On the Countdown

We are certainly counting down. Down to Christmas, down to the arrival of long-awaited visitors and down to the due date. If I wasn’t so tired I would be using a lot more exclamation marks because I am really, really looking forward to this holiday season. And as with last year I had all these great intentions of having a super cool Christmas post ready to go and of course, with one and a half weeks before I’m due to give birth and with a chemistry exam breathing down my neck it, of course, is probably not going to happen!

However I have some exciting news about some new work I am doing for Best Friends for Frosting as I have officially become a regular food contributor! Check out this warm green bean salad if you’re looking for a simple side dish for Christmas day (or add a poached egg and it’s a great brekkie to wake up to) and keep in touch for a Christmas dessert closer to the date which I am pretty darn excited about!

And on a final note before finishing up on my last post as a mother of one (eek)…a few awesome things to check out over Christmas: we made this for dinner last night with rocket and olive oil drizzled over the top. It was insane and a great starter for any Christmas feast. I found this cookbook (Wholefood Baking) on the shelves of a local bookshop today and am in love with it. Too bad it’s a Christmas present for someone else! And a huge shout of thanks to a few wonderful women that have helped and supported this year namely Amelia, Nicola, Ruth, Kristine (who always has the most wonderful comments!) and to those WordPressers that have nominated me for awards! I am always so grateful for your support and encouragement. Most of all I am so incredibly thankful for everyone who reads and supports me in continuing this blog. I hope for there to be many exciting things to come next year! Wishing you all a very merry and blessed Christmas and a fantastic 2014.

Zoe

Summer Ruby Salad from Pure Vegetarian and a Coast Trip

I’ve been wanting to post something from Pure Vegetarian for a long time. It is up there with a few of my favourite recipe books and this salad is just so …. beautiful! I’ve also fallen in love with Gayler’s attitude to cooking with vegetables –  he makes no excuses for arguing that vegetarian cuisine can be a main course and does so in a way that is so refreshingly inventive. Every recipe demonstrates his belief that vegetables are equally as good as meat as far as restaurant quality food is concerned and shouldn’t be relegated to the ‘sides’ or ‘vegetarian option’ category. The idea that meals can be complete without meat is something that I think Australians can sometimes struggle with and even when I first decided to eat a vegetarian diet it was something that I had difficulty coming to terms with. He also embraces seasonal and raw eating as things that can be characteristic of any diet and never compromises on taste or quality.

The opportunity arose when 1) watermelons came into season, 2) we took a much needed three-day trip to the coast (yes without Raff…and yes I cried as we left her…come on, give me a break it was for two whole nights. And what the hell am I going to be like when she goes to school??!) and 3) I finally had enough time to study/blog uninterrupted for longer than 20 minutes while simultaneously having a wonderful husband on tap to cook my meal. I was pretty much obligated to do it.

Summer Ruby Salad

Adapted from Paul Gayler’s Pure Vegetarian

Dressing

4 tbs red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp maple syrup

6 tablespoons olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Salad

2 large cooked beetroots, peeled and cut into 1 cm dice

2 medium cooked golden beetroot (optional), peeled and cut into discs

1 red onion, thinly sliced

8 baby red radishes, thinly sliced

300gm watermelon, cut into 1 cm dice

100gm red cabbage, thinly sliced

20 fresh basil leaves

salt and freshly ground pepper

Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a bowl and season to taste. Set aside. Place all salad ingredients in a separate bowl, pour over the dressing and toss together. Serve immediately.

We added goats cheese to the salad and I highly recommend it. Gayler also recommends buffalo mozarella as a nice addition.

Raw Blood Orange, Sunflower Seed and Silverbeet Salad + a Two Year Old!

Sometimes I get a very striking picture of how much things have changed for us now that we are a three person family. One day you’re whimsically browsing the shops trying on clothes and/or matching accessories and two years later, instead of carefree clothes shopping you’re walking into Bunnings to buy a mop (which strangely excites you) and deciding whether you should indulge yourself and pick up some new clothes pegs (you don’t). Not to mention the fact that just outside said Bunnings your two year old hit you in the face with a saliva-soaked bread roll and you didn’t blink an eye – yep things have changed in lots of ways.

