Pasta with Asparagus & Pistachio Pesto

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs sees the introduction of a new event - our monthly "featured chef" event, where each month we will be given the opportunity to celebrate the recipes of one of our previous IHCC celebrity chefs.  In keeping with this being the inaugural celebration, our featured chef this month is Nigella Lawson who was our very first IHCC chef.

Unfortunately, I didn't know about the group way back when they were cooking with Nigella until it was almost too late - I actually discovered the group just as they were saying farewell on their last week of their culinary journey with Nigella.  I came to the party with these Chocolate Caramel Crispy Cakes, which is still one of my go-to treats when I need a crowd or kiddy pleaser, and which actually consistently ranks in the top 10 of my most viewed posts of all time.

Looking for inspiration for this week's dish, I decided to break my copy of Nigellissima down from the bookshelf.  I have to admit that although I've had this one in my collection for quite a while, I actually haven't used it very much - no particular reason (it's actually a great book), but there just seems to often be other books I turned to first.

I found my inspiration in Nigella's Green Beans with Pistachio Pesto.  It's asparagus season here right now, and I just can't get enough of it, so I knew I was going to sub asparagus in for the beans.  I made a couple of other changes too, replacing basil in the pesto with some watercress and spinach (because that's what I had on hand, and because basil is not really readily available here yet), and adding pasta to turn this into a main meal instead of a side dish.

If I'm honest, much as I love the flavour of basil, I often find that as a flavour base for pesto it can seem a little overpowering.  Here I loved the more delicate flavour of the cress and spinach in this pesto, which really enabled the flavour of the pistachios to shine through.  This pesto is beautiful for dressing any green vegetable or pasta, would be a great addition to an antipasto platter, or delicious condiment in sandwiches or wraps.  I think this is bound to become a real summer staple in my house.

Note:  This will actually make more pesto than is required for the quantity of pasta and asparagus given, but some leftover pesto ready to dollop on some eggs, alongside some fish, or spread in a sandwich can never be a bad thing.  Pesto also freezes really well so you can enjoy it all year round - it's great to freeze in ice cube trays or small zip lock bag portions - great for using in soups and casseroles.

Pasta with Asparagus & Pistachio Pesto
Serves two
Inspired by recipe from Nigellissima by Nigella Lawson

250g penne pasta
8-10 fresh asparagus spears

for the pesto
large bunch watercress
2x large handfuls baby spinach leaves
1x clove garlic, roughly chopped
generous pinch flaky sea salt
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1/2 cup parmesan, freshly grated
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

to serve
freshly ground black pepper
extra parmesan

Begin by making the pesto.  Put watercress, spinach leaves, garlic and sea salt into a food processor, and pulse until finely chopped.  Add pistachios and parmesan, and pulse again until the nuts have been roughly chopped.  Now with the motor running, add olive oil one tablespoon at a time until everything is chopped to a fine paste and fully amalgamated.  Remove from food processor and set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil, salt the water liberally, and add pasta to the boiling water.  Remove the woody ends from the asparagus, and cut asparagus into pieces about the same length as the pasta.  Once the pasta is halfway through the recommended cooking time, remove and retain one cup of the pasta water, and add asparagus pieces to the boiling water.  Continue cooking until the pasta is cooked but still al dente.

Remove from heat, drain, and immediately return the pasta and asparagus to the pan.  Add a couple of generous dollops of the pesto, and stir through enough of the reserved pasta water to loosen the pesto and make a sauce.  Keep stirring until everything is well coated with the pesto, then serve immediately.  Finish with freshly ground black pepper to your liking and a sprinkling of extra grated parmesan.

If you would like to get to know Nigella Lawson a little better, and to see all the wonderful dishes my friends have come up with, then do go visit I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links.

I'm also sharing this post at Cook Your Books, hosted by the lovely Joyce at Kitchen Flavours.

Courgette, Parmesan & Hazelnut Salad and Green Bean, Spinach & "Falafel" Salad - Salad Days # 3 & # 4

My Salad Days project continues and today I have two salads for you.  My first salad, a Courgette, Parmesan and Hazelnut  Salad could not be simpler.  Like all dishes which are incredibly simple, however, it relies entirely on good quality.

Begin with the freshest, crispest courgettes you can get your hands on.  I like to pick them fresh out of the garden literally moments before I use them, which means there's usually a few flowers I can use as well.  I also like to use the the little baby ones that are literally no bigger than your index finger, though they grow so quickly there's usually a few slightly larger ones as well.  If you happen to have different varieties and colours of courgettes/squash at your disposal use them too.

