AMAZEBALLS!

Or else Italian Rice Balls.

Tried them for the first time years ago in Italy and again last week at the new Arancini Brothers restaurant in Dalston, which made me experiment with a couple of recipes at home. The conclusion was that -as almost always- keeping it simple, is the key to a satisfying result.  

For 24 balls: 

2 eggs 

30g grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon dried parsley

freshly ground black pepper

salt

water

150g uncooked white rice

100g dried bread crumbs (for gluten free version use gluten free bread)

olive oil 

  

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, cheese, parsley, pepper, and salt. Cover and refrigerate while proceeding to the next step.

Pour water and 1 teaspoon salt into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir in rice and reduce heat to low. Cook rice until water is almost absorbed, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and slowly pour in egg mixture, stirring rapidly to prevent egg from scrambling. Allow rice mixture to cool for 1 hour. 

Pour bread crumbs into a pile on one end of a cutting board. Dampen hands and roll rice mixture into one inch balls, then coat each one with bread crumbs. 

In a small, deep skillet, heat olive oil to 175 degrees C. Remember that it should have enough oil to completely cover rice balls. Fry six rice balls at a time, turning as needed to ensure even browning. Drain on paper towels and serve warm. Perfect with spicy tomato sauce, putanesca, garlic mayonnaise.

Garlic Potatoes With Juniper Berries

Strong flavoured roasted potatoes, great to serve with wild rice, chicken, asparagus or just with yoghurt on the side. 

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons dried juniper berries, lightly crushed
8 large garlic cloves
600g tiny new potatoes

You will also need the juice of one medium lemon, coarse-grain sea salt and black pepper, finely chopped fresh oregano to serve. 

Heat the oven to 180 c (gas mark 4).

Pour the olive oil into a heavy shallow baking dish large enough to hold the potatoes in a single layer. Sprinkle the juniper berries over the oil and place the dish in an oven for a few minutes to warm.

Trim off the stem ends of the garlic cloves and rub off any feathery outer skin.
Place the potatoes and garlic in the warm dish and roll them in the olive oil to lightly coat.
Bake 10 minutes and roll the potatoes and garlic in the olive oil once more.
Reduce the oven temperature to 150c (gas mark 2) and bake uncovered for 50 minutes or until the potatoes are just tender.
Roll the potatoes in the olive oil to coat once more and transfer to a warm platter.
Sprinkle with the lemon juice, salt and pepper, and oregano.
Serve hot or warm, with toast, meat or rice if desired.

Fava

Fava is the yellow split pea with which you can make puree. It is creamy and when served warm can be the most comforting food in the world.
Fava from Santorini island is the best, hence a bit more expensive. Any type will do of course. Greeks have it as an appetiser (or dip) but it can also be served as a main dish.

Ingredients:
500g fava (yellow split peas)
1 big red onion well chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 big lemon
capers (optional)

Wash fava well and then boil with the garlic for about an hour and a half. During that process try to get rid of the dark bits on the top of the water, not the fava, just the grey froth. Here you can either boil the fava for another 30 minutes adding half a cup of olive oil and salt & pepper or if you want you can use a food processor. I usually let it boil more. If you do use the food processor, after you are done, put the fava in the pot again and heat it up adding olive oil and seasoning.
Serve warm or cold with raw chopped onion on top and lemon juice. Capers on top are usually great too.

Vegan Paella

It is always a pleasant challenge to cook for vegan friends and Paul is the latest to join the vegan club. So we had him and his girlfriend over for dinner last night. I found three different recipes for vegan paella online and made this by combining all. Yes, one of them was an apparently well known Gwyneth Paltrow recipe. Do not let that little fact put you off - she cooks better than she acts - this is so nutritious and tasty, carnivores will love it too.
Ready in 35 minutes.