For me, Friday nights are a regular reminder of how different our life is now we have a kid. In my head (of course it was never as glamorous as this) Friday nights usually involved a really good glass of red (what is wine again? I’ve forgotten…), catching up with friends or checking out a new restaurant. Now Friday nights are usually about cleaning out the fridge and shoving what leftover veges and perishables we have into some sort of (sometimes) edible concoction for dinner with the hope that we then have enough room in our 80 year old fridge to fit in next week’s food.

But. And it’s a really important ‘but’. Other things have changed too – I think for some reason my approach to what’s important in life has changed. Maybe it is age but I do think the whole gamut of things you experience by having children (both good and bad) have made me begin to look at the world differently. I appreciate different things now and I truly believe my life is better because of it. Take this salad for example. It was shaping up to be a typical Friday night meal – not bad by any stretch of the imagination but not mind-blowing. And yet, to my surprise it was really great! I’m still thinking about it actually. And it was so simple….maybe this salad is an analogy for what is so nice about life now with a kid. Fun, surprising and as easy or hard as you want to make it. I think having a family (and eating a salad) takes away all of the extra stuff (that we never needed anyway) and forces you to stop and appreciate the things you already have. And when you do get that glass of red eventually it tastes really really really good.

Blood Orange, Sunflower Seed and Silverbeet Salad

2 blood oranges, peeled and sliced thinly

2 tablespoons sunflower seeds or 2/3 cup walnuts, halved

1 cup rocket

2/3 cup fresh mint, roughly chopped

2-3 cups silverbeet, cored and roughly chopped

1 cup rocket

shaved parmesan or feta (I’ve had it with both and they are equally good options)

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Liberally dress with the olive oil, salt and vinegar to your liking.

Ps.  This past week Raffaella turned two! What a little legend. We just adore this girl. We made this cake for her (I must confess I am a little ‘Aran obsessed’….meaning I can’t get enough of the recipes developed by the talented Aran Goyoaga, creator of Cannelle et Vanille).

Pps. I substituted agave and coconut sugar for the brown sugar and cane sugar. It was incredible. Check out the recipe here.

Jerusalem Artichoke and Sweet Potato Soup

So, Canberra thought Autumn was totally over-rated and jumped straight to Winter temperatures. It does this every year. Luckily the one reminder of Autumn are the leaf colours. How beautiful. I can’t help but get out there and photograph it.

So I was at the markets on Saturday and rocked up to this stall, and asked about the price of the lovely looking ginger down the end and the guy politely said…’oh they aren’t ginger honey, they are Jerusalem artichokes’. He thought I was an even bigger idiot when I let out this tiny little half-embarrassed half-totally-excited gasp and said, ‘Oh man, I’ll take a bag of those.’ This is just a little warning to make sure you can spot the difference between Jerusalem artichokes and ginger from a distance and if you can’t, at least think of a better comeback than I did. So, three bucks a for a family-sized bag of Jerusalem artichokes – organic ones too! Screw finding the ginger, this was too good an opportunity to pass up.

 With the temperatures the way they are at the moment, I inevitably went to making my first blogged soup! I made a few versions the first time and consequently went back the following week and purchased more for a revisit and revise. Poor D and Raff….

So. Much. Soup.

But I have to admit – if I do say so myself – this soup is so so great. And worth the pre-roasting. If you are lucky enough to come across Jerusalem artichokes, I recommend giving this one a go – alternatively if you can’t find them and you still want to make this soup I think you could happily use parsnips instead. Or maybe just try this, or even this!

