Pesto Chicken

I still had some basil left over after making my pasta last week, so decided to whip up a batch of pesto. I love the versatility of pesto and nothing beats that smell of fresh basil! I like basil pesto made the traditional way – toasted pine nuts, basil, parmesan, garlic, oil, salt and pepper. It really is so easy to whiz up in a food processor and any leftovers store well in the fridge, covered with a thin layer of oil to prevent the basil from oxidising and going black. You can even freeze it in ice cube trays for a simple meal when you don’t have the time to make it from scratch.

Not only can pesto be tossed through fresh pasta, but you can use it to add some extra flavour to a risotto, as a base for bruschetta with tomato and feta, mixed with ricotta for an easy filling for ravioli or as a marinade for chicken.

I decided to marinate some chicken in the rest of my pesto to make a tasty Monday night dinner that was really easy. If you don’t have much time when you get home after work, just toss the chicken pieces in the pesto before you bake them, but if you have time give them a couple of hours to really take on the flavours of the pesto. If you want to keep the chicken breasts whole, you can. I prefer to cut mine into tenderloin sized pieces to cook them a bit quicker. They are also nice this size if you plan to toss them through a salad.

Tonight I’m serving my pesto chicken with roast potatoes, garlic butter mushrooms and some steamed beans and snow peas. If the weather is warm, you could have a salad, or you could just use up whatever vegies you have in the fridge. The chicken is the hero of this dish, so it doesn’t really matter what you serve it with.

Pesto Chicken

2 chicken breasts, cut into tenderloin sized strips

2 Tbs basil pesto

Combine chicken and pesto in a bowl or container and mix until the chicken is well coated.

If you have time, allow to marinate for a couple of hours.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Place chicken on a lightly greased oven tray so that the pieces are not touching.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the chicken is golden and the centre is cooked.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

While the oven is on for the chicken, roast your potatoes or other vegetables.

I like to roast my potatoes with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and white pepper, but use whatever oil and seasonings you prefer.

Flat mushrooms are beautiful for roasting, especially when they go soft and start to release their juices. Simply place mushrooms on a baking tray with a knob of butter and some crushed or finely chopped garlic and thyme on top. Bake for 15 minutes or until softened. The size of the mushrooms will influence how long they take to cook. Large field mushrooms can be a meal in themselves!

Fresh Basil

I love when unexpected fresh produce comes along and completely changes my menu plans!

Yesterday when I picked my son up from childcare, there was the beautiful aroma of fresh basil in the warm, humid air. Inside the centre playground, the kids had been planting herbs and the basil plants were overflowing the wine barrel they were planted in. When I asked whether I could take some, I was told to go for it, because no one else ate it. What a bonus!

On the walk home I was thinking of all the things I could make with my basil - pesto, a tomato, basil and boconcini salad, a simple pasta sauce........

After a week of curry and chilli con carne, I thought that a nice simple pasta with beautiful fresh produce was the go. Ripe red tomatoes, fresh basil and roasted ricotta. The perfect combination!

I used a basil infused olive oil to add a bit more depth of flavour, but any good extra virgin olive oil will do.  You won't need all of the roasted ricotta for this dish, so keep the rest for breakfast or lunch. Good food doesn't have to be fancy!

Tomato, Basil and Baked Ricotta Pasta

500g fresh ricotta

250g short pasta of your choice

3 small ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped

2 sprigs of fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped

Finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon

A handful of rocket

Salt and pepper to taste

A good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Grated parmesan and extra basil to serve

To roast the ricotta, pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees. Slice the fresh ricotta into 2cm wide slices and place on a greased oven tray. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until starting to turn golden on the outside. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

When cooled to room temperature, cut roughly into 1cm dice.

Cook pasta according to packet instructions and drain, keeping about a cup of pasta water to the side.

Return the pasta to the same saucepan with the chopped tomatoes, torn basil, lemon rind and juice, oil and pasta water. Season to taste and stir gently to combine the flavours.

