{Creamy Pumpkin Gnocchi Bake}

                  

I haven't posted a recipe in a while, just been in school holidays mode for a few weeks. 

Today I wanted to take a meal to a dear friend who just had a baby, and she is a vegetarian. Now, I love eating 'veggo' food at home, but this was SO delicious I reckon it would please any carnivore! If not, add a bit off bacon on top ;)

This dish was a surprising success as I set myself a challenge to 'shop the pantry/ fridge' and use what I had on hand. I kind of winged it and in normal fashion, I didn't really measure the ingredients. Here is my best efforts at recalling the exact measurements. In honesty though, this isn't a precision recipe like a sponge cake. This is the kind of cooking that you can be a little bit more relaxed and rustic with.  

Ingredients:

1 Whole Butternut Pumpkin

2 cloves garlic

1 pkt Gnocchi 

Rosemary Sprig (I just got a stalk from our herb garden. Could also use sage)

Pine nuts (I used about 100g, but you could use more if wanted)

Parmesan Cheese (about a handful - 3/4 or 1 cup)

1/4 cup pouring cream

Salt and Pepper to season

Dried Porcini Mushrooms (optional)

Tasty cheese to sprinkle on top

Top with some fried bacon if not a vegetarian meal.

Method:

1. Cut your pumpkin in half length ways. Spray with oil spray and season. Place on an oven tray with garlic and roast until tender. (This step can be done ahead of time and refrigerated).

2.  Once it has cooled out of the oven, scoop out the flesh and puree with garlic in the blender/ food processor. Set aside.

3. Coat a frying pan with olive oil. Toast the rosemary and pine nuts until lightly coloured. Don't walk away here, otherwise it will burn. Scoop out with slotted spoon onto paper towel and set aside. 

4. Place the Gnocchi in the saucepan as per packet instructions.

5. Place pumpkin puree in the rosemary infused oil and heat on low heat. Add the Parmesan, cream, S&P, Pine nuts and rosemary. You could also add the dried mushrooms here (just hydrate with hot water first and drain before adding).  

6. Once the Gnocchi is cooked (floats to top and looks 'fluffy' and 'plump') scoop into the pumpkin mixture and fold through to coat. 

7. Top with some tasty cheese (to taste), a sprinkle of fresh rosemary. 

(At this point I fried up a little bacon to sprinkle on one of the dishes as only one of the couple is a vegetarian).

8. Place under grill or the oven to melt cheese on top and serve with fresh steamed vegetables. 

This will be definitely featuring on our dining table soon but in one large casserole style dish I think. 

Enjoy!

Lauren x 

      

 

{Soup Day Monday}

Since the weather has started cooling down, I have decided to add soup night on Monday's to our menu. Once you start looking at recipes, there is so much variation. The sky is the limit!

Last week was roasted pumpkin and that was glorious!

This week was roasted tomato soup. It actually fell on Tuesday this week cause we had leftovers to use up and that seemed wise ;) sometimes you gotta go with the flow!

{Free Form Pumpkin and Spinach Lasagna}

I was HANGING to make this recipe like you have no idea! Not because I just saw a recipe for it like often inspires me. But because every now and then when I cook, I have my mojo ON and I don't have a recipe, I actually have no idea what the final outcome will be or look like when I start, but it just works. This was one of those times. I made it up as went and it was tastier than I thought it was going to be! The best thing was that this ended up like a restaurant dish and I bough everything from Aldi or had it in my pantry.

The downside is I don't measure when I cook like this, but here is my attempt at documenting this delicious dish :)


Ingredients: (made 3 large portions)
1 packet fresh lasagna sheets (you'll only need 1/2 packet and if you normally buy dried, its worth splashing out for the fresh sheets)
1/2 butternut pumpkin
1 packet of baby spinach (buy 2 if you want some for a side salad/ garnish)
2 cloves garlic
about 40g butter
handful of pine-nuts
handful of walnuts
1 tub of ricotta
Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper


Method:
1. cut your butternut pumkpin into thin slices (about 2mm *ish) and pop into water and microwave for a few mins until tender.
2. Place butter, spinach, nuts & garlic in a saucepan on a medium heat and saute till spinach wilts. Season with S&P and turn off heat.
3. Once the spinach mix and pumpkin is cooked you are ready to assemble.
4. Cut each lasagna sheet into thirds (Aldi's sheets are folded into thirds, so I just followed the folds). Here are my layers in order:
-Place one sheet as the base.
-Then lay a few pieces of the cooked pumpkin on top and season here
-another sheet of lasagna
-then spoon some ricotta on top
-sprinkle some parmesan on the ricotta
-then a spoonful of the spinach mix on top
-lasagna sheet
-spoonful of ricotta
-another layer of pumpkin
-final layer of lasagna sheet
-top with more ricotta, parmesan and s&P

You don't need much of each ingredient on each layer, it's the layering itself that will make each mouthful taste so good.



