Baked stuffed zucchini
Posted: November 8, 2011 Filed under: Beef, Pork, Vegetables | Tags: Beef, Courgette, minced meat, Pork, Tomato, Zucchini Leave a comment
Another recipe with minimal verbiage. I happened to have all these ingredients in the fridge. A few google searches after, I found this baked stuffed zucchini on All Recipes. A few tweaks after, dinner was served.
Baked stuffed zucchini
Ingredients
- 4 large zucchini
- 2 firm tomatoes, seeded and chopped
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 2 tbsp dried mint (fresh mint would have been better, but I had none left)
- 450g g minced meet (pork and beef)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 250g tomato sauce (I used tomatada, but passata or a lightly diluted tomato sauce could also work well)
- 1 spring chopped fresh rosemary
- 4 tbsp Grana Padano or Parmesan
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place the zucchini in a shallow baking dish or roasting tin, cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes or until tender – they should pierce easily with a fork.
Mix the eggs with the chopped plum tomatoes, mint, and pepper to season. Set aside.
Fry the minced meat over a medium heat until browned. Add the onion and garlic, cook for a further 5 minutes until the onion has softened. Stir in the tomato sauce, reserved zucchini pulp and rosemary. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 10–15 minutes. Stir in the egg mixture and mix together.
5. Spoon the stuffing mixture into the zucchini boats and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake for 15–20 minutes until golden and crispy on top. Serve immediately.
Baked salmon with fennel and tomatoes
Posted: September 21, 2011 Filed under: Fish, Vegetables | Tags: BBC GoodFood, Fennel, Lemon, Salmon, Tomato Leave a comment
If you are about my age, and studied organic chemistry, there is a very big chance one of your lab practices was the synthesis of anisaldehyde, a chemical compound which is found in anise, tastes like licorice and smells of sweet almonds. I don’t recall it as being excessively difficult, but what made this lab memorable was the strong aniseed smell of the whole experiment. It was like a haze that would stay with you for a couple of days, and sort of thing that would put you off of anything that might resemble it. For example, licorice, almond oil or even amarguinha, a Portuguese almond liqueur. Later, in my short (but intense) academic career, I ended up using anysaldehyde in my experiments for a good 4 years. It still smelled the same, and it still would give me headaches.
Needless is to say, my motivation for using anything that might be slightly aniseed was almost non existing. But, one day I took a picked a bit fennel salad in a buffet. And, much to my surprise, it tasted good. It was crunchy, fresh and it had a slight taste of anise, that just made it a bit more interesting. A vegetable you could see in a salad during Summer, or in a more autumnal roast. Or, all year round paired with fish – a combination of flavors made in heaven.
The recipes of salmon-cherry tomato-fennel are ubiquitous. For this dish, I turned to BBCGoodFood, for no special reason other than being a todpop‘s favorite.
Baked salmon with fennel and tomatoes
Ingredients
- 2 medium fennel bulbs
- 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
- zest and juice 1 lemon
- 175g cherry tomatoes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 salmon fillets , about 175g each
- few black olives (optional)
Method
Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Trim the fronds from the fennel and set aside. Cut the fennel bulbs in half, then cut each half into 3 wedges. Cook in boiling salted water for 10 mins, then drain well. Chop the fennel fronds roughly, then mix with the parsley and lemon zest.
Spread the drained fennel over a shallow oven proof dish, then add the tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil, then bake for 10 mins. Nestle the salmon among the veg, sprinkle with lemon juice, then bake 15 mins more until the fish is just cooked. Scatter over the parsley and serve.
Classic Pizza Margherita
Posted: September 7, 2011 Filed under: Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tags: Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris, Herbs, Masterchef Australia, Mozzarella, Pizza, Tomato 1 Comment
Pizza – enough said. For a quick meal and trying to keep the 11-year-old happy, I gave a go to the pizza Margherita recipe George Calombaris demonstrated during a Masterchef Australia’s Masterclass. A classic combination, which was as named after the Italian queen who first tried (and loved) the tomato, mozzarella and basil in a pizza bread.
To cook this pizza, I took a short cut that is generally a no-no for a high-class number, and used already-made dough. But, if you feel you have bake your own pizza dough, here is an recipe, also from Masterchef Australia. Also, instead of sticking to pizza sauce, I just took a jar of tomatada [Portuguese style tomato sauce] I had sitting in the fridge and put it to good use.
George and Gary (Mehigan) have another trick to bake a crispy dough for the perfect pizza. To distribute the heat evenly across the pizza base and to extract the moisture, place an unglazed terracotta tile into an oven and heat to 250°C. (I didn’t – if only I knew where to find terracota tiles in Zurich which doesn’t cost the equivalent of a 100g of white truffle).
