Food: Baked Spaghetti squash with lentil ragù

Having seen them be an Autumnal regular on many American food blogger’s Instagram feeds, I was pleasantly surprised when I found a spaghetti squash at Möllan Market, here in Malmö. I bought a good sized one, for myself and the Mr to share for dinner for 22kr (£1.87), but now was the challenge, what the hell do I do with it?! The solution came in the unlikely form of Instagram, one of my friend’s here in Malmö, Nourish With Julie (IG), also a food and travel blogger, had done spaghetti squash ‘pasta’ the previous night and a little guide to how to cook a spaghetti squash in her stories. So, fired up I decided to put a twist on it, using my lentil ragù recipe to fill the big orange vessels. However, instead of using green lentils I used red ones to have it all meld together to the colour of an Autumn leaf. To make my take on it, you’ll need:

(Feeds 2 (generously))

• 1 spaghetti squash, de- seeded and cut in half
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 100g of red lentils
• 200ml of water
• Splash of rapeseed oil/vegetable oil
• 1 tbp of tomato puree
• 1 tbp of sundried tomatoes/sundried tomato paste (optional)
• Splash of red wine (optional)
• ½ tsp of salt
• ½ tsp of black pepper (or more!)
• 1 tsp dried basil (or a generous handful of fresh if you can get it)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2-3 bay Leaves

Herbed breadcrumbs:

•  100g (usually 3-5 slices) of stale bread
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• Sprinkle of salt ( I used Halen Môn Anglesey sea saly)
• Pepper

Garnish:

• Fresh basil leaves (optional)
• Drizzle of garlic-infused oil

 

Start with the spaghetti squash, on a chopping board, cut it through the middle (be careful at this step, as the knife may not go through the flesh easily, depending on the individual squash) and scoop out all of the seeds. The seeds you can use as a snack, by seasoning them with spices and a little oil and oven baking them so don’t throw them away! Once you have two halves of squash, now with empty cavities, brush a little oil on them, followed by a crack of salt and pepper. Place them face down on a baking tray and place them into a pre-heated oven at 180°c for roughly 40-50 minutes (depending on the size of the squash).

Whilst the squash cooks you can sort out the ragù.

Fry the onions and garlic in the oil over a medium heat until soft. Stir in the tomato paste and the tin of tomatoes. Season with the herbs, the salt and the black pepper and add the splash of wine if you have it.

Pour in the lentils and add ¾ of the water to the mix. The lentils will suck up the water as they cook. give it a good stir – add more water if it’s looking a bit thick. Simmer on the back ring on a medium heat until the lentils are soft. Take out the bay leaves and set aside.

Once the squash halves are done, take them out of the oven and rough the flesh up a bit with a fork. Next, fill with the ragù and top with some herby breadcrumbs. You can easily make these by taking some stale bread and the dried herbs and blending them up with a food processor. Once broken down into seasoned breadcrumbs, top the ragù, as you would with some Parmesan, drizzle with some garlic oil, a sprinkle of the salt and place back in the oven for a further 10 minutes.

When the top is all golden, garnish with some basil leaves and serve with a side salad with a punchy dressing and some bread. As the squash are quite substantial on their own, you wont need a lot to go with them.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Food: Gower Gin & orange marmalade

Recently, my local greengrocers had a glut of oranges that needed using up. With a few on the turn, they weren’t able to sell them at their normal price (which is also cheap, might I add, defying the myth that living in Sweden is ‘expensive’). I was able to get a bag of at least 15 oranges for the measly sum of 5kr (43p) and only 3 of them were duds!

Needing to use this citrusy surplus up, I got my thinking cap (and my apron!) on and made use of them. Making a marmalade instantly came to mind, so the next question was, what to pair with it? As I didn’t want a boring old orange marmalade. Why, of  course gin! I used some gin from producers Gower Gin Co , from my home-city of Swansea, South Wales.  The resulting product is a punchy, citrusy marmalade that’s great spread on toast (has to be good bread, though), swirled through porridge, or gone full-circle and made into a cocktail.  The recipe below makes one big pot of the stuff, but feel free to double, even triple the recipe, you wont regret it!