To put the salad together, cut your courgettes (as many as you like) as thinly as you can - a mandoline is really useful if you have one - and go for a variety of shapes.  I cut some into rings and some into long ribbons using a vegetable peeler.  Place the courgettes in a bowl with plenty of shaved parmesan and roasted hazelnuts.  Squeeze over some fresh lemon juice and a generous slosh of the best extra virgin olive oil you can get your hands on.  Hazelnut oil or walnut oil would also be great alternatives.  Season generously with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Toss everything together gently to combine and transfer to a serving dish.

PS - Don't you love this gorgeous bowl made for me by my lovely friend, Clare Strange

My second salad today is a Green Bean, Spinach & "Falafel" Salad with a Harissa Dressing.

This was another incredibly simple salad to put together.  I happened to have some mixture leftover from a batch of these Pea, Feta & Quinoa Fritters, so I rolled it into teeny, tiny fritters and fried them until crispy.  You could just as easily use some falafel mix instead. While they were cooking, I blanched some green beans, then tossed them together with some baby spinach leaves and diced cucumber.  Nestle the little fritters amongst the salad leaves and beans. The dressing is a simple combination of 2 tablespoons of harissa with 1/3 cup of natural yoghurt - if necessary thin with a little water if necessary to achieve a "dressing-like" consistency.

This dish delivered all the things I love in a good salad - some protein from the quinoa and feta, great texture contrasts from the crispy fritters, crunchy beans, and soft velvety spinach, and finished off with a great dressing that packs a real flavour punch.  This salad makes a complete and satisfying meal on its own.

As I mentioned earlier, these are salad number 4 and 5 in my Salad Days, 28 days of salad project.   What's that you ask?  Well,  I've said it here a dozen times or more ... I love salads.  A big bowl, substantial salad is hands down my favourite meal any time of the year.  Such is my love of salad, that I'm challenging myself to come up with a different salad every day for the month of February - that's 28 days of salads - and I plan to share as many of them as I can with you.  I'll also be doing some flashbacks to some of my favourite salads I've shared in the past.

What's more, I'm giving you the opportunity to share some of your favourite salads with me too.  Have a favourite salad you'd like to share?  Simply link up your salad recipe using the linky tool at the bottom of this post.  The linky will be open all month, and you can join in any day or every day, and link as many recipes as you like.  Feel free to grab the Salad Days badge from the sidebar to include in your post if you'd like to.  There's really no rules around linking up, other than please, use your manners and link your post back to this one.  Linking old posts is fine too, just please edit them to include the back link.  Thanks for sharing your favourite salad with us.

Broad Bean Pesto

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs, we're whipping up Starters & Nibbles with Nigel Slater.  I knew immediately what I was going to make.  I had bookmarked Nigel's recipe in Tender Vol. I for "A green hummus" weeks ago, and this seemed like the perfect time to run with it.

I took inspiration from Nigel's recipe, but made a few changes to make more of a pesto out of it.  I didn't have the mint called for in the original recipe, so used parsley instead.  I also added in a bit of garlic, some freshly grated parmesan, and some toasted sunflower seeds.

The resulting pesto was delightfully fresh and "springlike" - quite a joy in the middle of winter.  It makes a great snack or pass around with some raw vegetable sticks, corn chips, or spread on toasted, crusty sourdough bread.  It was also a delicious accompaniment to leftover roast chicken, and tomorrow night it will be turned into sauce for pasta.

This made a great alternative to my regular go-to hummus that I frequently turn to when I have friends around for nibbles, and this will definitely become a regular in my repertoire.

Broad Bean Pesto Recipe
Inspired by recipe by Nigel Slater
from Tender, Vol. I
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

500g (18 oz) frozen broad beans
(if you're lucky enough to have fresh broad beans, even better)
large handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1 cup freshly grated parmesan
1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds
extra virgin olive oil
juice of half a lemon
flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Bring a medium sized pot of water to the boil.  Add broad beans to the pot, return to boiling, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.  (If you're using fresh broad beans, you will probably need to boil for a few more minutes.)  Drain, and refresh immediately in cold water.  Once beans are cooled, remove and discard the thick outer skins from the beans.