Classic Pizza Margherita
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 medium yellow onions cut in half lengthwise and sliced into thin half moons
- 2 springs fresh flat leaf parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 garlic gloves minced
- 1 kg very ripped tomatoes, seeded and chopped* (or a couple of canned tomato, preferably san marzano, chopped, juices reserved).
- 2 to 3 tablespoons of double concentrated tomato paste, to taste
- 1 small fresh medium red hot chilli pepper, such as Serrano, stemmed, seeded and chopped (it is optional. Sometimes, I just add a few drops of piri piri sauce).
- Freshly grounded salt and black pepper to taste.
- 1 x 120g pizza dough portion (I use already-made pizza dough)
- Plain flour, for dusting
3 tbs pizza sauceTomato sauce to cover the base- 1 tbs baby capers, rinsed and drained
- 6-8 large basil leaves
- 9 halved oven-roasted cherry tomatoes
- 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 50g buffalo mozzarella, torn
Method
Tomato sauce
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat until it shimmer. Add the onions, parsley and bay leaf and cook until nicely golden, about 15min. Add the garlic and cook for 1 min more.
Turn the heat to medium low, stir in the tomatoes and their juices, the tomato paste and chilli pepper, if using. Bring to a simmer, cook, lid ajar, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down, about 30min
Toss out the parsley and bay lead and season with salt and pepper. If you wish, you can scrape the sauce into a food processor and buzz until smooth. Store the sauce in the fridge in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid for up to 1 week. It can also be frozen for up to 2 months.
Pizza
On a floured wooden paddle or piece of baking paper, stretch out the dough into a long oval shape about 30cm long and 10-15cm wide, or to desired shape and thickness.
Spread the tomato sauce over the dough, sprinkle with baby capers and scatter over basil leaves. Place cherry tomatoes on top and drizzle with olive oil.
Slide the pizza into the stove and bake for about 5 minutes or until golden and crisp.
Brush the crust with olive oil and scatter mozzarella over pizza.
Tomato soup
Posted: August 26, 2011 Filed under: Soup, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tags: Herbs, Spices, Tomato Leave a comment
It seems today is the last day of Summer. Tomorrow, it will rain and the temperature will drop down; next thing we know, snow will be here and we will all be wearing fluffy thing around our ears. It might be my last chance to post this (cold) tomato soup.
I came across many different versions of tomato soups: my Mother’s (with potatoes), my nanny’s (with loads of potatoes, croutons and a poached egg), Maria de Lourdes Modesto‘s (with rice), the German way (with cabbage), the Swiss way (boil the tomatoes to death and then add an equal amount in volume of cream), the Austrian way (as before, plus pumpkin seed oil), the Spanish way (called gazpacho and eaten cold. In fact, God forbids it’s served warm) … And then, there is this one, the mean tomato soup Yotam Ottolenghi‘s Mother used to do. I took the liberty of replacing the coriander by manjericão (Ocimum basilicum), better known as Portuguese basil. Not food snobbery: I actually have it growing on a pot, courtesy of P. and D.
Tomato soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to finish
- 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 750ml vegetable stock
- 4 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
- 400ml tin chopped Italian tomatoes
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 slice sourdough bread
- 2 tbsp chopped coriander, plus extra to finish (I used Portuguese basil)
- Salt and black pepper
Method
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan, add the onion and sauté, stirring often, for five minutes, until translucent. Add the cumin and garlic, and fry for two minutes, then add the stock, both fresh and tinned tomatoes, sugar, a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 20 minutes, adding the bread halfway through. Add the coriander, then pulse-blitz the soup a few times to break down the tomatoes a bit – you want them a little coarse and chunky. (This soup should be quite thick, but add a little water to thin it down if you prefer.) Serve drizzled with oil and garnished with fresh coriander.
Stuffed tomatoes
Posted: July 22, 2011 Filed under: Beef, Pork, Vegetables | Tags: Beef, Herbs, Pork, Spices, Tomato Leave a comment
This dish started with a culinary crisis. What to to cook for dinner when all you have in the fridge is minced meat, loads of good looking tomatoes and you are not allowed carbohydrates? Easy solution: stuffed tomatoes. Technically, stuffed tomatoes have rice or bread crumbs on their filling. But, I was not going that detail to get in the middle of a respectable meal.
Stuffed tomatoes
Ingredients
- 1 Kg of tomato (it depends a lot on the size of the tomatoes).
- 500g of minced meat (for best results, I use a mix of pork and beef)
- 3 small yellow onions finely sliced
- 1 clove of garlic grounded
- Olive oil
- Chinese five-spice powder to taste (or, if you want a more mediterranean taste a mix of rosemary, tarragon, thyme, oregano and basil).
