Hi Y'all!
Long time no see, I know, I know... But you might also know that my dad went on his very last journey, and I did not feel like blogging at all.
I still miss him, but right now I'm at peace with the situation, and therefore, it's time for a new blog post with lots of comfort food or sould food - basically food which warms the belly and the soul. Dad surely would have liked it...
We never ate tons of meat, but since living in Malta, we reduced it even more. Once a week we have fish on the menu, but currently we are not missing anything. Moreover: Spices are incredibly affordable in Malta, and therefore with a little bit of creativity you can produce incredibly delicious things.
A few weeks ago I bought a large piece of pumpkin and wanted to try something other than the usual cream soup. So I cooked the pumpkin with some potatoes, mixed it with spices, herbs and flour and the result was a giant batch of gnocchi:
Some we had instantly with pesto, and the rest I divided into small portions and put them in the freezer. Pro-tip: Throw them in water while they are still frozen, otherwise you end up with one giant blob. I mixed the blob with some more flour and then cut again - so the gnocchi were still delicious. But you could save that extra step. You can even shallow fry them after cooking, and I found that especially yummy.
And of course pumpkin is perfect for filling ravioli - therefore one Sunday the hubs and I donned our aprons and made a huge batch of pasta dough. Below you can see said ravioli - once uncooked and once with sage butter:
You can freeze ravioli quite easily. Simply place sheets of parchment paper in between the ravioli layers and then boil them without thawing (and without the parchment paper, haha). Like this they don't stick together and won't break. And after all they only take a few minutes to cook.
And then we planned to make tagliatelle - which we did. And without a proper pasta drying rack we just placed them on the cooking grate of our oven. But I have to admit that's a true labour of love! The single pasta strands get longer and longer while hanging and once they are dry they break if you only look at them. So, it's not worth the hassle - just make them fresh and boil them directly. The dough is prepared in a few minutes anyway.
Pasta dough is for dummies btw - In Germany I used special flour for Swabian pasta which you obviously can't get here. But the combination of simple wheat flour with semolina works like a charm. Add in a bit of salt, olive oil and water, and your DIY pasta is done!
And while we're talking about pasta: My usual lasagna has a filling made of spinach, cream cheese and tomato, but even here I wanted to experiment a bit. The first one was pretty straightforward. I simply cooked a Bolognese ragu, only with red lentils instead of minced meat. As vegetarian option I topped it with shredded cheese, and for the vegan alternative I used oat cheese (not goat cheese, haha). In case you are wondering: In principal it's oat milk with herbs and spices (and nutritional yeast, if you can get hold of it) and cornstarch and when you boil it, it thickens. The result is a relatively firm cream cheese which can be cut into slices. It melts only a bit, but the taste is delish. Top is vegan, bottom vegetarian:
And this is what they look like after being baked in the oven:
So I peeled and shredded the eggplant (unpeeled shredding doesn't work), mixed it with tomatoes and herbs and placed it between the lasagna sheets. I topped it with some fried and caramelised onion rings (with lots of thyme) and some shredded cheese. Note to self: Don't be stingy with spices, and then it is uber delicious!
One of my staples on the menu when I don't have too much time: chickpea curry. Start boiling some rice (Jasmin or Basmati), and add some diced onions, garlic and ginger to a well oiled pan. Make it spicy with curry powder, paprika, turmeric and cumin until it reveals its fragrance. Add two tablespoons of tomato paste and a whole can of coconut milk. Mix well and throw in two cans of rinsed chickpeas - easy peasy!
Do not throw away the chickpea water (aka aquafaba), because you can whisk it like eggwhite (and it doesn't taste like chickpeas at all). Gently fold in some powdered sugar and molten chocolate and let it get firm in the fridge. This is Mousse au Chocolate's little vegan sister! Tbh it's more like the brother from another mother, but there is no need to hide it either. Unfortunately there is no picture, sorry!
Now let's get to the last hearty dish which is inspired by the spanish albondigas - just that I made them of white beans instead of minced meat. I combined it with a light sauce with onions and white wine - olé!
But you know me - you won't leave this post with a sweet finale. If life (or your co-worker or neighbor) gives you lemons, start baking!
Muffins are a no brainer, but I wanted to try something I hadn't done before - Lemon Crackle Cookies. You prepare a rather unspectacular dough but with loads of lemon zest and lemon juice, roll it into little balls and cover them with powdered sugar. Unfortunately I used all my powdered sugar for the muffin glaze, and so I had to improvise. Put one cup of normal sugar together with a teaspoon of cornstarch in a food processor and blitz it for 30 seconds or so. And like this you have powdered sugar in no time and effort. Bake the cookies for 12 min at 180 degrees Celsius, and then they show a cracked surface, but inside they are fluffy and wonderfully citrusy - will definitely make them again!
Stay safe and enjoy the spring!
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