Jerusalem Artichoke and Sweet Potato Soup

300gm Jerusalem artichokes, scrubbed and cubed

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed (about 500gm)

5-6 sprigs fresh thyme

4 cloves garlic, skins removed

1 medium onion, roughly chopped into wedges

2 kifler potatoes (only if you can get them, otherwise just use any sort), peeled and diced

3 tbsp olive oil

1 medium leek, sliced

3 1/2 cups vegetable stock

salt

marscapone cheese for serving

Combine garlic, sweet potato, Jerusalem artichokes, thyme, onion, a few pinches of salt and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a bowl. Spread on a roasting dish and cook for 45 minutes at 180°C or until soft but not brown.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a large saucepan and cook the leek and potatoes for 4 minutes or until the leek has softened. Add the stock and the roasted vegetables, bring to the boil and return to simmer for ten minutes or until the potato is cooked through.

Remove from the heat. Puree and serve with a generous dollop of marscapone cheese or natural yoghurt.

Throw Another Vege Skewer on the Barbie, Love

For the non-Australian reader, believe me, that title is hilarious. Just so you know.

Ah, vegetarians: the barbeque pariahs. Centre stage at a good old Aussie bbq are fat pork sausages in bread with tomato sauce, chicken skewers with Moroccan seasoning and of course…the piece-de-resistance…the 400gm T-Bone. Well I for one intend to rally against it! Or at least at the next bbq eat my side salad very moodily.

For as long as I’ve been a vego I’ve always felt a little left out at bbqs. Vegetarian fare is often relegated to the ‘side dish’ space and it totally sucks because I have a weakness for all things char grilled (meat excluded of course).

This is where my amazingly wonderful family-away-from-family come in. And they never fail to embrace the vego and never ever fail to impress in the food department.

Dario and I have only been Canberra residents for a few years. It’s a pretty transient place with a notable portion of the population originating somewhere other than Canberra.

As we are away from home, for us and for many it means that you find yourselves adopting another family. And boy do we have a good one! Our feelings about this have become even stronger after having Raffaella – having people around to show your kid what love is all about is, in my books, essential.

So what does this have to do with bbqs? For me, bbqs are synonymous with family gatherings. As kids, the Sunday arvo barbie on the beach or in the park was as common for us as a commoner in Commonsville. On a side note, it’s fascinating too that you can pretty much arrive at any public park across Australia and there will be a 95 percent chance that it will be equipped with one or more free or very low cost public bbqs. We have just come to expect it.

And our most recent bbq was an example of why I love our Canberra family so much. When I sent the email invite out I considered requesting a meat-free event – let the revolution begin! According to Dario this was apparently ridiculous, so instead we went with ‘a minimal amount of animal-origin fare’.  But that part of the email was super-moody I swear. The result was a table lovingly donned with all things plant-based. Quinoa salad, zucchini and funnel chanterelles, chocolate cake, satay on vege skewers, and strawberry tart. God I love these people.

And one member of the family has so generously shared their own recipe. And let me tell you, we are in the presence of greatness. I’m in the process of getting this guy to work with me on a more extravagant post but for now you will have to be content with this totally delicious teaser.

Chargrilled Vege Skewers with Mango Satay

2 tsp toasted Cumin seeds

1 tsp toasted Coriander seeds

1 – 2 sticks of lemongrass

350g raw peanuts

a good handful of coriander leaves

3  small dried chillis

3 – 8  large fresh red chillis

1 inch knob of ginger

1 spring onion

3 cloves of garlic

juice and zest of 3 limes

½ a french (red) shallot

¼ white onion

2 tomatoes (peeled is best, but with skins is fine if you can’t be bothered)

½ a mango

1 270ml tin coconut cream

2 – 4 tsp of soy sauce

You can really go two ways with this, you can take the traditional route and use a mortar and pestle or you can put it all in a blender or food processor. Using a mortar and pestle will take longer and make lots of mess but will give you a better flavour in the end.  Crushing and grinding will usually get you quite a bit more flavour as it releases a lot more of the juicy, oily goodness from ingredients like these.  You will also end up with a slightly different, perhaps more rustic texture in the finished product.  Using a food processor will also give a great flavour, however and is much quicker and easier.  Both methods give wonderful results, it just comes down to how much time you have and how messy you want it to get.