- Hot paprika
- Sultanas to taste.
- Quark to taste
- Freshly ground salt and pepper
Method
Slice off the top of the tomatoes and hollow out with a spoon, leaving a thick shell (about 2cm).
In a large frying pan, put about 2 table spoons of olive oil and let it heat until is sizzling. Put the onions and the garlic and mix well. Season with freshly ground salt and pepper to taste. Put the heat to medium and let the onions caramelize.
When the onions are golden and soft, add the minced meat and mix well. Add the Chinese five-spice powder and the paprika to test. Let the minced meat brow. If you want, you can add sultanas.
Once the meat is brown, add quark until you obtain a consistent paste.
Fill the tomatoes with this mix and put them on a oven proof dish, previously greased with olive oil (a thin layer will do). Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Bake for about 15min at 200 oC.
Couscous salad with fresh tomatoes, cilantro, and lemon
Posted: May 20, 2011 Filed under: Grains, Salad | Tags: Couscous, Tomato Leave a comment
To go with the tzatziki, I made a couscous salad using a recipe I found in Jeff Koehler‘s Rice, Pasta, Couscous. In Jeff’s own words, it’s as lovely as it is simple. The lemon makes it refreshing, cilantro gives it extra flavor and depth, the couscous feel a bit more lighter than past or rice… Just the right thing to have in a hot Summer day.
Couscous salad with fresh tomatoes, cilantro, and lemon
Ingredients
- 500g couscous of medium-grain couscous
- 8 ripe tomatoes grated or finely chopped
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 2 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- Salt and pepper
- 3 olive oil to taste
Method
Cook the couscous according to the instructions of the packet. Put in a large salad bowl.
Add the tomatoes to the couscous along with the lemon juice, cilantro, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper and mix well. Let the mix sit for at least 1 hour for the flavors to develop and marry. Add the olive oil and fluff just before serving.
Tomato galette, take 2
Posted: September 19, 2010 Filed under: Pastry and Baking, Vegetarian | Tags: Goat cheese, Tomato, Yotam Ottolenghi Leave a comment
Tomato galette and roasted spring onions
Posted: September 1, 2010 Filed under: Pastry and Baking, Vegetarian | Tags: Goat cheese, Spring onions, Tomato, Yotam Ottolenghi Leave a comment
The spring onions’ recipe is a courtesy of T.. The tomato galette was a creation of Yotam Ottolenghi for his New Vegetarian column on The Guardian.
Tomato Galette
Ingredients
- 375g all-butter puff pastry
- 8 stalks fresh oregano, leaves picked and roughly chopped
- 100g goat’s cheese, crumbled
- 450g red, yellow or green tomatoes of various sizes, sliced 2mm thick
- 8 stalks fresh thyme
- Olive oil
For the sundried tomato paste
- 10 sun-dried tomatoes from a jar
- 1 fresh red chilli, sliced (I use a tea spoon of dried piri piri)
- 2 garlic cloves
- Half tablespoon of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of salt
Method
Preheat the oven to 200oC/gas mark 6. Roll out the pastry to 3mm thick (Alternatively, if you have a large enough baking sheet, roll out the pastry into one circle, like a big pizza.) Transfer the pastry rectangles to a large baking sheet lined with baking paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the sun-dried tomato paste. Put all the ingredients in the small bowl of a food processor and process to a rough paste; if necessary, add a little oil from the tomato jar to bring it together. If your food processor bowl is too large, you may need to do some of the chopping by hand.
Spread a thin layer of the tomato paste over the chilled pastry, leaving a border about 1cm from the edge. Sprinkle with the oregano and goat’s cheese, and arrange the tomatoes on top, slightly overlapping but not too precisely. Make sure the tomato paste is covered by fresh tomatoes because it tends to burn. Drop the thyme stalks over the tomatoes and drizzle with a little olive oil.
Bake for 15 minutes, until golden on top; check the base to make sure the pastry is brown and fully cooked. Remove from the oven and leave to cool before drizzling over more olive oil and serving warm.
Roasted spring onions
Ingredients
- Spring onions, cut in half
- Salt, pepper
- Olive oil
Method
Preheat the oven to 200oC. Put the Spring onions on a baking tray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and then drizzle with a little olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden on the top.
Codfish and potatoes
Posted: July 24, 2010 Filed under: Fish | Tags: Codfish, Gordon Ramsay, Potatoes, Tomato Leave a comment
Pan fried codfish in a bed of chery tomato and spring onions, new potatoes sauteed with rosemary and garlic
Lucie Loves Food 