Chilli and Chocolaterecipes - A Belfast Food Blog

Pasta al forno with tomatoes and mozzarella

Posted: 29 January '10 by Niall

Pasta al forno means “pasta from the oven” and is a popular dish in Italy.

The method for making Pasta al forno is fairly simple and similar to those for lasange but you’ll see that it is much easier to make and needs far less cooking time.

This recipe for making this Pasta al Form con Pomodorino e Mozzarella is taken from “Jamie Oliver’s Italy” – although his was made with “orecchiette” pasta (“little ears”), we found this type fairly difficult to come by at last minutes’ notice, so we made ours with “conchiglie”, which resemble small sea-shells.

There’s a real rustic feel to this dish and it’s surprising hearty. I think it’s important to get the best mozzarella that you can lay your hands on – the “Taste the Difference” mozza that we tried was worth the extra cost and was a tasty, chewy treat amongst the tomato and pasta.

We served ours with a small rocket salad and home-made garlic bread made with ciabatta – delicious!

You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4Image 5Image 6Image 7

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 500g of conchiglie pasta
• 8 fresh, large pomodorino tomatoes
• Some tomato puree
• 3 balls of mozzarella, sliced
• A wedge of parmesan, grated
• A handful of fresh basil, roughly chopped
• Salt and pepper for taste

You also need a large bowl and a kettle full of hot water.

Method

1. Cook the conchiglie in a large saucepan of salted water and drain thoroughly when done.
2. Place a large saucepan over a low heat, add some olive oil, and add the garlic and onions, sweating them until they are soft and translucent.
3. Half-fill the large bowl with the boiling water and add the tomatoes for a couple of minutes.
4. Remove the tomatoes one at a time and run a finger firmly down the flesh – you should notice that the skin peels away easily. Remove all of the skin and set the tomatoes aside.
5. When all of the tomatoes have been peeled squeeze them into the onion and garlic mixture, adding the soft flesh but disgarding the woody core.
6. Reduce the tomato mixture and fully soften the tomato pieces.
7. Squeeze some tomato puree into the tomato mixture and stir thoroughly.
8. Add salt, pepper and fresh basil and remove from the heat.
9. Preheat oven to 180°C.
10. Empty the sauce into the drained pasta and mix thoroughly.
11. Place some of the pasta into a casserole dish to form a layer of pasta that reaches half-way up the sides.
12. Take some of your mozzarella and lay them on top of the pasta to form another layer.
13. Place the rest of the pasta on top of this again.
14. Complete the dish by laying the remaining mozzarella on top of the pasta, grating a good amount of parmesan on top of this again, and drizzling the top with good olive oil.
15. Place the casserole dish in the oven and cook until the top has formed a golden crust.
16. Once you’ve spooned out the portions grate a little more parmesan over the top (can you ever have enough?) and drizzle with olive oil.

Enjoy!

Tags: pasta, recipe, recipes

Categories: Featured Post : Italian Food : Main Course : Pasta : Recipes

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Seared scallops with black pudding and cauliflower puree

Posted: 27 January '10 by Niall

This was a dish that we first tasted in Clenaghan’s in Aghalee and we loved it that much that it’s become a favourite treat in our house.

The delicate flesh and sweet flavour of the scallops goes surprisingly well with the rich, spicy rounds of black pudding, and the cauliflower puree provides a subtle base and creaminess for the whole dish.

The secret to perfecting this recipe are the quality of the ingredients: fresh scallops and Clonakilty black pudding are a must. We usually buy our scallops from the Northern Ireland Fishermen’s Federation stall and the Clonakilty black pudding was bought from the Greenmount Farm Shop – both of which are in the City Food and Garden Market in St. George’s Market on Saturday mornings.

I usually slice the scallops along the middle to make two. There’s no reason to do this other than they make for an easier mouthful, and it looks like you’ve double the scallops on your plate!

I’ve also added some curry spice to my cauliflower puree to emphasise the sweet flavour of the vegetable and bring another dimension to the recipe. Cauliflower makes a fantastic canvas for other flavours too. So let your creativity run riot and add whatever you like to the puree – grated nutmeg and even mustard work well.