Add the ricotta and rocket and gently toss to combine.

Serve with some extra basil over the top and a grating of fresh parmesan, if you like.

Enjoy as a simple dinner or an easy lunch.

And To Drink....

I was planning to match this simple pasta dish with a nice light, fruity pinot noir. A storm had just set in and we'd got absolutely saturated on the walk home from school. It was pouring with rain and the temperature had dropped. I was secretly looking forward to opening a bottle of red. In typical Melbourne fashion, ten minutes later, the sky had cleared, the sun had come out and the temperature and humidity had risen. Now I was hot and wanted a refreshing white!

The choice of the day was the Vinaceous 'Shakre' chardonnay from Margaret River. I came across these wines at The Fabulous Ladies Wine Society Melbourne dinner a couple of months ago. I was blown away by the freshness of the chardonnay and how un-chardonnay it tasted. Full of citrus, passionfruit and zing, it's not quite like a sauvignon blanc, but not like a rich buttery chardonnay either.

It was a perfect match to the lemon in the pasta and complimented the sweet tomatoes and fragrant basil. A lovely drop to enjoy on what ended up being a warm night.

Breakfast To Go

I am not much of a breakfast person and really have no appetite until about 10am. I know I need to have something to fuel me for the morning, other than just coffee, so generally try to take something to work with me that I can eat at my desk. It saves buying an overpriced something from the cafe or reaching for a cake, muffin or other sugar laden treat.

My go-to breakfast has always been fresh fruit, yogurt and a selection of nuts and seeds. Healthy, filling and good for me. Recently I've started making my own granola. It's really like toasted muesli, but my version is full of all sorts of good stuff - seeds, nuts, dried fruit, oats and coconut oil. I used dried apricots and dates in mine, but you could use whatever takes your fancy, or whatever is in the cupboard. If you don't want to add the nuts, you can add extra seeds, coconut or dried fruit.

Eat the crispy little clumps by themselves or serve with yogurt and fresh fruit or milk. For a quick and easy dessert, use as a crumble topping over poached apple and pear. Maybe even just serve with a scoop of good vanilla ice-cream!

My Healthy Granola

2 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup chopped dried fruit

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup pepitas

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 chopped mixed nuts

1 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbs coconut oil

3 Tbs honey

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine oats, fruit, coconut, seeds, nuts and cinnamon and stir to combine.

In a small bowl, combine honey and coconut oil. If the oil is solid, microwave for 10-20 seconds to melt and stir to combine.

Pour the honey mixture into the dry ingredients and stir well to combine. 

Tip the whole lot onto two baking trays so that the mixture is evenly spread in a thin layer. You want some clumps, but not too thick, otherwise it won't crunch up nicely.

Cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Give the trays a shake every so often to move the clumps around a bit and stop the fruit from burning.

Allow to cool completely on the trays before packing into an airtight container.

The granola should keep for about a week, so enjoy some everyday!

Ways With Pumpkin

After picking an enormous pumpkin from our vine a few weeks ago, I've been looking for different ways that I could use it up.  There's always pumpkin soup and roast pumpkin to go with a beautiful cut of meat, but I wanted something a bit more fancy and a little unusual.

I thought about making some pumpkin gnocchi with a blue cheese sauce, but then had the inspiration to turn it all around and make blue cheese gnocchi with a pumpkin sauce. Genius! I also had a couple of figs left over, so figured that a couple of fresh figs on the top with an extra crumbling of blue cheese would be delicious. And it was!

I made this for dinner on Saturday night, as it did need some preparation, but you could make it for a weeknight if you were really organised or managed to get away from work early. You could probably make the gnocchi the day before and leave them covered in a cool place. That way you'd only need to make the sauce and cook up the gnocchi when you were ready to eat. A little fiddly, but certainly worth the effort.

We had this for dinner as a large serve, but it would also be great at a party for finger food. You could serve one or two gnocchi on an Asian spoon with a dollop of the sauce, a cube of blue cheese and some diced fig. A beautiful single bite!

