May 18, 2015June 29, 2015 / emma@cookfasteatslow.com Leave a comment

Oven Baked Risotto with Spinach Pesto, Kumara and Roasted Tomatoes (vegetarian)

Baking a risotto, as opposed to stirring one, is another great idea for an easy mid week meal.

This recipe starts off on the stove, only for a few minutes, and then takes 30 minutes in the oven. In my house, this means I throw dinner in the oven first and then get stuck into homework with the boys.

If you use a baking dish that can go from stove top to oven, then it also ticks the box of minimal washing up.

I first read about this yummy combination in the April edition of DELICIOUS magazine back in 2010. My variations are that of using a Spinach Pesto instead of a Basil Pesto (recipe below) and also adding sweet potato. These are two easy ways to incorporate more vegetables.

If you are short on time, by all means, use a store-bought pesto. There are many to choose from in the supermarket.

If you make the Spinach Pesto below, you will use about half of it in this recipe and the other half will keep in the fridge for about a week. It is great simply stirred through some pasta for an extra speedy dinner.

This serves our family of 5 and there is never a mouthful left over!

Ingredients

25gm unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 brown onion, peeled and finely chopped

400gm of arborio rice

100ml of white wine (if you don’t want to use white wine, just use an extra 100ml of chicken stock at this point)

1 litre chicken stock

3/4 cup of spinach pesto (recipe below)

1 medium size sweet potato, peeled and chopped into chunky pieces

Basil leaves to serve

Roasted Tomatoes

1/2 a punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius

Line a baking tray with baking paper and place the cherry tomatoes, cut side up, on tray.

Drizzle with oil and balsamic vinegar, season with salt and pepper and place in the oven for 30 minutes.

Heat butter and olive oil in an oven proof pan.

Add onion and stir for a few minutes till soft.

Add rice and stir for 1 minute.

Add wine (or stock) and stir for a few minutes or until the liquid has been mostly absorbed.

Pour in the chicken stock, add the sweet potato and bring to the boil.

Place a lid on the dish and put it in the oven to cook for 25-30 minutes. You will know when it’s ready when the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is plump and soft.

Remove from the oven and stir the pesto through it.

Top with roasted tomatoes and basil leaves to serve.

Spinach Pesto

Ingredients

100gm of baby spinach leaves

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tablespoons of blanched or flaked almonds

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1/2 cup smooth ricotta

2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon of basil paste (or you can add a small handful of fresh basil leaves)

Method

Lightly steam the baby spinach leaves in the microwave until slightly wilted. Rinse under cold water and squeeze excess water out of the leaves with your hands.

Throw the spinach leaves and remaining ingredients in a food processor and blitz until smooth.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week.

May 15, 2015 / emma@cookfasteatslow.com Leave a comment

Lemon Curd (refined sugar free)

This tangy, thick and smooth curd can be made with limes also. It is beautiful either way.

Spoon into tart cases, layer with meringue and cream for an easy dessert, dollop on top of lemon puddings, use in a trifle, spread on toasted sourdough or on top of scones……or sometimes, just eat straight out of the jar with a spoon while standing at the fridge and hope no-one sees you 🙂

It also makes a lovely gift, just pour into a beautiful jar and add a ribbon or tag. If you want some to keep and give away, I would double the recipe.

The original recipe comes from the cook book ‘WILD SUGAR Desserts’, by Skye Craig and Lyndel Miller.

I had a play around and lowered the honey content and added the rice malt syrup. It turned out so well, the original honey content was just not needed, especially if you prefer it to be more tangy than sweet.

Most lemon curd recipes have between 1-2 cups of castor sugar in them, so it’s nice to have a recipe that works beautifully using sweetners that are more natural.

This will make about 400ml of curd (approx 1 1/2 cups).

Ingredients

2 eggs

50gm unsalted butter

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup rice malt syrup (*see note below)

2 lemons or limes, juiced

zest of 1 lemon or lime

Method

Place all the ingredients in a medium heat proof bowl and then place the bowl over a saucepan of boiling water.

Whisk constantly until the mixture thickens. This will take about 15-20 minutes, so make yourself a cuppa to have while you’re whisking. It will seem like it’s taking a while, but keep the water boiling and stay patient and it will thicken all of a sudden.

Remove from heat, cool slightly and then pour into sterilised glass jars.

It will last up to 2 months in the fridge in a glass jar, but I can’t say this for certain as it’s always eaten a lot quicker than that in our house.

* A note on Rice Malt Syrup – this is a natural sweetener made from fermented cooked brown rice. Essentially, it stills ends up as glucose in your body and shouldn’t be consumed in excess, but as it is fructose free, it is becoming a more commonly used sweetener in people who are trying to eat less fructose. Rice Malt Syrup still causes spikes in blood sugar levels, but as it’s very sweet, often the amount that needs to be used in recipes can be lowered to quite a minimal amount.

May 12, 2015 / emma@cookfasteatslow.com Leave a comment

Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Prawns and Chorizo

This recipe is based on a Jamie Oliver classic that I first read about in the ABC’s DELICIOUS magazine in 2010.

