Salami, Feta And Tomato Pasta

As it gets closer to the crazy Christmas end of the year, I'm finding that there just isn't enough time to do everything that I need to do. Even trying to find the time to sit down and write up recipes for the blog is getting difficult.

This pasta from the other night was so easy to make and probably took less time to make than to write up! The combination of crispy salami, salty feta, sweet tomatoes and spicy rocket was beautiful.

Not just around Christmas, but any time of year, I like to try to use up what's in the fridge at least once a week, so that I don't have stuff sitting around for ages. It's a great way to stop food wastage and can lead to some interesting experiments!

This pasta was light and tasty and helped to clean out the fridge. If you wanted to add a few extra ingredients to make it a bit more fancy you could, but at this time of year when there is so much rich food on offer, as simple dish is always a good idea.

Salami, Feta And Tomato Pasta

250g short pasta
100g salami, thickly sliced into circles and then halved
2 tomatoes, diced
A few big handfuls of rocket
A handful of mint leaves, finely chopped
Juice of half a lemon
100g Danish feta, diced
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta as per packet directions and drain, reserving about a cup of the pasta cooking water. Set aside.
In the same saucepan, fry salami pieces until they release their fat and become crispy.
Toss the cooked pasta through the salami fat to coat.
Over a medium heat, add tomato, rocket, mint and lemon juice and toss to combine and to wilt the rocket.

Season to taste and add some of the pasta water if it seems too dry.
At the last minute, stir through the creamy feta until it melts and creates a sauce.

Serve in bowls with extra feta and rocket on top, if you like.

Enjoy!

 

Rocket Pesto

Our vegie garden is coming along nicely at the moment, but the thing that just grows and grows is rocket.  There is so much there and no sooner than you pick some to use in a salad, it's back again! There have been plenty of rocket, pear and parmesan salads in the eat quaff laugh household of late!

I decided that the only way to use up a whole lot of the rocket was to make a pesto. Pesto is generally made from basil, but you can really make it using any herb or leafy green. Coriander pesto with a bit of chilli is one of my favourites.

This time, I used rocket and toasted cashews, along with the regular garlic, parmesan and oil. Our rocket is quite peppery, so I didn't need to add any pepper, but if you're using younger shop bought leaves, you might want to add a bit. Instead of lemon juice, I used some verjuice. It adds a similar acidity, without being too strong.

The batch of rocket pesto that I made was more than enough for a couple of meals. If I had been organised, I would have sterilised some jars to store it in, so that it would keep for a bit longer. If you do this, make sure you cover the top of the pesto with a thin layer of olive oil, so that it doesn't oxidise. You'll still need to keep it in the fridge and use it within a few weeks, but it does store for longer. Alternatively you can actually freeze pesto pretty well. Great when you want a simple pasta dish but don't have the time to be making the sauce from scratch.

Given that I had so much pesto, I managed to get two meals out of it, with a little bit left over. The first dish was a side to go with some ocean trout. I roasted some home grown 'cranberry red' potatoes and then tossed the pesto through them while they were hot. They were delicious!

The second meal was a simple pesto pasta, with a slight twist. Before tossing the pesto through the cooked pasta, I fried up a sliced chorizo until crispy and added that to the mix, with a dash of the pasta cooking water to loosen. The smoky paprika in the chorizo was great with the peppery rocket. Sprinkled with some extra grated parmesan, it made a simple dinner a little bit more special.

You could really get creative with pesto and use it for so much more than just a pasta sauce. Marinate chicken with it, spread it on toasted sourdough and top with goats cheese or feta, mix it with ricotta and use as a stuffing for rolled chicken or pork. You are only limited by your imagination!

Rocket Pesto

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, coarsely chopped

4 large handfuls of rocket leaves

3/4 cup cashew nuts

1 Tbs oil

2 Tbs verjuice

Salt to taste

Start by toasting the cashews. You can either do this in the oven at 180 degrees for about 10 minutes or until browned or in a dry frypan. Allow to cool.