You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4Image 5Image 6Image 7

Serves 2

Ingredients

Ingredients: Seared scallops with black pudding

• Half a Clonakilty black pudding, cut into rounds that are about the same size as the scallops
• 6 scallops
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Splash of olive oil

Ingredients: For the cauliflower purée

• 1/2 a small cauliflower
• 100ml (6 tbsp.) cream
• 150g (10 tbsp.) butter
• A good pinch of curry spice

Method

Method: For the seared scallops with black pudding

1. Take a sharp knife and slice where the orange scallop roe (also called “coral”) meets the scallop. There is also a small membrane which runs around the scallop and should come easily free once the roe has been removed.
2. Brush your frying pan with olive oil and fry the black pudding on a medium heat until both sides have become crisp. Transfer the black pudding to a plate lined with kitchen paper and keep warm.
3. Rub the scallops with a little olive oil and season them with salt and black pepper.
4. Increase the heat of the frying pan until the oil smokes slightly.
5. Place the scallops in the frying pan and cook – one minute on each side should do. Each side of the scallop should have a nice golden crust.
6. Pat the scallops dry on kitchen paper.

Method: Cauliflower puree

1. Boil the cauliflower in the milk until the cauliflower has become soft.
2. Put the cream and cauliflower into a food processor and blend until smooth.
3. Pass the mixture through a sieve.
4. Cook the butter until golden brown and add to the puree, along with the curry spice.
5. Season to taste with salt.

To serve

1. Place a piece of black pudding in the centre of each serving plate with a scallop on top.
2. Pipe or spoon a little of the purée in between.

Enjoy.

Other information

Clonakilty black pudding comes from County Cork. Produced by Edward Twomey from an old Harrington family recipe, and just crumbles in your mouth with the most delicious, more-ish flavour.

You can visit the Clonakilty black pudding website here.

You can also read more about St. George’s Market, Belfast here.

Tags: recipe, recipes, seafood

Categories: Featured Post : Recipes : Seafood : Starter Course

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Comforting beef casserole with mashed potatoes

Posted: 22 January '10 by Ciara

I am really excited about this new recipe. I tried it for the first time this evening and we all loved it. It is packed with flavour and was the perfect thing to eat on a cold snowy evening. Sophie has been quite run down recently, so i am a bit paranoid that she should be getting as much goodness into her as possible,  and i was delighted that she loved this.

Please note that I cut my vegetables quite small and also the carrots were grated quite finely too as Sophie doesn’t really like a lot of lumps in her food, so feel free to cut up your veggies to your own liking.

The recipe comes from Nigella Lawson’s “Nigella Feasts” programme.

Serves 5

You can see more photos here.

Ingredients

Ingredients: Beef Casserole

• 3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion
• 2 carrots sliced or grated
• 2 celery stalks sliced thinly or 1 inch thick
• 3 cloves of garlic grated
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2lbs of beef fillet stewing meat
• 1/4 cup flour
• salt & pepper
• 1/2 cup red wine or beef stock (i obviously used beef stock for Sophie)
• 1 large can whole plum tomatoes (i also blend these for Cor, who hates lumps of tomatoes in his food)
• peel of half an orange

Ingredients: Mashed Potatoes

• 6 maris piper potatoes
• 4 knobs of butter
• 30ml full fat milk

Method

Method: Beef Casserole

1. Heat oil and over a medium heat fry onion, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves and thyme for 5-10 minutes until onion turns translucent. Remove veggies to a bowl leaving as much oil in the pot as you can.
2. Meanwhile, place flour and salt and pepper in a plastic bag along with meat. Shake until meat is coated. Place into the pot which you have just removed veggies from and cook until pieces are well browned.
3. When this is done add the wine or beef stock then add veggies, tomatoes and orange peel.
4. Bring to a simmer and then reduce to a low and cook for 3 hours. Remove bay leaves, thyme sprigs and orange peel and serve with mashed potatoes.

Method: Mashed potatoes

1. Boil potatoes for 20-25 minutes
2. Drain and mash
3. Meanwhile heat butter and milk together
4. Add slowly to potatoes continuously mashing

Enjoy!

Tags: recipe, recipes

Categories: Beef : English Food : Featured Post : Main Course : Recipes

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Boulangere potatoes

Posted: 15 January '10 by Niall

After our superb lunch in Cafe Vaudeville I thought that I would have a go at making the Boulangere potatoes that were such an important part of that main course. This French recipe makes a really tasty side dish.

