Creamy courgette lasagne

Ingredients

Serves: 4 

• 9 dried lasagne sheets
• 1 tablespoon sunflower or olive oil + extra for drizzling
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 700g courgettes (about 6), coarsley grated
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 200g ricotta cheese
• 50g Cheddar cheese, grated
• 350g jar of tomato sauce for pasta

Method

1. Heat oven to 220 C / Gas 7.
2. Put pan of water on to boil, then cook lasagne sheets for about 5 minutes until softened but not cooked through. Rinse with cold water then to stop them sticking together drizzle with a little olive oil.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the onion. After 3 minutes, add the courgettes and garlic and continue to fry until the courgette has softened and turned green.
4. Stir in 2/3 of the ricotta and cheddar, then season to taste.
5. Heat the tomato pasta sauce until hot.
6. In a large baking dish, layer up the lasagne starting with half the courgette mix, then the pasta, then the tomato sauce. Repeat, top with blobs of the remaining ricotta, then scatter with the rest of the Cheddar.
7. Bake on the top shelf for about 10 minutes until the pasta is tender and the cheese is golden.

 

Courgette, walnut and yogurt mezze

 (serves 4 as a dip)

3 medium sized firm courgettes
60 g walnuts
½ cloves garlic
½ lemon
1 tbsp tahini
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
10g flat leaf parsley
2 tbsp Greek yogurt
freshly ground black pepper

Grate the courgettes, add the salt and leave to drain in a colander for 15 or so minutes then give them a good squeeze to extract as much moisture as possible.
Heat a frying pan over a moderate heat and add 2 tbsp of the olive oil.
Fry the courgettes gently for 10 or so minutes or until all the liquid has evaporated and the courgettes have softened.
Add the courgettes to a mixing bowl and leave to cool.
Bash the walnuts roughly in a pestle and mortar.
When the courgettes are cool, add the juice of the lemon, finely chopped or mashed garlic,three-quarters of the walnuts, and the yogurt and tahini (if you want a completely smooth dip, put all the ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth).
Serve on a plate and garnish with the chopped parsley, remaining walnuts and tablespoon of oil.

 

Lemony leek meatballs

Yields 8 patties (serves 8 as a starter or 3 to 4 as main dish)

Ingredients

trimmed leeks, 800g in total
250g ground beef
scant 1 cup (90g) bread crumbs
2 large eggs
1 ¼ tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 TBSP oil
¾ to 1 ¼ cups chicken stock
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

garnish, optional
1/3 cup Greek yogurt
1 TBSP fresh chopped parsley

Directions

1. Cut the leeks into 3/4 inch slices, rinse well, and steam them for about 20 minutes until completely soft. Drain and leave to cool, then squeeze out any residual water with a tea towel
2. Process leeks in a food processor by pulsing a few times until well chopped but not mushy. Alternatively, roughly chop the leeks by hand. 
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the leeks, meat, bread crumbs, eggs, salt, and pepper. Form the mix into 8 patties, roughtly 2 ¾ by ¾ inches. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. 
4. Heat oil over medium high heat in a large, heavy bottomed frying pan (with a lid). Sear the patties on both sides until golden brown. (This can be done in batches if necessary. Mine fit perfectly.) 
5. Pour over enough stock to almost, but not quite cover the patties. Add the lemon juice and ½ tsp salt, if necessary. Bring to a boil, then cover, and simmer gently for 30 minutes. 
6. When the meatballs are done cooking, remove the lid and cook for a few more minutes, if needed, until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Remove the pan from the heat and sit aside to cool down. Serve the meatballs just warm or at room temperature, with a dollop of the yogurt and a sprinkle of the parsley.

Adobo with Pork and Pineapple

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4

• 900g pork belly, cut into large cubes (for a leaner adobo, use half pork shoulder)
• ½ onion, cut into strips
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• ½ cup coconut milk
• ¼ cup Chinese light soy sauce
• ¼ cup vinegar (used apple cider vinegar but a little less than ¼ cup)
• 1 tsp black pepper, ground
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cups fresh pineapple, cut into small bite-sized pieces (see note)
• Cilantro or green onions for garnish, optional

Note: It’s very important that your pineapple is RIPE, sweet and flavourful. If you use hard, white, underripe pineapple there won’t be much flavour added and defeats the whole purpose. I do recommend using fresh pineapple rather than can. It’s worth the effort of cutting it, trust me!



INSTRUCTIONS

In a large, heavy bottomed pot, add just a little bit of vegetable oil and heat over medium high heat until hot. Add the pork pieces without crowding them and sear until well browned. Flip and brown the other side. Do this in batches as needed. Once the pork is done, set them aside in a bowl. 

If there is too much pork fat in the pot, you may pour some of it out but do not wash the pot. To the pot, add onions and a pinch of salt and cook until it is browned slightly. Then add garlic and stir for one more minute. 

Add the coconut milk and scrape off all the browned bits from the pot. Then add soy sauce, vinegar, bay leaf, black pepper and stir to mix. Add the pork, and then add just enough water so it barely covers the pork. Close the lid and simmer gently for 1 1/2 – 2 hours, or until the pork is fork tender.

At about halfway through the cooking, check the amount of the liquid you have in the pot. If it’s too much, keep the lid ajar to reduce, if there isn’t enough, add some more water. See video for how much sauce you should be aiming for. 

Meanwhile, caramelize the pineapple: Add a little oil to a large skillet and when hot, add the pineapple pieces and sear until browned. Toss them and brown the other side. Set them aside in a bowl.

Once the pork is fork tender, stir in the caramelized pineapple and let simmer for 5 more minutes.
Taste and adjust seasoning and it’s done! Serve with jasmine rice.