These came from a recent edition of Donna Hay magazine, of course with several adaptations based on what I had in stock. The dumplings are quite similar to a ricotta gnocchi recipe I have made previously by Maggie Beer. This is a nice light meal but is still satisfying because of the protein from the ricotta.
I used spinach leaves from our garden – sadly the spinach plant has since been fried by the heat. The recipe calls for baby spinach but you could also use normal spinach – you would just have to cook it briefly first and squeeze out the moisture.
The dumplings would also work well with a more traditional tomato pasta sauce, or you could do a brown butter sauce (much like Maggie Beer’s recipe). I recommend serving with a nice fresh green salad – my philosophy is you can never have too many vegetables!
Ingredients
- 200 grams Baby spinach or other spinach, wilted, wrung out and chopped
- 1 cup Fresh ricotta
- 2/3 cup Parmesan, finely grated
- 1/3 cup Plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 2 Eggs
- 1/3 cup Chives, chopped
- 1 clove Garlic, chopped or crushed
- 40 grams butter
- 300 grams Cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1-2 Ears of corn, kernels removed
- 1-2 Anchovy fillets, chopped (or to taste)
- 1/2 Red onion, finely sliced
- 1 clove Garlic, chopped or crushed
- 2 tablespoons Olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Vinegar (I used apple cider but recipe calls for white wine)
- Salt and pepper
Directions
- In a medium sized bowl mix the tomatoes, anchovy, corn kernels, red onion, mint, garlic, olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper and toss to combine. Set aside until you are ready to serve.
- In a medium bowl combine the spinach, ricotta, parmesan, flour, eggs, chives, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix until a sticky dough forms.
- Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil on the stove.
- Roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls and roll in extra flour in a bowl or on the bench.
- Cook in batches (5-8 balls at a time depending on your saucepan size) for 3-4 minutes. You'll know when they are done because they float to the surface.
- Remove with a slotted spoon, set aside and cook the rest of your dumplings.
- Heat a large frypan over high and melt the butter.
- Add your dumplings and cook for 2 minutes each side until they are golden.
- Toss through the tomato salsa and extra parmesan and cracked pepper to taste.
We’ve launched headfirst back into renovating our “fixer-upper” post war home. It’s all good fun, but it does mean my creative outlet is occupied elsewhere, and leaves limited time (and motivation) to cook exciting meals.
But then, I was thinking tonight, perhaps I should show some of what we eat on those nights when I don’t feel like going to a big effort? We still eat well, after all. And usually the meals are reasonably nutritious and certainly easy.
So, here it is. Our simple dinner.
Ingredients
- 3 cups Pasta (or as many servings as you require)
- 1/2 head Broccoli, chopped into florets
- 2 small Zucchini, sliced into rounds
- 1 medium Onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves Garlic, sliced
- 400 grams Tin chickpeas, rinsed well
- 1 medium Lemon
- 1/2-1 cup Greek yoghurt
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
- Parmesan/Pecorino to serve
Directions
- Place a large pot of salted water on to boil for your pasta.
- Meanwhile, prepare your vegetables.
- Heat a splash of olive oil in a medium to large frypan.
- Add your onions and reduce the heat to medium/low.
- Cook the onion gently until it starts to soften and turn translucent. You don't want it to get too brown.
- Put your pasta on to boil.
- Add your sliced zucchini to the frypan. Alternatively, you can remove the onion and fry the zucchini up separately in the same frypan with more olive oil. This will give the zucchini a lovely golden colour and great taste. However, I was feeling lazy.
- Stir gently, letting your zucchini get some colour - 5 minutes or so.
- Add your garlic and stir until fragrant, but be careful not to burn the garlic.
- Add your chickpeas and heat through.
- Reduce heat to low, cover until your pasta is cooked.
- In the last couple of minutes of your pasta cooking, add the broccoli florets to the pasta water.
- Pluck out before you drain the pasta and blanch in cool water.
- Reserve about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of pasta water, then drain your pasta.
- Squeeze half a lemon over your zucchini/chickpea mixture.
- Add the yoghurt and broccoli and stir through.
- Taste your sauce, then add a bit of pasta water to dilute. Add salt and pepper to taste and more lemon juice if you want a bit more tartness.
- Finally, stir through your pasta and grate a generous amount of parmesan or pecorino over your dish.
- Finish with more cracked pepper.
- Enjoy with a side salad.
I saw this a few weeks ago on Smitten Kitchen. Never one to follow a recipe down to the letter, I made a few adaptations. Particularly, instead of cream I subbed natural yoghurt, and I added some peas into the cooking pasta in the last few minutes. I also threw in a leftover beef sausage, chopped up, for some extra protein and staying power. It really is a ridiculously simple recipe but it has so much flavour. It’s like a little lemon party in your mouth. It’s light, yet still comfort food, and it made me very happy one Friday night. I challenge you to order and pickup/have takeaway delivered in less time!
The recipe is here. Make it. You won’t be sorry. And have a look around while you’re at it, check out her amazing photography skills and delightful dishes.
