Tag Archives: vegetarian

Home-made Pizza

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A proper Italian pizza has a thin, crispy crust and minimal topping. Nothing remotely like the thick, soggy versions sold in many fast food chains. The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana says that when cooked a pizza base should be no more than 4mm thick at the centre, though it will be thicker around the edges. And they should know, they invented them.

Home-made pizzaWhen our kids were growing up pizza featured regularly on the menu. The pizza delivery motorbikes never came to our house because my view is that anything home-made is better than the bought version, not to mention cheaper. At the time our offspring thought they were deprived, but now they have their own families and also make their own.

For a larger group make 3-4 times the recipe and form the dough into balls. Have the toppings ready in small dishes and let people choose their own. With a salad and a bottle or two of vino you’re all set for a casual meal which appeals to all ages.

Home-made pizza15g fresh yeast or 7g dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
2 cups plain flour (preferably 00)
1 Tbs olive oil
½ to ¾ cup warm water

Mix ½ cup warm water with yeast and sugar. Leave for 10 minutes. Sift flour and salt into a bowl, add oregano, oil and yeast mixture. Mix well, adding more warm water until you have a firm, not sticky, dough. If preferred make in a food processor or in a mixer with a dough hook.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes until smooth and springy. Form into a ball, place in a lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover and leave at room temperature for an hour, or until doubled in size. Alternatively, cover and refrigerate overnight to prove more slowly.

Preheat oven to its highest temperature. If using, put pizza stone in the oven to get really hot. Knead dough lightly and form into a ball (or two balls) and leave, covered with a tea towel for about 20 mins or until doubled in size.

To assemble pizzas place a ball of dough on a lightly oiled pizza pan and press out to size using oiled fingers, working from the middle out. If using a pre-heated pizza stone, or a wood-fired pizza oven, press dough out into a large round on a well-floured pizza paddle.

Home-made pizzaArrange toppings on pizza – be sparing – less is more. Slide onto stone if using one and bake for about 5 minutes or until golden and crispy. Time will vary depending on your oven. Our outdoor wood-fired oven shown in the photo heats up to over 400°C, so pizzas only take about 3 minutes. In an ordinary oven they can take up to 12 minutes. Keep an eye on it.

Makes one very large or two medium photopizzas

Topping suggestions:

  • Tomato sugo (sold in jars to go with pasta) with thinly sliced mushroom, sliced pepperoni or chorizo and grated mozarella
  • Pesto with sliced fresh buffalo mozarella and sliced fresh tomatoes
  • Pesto, peeled prawns, grated mozarella and pine nuts
  • Additional toppings: stoned olives, anchovies, sun-dried tomatoes, caramelized onions, extra oil, fresh herbs

Carrot Avocado and Orange Salad

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I often make a salad using avocado and orange or grapefruit segments, which go well together. A recipe with the addition of oven-roasted carrots appeared recently in the Canberra Times and came from a cookbook called A Girl and Her Pig by April Bloomfield. I read through the method and found it unnecessarily complicated, so I made a few changes. I also added some honey to the dressing. Here is my tweaked version.

1 bunch baby carrots (about 750g)Carrot Avocado and Orange Salad
2-3 cloves garlic
1 rounded tsp cumin seeds
1 rounded tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp dried crushed chilli (or use some fresh)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 large oranges
2 large avocados
Juice of ½ a lemon
2 tsp honey
Coarsely chopped fresh coriander

Preheat oven to 200°C. Toast cumin and coriander seeds in a dry pan over moderate heat for a minute or two, or until fragrant. Place in a mortar with garlic, chilli, a tsp of salt, some pepper, 4 Tbs of the oil and crush to a paste. Scrub and trim carrots but don’t peel. Leave a small bit of the greenery at the end. Place carrots in a large baking dish which holds them in one layer. Add paste, mix well to coat. Add ¼ cup water then place in the oven to roast for about half an hour, stirring halfway, until tender and starting to brown a bit. Remove from the oven and cool.

Meanwhile remove peel and pith from the oranges with a serrated knife, then remove each segment by cutting each side of the membrane. Place segments in a small dish and squeeze what’s left of the oranges over the top to remove all the juice. Peel and slice avocados lengthwise.

