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.

 SUMMER PUDDING - so English, so easy, so lekker!

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have I posted this before? 

I made it the other day... best one I've ever made!

First I greased the bowl I was using with a bit of butter.

Then, I cut a loaf of bread in lengths instead of in slices so that the top was bigger than a slice would be.

Then I cut a couple of other slices to "paste" along the inside walls of the bowl. Then I filled the holes in with bits of bread: triangles and whatever shape fit.

Okay, so the fruit comes in bags labelled frozen berries. You need to separate the red and black currants because you cook them separately to begin with.

Also, 2 Tbls is not enough juice for a whole summer pudding, so I added a large glug (maybe half a wine glass worth) of Ribena (e.g. Roosvicee) to the cooked fruit. 

Then I separated the cooked fruit from the juice so that I could pour the juice behind the "walls" of the pudding", threw the fruit in,  put the cover on, pressed down and poured reserved juice over the top.

If you run out of juice, use your Riberna/Roosvicee.

Put a saucer over the bowl, weighted down with anything in the fridge, and let it set overnight.

Turn out at the last minute and serve with squirty cream (my favourite) or other cream.

Thai-spiced Fish Stew

 "This is heaven in a bowl and needs no more introduction than that" says Kate Humble.

I think you could use the Vegetarian Butcher's "Cod Almighty" and "Shrimpees" to make it vegan, (or perhaps tofu?) but I'll give the original full recipe below: 

Ingredients (serves 4)

300g firm white fish, cut into chunks

200g raw peeled king prawns [or whatever you have]

Flavourless oil, such as sunflower or rapeseed/"Granola" [for the delicate amongst you]

 2 lemongrass stalks, trimmed and bashed

3cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled [or not] and grated or finely chopped 

4 garlic cloves, finely sliced [I used a mandolin]

3 spring onions, sliced [into strips]

1 long red chili, sliced

1 Tbl tomato puree

150g cherry tomatoes, halved

160ml coconut cream 

500ml fish or vegetable stock [cube]

1 Tbl fish sauce [oyster sauce e.g.]

1 tsp sugar

1 Tbl tamarind/assem

250g sugar snap peas [or regular, if you don't have them!]

Leaves from a small bunch of Thai basil [ditto]

Sea salt and freshly ground Black pepper

 

Method

1. Put fish and prawns ito a bowl and sprinkle over 1 teaspoon of salt [or do this before chopping them]. Mix well and leave to one side for up to 1 hour [basically whilst you're doing the rest]
   
2. Heat a large saucepan over a medium heat, add a dash of oil and stir the lemongrass, ginger, garlic, two-thirds of the spring onions and the chili over the heat until the garlic turns golden. [This is where I differ. I always sweat my onions before continuing to let them turn golden.] Add the tomato puree and stir for a minute.
3. Tip in the tomatoes, the coconut cream and the stock and mix to combine.
4. Then stir in the fish sauce [or appropriate alternative] sugar and tamarind and bring to a gentle simmer for 10 minutes. Taste and adjut the seasoning, bearing in mind the fish with its salt will be added shortly. More fish sauce will give a saltier flavour, extra tamarind will increase the sour.
5. Add the fish, prawns and sugar snap peas and mix through. Simmer gently for a further 3-4 minutes, or unti lthe fish is only just cooked through.
   
6. Remove the lemongrass stalks and discard. Serve in bowls, scattered with basil and spring onions.

This is really easy and very delicious!

Spanakopitatin

 This "upside down spanakopita" is really good because the filo is baked on top and then flipped to become the bottom, which makes for a really crispy crunchy result. Apparently it is an Armenian variety of spanakopita but I haven't verified whether that is actually true. Either way, we all loved it as an alternative of our trusty version. The recipe on Instagram didn't quite match the video so I adapted it, below. 

1 packet filo pastry 

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

2 shallots, sliced in half rings or green onions sliced

Lemon zest 

Red chili flakes

300gr feta cheese or vegan alternative 

300g fresh spinach (I actually used 400g plus some sliced mushrooms)

2 large eggs beaten or vegan alternative 

100gr hard cheese, grated (parmesan or kefalotyri (?)

