Pecorino and Pumpkin Pie

I bought a pumpkin and was browsing recipes and found an interesting one for a savoury pie thing. I modified it quite a bit as the original recipe looked fairly bland.

Prepare dough:
-Sift together 3 cups of flour with 1 tsp sea salt and 1 tsp rosemary
-Mix together 1/2 cup of extra-virgin olive oil, 1/3 ml of cold water and 1 egg
-Make a volcano out of the flour and add the liquid in the middle. Beat with a fork to form a dough, switching to hands once it gets too tough

-Knead for a couple minutes (add a bit of water at a time if it gets too grainy) until smooth
-Put in a plastic bag and place in the fridge for a couple hours

-Roll the dough to about 2mm thickness (pretty thin)
-Cut 2/3rds of it and mold it to fit a greased 6 1/4in x 10 1/2in baking sheet-The other 1/3rd of the dough should be cut into strips
-Place in the fridge for half an hour

Prepare filling:
-Preheat oven to 200C/400F
-Dice pumpkin, about 2 or 3 cups worth
-Coat in oil and a bit of salt and put in a roasting pan and into the oven
-About 20 minutes afterward, mix up the pumpkin and place 4 cloves unpeeled garlic in the pan
-Beat 3 eggs in a large bowl
-Grate about 2/3 cup of pecorino cheese into the egg-Once pumpkin is soft, remove from oven
-In the bowl, mash pumpkin and garlic (removed from skin)-Add a tsp each of sea salt, crushed black pepper, nutmeg, and basil

Cook:
-Place the filling into to the dough, smoothing out
-Place the strips diagonally across the pie-Bake for an hour or a bit more until the pastry is crisp and goldenTips:
-This made more than I wanted, so I assembled a whole small pie and put it in the freezer and baked it a week later, happily
-It was tasty but seemed to lack something that I couldn't put my finger on. Everyone else thought it was really tasty. I found the whatever-lacking was fixed by eating the pie with either a fresh, watery vegetable such as radish or cucumber or by spreading fresh pesto or schug on top.

Eggplant Lasagna

I bought a bunch of eggplants in the market and wanted to put them to good use. I scoured the internet for ideas for how to make lasagna and found a good recipe for the cheese mixture. I also found a recipe for homemade pasta and embarked on the mission. It was a bit labour-intensive but so tasty and well worth it for the thanks from my friends.

Prepare lasagna sheets:
-On a clean, wide surface make a mound of 3 cups of flour with a dip in the middle (volcano)
-Crack an egg into the middle and beat with a fork within the volcano, picking up flour on the way; repeat with 2 more eggs for a total of 3

-Once you can't beat anymore with the fork, knead with your hands for a while - at least 5 minutes
-Set aside for about 30 minutes-On floured surface, roll (and roll and roll). It will most likely be easier to divide the dough in half and roll that way, otherwise it takes up too much space.
-Once it's flat enough to almost be transparent, cut into rectangular sheets-Get the widest slightly-deep pan you have and fill it an inch or two with water and set to boil
-Cook the sheets for a minute or two in the boiling water and then place aside to drain

Prepare eggplant:
-Preheat oven to about 200C/400F
-Cut a couple eggplants into 1/2inch thick slices.

-Place on a tray and coat with olive or canola oil
-Roast for about 5 or 10 minutes, then flip over and roast again

Prepare cheeses:
-Cube about 2 1/2 cups of fresh mozzarella, 1 cup provolone, 2 cups ricotta, 1 cup grated parmesan
-Mix in a large bowl with 2 or 3 cloves of minced garlic and an egg to hold it together

Prepare sauce:
-Make or buy a tomato sauce. I have a couple recipes on the site. I just made a basic one: sautee onion and garlic in olive oil with a bit of balsamic vinagrette. Add 2 or 3 tins of peeled tomatoes, 1 fresh tomato, some bay leaves, 1 tsp of stock powder, 1 tbsp tomato/chili paste, 1 tsp oregano, a bit of honey and some salt and pepper. Let simmer for about an hour (so start this before the pasta sheets)

Prepare lasagna:
-Line the bottom of a deep baking dish with eggplant
-Pour some sauce to cover eggplant
-Add the layer of cheese
-Repeat until everything is used up, trying to end with sauce on top. On the top place large pieces of mozarella
Cook lasagna:
-In an oven preheat to about 190C/380F, bake for about 30 or 40 minutes
-Take out and let cool for about 10 minutes so you don't burn the roof of your mouth
-Enjoy

