs
1 bunch asparagus
For the hollandaise
60g butter
2 egg yolks
juice half lemon
salt and pepper
toast to serve

1. Boil water in a large pot. Poach eggs two at a time, remove and keep warm in oven. Add salmon and asparagus to boiling water for 2 minutes
2. Meanwhile, insert butterfly into thermomix, add sauce ingredients and cook for 4 minutes at 70 degrees on speed 3.
3. Place asparagus on plates, top with salmon and 1 poached egg per serving. Top with hollandaise and serve with toast points.

Tags: asparagus, Hollandaise, poached egg, salmon, thermomix

Due to extreme tiredness, a backlog of knitting for the school fete and a half written emergency plan for the kinder, this week’s post contains a side dish only. But what a side dish it was! A thermomix modification of a classic Spanish tapas dish, which was served with Portuguese steak and Portuguese fried potatoes.

Judias Verdes con Salsa de Tomate - French beans in tomato sauce
500g French beans, trimmed
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2 cloves garlic, peeled
4 medium tomatoes
1 tablespoon muscovado
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

1. Place onion and garlic in thermomix and chop for 5 - 10 seconds on speed 6. Scrape down sides.
2. Add oil and saute for 3 minutes at 100 degrees on speed 1.
3. Add tomatoes and chop for 5 seconds on speed 6.
4. Add muscovado, seasoning and parsley.
5. Place steamer basket in thermomix and place beans in side.
6. Cook at 100 degrees on speed 1 for 8 minutes.
7. Place beans in serving dish and top with tomato sauce

Que approveche!

Tags: beans, tapas, thermomix

First week of term, hot weather, committee meetings, swimming lessons, work, craft group meetings. Totally crazy week to decide to do a culinary trip round the world. We did it though. And thoroughly enjoyed it. Unfortunately, it’s taken until today to catch up on blogging about it.

First Born has placed French food in second place, Vietnam remains in first. High praise indeed and I’m betting the large amounts of cream and butter involved hd plenty to do with it.

Our German feast is yet to be blogged. For now, the trip will continue but on a weekly basis, not every night. Next week, we visit Tonga, First Born having rejected Niger for the moment. Now to the food!

Chez KP goes French…

Recipes from Complete Techniques, Jacques Pepin.

Puree de Carottes (Puree of Carrots)
4 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1. Place carrots in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, add salt and simmer until tender.
2. Drain and mash finely.
3. Place in cheesecloth or a fine sieve and drain for 2 hours to allow excess moisture to drain.
4. Lift and press to remove any remaining moisture. Return to saucepan.
5. Add cream, butter, salt and pepper. Heat slowly and serve hot.

Feuilletes de Courgettes (Zucchini Puff Paste)
Making puff pastry in 36 degrees weather is an act of insanity. With frequent refrigeration, it is possible. Just.
6 small zucchini, sliced into thin strips.
puff pastry
1/2 cup water
4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

1. Roll out puff pastry to about 1/2 cm thick. Cut 4 strips which are 10cm x 4cm.
2. Brush with eggwash and score the top.
3. Bake in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes until well puffed and browned. Set aside until ready to use
4. Bring the zucchini, water and a dash of salt to boil in a frypan for 1 minute.
5. Add butter, lemon juice, salt and pepper and bring back to the boil, shaking the pan so the water and butter combine.
6. Warm the puff pastry in the oven and cut into halves, lengthways. Arrange some zucchini strips along the bottom half od each and moisten with butter sauce.
7. Cover with top part of pastry and serve hot, immediately.