Place garlic, cashews, parmesan and rocket in a food processor and blitz until coarsely chopped. Slowly add the oil and verjuice and blitz again until it's the desired consistency. I like my pesto to still be a bit chunky, but you might prefer it smoother.

Add salt if you need it and adjust the flavours with extra rocket, oil or verjuice as needed.

And To Drink...

This Plantagenet Omrah Rose from Great Southern in Western Australia was a lovely drop. There was plenty of red berry and plummy flavours with a bit of sweetness, but essentially a dry finish. It matched perfectly with the rich ocean trout and pesto potatoes, but also with the pasta with chorizo. The saltiness and spice in the chorizo and the peppery pesto were complemented by the slight sweetness of the wine. While the weather wasn't particularly warm the night we had this wine, to me, Rose is always great on a hot day when you want something with a bit of body, but also nice and refreshing.

I'll definitely be looking out for this Rose again, and other wines made by Plantagenet. Western Australia, particularly Great Southern, produce some wonderful red and white wines. Now to get over there to try some!

November Wine Club - Kangarilla Road Cabernet Sauvignon

I told you about The Fabulous Ladies Wine Society last month when I wrote about their online wine club I was taking part in. One of the wines for November is the 2011 Kangarilla Road Cabernet Sauvignon.  To match this beautiful wine, I decided to make a delicious meal to go with it. Roasted eye fillet with a beetroot and vincotto salad was on the menu!

Kangarilla Road is a McLaren Vale winery established in 1997. Located less than an hour out of Adelaide, in South Australia, their cellar door is easy to pop in to. They use biodynamic and organic winemaking styles, using grapes from their 30 acre property in the rolling hills of the McLaren Ranges. Having a Meditteranean climate they tend to make full flavoured red wines with a couple of whites and a rose too.

I was lucky enough to visit Kangarilla Road a couple of years ago and managed to try one or two (or three or four...) of their wines. I loved the Zinfandel and Sangiovese. If you ever happen to be in the area, they are definitely worth a visit.

The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon was a delight. Being quite a young wine, I expected it to be a bit rough around the edges and heavy with tannin, but it was exactly the opposite. It was very smooth with dark plum and berry flavours and a touch of vanilla from the French oak barrels. It also had quite an earthy taste to it, which perfectly matched the earthiness and sweetness of the beetroot. The crunchy, roasted macadamias had a great texture and also brought out the vanilla and spice. Matched with the roasted eye fillet as well as the salad, the wine was given much more depth of flavour.

While this wine was perfect with the steak and salad, it would also have been wonderful to drink on it's own or with a cheese platter with some dried fruit and nuts. Maybe next time we'll just have a bottle on a Sunday afternoon with some nibbles!

Beetroot And Vincotto Salad 

 

2 large beetroots, stalks trimmed
1/4 cup macadamia nuts, halved
A large handful of rocket leaves, chopped into large pieces
80g Danish feta, cut into small pieces
1 Tbs vincotto
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
Ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Peel beetroots and cut into large pieces.
Place on a baking tray, spray with oil spray and toss to coat.
Roast for approx 30 mins or until cooked. This time will depend on how big your pieces are.
Remove the beetroot from the oven and cool to room temperature.
While the beetroots are roasting, place macadamias on a small baking tray and roast for about 5 minutes or until starting to brown. Keep an eye on them as they burn very quickly.
Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.
When ready to serve, toss beetroot, rocket, nuts and feta with combined extra virgin olive oil and vincotto. Season with freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Roasted Eye Fillet

 

500g eye fillet, all in one piece
Salt and pepper to season
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Trim any sinew from the beef so that you have a nice even cut of meat.
Season all over with salt and pepper.
Heat a good drizzle of oil in a frying pan on high heat.
Sear the beef on all side for a minute or so, until browned evenly.
Transfer the beef to a baking tray and roast for 15 mins, or until cooked to your liking. 15 mins will give you medium rare, which is how we like it.
Allow the meat to rest in a warm place, covered with foil, for 10 minutes before you carve it, otherwise you'll loose all the wonderful juices.
Carve meat into two large pieces and serve with the salad and mustard or chutney of your choice.