If using a mortar and pestle, add the ingredients one at a time in the order they’re listed, grinding them before adding the next.  The idea is to start with the driest ingredients moving onto the more fibrous.  This works really well as the dry ingredients are rough and course and help you tear up the fibres in the next lot.  Keep adding the rest one at a time, progressively moving through to the wettest ingredients.  You want to end up with a slightly crunchy, fairly liquid paste.

If you’re using a food processor or blender, just throw all the ingredients in and pulse slowly.  The key here is to keep an eye on the consistency.  You don’t want it pureed as the small chunks give it its satisfying texture.  You also want to make sure it doesn’t turn into peanut butter, so add some water if it’s getting too gluggy and thick.

Heat a large frying pan at a low-medium heat with just a dash of peanut oil, and when warm add the paste.  You want to slowly fry the paste which will draw out all the oil in the peanuts and develop the flavours.  Fry until all the paste has changed colour into a darker, more shiny brown.  You should also start to see a film of ‘flavour’ start to form on the top.  Depending on your pan this could take from 10 – 30 minutes.

Finally pour over chargrilled skewers of mushroom and zucchini, or a fresh salad of tofu, fresh carrots, green beans, tomatoes and cucumbers.

Garnish with beansprouts and sprigs of coriander.

 

Two Pizzas

I’ve spoken before about the Italian heritage in Dario’s family. The irony is, his dad rarely makes pizza. Pasta will always be a mainstay however for some reason, pizza is just not something he cooks often. The tradition has, however, been well and truly revived by Dario’s generation as he and his three siblings can all make an insanely good dough.

I’d like to think that Dario and my relationship with making and eating pizza has really flourished over the years (I’m not sure Dario sees it this way – I don’t think he thinks about it much really except that he eats it and it tastes really really good). I like to think that early on, like any young relationship it started off adventurous and fresh, albeit sometimes treacherous. Back in the early days we couldn’t get enough of it – sometimes homemade sometimes not – even sometimes venturing into the depths of depravity by sneaking down to the local Dominos on a uni night only to wake up desperately thirsty at 3am reminding ourselves never to go there again. Yeah it happened, stop judging me I know you’ve all done it.

Within a few years, we had got the bases down to an art – beautifully thin with a little bit of airiness, slightly oily dough with our standard pesto and potato, margherita or anchovy and parmesan. Yet, as we all know but don’t want to admit, honeymoon periods never last and a good relationship needs a bit of spice every now and then. So inevitably the humdrum of everyday pizza led to experimentation and even a few forays into *gasp* gluten free bases.

Eventually though, I’d like to think it has blossomed into a rock-solid, long lasting and beautiful partnership. It knows it’s place and we know ours. It’s a match made in heaven.

And let’s be honest – it’s all in the dough and everyone likes it different. Personally, I prefer it flat and woodfired if possible, bianco (with no tomato sauce base) and with simple toppings. I have been using spelt and sometimes kamut flour lately but have had success with combinations of spelt, rice, millet and potato flour. We still haven’t found a decent base recipe without gluten in it so if you have any ideas please let me know!

Pizza base

Makes 3 large pizzas

One 7gm sachet dry yeast

500ml warm water (not boiling)

3 cups spelt flour (1-1 1/2 cups per pizza base)

Mix the sachet of yeast with the warm water and let stand until it froths, about 10 minutes. Place flour onto a bench or table in a mound and make a large well in the centre (similar to when making pasta). Combine the flour and water bit by bit until it forms a dough that is light and soft but not sticky. You can also do this in a bowl. Cover and leave the dough to prove in a warm place for about 30 minutes*.

Divide the dough into three equal portions. Knead it lightly (preferably like this. Just joking. But seriously how insanely good is that guy?!) then roll each one out onto an oiled and floured pizza tray. Top with your favourite ingredients.