Place beans, parsley and garlic in food processor and blitz to a coarse paste.  Add parmesan and sunflower seeds, and blitz again.  Then with motor running, pour in extra virgin olive oil in a steady stream until you have a smooth paste consistency.

Remove from food processor, and stir in lemon juice, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

If you would like to get to know Nigel Slater a little better, and to see what everyone else has cooked up this week, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links ...

... or check out Tender, Vol. 1 and Nigel's many other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, or Fishpond NZ.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the delightful Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads, and at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollum.

         

Broad Bean Frittata

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs our theme is Mediterranean Magic.  Now I don't know what springs to mind for you when you think "Mediterranean magic", but I imagine that your vision is probably not too dissimilar from mine.  I picture places like this ...

... and food like this ...

Watermelon & Feta Salad with Preserved Lemon Dressing

Instead, my reality this week has been winter woollies, root veggies and hearty soups, and a severe storm that left me spending several hours trying to mop up the flood.  In short, life this week (distance from the Mediterranean aside) has been about as unmagical as it could get.

So getting in the spirit of this theme has been a bit challenging.  I was pretty much going to forget about the theme, make a comforting bowl of soup and call it a day.  Until thumbing through Nigel Slater's Tender, Vol I, I came across his Broad Bean Frittata.  Eggs are great for a quick and simple meal when you're low on energy and enthusiasm.  Frittata is Italian, and therefore Mediterranean, and there is something about a perfectly cooked, golden frittata that evokes sunshine.  And even though broad beans at this time of year in my world come out of a freezer bag, they still make me think of summer.

Frittata is not one of those things that really needs a recipe and, to be honest I didn't even actually read Nigel's recipe.  I just read the title and ran with it in the same way that I usually make frittata.  This is what I did, for two generous servings.  This is delicious straight out of the pan - of course it is, but I also love it cold the next day with fresh ciabatta bread as a kind of frittata sandwich.

Broad Bean Frittata Recipe
Inspired by recipe from Nigel Slater
from Tender, Vol. I
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

250g (9 oz) frozen broad beans
4x large free range eggs
very generous handful parsley, finely chopped
flaky sea salt & freshly ground pepper
2x large handfuls of parmesan, freshly grated
(feta would also be a great alternative)
large knob of butter

Bring a small pot of water to the boil.  Add broad beans to the water, return to the boil and cook for 1 minute.  Drain and refresh under cold water.  Remove and discard thick skins from the beans and set aside.

In a small bowl lightly whisk the eggs.  Add the parsley and season liberally with salt and pepper.  Add half the grated parmesan, and whisk just until everything is combined.  Stir in the broad beans.

Add butter to a 24 cm (9 inch) non-stick skillet and set over a medium heat.  Once butter is melted and sizzling, pour egg and bean mixture into the pan.  Turn heat down to low and cook until the eggs have thickened and set, the bottom is cooked and golden, and just the surface is still a little runny.

Sprinkle the rest of the parmesan over the surface.  Grind over a little more black pepper.  Remove pan from the heat and finish under the grill (broiler) in your oven, until puffed and lightly golden on top.  This will only take a few minutes.

Remove from the oven, slide the frittata out onto a board or serving platter, and cut into wedges to serve.

If you would like to get to know Nigel Slater a little better, and to see what everyone else has cooked up this week, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links ...

... or check out Tender, Vol. 1 and Nigel's many other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, or Fishpond NZ.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the delightful Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads, and at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollum.

         

Gnocchi with Chorizo, Gorgonzola & Spinach

For the first two years of writing this blog, I didn't have a proper kitchen.  I churned out all my meals using nothing more than a small toaster oven (just big enough to roast a chook, if you spatchcocked it first), a single hot plate, a Breville benchtop grill, a crockpot, and a kitchen bench the size of a postage stamp (does anyone remember those?).  Of necessity then, I became the self-proclaimed queen of the "one pan wonder", and a quick and simple one pan meal is still my benchmark of the ideal mid-week dinner.

At I Heart Cooking Clubs this week, we're all about "weeknight favourites", cooking up Nigel Slater dishes that are perfect for those nights when you have neither the time nor the inclination to come up with anything other than something simple and fuss-free.