Tips:
-I know it's labour-intensive. I made everything from scratch and from start to eating took less than 3 hours. But it was 3 full hours. Timewise, the best way to do this is to start the sauce, then make the pasta dough and roll it out; once it's flat and cut do the eggplant and while the eggplant is in the oven, cook the eggplant sheets in the boiling water. This way the oven can still be on once the eggplant is taken out of the oven and the lasagna can go right in.
-Rolling is pretty hard (especially with a wine bottle!). The best strategy, I find, is to roll a bit and then flip the dough over and rotate 1/4 of a circle clockwise. Once it gets pretty flat, it's harder to roll and you have to kind of press down as you slide the roller. Make sure stretch your fingers every now and then.
-This recipe for pasta is the same as any kind of pasta, so you can use it for any shape you'd like etc (I had more sheets than other material and so cut it into fettuccine and froze it)
-I don't peel eggplants because I like the texture and taste of the skin. I also have stopped salting them before hand since the newer varieties aren't as bitter and don't need that done

Lentil Burgers

Last week was Ekka holiday. It is some random holiday whose function or reason is unimportant. What is important, however, is that BBQ was involved. I wanted to give a go on making veggie burgers, using lentils, for all my vegetarian friends. I got a couple ideas around the internet and the results were really quite tasty.

Prepare:
-Soak 1 1/2 cups of dried green lentils in water (more than cover) for several hours/overnight
-Change water and simmer for about an hour or until the lentils are soft. Drain and set aside to cool-Mix about 1/2 cup bread crumbs with a tablespoon of cumin seeds and toast in a pan on low heat for about 5 minutes

-Dice half an onion
-In a food processor, mince a couple cloves of garlic and a couple hot chili peppers with a bit of coarse salt
-Add the lentils to the processor and 2 eggs and pulse until completely mixed

-Add 1tsp honey and 1 tsp soy sauce
-Mix in bread crumbs/cumin seed mixture and the onion

-Check consistency - if too fluid (they should be able to hold together fairly well) then add more breadcrumbs
-Make several medium-sized patties (about 8 or 9, I got)

Cook:
-On a hot grill with some oil, place patties and cook for about 7 or 8 minutes on either side until brown and crispy

Tips:
-These were really good, even with non-vegetarians. They do look pretty nasty, though, so try to hide them, uncooked, from people.
-Even with a decent amount of breadcrumbs, they still were a bit viscous. This was no problem once thrown on the grill, though.
-They're totally fine to taste before BBQing, so make sure to check spiciness/saltiness etc (I added some extra cayenne pepper to a batch and it was great)
-It would be good if you made a thicker patty and then cut in the middle and put tomato or avocado or cheese or something
-Freezes well

Focaccia-based pizza

So I was making my delicious focaccia again and decided to freeze one of them, to see how it would turn out. I took it out of the freezer and waited about 2 hours and then set about making a dynamite pizza. With an easy tasty sauce.
Prepare Sauce:
-In a food processor, mix 3-4tbsp of tomato puree, 1/2 small can of whole peeled tomatoes (with some of the juice), 2 peeled cloves of garlic, a little bit of onion, 1 tsp each of white sugar, dried basil, salt, and oregano.
Prepare Pizza:
-Spread the newly made sauce on the focaccia base
-Put on top your favorite toppings: I think its sinful to have pizza without onion, broccoli, or olives. I also put on zucchini, fresh tomato, and mushroom
-Cover with some freshly shredded cheeses: mozarella and light cheddar work well, I also added a bit of parmesanCook Pizza:
-Preheat oven to around 400F/200C
-Place pizza on a thin pan and put in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until crust gets crispy (depends on thickness of the crust)
-Bon apetit

Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Noodles, Corn and Brussel Sprouts

I know I've posted a pumpkin soup recipe before but I wanted to post anew since this one is a bit different. That and a friend told me that this was "fanfuckingtastic" (thanks Claire).

Prepare:
-Chop up and peel half a large pumpkin
-Lightly coat with olive oil and place in a roasting tray
-Thinly slice 1 large yellow onion
-~5 dried dates
-Dekernel one corn
-Halve about 7 or 8 brussel sprouts
-Get about 1 cup of cooked chick peas
-Dice 1-3 hot chili peppers
-1 cup dried pasta (I used wholemeal spirals)
-Spices and seasonings... bay leaf, salt, pepper, honey, cinnamon, cloves...