*If you like fluffier pizzas you can leave the dough to prove for longer than this. You can also leave it once you have rolled it out onto the pizza trays for another 30 minutes or so – just cover it with a damp tea towel to prevent it drying out.

These pizzas were: fresh tomato, capsicum, olives, salt and thyme and zucchini with a combined ricotta, the zest and juice of one lemon, a clove of crushed garlic and fresh thyme.

Cook for 18-20 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius or until brown around the edges. Eat a lot of it. Maybe all of it.

Ps. Happy birthday to my dear mum and sister. I love you both so much xxxxx

I never wanted to be a blogger

I’ve done a bit of soul searching about the blog recently. I thought it was high time I tried to arrive at a real answer around why I am doing it (I know…heavy, right?! Just this once, I promise).

I didn’t want to be a food blogger. I felt it was completely unnecessary – there already are plenty of food blogs out there..and some pretty darn good ones to put it mildly. And I’m not a writer. Writing doesn’t come easily to me and I don’t think it ever will. And sometimes, when I have picked one too many muffin remnants out of the bookshelf/underwear drawer/couch/bed, I don’t even feel like cooking.

So why am I here sitting in front of the computer writing this post? Well I’ll come clean, I did this for myself. I wanted to take photos of food and make up recipes and share all of this with the cooking, health seeking, parenting cosmos. I’m sure a lot of people who set up a site such as this one do it in part for themselves – whether that be as a creative outlet or a way to promote a business or a million other reasons really. And after several months of this pursuit, of ups and downs, of epically crappy photos, of forcing inedible sugar-free muffins and other random culinary fails on my family, of being totally pumped when each new person signs up to receive emails and totally devastated when someone unfollows me on Twitter my soul searching has led to this realisation (not a profound one, but a realisation nonetheless). I AM another food blogger. And what’s more, I love it! And it’s the busting-out-photographs-and-a-post-after-cleaning-out-the-tenth-muffin-in-the-couch moments that I enjoy the most.

Rub a Dub Dub has become so much more for me now and I’m sure that’s what keeps most bloggers going. I have already been in contact with some astoundingly generous people who have helped focus my techniques, my approach and my goals (with a very special mention to Kristine from Thank Heavens – The Gluten Free Lifesaver…what a legend!). And since beginning this blog I have cooked more creatively, taken more risks, been featured in The Post Social (yay! Thanks guys!), been forced to be open to criticism (eek!) and to embrace and learn from disappointment. All in a few short months.

Once I had accepted who I was with the blog and why I was doing it, I realised that so much about food and eating is about trust. You trust your favourite cookbook or restaurant, you trust the meals served up by loved ones to nourish and sustain you. My daughter is learning to trust Dario and I to put food in front of her that she’ll like (I repeat, learning). And so I feel I must extend the opportunity to you, the readers, to trust me too. And so much about trust is about knowing something about the perspectives of the person you are dealing with.

Initially I had deliberately left my About page quite sparse as I wanted to generate interest in the food and the photos rather than my story (not that it’s a particularly interesting one!). Similarly I had also committed to having rather small posts…light on words and heavy on food and photos (I’ve blown that one out of the water with this post haven’t I!). So in keeping with this approach but for anyone who wants to know a little more about me and how Rub a Dub Dub began (instead of adding more to the body of this post), I have included a little post script at the end of this recipe. And don’t hesitate to introduce yourself to me too!

So there it is…to celebrate my blogmancipation here is a salad. Thanks for reading, following, liking, sharing and commenting. It genuinely makes my day!