Arrange carrots, drained orange segments (keep juice) and avocado slices decoratively in a serving dish. Place cooking juices from the carrots in a jam jar. Add orange juice, lemon juice, remaining 2 Tbs oil, honey and salt and pepper to taste. Shake well and drizzle over the salad. Top with the fresh coriander and serve.

Serves 4

Caprese Salad

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Caprese Salad is a very simple dish consisting of sliced tomatoes and fresh buffalo mozarella with fresh basil, olive oil and seasonings. It’s one of the best ways to enjoy perfect tomatoes in summer. In the photo I used Farmhouse-style cottage cheese from Costco instead of mozarella. But you could substitute any soft, mild-flavoured, sliceable cheese such as “queso fresco” (widely available in South America), goat’s cheese or a creamy feta. It won’t be an authentic Caprese Salad without the mozarella, but it will still taste good.

Drizzle with your best extra-virgin olive oil, then season with crunchy Maldon-style sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. A little balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze (which is thicker) is a good addition. A loaf of fresh bread – preferably Italian – a bottle of wine and lunch is ready.

Caprese Salad

1 kg vine-ripened tomatoes
About 250g fresh buffalo mozarella (or substitute – see above)
Fresh basil
Extra-virgin olive oil
Maldon style salt flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
Balsamic vinegar or glaze (optional)

Cut tomatoes horizontally into thick slices, discarding both ends. Slice cheese. Arrange tomatoes and cheese on a shallow serving dish, as shown in photo. Sprinkle with torn up basil leaves, drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with some balsamic vinegar or glaze, or let people add this if they like at the table. Serve with crusty bread.

Serves 4

Mexican Slaw

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This version of coleslaw uses Mexican flavours and a light oil and lime juice dressing. Crunchy, colourful and bursting with vitamins, it goes well with burgers, steaks or any roast or barbecued meat or poultry.

Mexican Slaw

2-3 cups finely shredded white cabbage
2-3 cups finely shredded red cabbage
1 cup raw pumpkin curls (made with a vegetable peeler)
1 cup raw corn kernels, cut off the cob (see note)
1 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 cup fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1 small red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
1 small or ½ medium red onion, halved and finely sliced
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
Dressing:
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lime or ½ large lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tsp honey
Topping:
2 Tbs pumpkin seeds
2 Tbs sunflower seeds

Place all ingredients for salad in a bowl. Place all ingredients for dressing in a jar and shake. Toast pumpkin and sunflower seeds by stirring in a dry pan over moderate heat for 2-3 minutes. Mix coleslaw with dressing and top with toasted seeds.

Serves 4-6

Note: or substitute frozen corn, blanched for a minute in hot water, or drained canned corn.

Variations: use carrot curls instead of pumpkin; add thinly sliced red capsicum (pepper) and/or zucchini or cucumber, cut into julienne sticks.

Barley & Quinoa with Roasted Pumpkin & Mushrooms

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Once or twice a fortnight we like to have a vegetarian dinner.  Matthew has always been a big fan of barley and I recently bought some quinoa, so I thought I would make a vegetarian dish combining these two grains. The result was delicious.

Quinoa (pronounced kin-wah) originated in the Andean regions of Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia and Peru, where it has been an important staple for 3-4000 years. It’s a grain-like crop, but not a member of the grass family, being more closely related to beets and spinach. The recent popularity of quinoa is due to the fact that it’s gluten-free and easy to digest. It’s also high in protein (14%), magnesium, iron and calcium. There has been some controversy of late over the high price the locals are having to pay for quinoa in South America, the price having gone through the roof due to increased exports.

I know that some of my readers don’t eat meat, so this is one for you.