Leafing through "Tender, Vol I, A cook and his vegetable patch", a simple dish of gnocchi with spinach, cheese and cream looked promising.  It didn't hurt either that the recipe was titled "A filling, carb-rich supper for a winter's evening".  Seriously, how inviting does that sound, and let's face it, who of us doesn't like to load up on a few carbs on a chilly autumn evening?!  And, although I rarely go in for creamy pasta sauces, once in a while a serving of those aforementioned carbs smothered in cream and cheese is a delightful thing.

As is my usual bent, I did make a few minor changes to the recipe.  Firstly, I added some chorizo because, well ... if you're going to have all that pasta and cream and cheese, you might as well throw all calorie-counting caution to the wind and throw a bit of sausage into the mix.  I also simplified the cooking process a bit.  Nigel firstly has you pre-boil vacuum-packed gnocchi in one pan of water, and steam the spinach in another pan, then assemble all the ingredients and cook them in another dish.  I say "fiddle-dee-dee" to all of that - I was pretty confident I could do all of this in one pan, and I think I pulled it off.  Fear not, between a bit of time hanging out in a saute pan and then half an hour baking in the oven, with plenty of liquid, the gnocchi will cook perfectly well without needing to be boiled first.  I didn't have as much cream on hand as was called for in the recipe, but I did have some creme fraiche, so I changed things up a bit there.  Lastly, I used quite a bit less blue cheese than called for and found the amount that I used to be more than enough.  Nigel says, that this makes two servings.  Personally, I found that this was pretty rich and satisfying and with a bit of salad on the side this made three decent sized portions - and, honestly, I have a pretty voracious appetite, so if I say you can feed three out of this you can believe it.  I really do recommend a simple but fresh salad to go with this, as it will help to cut through the richness of all that cheese and cream.

This is definitely not the kind of dish I would eat on a regular basis, but, like an itch that needs to be scratched, every once in a while nothing less than something so decadent and deeply satisfying will do.

Gnocchi with Chorizo, Gorgonzola & Spinach recipe
Adapted from recipe by Nigel Slater
from Tender, Vol I
Serves 3
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil
1x chorizo sausage - about 110g (4oz), thinly sliced
500g (1 lb) vacuum packed gnocchi (I use De Cecco)
200g (7 oz) creme fraiche
1/2 cup cream
150g (5 oz) baby spinach leaves
flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
100g (3-1/2 oz) Gorgonzola (or blue cheese of your choice), crumbled
freshly grated Parmesan, plenty of

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (390 degrees F).

Heat olive oil in a large ovenproof saute pan over medium heat.  Add chorizo to the pan and saute until golden and beginning to crisp.  Add gnocchi to the pan, and saute until the gnocchi are coated in the oils released from the chorizo (there's loads of spices and flavour in that oil), and beginning to brown a little.  Add cream and creme fraiche to the pan, and stir until the creme fraiche is melted and bubbling.  Remove from heat, season with flaky sea salt (not too much as the blue cheese will be salty) and freshly black pepper, add spinach and stir until the spinach is evenly distributed and wilted.  Add Gorgonzola to the pan, and poke it into the crevices around the gnocchi.  Grate Parmesan cheese liberally over the top.

Place pan in the preheated oven and bake until bubbling and golden - about 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and serve immediately.

If you would like to get to know Nigel Slater a little better, and to see what everyone else has cooked up this week, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links ...

... or check out Tender, Vol. 1 and Nigel's many other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, or Fishpond NZ.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the delightful Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads, at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollum, and at Cook Your Books hosted by the lovely Joyce at Kitchen Flavours.

                                 

Green Olive Tapenade & Mozzarella French Toast Sandwiches

I know there are people out there who love a good sandwich, and whose imagination knows no bounds when it comes to dreaming up creative things to put into said sandwich.  I'm not one of them.  It might be a throw-back to all those school lunches I hated, but I confess to a certain amount of ambivalence towards sandwiches.

Should I happen to go into a cafe for lunch, the rest of what they have on offer would have to totally suck before I would choose a sandwich, and chances are, if the sandwich is the only appealing thing they have on offer, I would get up and leave.  My one exception to dining out on a sandwich is the classic BLT - who doesn't love that? - however, my rule for that is it's room service food called for in the middle of the night, and must be accompanied by a big bowl of french fries.

Likewise, it would be a rare thing for me to make a sandwich at home.  A slice of fresh bread or toast, with something delicious atop ... sure, but a sandwich ... no.