To make you’ll need:

• 6 oranges, (Seville oranges work best)
• 1 lemon
• 1 full kettle of water (mine can hold 1.2 litres of water)
• 600g golden granulated sugar
• 2 shots of gin, I used Gower Gin Co’s Gŵyr Gin

To start, cut all (but two) of the oranges and the lemon in half and juice into the a large pan, using a sieve to collect the seeds. Once you’ve done this, take out the seeds with a spoon and scoop out any flesh that had been collected by the sieve. Tip this into the pan. The rinds of all of these oranges and lemons are vital for the marmalade, so the next step is to cut them up and add them to the pan. Here’s where you can personalise the preserve to your liking, if you like it fine, cut it fine, but if you like it chunky, like I do, roughly chop up the peel. Add the water to the pan from a recently boiled kettle. It isn’t necessary, but I feel it speeds up the boiling process. Turn the hob to a medium-high heat. Add in the sugar and the remaining two oranges. Stir. You want to keep it to a rolling boil. Cook for 15 minutes. The reason I added in the two oranges in whole, is to give the conserve more body. A trick implemented by the makes of ‘whole orange squash’. After 15 minutes the fruits should be squidgy and soft. Remove and place into a mixing bowl. With a hand blender, give it a few pulses. What it should give is a very thick pureé, full of zesty goodness. Remove the pips with a spoon before pouring back into the pan. Cook for a further 30-40 minutes, giving it the ‘plate test’ every 10 minutes. The ‘plate test’ is if you drop a bit of the mixture onto a chilled plate/ saucer, it should start setting, forming a skin. You can test this by poking with your finger. If 40 minutes doesn’t do it, keep cooking and checking until it does.

When it finally passes the test, take it off the heat and leave for a few minutes. This is because we want to keep as much of the gin’s boozy punch as possible. After a few minutes stir in the gin and pour into a sterilised jar. Place the lid on and leave to cool to room temperature before placing in the fridge (if you pre-emptively place it in the fridge it can mess with the internal thermostat of the fridge). It’ll set up even thicker in the fridge over night. Good things come to those that wait 😉

 

Enjoy!

Food: Bougie PB&J

I had half a punnet of strawberries that needed using up, so I decided to make them into a bougie conserve. So with it an easy way to pimp up your standard PB&J. Here’s how to do it. You can totally scale up the recipe, but I’m just jotting down what I had to work with.

For the Strawberry, lime & white rum jam

• 100g strawberries, de-stalked
• 50g sugar
• 100ml water
• Juice & zest of 1/2 lime
• 1 shot of white rum (optional)

 

to make, simply put a pan on the hob on medium-high and place in the sugar, strawberries and the water. It should take a few minutes for it all to start bubbling, but when it does it will come together quite quickly, so don’t get distracted as it can burn easily. Cook for 5-7 minutes on high until you can see it all becoming a pan of red, strawberry flavoured loveliness. When you see that happening, take it off the heat and add in the lime zest, juice and the rum. As it will still be hot, be careful when mixing it in. Pour into a glass jar and leave on the countertop to cool before putting it in the fridge to set, preferably overnight.

 

The next day the jam should have set and be halfway between a jam and a firm compote.

 

This is what I had left of the jam after scoffing it all down!

The next step to make is the peanut caramel. To make you’ll need:

• 50g demerara sugar
• 100ml water
• 20g peanuts (I used roasted peanuts, but you can use un roasted too)
• Pinch of salt. I used some exquisite Anglesey sea salt with Tahitian vanilla from Halen Môn

Like the jam,  add in the sugar and the water and cook in a hot pan until they start forming a light caramel, then add in the peanuts. Roll them around in the pan, without using a spoon or spatula and enrobe them in the caramel. Cook the caramel mixture out until it turns golden brown. Pour onto a silicone baking sheet (you can use a spatula now) and sprinkle with the salt. The flavour of Halen Môn’s vanilla salt will compliment the lime and strawberry of the jam perfectly. Leave to cool and harden.