Cook:
-Roast at ~ 400F/200C for about an hour, putting about half a head of garlic still in the peel in the tray after 30 min-Once the pumpkin is ready, lightly sautée onion for about 5 minutes -When onion is translucent, add pumpkin and roasted garlic (remove the peel!) to the pot, cover with water and stock powder or stock
-Bring to a boil, add bay leaves and chili
-Turn heat to a simmer, cover and leave alone for about 15 min
-Once pumpkin starts falling apart, add the chickpeas and dates, mix through and then puree using hand-blender and attain even mixture
-Keep heat at a simmer
-Add pasta and brussel sprouts
-Add 1-2 tbsp honey
-About 5 minutes later, add the corn kernels
-Mix 1 tsp of cinnamon and cloves each through
-Once pasta is done, take off heat. Serve immediately with toasted breadTips:
-I added the chickpeas mainly to give a bit of protein and thicken it up without using cream or anything - I couldn't really taste them, though. If you wanted a more beany taste, using a stronger bean like butter beans or borlotti beans would be best, as would upping the amount used and perhaps reserving some for after blending
-The corn and brussel sprouts worked quite well... the corn gave a sweet crunchiness and the sprouts a nice green solid feel. Broccoli or cauliflower would work quite well, put in a bit after the pasta
-The dates, honey, cinnamon, and cloves helped to make the soup a bit sweet and really complement the roasted pumpkin taste. The chili gave a bit of a bite that worked quite well with the the mellowness of the rest of the soup. It wasn't too sweet by any means; just had a nice richness to it
-Cream (coconut, especially) would not hurt this soup
-Make a large batch! This freezes quite well (almost better the 2nd day)

Cauliflower-based Risotto with Mushroom and Broccoli

At the markets, I saw a gigantic head of cauliflower on sale and promptly purchased it. I'm a sucker for cauliflower and was keen on doing some experimentation, as well. This metafilter forum had a tremendous amount of awesome ideas, but this one really stuck out to me as being key. I set about making it following the loose steps in the post as well as adding from my own experience with risotto and food. It was pretty nice as a risotto but, honestly, I feel like the cauliflower taste was too subdued and almost a waste. But I regret nothing!
Prepare:
-Chop and separate about 1 medium cauliflower or half of a huge one
-Sprinkle oil through, mix, and then add salt, pepper, and cumin seeds
-Roast at 200C/400F for about 1 hr, mixing in the middle. 40 minutes into it, add several cloves of garlic, still in the peel-Once cauliflower is cooked, place in a pot with the garlic, some bay leaves, cover with water and bring to a boil
-After about 10 minutes, puree til even consistency. Set aside-Dice 1 large onion
-Prepare about 2 cups rice (you should use arborio but I just use medium grain)
-Chop some broccoli and some mushroom
-Grate 1/2 - 1 cup of parmesan
-Optional: have some previously toasted/roasted pumpkin seeds
Cook:
-In a large pot, lightly sautée onion in olive oil or butter for 5 minutes on medium heat
-Add rice and toast for several minutes, tossing often to get full area coated and cooked
-Add in the cauliflower soup
-Bring to boil, lower to simmer and keep stirring for a while
-As the rice absorbs the water/soup, add more water (with or without stock powder)-In the meantime, in a different pan, sautée mushroom and broccoli in some olive oil and salt on medium heat, turn off flame when veggies are cooked-Taste the rice every 5 minutes or so to check doneness
-Once rice is cooked through turn off heat, mix parmesan through, then add mushroom, broccoli, pumpkin seeds, salt and pepper
-Garnish bowls with fresh basil and a tiny bit of olive oil

Tips:
-As I mentioned above, this was very nice but not nearly cauliflowery enough. What I would do is maybe cook the risotto the same way, only solely with stock, and then at the end mix through with cauliflower soup instead of the parmesan (perhaps using some cream in the soup) or just mix in stir-fried cauliflower like the broccoli
-The pumpkin seeds were a whim but I was really pleased with them. They're ones that I'd salted, peppered, oiled and roasted for an hour after a batch of pumpkin soup

Bean and Broccoli Baked Polenta

I got some polenta from an awesome Mediterranean grocery store and whipped up (and modified) a recipe from an Italian cookbook. It was nice, if a bit bland. It is a bit intensive (you cannot stop stirring polenta, really) so make sure you have everything ready ahead of time.

Prepare:
-Ready 3 cups water with 1/2 tsp of salt in a pot
-1 cup of polenta (yellow cornmeal)
-2 tbsp olive oil
-Chop and lightly steam about 1 cup broccoli
-Drain and rinse 1/2 cup cannellini beans
-2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Cook:
-Preheat oven to 400F (205C)
-Bring the pot of water and salt to boil and then reduce to simmer
-Immediately add polenta in a light, slow, constant stream (I put the cup of meal into a glass and then poured from there), mixing it as you add it. Break any lumps that happen to form-Once all the cornmeal has been added, add the olive oil
-Continue to cook, stirring the whole time (a wooden spoon is best), for 20 minutes. Make sure it's medium-low heat (to keep from polenta sticking to bottom of pot)
-Add beans, broccoli, and some cracked black pepper and salt and mix thoroughly-Pour polenta onto a baking dish (I used a loaf pan - it came out thick)
-Sprinkle cheese on top-Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until cheese has brownedTips:
-This was a bit bland - having a tomato or pesto sauce to go with this would be great
-I served this with kangaroo sausage. I think adding sausage directly to it would be nice as well.