That wonderful magazine has fuelled my appetite for recipes, food trends and all things to do with the culinary world for about 13 years now and I continue to go back to old issues of the magazine (yes, I still have them all!) and still find things I remember cooking years ago or find new inspiration that I might have missed the first time I read it.

I recently made this for the family for a lazy Sunday lunch after church. I did declare as I served it “eat up, as I am not making dinner as well today!”

A dish featuring prawns, wine and chorizo would not normally be on our mid week menu. This is more like a special occasion meal for a weekend or for sharing with friends.

Serves a family of 5

Ingredients

400gm spaghetti

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1-2 chorizo, sliced into thin rounds

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 bunch of basil, stalks chopped and leaves reserved

1 punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved

1 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes, or 1/2 a fresh red chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped

1 cup (250ml) white wine (use chicken stock if you don’t want to use wine)

300gm green prawns, peeled and deveined (I used frozen prawns that were defrosted)

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Fresh parsley or basil leaves to garnish

Method

Cook spaghetti till al dente and set aside, reserving a little of the cooking water.

Heat olive oil in a medium frying pan and cook chorizo till brown and crispy.

Add the garlic, basil stalks, tomatoes and chilli to the frying pan.

Pour in the wine and lemon juice and simmer away until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Add the prawns and cook for a few minutes until they are pink.

Season with salt and pepper and add cooked spaghetti (and a little reserved pasta cooking water) into the frying pan.

Give everything a big toss and serve in bowls, garnished with fresh herbs.

May 12, 2015May 12, 2015 / emma@cookfasteatslow.com 2 Comments

Chorizo Minestrone

This soup came about on one of those lovely mornings, where a gathering of friends for morning tea turned into an impromptu lunch in the autumn sunshine.

I was a little worried about how it would turn out as I was chatting away the whole time I was throwing this and that into my big soup pot.

This hearty and spicy soup will warm you through on the coldest of days. Enjoy it on its own or with some warm crusty bread, which is what my boys had when I remade it for the family for dinner. I should add at this point, my 3 year old wasn’t overly impressed with this soup, but the rest of the family gobbled it up!

I know I have said before I don’t really love sausages…but I make an exception for the spanish sausage known as Chorizo. The smell of it cooking alone drives me crazy. It adds a beautiful flavour and ‘spicyness’ to whatever it is in.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

2 chorizo, cut into thin rounds

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 leek, white part only, finely chopped (or 1 spanish onion, finely chopped)

2 sticks celery, finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped

800gm tin diced tomatoes

1.5 litres chicken stock

2 tablespoons tomato paste

a handful of chopped fresh herbs like oregano, thyme, (dried is fine)

1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

1/2 cup of superblend fibre (freekah, lentils and beans)
OR
1/2 cup quinoa or risoni (rice shaped) pasta

Serve with parmesan cheese and fresh herbs, like parsley or coriander.

This was what I used, but quinoa or pasta would work fine as well.

Method

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat and add the chorizo. Cook till brown and crispy, then add leek, celery and carrot. Fry off till softened and slightly golden.

I had some coriander that needed using so added 1/2 bunch of fresh coriander stalks, chopped into the soup at this point. — I had some coriander that needed using so added 1/2 bunch of fresh coriander stalks, chopped, into the soup at this point.

Add tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken stock, herbs and chilli.

Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes, until the vegies are soft and it’s thickened a little.

Add the bean mix (quinoa or pasta), put the lid on and cook for another 20 minutes or until the beans or pasta is cooked.

If it still isn’t thick and rich enough, simmer for a little longer with the lid off.

Taste and add salt and pepper if needed and serve with parmesan cheese and fresh parsley or coriander.

May 9, 2015May 9, 2015 / emma@cookfasteatslow.com Leave a comment

The Easy Mix Butter Cake

As a little girl, I would pull up a stool in the kitchen and ask if I could help my mum cook. I remember the first job she would always give me – greasing the tin. I was less than impressed, as I saw this as the most boring part of cooking, mainly because there was no licking or tasting involved!

Thankfully, I progressed from greasing the tin and it wasn’t long till I was helping with an actual cake!

This classic recipe, from the Australian Women’s Weekly, (who, might I add, have been responsible for teaching many Australians how to cook the basics over the years) never ever fails.

For those of you who have only every known packet cake mixes, give this one a go! I haven’t actually timed it, but I don’t think there is any difference in time between throwing this cake together and using a packet mix. The positive about making it yourself is there are less additives like flavours, thickeners, colours and preservatives, which are often present in most cake mixes.

This simple buttery, vanilla cake is perfect for all occasions. As a birthday cake or cupcakes, layered with fancy icing, served warm as a dessert with berries….anything you want really.

The way we love to eat this cake in our house is the way my mum made it….straight out of the oven and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.

Ingredients

2 eggs

125gm butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 cups self raising flour

2/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius

Cream together the butter and sugar using electric beaters

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until a smooth glossy batter