Halen Môn’s Anglesey Sea Salt with Tahitian vanilla.

Now to make the foundation of it all, the toast. I used some great sourdough from a local bakery here in Malmö, Organic Bakery, that I rescued with this great app here in Sweden and also in London called Karma. They work with local businesses to sell their ‘end of the day’ produce at a reduced price. Meaning the consumer reduces food waste, supports local businesses and gets amazing quality food for a fraction of the price. (Not a sponsor but if you’re in London or Sweden it would be silly not to check them out!).

Anyway, back to the toast…

Top that warm toast off with some tasty dairy-free ‘butter’ and top with a thick layer of peanut butter. Spread the jam on one half and place pieces of the now cooled salted peanut caramel brittle on the other. Top with a few sliced strawberries and devour!

 

Enjoy!

 

Food: My ‘God’s Butter’

Sarah Philpott’s book ‘The Occasional Vegan’ has been a regular source of inspiration to me, containing an array of recipes from different cuisines, all vegan. So, whether you fancy a Buddha Bowl or a dirty vegan ‘pork pie’, she and the book has you covered. The recipes give a great foundation, that if you want to differ from it, verse and gospel, you can. This brings me to the greatness that is her ‘God’s Butter’ and my version of it. Such an easy and satisfying recipe for a pea, avocado and mint spread. You’ll find the original recipe on Page 47 of the book. To make my version of the recipe, you’ll need:

• 200g frozen peas or petit pois
• 1-2 ripe avocados
• Zest & juice of 1 lime
• 200g canned butter beans  (drained)
• 1/2 a red chilli, sliced finely
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• Handful of fresh mint, chopped
• 1tsp garlic infused oil
• Salt & pepper

 

Boil the peas for 2-3 minutes, then take off the heat whilst they are still bright and green, rinse under a cold tap, until cool. Place in a mixing bowl. Add in the rest of the ingredients (I’d chunk the avocado up, to make it easier to blend). Plug in a stick blender and pulse until it comes together into a green and aromatic spread. Season & you’re ready to serve.

My version is a lot smoother than the original, as I think with it being smoother it’s more versatile to be used as a base for a pasta sauce and a spread for toast. Below are just some of the ways I’ve used it.

 

Enjoy!

 

Published By Seren Books, RRP £12.99

With Pictures by Manon Houston

Food: Rude Food Recipe 4: ‘Keep the cold at bay’ soup

 

The #Beastfromtheeast has left its mark over all of northern Europe it seems and snowy Malmö is no exception. I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands with this stalwart soup that will batten down the hatches with plenty of fresh alium and flush out any lingering nasties with the heat of the chilli. The level of any of these is preferential, but here are the amounts that I used.

You will need:

• 1 pack of cooked Beetroot, and its juice
• The zest & juice of 1/2 lemon,
• 1/2 tsp chilli, (go full tsp if you’re feeling particularly under the weather!),
• 2 medium potatoes,
• 1/2 an onion,
• 1tbs Sauerkraut juice (optional, I used some, leftover from my dear friend Kathe Kaczmarzyk’s pop-up here in Malmö) ,
• 3 cloves of garlic,
• 3 rhizomes of fresh turmeric, grated,
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon,
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger,
• Salt & pepper,
• 500ml homemade veg stock
• 1tbs dried parsley,

For the orange, ginger & mustard crème:

• 2tbs dairy free crème fraîche (I used Oatly fraîche)
• 1tsp wholegrain mustard
• zest & juice of 1/4 orange
• Thumb- size piece of ginger, grated

Garnish:

Handful of fresh parsley, chopped.

 

 

The method for soups is always fairly simple, the magic here is the contents and not the process.

Chop the onion, the garlic and the onions roughly, separately chop up the beetroot into chunks and make sure you keep the juices.

Gently soften the onion and the garlic in a little oil and then add the potatoes, stir them through. Begin to add the lemon juice, the sauerkraut, the beetroot pieces, the beetroot juice and then grate in the lemon zest and the turmeric. Be careful with the fresh turmeric as it will stain anything, including your skin, so you might want to use gloves. Add the spices, the herbs and then pour over the stock, season to your taste including the chilli!