50g melted butter or vegan alternative 

Fresh dill & mint, chopped

Baking paper 

Line a large baking tray with a sheet of baking paper. Drizzle over olive oil, sprinkle salt & peper, followed by a sprinkling of chopped dill & mint. Crumble over a little bit of feta, scatter the onions over the tray. 

In a bowl beat the eggs, crumble in remaining feta, add grated cheese and herbs. Add lemon zest and red chili flakes. Mix well. 

Lay 1/3 of the spinach on the tray in a sturdy pile in the middle with a generous border. Spoon over half the cheese mixture, then another layer of spinach, the other half of the cheese, then the last of the spinach. Gentle push it down and into shape. 

Melt butter, add 2 tbsp olive oil, mix. Open filo pastry and brush top sheet with the olive oil mixture, lay it face down on the spinach. Continue like this until you have used up all the filo, covering the spinach well and brushing the top layer with olive oil mixture. Squish the filo pastry to ensure all sides of spinach are covered, if it breaks a bit that is fine. Stab the top 3-4 times to let air out. 

Bake for approx 35 minutes at 180-200 degrees (start at 200, turn down a bit after 20 mins) until dark golden. Take out of oven, let cool for approx 5 mins, then lay another sheet of parchment paper over the top plus another baking tray or a cutting board and flip carefully! Cut into triangles and serve. 

Slightly adapted from @dominthekitchen (Instagram)

Mariëtte's cauliflower canelini bean mash

 Mariëtte made this in Sweden based on a recipe from her local supermarket, the ICA. I made it today again and it is really tasty and very nutritious. My browser translated it by to Dutch automatically but if yours doesn't then the Swedish is not too hard to understand the recipe anyway. 

https://www.ica.se/recept/?recipeid=727640

The humble leek

This was so good! Simple and super easy. Eat with for instance some baked potatoes and maybe a tomato salad, cucumber salad or lettuce, dressed only with good olive oil, salt and pepper. From NRC, Janneke Kookt. 

Voor 4 personen:

8 dunne of 4 niet al te dikke preien; 1 ei; 1 sjalot (25 g schoon gewicht), gesnipperd; 2 goeie el (50 g) dijonmosterd; 2 el rodewijnazijn; 100 ml extra vierge olijfolie; 1 el fijngehakte bieslook of peterselie

Snijd een stuk van het groene deel van de prei af (gebruik dit voor een bouillon), maar laat ook een stukje zitten. Snijd dit groene stukje, van bovenaf, kruislings in tot aan het witte deel. Spoel de prei goed schoon onder de kraan. Breng een grote pan met water aan de kook. Voeg een ruime hoeveelheid zout toe – denk aan 10 gram per liter water – en dompel de preien erin onder. Geen zorgen als dat niet meteen lukt omdat de preien te lang zijn. Ze worden na een paar minuten zachter en dan lukt het meestal wel. Kook de preien tot ze helemaal gaar zijn.

Kook het ei in 8 minuten hard. (Dit gaat overigens prima in de pan met prei.) Laat het schrikken, pel het, halveer het en wip de dooier eruit. Hak het eiwit fijn en houd het apart. Doe hetzelfde met de eidooier. (Nb. you can easily skip this part and then it is vegan :))

Doe voor de dressing de sjalot, mosterd, azijn, olijfolie en een snuf zout en versgemalen peper in een mengbeker. Zet de staafmixer erin en pureer tot een dikke, lobbige dressing.

Laat de preien goed uitlekken. Leg ze op een schaal en schenk er een royale hoeveelheid (maar niet per se alle) dressing over. Bestrooi met het gehakte eiwit, de dooier en de bieslook of peterselie. Serveer warm.

Peach cake (vegan)

 https://twomarketgirls.com/vegan-almond-peach-cake/ this is an awesome cake recipe, even if you don't like tahini (you don't taste it as). Relatively healthy and very tasty.