It sounds like a very long process, but even with doing 3 of these, it took me longer to write this than do it. It's worth it!

{Cashew & Herb Crusted Salmon}

This is the most simple and delicious meal ad it was GOBBLED up by my hubby, 5 year old AND 2 year old boys! They loved it and it tasted so fancy which is a great trick since it was so simple!

INGREDIENTS:

4 salmon fillets
100g of cashews (could use other nuts also like almonds or macadamias)
A handful of fresh herbs (I used basil & parsley - they are fresh in the garden)
1/2 a lime
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

METHOD:
Pre-heat oven to 160'C
1. Place the nuts in a food processor and blitz up until sort of like bread crumbs.
2. Add the herbs and squeeze the lime in also.
3. While it's processing, drizzle olive oil in until it binds it together. I used about a few dessert spoonfuls, but just add a little and test as you go.
4. Season and then gently place onto the salmon in an oven proof dish.
Place in the oven for about 20 mins until cooked through.

SERVING SUGGESTION:
I stirfried some Asian greens (bok choy and pak choy) with 1/2 a red onion, 1/2 a chili, the other 1/2 of the lime from above, 1 tsp fresh ginger, 2 garlic cloves, corriander stems & 1 TBS sesame seeds.

Once cooked, serve alongside the salmon with fresh corriandar on top - SOOO GOOD!!!

{Chick Pea Patties & veggie stack}

If you are new to the blog you may not know that I have mentioned before about how each year I start January with a 21 day Daniel fast. It is for mainly spiritual reasons and also health reasons too. If you have never done this and are interested, see info here. The basic 'jist' is that I eat only plant based food for 21 days, ergo no meat, no diary, no sugars, no processed food, no alcohol and no caffeine (this is always hard to detox from).

I have shared recipes on here before that I usually eat at fast time in Jnaurary, like
- My ESSENTIAL homemade tomato sauce
- Falafel
- Hommus
- Baked Fish Parcels (fish is not strictly on the fast according to my research unless you need some extra protein for an active lifestyle. I choose to include some during the fast.

The next few posts will be Daniel Fast recipes that are delicious enough to eat all year round!

{CHICK PEA PATTIES}

1 can of Chick Peas
1 can of lentils
1 potato cooked (could also use sweet potato or carrot)
1 handful of mixed herbs (i used basil and parsley as I had plenty in the garden)
1 small onion and garlic clove cooked (not essential but i like the taste)
2 TBL pasta sauce (could use store bought if your not being as 'picky as me')


Method:
1. Mash the chick peas, lentils, potato (or similar).
2. Mix other ingredients into it and season with salt and pepper.
3. Form into patty shapes and fry gently.
**i would probably include bread crumbs and an egg when off the fast to help bind it together a bit more. But as long as you are gentle with them, they cook fine**

SERVING SUGGESTION:

My favourite way to eat these is in a stack with char-grilled eggplant, capsicum, avocado, the tomato sauce, avocado, hommus and fresh herbs and rocket. YUM!

Enjoy;
Lauren x

{A Vegetarian Christmas: Sweet Potato & Leek Roulade}

We hosted a Christmas Dinner/ Feast for two of our dear friends last Friday night. I had a blast planning the menu and trying to find a yummy main for my beautiful friend who also is a vegetarian. Now I don't have a problem using imagination for meat free meals normally, as we eat that a lot here.
However, when I think Christmas, I think hams and roast lambs, chicken or pork. I wanted something delicious and not an 'after thought'. I would never want anyone coming over for dinner feel like an after thought just because they don't eat meat. Insert Google and here was the menu:

Entree
Goats cheese and Cranberry Tartlets

Mains
Minted Roast Lamb
Sweet Potato and Leek Roulade

Sides
Balsamic Vine Tomatoes
Chili and Almond Asparagus
Honey Carrots
Rosemary and Garlic Smashed Potatoes

Drinks
Chilled Egg Nog
Warm Mulled Wine

Dessert
Christmas Pudding Ice Cream with Frozen Chocolate Sauce
Tea & Coffee

The mulled wine was a little bitter as I think I let it simmer too long but it was still worth a try.
Here is the recipe for the Roulade...Mine didn't look that pretty, but it held its shape and was DE-LISSSHH!!! Its worth the effort ;)

(image from taste.com.au)

INGREDIENTS:
Roulade

20ml (1 tbs) olive oil
1 leek, finely chopped
60g butter
1/3 cup plain flour
300ml milk
4 eggs, separated
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan

Stuffing
30g unsalted butter
1 brown onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 1/2 cups fresh white breadcrumbs
1 tbs chopped fresh sage
1 tbs chopped flat-leaf parsley

Filling
500g sweet potato, peeled, chopped
15g unsalted butter
100ml thin cream
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 39 x 26cm Swiss roll pan.

