the easiest veggie pasta

this is the kind of pasta i make for dinner when i'm studying and/or being busy doing all afternoon long (i.e. almost all the time in the weeks before exams.. it's like my most usual dinner i should say ahah)
it's almost impossible to make it bad and it requires very little cooking skills and it turns out delicious with many different kinds of vegetables (besides it produces very little stuff to clean afterwards eheh)

i dont have precise doses, it all depends on how much veggie you want with your pasta (in these "veggie maniac" periods i tend to put a lot more vegetables than pasta actually) and with some little tips it can turn into a really awesome dish.
so well.. put a good amount of water to boil, clean and cut your vegetables (it can be cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, potato, pumpkin, green beans.. whatever vegetables you like boiled) pick your fav shape of pasta.
when the water is boiling, salt and throw in the pasta and the vegetables (NB. check the cooking time of your shape of pasta and compare it to how many min it takes to boil your vegetable without coming out destroyed. then throw in the vegetables according to that!)
when the pasta is ready (much "al dente" so it doesnt overcook in the next passage) drain everything and throw it back in the saucepan with olive oil, chili pepper and whatever spices you like with it and/or parmesan cheese.

is it that simple? yes it is. if you want to enhance your pasta, you can easily prepare some good soffritto (sauteeing some onion and garlic in a frying pan for example) or something super yummy to mix your pasta and veggie in after draining.. i love to boil cubed potato with my pasta and on the side sautee some bacon and rosemary, or some rabbit bites with thyme and lemon grass mmh :D
i often make orecchiette with broccoli this way, completing with olive oil in abundance, chili pepper, garlic and grated hard ricotta cheese.

pancakes and potatoes

my veggie madness is not over yet.. sometimes i get this frenzy and buy tons of vegetables to fill up my fridge, hence for days i eat vegetables in any possible way eheh
last night i made some awesome gnocchi with zucchini and a light quick pesto made of brazilian nuts. chili pepper and fresh basil.. so good :D
for lunch instead i had a very nice potato pancake.. usually i have it sweet but this time i sprinkled fresh basil and chopped buffalo mozzarella and then folded it.

potato pancakes

i dont have a too precise recipe for this, but more or less this is how i make them
(makes 2)
2eggs
4tbsp flour
a pinch of salt
a pinch of cardamom
half a glass of milk
1potato (boiled and mashed)
1tsp butter
1tsp baking powder

just a bunch of food pics :)

rice noodles

chinese srhimp and green peas dumplings


zucchini risotto

broccoli, zucchini and chili pepper pasta

lemon potato and chicken stew

delectable broccoli

i'm still sick with the cold and flu and in the past days it was raining as hell, so i was in the mood for some already winterish soup.

when i was a kid broccoli to me was the thing that goes with orecchiette pasta and nothing else. we used to eat this very italian dish now and then, in the season of fresh broccoli, and nothing could convince me this vegetable was to be used to make something else.
dont get me wrong, i really like broccoli.. it's probably one of my fav vegetables ever. i just loved that pasta so much and my mother was not using it to make anything else. besides, even though i like cauliflower too, broccoli in my mind was something like the cool brother of cauliflower LOL

i'll make some broccoli pasta soon, with maybe fresh orecchiette or strascinati.. lots of garlic and olive oil, a little chili pepper and tons of broccoli eheh

anyway the other day i made this awesome soup.. to be honest i was surprised with the result, it came out so velvety and creamy i was amazed :)
i cant really give precise doses because with vegetable soups i tend to measure things roughly just with a look.. besides, maybe it's the fact that i love vegetables, maybe it's because i know if i have just the soup i'll be damn hungry in 2hours, i tend to make a lot of it eheh

broccoli&potato soup

500g potato
500g broccoli
100ml cream
chicken stock
olive oil
100ml cream
garlic and chili pepper
parmesan cheese

boil the vegetables, chopped, in chicken stock. if the stock is good and well balanced, it wont need to add salt to the soup. strain them a moment before they're completely done and let cool a bit.
put the vegetables and some few spoons of stock in the mixer and mix them well, till they make a soft creamy mixture.
in the meanwhile sautee some garlic with olive oil in a saucepan, then pour the broccoli mixture, the cream and the chili pepper. stir well and cook on a low heat for about 10min, adding some spoons of stock if needed.
serve grating some parmesan cheese all over the soup and accompany with some toasted bread slices.