Cotelettes de Porc Farcies Charcutiere (Stuffed pork chops with sour sauce)
4 pork chops
1 tablespoon butter
1 small leek, cleaned and diced very finely
1 stalk celery, peeled and finely diced
500g cooked spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 cup finely diced ham
12 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Sauce charcutiere
2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped
1/2 cup finely diced onions
3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1/2 cup cornichons, finely sliced
3/4 cup demi glace
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons chopped herbs (I used a mix of chives and tarragon)

1. Make a large slit through the middle of the chop to create a pocket. Flatten with a meat tenderiser o make the flaps of the pocket as big as possible.
2. Melt butter in a small saucepan, add leek and saute 1 minute.  Add celery and saute for a few more seconds. Mix in spinach with a fork and cook for 1 minute more. Add ham and seonsing, combine and remove from heat. Allow stuffing to cool.
3. Push cooled stuffing into pockets in chops.
4. Season chop. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large frypan. Add chops and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes on the first side. Turn and cook for 6 - 8 minutes. Cook slowly to avoid drying out meat.
5. Keep chops warm on a platter in a slow oven while you make the sauce.
6. Add onions to pan chops were in and saute for 1  - 2 minutes. Add wine. Boil and stir for a few seconds.
7. Add tomatoes and garlic and cook for 1 minute, add demi-glace, bring to a boil and reduce for 2 - 3 minutes.
8. Season if necessary. Stir in cornichons. Taste and season. Pour over chps and garnish with herbs.

Tags: carrot puree, Fench cooking, pork chops, zucchini

Welcome to Europe! Yes we did discuss that Russia is in both Europe and Asia but we cooked European Russian food. On the first day of term with swimming lessons fter school. What was I thinking? Fortunately, I had selected a salad which meant it could be done between work and school pickup, ready for eating the moment we walked in after swimming.

The verdict? Surprisingly good. What seemed rather stodgy in the making was lifted up beautifully by the addition of fresh dill, capers, pickles, tomato and olives. First Born claimed to enjoy it but doesn’t want leftovers for lunch. He’d prefer a sandwich.

Original recipe, slightly modified, from The Cooking of Russia, published by Time Life Books

Salat Olivier (Chicken salad with soured-cream dressing)
2 whole chicken breasts
1 large onion, peeled and quartered
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 - 8 polski ogorki style pickled cucumbers, roughly chopped
4 small boiled potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
3 hard boiled eggs, peeled and thinly sliced
sprinkle of white pepper
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed, pat dry
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill
green or black olives to garnish
1 - 2 tomatoes cut into thin wedges to garnish

1. place chicken and onion in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, skimmong off scum as it rise nd cook for about 10 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and cut into thin strips.
2. In a large bowl, combine chicken, potato, egg, pickles, salt and pepper.
3. Beat mayonnaise and sour cream together until well blended
4. Mix half the mayonnaise mixture through the chicken mixture.
5. To serve, shape the salad on a platter in a pyramid shape (yeah right, I did the best I could), cover the outside with the remaining mayonnaise mixture.
6. Garnish with dill, capers, tomato and olives.

Tomorrow night, see you in France…or Germany. Plans subject to change depending on the craziness of the day.

Tags: Russian food, salads, Salat Olivier

First Born has taken this whole culinary world tour thing very seriously. He amuses and delights me. So I thought I’d share with you his daily offerings to accompany our meals.

The text down the bottom reads: Japan is a country in Aisa and Japan is an island Japanese PeoPle sit at low wooDen TaBles to eat.

The text reads: thai PeoPle use chopstists and they catch a lot of fish the ruler of thailand is a king.

The text reads: Vietnamese Grow a lot of rice there was a BiG war in Vietnam lots of PeoPle DiedD.

I think he missed school. Lucky he starts back tomorrow!

Tags: Ankle Biters

Ahh Vietnamese food. It never fails to delight. Never. Every dish was hungrily gobbled and loudly praised this evening.

The soup was magical. My love for pho is not unknown but I simply did not have the time to make the stock. I’ve found my quick substitute soup. The beef and Vietnamese coriander soup is light, refreshing and fish saucy. Everything a Vietnamese soup should be. Fortunately, I resisted the urge to fill up on it and saved myself for the fish, rice and salad.  The salmon was delicately steamed and topped with the most flavoursome of garlic and ginger sauces. The salad was crunchy and light and a perfect accompaniment to the fish and rice. Best of all, there is enough of the salad left to stuff into a baguette for lunch tomorrow. It won’t be at it’s peak but I have confidence that it will make a great salad roll.

