Vegetarian lasagne

We needed to use up some stuff in the fridge, so I made this. It was nice.

150-200g lasagne sheets (I needed 6 large-ish fresh sheets)
2 400g tins whole tomatoes (you could also use diced)
2 onions
2 cloves garlic
2 courgettes
250g mushrooms
1/2 cup red wine (can also use red wine vinegar)
200-300g grated cheese (I guess you should use mozzarella or Parmesan, but we had some regular grated Edam which worked quite well too)
250ml bechamel sauce
Mixed herbs
Salt and pepper to taste

Start with the tomato sauce. Fry the onions and garlic for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes, wine, herbs and seasoning and cook for around 30-45 minutes. If you want more sauce in your lasagne, double the quantities here.

While the sauce is cooking, thinly slice the courgettes lengthwise if possible (you can use a mandolin for this!) or otherwise just use discs. Slice up the mushrooms into thin slices too. Also preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

When the tomato sauce is ready, start assembling your dish. Grease the bottom of your oven dish, then layer as so (not too important, this is how I did it): pasta sheets, courgettes, mushrooms, tomato sauce, bechamel sauce, cheese, pasta, courgettes, mushrooms, tomato sauce, bechamel, cheese, pasta, bechamel, cheese. Season as you go.

Pop it in the oven and cook for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on your oven. It'll come out lovely. 

Couscous side-slash-stuffing

This is adapted from a food24 recipe. When I first made this recipe a few years ago, I really liked it when I used it as a stuffing, but (typically) I made more stuffing than I needed and it turned out to be the star of the show, so to speak. The good thing is it can be scaled up with no regard for loss of quality. Here's my version of a fantastic recipe:

Should serve 2:

1/2 cup couscous
Depending on instructions, 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
2-3 tbsp olive oil
25 g butter
130-150 g courgette, grated
100 g dried cranberries, finely diced
1/2 cup shelled hazelnuts, crushed or ground up in a blender. You can add the cranberries to this and save yourself the hassle of chopping them up yourself
juice and zest of 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the couscous in the stock, according to the directions on the packaging. When ready, add the butter and the oil. Stir in the courgette, hazelnuts, lemon juice and zest (I guess this can be added with the stock, though), and season. I do recommend adding salt to your couscous, as it can be a bit anaemic without it. Serve warm or cold. This goes brilliantly with roast chicken, especially this recipe.

Ragne's courgette, bacon and cream pasta

This one comes from a popular Estonian cooking blog, Kokkama Ragnega. If you do read Estonian, check out her blog. It's very good, very simple, with a bunch of stuff that justifies her publishing deal. Of course, the problem for some is that it's in Estonian, which can be slightly problematic.

Here's where I come in.

My wife found this, and since we had a few extraneous semi-packs of pasta left lying around the (new) flat that needed eating, we gave it a go, with some minor changes to the recipe. It's all based on what we had. It was lovely. Very recommend.

Should serve about 4.

Ingredients:

200 g wild garlic Spätzle
100 g regular egg Spätzle
(or 300 g penne, per original recipe)
Around 600g courgette
200 g smoked bacon, diced
1 onion, diced
Thyme, to taste
Provencal herb mix, to taste
250ml cream (rõõsk koor)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tbsp olive oil
Grated Comté cheese, to taste

Cook the pasta as per indications on the packaging. Top, tail, core and  roughly grate the courgette. Fry the bacon for about a minute, then add the onion, cook for another minute or 3, then add the courgette and herbs and season. Cook until the courgette is starting to get crisp (and the bacon is cooked), then add the cream, heat again, season to taste and cook for a few more minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving about half a cup of the water. Add the sauce to the pasta, plus a bit of water, and the olive oil, and mix it all up together. Once ready, serve in bowls, with bread if so desired, plus cheese on top.

Grilled salmon, courgette salad, rice salad, guacamole, and a full stomach: AKA Jazz Salmon

Source

Tasty special treat courtesy of Jamie Oliver. He's a bit of a git, what with his fabulous this and awesome that, but his recipes are, if you'll excuse the language, fantastic. I have made this a few times - my favourite part is the crunchy skin. It's a bit pricey to make in Estonia, but it's good for an occasional treat.

Definitely not my recipe, and I post this purely because I love it so very much. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

2 peppers
A bunch of spring onions
4 fresh chillies
1 x 1kg salmon fillet with skin, descaled and deboned as far as possible
2 lemons
fennel
1 mug basmati rice
225g pickled red peppers
some fresh mint leaves
balsamic vinegar
400g baby courgettes (although I've done this with larger courgettes too)
fresh coriander
1 clove garlic
2 limes
2-3 ripe avocados
olive oil (lots)
salt and pepper to taste

I agree with Jamie's advice to "get all your ingredients and equipment ready. Fill and boil the kettle. Turn the grill on to full whack. Put a saucepan on a medium heat. Put the standard blade attachment into the food processor (if you've got one)" (which we don't). There's a lot happening in a short period of time. This is from his 30-minute recipes, and even if it takes you slightly longer, you'll still be busy.

