Meatless Monday: Rigatoni ai peperoni

The saga of the sodden summer continues. The days have been filled with a dull kind of humid heat. And while the sun has poked itself out, inevitably i've found myself riding home from the train station in a late afternoon rainshower. Last week we even had hail.

All this unpredictability has made me keep the barbecue and briquettes covered until i'm sure they won't get soaked. Which means, when i buy bell peppers to grill on the barbecue so that i can make some antipasti, i have to end up doing something else with them.

I found this simple recipe in the book Twelve by Tessa Kiros. The August chapter mostly features exquisite photos of bright blue sunny clear days and lots of recipes for the barbecue. And it's got a good selection of recipes included peppers: this one, Pappardelle con melanzane e peperoni, Trota in forno con peperoni (i am definitely going to make this soon esp. with all the trout that's available right now), and Peperonata.

Rigatoni ai peperoni Serves 6
from Twelve by Tessa Kiros

2 medium sized red peppers
1 medium yellow pepper
4 Tbs olive oil
1 med red onion finely chopped
3 garlic cloves finely chopped
4 ripe tomatoes, skinned and pureed
handful freshly chopped parsley
500g rigatoni, penne or similar pasta
4 Tbs thick cream
6 basil leaves, roughly torn
120g freshly grated parmesan

1. cut peppers into small chunks


2. heat olve oil in large saucepan and add onion and garlic. sautee few minutes until softened, then add the tomatoes. when they begin to bubble up, add the peppers and half of the chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper. add about 250 ml water and simmer, covered for 30-40 minutes or until the capiscum is very soft. add a few more drops of water to prevent the sauce from drying out, if necessary.


3. meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of salted water to boil for the pasta.


4. remove the suacepan from the heat. puree haf of the peppers sauce and return to the saucepan, leaving the rest as they are. add cream and heat through.


5. cook the pasta in boiling water folowing the packet instructions. drain and quickly toss into the sauce. mix hrough the remaining chopped parsley and basil and serve immediately sprinkled with parmesan.

Strawberry Risotto (Yes, it's savoury)

June is almost over and i can't let this month pass without a nod to the current Berlin food obsession: strawberries. All the Beelitzer spargel stands have been replaced by cute Erdbeer huts selling local strawberries. These are definitely strawberries worth waiting for. These aren't those huge but tasteless things your local supermarket tries to pass off as a strawberry. These are the real thing. Every bite gives you that strawberry taste you remember from your youth but never found again....until now!

You can buy generous 1kg crates from a hut for 4.50Euro Not a bad deal at all in my opninion.

So what to do with all these strawberries? Make Strawberry Risotto of course! People's first reaction when i mention strawberry risotto is to ask -- is it a dessert? When i tell them no, it's a savoury dish they still look skeptical. But trust me, this dish definitely works as either a nice starter or even as a main. I used Tessa Kiros' Strawberry Risotto recipe from her fabulous book Twelve.

Risotto alla Fragola
from Twelve by Tessa Kiros
serves 6

1.5 litres meat or chicken stock
60g butter
1 medium French shallot, peeled and very finely chopped
250g ripe strawberries, washed, hulled and halved
3 Tbsp good quality brandy
500 risotto rice
50g freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus extra for serving

• Heat the stock in a large saucepan and keep it on a gentle simmer.


• Heat half of the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Saute the French shallot on a low heat until it has softened and add half of the strawberries. Cook gently for a couple of minutes, then add the brandy. When it has evaporated, add the rice and stir with a wooden spoon to coat all the rice. Season with salt and pepper and add a ladleful of hot stock, stirring almost continuously to prevent the rice from sticking.


• When the rice has absorbed the liquid, add another ladleful and continue stirring, making sure you move all the rice at the bottom of the pan with the spoon. After about 20 minutes, taste the rice. It should be soft yet firm, and the texture should be creamy and slightly liquid. You may have to continue cooking it for a few more minutes.


• Add the remaining straweberry halves, the butter and the 50g of Parmesan cheese and stir in . Serve immediately with a grinding of black pepper and extra Parmesan cheese.

Meatless Monday: Megadarra (or what to cook when your fridge is empty)

We had a short 1-week holiday in Scotland last week. Prior to that, most of Northern Germany was in the grips of E.Coli paranoia and we were no exception. After days of no progress on finding the source we decided to play it safe and ditch the fresh lettuce, cukes, tomatoes and other vegetables that we had in the fridge. When we returned the source was somewhat inconclusively nailed down to a bean sprout grower. Our fridge however was still relatively bare, and, it being a holiday weekend, we had limited options for stocking up. (Note: as of today the E.Coli has been traced back to a stream in Frankfurt.)