carrot principle #2

if you havent thought of baking with carrot,

there's a whole world for you to discover.

my mom never tried to really bake carrots.. she was a little skeptical when i made roasted carrots there for the first time. for some reason, here carrtos usually go raw or, if someway cooked, they're boiled. i definitely despise boiled carrots.. cant say why, but the taste and texture they get is awful to me eheh

actually carrot can be roasted with awesome results.. same way it is very good in baking recipes, such as cookies, breads, cakes and so on. i just grind it finely because i dont like too much the feel of shredded carrot in the dough.. still, i have to say there are some few recipes where a rougher texture just does the best.

so.. another carrot recipe :) as i said previously, i like carrots a lot.. that's why i decided to make one of my fav breads ever with the addition of this orange very versatile ingredient.

carrot scones

(makes 6-8)

240g plain flour

150g carrot

60g demi-sel butter

60g sugar

baking powder

a pinch of cardamom

80ml milk

grind carrot in the food processor and mix it with the butter. mix flour, sugar, baking powder, cardamom with the cattor mixture. rub the ingredients and stir in milk.

flatten the dough (about 2.5cm thick) and cut square, without dividing them. bake the scones for about 15min in preheated oven at 180°C.

divide the squares and enjoy!

au marché j'ai acheté..

i'm sick as a dog.. the first flu of the season and my sinusitis is already raging.

so i havent been cooking that much, still i made some experimental scones that reminded me the match caprese salad is made of.. tomato and mozzarella, with some fresh basil, a little oil, salt and pepper :D

this afternoon i had to go out to the drug store and coming back, i stopped by a vegetable stand.. there were these marvellous looking tomatos (dont ask me how come we have such beautiful specimens in november.. i dont want to know LOL) whenever i go to an old school market, i love to look at the goods.. it always reminds me a song we learnt during my french course, that says au marché j'ai acheté [insert name of vegetable] kinda kiddie song to learn the names of stuff. no idea why i still recall it so good ehehe

these scones are awesome accompained by some fresh mozzarella (better if a burrata or a buffalo milk mozzarella) that tenderly melts on the scones.. but some fresh white cheese will work too.

tomato scones

(makes 8 big scones)
320g plain flour
100g olive oil
100ml milk
2tomatoes
1tbsp baking powder
1tsp salt
1tbsp sugar
fresh basil

mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and stir in the olive oil. rub the ingredients till fine crumbs and mix in milk.
when the dough is soft and smooth add the tomato chopped and the fresh basil. flatten the dough (about 2.5cm thick) and cut rounds.
bake the scones for about 15-20min in preheated oven at 180°C.

carrot principle #1

if you dont LOVE carrot cake, it's because you have not eaten a good one yet.

i've always been digging carrots. when i was a kid i used to crunch them, now i still eat them like that but i added some few variants eheh
at first i had to eat them because they told me to, it's good for your sight.. sure, i ate tons because of that. the result was that my sight kept on slowly worsening anyway and at school i got named bugs. ya know i have big teeth so, there you go LOL

at home we never got snacks.. i didnt like snacks myself to be honest, yea i was one of those nerdy kids eating fruit at school break and i enjoyed it.
but one day the parents came up with this new snack and i could eat it.. it was made of carrots so kinda apparently healthier according to mom, and i love carrots. so they bought me these camille.
i didnt have any idea about who this camilla was, but surely she had to be a lucky girl if she had these awesome treats named after her.. i was happy. they were so moist and carroty, not too sweet, wondefully crumbly.. i like everything about them, small delicious domes of orange, carrot and almond.

so thinking about a cake for mom's birthday i decided for carrot cake.. it's been a while since i made it last time and i'm looking forward to taste it :D

i make various versions of carrot cake.. and my two faves are with cream cheese filling and this one, with chocolate coating.

chocolate carrot cake

250g plain flour
120g butter, softened
175g sugar
300g carrots
120g almonds, peeled
3eggs
baking powder
1pinch of salt
orange flavor
- coating:
200g dark chocolate
50gbutter

mince almonds and carrots in the blender, set aside. beat the butter with sugar till creamy, add eggs and orange flavor.
stir in the flour mixed with salt and baking powder, then carrots. mix well and pour the batter in a baking tin (about 24cm diameter).
bake for about 45min in preheated oven at 180°C. let the cake cool.
melt butter with chocolate stirring. spread on the cake and keep in the fridge till serving.

