Pesto, Pine Nut and Parmesan Muffins, and my Basil Pesto Recipes

 

Here's a simple little muffin recipe for you, for when you need a savoury addition at your morning or afternoon tea or even for breakfast. Bake them large or small, and you will be delighted with the result. Pesto, Pine nuts and Parmesan are perfect ingredients in so many savoury goods.

Homemade Ricotta and Parmesan Ravioli with Sage Butter

This recipe will guide you in  producing restaurant quality ravioli in your own time at a fraction of the cost. However it's not just about saving money by cooking from scratch, it's about being able to create these little pillows of deliciousness in your own home, for family and friends to enjoy. This is Italian homemade food at it's best.

Ligurian pasta with pesto, new potatoes, and green beans

 

Destination Liguria, in northwestern Italy, where it's Mediterranean coastline is known as the Italian Riviera. Two of Liguria's most famous specialities are pesto and focaccia, which can be served plain, or with tasty variations like onion, olives, sage, and cheese etc. The local's use of fresh herbs and delicious seafood is also well reputed and reflects it's coastal geography.

Salmon with Asparagus and Tagliatelle

Fresh salmon fillets or smoked salmon can both be used in this dish. It is such a versatile recipe, and absolutely delicious. Lots of fresh herbs, fresh asparagus and tagliatelle combine with the salmon to create a memorable and healthy dining experience.

Prawn Taglierini

The ratio of prawns to pasta in a dish like this one can be a personal choice for the cook. I originally cooked this dish using a kilo of prawns and about 300 g of pasta because I love prawns and I think one of the saddest things when eating is when a prawn pasta only has a scant number of prawns in the dish.

Green Coriander Pesto and Superfood Pea Spaghetti

 

It's all about being healthy and going green for me, on Meat Free Monday. It's my birthday tomorrow, not a significant one with a zero at the end, but at my age every birthday is special, and I'm sure there will be a few treats, so Monday's repast will need to be simple and delicious. There are some nights when just a quick and healthy pasta dish is required. I try to focus on adequate fibre content with our meals, and sorghum spaghetti ticks all the boxes. Its full of protein, dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals, and its gluten free which is always handy to have on hand, in case of visitors requiring a gluten free meal. This is very much a vegetarian recipe which I cooked last week, and the Yeast flakes which are essentially vegan can easily be swapped out for 1 cup grated cheese. Yeast flakes aren't an ingredient I would normally cook with but it has many other uses so it won't go to waste. I'll be cooking this dish again this Monday. It's ready in 30 minutes, so it doesn't get much easier than that.

This recipe was on the back of the Ceres Organics Sorghum Spaghetti packet (no promotion intended) which I found at our local Mifsud's Fresh Fruit Barn in Mackay. They stock a lot more interesting products than the average fruit barn and the freshest of produce. Quite a few local restaurant chefs shop there frequently. My interest in using sorghum products for cooking was piqued during a recent road trip along the Burnett Highway, an inland rural highway in Queensland, where the broad acre agricultural fields were mostly rust, orange or red coloured sorghum. Sorghum in general has a diversity of uses, from livestock cattle feed to human food, so I was interested to see this sorghum spaghetti in the shop, even though the country of origin isn't Australia, but Bolivia in South America. Never mind, it's still organic and still healthy. We've heard a lot about superfoods and super crops, but not much about sorghum being one of those, but it is.  Bolivian white sorghum is grown for flour for the food industry, so presumably it was used for this spaghetti. I read that it is also grown for the brewing of beer. Whereas red and rust coloured sorghum in the photo below is so versatile that it is used primarily for fuel and cattle feed but has many other uses as well.  Sorghum is an ancient grain native to Northeastern Africa, and requires little water to grow, so is now being considered environmentally beneficial for the planet. This makes it perfect for agricultural use in rural Queensland, which is notoriously dry, although when we travelled through there had been recent flooding. 

Rust coloured broad acre sorghum fields

During our road trip along the Burnett Highway, we also saw this creek sign. We had a good laugh when we tried to say the name, and decided this must be the longest creek name we have ever seen. Toondoonnananigy Creek, probably derived from the language of our First Nations People. 

LET'S COOK with Sorghum Spaghetti:

Ingredients:

Ready in 30 minutes, serves 3-4 (See notes)

1 packet Organic Sorghum Spaghetti (I used Ceres brand)

1 bunch coriander

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups peas, blanched

1/4 cup Organics Savoury Yeast Flakes

Method:

Cook sorghum spaghetti according to packet instructions, much the same as normal spaghetti but takes a little longer, about 13-15 minutes until al dente.

Wash the coriander and dry it in a herbs spinner. Coriander always needs washing and drying before use, this is an important step.

 In your food processor bowl, place the coriander, garlic and yeast flakes and give it a good blitz. Then scrape down the sides.

Drizzle the Extra Virgin Olive Oil through the lid chute, and process to a pesto consistency. I used all of the oil. Season with salt and ground black pepper to taste.

 Drain the pasta, return to the saucepan, add a little olive oil to loosen the strands, and then stir in the pesto and peas. You have a delicious and attractive meal on the table in 30 minutes.