Bring the whole thing up to a robust simmer before sticking in the oven at 140 degrees celsius (fan assisted) and allow it to do its thing for at least an hour. Take the whole thing out, stir and check the seasoning. When you’re happy with it you can blast the whole thing with a stick blender or a food processor until it’s thick.

The aroma should be rich and earthy with the beetroot and the garlic, the back notes from the sauerkraut and the lemon should be sharp and punchy. The heat should be there to the taste too from the chilli. The colour should be like you’ve liquidised rubies.

For the punchy crème, simply mix all the ingredients together into a bowl and leave to thicken for 5 minutes.

Serve with a good loaf of your favourite sourdough, a sprinkle of chopped parsley and a generous dollop of the punchy fraîche.

Enjoy!

Food: Easy broccoli & borlotti bean penne with my Zogghiu

On the weekend I bought a big bunch of fresh mint from my local greengrocer for a Middle-Eastern dish. I was left thinking what to make with still a sizeable bunch left-over. Turn to Sicily!

In Sicily, unlike other parts of Italy, they have a special Eastern Influence on their flavours, because of the island’s special history, this has lead them to use mint as a herb, rather than just a garnish or for sweets. This has produced some real treasures like zogghiu, a minty & pistachio filled pesto. It would normally have some parsley too, but my version still produces a great, fresh & zingy sauce for pasta.

Serves 2

To make you’ll need:

• 200g dried penne (100g per person)
• Half a head of broccoli, cut into florets
• 1 tin of Borlotti beans, drained

For the zogghiu (pesto):

• Bunch of fresh mint (cut the stalks off)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 4tbs rapeseed/ olive oil
• 1tbs pine nuts
• 1tbs pistachios (unsalted & shelled)
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1tbs white wine vinegar
• Salt & pepper

Garnish:

• Few mint leaves
• handful of pistachios

Start with the pesto, simply add the ingredients into a food processor and whizz up into a fragrant green paste. Before blending, keep a few mint leaves aside for garnish. Remember to stop half way, scrape the sides down with a spatula and go again, this will ensure a smoother, more even pesto. Then remove and scrape into a bowl.

Put a pot of salted water onto boil, as it gets up to speed, place in the broccoli. Poach until they’re tender, but still have a bright green colour. Remove with a scoop. Place the pasta in and cook for 8-10 minutes, until al-dente. In the last minute of cooking, add in the Borlotti beans. Strain and place back into the pan. Add the florets of broccoli and pour in 1/2 of the pesto. You can store the other half in the fridge or freezer for a future meal. Fold the minty sauce through the pasta and vegetables. Then scoop into bowls. Add a few mint leaves and a handful of pistachios as a garnish, a nod to whats in the very special pesto.

Enjoy!

FOOD: RUDE FOOD RECIPE 2: PARSNIP, SAGE & BROWN MUSTARD SOUP

For my second recipe as Rude Food ambassador; as I still had a glut of rescued parsnips and potatoes left, I thought I’d do a take on my roasted parsnip & mustard soup.

these are rescued ingredients I was given for this recipe: rescued parsnips, sage, apples & potatoes.

You’ll need:

• 4-5 medium parsnips (roasted)
• 1 onion
• 2 potatoes, peeled & cut into quarters
• 1tbsp German mustard (use wholegrain mustard as an alternative)
• 1tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1tbs dried sage
• 1tbs dried parsley
• 1 Litre of water
• Rapeseed oil

Garnish:

• A handful walnuts chopped and toasted
• Chopped fresh parsley
• 1-2 small golden roasted parsnips
• slice of fried apple (optional)
• Some walnut oil (optional)

 

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C with your baking tray loaded with a generous glug or two of rapeseed oil, then peel and parboil the parsnips and potatoes. Toss the parsnips in the hot oil and roast for 25 minutes or so.

