Tag: winter

One pasta, two options, three flavours

Published on by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

There are two groups of people, apparently – the ones who love their pasta mixed with the sauce, and the others who prefer to have it just on top.
It doesn’t bother me which option I have as long as the meal is well, tasty.
Bearing in mind my friend’s preferences, I made this simple dish the way she likes it – separated. And what’s your favourite?

To make this tree flavour pasta you’ll need:
a tin of cherry tomatoes
250ml of tomato passata
100g of dried tomato pesto
1tbsp of freshly grated ginger
1tbsp of freshly grated garlic
1 tsp of sambal oelek paste
2 medium red peppers
2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar glaze
a spoonful of good quality green pesto
parsley leaves and parmigiano reggiano to garnish

HipstamaticPhoto-537380885.343342

1. Using a glug of live oil, roast thinly sliced peppers in non-stick pan.
Stir them occasionally so they’ll caramelise nicely on both sides.
Once they soften, mix them with balsamic vinegar glaze and keep on a low heat for 3-5mins. Take off the heat and sed aside to cool.

2. In a heavy bottomed pan, fry garlic and ginger, and pour over tomato passata.
Follow with cherry tomatoes and simmer on a low heat. At this moment add the dried tomato pesto and sambal oelek ( or just chili as a substitute ) and stir occasionally until the sauce is thickened to a creamy consistence.  Season up to your taste with salt, pepper and Worcester sauce – it’s a genius flavour enhancer!

fullsizeoutput_13ff

Serve with your favourite type of pasta ( hint: it goes really well with penne!).
And here’s the trick; you can either add pepper into sauce and mix it all together, or serve the sauce on top of your penne with roasted peppers to taste the difference between the sauce, peppers and green pesto – used as a garnish.
The three flavours in one!

Happy Cooking ! 👨🏻‍🍳

 

Winter warmer anyone?

Published on by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

Festive season is behind us, and so is its food. But unlike Christmas, winter will stay with us for a while. I find winter warmers – like this Spiced Carrot&Sweet potato cream, I’m sharing here with you, are a perfect solution to the cold months. As usual I’ve made sure that the recipe is hassle free and the outcome filling, yet delicious.

IMG_1869

To make this easy meal you’ll need:
3 medium potatoes
3 medium carrots
1 brown onion
some fresh thyme, ginger  and a few garlic cloves – quantity to your own taste
smoked salt roasted almonds to garnish
a small chunk of freshly grated ginger
1 litre of vegetable stock

With a glug of olive oil, roast the onions in a large saucepan.
Once they soften, add grated garlic, following by the vegetable stock.
Boil the mixture for a few minutes then add chopped carrots and sweet potato and cook on a low heat for 10-15 mins until the carrots are al dente. Add the grated ginger.
The secret to the warming taste of this meal is to add the ginger at this moment (you could ad some chilli as well) so the gentle spiciness wont evaporate from the soup.
Once all the ingredients are cooked through, blend them gently to achieve a delicious cream.

IMG_1572

Serve garnished with smoked almonds thyme and pepper if you like.
A sprinkle of finely chopped chives is also a good option for this meal.

 

 

 

 

 

Red is the colour

Published on by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

Red borsch. Traditional, tasty  and warming beetroot soup.
Mostly served during the Festive period; however in my house, Mum was making this wonderful soup during cold spells. As she had the tendency to cook far too much broth for other dishes on Sunday, the borsch was usually a post weekend lunch prepared with leftover boullion. Well, that’s one of the only reasons why I loved Mondays. They were just so flavoursome!

To cook red borsch you need:
for 2 litres of broth:
3 chicken thighs
2 carrots cut lengthwise
1 parsnip cut lengthwise
a quarter of celeriac
1 shallot onion, halved
half of the garlic bulb
bouquet garni
3 medium beetroots ( thickly sliced )
1 small apple cut into 2 halves
3 bay leaves, 4 whole spice berries, few cloves

Note: if you’re a vegetarian, instead of chicken add a portion of Herb Infusion Pot by Knorr. A tasteful alternative.

IMG_9482
When chicken is ready after about 20mins, remove it and the bouquet garni then add;
a generous handful of marjoram, a pinch of nutmeg to your own taste
a bunch of fresh lemon thyme img_9480
Simmer on the lower heat until all vegetables are al dente (there’s nothing worse than overcooked veggies, right?) and the mouth-watering smell of spices is filling the kitchen.
Serve with mini dumplings, aka mini ears.

  Voilà! x