First Born has rated his Asian country’s foods. His favourite is Vietnamese, Japan in second place and Thailand third. Which surprised me because the amount he ate, in descending order, was Vietnamese, Thai and Japanese.

Recipes from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen by Andrea Nguyen

Canh Thit Bo Rau Ram (Beef and Vietnamese coriander soup)
I couldn’t get my hands on any Vietnamese coriander (which is odd), so I used standard coriander as I had plenty of it.
1 tablespoon rice bran oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
400g hand minced beef steak (or best quality mince/ground beef)
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
3/4 teaspoon salt
7 cups water
1/3 cup fresh chopped Vietnamese coriander leaves
black pepper

1. In a large saucepan, heat oil. add onions and cook over medium heat for a few minutes until soft and fragrant.
2. Add beef and move around in the pan until it is well broken up. When it colours add salt and fish sauce. Cook for about 1 minute.
3. Add water and bring to the boil. Skim any scum off with a ladle. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until it reduces by about 1/5.
4. Just before serving, taste and add extra fish sauce or salt if needed. Turn off heat, stir in leaves until just wilted and serve.

Ca Hap Toi Gung (Steamed salmon with garlic and ginger)
The book gives instructions for cooking with a saucepan and steamer. I will give the thermomix instructions that I used.
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 1/2 tablespoons rice bran oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely shredded
3 spring onions, chopped
1 spring onion, white part only, cut into long strips
1 large piece salmon

1. Chop garlic and ginger in thermomix for 5 - 10 seconds on speed 6. Scrape down sides. Add oil and cook at 100 degrees for 3 minutes on soft speed.
2. Add oyster sauce and soy sauce and cook at 100 degrees for 5 minutes on soft speed. Add spring onions and scrape out of thermomix into a seperate bowl.
3. Place rice in steamer basket and set to cook at varoma temperature for 16 minutes on speed 4. After 6 minutes place fish, in varoma tray and attach.
4. To serve, remove fish from varoma, slide onto a plate and top with sauce. Serve with steamed rice.

Dua Gia (Crunchy bean sprout salad)
23 cu sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup white vinegr
1 cup water
500g bean sprouts
1 carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks
5 small or 4 medium spring onions, green part only, cut into 3cm lengths

1. To make brine, in a small saucepan, combine sugar, salt, vinegar and water and heat over medium heat, stirring until all sugar and salt have dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
2. No more than two hours, or less than 30 minutes before stirring. Combine vegetables, pour brine over and gently toss with hands until all coated. When ready for eating, the brine will almost cover them and the vegetables will be crunchy and tangy. When satisfied with the flavour, drain and serve on a plate.

And there ends the mini-tour of Asia. Tomorrow, we move on to Europe!

Tags: Ca Hap Toi Gung, Canh Thit Bo Rau Ram, Dua Gia, Salads & Vegetables, salmon, Soup, thermomix, Varoma, Vietnamese food

After a night out of the kitchen last night, today we resumed our world tour. Tonight’s top, Thailand. First Born has identified it on the map, read a book about it, drawn the flag and listed similarities between Japan and Thailand. I hope he always loves learning this much. And in such a self directed fashion.

Every dish was approved by all family members this evening. Wins all around. Hooray for Thailand! Although First Born did claim he enjoyed the Japanese more, the state of his bowl says otherwise. The soup was light, luscious and distinctly Thai with the flavours of lemon grass, garlic, ginger, lime and chilli blending perfectly with the crab meat and corn kernels. The fried rice was simple compared to the Chinese variety but still flavourful and beautifully accompanied by the pineapple and cucumber sambal. The cucumber salad is an old favourite of mine and although I omitted the sliced red chillies for the sake of the Ankle Biters, it was as refreshing as I remembered it to be. On a sad note, my omelette broke up upon folding so lacks the delicacy of presentation I would have liked. Fortunately the flavour was unaffected. The addition of fish sauce to the egg is just superb and the prawn filling was the perfect match.

Thai recipes are from Step-by-Step Thai Cooking, published by Bay Books.