Cooks notes:

• The recipe stated that this feeds 3-4 people. Mr. HRK and I ate this over two small meals, but it could easily be bumped up to feed 4 comfortably by adding some sun-dried tomatoes, cooked mushrooms, or roasted pumpkin or whatever vegetables you would like. Tasty mature grated cheese would also make it more filling than the Savoury Yeast flakes.
• Whilst it was delicious and we really enjoyed this dish, I would have liked even more flavour in this recipe. But that's me, and I love coriander which can be quite a strongly flavoured herb. Any herb pesto could be used though, and next time I make it I'll double the amount of pesto and keep adding it to the spaghetti until I'm happy with the flavour. Ill freeze the remainder for adding to other dishes. 

Is Meat Free or Meatless Monday still a thing? According to various websites I visited it is. I try to stick to it as a matter of routine, and it's an easy way to reset after the weekend when we may have had a wee indulgence or two. It appears that people are also more open to healthy behaviours at the beginning of the week, before the busy week gets on top of them. Just one plant-based day a week is a fun and easy way to do something for the planet and our future.

Warm wishes

Pauline

Homemade Pasta Bolognese sauce, it's Italian, it's gut friendly and it's delicious

 

 I've made many versions of pasta sauce over the years, but this is now my favourite. When I have the time and I want a really rich sauce full of Italian flavours, and also minus the acid that some tomato based sauces contain this is the sauce I cook. If you can't tolerate rich tomato based sauces, yet love the rich flavours of Italian herbs, red wine, and pancetta, then this is the dish for you. 

Pasta Liguria with pesto, new potatoes, and green beans

With this recipe we are travelling in the kitchen to Liguria, in northwestern Italy, where it's Mediterranean coastline is known as the Italian Riviera. Liguria's most famous specialities are pesto and focaccia, which can be served plain, or with tasty variations like onion, olives, sage, cheese etc.

Deconstructed Cheesy Cabbage Rolls

Deconstructed Cheesy Cabbage Rolls

I had to try this recipe from Not Quite Nigella's blog, one of my favourites by Lorraine Elliott,  as soon as I saw it. I had a busy day coming up, and a meal waiting for me in the slow cooker when I arrived home from Mahjong just sounded perfect. 

Healthy Macaroni Cheese

Macaroni Cheese is a favourite dish of most people, and the ultimate form of comfort food. Unfortunately, eating too much of the traditional recipe which includes bacon and cream isn't really a healthy option.

The following recipe substitutes ham for bacon and light evaporated milk for cream, and is still tasty. You won't really notice any difference.

This is also very easy to cook when you are travelling.

Serves 6.

200g lean good quality ham (replacing 8 rashers bacon)
1 onion, diced
450g macaroni
1/2 cup reduced fat cheese, grated (replacing parmesan cheese)
300ml light evaporated milk (replacing cream)
Black pepper
Spray oil (instead of 2 tbsp. oil)
1 teaspoon dijon mustard (optional)

Method:

1. Chop the ham into chunks.  Fry ham in pan over medium heat with the onion until crispy, remove and then drain on a paper towel.
2. Boil a large pot of water and cook the macaroni for 9-10 minutes or until al dente. Drain the macaroni in a colander and return to the pot to keep warm adding a small amount of the drained liquid to keep the pasta moist.
3. Mix the cheese and evaporated milk in a bowl, add the mustard, then add the ham and onion. Pour over the pasta in the pot and toss gently with tongs.
4. Return the pan to a very low heat and cook approximately for 2 minutes, or until sightly thickened. Season with black pepper.

If you are feeling a little indulgent, add a small serve of grated parmesan over the dish for extra flavour, not that the dish needs it.

Cheat's Pad Thai

This recipe is take from the Food & Wine section of the Saturday Australian with David Herbert. I also add shredded chicken to this recipe.


Ingredients:
Small bunch coriander
Vegetable oil, for frying
200g uncooked prawns, shelled
2 spring onions
1/2 long red chilli, chopped
300g fresh pad thai noodles
85g bean sprouts
1 egg, beaten with a fork
Juice 1 lime, plus wedges to serve
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon roasted peanuts, roughly chopped to serve.

Finely chop coriander stems and roughly chop leaves. Heat a little oil in a large frying pan and fry prawns, spring onions, chilli and coriander stems for 1-2 minutes, or until prawns are pink. Add noodles, sprouts, egg, lime juice, fish sauce and sugar. Toss over high heat until egg is cooked and everything is combined and heated through. Remove from heat, stir in most of the coriander leaves, then divide between 2 large bowl. Scatter with remaining coriander and peanuts, and serve with lime wedges. Serves 2.

Slow Cooked Spaghetti Bolognese Sauce

This Bolognese Sauce always tastes great, and I think the secret ingredient in this recipe is the can of tomato soup. I always substitute fresh herbs instead of the dried ones, if I have them, and I generally do. This sauce is full of flavour and works really well layered in lasagne. I also generally add some finely chopped vegetables such as carrots, zucchini and celery  to increase the amount of vegetables for the family.