2. To make the roulade, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the leek and cook gently for five minutes until soft. Remove leek from pan. Wipe pan, then add the butter. When it has melted, add the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Start adding the milk, a little at a time, whisking until all the milk is combined and the sauce has thickened. Remove from the heat, beat in egg yolks, one at a time and season.

3. In a separate, clean bowl, beat the eggwhites until stiff. Add a quarter of the eggwhites to the roux, then gently fold in the remaining eggwhites. Fold in leeks and cheddar until just combined, then pour into the prepared pan and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden and puffed.

4. Meanwhile, to make stuffing, melt butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for five minutes until soft and translucent. Add garlic and breadcrumbs and cook for a further 3-4 minutes. Stir in herbs and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

5. For the filling, steam or boil the sweet potato until tender. Drain and mash with the butter, cream and nutmeg. Season well and set aside.

6. When the roulade is cooked, place a clean tea towel on your workbench and sprinkle with the parmesan. Turn the roulade out onto the tea towel and peel off the baking paper. Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes, then spread the sweet potato over the roulade.

7. Sprinkle the stuffing over the sweet potato. Using the edge of the tea towel, carefully roll up the roulade from the longest side finishing with the seam-side down. Slice and serve warm.

I hope you enjoy the idea and even if I wasn't serving for a vegetarian...I would definitely make this again :)

Lauren x

{Almond, Veggie & Herb Dip}

Since I found Tess from Healthy Blender Recipes I have been eating very differently. I have had some battles for a lot of my life with digestion issues, and something has clicked in me over the last few years (but more so recently) that isn't craving dairy or meat as much. I still eat it, and am not a hard core vegan/ vegetarian at all. But I am finding myself drawing more to 'plant based' foods.

I just made a dip for lunch and it was SO delicious I just had to share it. The bowl was VERY empty afterwards and I wish I had made more. As per usual when I am cooking, and not baking, I made it up as I went. But, feel free to play around with quantities and ingredients to suit your tastes.

Ingredients:
A handful of raw almonds
A few tbls water
1/4 cup semi dried tomatoes
1/4 cup roasted eggplant
1/2 cup baby spinach leaves
Fresh parsley, coriander and basil to taste
Pepper
Small squeeze of fresh lemon

1. Blend almonds and water until it makes a nutty paste and looks 'milky' in a food processor
2. add in all other ingredients and blend until a 'dip' consistency.
3. Taste and make any adjustments needed (I added a bit more lemon and some onion and olives to mine at this point).

Serve on garlic toast, with veggie sticks or on crackers :)

Lauren x

{Homemade Ricotta Gnocchi}

I love a great recipe that is healthy, quick and easy! This has een on my to-try list for ages and I can't believe that this has taken me so long to try this. Gnocchi.
Its one of those recipes that seems so mystical. So Italian and authentic.
So, I had some left over ricotta in the fridge after making Cannelloni and I decided to try and use it and give ricotta gnocchi a go (not sure how it would turn out). It turned out to be a MASSIVE hit and everyone gave it a 2 thumbs up.
I was hoping it would be a success or baked beans was on the menu ;) Here is a rough recipe (as usual I made it up as I went).
1/2 kg ricotta (the dry kind from the deli or that comes with a colander works best)
1 egg
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup parmigiano regianno (parmesan is fine)
salt and pepper
1 cup of plain flour (can use rice flour to make it gluten free)

1. Place cheeses, spices and egg in a bowl and mix together.
2. Add 1/2 the flour and mix in. then add a little at a time until the mixture resembles a dough consistency.
3. Sprinkle some plain flour on the bench / board and roll out handfuls of the 'dough' into a thin sausage shape.
4. Cut off little bite sized pieces and set aside.
5. Repeat until the 'dough' mixture is all rolled and cut.
6. Boil salted water and place gnocchi in the water. They are ready when they rise to the top of the water and float. Take out immediately and place into your favorite sauce.