Barley & Quinoa with Pumpkin & Mushrooms

¾ cup quinoa
¾ cup barley
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
½ cup pine nuts or coarsely chopped cashew nuts, lightly toasted
Chopped fresh parsley or coriander
Pumpkin mix:
5-600g butternut pumpkin, peeled and cut into 2-3cm cubes
1/3 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 Tbs fresh thyme or 2 tsp dried
½ tsp each cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
Mushroom mix:
500g mixed mushrooms (see note below)
2 Tbs fresh thyme  or 2 tsp dried
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
½ cup olive oil

Cook quinoa and barley separately in boiling salted water to cover. The barley will take about 40 mins and the quinoa about 10. Add more boiling water as necessary so they don’t boil dry. Don’t overcook – they should both be “al dente”. Rinse and thoroughly drain the grains and place in a bowl.

While grains cook preheat oven to 180C. Mix pumpkin with remaining ingredients. Line an oven tray with baking paper and spread pumpkin mixture over it. Bake for 30 mins at 180 or until cooked and edges start darkening. Clean mushrooms if necessary, tear or cut up and mix with remaining ingredients. Line another oven tray with baking paper and spread mushroom mixture over it.  Bake for 8-10 mins on the shelf under the pumpkin.

Add pumpkin and mushroom mixtures, including any oil and juices, to the cooked grains. Add vinegar, mix gently and check to see if it needs more salt and pepper. Tip into a serving dish or individual bowls. Serve lukewarm or cold, garnished with the toasted nuts and chopped herbs.

Serves 4-6

Note: for the mushroom mix I used 150g of Shimeji, 100g of Enoki (both torn apart) and 250g of button mushrooms (wiped and thickly sliced) – all from Woolworths supermarket. If you can’t find fancy mushrooms use all button mushrooms.

Variation: use brown rice instead of barley.

Staples Special

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Major and Mrs H.W. Staples, and their four children - Pat, Edwin, Margaret and Daphne outside their home, Dragona, shortly after their arrival on Malta in January 1939.

Major and Mrs H.W. Staples and their five children – Patrick, Edwin, Margaret, Daphne and Joan outside their home, Dragona, shortly after their arrival in Malta in January 1939.

My grandfather, Herbert William Staples, was posted to Malta from the UK in January 1939 with the Royal Engineers. When War broke out later that year he was offered the chance to leave with his wife and five children, aged between 10 and 14. But leaving by ship was risky, with many being bombed and sunk, so they opted to stay. My mother Margaret was almost 10 at the time and spent the next 6 years on the island with her younger twin sisters Joan and Daphne and two older brothers, Patrick and Edwin. At the end of the War she received a medal for never having missed a day of school, despite periods of heavy bombing when she had to get there via air raid shelters.

More bombs fell on this little island of just 121 square miles than fell on London during the Blitz. The Germans wanted to capture it for strategic reasons, due to its proximity to Axis shipping lanes. But they didn’t succeed and at the end of the War Malta was awarded the George Cross for bravery.

Feeding a family of seven was a constant challenge for my Irish grandmother Hilda Mary. Strict rationing allowed just one slice of bread per person per day. My mother remembers her brothers asking if they could have another slice and my grandmother giving them hers, half each. Nana Staples was skin and bone at the end of the War, but she made up for it afterwards! There were no cattle on the island, which meant no dairy industry. Sometimes the Quartermaster would issue a few cans of food to each British family. My mother still likes tinned peaches served with evaporated milk, for nostalgic reasons. While onions and tomatoes were easy to grow and Mediterranean fruit such as figs, grapes and pomegranates were plentiful in season, food-wise life was tough.

My Uncle Pat was a very good diver and could hold his breath for a long time. One day he heard that a ship had been sunk in the bay so he dived down and inside the wreck he found a whole cheddar cheese, weighing about 10 kilos. He wrapped it in his towel and staggered home, triumphant. My grandmother was thrilled and as she had tomatoes and onions in the garden she invented Staples Special with what she had available.

Home grown tomatoes

Fortunately I’ve never known what it is to go hungry or be unable to buy enough food for my family. But I still make Staples Special because it’s so delicious and makes a perfect Saturday lunch or Sunday evening supper. It’s important to use vine-ripened tomatoes from the garden or local market. Those tasteless ones you buy in supermarkets during winter just won’t work in this recipe. The same goes for the toast – the better the bread, the better the toast.