While they’re cooking, chop and fry the onion in a Le Creuset style deep pan with a little oil until they’re soft and mellow. Next, add in the potatoes. When the parsnips are done, remove from the oven and snip into the pot with a pair of scissors (keep one or two smaller parsnips and leave to one side for the garnish). Pour over the water, stir in the mustards, the dried parsley & sage and season generously with salt and black pepper. Put the lid on and let it simmer for a further thirty minutes.

When the soup’s done its thing, take a hand blender and blitz the whole thing into a thick, creamy soup. For the topping, chop and toast the walnuts in apotatoes dry frying pan.  Finish with chopped parsley, a slice of fried apple, walnuts, a drizzle of walnut oil and the whole roasted parsnips you kept from earlier.

Serve with with a good hearty loaf; I served mine with a crusty walnut bread and a good beer!

 

Food: Rude Food Recipe 1: Sage roasted parsnips on a bed of meaty green lentils

New for 2018! I’ve been made the Rude Food Ambassador for the next few months. Rude Food is Sweden’s first food rescuing service and I am lucky that it’s based here in Malmö. They stop perfectly good food from going to waste and promote good food practice to everyone. They usually return the food to the catering world to be used again but in order to help the promotional side of things they have asked me to write two recipes a month using some of their ingredients. Reducing food waste is a massive issue for me, not only for environmental and ethical purposes, but on a practical and economic level too. It just makes sense to make use of what you’ve got, so I’m thrilled to be taking on this role!

This first recipe is for sage roasted parsnips on a bed of meaty green lentils, served with a sour apple purée, blueberry pickled onions, plump sultanas and a sprinkle of fresh sage.,

If you’re wondering, here are the rescued ingredients I was given for this recipe: rescued parsnips, sage, lemons & apples.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

For the stock and the lentils:

600ml of water,

1 regular onion – ½ cut into half rings; ½ other half finely chopped.

150g of green lentils,

1 tsp of dried sage,

For the parsnips:

• 4 parsnips,
• 3-4 tbsp of rapeseed oil,
• 2 tbsp of cornflour
• 1 tsp of dried sage,
• Salt,
• Black pepper

For the sour apple puree:

• 2 apples
• 1 heaped tbsp of sugar,
• 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar vinegar
• Juice of ½ lemon

For the sultanas:

• 20g of sultanas
• A cup of the stock,

To serve:

• Black pepper
• Salt
• A handful of fresh sage,

 

For the stock and the lentils:

 

To begin you need to create a stock to cook the lentils in, one that’s imbued with the flavours of the main ingredients. To do this, simply peel the parsnips and the onion and add the skins to a Dutch oven of gently boiling water. Season with salt, black pepper and some of the dried sage. Having peeled the parsnips, cut them into decent sized chips; cutting off the thin ends then quartering the thickest part is best. Parboil them in the stock water for 2 minutes and then remove.

Allow the stock to reduce by a third. Ideally allow the stock to do its thing for at least an hour before taking out all of the skins. You can do this by straining the mixture over a bowl and then returning the water to the heat in the dutch oven. (Keep a small cup of the stock aside for the sultanas).

 

Fry the finely chopped half of the onion gently until soft in a little oil and then add to the water with the lentils and allow them to cook slowly in the Dutch oven for at least 45 minutes. Cooking them low and slow will give them all the time to lose their grittiness and take on all the flavours of the stock, leaving them meaty and moreish.

 

For the parsnips:

 

Preheat your oven to 220°c and layer a baking tray with the rapeseed oil and place in the oven until super hot.

 

Pat the parboiled parsnips down with kitchen towel to remove all excess water. Put the parsnips into a medium sized bowl and rough the skins up a little with a fork. Dust over the corn flour and season with black pepper, a pinch of salt and dried sage. Make sure the parsnips are thoroughly covered with the seasoning mix.

 

Remove the pan from the oven and place the parsnips into the hot oil carefully, they should immediately start to sizzle. Be careful to avoid spitting fat. Make sure the rapeseed oil covers all of the parsnips and return to the oven.

 

Continue to cook for 5 minutes on 200°c before reducing to 180°c. Cook for a further ten minutes before checking them.The undersides should be crispy and golden. Turn them all over and return to the oven for a further ten minutes. When they’re golden and crispy all over you can take them and remove any excess oil with some paper towel.