Blue Cheese Gnocchi With Pumpkin Sauce

500g potatoes, skin on and left whole
1/4 cup blue cheese plus extra for serving
A pinch of salt
1 cup plain flour
A drizzle of olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 rashers short cut bacon, diced
500g pumpkin, skin and seeds removed, diced
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 figs, cut into quarters
Salt and pepper to taste

Place potatoes in a saucepan of cold water and bring to the boil.
Cook until a skewer inserts smoothly into the middle of the potato.
Drain and set aside until cool enough to handle. Peel and return to the saucepan.
Add the blue cheese and a pinch of salt and mash until smooth.
Tip onto the bench top, add the flour and knead gently with your hands until a smooth, soft dough forms. Don't overwork the dough or your gnocchi will be tough.
Divide the mixture into rough quarters and roll out each piece into a sausage 1.5cm wide.
Cut into 2cm lengths and set aside on a lightly floured tray, with gnocchi pieces separated, so they don't stick.

To make the pumpkin sauce, heat a drizzle of oil in a saucepan and fry the onion and bacon for about 5 minutes or until starting to soften.
Add the pumpkin and stock and simmer until the pumpkin is soft.
Allow to cool for a few minutes, then puree with a stick blender. Season to taste.

Cook the gnocchi by boiling a large saucepan of salted water and then dropping batches of the gnocchi into it. They are cooked when they rise to the surface.
Spoon the cooked gnocchi into a colander to drain and repeat with the remaining gnocchi.

To serve, place cooked gnocchi on plates or bowls and spoon the warm pumpkin sauce over the top.
Sprinkle with extra crumbled blue cheese, four fig quarters and a grinding of black pepper.

Enjoy!

And To Drink....

While this dish didn't contain many different components, it was full of flavour. The salty and bitey blue cheese, the sweet pumpkin sauce and the sweet, soft figs. Each element complementing the other. 

My husband actually chose a lovely 2005 Reilly's Old Bushvine Genache from the Claire Valley in South Australia. We bought this wine years ago at the Good Food Show in Melbourne and had completely forgotten about it. Even though it was a relatively big red, it was probably past its prime and has lost some of the the beautiful fruit that we had enjoyed in previous bottles. It was still a lovely drop, with soft tannins and a beautiful roundedness to it. As a lot of the fruit flavours had diminished, it didn't really show plum or red berry, as you'd expect.

While the wine wasn't at it's peak, it was still very enjoyable and matched the pasta dish perfectly.

Fresh Figs!

Fresh figs are just so gorgeous at the moment and I can't help but buy some when I see them in the fruit shop. The are delicious on their own, but make an otherwise plain dish amazing. Although they are sweet, figs can be used in savoury meals too and I think this is where they shine!

For the last week, we have been having figs drizzled with honey and toasted macadamias, served with either natural yogurt or vanilla ice-cream.  Such a simple dessert, but with so much flavour. A wonderful way to finish off a meal with something that isn't too sweet.

With a couple of figs left in the fridge, I thought I'd have a go at making a salad to go with our dukkah crusted lamb backstrap tonight.

I also have a mammoth pumpkin from the garden, that needs to be used and some beautiful blue cheese. What could pair better than roasted pumpkin, figs and blue cheese?

Toasted walnuts also go really well with pumpkin and figs, so if you had some on hand, you could toss a handful over the top of the salad. They would add a lovely crunch!

This salad would go perfectly with any sort of meat, chicken or fish. Alternatively, you could just serve it with some fresh crusty bread for a lunch or light dinner. It was absolutely delicious!

Roasted Pumpkin, Fig and Blue Cheese Salad

A wedge of pumpkin of your choice

2 fresh figs, cut into quarters lengthways

1 tsp honey

1/3 cup of a hard blue cheese, crumbled

A handful of baby spinach leaves

A handful of rocket leaves

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbs lemon juice

Olive oil for drizzling

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Remove the skin and seeds from the pumpkin and cut into bit sized pieces.

