Baked Ricotta

I'm always looking for new vegetarian meals for meat free Monday, as I do get sick of having the same sort of thing all the time. As much as I love haloumi, it is nice to have something different occasionally!

This dish is really easy, and you can change the flavours depending on what you have in the fridge or the cupboard. It's also quite light and after a weekend of some serious eating, it was just what I needed. If you like olives and capers, throw a handful of each into the mixture. I had some olive salt that had been sitting in the cupboard for ages, so used that instead of regular salt. You could also throw in some baby spinach leaves when it comes out of the oven and let the heat in the dish wilt it, rather than serving it with a side salad.

For something a bit different, you could even serve this as an entree or nibble at a party with fresh slices of baguette or crackers, although you would need to cut the capsicum and tomato into smaller pieces so that your guests didn't make a complete mess!

When you don't have the time to make up something fancy, but you want a tasty lunch or light dinner, then this is perfect. I hope you like it.

Baked Ricotta With Capsicum And Tomato

1/4 cup olive oil

500g fresh ricotta, cut into 4 wedges

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 a punnet of cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 red capsicum, roasted and chopped into bite sized pieces

1 yellow capsicum, roasted and chopped into bite sized pieces

4 sprigs of thyme

A sprinkle of chilli flakes, or to taste

Crusty bread, to serve

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Pour half the oil into an oven proof dish and then arrange the ricotta wedges in a single layer on top.

Season with salt and pepper.

Scatter the tomatoes and chopped capsicum over the ricotta. Season to taste.

Drizzle with more of the oil and top with the thyme and chilli flakes.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until the ricotta is starting to turn golden around the edges.

Remove from the oven, drizzle with the remaining oil and season further, if you like.

Serve with crusty bread and a light leafy salad.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Date Banana Bread

Looking for a banana bread recipe that's a little bit more indulgent? Look no further.

This recipe has all the things you want in a banana bread recipe - moist, sweet and nutty, plus a couple of extras. The dates add a beautiful richness and almost honey sweetness and the cocoa makes it a bit more indulgent. Maybe not the best thing for breakfast, but perfect for a morning or afternoon pick-me-up!

Try it straight out of the oven with a spread of butter, toast it under the grill and serve with ricotta and a few banana slices or just enjoy a piece on it's own with a cup of tea or coffee. Sometimes the simple things are the best!

Chocolate Date Banana Bread

75g dates, chopped

50g butter

2 ripe bananas, mashed

A squeeze of lemon juice

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 3/4 cup SR flour

1/4 cup cocoa

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Grease and line a loaf tin.

In a small saucepan, bring 100ml water and dates to the boil. Simmer until soft, then remove from the heat and mash the dates.

Add butter to the hot date mixture and stir until melted.

In a large bowl, combine date mixture, banana, lemon juice, milk, walnuts, sugar and egg and mix until well combined.

Sift over the flour and cocoa and stir until just combined.

Spoon into the prepared tin and smooth the surface.

Bake for about 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and rest in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool.

Serve while still warm or allow to cool and slice for lunch boxes.

Enjoy!

Lemon Chicken

As a kid, lemon chicken meant the battered chicken in a luminous yellow sauce that you'd get at the local Chinese restaurant on a special occasion.

This recipe has absolutely nothing to do with Chinese food at all and tastes completely different. It is seriously one of the easiest dishes around and you can really add anything else you like to complement the flavours. I used some red onion, but you could add green beans or capsicum too, if you liked.

The sauce is delicious, so make sure you have something to soak it up. I love couscous, but rice, mashed potato or pasta would be equally as good.

I haven't made this one in ages, but when my husband and the kids gobbled it up, and asked for seconds, I knew that I was on to another winner!

Easy Lemon Chicken

A drizzle of olive oil

2 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

1 red onion, cut into 8 wedges

Juice of 2 lemons

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

3 Tbs brown sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large frypan over medium heat until hot.

Add the chicken and onion and fry, turning often until starting to brown.

Pour in the lemon juice, rind and brown sugar and stir to dissolve.

Bring to a simmer and cook until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is starting to thicken and caramelise. Season to taste and add extra sugar if the sauce is too lemony.

Serve with minted couscous with toasted flaked almonds, mashed potato or rice.

Enjoy!

Spicy Cauliflower Soup

After last week's beautiful 'touch of spring' weather, it's now back to being cold and wet. Typical Melbourne!

To warm me up and make the most of some beautiful fresh bread I bought on the weekend, a big bowl of steaming soup was in order.

I came across this recipe in the most recent Gourmet Traveller magazine, but I've simplified it a bit and changed a few things. I love cauliflower soup and this version adds a bit of extra flavour with the spices and lemon juice. It was lovely and fresh and definitely warming.