What we did have was a bag of onions, some lovely brown lentils that I picked up on our trip to Spain, and rice. Being an ex-vegetarian I knew I'd get a proper protein with the lentil-rice combo and a garnish of lemon/garlic/cumin spiked yoghurt would help in that regard too.



I used Claudia Roden's recipe featured on Food&Wine online. It's pretty straightforwards and quick to make. Perfect for a mid-week meal and great as leftovers for lunch!

Brown Lentils and Rice with Caramelized Onions
from Claudia Roden in Food & Wine online

5 Tbsp olive oil
750g onions, thinly sliced
265g brown lentils
5 cups water
255g long grain rice (i used basmati)
salt
pepper
1 cup yoghurt
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp cumin (i used about 1 tsp cumin + 1/2 tsp cayenne)

1. Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions, cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring from time to time, until the onions are golden brown, about 10 minutes longer.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   


2. In a medium saucepan, combine the lentils and water. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat until the lentils are partially cooked, about 15 minutes. Stir in half the onions, the rice and 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook over low heat until the rice and lentils are tender, about 20 minutes. Add more water if needed to prevent sticking.


3. Meanwhile, cook the remaining onions over high heat until dark brown and caramelized, about 5 minutes. Stir the onions frequently so they don't stick to the bottom of the skillet and burn.


4. In a small bowl, combine the yogurt with the garlic, lemon juice and cumin. Transfer the lentils and rice to a shallow bowl and drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil over them. Sprinkle with the caramelized onions and serve. Pass the yogurt separately.

Meatless Monday: My Favourite Stir Fry

When Kelsie and I met we were both vegetarians, and had been for about 10 years prior to that. It was only until we moved back to the UK and i could trace my meat from the local butcher (Aberfoyle Butcher) back to the farm, that we began eating meat again.

During my vegetarian days and even now, one of my favourite comfort foods is a big bowl of stir fry over brown rice. I tend to use the same ingredients these days, and the main thing that changes is the green. I go for what's in season and available at the market.

Here's a quick guide to how i prepare veggie stir fry. The 'recipe' below easily serves 4 hungry people.

• Start by getting the brown rice cooking. it takes about 40-45 minutes for it to cook, so by the time you've finished prepping the veg and stir frying it, the rice should be ready. I cook 1 cup raw brown rice to 2-1/3 cup water. bring to the boil, then cover and whack the heat way down. oh, and add a pinch of salt to it as well.


• prepare the 'hot' ingredients. i use 1 habanero seeded and minced, a 2 inch piece of ginger peeled and minced, and about 5 cloves garlic minced. i also add in 1 Tbsp black or white sesame seeds.


• Mushrooms are ever present in my stir frys. I love fresh shitake, but if i can't get any my fallback is chestnut. I've even used reconstituted dried shitakes on occasion. Mushrooms, for a vegetarian, are a good source of Vitamin B. For a big batch of stir fry i use about 400g mushrooms, sliced.


• Tofu is another must-have. I get fresh cakes of tofu from the local Asiamarkt. I prefer to use one big firm block for my stir fry. Cut it up into 1/2 inch cubes.


• Seasoning: tamari or soy sauce, dried basil, rice vinegar and sesame oil. I don't really measure these, but go by sight and smell and taste.


• Greens: One big or two small bunches of whatever you fancy. Back in the states i used a LOT of mustard greens, kale, and rainbow chard. also, purple sprouting broccoli, cavolo nero or broccoli rabe are nice. lately in Berlin i've been getting ginormous bunches of mangold (white chard) in the local market. keep the cut up stalks separate from the cut up leaves as the cooking times vary. if you're using kale leave the woody stalks out.


• To cook: in a very hot wok heat up a couple tablespoons olive oil and add the HOT ingredients. Once brown, add the sliced mushrooms until most of the liquid has cooked away from them and they are starting to brown. add the tofu and season with dried basil and a few splashes of soy sauce. next up add the green stalks and let it cook until they start to become tender. finish up with the greens leaves and a few dashes of rice vinegar. stir fry until everything is cooked and finish off with a couple splashes of sesame oil.


• serve over brown rice in bowls. i like to garnish my stir fry with Nutritional Yeast, another relic from my vegetarian days. it also is a good source of Vitamin B. And, if the habanero i used happens to be killer hot, i soemtime add a dollop of yoghurt as well.

Note on additional ingredients: i've sometimes added in plantain, or steamed winter squash, or diced cooked beetroot, both for the visual contrast and the variation on the standard recipe.
Hint: one of my fave breakfasts is reheated stir fry from the night before. :-)