Anyway, here we go.

Salmon:

1. Pour a couple of lugs of olive oil into a large roasting tray. Slice the peppers, the spring onions, and 2 chillies.
2. Drizzle olive oil over both sides of the salmon, season, and grate lemon zest over the fillet - it'll need a full lemon for a big fillet.
3. Rub the flavours into the salmon. If needed, halve the salmon so it fits into the tray, then put the salmon in the tray skin up and put the vegetables around it.
4. Put under the grill and set the timer for 14 minutes. Put the rice into a medium saucepan with a pinch of salt and cover by 1.5 cm with boiling water.
5. Put the lid on, turn the heat right up and leave to cook for 7 minutes. Once cooked, take off the heat and leave to steam for 7 minutes, still covered with the lid.

Salad:

1.Squeeze the juice of ½ a lemon into a large serving bowl and add a couple of lugs of extra virgin olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
2. Finely chop the a couple of sprigs of mint leaves and ½ a chilli and add to the bowl.
3. Speed-peel as much of the baby courgettes as you can (using a mandoline if possible but a vegetable peeler works fine, too) over the dressing and put whatever is left behind on a large wooden chopping board.
4. Take the bowl of salad to the table but don’t toss until right before you are ready to serve.

Rice

1. Roughly chop and mix the jarred peppers and remaining mint leaves on the chopping board with the remaining courgette.
2. Add a pinch of salt & pepper, a good lug of extra virgin olive oil and a splash of balsamic.

Salmon

1. When the 14 minutes are up, take the tray out of the oven.
2. Using a knife and your fingers, carefully peel the skin away from the flesh and flip it over.
3. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and the fennel seeds over the exposed side of te skin.
4. Turn the peppers over, then put the tray back under the grill and cook for a further 5 minutes, or until the skin is really crispy.

Guacamole (n.b this can be done by hand for a chunkier texture)

1. Trim the rest of the spring onions and put them into the processor with most of the coriander, a chilli (stalk removed), a peeled clove of garlic, the juice of 1 of your limes and a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
2.Whiz up while you stone the avocados and quarter the tomatoes.
3. Stop whizzing, and squeeze the avocado flesh out of its skin into the processor.
4. Add the tomatoes and pulse until chunky.
5. Put into a bowl and add more seasoning or lime juice to taste if needed.
6. Take to the table with a few wedges of lime for squeezing over.

Rice

1. Quickly fluff up the rice with a fork, then tip over the board of chopped veg and gently mix together. Take to the table.
2. Use tongs to carefully turn the crispy salmon skin back over.
3. Season with salt & pepper and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Serve with flour tortillas - these can be warmed in the microwave for 30s if bought, or wrapped in foil and placed in the grill after it has been turned off for a few minutes whilst you take everything else to the table.

Ratatouille

On a bit of a French kick at the moment. Ah well.

Yes, this is the ratatouille from the film. Again, easy, fun to make, and you get to say the word ratatouille. I mean, how cool is that?

This should serve 3-4 people, depending on quantities.

Ratatouille

2 large aubergines, cubed
3-4 large courgettes, cubed
2 peppers, bite-sized chunks
3 or 4 tomatoes (you can put more in, but it's quite good with less of a tomato-ey taste). Pierce the skin, submerge in boiling water for about 20 seconds, then take them out and skin and de-seed them. Or don't. Either way, cut them into quarters.
Thyme (or Provencal spice)
1 or 2 onions, sliced (but not diced)
Garlic to taste (3 or 4 should generally do the trick)
About 2 tablespoons of red wine (or wine vinegar)
1 teaspoon sugar

For those of you with a bit of adventure in your souls, add some olives, a chilli or two, and some anchovies (but don't overdo the anchovies). A big cast-iron pot is also quite useful.

Cook the aubergines for about 5 minutes until soft, then remove from the heat. Don't overcook just yet. Repeat with the courgettes (until brown) and peppers (browning and then taking them out). Then cook the onions until soft and stuff. Add the garlic, fry for a bit, then add the wine/vinegar and sugar. Stir in, add the tomatoes and the thyme or Provencal spice, stir in again, and add the courgettes, aubergines, and peppers (and olives and anchovies if you're using them). Add salt and pepper to taste, then cook for about 5-10 more minutes.

I'd recommend serving this with couscous. And wine. It'll make you think of your childhood. And then overlook gross violations of public health and sanitation.