Celery and Pine Nut Risotto

I recently received a cute little Italian cookbook. I opened it up and the first thing I saw was 'Asparagus and Pine nut risotto'. It looked good, interesting, and educational, as I'd never made risotto before. I had some celery and thought to substitute that for the asparagus and it worked out surprisingly tasty. I had to scale down the recipe a bit... this makes about 3 servings. It's not a difficult recipe, really, but the 20 or so minutes of cooking are intensive, as you are stirring the whole time. Be warned.
Prepare:
-Dice 1 medium onion and crush 4 or 5 cloves of garlic
-Dice 1 1/2 big stalks of celery
-Prepare about 1 1/2 cups of rice (note: you are supposed to use Arborio or some other shorter, absorptive rice. I used plain medium grain that I use for everything and it turned out fine enough for me)
-Prepare about 3-4 cups of stock
-Ready 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
-Optional: chop up about 1/3 cup worth of fresh basil
Cook:
-In a large pot, fry onion and garlic in olive oil on medium heat, until onion starts to get soft and translucent-Add the rice and stir like crazy, until it's covered in oil and oniony goodness-Add 1/4 cup of stock, while continuously stirring until it starts to evaporate
-Keep adding stock, 1/4 cup a time-In the meantime, spread out pine nuts on a flat pan and toast for 3-4 minutes on medium heat, stirring every minute or two, until they get golden brown-After about 10 minutes, add the celery-Around 15-18 minutes after the rice was initially added, it should start getting done: the rice should be firm still, but edible and almost fully cooked. If not, keep adding stock until it's cooked and starts getting kind of clumpy-At this point, mix in the parmesan
-Take off heat, add pine nuts, salt, and some cracked black pepper
-Serve with some basil

Tips:
-I added a couple chili peppers with the celery, but for some reason didn't taste them at all. Next time I'd omit or vastly increase them
-The pine nuts were good and complemented well the inherent nuttiness of the celery. Substituting another nut would also work, for sure, perhaps with different combinations of vegetables (peanuts and pumpkin... almonds and broccoli... pecans and peaches, go crazy!)
-I ate this with an over-easy egg. At the middle of the meal, I decided to cut up the egg into small pieces and mix it into the risotto and I must say it worked quite well. You could try if you wanted to get more protein in with the meal

Pad Thai

When I've been to Bangkok, the main delight was eating the astoundingly cheap yet amazingly delicious pad thai that the locals whip up on their mobile woks along the street. I've had pad thai at restaurants of various quality, price and location in the world and have never found a comparable pad thai. I wanted desperately to recreate that dish. What I made wasn't exactly the same but still turned out, if I say so myself, pretty delicious. I found the recipe at this website that specializes in Thai food, made a few modifications, and had it for dinner. This makes about 4 servings.
Prepare:
-Chop 1 small onion
-Crush 4 cloves garlic
-Get a 1 lb/400 gm package of dried rice noodles (I used the flat kind)
-Chop up a small piece of pork
-Chop 1/2 a cup of firm tofu-Ready 4 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp fish sauce, ~4 tbsp vinegar, and 1 tsp chili powder
-Ready 3 eggs
-Chop up a handful of green onion and bean sprouts
-Crush 1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts
Cook:
-Soak the noodles in water for about 5 minutes (this is what I did per the recipe and found this was not enough, next time I'd half cook them in boiling water!)
-In a large wok, fry the onion and garlic for a couple minutes with a couple tbsp of olive oil on medium heat, then add the noodles-Fry for 5 minutes or so, or until noodles are well cooked, then add the sugar, fish sauce, vinegar and chili powder. Mix for another minute or so and then put aside (it said in the recipe, put to the side of the wok but I think you'd need a gigantic wok to be able to do that, so I just put it in a bowl)-In the same wok with added olive oil, fry pork and tofu for about 5 minutes or until pork is not pink on the outside-Toss the pork into the bowl, mix well
-Add a bit more oil to the wok and break the 3 eggs into it, scramble it a bit, and fry for 2-4 minutes (pending on how cooked you like your eggs)-Then pour the noodles and pork back in and mix well, turning off the heat
-Add bean sprouts and green onion
-Serve with crushed peanuts on the side

Tips:
-I was very pleased with how this turned out. It was a bit sweet, not salty, not too vinegary (which is great since I don't like vinegar, usually), but not spicy. Next time I'd fry a chili pepper or two with the onion and garlic
-The noodles were good but, due to soaking without boiling at all, a bit undercooked. They were difficult to fry, as well. Next time I might try with a different noodle
-The recipe called for salted Chinese radish but I didn't have that so didn't use it, if you have it or love it, you should throw it in