Posts Tagged ‘Basil’
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011
Here’s another meat free offering for your bad selves. Don’t worry, I’m not going veggie, but this baked aubergine classic is a winner, and might even make it into my top 5 Italian dishes. Failing that comfortably top 10.
The mozzarella and the aubergine give great texture to the dish, and I like to griddle my aubergine before layering to add a bit of a smokey flavour.
Lets do this.
Ingredients (serves 2)
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
1 onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 glass of white wine
1 tablespoon tomato puree
Small bunch of fresh basil
1 large aubergine, or 2 small
180g mozzarella
Salt & pepper
Parmesan
Olive oil
(more…)
Tags: Aubergine, Baked, Basil, Italian, Meat Free Monday, mozzarella, Onion, parmesan, Parmigiana di Melanzane, Tomato
Posted in Dinner, Lunch | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 15th, 2010
There’s definitely something very satisfying about making stuff at home that you usually shell out for in a shop. For me, making home made pesto is one of those things.
Sure it involves more effort, and its probably not that much cheaper than buying a jar, but you’ll defo have a sense of pride once you’ve tasted your own creation.
You can use a pestle and mortar to make it, but I use a food processor, which makes the whole thing and whole lot easier.
Ingredients
4 or 5 big handfuls of fresh basil leaves (about 100g)
50g pine nuts
40g freshly grated parmesan
175ml olive oil
1 large clove of garlic
Squeeze of lemon juice
Large pinch of salt
(more…)
Tags: Basil, Lemon juice, Olive Oil, parmesan, Pasta, Pesto, Pine Nuts, Salt
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes | 2 Comments »
Sunday, December 12th, 2010
Nope, not the secret behind the Colonel’s spicy burger (sorry KFC lovers), but a baked chicken dish which makes a great substitute for a Sunday roast. The ingredients might seem a bit summery, but they do a great job of kicking this dark, winter weather where the sun don’t shine. It’s also pretty low maintenance, so you’ll still be able to drink wine, wrap presents, watch the Come Dine With Me omnibus, or whatever else you want to do.
Ingredients (serves 2-3)
6 organic chicken joints, legs and thighs
8 cloves of garlic
20 or so baby plum tomatoes
1 chilli, de seeded and chopped
1 lemon
150ml white wine
Handful of fresh basil leaves
Olive oil
(more…)
Tags: Basil, Bread, Cavolo Nero, Channel 4, Chicken, Chilli, Come Dine With Me, Garlic, KFC, Lemon, Olive Oli, Tomatoes, White Wine, Zinger
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
They’ve been repeating the Jamie Does… series on More 4 recently, and aside from the shocking title sequence, I think it’s a pretty enjoyable show. I like the idea of zeroing in on a region’s cuisine as opposed to skimming the surface of a whole country, something that the late great Kieth Floyd did so well.
One of the dishes that got my mouth watering the most was the tomato risotto he cooked in Venice. There was just something beautifully simple about the risotto and the tomatoes cooked in olive oil that made me want to give it a go. I’m sure there’s an accompanying book for the series, but I haven’t bought it, so this recipe is a approximation of what I saw of the idiot box. It worked for me, so should do for you too.
Ingredients (serves 2)
For the risotto
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 large celery stalk, finely chopped
100g arborio rice
100 ml white wine
1 litre vegetable stock
Handful of grated Parmesan (about 25g)
Olive oil
Unsalted butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the tomatoes
15-20 mini plum / cherry tomatoes, halved
1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped
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Tags: Basil, Butter, Celery, Jamie Does..., Jamie Oliver, Kieth Floyd, Olive Oil, Onion, parmesan, Risotto, stock, Tomato
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Reviews | 2 Comments »
Monday, July 26th, 2010
My Mac has recovered, so its back to France for a few posts.
When we visited the food market at Forcalquier, as mentioned in this post, the missus spotted some courgette flowers for sale. We both remembered seeing Jamie Oliver deep frying some ricotta stuffed flowers on one of his shows, and despite not having a cookbook or any access to the interwebs, we decided to gave it a go.
Without blowing my own trumpet, the results were great, and to be honest it was easier that I thought it would be. The following recipe serves 6 as a small starter (2 flowers each), and although I didn’t at the time (because my father ain’t fan of the spice) I’ve added some red chilli. Not very French, but there you go.
Ingredients
12 large courgette flowers
For the stuffing
250g Ricotta
50g Parmesan, grated
1 tablespoon finely chopped basil
1 tablespoon finely chopped mint
Zest of 1 lemon
1 red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
Salt & pepper to taste
(more…)
Tags: Basil, Batter, Chilli, Courgette, Flowers, Fried, Lemon, Mint, parmesan, Ricotta, Stuffed
Posted in Lunch, Recipes, Snack, Travel | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
As mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve recently got into baking bread. As well as being really satisfying, being able to make your own opens up all sorts of other avenues to filling your belly. Making pizza is just one of them.
This recipe makes one large rectangular pizza with a thin, crispy, tasty base, that is a million miles away from the flabby crud that the likes of Planet Pizza churn out. I would recommend that you make a bigger batch of the dough and freeze half of it to use at a later date. Just double the quantity of the mix (below), and once risen, wrap half in cling film and pop in the freezer.
For the tomato sauce, you can pretty much use the same sort of thing that you’d usually put on pasta. I use a simple sauce made from a tin of tomatoes, garlic, herbs and seasoning. If I can be bothered, I’ll blend it so it’s smooth like passata, but you don’t have to. A bit of tomato texture isn’t a deal breaker.
(more…)
Tags: Anchovy, Basil, Chilli, Courgette, Dough, Flour, Parma Ham, Pizza, Red Onion, Semolina, Tomato Sauce
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes | 2 Comments »