My Dad was a nurseryman and for many years his main crop was tomatoes, grown under glass in Kent, in south-east England. All my tomato-growing knowledge came from him and I think he would be proud of this year’s crop from our Canberra garden. To be honest Matthew does all the work, but I do cook the produce. One cardinal rule I learnt from my Dad and that’s never, ever store tomatoes in the fridge.

1 large onion, halved and slicedStaples Special
2 Tbs olive oil
500-600g ripe tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped
1 tsp sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 cups grated cheddar cheese
6 large slices buttered toast (Turkish bread is nice)
Basil leaves, torn up (optional)

Heat oil in a large frying pan and cook onion, stirring, over moderate heat, until soft but not brown. Add tomatoes and continue to cook for a few minutes, stirring. Tomatoes should be semi-cooked and still chunky. Add sugar and season to taste. Add cheese and when just melted serve on toast garnished with basil.

Serves 4

Sweet Potato Soup with Buttered Cashews

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When I was growing up in England we had swedes, parsnips and turnips, but I never saw sweet potatoes or pumpkin. So I didn’t try either of these vegetables until I married and moved to Australia in 1975. I quickly became a big fan of both – in soups, roasted, mashed – I love their sweet earthy flavours and satisfying textures.

February is usually the hottest month in Canberra, but this year we have had some cool, wet days. And this weekend, the first in March, is positively autumnal. After several months of salads a bowl of soup goes down well for lunch on a cool day, with a slice or two of toast.

I made this soup with sweet potato, but pumpkin would work equally well. Two year old granddaughter Natalia, who had hers without the toppings, had fun finding the chick peas which she called “chippies”.

Sweet Potato Soup with Buttered Cashews

25g butter
2 large onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 kg sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup white wine
4 cups (1 litre) vegetable stock
About 2 cups milk
1 can chickpeas, drained
Hot pepper sauce (see note below)
1 Tbs grated fresh ginger
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
To serve:
Sour cream or thick plain yoghurt
¾ cup unsalted cashew nuts
small piece of butter
2-3 Tbs chopped fresh oregano, marjoram or coriander
Hot pepper sauce (see note below)

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add onion and garlic and cook gently, stirring from time to time, until soft but not brown. Add sweet potato, wine and stock and simmer until sweet potatoes are tender. Meanwhile heat a small piece of butter in a small frying pan and cook the cashew nuts, stirring, until browned.

Blend soup in a blender until smooth, adding enough milk to make desired consistency. Put soup back into a saucepan with the chickpeas and ginger, adding hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Reheat soup and serve in soup bowls garnished with a dollop of sour cream, some cashews, chopped herbs and a drizzle of hot pepper sauce.

Serves 6

Variations: use pumpkin instead of sweet potato; pecan nuts instead of cashews.

Note: If you can find a smoky hot pepper sauce such as Montezuma’s Smoky Chipotle sauce, this is ideal. Have a look in the Mexican food section of your supermarket and see what they have. If you can’t find a smoky one use Tabasco or Peri Peri sauce.

Mexican Corn Soup with Avocado Salsa

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This recipe is slightly adapted from one which appeared in the December 2012 edition of Australian Gourmet Traveller. My daughter made it and said it was yummy. I added some sugar and a substitute for chipotle chillies in adobo for those who – like me – are unable to find them easily. When something’s not sold in the first two supermarkets, I usually look for a substitute.

The original recipe called for two avocados, but I found one large one was plenty. A couple of fine slivers of red chilli on top of the avocado salsa would have improved the photo.

Mexican Corn Soup with Avocado Salsa

6 large vine-ripened tomatoes, halved
1 red onion, peeled and cut into wedges
¼ cup olive oil
2 banana chillies, halved lengthwise, seeds removed
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 cups (750ml chicken or vegetable stock)
2 chipotle chillies in adobo (see note)
3 cups (500g) fresh corn cut from 3-4 cobs
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1-2 tsp sugar, to taste
1-2 avocados, depending on size, diced
Juice of 1 lime or ½ lemon
½ cup loosely packed roughly chopped coriander

Preheat grill to high. Line a baking tray with foil and place tomatoes, skin side up and onions on the foil. Season then drizzle with half the oil. Grill 5-6 mins till blistering then add the banana chillies and grill for another 5-6 mins or till tender. Cool then remove skins from tomatoes. Heat remaining oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook garlic until tender but not brown, stirring occasionally. Add stock, grilled vegetables, chipotle chillies and bring to the boil. Add corn, season to taste then simmer 4-5 mins until tender. Pulse in a food processor or blender until chunky-smooth. Tip back into pan and check seasoning. Mix avocado, lime juice and coriander and season to taste. Ladle soup into bowls and top with avocado salsa.