I simply fried some eggplant, onion, garlic, zucchini and a tin of tomatoes. Topped it with fresh basil, parmesan and freshly ground pepper to serve. Enjoy; Lauren x

{Quick and Tasty Pasta Dinner}

This meal is a favorite of mine for those nights where you don't have a lot of time. This is so quick, easy and packed full of flavor. As an added plus I have these ingredients on hand always so I can whip it up at a moments notice.

Ingredients:
Wholemeal spaghetti
Tin of diced tomatoes
2 Jars of antipasto (in the oil isle)
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Parmigano reggiano cheese*
Parsley to garnish

Method:
1. Boil spaghetti
2. Drain antipasto and roughly chop up (this is all about rustic so you don't have to be precise)
3. Once spaghetti is cooked, drain in colander and put back in saucepan (keep off the heat). Add antipasto, tinned tomatoes, 1/2 lemon squeezed, and a heathy grating of cheese.
4. Toss through 1/2 bunch parsley and some freshly ground pepper and serve warm.

Enjoy!

Mr 5 requested this cold in his lunch box today so, to me that's a winner!!!

*This cheese whilst pricier than tasty but has a very strong flavor as it's aged for about 2 yrs. This means you use less calories to get your taste. Finley grated with a hand grater is the way to go! Could also use Parmesan.

Lauren x




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Celeriac

Celeriac is a yummy vegetable that I served up for dinner the other night, with pleasant results. I boiled it like i would for potato for a regular mash. Then I pureed it with parmesan, light cream cheese and a little milk to thin it out. The boys loved it when i told them it was a new vegatable they had NEVER had before and it was delicious!!!

Some healthy facts about this WONDERFUL vegetable!

Celeriac is:

• Low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol
• High in Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Phosphorus, Potassium, Dietary Fiber, Vitamin B6, Magnesium and Manganese

The nutritional value and health benefits of celeriac makes it ideal for:

• Maintaining optimum health
• Weight loss

Don't include too much celeriac in your diet if you're interested in:

• Weight gain

For some recipes and cooking ideas see:
- Taste.com.au
- Weight Watchers
- Jamie Oliver

Homemade Pizza Dough

I have re-discovered recently how easy and fun it is to make pizza dough. I have made it with the kids and they loved it! I even had a couple over for a dinner party and I used this recipe to create a homemade pizza bar for them - it was a HUGE HIT. As they arrived, they were greeted with me rolling dough and 12 bowls lined up on the bench filled with various toppings from cheese, herbs, salami, capsicums, olives, fetta, potato etc...Whilst it was baking we enjoyed a galss of wine and appetizers. Delsih!
This is another stellar recipe from the team at taste. I chose this great pizza dough recipe as its cheap and easy. Its worked every time for me so far....I hope you try this one (please tell me if you enjoyed the recipe as much as we did).

Lauren x

Vegetarian Curry......KID APPROVED!!!

I remember as a child being served 'kids curry' that simmered in a pot next to the grown up's curry. I guess this is a similar style to what we were served years ago.
I whipped this Cauliflower and Potato Curry up last week while the boys were napping and it simmered on low till dinner time. You could easily do this with meat, but i like the challenge of cooking a few meals a week meat free. I tried to find the curry paste - but as it wasn't available, I just chose a Korma or a Rogan Josh instead (It is also pretty easy to make it yourself which I do quite often).
I caught these pictures of my 11 month old eating his SECOND serving and it made us LAUGH SO HARD!





To make it adult friendly (i.e. spicy) I added extra chilli once the kids meals were dished up. DEEEE-LISH!
I hope you try it and enjoy like we did;
Loz xox

Hearty Winter Stew

Again, another recipe from The Biggest Loser recipe data base that got rave reviews from us and our kids (3yrs and 11 mths). Who says you have to put on weight in winter....with meals like this you might even shed some kilo's like I did ;)

Homemade Baked Beans

Coming into winter, the mornings here are getting brisk and fresh to say the least. We don't have air con at the moment which is sort of refreshing as we all rug up in slippers and dressing gowns and often indulge in porridge (which I keep low in sugar so it is a winter "weight management" dish too lol). I found a savoury breakfast that I just love. Homemade baked beans. YUMMM!!! I let it simmer on the stove and then also decided to spoon some into a ramekin and crack an egg on top and throw it in the oven. Right before it was ready, I sprinkled parmesan on it and put the grill on to make it crispy...OH MY!!!! I often find myself making things without a recipe and using taste tests to guide the ingredients, so here is my best guess at the recipe (there are also many available on net too). This would be enough for breakky for several adults, so feel free to halve it if necessary.
1. Put in an 800g tin tomatoes, 2 garlic cloves, 1 onion (or handful of frozen onions if you want to avoid tears) in saucepan.
2. Add 3 tins of white beans, i used butter beans and canelini beans.
3. Add a dash of worcestershire sauce, a dessert spoon of dijon mustard, a spoonful of brown sugar, a bay leaf or two and a sprig of fresh thyme (dried is okay if thats all you have - but it's worth slashing out for fresh). Thought of adding tabasco whilst typing this (next time;)
4. I added a sprinkle of smokey paprika, tumeric, salt and lots of pepper.
5. Simmer on low heat for about 10-20 mins (longer will make it richer).