Corn and crab soup with coriander
I did all of this in the thermomix, if using a pot, just follow times and ignore speeds
1 1/2 tablespoons oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 stem lemongrass, white part only, finely chopped
1 tablespoon grated ginger
500ml vegetable stock
1/2 cup coconut milk
kernels of one corn cob
170g can crab meat1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
coriander leaves to serve.

1. Place garlic, shallots, lemon grass and ginger in thermomix and chop finely (or do it by hand). Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
2. Add oil and cook for 3 minutes on 100 degrees, soft speed or until aromatic.
3. Add stock and milk and bring to the boil (5 minutes, 100 degrees, speed1). Add corn and cook for 5 minutes (100 degrees, reverse speed 1).
4. Add crab, fish sauce, lime juice and brown sugar. Briefly stir (3 seconds on reverse speed 3).
5. Serve immediately topped with coriander leaves.

Prawn Omelette

2 tablespoons oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 stems lemon grass, white part only, finely chopped
2 coriander roots, finely chopped
1 - 2 teaspoons chopped red chillies
500g small raw prawns, shelled
3 spring onions chopped, plus extra for garnich
12 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 teaspoons soft brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons fish sauce
coriander sprigs to garnish

1. Heat half the oil in wok, add garlic, lemon grass, coriander root and chillies. Cook over medium heat for about 20 seconds, or until aromatic.
2. Add prawns and stirfry until they change colour.
3. Add spring onions, pepper, fish sauce and brown sugar. Toss well and remove from wok.
4. Beat eggs, water and fish sauce together until foamy.
5. Add remaining oil to wok and stir around to coat the sides. Heat wok and when very hot, pour in the egg and swirl around the wok. Allow mixture to set on the underneath edges, frequently lifting sides once set and tilting the wok to allow unset egg to run underneath. Repeat until all the egg is cooked.
6. Place 3/4 of the prawn mixture in the middle and fold the edges of the omelette over the top. Slide on to a serving plate, top with remaining prawns and garnish with spring onions and coriander.

Fried rice with dried shrimp
3 tablespoons oil
1 egg, beaten with 2 teaspoons water
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 spring onions, chopped
6 tablespoons dried shrimp, roughly chopped
4 cups cold steamed rice
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 cup coriander leaves
1/4 pineapple cut into small pieces
1 medium cucumber, cut into pieces

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in wok. Pour in egg nd swirl to make omelette (see previous recipe). Cut into quarters, flip each quarter to set on second side. Remove and slice into thin strips.
2. Add remaining oil, reheat wok, add garlic, spring onions and shrimp. Stirfry for 2 minutes. Add rice and stir fry for 5 minutes, tossing constantly.
3. Add sauces, coriander and omelette strips. Toss well. Remove from wok and serve.
4. Combine pineapple and cucumber in seperate bowl and serve on the side.

Cucumber salad with peanuts and chilli
3 medium, peeled cucumbers
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons white sugr
1 - 2 tablespoons chilli sauce
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves
1 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
2 tablespoons crisp fried garlic*
1/2 teaspoon chopped chilli
1 tablespoon fish sauce

1. Slice cucumber in half lengthways, Remove seeds with a teaspoon and slice thinly.
2. Combine vinegar and sugar, stirring until sugar dissolves. Toss through cucumber chilli sauce, onion and coriander. Marinate at least 45 minutes.
3. Just before serving, add peanuts, garlic and fish sauce, toss lightly.

*thinly slice garlic cloves and cook in oil over a low heat until golden. Cool and salt before using.

Tomorrow night, we move to our last Asian country, Vietnam and then we’re off to Europe!

I should add that First Born has decided that when this week is over, this will be a weekly event. The next country on his list is Niger. I suspect this is going to be challenging!

Tags: Thai food

Warning: International food challenges may cause regular blogging.*

First Born has embraced this project with a passion. We went to the library today and he borrowed books on Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, France, Russia and Germany. Today he read his book on Japan, located Japan in his Atlas and drew the Japanese flag. Things like this give me a crazy urge to homeschool. Lucky he won’t have a bar of it.

Tonight, we ate the food. Responses from the Ankle Biters were mixed. First Born loved the sushi, Lil Miss only ate the wasabi out of it. Both loved the avocado in the salad but not the salmon. They did like the mayonnaise dressing. The spinach was barely tasted and both claimed they didn’t like it. The chicken and egg on rice was a hit.

