Posts in: 'Starter Course'
Italian Fennel and Orange Salad
Posted: 01 September '10 by Niall
Italian fennel and orange salad
As the temperature in Northern Ireland soared to a stifling 23° last week, we were in the mood for a lighter meal when we got home from work. What better than a zesty Meditteranean salad!
Kelly is a big fan of citrus flavours so this Italian Fennel and Orange salad was a sure-fire winner.
I have to admit, I’ve only braised fennel before, never eaten it raw, so this was a bit of a revelation. The secret lies in slicing the fennel into very thin slivers. The lemon and orange juice effectively “cooks” the fennel in citric accid, so you don’t get overwhelmed by the aniseed – it’s actually very subtle.
All in all the salad is so light, clean and fresh you’ll feel very virtuous after your meal.
Although the salad can be eaten on it’s own I served ours with some butterflied and griddled chicken breasts – the salad made a very tasty accompaniment.
Serves 2
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Ingredients
- 2 good-sized fennel bulbs
- 1 Navel orange
- 1 lemon
- 3 tbs of pine nuts
- some good olive oil
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Drizzle a drop of olive oil into frying pan and add the pine nuts, toasting them over a low heat.
- Trim the fennel bulbs by removing any wilted or unsightly outer shoots or flesh from the bulb, and keeping the delicate fronds from the fennel.
- Slice the fennel bulb in half and cut an inverted “V” in the bulb so you remove the central, woody core.
- If you have a mandolin you can easily slice the bulbs into wafer-thin pieces – otherwise you need to use a sharp knife.
- Place the sliced fennel into a bowl and add the zest of the lemon and the zest of the orange.
- Peel the remaining skin from the orange, removing as much of the white pith as possible.
- Using a sharp knife, slice the orange into segments by running the blade down the flesh inside each vertical membrane – you should end up with lots of nice, wedge-shaped orange pieces. Place these segments into the bowl.
- Squeeze the juice from half of the lemon over your salad.
- Roughly chop the fennel fronds and add these to the fennel along with the toasted pine nuts, a splash of olive oil, and the salt and pepper.
- Toss the salad ingredients together and serve immediately.
Enjoy!
More information
There are both male and female fennel bulbs. The shorter, round bulb is the female while the taller, more slender bulbs are the males. Some think that there is a subtle difference in flavour, with the female bulbs slightly more preferred to the male.
Categories: Featured Post > Italian Food > Recipes > Side Dishes > Starter Course > Vegetables
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Spanish Stuffed Tomatoes
Posted: 25 August '10 by Niall
Spanish stuffed tomatoes
In our recent post about La Tomatina we mentioned that we’d be celebrating the humble tomato in our own way – by making Spanish stuffed tomatoes.
It’s a pretty straightforward recipe, but the flavours are superb – fruity, both sweet and savoury, and with a delicate hint of thyme and parsley in the background.
Kelly just loved this recipe and was raving about it to her friends in work.
It’s great way to play your own part in the Spanish Tomato festival!
Ready in 40 minutes – serves 6 as a starter or tapas.
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Ingredients
- 6 large tomatoes
- 100g fresh breadcrumbs
- 3 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
- black pepper to taste
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 50g Manchego cheese, grated (if you can’t find Manchego, Parmesan will do at a pinch)
- 1 tbsp thyme, finely chopped
- 1 tsp of smoked paprika
- olive oil
Method
- Preheat the oven to 140°C
- Drizzle some olive oil into a pan and sweat the onions over a low heat until they are soft.
- While the onions are cooking, combine the breadcrumbs, parsley, thyme, pepper, smoked paprika, and half of the grated manchego in a large bowl.
- Turn the heat off under the onions and tip the breadcrumb mixture into the softened onion, stirring the ingredients until they are mixed thoroughly.
- Using a teaspoon, scoop the pulp from the tomatoes.
- Spoon the breadcrumb mixture into the tomatoes, pressing the mixture down to fit as much stuffing in as possible.
- Place the stuffed tomatoes into an oven dish and top them with the remaining grated cheese and drizzle with olive oil.
- Bake the tomatoes for 20 minutes, or until the tomatoes are soft and the cheese has melted, and serve immediately.
Enjoy!