1 red, and 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and cut into strips

olive oil

½ Spanish onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

½ tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp turmeric

½ tsp cayenne

250g easy cook rice

100ml sherry (optional)

1 tsp saffron strands

500ml boiling vegan stock

Sea salt200g tender stem broccoli

200g organic nice mushrooms

200g sweet peas

1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

a jar  of artichokes

200g broad beans

roughly chopped parsley

4 lemon wedges, to serve

Heat the oil in a paella or other shallow frying pan and fry the onion. When golden add the peppers and mushrooms and fry for about 8 minutes over medium heat until soft.  Add the garlic, cook for a minute, then add all the spices, stir, add the rice and the green beans and cook, stirring, for two minutes. Add the sherry and saffron, boil down for a minute, then add the stock and a third of a teaspoon of salt. 

Bring to boil, reduce heat to low and cook covered for 7 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed. 

Taste and add salt if needed then scatter the artichokes, kidney beans and broccoli over the rice and cook for another 7 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with lemon wedges. 

You can also replace rice with quinoa and get even more big vegan smiles. 

The Butter Bean & The Chorizo

I made this stew for the 'welcome back' party of a dear friend who just came back from Spain.
I don't know what I was thinking with the chorizo. I bet he must be so fed up with it, but I guess I thought it would make him feel like home.
I also thought it would be a very heavy dish but it wasn't at all. It is a stew that -apart from the initial preparation, chopping etc- you can let it do it's own thing and just stir occasionally.


180g dried (or canned) butter beans
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
250g raw chorizo sausage (available at every good deli), cut into 5mm-thick diagonal slices
1 onion, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
paprika
400g can chopped tomatoes
500ml chicken stock, hot
dried oregano
Grated zest of 1 lemon

Soak the butter beans in a bowl of water overnight.
The next day, place the beans in a saucepan and cover with plenty of fresh water. Bring to the boil and simmer rapidly for 1 hour until just tender. Drain. You can always use tinned butter beans instead.
Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof casserole and fry the raw chorizo for 2-3 minutes until starting to brown. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the onion, garlic and paprika to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring, until the onion is beginning to soften.
Add the chopped tomatoes, stock, oregano and lemon zest and add the chorizo and beans to the casserole. Mix well, bring to the boil and simmer, partially covered, for 1¼ hours or until the sauce is thick and the beans are tender. Check the seasoning.
Serve with crusty bread and leaf salad and of course Rioja.

Turkish Zucchini Pancakes

Eating out and about at Turkish restaurants in Stoke Newington can be very inspiring sometimes. This recipe makes about 20.
Serve with tomato sauce and a white sauce, which you can make by mixing together in a small bowl, yogurt, garlic, dill, and salt.
4-5 big zucchini, trimmed, coarsely grated
2-3 chopped spring onions
4 eggs, beaten to blend
100g all-purpose flour
chopped fresh dill
chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp. fresh tarragon or 2 tsp. dried
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
100g crumbled feta cheese
2/3 c. chopped walnuts, optional
1 c. Greek yogurt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. minced dill
1/2 tsp. salt
Sprinkle zucchini with salt and let stand in colander for 30 minutes to drain. Squeeze zucchini between hands, then squeeze dry in paper towels.
In a bowl, combine zucchini, flour, chopped green onions, eggs, herbs, salt, and pepper. Mix well. Fold in crumbled feta cheese. Mix again. Then fold chopped walnuts if using into the mixture.
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Place baking sheet in oven. Cover bottom of large nonstick skillet with olive oil. Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, drop zucchini mixture into skillet by heaping tablespoonfuls. Fry until pancakes are golden brown and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer each batch of pancakes to baking sheet in oven to keep warm. Serve pancakes hot with tomato and /or yogurt sauce.

Caponata and Sopranos Re-run

We recently started watching again The Sopranos. I guess it was an inevitable result of the lack of some serious action in our lives,which is mostly full of wet nappies and teething issues at the moment. The best company to watch Tony Soprano's killer lines is Sicilian Caponata with bread and some fine red wine.
Here is the easy recipe :

§ 100g green pitted olives
§ a handful of capers drained and chopped
§ 4 medium aubergines, chopped
§ salt and ground black pepper
§ extra virgin olive oil
§ 1 big red onion chopped
§ 30ml red wine vinegar
§ 3 medium tomatoes chopped
§ a tbsp sugar or honey
§ handful parsley chopped

1. Sprinkle the aubergines with salt and leave to drain in a colander for 30 minutes.
   
2. Heat some of the olive oil in a saucepan and brown the aubergine on a moderate heat for 10 minutes. When cooked, set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.
   