Serves 4

Note: substitute ½ tsp smoked paprika and a pinch of cayenne pepper

Beetroot, Fig & Fennel Salad with Creamy Dressing

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I grew up in a house where beetroot – boiled, peeled, sliced and doused with malt vinegar – was nearly always on the table. My mother made a dish full every week and we ate it as a side dish.

Since then I’ve found lots of different ways of serving this somewhat underrated vegetable. I particularly enjoy it without the addition of vinegar, so the lovely earthy taste shines through. Roasted and served in a salad with rocket, feta or goat’s cheese and maple-glazed pecans or walnuts it’s absolutely delicious. But I seldom served it raw until I came across this recipe which will please all beetroot fans. It’s even better the next day and goes down very well at a BBQ.Beetroot and Fennel Salad

250-400g peeled and coarsely grated raw beetroot
70g dried figs, chopped (or substitute raisins, cranberries or other dried fruit)
lots of chopped fresh herbs – whatever you have (dill, coriander, parsley)
1 small bulb fennel finely sliced
¼ cup lemon juice, or to taste
1-2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup mayonnaise (preferably home made)
¼ cup plain yoghurt
1 Tbs cumin seeds, toasted in a dry frying pan

Mix beetroot, figs, herbs and fennel, then add oil, lemon juice and seasoning to taste. Make an hour or two before serving then tip into a serving bowl or spoon onto individual serving dishes. Mix mayonnaise with yoghurt and dollop over the top. Sprinkle with the cumin seeds.

Serves 4-6

Note: the mayo-yoghurt topping is optional

Quick Lamb Chops and Zucchini with Tarragon & Sour Cream

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Getting a tasty evening meal on the table in next to no time is a challenge faced by all working parents. In his cook books 30-minute Meals and more recently 15-minute Meals, Jamie Oliver set out to show how this can be achieved.

About twice a month we have lamb chops or cutlets as a week day dinner. My favourite recipe is so quick and simple, it’s hardly a recipe at all. Mix equal quantities of Dijon mustard, honey and finely chopped fresh rosemary. A heaped teaspoon of each makes enough for two people. If you coat the chops with this mixture before you cook them the honey has a tendency to burn and go black. A better method is to pan fry the chops for 2-3 minutes each side in a smidgen of oil. Then paint or drizzle with the honey mixture and cook for another minute or so each side.

At the moment we have zucchini (courgettes) and fresh tarragon in the garden, so it’s time to make one of our favourite vegetable dishes Zucchini with Tarragon and Sour Cream. This recipe makes the most of the two main ingredients, zucchini and tarragon. You can buy zucchini pretty much all year round in Australia, but fresh tarragon is much harder to find. We have masses of it in the garden in summer when it grows like a weed.  Then it dies down and I have to do without until next season. I’ve tried freezing, but it’s not quite the same.

This recipe is a good way of using zucchini which have grown a bit too big – just remove the seeds if they are starting to look like marrows!

Zucchini with Tarragon & Sour Cream

1 kg zucchini (courgettes)Quick Lamb Chops and Zucchini with Tarragon & Sour Cream
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs butter
½ to ¾ cup sour cream
½ cup chopped fresh tarragon, firmly packed
freshly ground black pepper

Wash zucchini, remove seeds if they are really big, but leave skin on.  Grate coarsely, place in a sieve with the salt mixed through to drain for a minimum of 10 minutes and up to half an hour. Squeeze and press hard to remove most of the moisture. Heat butter in a large frying pan and stir-fry zucchini for 4-5 minutes. Add sour cream, tarragon, pepper and check to see if it needs any more salt.  Don’t boil and serve immediately.

Serves 6