And there's an art to composing a sandwich, don't you think?  Someone round here loves a sandwich, which should contain ham, mustard, beetroot, cheese, tomato, lettuce, boiled egg, and mayonnaise.  Being asked to make said sandwich fills me with anxiety.  For a start, should the ham be at the bottom or the top?  In what order should the remaining ingredients be added?  Then, how on earth do you get all that to stay together, without everything collapsing out the sides as soon as you put the top layer of bread on?  It's all just fraught with difficulty.

I can, however, manage to pull off a "chip buttie", the obligatory accompaniment to fish and chips - take two slices of soft white bread, slather generously with butter, select half a dozen or so of the best, fattest chips, and envelop them between the two slices of bread.  Ditto the "bacon sarnie" - as above, but replace the chips with two or three rashers of bacon straight from the pan.

I do have a couple of other sandwiches in my repertoire ... these gorgeous little hearts of lemon, cream cheese and basil (the perfect pass around with a glass of bubbles), and these Chocolate Panettone French Toast Sandwiches (just the thing for a decadent Sunday brunch) ...

... or these Orange Mango French Toast Sandwiches served with a Honey Roasted Strawberry Compote.  Now, that's my kind of sandwich!

Which, at last, brings me to my point - if you want to get me to eat a sandwich, try soaking it in egg, frying it in butter, and calling it french toast.  You can guarantee I won't be turning my nose up at that.

So, with out theme this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs of Sandwich Sensations, the hunt was on through my Donna Hay books to come up with a sandwich that was going to excite me.  I did give more than passing thought to the idea of ice cream sandwiches, but in a time deprived week baking cookies and making ice cream was just not going to happen.  Of course, I know that Donna wouldn't blink twice at the idea of using store-bought cookies and ice cream, but somehow that just didn't exactly seem blogworthy.  Flicking through my books, I found all manner of steak sandwiches, burgers, baguettes filled with chicken or prosciutto, but that just wasn't what I was looking for.  I was after french toast, but I felt more inclined towards something savoury, than the sweet direction my french toast usually takes.  And then I found it ... on the Donna Hay website, this recipe for Fried Mozzarella & Olive Finger Sandwiches.

I began by making my own tapenade, using green olives and capers, rather than the store-bought black olive tapenade in the original recipe, and my tapenade recipe follows.  Realistically, if you can't be bothered, a store-bought tapenade is fine, but in defence of making your own - this will make more than you need for a sandwich, the leftover will keep for ages and makes a great addition to an antipasto platter, and homemade works out at a fraction of the price of store-bought.  Oh, and did I mention it really only takes about five minutes to make, using ingredients you probably already have on hand - you couldn't run out to the store and buy some in that time.

I hope you'll give this sandwich a try.  The tart, briny, lemony, herbaceous flavours of the tapenade are a great foil to the creamy mozzarella, and there is no better way I know to encase such a filling than with soft-on-the-inside-crunchy-on-the-outside french toast with a parmesan crust.  Yes, that's right ... parmesan crust ... didn't see that coming, did you?!

Green Olive Tapenade Recipe

A Couscous & Consciousness original

Makes about 1-1/2 cups

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1 cup green olives

(do yourself a favour and buy stone-in olives - pitting them is not difficult and the flavour is superior)

1-1/2 tablespoon capers

1/4 of a preserved lemon (skin and flesh)

(or substitute grated zest of a lemon and lemon juice to taste)

1x clove garlic

handful flat leaf parsley

freshly ground black pepper

extra virgin olive oil

Remove pits from olives and put them into your food processor - if your processor has a small bowl attachment that will be ideal.

Add capers, preserved lemon, garlic, parsley and pepper to the food processor.  Pulse a few times until everything is roughly chopped.  Now, with the motor running, add olive oil in a thin stream until you achieve a coarse paste.

Taste.  With the brininess of the olives and capers, as well as the salty preserved lemon, it is unlikely you will want to add any salt.  However, if you've used fresh lemon instead, you may feel the need to add a tiny bit of salt.

Store in the refrigerator.  Will keep at least a couple of weeks.

Green Olive Tapenade &

Mozzarella French Toast Sandwiches Recipe

Adapted from a recipe by Donna Hay

For one sandwich

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

2x slices wholemeal sourdough bread

1 tablespoon green olive tapenade (see recipe above, or store-bought)

3x slices of mozzarella

1x egg

2 tablespoons milk

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

1 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

1 tablespoon butter

Spread one slice of bread with the tapenade, top with the mozzarella, and then the remaining slice of bread.  Cut sandwich into three even-sized pieces.