3. In a separate saucepan, heat the remaining olive oil and sauté the onion along with the tomatoes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the olives and cook for 20 minutes.
   
4. Add the cooled aubergine and the capers.
   
5. In a separate bowl, mix together the red wine vinegar and sugar. Add this to the pan and cook for 10 minutes or till the red wine vinegar has been absorbed.
   
6. Transfer to a large bowl, add the chopped parsley and mix well.
   
7. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil to serve.
8. Serve hot or cold.
   

Apologies for the bad iphone photo, it looks like I have -temporarily- lost my lovely camera. It must be somewhere between those unused nappies and the rattles.

Stuffed Aubergine Rolls

Ingredients
• 2 aubergines, cut length ways into 0.5cm/¼ in thick strips
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• olive oil, for brushing
For the filling
• 150g/5oz ricotta
• 150g/5oz buffalo mozzarella
• pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
For the sauce
• 250ml/8fl oz extra virgin olive oil
• 450g/1lb cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
and a bit of honey
Preparation method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/355F/Gas 4.
2. Season the aubergine slices well with salt and freshly ground black pepper and brush with oil.
3. Griddle for a couple of minutes on each side in a hot griddle pan, or until golden-brown grill marks are formed. Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.
4. For the filling, mix the ricotta, mozzarella, nutmeg and spring onions together in a bowl.
5. Lay out all of the slices of aubergine onto a clean surface. Place about one teaspoon of filling at the bottom edge of each one.
6. Roll up the aubergine slices, like a cigar, around the filling, then rest them seam-side down on a plate.
7. For the sauce, heat the olive oil in a pan and add the cherry tomatoes.
8. Simmer for 8-10 minutes until the tomatoes begin to break down.
9. Remove from the heat and stir in the garlic and honey. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
10. Spoon some of the sauce into the bottom of an ovenproof dish.
11. Carefully place the aubergine rolls, seam-side down onto the sauce, and spoon over the rest of the sauce.
12. Transfer to the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, until the cheese begins to melt.
13. To serve, spoon the rolls onto plates.

photo taken from the bbc website and recipe from there too but slightly altered

Winter in the Med

Mediterranean stuffed peppers in the oven are quick, easy, yummy and comforting.

Here is what you need:
• 50g brown basmati rice
• 1 each red, orange and yellow pepper
• 1 bag watercress, roughly chopped
• a handful of baby plum tomatoes chopped
• 50g/2oz pitted black olives, chopped
• 50g/2oz drained sun-dried tomatoes
• 50g/2oz cheddar cheese, grated
• feta
• 25g grated Parmesan

Cook the rice in boiling salted water for 20 mins or according to pack instructions and drain.
Preheat the oven to 200C/fan180C/gas mark 6. Cut the peppers in half , length-ways and cutting through the stalks. Remove the seeds and discard; place them in a roasting tin, cut side up.
Mix the rice, watercress, olives, feta and sun-dried tomatoes and fresh tomatoes together with half the cheddar cheese. Season to taste. Spoon the mixture into the peppers and scatter over the remaining cheddar and all parmesan.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the peppers are tender. Serve with salad.

Back To Auberginia

Baked aubergines are the simplest tastiest dish for spring in the book.
Just wash them, get rid of the top and bottom bit and cut them in little triangle pieces. Spread olive oil into a baking tray and place the pieces in, add a generous amount of salt, splash with more olive oil, crushed garlic and dried herbs like marjoram and basil and leave in the oven for an hour on medium heat (about 180 degrees). Halfway remember to add pepper.
I made this last night, told my boyfriend on the phone about it and by the time he got back home I had eaten the whole lot! I think he will not forget easily. So I m cooking it again today.