Roasted Carrot and Pomegranate Salad with Honey Cumin Dressing

Serves 4 as a side dish, 2 as a main

 

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

2 bunches of small dutch carrots

2 cups baby spinach

1 1/2 cups parsley, roughly chopped

1 cucumber, diced

1 small red onion, diced

1 zucchini, shaved into ribbons

120gm goats cheese

Seeds from 2 pomegranates

 

Dressing

2 tsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp dijon mustard

1 ½ tsp ground cumin

2 tbsp raw honey

5 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Trim carrots and place in a bowl with the olive oil, cumin and fennel seeds. Mix until the carrots are coated and spread over a baking tray. Roast for 35-45 minutes or until just tender. Remove and leave to cool while preparing the salad.

In a large bowl combine spinach leaves, parsley, cucumber, red onion, pomegranate seeds and zucchini. Slice each carrot in half lengthways and combine with the salad mix.

To make the dressing, combine the vinegar, mustard, cumin and honey well in a small bowl. Whisk in the olive oil slowly until well combined. Add seasoning to taste. Serve the salad dressed, with the carrots slightly warm still and a round or two of goat’s cheese on top.

Post Script. Hi! I’m Zoe. I find it difficult to describe myself but I do have some strong feelings and philosophies about life that I hope I adhere to. Here is the simplified version that particularly relates to the creation of Rub a Dub Dub.

A defining factor in my life is my approach to healthy living (or at least the pursuit of it). For me, well being is determined by diet, physical and mental fitness, being kind to our planet and each other, as well as the pursuit of faith and spirituality. I aim to eat a healthy vegetarian diet (low in processing, seasonally produced wholefoods) and have been a vegetarian for about 7 years. I am not gluten intolerant (thank goodness because I have an unhealthy love of bread) and I don’t necessarily have an aversion to cooking with gluten although I think diversity is important. Together, Dario and I have made the decision to raise Raff a vegetarian too – why? Well maybe that’s for another post.

Nutrition, fitness and health occupy an absurd amount of my headspace – I don’t really know why, it just always has. I strongly believe that we have an obligation to educate our children about healthy living and provide them with food that is as close to how it is in nature as possible without compromising the enjoyment that we human beings get out of eating. As this has become a real passion for me I am about to embark on a nutritional medicine course (I currently have undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications in International Development) so watch this space I suppose!

I take all the photos on the blog myself. I’m using the blog as both a creative outlet and a ‘test kitchen’ (pardon the pun) to develop my photography skills. I want to get much better. In fact I must confess, I want to get really, really good at it. I would be stoked if I could get even half as good as this.

And finally…I don’t know where any of this will take me but I’m going to keep at it for now.

Raffi’s Green Day

So, it’s finally happened. The child that once ate everything has finally turned. I knew it was coming but somewhere deep inside I was holding out hope that she was going to be this unquestioning, obey-everything type of child who would just sit and eat all of the crazy things I placed in front of her. I think it’s probably called insanity on my part…and growing up on her part.

So I’m having to be creative. At this stage this means mixing things that she does like with things that she likes less in order to encourage her to eat them. So in yesterday’s case that meant blending up the steamed veges that she hadn’t eaten for lunch into a green smoothie because I know she will always drink one of those. While I’ve never liked the idea of ‘hiding’ veges in kids’ meals (I think it’s important that they grow up knowing and liking the different tastes that veges have to offer), I have to remember that even adults have different tastes (hence the reason why I will never have any corn in any recipe on this blog. Ever.) and so I have forced myself to have the attitude that if I can provide her with healthy food prepared in a way that is more pleasing to her little tastebuds, then I will.

So to get to the point of today’s post – whenever I am worried about whether she has had enough greens (like I was this week) I give her (and me) a Green Day.

Here is this week’s Green Day lunch for both of us – eventually I would like to do a whole day’s worth of green meals for parent/s and baby however with the lead up to Christmas being so busy this one meal will have to do for now. In the meantime, if you are looking for other great green meals you could try this with some pasta or stuffed in mushrooms, or maybe even this.