In a shallow dish, whisk together the egg, milk, salt and pepper.  Spread the Parmesan out on a plate.

Melt the butter in a non-stick frying pan set over medium heat.

Meanwhile, dip the sandwiches in the egg mixture, leaving them a good minute on each side to soak up all the egg mixture.

Remove sandwiches from the egg mixture and press them into the Parmesan, coating both sides.

Transfer sandwiches to the hot frying pan, and cook until golden brown on both sides and the mozzarella is melting and gooey.

Serve immediately.

If you would like to get to know Donna Hay a little better, and to see all the Sandwich Sensations my friends have come up with, then visit I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace, Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth at Beth Fish Reads, Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays hosted by my special friend Deb at Kahakai Kitchen, and at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollam.

                          

How to Make Beetroot Pesto

Beetroot is one of our favourite vegetables and roasted with a bit of olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, and fresh thyme is hands down my favourite way to eat it.  Once so roasted, it finds its way into all kinds of delicious salads, such as this Salad of Roasted Beetroot, Pink Grapefruit & Pumpkin, or this Ruby Salad, or this Salad of Asparagus with Artichokes, Arugula, Pomegranate & Beetroot.

Roasted beetroot also often finds its way into a warm salad with lentils and walnuts, with a red wine vinaigrette dressing - a great accompaniment to good sausages.  But one of our favourites is my recreation of a salad we often used to enjoy when we lived in Christchurch at a cafe called Holy Smoke.  I never seem to get around to photographing this salad when I make it, so I don't have a picture to show you, but it's pretty simple and is best composed as individual servings - strategically place a few dollops of beetroot pesto and a few dollops of ricotta around each plate;  artistically arrange florets of steamed broccoli, wedges of roasted beetroot, wedges of sweet potato and shards of crispy bacon atop and around the pesto and ricotta;  drizzle over a simple vinaigrette sweetened with honey, and sprinkle over some pine nuts toasted in butter.   So good!

To make up for the fact that I don't have a photo of this salad to show you, I am going to share my recipe for beetroot pesto.  Not only is it great in this salad, its also a wonderful spread to add to an antipasto platter, and the best part of all is that you can pretty much make it all year round.

Beetroot Pesto Recipe

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

Note - quantities given here are approximate - you can adjust everything to suit your taste

4x medium sized beetroot

6x cloves garlic, unpeeled

generous handful walnuts, roasted

1 cup Pecorino cheese, freshly grated

(substitute with Parmesan if Pecorino is not available)

flaky sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (390 degrees F).

Wash beetroot, top and tail them, and cut into eighths.  Place a sheet of tinfoil on a baking sheet, and place the beetroot in a single layer on the foil.  Scatter over the whole garlic cloves, season generously with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.  Close up foil around the beetroot to make a package, and place it on the baking sheet into the preheated oven.  Cook until the beetroot is tender - will take around 50 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow beetroot and garlic to cool to room temperature.

Squeeze cooled garlic cloves out of their skins, and put the garlic and beetroot into the bowl of your food processor.  Add toasted walnuts and Pecorino cheese, and blitz up until a rough paste begins to form.  Now, with the motor running, pour olive oil through the tube until you reach a fairly smooth, spreadable consistency.  Give it a taste and then add salt and pepper to your liking, also adding more cheese or oil according to your taste.

Enjoy!

I'll be sharing this post at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely, and very amusing, Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads, at Foodie Friday hosted by Designs by Gollam, at Hearth & Soul Blog Hop hosted by April at 21st Century Housewife, at My Meatless Mondays hosted by Chaya at My Sweet and Savory and at Food on Friday:Beetroot hosted by Carole at Carole's Chatter.

                  

Clafoutis Provencal & Cookbook Sundays # 11

My goodness where did the last week go to?  It seems to have vanished in a flash, and here we are at Saturday evening again and time for another Cookbook Sundays.  If you've been delving into your cookbooks lately, I'd love you to share your post with me and my friends who are trying to get those cookbooks down off the bookshelves and onto the kitchen bench.  Keep reading for full details on how to participate.

In the meantime ... what did I conjure up from my cookbooks this week?  In actual fact my recipe this week comes from "The French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook".  This book is not in my collection, and is probably not the kind of book that I would buy.  But I was at the library the other day, and it was out on display.  Don't really know what made me pick it up, but the book immediately fell open at this recipe and I knew that I just had to make it.