 

For the sour apple puree:

 

Peel and core the apples, cut them into small cubes and place in a small pan. Cover them with water and add in the sugar, lemon juice & apple cider vinegar. Allow the water to reduce and the apples to break down until you have a thick sauce. When it’s ready, remove from the heat and blend with a stick blender.

For the pickled onions and the sultanas:

 

Quick pickles are really easy to do and they can really add zing to a dish. You don’t need to use fancy vinegars but it is nice if you have a couple of bottles of nice flavoured vinegar ready for dishes like this.

 

Fill a small bowl with a third of water and add the vinegar, break up the half of the onion that’s been cut into half rings and sprinkle into the pickling liquor. Allow to absorb the vinegar for 20 minutes, but ideally a bit longer if you have the time. This can easily be made in advance, in fact they’ll keep in the fridge for a while and can be topped up and reused regularly.

 

For the sultanas, leave some of the stock aside and put in a handful of sultanas in a cup. Let them plump up in the warm stock.

 

To serve:

 

Layer a bed of the lentils in the bottom of a dish and place the parsnips on top. Spoon a little of the apple on the side and sprinkle with the sultanas, the pickled onions and some fresh sage.

 

Food: Lime & lavender marmalade

As I mentioned in my previous recipe of my raspberry limemade, I still had a surplus of limes, that needed using. The solution: this delicious & floral marmalade. Great in porridge, on toast or atop a decadent cheesecake and so simple to make!

To make you’ll need:

• 8 limes, sliced thinly
• Juice of 2 limes
• 400g sugar
• 600ml water
• 1tbs dried lavender

Start by placing the lime juice, sugar and water in a pan. The sugar should start dissolving in the acid of the lime juice. Place on the hob and turn the heat up high. Now, start slicing the limes up thin, by using a mandolin. Make sure you use the safety guard provided with the mandolin as otherwise, it’s a guaranteed trip to the emergency room, for you.  After you’ve sliced up the fruits, drop them into the now bubbling water and cook on a simmer for 40 minutes. During the last 10 minutes sprinkle the dried lavender and stir, so it disperses evenly.  Set aside and leave to cool slightly before pouring into your chosen bowl/ jar. The pectin in the pith and flesh should help set the marmalade overnight.

Enjoy!

Food: Vegan Carbonara

Last week in the ICA store in Möllevången, here in Malmö,  I saw these awesome new soya bacon pieces. Well, I just had to buy them and make myself a vegan spaghetti carbonara didn’t I 😉

Here’s a recipe for an equally creamy sauce as the original, but 100% plant based.

To make, you’ll need:

• 1/2 pack soy bacon (87g)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1tsp vegan butter,
• 100ml Oatly cream (or any other plant based cream)
• Glug of garlic infused oil
• 1tbs nutritional yeast
• 1tbs vegan mayo
• Lots of black pepper, around 8-9 cracks

To serve:

• Handful of chopped fresh parsley,
• Lots of vegan Parmesan ( I used Astrid och Aporna’s Riv-iera)

 

Start by putting on the spaghetti, the dish isn’t going to take long to make! Once the spaghetti is starting to simmer in it’s salty water, start by melting the butter in the pan and adding in the vegan bacon. I used ones from ICA here in Sweden, but I’m sure there are definitely nice bacon alternatives you could use, like smoked tofu, or tempeh bacon etc. Fry off until it starts going crisp, then add in the garlic. Fry until it cooks out its raw bite. Now, add in the Oatly cream, black pepper, nooch and garlic oil. Turn the heat down to low and stir. When they have thoroughly mixed together take the pan off the heat. By this time, the pasta should be nice and al-dente. Strain into a colander. As the sauce has started to cool down, you can add in the vegan mayo. This will give the same unctuous taste and feeling as using eggs in a traditional carbonara. Stir through the pasta evenly, so that each strand of spaghetti is enrobed in the sauce.  Serve with the chopped parsley and a generous helping of vegan Parmesan.

Enjoy!