If you don't like things too spicy, use a sweet paprika, rather than hot. Add the lemon juice to taste too. Depending on the size of your lemon, you might want to add more or less. I liked it with a little bit more, but my husband found it a little too lemony. The crispy cauliflower on top adds a nice texture and looks pretty too.

Make the most of soup weather while you can!

Spicy Cauliflower Soup

2 Tbs butter

1 whole cauliflower, outer leaves removed, cut into florets

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

4 sprigs of thyme

1 Tbs hot paprika

1 lemon - juice and finely grated rind

1 onion, finely chopped

6 cups of chicken stock

Chopped dill to garnish

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the cauliflower, 2 cloves of garlic, thyme, paprika and lemon rind. Season to taste.

Melt the 1 Tbs butter in the microwave, then tip into the bowl and stir to combine and coat the cauliflower in the spices and butter.

Tip the whole lot onto a large baking tray and bake in the oven for about 40 mins, or until the cauliflower is soft and browned. Stir every so often to stop it sticking and burning.

Remove from the oven.

Reserve about 1/2 a cup of the small florets for a garnish.

In a large saucepan, melt the remaining butter and fry the onion and garlic over medium heat until starting to soften.

Add the stock and bring to the boil.

Tip in the cauliflower mixture, return to the boil and simmer for 15 mins or until the cauliflower is very soft.

Allow to cool slightly, then blitz with a stick blender until smooth. 

Season to taste, add the lemon juice and more stock or water if you find it too thick.

To serve, ladle the hot soup into bowls and top with the reserved cauliflower and a sprinkling of dill sprigs.

Enjoy!

Warm Eggplant And Pomegranate Salad With Haloumi

Meat free Monday came a day late this week! And I'm back on the haloumi bandwagon after forcing myself to make vego meals without it for the last month or so.

Tonight I was inspired by the Middle East, with gorgeous fried Lebanese eggplant, capsicum and tomato with a tart, but sweet, pomegranate molasses dressing. The salty fried haloumi complemented it perfectly.

This was actually quite a light meal, so would be perfect on a warm summer's night, sitting outside, eating by candlelight. I can't wait for the weather to warm up!

I hope you like this simple meal as much as we did. Especially if you match it with a crisp, dry Riesling.

Warm Eggplant And Pomegranate Salad With Haloumi

2 Lebanese eggplants, halved and chopped into chunks
1 red onion, cut into 8 wedges
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 red capsicum, cut into chunks
2 tomatoes, cut into quarters
A couple of handfuls of fresh mint, finely chopped plus extra to serve
250g block of haloumi, sliced into 5mm slices
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbs pomegranate molasses, plus extra to drizzle
1/2 Tbs white wine vinegar
A handful of pine nuts, toasted

Combine the pomegranate molasses and vinegar in a small bowl and season to taste. Set aside.

Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the chopped eggplant.
Boil for about 3 minutes, or until starting to soften. Drain well.
Heat a good drizzle of oil over medium high heat in a large frypan and cook onion, garlic and eggplant until starting to brown and soften.
Add the capsicum and stir for a minute or two or until it just begins to loose it's crunch.
Remove the pan from the heat and gently stir through the tomato and mint.
Pour over the molasses dressing and stir to combine.

Heat another good drizzle of oil in a second frypan.
Place haloumi slices into the hot pan and fry for 2-3 minutes each side, or until golden brown and crispy. Drain on paper towel.

To serve, place the warm vegetables on to plates and top with the haloumi. Sprinkle with pine nuts and extra chopped mint, if desired. Drizzle with a little bit more of the pomegranate molasses for extra flavour.

Enjoy!

And To Drink....

To go with the strong flavours in the warm salad and the salty cheese, you need a wine with plenty of body, but also some acidity and freshness. The 2011 Cofield King Valley Riesling was perfect. Plenty of lemon and lime on the palate, with a dry finish and lots of acidity.

The only thing that could have made this dinner better is a warm night, sitting outside under the stars. I'll definitely be making this one again in summer when I can really appreciate the food and wine.

Caramelised Onion Pizza

When a big night of drinking is on the cards, you really need some substantial food to nibble on so that you don't get too tipsy!

Last night we went to the Kellermeister Melbourne wine tasting and tried 19 of their delicious wines. These wines covered  recent vintage Riesling and Pinot Gris, to the big boy reds - Shiraz, Grenache and Mataro. To finish off, there were some lovely sweeter styles.

As in previous years, the group of us going had all taken a couple of foodie items to share. Last night we had some beautiful cheese and fruit bread, zucchini fritters with a chilli/mint/yoghurt dipping sauce, charcuterie, antipasto and gorgeous lemongrass chicken. My contribution to the food was this beautiful caramelised onion, goat's cheese and rosemary pizza. Full of intense flavours, but light enough that it worked well with the range of wines that we tried.