Categories: Featured Post > Recipes > Side Dishes > Spanish Food > Starter Course > Vegetables
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Pasta, peas, pesto and pine nuts
Posted: 10 August '10 by Niall
Pasta, peas, pesto and pine nuts
Here’s a great little recipe for a light meal on these (slightly) warmer Summer days – it’s perfect for a mid-week meal too, taking only as long as it takes the pasta to cool after you’ve cooked it, providing you’ve made the pesto in advance.
The recipe is a tweaked version of Ina Garten’s (of “The Barefoot Contessa”) – a simple little dish with competing creamy, sweet, sharp, and nutty flavours that will keep your tastebuds interested.
I’ve also used a good dash of Hemp oil from Harnett Oils in the pesto – it really does give a nutty, grassy kick to the pesto and adds a new dimension to the dish.
As I said, you can/should make the pesto in advance. We made ours on Saturday afternoon and the extra time in the jar really allowed the flavours to mellow and combine to produce a far better pesto. More than this, I always find that it’s handy to have a jar of pesto to hand – it can instantly improve even the most bland of dishes or sandwiches!
Serves 2 as a light meal
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Ingredients
For the pesto
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves
- 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup of Harnett’s Oil Hemp oil
- 1/2 cup of good Olive oil
- 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan
- 1/2 a lemon, juiced
- Grated zest from a lemon
You’ll also need a food processor, and a jam jar to keep the pesto in.
For the pasta
- About 200g of penne pasta
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 2 tbsp of pesto
- 1 tbsp of lemon juice
- 1 tbsp of mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup of grated parmesan
- 3/4 cup of frozen peas, defrosted
- 1/4 cup of toasted pine nuts
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method
The pesto
- Place the garlic, basil leaves, pine nuts, salt, and pepper into your food processor and pulse until the ingredients are finely chopped.
- With the processor still running, slowly add the Olive oil followed by the Hemp oil.
- Check the consistency – you’re looking for a thick, smooth texture. If the pesto is too thick you can add more Olive oil.
- Add the Parmesan, stirring thoroughly.
- Taste the pesto to check the seasoning and spoon the mixture into your jam jar.
The pasta
- Cook the pasta until in slightly salted water and drain thoroughly.
- Toss the pasta with a tablespoon of olive oil to stop the pasta sticking together and set aside to cool to room temperature.
- When the pasta has cooled add your pesto, peas, Parmesan, lemon juice and mayonnaise, mixing the ingredients together so that the pasta has been coated.
- Spoon the servings into a bowl and sprinkle some toasted pine nuts and cracked black pepper over the top to serve.
Other information
A “cup” is an American measurement. If you don’t have the utensils to measure your ingredients like this, then you can do a quick conversion:
- 1/4 cup = 4 tablespoons
- 1/3 cup = 5 tablespoons
- 1/2 cup = 8 tablespoons
- 3/4 cup = 12 tablespoons
- 1 cup = 16 tablespoons
Categories: Featured Post > Italian Food > Main Course > Pasta > Recipes > Starter Course > Vegetables
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Pappardelle with crème fraîche, parmesan and asparagus
Posted: 23 July '10 by Niall and Kelly
Pappardelle with creme fraiche, parmesan and asparagus
Kelly’s love of Italian food knows almost no bounds, and one of her favourite chefs is Theo Randall. I’d have to agree – his dishes always seem so flavoursome, often quite simple, and smack of authentic Italian cooking. Perfect for the home cook.
With the publication of his new book Pasta there’s now a great resource for some of his best recipes. This is one of our favourites which appears typically simple, but which delivers a satisfyingly tasty meal – Pappardelle with crème fraîche, parmesan and asparagus.
Made using egg yolks, crème fraîche and Parmesan, the sauce is particularly rich but the asparagus is a great counterbalance, cutting through the robust flavours and adding a fresh dimension – grassy and slightly bitter. The asparagus is also a fantastic visual ingredient – little shards of apple-green amidst the deep yellow of the pasta and the creamy-gold of the glossy sauce.
I’ve tinkered with the recipe a little, preferring the thick ribbons of pappardelle to tagliatelle and changing some quantities to match what was readily available at the supermarket. I’ve also used a little lemon zest and juice to give the final dish a little kick.
