Category Archives: Recipes – Vegetables

Tagliatelle con salsa di ortiche / Stinging Nettle Tagliatelle

Ingredients (4 Primi Piatti)

  • 100 g Guanciale (or Pancetta), diced into small cubes
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 fresh chilli (pepperoni), finely chopped (add to taste)
  • ½ glass good-quality dry white wine
  • 1 cup blanched stinging nettles, well drained and roughly chopped
  • 100 g freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
  • Salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 500 g fresh tagliatelle

Method

  1. Bring the pasta water to the boil.
    Fill a large pot with plenty of water, add a generous amount of salt and bring it to a rolling boil while preparing the sauce.
  2. Cook the guanciale.
    Place the diced guanciale in a heavy-bottomed frying pan large enough to hold the finished pasta. Fry over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the guanciale is golden brown and crispy. Remove the crispy guanciale with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the rendered fat in the pan.
  3. Prepare the flavour base.
    Add the garlic and chilli to the guanciale fat and cook gently until softened and fragrant, taking care not to brown the garlic. Pour in the white wine and simmer until almost all the liquid has evaporated.
  4. Add the stinging nettles.
    Stir the blanched, chopped stinging nettles into the pan and cook for about one minute, allowing them to absorb the flavours. Keep the mixture warm over very low heat.
  5. Cook the pasta.
    Add the fresh tagliatelle to the boiling water and cook until about 1 minute short of al dente. Before draining, reserve about one cup of the hot pasta cooking water.
  6. Combine everything.
    Return half of the crispy guanciale to the pan with the nettles and toss together. Add the drained pasta and gently toss over medium heat. Add a little of the reserved pasta water as required to keep the pasta moist and begin forming a silky sauce.
  7. Mantecare – the Italian finishing touch.
    Remove the pan from the heat and add half of the grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Toss vigorously, adding a little more pasta water if necessary, until the cheese melts and emulsifies with the pasta water to create a rich, creamy sauce.This traditional Italian technique is called mantecare—creating a beautifully creamy sauce without using cream.

To Serve

Divide the pasta among pre-heated serving plates.

Top with the remaining crispy guanciale, a generous sprinkle of the remaining Parmigiano Reggiano and a few twists of freshly ground black pepper.

Serve immediately.

Buon Appetito!

Enjoy with a generous glass of home-made red wine, good friends and plenty of conversation.

PASTA CAVOLFIORE (Broccoli Pasta)

Ingredients 

1 medium cauliflower broken in to florets

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed

6 anchovies

6 tablespoons of olive oil for the sauce 

6 tablespoons of olive oil for roasting 

190g of any short cut dry pasta

1/2 cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

salt and pepper to taste   

preheat the oven to 200C

Put the raw cauliflower in a bowl, add the olive oil and turn the couliflower over until the florets are well covered. Put the florets in a roasting pan that  will take all the cauliflower in one level. Roast the florets until they are golden. The tips can be a little blackened because that enhances the nutty flavour 

When the cauliflower has roasted, put the pasta on the stove to boil

Use a pot that can contain the florets and pasta together, put the 6 tablespoons of olive oil in the pot and add the garlic and all the anchovies. Turn the heat to low and brown the garlic, the anchovy will melt in to the oil

When the pasta has cooked, save 1/4 cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta. Pour the pasta directly into the anchovy and garlic sauce and mix well. Add a bit of the pasta water to the mix if needed. Serve immediately, put the cheese on the table so everyone can add cheese to taste  

STROMBOLI

We expected 2 friends for dinner tonight and I decided to bake a STROMBOLI instead of the normal bread I always make

I used my standard bread dough recipe, using my own organic milled wheat flour and rolled it out about 0.5 cm thick. Dressed it with Fresh baby Spinach, Caciocavallo cheese, Tomatoes, Capocollo, Salami, Garlic, Parsley, Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper – Most of the Produce, Cheese and Salumi are my own produce

Roll it up thightly

Proof it in one of my spare egg incubators

Bake at 225 C for 30 minutes, turn the heat down to 190 C and bake for another 30 minutes

Ready for the guests

The end product was not only visually appealing, but met with the approval of all !!

RISOTTO alla BARBABIETOLA (Beetroot Risotto)

Winter in Dunedin means that the garden is not very productive and we need to eat what is available. Beetroot seems to ignore the cold and the plants were producing throughout winter – fortunately I planted enough. The problem of too little vegetable varieties becomes more intense as one runs out of ideas as to how the beetroot is going to be cooked today. I harvested some more beetroot and asked Mrs BYF to do something else with it this time and she came up with this wonderful Beetroot Risotto – I am now sorry I did not plant more.

Ingredients

4 small or 2 large Beetroot (about 500g) washed but not trimmed 

1 whole Garlic

4 Scallions (because we have lots in the garden) finely chopped, including the tender parts of the green leaves. 

1 1/2 cups of risotto rice like Arborio or Carnaroli

500ml of Stock. Any good stock will do of which we again have ample supplies of. 

Olive oil for frying 

1 tablespoon of Butter to add at the end. 

Salt and Pepper to taste. 

Grated Parmigiano reggiano to serve. 

Pre heat the oven to 200C. Brush the beetroot and the garlic with olive oil and roast until cooked, about 40 minutes. Don’t leave them too long, they get dry and wrinkly.

When the beetroot and garlic are done and have cooled enough to handle, trim and chop the beetroot ( I never remove the skin) if you chop finely enough you don’t have to blend anything. Squeeze the garlic over the  beetroot and set aside. 

Heat the stock to just below boiling point

Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to a pan, big enough to contain the cooked rice, scallions and beetroot add the chopped scallions and fry until translucent. Add the rice and fry for a few minutes. Add half a glass of good white wine and allow the alcohol to evaporate. Start adding the stock a few tablespoons at a time, don’t make a soup. Keep stirring while adding stock. Each grain of rice should have a coating of moisture and float separately from the others. Keep this up until the rice is almost done, then add the garlic and beetroot mix to the rice. Cook and stir until the rice is tender enough to taste.  Adjust salt and pepper. Add the butter and stir very well before serving hot onto heated plates

Top with Parmigiano reggiano and some chopped parsley

ENJOY with a glass of GOOD home made red wine !!

Frittata di Uova di quaglia, Cardi e Asparagi

Quail Egg Frittata with Cardoon and Asparagus

Clean and dice a handful of the cardoon and boil in salted water for about 5 minutes. Dice a handful of Pancetta and fry in a pan large enough for all the ingredients. Ad the Cardoon to the pan and fry with the Pancetta for about 5 minutes. Ad pepper to taste (salt is already in the Pancetta)

Crack about 30 Quail Eggs and ad a handful of grated Parmigiano Reggiano, two tablespoons of water and ground Black Pepper. Beat the eggs slightly with a fork and ad to the Pancetta and Cardoon. Fry slowly until almost set. Now place the pan in the oven with the grill turned to high.

Cut the tips of the Asparagus and fry in another pan with butter and Black Pepper for about 2 -3 minutes.

When the Frittata has set in the oven, decorate with the fried Asparagus and return to the oven until brown. Remove and drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Black Pepper and fresh Basil leaves

Eat with toasted Wholemeal Organic Bread and wash it down with a good wine – Today I tried my Honey Wine, which I make to be dry and it was all GOOD!!