Harissa lamb, butternut squash and chickpea lasagne

 Harissa lamb, butternut squash and chickpea Lasange

Serves 6
Prepare: 45 Min
Cook: 1hr 45min

 For a vegetarian alternative, leave out the meat - it's just as good. Use all the spices anyway!

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash      25 gr fresh coriander

1 tsp ground cumin                   400 gr can chickpeas

2 tsp ground ginger                   400 gr chopped tomatoes  

2 tsp ground cinnamon              2 Tbl Rose Harissa paste [I used sambal]

 5 Tbl olive [or other] oil             1 Tbl clear honey 

500 gr lamb mince                     3 lg sprigs mint leaves (finely chopped)             

2 tsp Baharat seasoning*           375g lasagne sheets

1 sm red onion, finely diced

 

Béchamel ingredients

100 gr butter/alternative             Nutmeg, grated [I used ground]

100 gr plain flour                        1/4 tsp (!!!) grd white pepper    [I don't think so]  

1 L milk  [Skimmed works!]        70 gr parmigiano [I prefer grana pedano]

 Method

1. Preheat oven to 230ºC/ 450ºF

2. Scrub the squash (no need to peel it), halve it and de-seed it.Slice into 1cm crescents and spread onto a large baking sheet.Sprinkle over spices and drizzle with 3 Tbl oil. Mix so that everything is glossy, then arrange on a large baking sheet; use a second one rather than letting the pieces overlap. Roast for 30-35 mins until soft, blistering and beginning to char. [I think I personally would grill them.] Remove and generously season with salt flakes [or not].

3. Meanwhile, make the ragu. Add 1 Tbl oil to a large, heavy based saucepan [i.e. a Dutch oven/Le Creuset]. Once hot, add the lamb mince [or not] season generously with salt [or not], and cook for 10 minutes or so until the liquid [i.e. fat] cooks away and the meat is browning. [Or cook the fat out of the meat first so that you can discard it.

4. Stir the baharat seasoning into the lamb, sizzle for a while then push the meat into a pile on one side. Reduce the heat to medium and add onion. Finely chop coriander (optional, of course! Or perhaps use ground coriander...) and add with a generous pinch of [more!!] salt. Soften for three minutes [with cover on pot, which is called "sweating" ] 

5. Combine onions and meat, add chickpeas, chopped tomatoes plus a tomato can of water, the harissa, and honey. Simmer for 30 minutes until most of the liquid has cooked away but the ragu is loose enough to pour. Stir in chopped coriander leaves [or not!] and the mint. Season to taste [with what? more salt??]

6. Whilst the ragu simmers, make the white sauce by melting the butter in a medium-sized pan over a moderate heat. Add the flour and stir for about 2 mins. until "slack" [??] . Add about 100 ml milk and incorporate, adding more milk as you go along.

7. Add a finely grated [or ground] nutmeg, the white pepper, a generous pinch of salt [oh, come on!!] stirring constantly until the sauce thickens and there are no lumps of uncooked flour.

8. To assemble, spread two scant ladles of ragu sauce over the base of a large rectangular ovenproof dish (about 20x30x8 cm/4.5 ltr). Top with a layer of lasagne sheets. Arrange half the squash over them and top with 1/3 of the whilte sauce...  [The rest you can figure out yourself]. Sprinkle parmesan over the top.

9. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF. Bake 50-60 minutes until bubbling and golden on top and piping hot throughout. [I did it for 30 mins in a fan oven - and it was piping hot.] Leave to cool for 10 mniutes before serving for easier cutting and portioning.

* Baharat Seasoning:

4 parts black pepper; 3 parts ground coriander; 6 parts paprika; 1 part cardamon;
3 parts numeg; 4 parts cumin; 3 parts ground cloves; 3 parts cinnamon.

For Turkish recipes, add mint.

Spice-crusted aubergines & peppers with pilaf

 

 

Although this recipe - from BBC Good Food - was originally for spicy coated aubergines with pilaf rice, I just wanted a simple recipe to go with the aubergine and red pepper I had just bought; I liked the combination of spices, all of which I happened to have (because of Ottolenghi!). So I didn't use the lentils and rice, but it looks like quite a nice meal. 

The peppers tasted quite fruity actually! I think I'll double the quantity next time. And one small aubergine was sufficient as a side for the two of us, one large red pepper, and I used a small handful of the spices (that's a tsp, right?... or thereabouts!).

Ingredients

• 2 large aubergines, halved
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 red peppers, quartered
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp chilli flakes
• 2 tsp za'atar
• 4 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 140g puy lentils
• 140g basmati rice
• seeds from 1 pomegranate [didn't have in the house]
  
• small pack flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped [didn't have in the house]
  
• Greek or coconut yogurt, to serve [did have. didn't need it]
  

Method

• STEP 1

  Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Using a sharp knife, score a diamond pattern into the aubergines. Brush with 1 tbsp of the oil, season well and place on a baking tray, cut-side down. Cook in the oven for 15 mins. Add the peppers to the tray, turn the aubergines over and drizzle everything with the remaining oil. Sprinkle over the spices, 1 tbsp of the pomegranate molasses and a little salt. Roast in the oven for 15 mins more.