Place on a baking tray, drizzle with oil and salt and pepper and roast for about 40 minutes, or until starting to brown on the outside and soft on the inside.

For the last 5 minutes of cooking time, add the fig quarters to the roasting tray and drizzle with honey.

Cook the figs until the honey starts to bubble and the figs soften, but don't go mushy.

Remove the figs and pumpkin from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, combine the cooled pumpkin, rocket, spinach and blue cheese.

Toss with the dressing and then arrange on a serving platter.

Carefully place the figs on top of the salad and serve.

For the dressing, combine extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste in a small jar. Shake well to combine.

And To Drink....

To match with the sweetness from the roasted pumpkin and figs and the bitey blue cheese, you need quite a big wine. Given that we also had dukkah crusted lamb backstop, a red wine was the obvious choice.

Kellermeister in the Barossa Valley make some wonderful wines, with the 2008 Black Sash Shiraz being one of their premium ones. It's one of my husbands favourites! 

Made from fruit obtained from old vines, the wine is dark and rich with blackberry and cassis. The 2008 is lovely and smooth, with a beautiful mouthfeel.  A perfect match to the flavours in the salad and the beautiful, juicy lamb. 

Haloumi And Chargrilled Eggplant Salad

Haloumi is a cheese that I often use to cook with when I'm making a vegetarian meal for dinner. It's so tasty when fried until crispy on each side and gives a beautiful texture and saltiness to any meal.

Often I match haloumi with asparagus and orange to make a light and fresh salad for when the weather is warm. Now that the weather is starting to cool down a little bit, it's nice to have a bit more body to a salad to make it more filling and hearty.

I often chargrill zucchini, but don't tend to use eggplant so much. When eggplant is roasted or chargrilled, it becomes soft and starts to fall apart, giving it such lovely flavour and soft texture. If you don't like the regular spongy texture of eggplant, then you must give this a go.

 To go with the extra body of the chargrilled eggplant, I wanted a dressing that also had a bit of oomph. Roasted red capsicum it was to be! I had some roasted and preserved red capsicum in the fridge that needed using up, which were perfect to whiz into a dressing. You could use bought red capsicum, but making it yourself is so easy.

Simply cut a red capsicum in half, remove the seeds and membrane and then grill under high heat until the skin blackens and blisters. Really, the blacker the better! Wrap the whole lot up in some foil or place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for about 10 minutes. When cool enough to handle, the blackened skin will peel right off.

To make the dressing, you need the soft, juicy roasted capsicum, some extra virgin olive oil, verjuice or vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Whiz it all up in a small food processor until it's of a drizzling consistency and season. You don't want the sweetness of the capsicum overpowered by the acidity in the verjuice or vinegar, so add a little bit at a time. I used about a tablespoon for 1/2 cup capsicum and 1 tablespoon of oil. Adjust to suit your taste.

Chargrilled Eggplant Salad With Roasted Red Capsicum Dressing

3 small vine ripened tomatoes, halved

Olive oil for drizzling

2 eggplants, sliced lengthways into 5mm slices

Salt for sprinkling

1/2 cup roasted red capsicum pieces

1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbs verjuice

A handful of rocket leaves

1 spring onion, sliced into thin rounds

A handful of pine nuts

250g packet of haloumi, cut into 5mm slices

A teaspoon of sumac

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Place halved tomatoes on a roasting tray and drizzle with oil and season to taste.

Roast for about 10 minutes or until the skin starts to split and the flesh softens.

Remove from the oven and set aside.

While the tomato is roasting, place the pinenuts in a small tin and roast in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes, checking and shaking frequently so they don't burn.

When they are golden brown remove from the oven, tip onto a cold plate and set aside to cool.

For the eggplant, sprinkle salt generously over the eggplant slices and leave for about 15 minutes until the bitter juices start to seep out.

Rinse the eggplant to remove the salt and bitter juices and then pat dry with paper towel.