The type of potato that you use is important. I prefer a waxy variety of this type of side dish as they will hold their shape a little better rather than dissolving into the stock. Charlotte or Maris Peer varieties would be my choice.

Lighter and healthier than the cream-drenched Dauphinoise potatoes (and yes, I love them!), Boulangere potatoes are very similar in that the dish is composed of thinly sliced layers of potato that are cooked in the oven. The difference between the two is the addition of chicken stock. I tried the Knorr Stock-pots in this recipe and I quite like them, I have to admit – they produce a rich, flavoursome stock without the saltiness of stock cubes.

In terms of slicing the potatoes, while a mandolin would be ideal, I like using the “D-shaped” potato peeler – it makes the chore of slicing the potatoes so much easier, and the slices are wafer thin. Obviously, if you have neither, there’s nothing wrong with a good sharp kitchen knife either.

My recipe uses a large casserole dish but you could be very chef-y and use a “tower” to create a cylinder of stacked potatoes, liberally brushing the top with rosemary flavoured olive oil to caramelise the top layer of potato for even more flavour.

Serves 4

You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4Image 5

Ingredients

• 4-5 largish potatoes – thinly sliced
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 small red onion – finely chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• Fresh rosemary, chooped (optional)
• 1 to 11/2 pints of chicken stock (I used the Knorr stockpots for the stock)
• 25g butter, cubed (and some more or greasing the casserole dish)

Method

1. Peel the potatoes, slice them thinly, and then wash and drain the potato slices in water to remove the excess starch .
2. Mince the onion and the garlic.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 180/360/gas mark 5.
4. Rip a small section from the wrapper of your butter and rub then inner-side around your casserole dish to grease the dish.
5. Now layer the potatoes in the bottom of this dish, and sprinkle some of the onion, garlic and bay leaves on top.
6. Season the top of this layer with a little salt and pepper (and the rosemary, if you’re using it).
7. Continue to layer the potatoes, garlic, bay and onion, finishing with a layer of potato at the top. It’s important that you press each layer down to make the layers of potato as compact as possible.
8. Dot the top of this top layer with the cubes of butter.
9. Now pour on the stock so it comes up level to the top layer of potato.
10. Place the casserole dish in the oven on the highest shelf and leave it there for about an hour. When it’s ready the crust should be a golden brown and the bottom layer tender when prodded with a knife.

Enjoy!

Tags: potatoes, recipe, recipes, side dish

Categories: Featured Post : Recipes : Side Dishes : Vegetables

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Parmesan Chicken Goujons & Honey mustard dip

Posted: 13 January '10 by Ciara

Firstly, i would like to apologise for being a bit lazy about adding new recipes. I have been extremely busy since the end of November between shopping in New York and the lead up to Christmas. But i’m sure i’ll be forgiven when i share some of the new recipes that i have picked up recently.

I also have to write a few reviews on restaurants that i visited while in New York and also in Dublin during the lead up to Christmas.

The chicken goujons are a definite favourite in our house. These are one of my daughter Sophies favourite foods. They are really handy and can be made in advance. I made them recently with chips and mushy peas but they also go well with mashed potatoes and broccoli and parma ham.

see more photos here

Ingredients

Parmesan Chicken goujons

• 600g chicken breasts
• 50g flour
• salt and pepper
• 2 eggs beaten
• 100g breadcrumbs
• 50g parmesan cheese
• 3 tbsp oil (i used goose fat recently and it was yummy)

Honey mustard dip

• 250ml creme fraiche
• 1 tbsp grainy mustard
• 1/2 tsp honey
• 1 tsp dijon mustard

Method

Method – Parmesan Chicken goujons

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees
2. Cut the chicken fillets into finger sizes
3. Place the flour and salt and pepper into a bag
4. Place the eggs into a bowl and beat with a fork
5. Place the breadcrumbs and parmesan into another bag
6. Toss the goujons into the seasoned flour, then remove and shake off excess flour
7. Dip into beaten egg
8. Toss into breadcrumb and parmesan mix and lay themk unto a plate
9. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes turning once and serve with honey mustard dip

Method – Honey mustard dip

1. Mix all of the ingredients altogether and serve. Note, depending on your taste you may want to add more honey or more mustard.

Enjoy!

Tags: chicken, recipe, recipes

Categories: Chicken : Featured Post : Recipes : Starter Course

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