• STEP 2

  Boil the lentils in plenty of water until al dente. After they’ve been boiling for 5 mins, add the rice. Cook for 10 mins or until cooked through but with a bit of bite. Drain and return to the pan, covered with a lid to keep warm.

• STEP 3

  Stir the pomegranate seeds and parsley through the lentil rice. Divide between four plates or tip onto a large platter. Top with the roasted veg, a dollop of yogurt and the remaining pomegranate molasses drizzled over.

 

Raymond Blanc’s Burnt aubergine salad

I watched Raymond Blanc (famous "English" chef) make this the other day on telly and thought I'd serve it to my friends last night... they went mad. They loved it...

 So easy!

Raymond Blanc’s Burnt aubergine salad

·       Nick in either end of aubergine to allow steam to escape

·       Place on pre-heated griddle over flame (must be searing hot)

·       Char on all sides

·       flesh must be translucent, press down and cool

·       slice through, scrape flesh whilst still warm from sides and roll it towards centre, then lift flesh into a bowl

·       add olive oil, a bit of lemon juice (¹/₈ wedge); season a little with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar; at this point you can serve it on toast or, to make a salad:

·       add chopped dates, (pre-cooked) chick peas, fresh mint and coriander, chopped chilli, very little garlic;

·       plate up and decorate with a little feta cheese and flaked almonds

·       a drizzle of olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar around it and a sprinkle of chilli and crispy croutons (very thin rounds of French bread toasted)

I omitted the extra chilli on top as the tiny bit of chilli I used in the salad was very hot indeed! Also, the dates I had in the house weren't very moist so I used chopped apricots instead. Perfectly acceptable alternative. Oh yes, I also didn't have any feta but I did have some Wensleydale in house which was getting quite old so had just the right sourness for using as a substitute for feta.

Mediterranean eggplant ratatouille

I made the recipe you sent me from The Meat Free Monday Cookbook but didn't have some of the ingredients so it changed considerably into this; very delicious! I'll definitely be making it again soon.

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 stick celery, chopped (or 3 small)
2 fat garlic cloves, crushed
1 eggplant, cubed
1 - 1.5 cup Trader Joe's Harvest Grains blend (a mixture of Israeli/pearl couscous, red and green orzo, split dried garbanzo beans, and red quinoa). Substitute with whatever grains you can find, or potatoes.
1 tsp dried oregano
1 large (28 oz/800g) can/2 medium (14.5oz/400g) cans chopped tomatoes
2 cups/400g vegetable stock (or a bouillon cube and boiled water)
10-12 mushrooms, chopped
1 large apple, chopped (or 3 small)
1-2 Tbsp capers
2 oz/125g feta, crumbled

Heat some of the oil in a large soup pot, add the chopped onion and celery and sprinkle with a little salt. Cover with a lid (this helps them sweat but not brown). While the onion is cooking, chop the eggplant. Add the remaining oil and the eggplant and cook 4-5 more minutes, until the eggplant begins to soften. Add the tomatoes, stock/water, grains, oregano and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for  25-30 mins until all the vegetables are tender and the grains are cooked (check halfway through to stir and add more water if necessary). At the end, it should be thick & chewy, not soupy.

Add the capers and heat through, and salt & pepper to taste. Serve with the feta.

Optional: additional vegetables like zucchini and red bell pepper, olives, and sprinkle with parsley and pine nuts (or more affordable: sunflower seeds). You can definitely make this ahead and let it sit, it will improve.

Mediterranean pasta (with aubergine & tomato)

I make this quite often and in fact am making it for dinner right now - it's on the stove as we speak so you get the very quick recipe version!

• 1 large aubergine - cut into +/- 2 cm squares, pour on some salt, let sit for a while (I kind of think this is nonsense so you can skip if you want). Cook gently in olive oil until soft.
• When the aubergine is done, take it out of the pan and put it in a bowl to keep warm. Let the pan cool down.
• Put water on to boil (big pan full), then throw in the spaghetti when you are about to start the sauce.
• Slice garlic (to taste, but I would recommend 2 or 3) and dice about 6 good quality tomatoes. Add some more olive oil to the pan, when warm add the garlic and the tomatoes, plus one small chopped dried chili pepper (without seeds if you prefer milder), and of course plenty of herbes de provence, salt and black pepper, and let this gently simmer down to a thick sauce (takes about 5 mins), stirring frequently. (The official recipe has you squeeze the seeds and juice out of the tomatoes but again I think this is silly.)
• When the spaghetti is ready, drain it and add some olive oil.
• Add the aubergines to the tomato sauce, stir, and also add the spaghetti into the saucepan.
• Crumble feta, stir all ingredients together gently, plus some fresh basil if you have it. If not, no problem either. Save some feta for crumbling on top.

Serve in bowls. Very tasty vegetarian dinner!

Source: Rick Stein (on TV)

Next I will add a super pizza, and the mushroom-mascarpone sauce I have promised Nicole 100 times.