They loved the opportunity to use their chopsticks.

The Bread Winner and myself were in agreement. The sushi, salad and spinach were all quite spectacular and well matched. The chicken and egg was good comfort style food but lacked a punch after the previous three dishes.

The recipes are my adaptations from Japanese Cooking by Emi Kazuko

Hand Moulded Sushi
For su-meshi (vinegared rice)
100g rice
1 tablespoon Japanese rice vinegar
2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
For sushi
prawns and salmon (or whatever you choose) for topping
15ml rice vinegar
45ml wasabi paste

1. Steam rice, meanwhile, combine vinegar, sugar and salt until sugar and salt are dissolved. Pour over hot rice. Gently fold through. Chill.
2. Insert a skewer through each prawn lengthways to keep it flat when cooked. Boil until pink, drain and cool. Cut belly side open but not all the way through. Remove black vein. Open out flat. Cut fish into strips roughly 7cm x 4cm.
3. Put a couple of cups of water in a bowl and add rice vinegar. This is for wetting your hands to mould rice.
4. Scoop about 1 1/2 tablespoons of su-meshi into your hands at a time and mould into rectangular blocks.
5. Dab a little wasabi along the top of each block of rice and then press prawns or fish over the top. Be gentle.
6. Serve with a little shoyu on the side.

Marinated salmon with Avocado
250g salmon tail, very fresh, skinned and filleted
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 sachet instant dashi
1 ripe avocado
handful mixed baby lettuce leaves
45g flaked almonds, lightly browned in a dry frypan
For the miso mayonnaise
50ml Japanese mayonnaise
2 teaspoons barley miso
ground black pepper

1. Cut short end from salmon then cut lengthways down thick end. This will give you three pieces of similar size.
2. Pour lemon juice and 2/3 dashi into a large dish. Place salmon piece on top and cover with remaining dashi powder.
3. After 15 minutes, turn salmon. Leave for another 15 minutes. Salmon should be pink as though lightly cooked.
4. Cut into 5mm thick strips across the grain.
5. Mix mayonnaise ingredients in a small bowl. Spread a small amount over the back of each lettuce leaf.
6. Halve the avocado and sprinkle with remaining lemon juice mixture. Slice into strips the same thickness as the salmon. Carefully remove from skin with a spoon.
7. Arrange salmon, lettuce and avocado on plate. Top with almonds and remaining mayonnaise.

Spinach with Peanut Sauce
500g spinach
50g unsalted peanuts
30ml shoyu
1 teaspoon caster sugar
25ml water and about 1/3 sachet instant dashi

1. Grind peanuts in theromomix or mortar and pestle. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Add shoyu, sugar, water and dashi to bowl. Combine thoroughly until you have a very runny looking peanut butter.
3. Blanch spinach in boiling water for 30 seconds. Cool and drain under cold running water. Drain until all water has gone.
4. Arrange spinach on plate topped with peanut sauce. This is served at room temperature.

Chicken and Egg on Rice (Oyako Don)
2 chicken fillets, cut into 2 cm cubes*
300ml water plus 1 sachet instant dashi
2 tablespoons caster sugar
4 tablespoon mirin
60ml shoyu
2 small onions, thinly sliced
4 beaten eggs
steamed rice to serve

1. Combine water, dashi, mirin, and shoyu in frypan with lid. Bring to boil.
2. Add onions and place chicken on top of onions. Cook on high for 5 minutes
3. When chicken is cooked through, pour beaten egg on top, replace lid for 30 seconds. Do not stir.
4. Remove from heat and let stand for 1 minute. The egg should still be soft.
5. Serve on steamed rice.

*thighs were recommended and would have been much better but for some strange reason I couldn’t get any.

*I originally planned to put the concept and meals from every night into one post. It has quickly become obvious that would be a ridiculously long post so I will attempt to blog each night of the challenge. Or as close to as I can.

