Homemade baked beans

Pork chop night tonight!  Served with roasted carrots, homemade baked beans and a few peas.

Baked beans for dinner!

The Hungry Twins loved it!  First they gobbled down the pork, then the peas were spotted (just boring old frozen peas, but the Hungry Twins do love them!) and these went as well.  Carrots next and then it was onto the baked beans – saving the best for last!  The butter beans were eaten by hand and the smaller cannellini beans were spoon-fed to the Hungry Twins.  Plastic cheese, some poached pears and a handful of grapes and that was it.  The Hungry Twins went through their meal so quickly, I didn’t even get a photo, so here is the recipe for the baked beans instead!

Once you have made your own baked beans, you will never want to use tinned ones again. This dish goes really well with grilled meats, especially pork.  It also tastes really good the next day on toast for breakfast!

• Preparation time: 10 minutes
• Cooking time: Around 60 minutes
• Serves: 6 as a side dish 

Ingredients

• 1 tbs olive oil
• Medium onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 4 rashers of bacon or pancetta, chopped into small pieces
• 400gm tin butter beans, drained and rinsed
• 400gm tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 200ml chicken stock
• 400gm tin crushed tomatoes
• OPTIONAL100ml white wine
• OPTIONAL 1 small red chilli, finely chopped (you can use chilli flakes or we like to use homemade harissa)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200^oC.
2. Add olive oil to a heavy-based, oven-proof casserole dish over medium heat.  Cook onion and garlic until they start to soften (about five minutes).  Add the bacon pieces and cook until they start to brown (about five minutes).  Add chilli (if using) and stir.
3. Add butter and cannellini beans to pan and stir well.  Cook for about five minutes before adding white wine (if using) and stock.  Bring to a simmer and then add the tinned tomatoes and about 200ml water and stir well.
4. Bring to a simmer (about 10 minutes) then add to the oven and cook for around 30 minutes, stirring half way through.
5. Remove from oven and allow to rest for about five minutes before serving.

Pasta with broccoli sauce

Dinner last night was a house-hold favourite – my pasta with broccoli sauce.  The Hungry Twins lapped it up, or should that be gobbled??

This pasta dish uses broccoli to make the sauce – sounds confusing?  It’s not – it is very easy to make and is always a standby dish in our house when I can’t really be bothered to cook.  The traditional version of this uses orecchiette (“small ears”), which is delicious but I don’t always have it in my cupboard.   The dish works just as well with more common types of pasta, such as spirals (fusilli) or bows (farfalle).   The bacon (or pancetta, whichever is in the fridge) adds a bit of saltiness to the dish and it works well with the broccoli.  We add chilli to our own dishes after it has been cooked, as we prefer different levels of heat.

Pasta with broccoli sauce

• Preparation time: 10 minutes
• Cooking time: 10 minutes to cook pasta (or as per maker’s instructions), 5 minutes to coat the pasta in the sauce
• Makes: 4 serves

 Ingredients

• Head of broccoli, cut into florets
• 300 gm dried pasta (orecchiette, fusilli or farfalle)
• Pinch of table salt
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 4 rashers of bacon or pancetta, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• OPTIONAL 1 small red chilli, finely chopped (you can use chilli flakes or we like to use homemade harissa)
• Grated parmesan

Method

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, add a pinch of salt.  Add pasta and broccoli florets to boiling water, cook for 10 minutes (or as per the maker’s instructions).
2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon pieces in a large frying pan on medium heat until they start to brown.  Turn heat down slightly, add garlic and chilli (if using) and stir until garlic is soft.  If pasta is not yet ready, turn heat down to low to prevent garlic burning.
3. When pasta is just al dente (you won’t want to overcook it as it will cook in the frying pan a little), reserve about a cup of the cooking liquid and then drain the pasta and broccoli.
4. Add the pasta and broccoli to the frying pan, turn up the heat to medium high.
5. Stir the pasta to break up the broccoli florets and spread over the pasta.  Use the spoon to crush any broccoli stems to a pulp.  If stems are a little woody, discard them.  Add half of the reserved cooking liquid to help the broccoli coat the pasta (add the rest, if needed).
6. After five minutes, remove from heat and add freshly grated parmesan to dish and stir.
7. Serve, with extra grated parmesan (for those who like more cheese) and chilli on the side (for those who like it hot!).

Yum, yum. Love that broccoli pasta!

Keep the pasta coming!!

Chunky shepherd’s pie

My version of shepherd’s pie uses chunky pieces of lamb and is topped with diced potato and sweet potato to make it easier for the Hungry Twins to eat.  If you are lucky, you might get some leftovers (it tastes even better the next day).

Chunky shepherd’s pie

• Preparation time: 10 minutes
• Cooking time: 2 ¼ hours for lamb, 20 minutes to brown the top
• Makes: 4 serves

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 500gm diced lamb
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• ½ cup red wine (optional)
• 400ml chicken stock
• 400gm tin crushed tomatoes
• 1 large potato, diced to 1.5cm pieces
• 1 small sweet potato, diced to 1.5cm pieces
• 2 tablespoons shredded parmesan

Method

• Preheat oven to 170^oC.
• Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, onion, 2 cloves chopped garlic and carrot to a heavy based casserole dish and cook on medium heat until onions start to colour and carrot starts to soften (about 10 minutes).
• Add the diced lamb and brown (about 5 minutes).
• Add the Worcestershire sauce, wine (if using), stock and tinned tomatoes.  Stir well and bring to a simmer.
• Place lid on casserole dish and put in the oven to cook until lamb is tender (around 2 hours).  Stir lamb halfway through and add a little more stock if required.
• While lamb is cooking, blanche the potato and sweet potato for 5 minutes in a pot of boiling water.  Drain and transfer to a bowl.  Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 2 cloves of crushed garlic and mix well to coat.