smoked, please

today i was at the supermarket, undecided about salmon.. i love salmon but what was i inspired about, smoked or fresh? i ended up with some nice scottish smoked salmon.. pinkish slices so tender they melt in your mouth.. so nice.
it counted 4 slices and i thought maybe tomorrow i can make a nice smoked salmon and caviar sandwich instead of the overdone ham and fresh cheese (which i like but that's just the quickest toast one can make eheh) and use a half to make pasta this evening.
and that's what i did.

angel hair pasta with smoked salmon and red caviar

while pasta is getting done, sautee some shallot in butter. add smoked salmon roughly cut and freshly ground black pepper.

when the pasta is al dente, throw it in the pan with the salmon sauce, stir in a few spoons of milk and sautee quickly. taking the pan from the heat, add a spoon red caviar, mix well and serve.

as "side dish" i made roasted carrots.. i really like that, it's so easy to make and the result is so good. i dont like boiled carrots at all and rosting them this way is the best to me to eat carrots if not raw :)

roasted carrots

put carrots on the oven rack (i put an aluminium sheet but you can use a baking tin as well) and drizzle some olive oil all over them. ground some black pepper and spread a pinch of salt onto them. you can use whatever spices you prefer, i like it so simple with pepper only.
bake in preheated oven at 200°C for about 20min.

eggplant and basil clafoutis

i love sweet clafoutis.. usually i make it with peaches.. or fresh yellow plums, cherries, apples.. but just lately i found out i could make a salty version of this wonderful dish :)
so here is the first recipe of veggie clafoutis! the smell of tomato, eggplant and basil that my kitchen got after 10min baking was itself worth it.

eggplant clafoutis

2big eggplants, chopped
80g cherry tomatoes
150ml milk
100ml fresh cream
2eggs
6tbsp wheat flour
butter
grated bread
fresh basil
salt, pepper, spices (ground mint, chives, oregano, garlic)
olive oil
sugar

cut cherry tomatoes in a half and spread them with a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar. sautee the eggplant in olive oil and salt.
mix flour with 50ml milk and set aside. beat 100ml milk with cream and spices, whip in the eggs and the flour mixture. add fresh basil, salt qs.
butter a baking tin, spread eggplant and tomato on the bottom then pour the mixture. bake in preheated oven at 180°C for 20min. spread the surface of the clafoutis with small pieces of butter and grated bread, then bake for 10min still.

veggie sandwiches

this week i got some wondrous zucchini, so here they are my last dinner sandwiches!


yesterday i had this sauteed zucchini + sundried tomatoes and goat cheese sandwich. the bread is a mixed cereals finnish bread i like a lot.. not sure which cereals are though LOL

this evening i rather cut zucchini in stripes and sauteed them with some black pepper and fresh basil, adding some water to keep them light and soft. then i spread the zucchini on cereals bread and simply topped with chopped fresh habanero red chili (yea it was hot to tears eheheh) and minced toasted&salted cashew nuts. believe me, it comes out an awesome sandwich :)

pumpkin days

i'm a big fan of the pumpkin.

this week i've been sick with a bad flu and some few days ago i was wandering like a lost kid in the supermarket when i saw IT. a big chunk of orangish pumpkin was winking at me in the vegetables department.. it suddenly reminded me of pumpkin and rice thick winter soups, kinda warming childhood memory.. i couldnt help putting my paws on it :D

i've always liked this vegetable (or fruit, to be botanic) and its versatility..

i'm fascinated by the shades of orange and yellow it displays and the variated cooking uses it is suitable for.

i also remember eating the seeds like a parrot.. grandma has a nice vegetable garden and in the right period we've always had a good provision of fresh, not GMO, old school pumpkins ^^

too bad said chunk was pretty BIG.

result: in the last days i've been eating pumpkin in all the thinkable ways. i even made a rough chutney to slam on my white bread as take away sandwich for lunch.

of course i made the pumpkin and rice soup, taking care to make very thick it was almost risotto-like :D i also made a tasty, buttery pumpkin sauce to top my beloved angel hair pasta.. and i must admit it was simply amazing ehehehe