Now, one glimpse at my photos, and you won't need me to tell you that this dish is not going to win any beauty contests.  It's brown food, people, and not even Lord Lichfield could have made this look good.  Still, for all its wallflower looks, this dish delivers on flavour.

In the introduction to this recipe, the author says, "Clafoutis usually refers to a dessert preparation, but in Provence it can be a savory yet still rich dish with cheese, eggs, and bread."  The sweetness of peppers in this dish, with the pungency of garlic, the salty brininess of black olives, the earthy herbaceousness (probably not a real word, but you know what I mean) of basil, and the nutty, tangy Parmesan makes a great combination.  If I had a disappointment in this dish it was probably the aubergine.  Now I love aubergine - it's one of my favourite vegetables - but in this dish it somehow didn't shine and didn't do anything to enhance the dish.  I would definitely make this dish again, but I think I would use red peppers instead of yellow - I think red have just a bit more sweetness and more flavour, also the bright colour I think would look a bit more appealing.  Other changes I would make ... I think some slow roasted tomatoes would be great in here, for both colour and flavour, and I feel inclined to swap the aubergines out for some courgette - again I think the colour and flavour would be better here.  But, hey, really you could put just about anything in here.  You could even take this in a totally different direction using some Italian sausage or chorizo, with sweet potato or pumpkin, some spinach and blue cheese ... mmmmm, think I just might have to try that.

A funny thing ...  The recipe stated that it would serve 4 and I have to say that when I got it out of the oven, my first thought was "Well that's obviously why French women don't get fat - this would barely feed two".  I was wrong - I served this as a main meal with a light green salad, and it would easily give 3-4 servings.  I think this dish would really shine served for a late summer lunch, followed by a long siesta.

Clafoutis Provencal Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Mireille Guiliano from

The French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook

Serves 3 to 4

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

1x medium aubergine, cut into 1 cm (1/2 in) dice

1x yellow pepper, deseeded & cut into 1 cm (1/2 in) dice

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

1x slice of bread, crusts removed

2x garlic cloves, peeled

1 cup ricotta

3x large free-range eggs

2 tablespoons fresh basil, roughly chopped

1/2 cup black olives, stones removed and halved

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

fresh basil to garnish

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F).

Grease a 20 cm (8 in) square baking dish with butter and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in pan set over medium heat, and saute the yellow pepper and aubergine until softened and just starting to caramelise.  Season with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Set aside to cool.

Put bread, garlic, eggs and ricotta into a food processor, and process until smooth.  Remove to a bowl;  add the basil, olives, Parmesan, and the cooled aubergine and pepper mixture;  season with more flaky sea salt and black pepper;  and mix everything together gently.

Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and put into the hot oven.  Bake for 30-35 minutes until lightly golden on top.  Take care not to overcook.

Remove from the oven and serve warm, garnished with extra basil.  A crisp green salad makes a good accompaniment.

Now read on to learn more about Cookbook Sundays.

 

If you're anything like me you have dozens of cookbooks gathering dust on your bookshelves, some of which have never even been cooked from.  Sure I spent hours browsing through them when I first bought them, marking all the recipes I was going to make with little post-it notes, and yet still those books languish in the bookcase and never make it to the kitchen.  There are others from which I have made but one recipe which was such a resounding success that I've made it over and over again, and yet somehow I've never made anything else from that book.  Sound a bit familiar?!

Take comfort - you are not alone, and now Cookbook Sundays is your opportunity to change that.  Every Sunday I'm going to share with you a recipe that I haven't made before from one of my ever expanding collection of cookbooks.  And, because I know that if you have read this far then you are guilty of this too, I'm inviting you to join in with me.  Each week my Cookbook Sundays post will have a linky for you to share something you've cooked from one of your cookbooks.

The rules for joining in are simple:

1. Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
2. Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post.  Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
3. You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like.  Old posts are also welcome.
4. Lastly,  remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants - you can even "Like" your favourites. 

Now, go and dust off those cookbooks and get cooking!  Use the linky tool at the end of this post to submit your entry/entries - simply scroll down to where it says "You are next ... Click here to enter", and then follow the instructions.  The linky will be open for one week.

Lastly, if you would like to use the Cookbook Sundays badge in your post, simply copy the code in the box beside the badge below and paste it into your post.  Feel free to also use it in your sidebar if you wish.

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