Luscious lamb ready for chunky topping

And now for the parmesan….

• Once lamb is ready, transfer to an oven-proof dish and spread the garlic-mixed potatoes evenly over the top. Sprinkle with parmesan.  Place in oven until lamb is bubbling and top is browned (around 20 minutes). Serve with a green salad or vegetables.

Caponata (Italian Rat) recipe

Last night, to make amends for the previous night’s dinner, I thought I would have another go at pork chops.  A visit to the shops and I had some new pork chops and the ingredients for Italian rat.

This is my version of caponata, which is an Italian version of ratatouille.  The secret is the roasted eggplant – no need to salt the eggplant to withdraw the bitter juices.  Roasting brings a delicious flavour to the eggplant and it makes the caponata really rich and creamy.  It is a great accompaniment to grilled pork.

Pork chops and Italian rat

• 1 medium eggplant, diced in 1cm cubes
• olive oil
• 1 red onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 medium capsicum, sliced
• 1 small yellow capsicum, sliced
• 2 medium zucchinis, cut into 1 cm slices
• ½ cup white wine (optional)
• 400gm tin crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup chicken stock (or concentrated stock plus water)

1. Place diced eggplant in oven tray lined with baking paper and drizzle with olive oil.  Place in preheated 250^oC oven and cook until eggplant is browned (around 20-30 minutes).
2. While eggplant is browning, add olive oil (around 1 tablespoon) to a heavy casserole dish and soften the onion on a medium heat (takes around 10 minutes).
3. Add the garlic and sliced capsicum and cook until capsicum starts to soften (around 10 minutes), then add the zucchini.  Cook until zucchini starts to brown.
4. Add wine, tinned tomatoes and chicken stock and cook until it starts to simmer.
5. Meanwhile, remove eggplant from oven and reduce heat to 170^oC.  Add eggplant to the simmering vegetables.  Place lid on casserole dish and put in the oven for around 1 hour.  Stir the caponata every 20 minutes or so.  Serve with grilled or roasted meats.

Notes:

1. You can also add capers and/or black olives (other caponata recipes often have these).
2. For extra flavour, add some diced pancetta to the casserole dish when cooking the onions.
3. Tastes even better the next day (if there is any left) or after freezing.
4. Add leftovers to pasta for a quick and easy sauce.
5. I really like leftover caponata on toast the next day for breakfast.

Spinach pie recipe

This recipe is one that my husband developed after spending four years living in Greece when he was a teenager.  It isn’t strictly a “spinach” pie, as we use silverbeet, but it works equally well with spinach, and we have even made it with kale. It is delicious hot but also works really well as a picnic food, as once cold, it holds its shape well and won’t disintegrate (and it tastes pretty good!).

• 1 bunch silverbeet, leaves removed from stems
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 500 grams ricotta
• 250 grams shredded parmesan cheese
• Puff pastry sheets
• Nutmeg, grated

1. Pre-heat oven to 190^oC.
2. Grease an oven-proof dish (I use a ceramic one that is 20x26cm, but you can use any shape) and line with baking paper.  Then line with a sheet of puff pastry, making sure that plenty of pastry comes up the side of the dish.
3. Blanch the silverbeet in boiling water for about three minutes.  Drain and refresh under cold water.  Once cold, drain the silverbeet and then squeeze out as much water as possible.  I use paper towel to do this – it gets a lot of water out.  Too much water in the silverbeet and the pie will go soggy!  Chop the silverbeet into thin strips and then spread out on a plate to air dry while you prepare the ricotta mix.
4. In a large bowl, add the lightly beaten eggs and stir in the ricotta and parmesan cheese until you get a smooth mixture.  We use packet pre-shredded parmesan, but if you are feeling energetic, you can grate the parmesan yourself.
5. Add the sliced silverbeet and stir until well combined.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Pour the silverbeet/ricotta mix into the oven dish.  Smooth over and add a sprinkle of nutmeg over the top.
7. Top the pie with another sheet of puff pastry, crimp the top and side edges to get a good seal and cut a small “V” shape in the middle to let out the steam when it cooks.  Brush the top with either milk or a beaten egg (the egg makes for a more golden top).
8. Cook in the oven for around 25 minutes, or until the top is golden and the pastry is cooked.  Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before serving hot, together with a green salad.  The pie is also lovely cold (if there is any left!).

Kirra’s chicken curry

The Hungry Twins devoured some leftover chicken curry at lunch.  Our good friend, Kirra, cooked it last week.  I freeze any leftover curry in a silicon muffin tin, which has the ideal portion size for two hungry children.  The curry is easy to make and is a nice introduction to some spice.  Our girls love it!

Cook a diced onion in some olive oil over medium heat.  Once it has softened (about 10 minutes), add a diced sweet potato (approximately 1cm cubes), a cup of chicken stock, a tin of crushed tomatoes, a heaped tablespoon of tandoori paste (use less if you want it milder) and 3 tablespoons of Greek yoghurt.  Bring to a simmer, then add 500gm of chicken thigh fillets (no skin).  Simmer until chicken is tender (about 30-40 minutes).  If the sauce needs thickening after this time, add a teaspoon of plain flour mixed with a tablespoon of water and cook for another five minutes.  Cut up the chicken into smaller pieces for younger children.  Serve with rice, rice noodles or pasta to soak up the sauce, but be warned – it makes for a messy meal!!

Before chicken curry…..

…. after chicken curry