Quinoa, Mixed Greens, Daikon and Apple

Serves 4

1 1/2 cups coconut milk

1/2 cup quinoa

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup daikon, grated

1 granny smith apple, grated

1-2 cups mixed leafy greens eg. silverbeet, english spinach, kale, chard, beetroot leaves etc

1/2 zucchini, grated

a few squeezes of lemon juice

feta cheese (optional)

olives (optional)

Rinse the quinoa and place in a saucepan with the coconut milk (or half coconut milk, half vegetable stock or milk if you prefer the taste). Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes stirring regularly. Once the quinoa has developed little tails on it, remove from the heat and put in a bowl to the side. In the same pan heat the olive oil with a pinch of sea salt and gently fry the greens, daikon and zucchini until just soft. Remove from heat and stir into the quinoa. Fold through the feta and olives. Serve with a few squeezes of lemon juice and grated apple on top to you and your little one and put the leftovers in the freezer for another few meals!

Green Smoothie

Serves 2

There are many fantastic green smoothie recipes out there – mine is quite simple – however some of these are also really worth checking out. Sarah Britton’s Mojito smoothie, Golubka’s Glass of Emerald (and while you’re there check out how beautiful the photography is on this site) and Whole Promise’s green smoothie are all wonderful options.

2 cups kale/silverbeet/english spinach

3/4 cup filtered water

a few ice cubes

1 orange peeled and chopped

1 kiwifruit peeled and chopped

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 tsp super greens powder

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Add more water if you like a thinner consistency. Serve immediately.

Lemon Myrtle Spaghetti – Aglio e Olio

I’ve been reading lots of fantastically candid posts lately about food, life and finding it hard to be healthy. As such, I was initially inspired to write all about how completing this recipe and post made me angry (it did), primarily because making pasta by hand is a tedious and laborious job (it is – instead we should be doing this), because making spaghetti look good is impossible (tips welcome) and because taking photos of spaghetti that looks substandard is really really upsetting (I still can’t talk about it *sniff*). Instead I am going to go with my gut and write the rest of this post keeping in mind the feeling I had once I was finished. There is nothing like a plate of pasta to make you feel better again.

So here goes.

Almost every day I thank God I married an Italian. Don’t get me wrong, I love Dario infinitely for who he is however call me crazy, but I just can’t see our marriage being quite as special if his heritage was associated with any other cuisine. I’d like to say I was joking but I really, really love Italian food….oh and you too Dario.

The thing that I love most about Italian cuisine is its ability to take the simplest ingredients and make them into something so incredibly delicious without mucking around too much. My favourite example of this has to be the dish below.

So do yourself a huge favour one weekend. Ignore the first five lines of this post. Then, if you don’t have one, borrow someone’s pasta maker and make this dish from scratch. Use the best olive oil and salt you can find, the freshest chillies, garlic, parsley and parmesan your budget allows and follow this recipe. Share it with some close friends and then tell me I’m crazy for loving an Italian and his food.

Ps. If there is a little one in the household (and you aren’t ready to give them chilli and salt), reserve some of the pasta for the next meal and cook according to the directions below and mix it with some sautéed red onion, mushroom, parsley and parmesan.

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

2 cups wholemeal spelt flour

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3-4 tsp dried lemon myrtle leaves*

3-4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 small red chillies, finely  chopped

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

parmesan to serve

*The Lemon Myrtle plant (Backhousia citriodora) is native to Australia. It has a distinctly herby, lemon flavour which lends itself beautifully to this simple pasta dish. If you can’t access it there are many other options you could use to flavour pasta – porcini mushrooms, lemon zest or spinach are delicious or just keep it plain.

Unfortunately Lemon Myrtle it isn’t as easy to find as it should be given its widespread usage by Australian indigenous populations through history however I found it at The Essential Ingredient and I am happy to say we now have it in our pantry.

Grind the lemon myrtle in a mortar and pestle to as close to a powder as you can get it, set aside.

I had begun to write out the instructions on making pasta when I came across this. It is a great step by step outline so I suggest you follow it if you have never made pasta before.

