Category Archives: Vegetables – Recipes

An Artichoke, a Pumpkin Flower, some Sage Leaves = Lunch

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I cleaned up the garden and brought in one small artichoke, one pumpkin flower and some sage leaves. I did not know what to do with my meager harvest so I decided to deep fry

every thing.  I added some fast home made bread, (pane veloce) put out the last of the carrot top pesto and ricotta cheese. Poured a bit of red and had a great meal.

Flour and Water Batter

1 cup plain white flour

Pinch of salt

water

Mix flour and salt add water a little at a time while whisking until you have a thick creamy consistency. Set aside 

Frying the Veg 

If you have a very young fresh artichoke, boil it in water for about 20 min or until tender but not falling apart. Set aside on kitchen paper, allow the retained water to drain and cut in half or, if it is a large artichoke, quarter and remove the choke.

Heat about 6 cm of vegetable oil in a pan, when the oil is hot,  dip the vegetables in the batter and slip them in to the pan. Do not overcrowd.. When crisp remove the veg, drain on kitchen paper and put in a new batch. Serve immediately, if you wait the batter loses its crispness.   

Ricotta and Beetroot Tops Pasta. One of the best pastas I have ever eaten and I have eaten a LOT of pasta!

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Most of the ricotta has been devoured; we ate it on toast with jam on top, as part of an antipasto spread involving the roast carrots and beetroot that the tops came from, and I am ashamed to say that I ate some ‘straight’ using a spoon. Today’s lunch was delicious and quick to prepare

Ricotta and Beetroot Tops Pasta 

2  cloves garlic

4   tablespoons of olive oil (More if tr is too tight)

1  pinch chili flakes

3  cups cooked beetroot tops. I have quite a lot in the fridge after cooking my harvest.  link

4  strips of bacon, chopped ( normally I would use panchetta, but where I live good quality Italian meats are non existent)

1/2 cup of ricotta (or, in my case, as much as you have left over)

Spaghetti

Parmigiano grated

Put the spaghetti into fast boiling, salted water. Cook until al dente, not soggy. Use a pan big enough to hold the sauce and the pasta. Crisp the bacon  in olive oil and add the chili and garlic. When the garlic has softened add the beetroot tops and fry for a bit. Cook until the beetroot is hot, check for salt and pepper. Stir in the ricotta, not too well,  keep a few lumps in the mix  Add the pasta and mix. Serve with grated parmgiano .

Carrot Top Pesto tried, tasted, and will make again and again

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 Carrot Top Pesto (Seriously Tasty)

I still love Basil Pesto but carrot tops will never be composted in my house again. Basil is hard to grow in Dunedin and costs a mint to buy. Carrot tops come FREE with your carrots and taste just as good as Basil. With our  zero waste policy we do have a problem scraping together enough kitchen scraps for the chickens and quails. ( They do have a few hours of free range a day, when I can guard my veg patch, so they are doing well). Rocket works equally well to replace either basil or carrot tops.

1      Bunch of carrot tops, washed. You can separate the leaves from the stems, but I processed the entire bunch

2       Large  garlic cloves

1/4    Cup grated parmigiano cheese

3/4    Cup of good Extra Virgin olive oil

3       Tablespoons of nuts (pine nuts, cashews, macadamia,  sunflower seeds all work well)

Salt and pepper to taste. (I do not use salt in pesto because the cheese is salty enough for me).

Put everything except the cheese in the food processor or blender and process. Do not make it into slush – keep a fine texture. You may need more olive oil to complete the job. Mix in the cheese and pulse a few more times.

Serve on fresh or toasted bread, dab on to meat, chicken, fish and vegetarian dishes, use as dip for carrots and other fresh veg, salad dressing, and of course as a pasta sauce. 

You will notice that I did not give exact quantities, as these would depend on what you want to achieve – more garlic, basil, cheese, etc.

 

Cavolo Nero

Cavolo Nero (Black Cabbage) is definitely my favorite cabbage and I plant a lot of it.  It seems to grow well at this time of the year in Dunedin, with the result that I can eat Tagliatelle al Cavolo Nero whenever I want to.

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See the nice Artichoke plant in the back ground.

The recipe is easy and quick and I off coarse eat this with fresh home made egg Tagliatelle. Take one large bunch of Cavolo Nero and blanch it in boiling water for five minutes – put aside and let dry well. In a large pan put one tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and one tablespoon of Butter. Ad four cloves of finely chopped Garlic , one finely chopped red hot chili (or less to taste)  and six anchovy fillets.  Fry and stir well until anchovies are melted – about five minutes. Now coarsely cut and ad the Cavolo Nero and  two Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil to the pan and fry and stir for another three minutes until the Cavolo is well mixed with the rest and warm. In the mean time you should have put the pasta in the boiling water to be ready at this stage – drain and mix well with the sauce. Serve with lots of grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padana cheese. Red wine to compliment.

One more thing to do with Beetroot Tops

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I love greens and have no problem with eating vegetarian meals, providing I have a bit of Parmigiano to sprinkle over the top. This recipe has it all, as far as I am concerned. I have polenta, bechamel sauce and beetroot leaves fresh from my garden.  Using my beetroot and turnips as dual purpose plants give me great satisfaction.

Baked Beetroot Tops and Polenta

Pre heat the oven to 200 deg

Prepare and cook the beetroot leaves. See link

Beetroot leaves

Cook the polenta. see link

MAKE GOOD POLENTA

Make the bechamel sauce according to your favourite recipe.

While still warm, layer the bottom of an ovenproof dish with polenta. Sprinkle parmigiano liberally. Spread the greens over the polenta and top with bechamel sauce. Repeat the layers until the dish is full. Drizzle sparingly with olive oil and sprinkle with more parmigiano.

Bake in the oven for 30 min until the top is golden and crispy. Serve immediately.