We ate the pizza at room temperature, but it would be great served hot with a light rocket salad on the side. I like my pizza crust quite thin, so rolled this out to fit a large baking tray, but if you like the base a bit more doughy, then just use a smaller tray.

If you're not a fan of goat's cheese, then thin slices of a brie or camembert would be great too. You would probably only want to add the slices of cheese just as the pizza comes out of the oven, rather than baking it.

Caramelised Onion and Goat's Cheese Pizza

50g butter

3 large red onions, halved and thinly sliced

120g soft goat's cheese

1 Tbs rosemary sprigs

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat butter in a large frypan over medium heat until bubbling. 

Add the onion and cook for about 45 minutes, or until the onion is soft and caramelised. Stir regularly to stop the onion from sticking and burning. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Allow to cool.

Dough

1 1/2 tsp dry yeast

pinch sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup oil (chilli or lemon infused, if you like)

2 cups plain flour

Combine yeast, sugar, 1/4 cup of flour and 1/4 cup lukewarm water in a small bowl and stir to combine.

Cover the bowl and stand in a warm place for 10-15 minutes, or until foamy.

Place the remaining flour, salt, oil, yeast mixture and 3/4 cup lukewarm water in a food processor and whiz until the mixture forms a ball and comes away cleanly from the side. Add a bit more flour if it seems too wet, or water if it seems to dry.

Turn the dough out into a lightly greased bowl, cover and leave in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Knock down the dough and turn on to a lightly floured bench.

Knead gently, then roll out until about 5mm thick.

Lightly spray a oven tray with oil and place the dough on the tray.

Bake the dough for 10 minutes, or until it starts to puff and turn a light golden brown.

Remove from the oven, top with an even layer of the onion, blob with goat's cheese and sprinkle with the rosemary sprigs.

Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the base is golden and crisp.

Allow to cool for a few minutes, cut into large squares and enjoy with your favourite red wine!

Caramelised Onion And Mushroom Tarte Tatin

I made this dish last week for one of our vegetarian meals and it was delicious. Sorry it's taken me so long to get around to writing about it.

The onions took a little while to caramelise, but once the filling was prepared the rest of the cooking didn't take too long at all. Using frozen puff pastry made it really quick and really quite light. If you had the time, you could make your own pastry, which would make it a bit more special and a bit richer.

I used my gorgeous red Emile Henry tarte tatin dish, but you could use any ovenproof frypan or even a round cake tin if you didn't have anything else suitable to put in the oven.

The recipe came from a mushroom cookbook called 'Mushrooms - The Great All-Rounder' which was put out by the Australian Mushroom Growers Association. This recipe book contains lots of great recipes using mushrooms as one of the main ingredients. Some recipes are vegetarian, others have a meat component. The one thing in common is that they are all quite easy and look delicious!

This tarte tatin was lovely as a light meal with a rocket, pear and parmesan salad with a balsamic vinegar dressing. Next time I make it, I think I'll dot a bit of soft goat's curd or thin slices of brie over the top of the tarte when I turn it out. I think that the extra creaminess and acidity would be perfect.

Give this recipe a try. It looks great and tastes even better!

Caramelised Onion and Mushroom Tarte Tatin

4 onions, halved and thinly sliced

50g butter

1 Tbs olive oil

2 tsp brown sugar

300g swiss brown mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 Tbs thyme leaves

2 Tbs balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

50g goat's curd or brie (optional)

Rocket, pear and parmesan salad, to serve

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.

Place onions in a large bowl, cover loosely with a lid and microwave for 3 minutes, or until softened.

Heat the butter and oil in a tarte tatin dish or large oven proof frypan until bubbling.

Add the onions and sugar and cook until lightly golden.

Add the mushrooms, thyme and vinegar and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until the onions are soft.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Evenly spread the onion and mushroom mixture over the base of the pan and gently lay the pastry over the top, tucking the edges in.

Place the dish or frypan in the oven and bake until the pastry is golden and the filling bubbling.

Carefully turn the tarte onto a large serving plate and serve to the table whole.

If you are using the cheese, place blobs of the goat's curd or thin slices of the brie over the hot tarte to slightly melt with the remaining heat.

To serve, cut the tarte into generous wedges and serve with the salad.

Enjoy!

And To Drink....

Mushrooms and pinot go together like a horse and carriage, so this is an obvious match. I'm sure we drank a pinot with this dish, but I completely forgot to take a picture of it! Oops!

Choose a pinot from the Yarra Valley or Mornigton Peninsula that is young and fruity with just a little bit of funkiness. The sweetness of the onions overpowers the earthiness of the mushrooms to some extent, so you don't really want a wine that has too much of the forest floor characteristics.

If you make this dish, let me know what you choose to drink with it and how it matches. :-)