If you can’t access a pasta maker, you can roll it out with a rolling pin and cut it as outlined in Step 6 of the link above however a pasta maker makes the job a lot easier. For the lemon myrtle version, use the ingredients listed at the beginning of this post. In step one of the Basic Pasta Recipe, combine the eggs, oil and lemon myrtle in a bowl before you pour it into the flour, knead for 10 minutes and then rest it for another 15 minutes.

I use a clean clothes rack to dry my pasta – it dries it quickly and is easy to collect once it is done. You don’t have to dry the pasta, just cook it for less time. I find it has a better texture when cooked if it is left to dry for at least an hour or two.

When the pasta is made and you are ready to eat, cook it in a pot of boiling water for 3-4 minutes being careful not to overcook it. Drain and rinse. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large fry pan over a medium heat and add the chilli and salt and fry until the chilli starts to change colour (about one minute). Add the garlic and cook until it begins to turn golden (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat and add the pasta bit by bit to coat each strand then mix through the chopped parsley. Serve immediately with fresh parmesan.

Warm Chickpeas with Labneh and Egg

This dish, originally from an old Delicious magazine is one that I make often and every time it changes just a little bit. The first time I made it was for a group of close friends on a long ‘pre-Christmas’ lunch. It usually goes down really well providing everyone likes chickpeas..

Since my last post, the weather here has been far from ‘spring-like’ and this dish is certainly a return to more of the comfort food that we all enjoy in the cooler months. Weather and chickpeas aside, I do recommend this dish even for those non-vegetarians out there. It is rich and full of zest and ‘meaty’ enough to satisfy most carnivores.

More often these days I am cooking with coconut oil – there is plenty of information out there regarding the benefits it provides. This dish is no exception and I think it has improved it. You can easily substitute olive oil or butter instead if you wish.

Timing is the only tricky thing with this one as you want to keep all elements warm to serve. To achieve this, I recommend preparing all ingredients before beginning any cooking, plating up as you go and using the same pan for all stages (don’t clean it in between steps – by the time you come to make the sage and chilli sauce there will be lots of nice crunchy bits from earlier steps ready to mix up with it).

You can buy store-bought labneh (or use the greek yoghurt as it comes) however I recommend you take the time to make your own. Make it up to 24 hours in advance – it is incredibly easy.

I also wanted to take the opportunity thank Erika for her wonderful advice as I begin my adventure into food photography. Take a look at her stunning website before you do anything else.

Labneh

Place 4 heaped dessertspoons of natural greek-style yoghurt in the center of a muslin cloth. Suspend to allow the liquid to drip out of it (I tied the ends of the cloth to a wooden spoon and hung it over a jug) and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours. The longer you leave it, the creamier and thicker your labneh will be (note that it will reduce in volume, so perhaps overestimate the amount you think you will need).

Warm Chickpeas with Labneh and Egg

Serves 4

2 tins chickpeas, rinsed and drained

juice of one lemon

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4 tbsp flat leaf parsley

4 eggs

pre-made labneh (see above)

2 tbsp coconut oil

a handful of fresh sage

1-2 fresh chillis

In a bowl, combine chickpeas, garlic, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil. Refrigerate for an hour or longer. Once the chickpea mixture has marinated, cook on medium heat for 7-8 minutes in a large heavy based fry pan until the chickpeas begin to brown slightly. Remove from heat and keep warm.

Turn the heat down and carefully add the four eggs (or two at a time if they don’t fit easily). I put each egg in a shallow dish and slowly pour each egg on the pan keeping the dish as close to the heat as possible. Cook until the egg white is completely cooked through or more if you prefer it. Just before the eggs are ready, divide the warm chickpea mixture between four plates. Place a large dollop of labneh into the center of each chickpea mound and once the eggs are cooked, carefully place each egg on top of the labneh.

Quickly heat the coconut oil in the pan and fry the chilli and sage together lightly until the sage leaves begin to turn up at the edges and the chilli becomes bright in colour. Pour the oil, chilli and sage mixture over each egg. Serve immediately.