Serving suggestions:
1. Crusty bread and wilted spinach
2. On toast with crispy bacon
3. Spoon into ramekin and crack egg on top. Once egg is cooked, place some parmesan or gruyere cheese and top with a fresh sprig of thyme and serve with soldier toast on side.

Yummy and HEALTHY lasagne!!!

Well, I am a big fan of The Biggest Loser but I loved the masterclass that they added this season. One recipe I was dying to try was a grilled vegetable lasagne with difference. Instead of a normal white sauce which was full of butter, flour....they gave an unusual option which I tried and am now a BIG fan of.
Turn some ricotta to a white sauce consistency with some skim milk and you have a version of white sauce with HALF the calories! The amount of milk will depend on whether you buy your ricotta from the fridge or the deli. The deli ricotta is dryer and will require more milk. I bought 1kg of ricotta and made a canelloni as well for tomorrow night (trying to be organised and multi task - hehehe). Here is a link to the recipe that i used. Very simple and delicious too! If you try it let me know how you like it :)

Basil Pesto and White Wine Gnocchi

So I often cook (not bake though) without a recipe and just see how I like the flavour as I go. You will notice that I will use measurements like drizzle, splash, handful. This is mainly because I didn't write down the recipe, but also allows you to adjust to your own taste.
Tonight I made this gnocchi (varying a friends recipe) for dinner and just loved it! Would serve 2 for a rich dinner or 4 as a side.

1. Boil up 500g packet of gnocchi in a saucepan.
2. Whilst boiling, finely cut up 1 green capsicum (could use red, but I had green and they are cheaper too).
3. Then peel some pumpkin (I used about 2 handfuls) and discard skin. Keep peeling the pumpkin till you get a handful or 2 of the slithered pumpkin.
4. Drizzle a little oil in a frying pan/ wok (I used chilli oil for a little kick) and when hot cook the pumpkin and capsicum till tender.
5. Place a heaped dessert spoon of basil pesto in the frying pan.
6. Then add a splash of white wine and cook it out for a minute.
7. When Gnocchi floats to the top, scoop into the frying pan mixture.
8. Before serving, add a drizzle of cream or evaporated milk (if you want to be good).
9. Serve with a grinding of pepper and fresh basil leaves (i also grated a little peccorino cheese).

YUMMM!!!!!! ENJOY xo

{Homemade Pasta Sauce}

This a very yummy way to be ultra healthy and eat with no preservatives and additives. Bake a tray or two of veggies like tomatoes (this is your base ingredient so i tend to add more and I like roasting the cherry or grape variety), garlic cloves, zucchini, capsicum, red onion, olives and a chilli. Then drizzle with olive oil and roast in oven.
Once its finished, try to resist eating the yummy roasted veggies (it smells amazing).
Using a food processor, stick or normal blender; blend till it makes a sauce.
Then add some freshly chopped herbs like parsley and basil, season and 'voila'!!!

Serving ideas:
1. On pasta
2. Over lentils instead of pasta
3. Spread as a Pizza sauce.
4. Top Cannelloni with it (see past blog)
5. Put sauce in oven proof dish and pop freshly made meatballs in it and bake in oven.

Enjoy;
Lauren x

There's a first for everything!

Here we go - I am new at this blogging thing and have been inspired to give it a go. As a stay at home Mum of two boys (3yrs and 8 months) I am busy and always have a lot of things on my plate. Confession time.....I am a bit of a 'foodie' and just LOVE cooking and for my family and am hoping to share some of my recipes here on my blog.

My daily reality is also all things baby and preschooler, so when I find little gems will share things that relate to my motherhood journey too.

So in the spirit of being a foodie and sharing some yummy recipes, here is the yummy falafel recipe that we made for dinner recentlyt from a favourite website of mine : taste. We turned them into wraps with mountain bread and homemade hommous with tabouli and salad...YUMMMO!!!