Drizzle the oil over the eggplant and fry in a chargrill pan until the flesh starts to soften and grill marks appear on one side. Turn and cook on the other side.

Remove eggplant from the pan and set aside in a bowl to cool.

For the dressing, place red capsicum, verjuice and oil in a small food processor and whiz until combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Into the same bowl as the cooled eggplant, add the rocket, spring onion and toasted pinenuts.

Pour the dressing over the top and mix carefully to combine. Add the tomato at the final moment so it doesn't break down too much. Season with a bit of extra pepper, if you like.

For the haloumi, heat a good drizzle of oil in a frying pan until hot.

Fry the haloumi slices for a couple of minutes each side, or until crisp and golden. Sprinkle each slice with a pinch of sumac for extra flavour.

Remove and briefly drain on paper towel.

To serve, place the salad on to 2 plates and arrange the fried haloumi around the eggplant.

Enjoy!

And to Drink....

Now that I've started to enjoy and develop an appreciation for chardonnay again, I seem to be drinking a lot of it.  Not such a bad thing!

This beautiful 2006 'Ithaca' chardonnay from Nepenthe in the Adelaide Hills is a cool climate chardonnay that retains so many beautiful fruity flavours, while still having some buttery oakiness and complexity.

Admittedly, we opened this wine to have with our roast pork belly the night before and had some left over. It also matched perfectly with the sweetness of the roasted capsicum dressing and the saltiness of the haloumi. The saltiness actually enhanced the citrus flavours in the wine. The toasted pine nuts also brought out the nuttiness from the oaking process.

What a beautiful match to a lovely salad.

If you didn't have a chardonnay, any other dry style of white wine would match perfectly too. Even a dry rose with plenty of red berry and plum flavours would be perfect, especially if the weather was warm.

Lunchbox Baking

As well as regular cooking, I also love to bake. As a child, my Mum would always let my sister and I help with making biscuits, cakes and slices. My favourite part was fighting over who got to lick the spoon and the beaters!

So many fun times were had around the kitchen and so many delicious treats created and eaten. Now that I have two children of my own, I'm so glad that I can keep the tradition going and bake with them too.

My daughter has just started school, so now that I have a lunchbox to fill each day, I have another excuse to get baking!

This muesli slice is so easy that you don't need any particular cooking skills to master it. It's also incredibly versatile. Use whatever dried fruit you have on hand or you know the kids will eat. If you don't have to worry about nut allergies, add some chopped nuts instead of the seeds. As long as the dry to wet ingredient ratio stays the same, you can really mix and match however you choose!

I used dried apricots, dates and sultanas in this slice as it's what I had in the cupboard. Next time I might add some dried cranberries and dark chocolate chips, for a slightly more decadent version. If you didn't have all the oats, coconut, seeds and fruit, you could equally substitute the whole lot for a good muesli. Mix and match and experiment with what you have at home. After all, thats the fun part of baking!

This slice turned out golden and crispy on the outside, with a beautifully moist centre. Just how I like a muesli slice to be. If you prefer a more crispy version, leave it in the oven for a couple of minutes longer.

Cut into small squares or larger rectangles and send the kids off to school knowing they have a wholesome treat in their lunchbox. Otherwise, keep it for yourself and enjoy with a cuppa in peace and quiet!

Easy Muesli Slice

160g butter

1/4 cup raw sugar

1 Tbs golden syrup

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup dried fruit, chopped

1/2 cup wholemeal plain flour

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/3 cup pumpkin seeds

1/3 cup sunflower seeds

1 Tbs chia seeds

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Grease and line a 20x30cm slice tray.

Combine butter, sugar and golden syrup in a small saucepan and heat gently until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool slightly.

In a bowl, combine the oats, fruit, flour, coconut and seeds.

Mix the egg and vanilla into the cooled butter mix and stir to combine.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the butter mixture.

Stir to combine all the ingredients well.

Tip the mixture into the slice tray and press with the back of a spoon to flatten.

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and crisped to your liking.

Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

When cold, cut into squares or slices.

Enjoy!