Tags: Japanese food

Every now and again, my recipe book shelf explodes. I try and keep only the ones I use but I still seem to acquire a few new ones each year. In addition to that, both the Ankle Biters are cooking regularly now and they have their own little collection springing up. The good thing about this is that forces me to periodically and have sort, cull and reorganise. It also reminds me of old favourites and invariably starts a re-exploration of old treasures.

The current clean has inspired a week of cooking from around the world. It will be good for the Ankle Biters, we can use First Born’s atlas to discover where our meals have come from and learn a little about some other cultures on the way. The Ankle Biters love that sort of thing.The challenge for me will be to find recipes that cover a good portion of the globe, not just Asia and recipes that will fit with our seasonal buying.

There will only be 6 journeys undertaken as we are going out to the local bowls club for dinner on Friday night. I’ll deserve a night off after all these masterpieces.

Japan
Hand moulded sushi
Marinated salmon with avocado
Spinach with peanut sauce
Chicken and egg on rice (Oyako Don)
Rather a strange mix of dishes but my aim was to find something that everyone would enjoy, even if not everyone enjoyed everything.
Recipes sourced from Japanese Cooking by Emi Kazuko and slightly adapted to void buying too many specialty items, cheapskate that I am.

France
Puree of carrots (Puree de Carottes)
Zucchini puff paste (Feuilletes de Courgettes)
Stuffed pork chops with sour sauce (Cotelettes de Porc Farcies Charcuterie)
Recipes sourced from Complete Techniques, Jacques Pepin

Russia
Chicken salad with soured cream dressing (Salat Olivier)
Recipe sourced from The Cooking Of Russia, Time Life Books

Germany
Lamb chops in onion sauce (Hammel Koteletten mit Zwiebelsosse)
Stewed cucumbers with sour cream and dill (Schmogurkn mit saurem Rahm und Dill)
Recipes sourced from The Cooking of Germany, Time Life Books

Thailand
Corn and crab soup with coriander
Cucumber Salad with peanuts and chilli
Fried Rice with dried shrimp
Prawn omelette
Recipes sourced from Step by Step Thai Cooking, Confident Cooking, Bay Books

Vietnam
Beef and Vietnamese coriander soup (Canh Thit Bo Nau Rau Ram)
Steamed salmon with garlic and ginger (Ca Hap Toi Gung)
Steamed rice
Crunchy Pickled Bean Sprout Salad (Dua Gia)
Recipes sourced from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavours, Andrea Nguyen

I’m such a creature of habit in my old age. Changes to my routine, particularly where food is concerned tend leave me a little disoriented. Having to complete a 24 hour training course at work in 2 days and one evening last weekend thoroughly discombobulated me. No farmers market! Fortunately I had stocked up as much as possible the previous week but by Tuesday I was totally struggling for dinner ideas.

By lunch time, feeling a little desperate, yet determined to use what I had and not resort to the shops, I emptied the vegetable bins on to the bench. I found 2 zucchini, 10 mushrooms, 1 ear of corn and 1 capsicum. I also found a little inspiration lurking somewhere deep inside. To be honest, I didn’t expect much from this meal, I figured it would be okay and it would get the job done. To my surprise, it was incredibly tasty. Most likely this was because the only tomato type product I could find in the house was the last jar of last summer’s salsa. It gave it a real zing. Next time, it will be salsa by choice, not necessity, it worked much better than an Italian style pasta sauce would have.

Vegetable, Herb and Feta Cannelloni
2 zucchini, diced
10 medium mushrooms, diced
1 capsicum, diced
1 large ear con, kernels sliced off
2 cloves garlic, minced
large sprig oregano, torn
butter
200g feta
cannelloni tubes*
large jar tomato salsa

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
2. Melt a large dob of butter in a large saucepan. Add vegetable and cook down over medium heat until soft.
3. Crumble feta and combine with vegetables.
4. Stuff into cannelloni tubes or wrap into tubes if using fresh pasta sheets.
5. Place in a greased oven proof dish and cover with salsa. Bake for 30 - 45 minutes.

*I used freshly made pasta from 400g flour, 4 eggs and a dash of sea salt

Tags: Budget, cannelloni, Leftovers, Vegetarian