Serves 4 as a main course or 6 plus as a starter.
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Ingredients
- 300ml crème fraîche
- 2 egg yolks
- 150g parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus extra to serve
- 500g fresh pappardelle (you could use tagliatelle)
- 200g young asparagus spears, trimmed and finely sliced at an angle
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lemon, zested and squeezed
Method
- Put the crème fraîche, egg yolks and a tablespoon of lemon juice in a large bowl and set it over a pan of simmering water, making sure the water does not touch the base of the bowl.
- Whisk vigorously with a balloon whisk until the mixture is the consistency of yoghurt and then sprinkle in the grated parmesan, whisking continuously.
- The sauce is ready when it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon – Check the seasoning and then leave to one side.
- Put the pappardelle and asparagus in a saucepan of boiling, slightly salted water and cook until both the pasta and asparagus still have a little stiffness to them. It should take between 3 and 5 minutes.
- Drain the pasta thoroughly and add the sauce – as much as you want, but remember that the dish really doesn’t need to be swamped in the sauce – tossing the pasta to mix the sauce through.
- Serve with some freshly ground black pepper, some lemon zest and more parmesan.
Enjoy!
Categories: Featured Post > Italian Food > Pasta > Recipes > Starter Course
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Grilled Goat’s Cheese Salad
Posted: 06 July '10 by Niall
Goat's cheese salad with roast peppers and rocket
Even with the changeable weather, it’s far to warm to even think about those casseroles and stews that were such a feature of our winter menu.
Grilled Goat’s Cheese Salad is a great Summer-time option and good as either a starter or a light main course. This recipe comes from our cookery class at La Cucina Caldesi last year – a delicious, flavoursome combination of tangy goat’s cheese and sweet roast peppers.
Serves 4 as a starter, or 2 as a light main course
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Ingredients
- 150g x 2 of Goat’s cheese (we used Fivemiletown Cooneen Goat’s Cheese here)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- A handful of fresh parsley, minced
- 2 red peppers
- 2 yellow peppers
- 1 lemon
- 80g packet of Rocket
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Good olive oil
Method
- If you are using a gas stove, skewer a pepper and place over the flames, rotating the pepper until the skin blisters and chars. If using a grill, grill the peppers until you get the same result. As soon as the pepper has blackened, place the pepper in a cellophane bag and seal it, setting the bag aside. Perform this process for each pepper.
- After 10 minutes, open the first cellophane bag and remove the pepper. The pepper should be soft and the stalk/seeds easily removed. Using your fingers rub the charred skin from the flesh and set the cleaned pepper aside. Repeat this step for each pepper.
- Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.
- Slice the roasted peppers into tapering 2cm-wide slices and place these segments into a deep bowl.
- Add the minced garlic, the zest from a lemon, the minced parsley and enough olive oil to cover the peppers in oil.
- Set the covered, marinating peppers aside for the duration of the recipe.
- Remove a thin slice from the top and bottom of the goats’ cheese log to reveal the creamy cheese.
- Slice the remaining goat’s cheese into 2cm deep discs (we just cut the Coonen log into two).
- If you are using a blowtorch, place the discs in an oven-tray and flame the top of each disc until the cheese has a deep brown crust. Alternatively you can use a non-stick frying pan to brown one side of the cheese – if cooking the cheese like this, no oil is needed in the pan.
- Place the goats’ cheese into an oven tray, brown-side upper most, and place in the oven. Be careful at this point – watch the cheese as it cooks – you want a soft cheese but not a runny one. When the goats’ cheese begins to bubble at the base of the cheese, remove the tray from the oven.
- Place a handful of the rocket onto your plate and arrange the roasted pepper segments on top of the salad leaves, making sure that you get plenty of the minced garlic, lemon and olive oil.,/li>
- Using a spatula, carefully lift a disc of goat’s cheese on to these pepper slices.
- Sprinkle the dish with some freshly ground black pepper and serve.
Enjoy!
Other information
I think that either the Domaine Sainte-Eugénie Corbières Rosé 2009 or the Picpoul de Pinet would be perfect with this tasty salad. Just wait for the sun to come back and get the corkscrew out!
Categories: Featured Post > Main Course > Recipes > Starter Course