I’ve been a bit quiet on here for the last few weeks as it seems a bit trite to write about food when so many people in Brisbane, Queensland and the greater East Coast of Australia have been affected by flooding. My hometown of Brisbane was badly hit last week and some of my favourite suburbs were inundated. Houses, businesses, and even lives have been lost. It’s devastating to see this happen to a place you know and love. If you’re interested in donating, you can do so here: http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/
However, life does, inevitably, go on. And through it all, we still need to eat. This is a quick and easy recipe, perfect for a mid-week dinner. I hope you enjoy it.
Ingredients
- Dried pasta (quantities depend on type of pasta and serving size)
- Large bunch Basil, washed
- 1/4 cup Slivered almonds, or pine nuts
- 1 clove Garlic, crushed
- Olive oil to taste
- Pecorino or parmesan to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 150 grams Chicken, diced into bite sized pieces
- Handful Cherry tomatoes
Directions
- Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil.
- Cook your pasta according to directions. I used spinach fettuccine.
- Drizzle some olive oil in a frying pan and fry off your chicken pieces until golden brown.
- Meanwhile, prepare your pesto. In a small food processor (or mortar and pestle) add basil, almonds (or pine nuts), and garlic. Whizz briefly until combined.
- Add grated parmesan or pecorino and olive oil to taste. Whizz again until combined.
- Add salt and pepper to taste, and adjust ingredients based on personal preference.
- Once your chicken is cooked, throw the cherry tomatoes into the pan to heat up.
- Drain your pasta.
- To serve, combine pasta, chicken, cherry tomatoes and pesto and toss until evenly distributed. Finish with a bit more cheese.
- The leftover pesto can be kept in the fridge for several days, or covered in olive oil and kept for slightly longer. Pesto is also great on sandwiches.
This is a lovely easy recipe and is beautiful with fresh green prawns. It’s a great mid-week recipe because it’s quite quick to prepare, and the sauce is smooth and silky. I think it’s a nice change from having a tomato based sauce.
This dish reminds me of an amazing scampi (small prawns) pasta we had in Venice. We had visited the amazing fish markets in Venice earlier in the day and had heard good things about the seafood at this restaurant. After some language confusion we were presented with an enormous serve of fresh, fragrant garlic and tomato scamp pasta. It was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten, and it was so simple. I’m still working on recreating the taste – it all turns upon the quality of your seafood.
Ingredients
- 500 grams Pasta (I use spaghetti or linquine)
- 3 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
- 1 cup White wine
- 2 tbsps Butter (more if you want more sauce)
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 pinch Chilli flakes
- 20 Green prawns, peeled except for tails
- 5-6 Semi-dried tomatoes, chopped
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1 tsp Lemon zest
- 2 tbsps Parsley
- handful Cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 stalk Bok choy, chopped
- 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese, finely grated
Directions
- Cook the past in a large saucepan of boiling salted water. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water. Drain pasta and set aside to keep warm.
- Put oil in a frying pan with the garlic and heat gently over a low heat.
- When the oil is hot add the prawns, chilli and half the parsley. Increase the heat to high and cook for 2-3 minutes. Turn the prawns and cook through.
- Remove the prawns and set aside.
- Add the lemon juice and white wine to pan, allow to bubble and reduce for two minutes. At this point I added the semi-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, bok choy and some pasta water and parmesan.
- Once the bok choy has cooked down a bit, stir in cold butter and lemon zest until you have a smooth sauce.
- Add the prawns and pasta and toss through sauce and heat through.
- Top with remaining parsley and some more grated parmesan cheese.
- Enjoy!
It was the Thursday before Easter, I was little later home than usual owing to the congestion on the roads, J was working until 6, picking up our FoodConnect box and then we were heading out for drinks. I needed to make something quick and tasty for dinner, and I had no vegetables in the fridge save some fresh herbs.
Pasta was the logical choice – it’s quick, it’s easy, I could throw it together based on what’s in the fridge. The result was this surprisingly tasty, simple meal.
Ingredients
- 2 Shallots, chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic, sliced thinly
- 1 tsp Fresh oregano, chopped
- 1/3 cup White wine
- 1 tsp Olive oil
- 1-2 cup Tomatoes (crushed, diced)
- dozen Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
- 50 grams Edam cheese, diced
- 50 grams Marinated feta (plain also fine)
- 1-2 cup Pasta
- Parmesan, to serve
Directions
- Boil a pot of salted water and cook pasta until al dente.
- Drain pasta and remove from pot.
- Heat olive oil in the pot over a medium heat, then add shallots and garlic. Cook gently, being careful not to burn.
- Add oregano and white wine to pot, turn up heat and evaporate off some of the wine.
- Add tomatoes and heat through.
- Add olives, Edam and feta, then stir through the pasta. Season to taste.
- Serve with shavings of Parmesan, cracked pepper and fresh oregano.
|
|
Subscribe  follow on twitter
 by rss feed
 by email:
|
12.01.12 | 
Of: 
2 comments
Leave a comment
Share