Puff pastry tarts (parsley and tomato / red onion and goats cheese)

I got into making tarts using bought puff pastry sheets. I've never tried making my own puff pastry, I probably never will. But those rolls of pastry in the fridge can be quite useful. I've tried following the package instructions, but find I like the results best when I just roll out the pastry, dump stuff on top, and bake. Which is lucky, since it makes it so very easy. I often seem to end up with allium-based toppings. 

(1)

Lots of red onions, sliced and cooked until soft with some balsamic vinegar and thyme leaves. Let cool, then spread over the unrolled pastry. Sprinkle with lumps of goat's cheese (the soft kind that comes in a roll) and walnuts. Bake at 200C for about 20 min, until it looks golden and done.

(2)

I thought this recipe might be a more fancy way to eat some of our garden tomatoes from the summer. Fresh tomatoes and herbs - should be perfect. It was good but not awesome.

3 large very ripe tomatoes (about 1.5 lb), sliced 1/4-inch thick

sea salt 

1 small garlic clove, peeled

1 cup (15 g) basil leaves, loosely packed

2 cups (25 g) parsley leaves, loosely packed

2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil, plus more for brushing

2 oz (55 g) hard cheese, thinly sliced or coarsely grated (e.g. cheddar)

pepper 

Place tomato slices on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. Put garlic, parsley, basil, 1/2 tsp salt in a blender and pulse until finely chopped, mix in olive oil to make a paste. Blot tomatoes with kitchen roll to remove excess liquid. Spread pesto over the tart base, sprinkle with cheese, then cover with overlapping scales of tomatoes. Brush tomatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with ground black pepper. Bake 190C for c. 40 min (check after 30) - until tomatoes are well roasted.

Onion marmalade

We had part of a bottle of red wine left after a visitor left (our last visitor from the UK before lockdown!). Clearly we weren’t going to drink it, we never do, but we also had quite a lot of onions so I decided it should become onion marmalade. I am pretty sure I have made this onion marmalade before, many moons ago. It’s easy and tasty, goes great with cheese, and keeps for a while in the fridge. I think this is the recipe I used before - and it was also the one I used this time.

2 kg red onions or regular onions 

4 garlic cloves 

140 g butter 

4 tbsp olive oil 

140 g golden caster sugar 

1 tbsp fresh thyme leaf 

pinch of chilli flakes (did not use) 

75 cl bottle red wine 

350 ml sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar 

200 ml port (used extra wine / wine vinegar instead)

Halve and thinly slice the onions, then thinly slice the garlic. Melt the butter with the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a high heat. Tip in the onions and garlic and give them a good stir so they are glossed with butter. Sprinkle over the sugar, thyme leaves, chilli flakes if using and some salt and pepper. Give everything another really good stir and reduce the heat slightly. Cook uncovered for 40-50 min, stirring occasionally. The onions are ready when all their juices have evaporated, they’re really soft and sticky and smell of sugar caramelising. They should be so soft that they break when pressed against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon. Slow cooking is the secret of really soft and sticky onions, so don't rush this part. 

Pour in the wine, vinegar and port and simmer everything, still uncovered, over a high heat for 25-30 min, stirring every so often until the onions are a deep mahogany colour and the liquid has reduced by about two-thirds. It’s done when drawing a spoon across the bottom of the pan clears a path that fills rapidly with syrupy juice. Leave the onions to cool in the pan, then scoop into sterilised jars and seal. Can be eaten straight away, but keeps in the fridge for up to 3 months.

Rice and peas

I cooked some black eyed beans the other day to make a curry with butternut squash and coconut milk. Mysteriously, it tasted like peanuts, but that's another story.

As usual, I cooked a load and then froze most of them for future use. I got to thinking about rice and peas. We ate masses of it in Belize, and my friend Liz used to make it sometimes. I guess traditionally it's with kidney beans, but somehow I thought it might be good with black-eyed beans.

Actually, I liked the black-eyed beans a lot. They cooked up really nicely from dried. I guess they are in that sweet spot, size-wise, along with chickpeas - I find bigger beans often cook unevenly. They were hard to find though - didn't seem to be stocked in any of the supermarkets.

I adapted this recipe to make a version that uses pre-cooked beans. I guess cooking the beans in the coconut milk would maintain more flavour and the whole dish would taste more beany... but I just know I will never make it if I have to soak an exact amount of beans the night before.

1 tbsp veg oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 spring onions, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp finely chopped ginger
5 thyme sprigs (used c. 5 tsp dried instead)
5 allspice berries (did not have - used 2 tsp ground allspice instead)
1 scotch bonnet pepper (used 1 dried chilli instead)
3 cups cooked beans (black-eyed, black or kidney)
1 400 ml can coconut milk
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 cups long-grain rice
550 ml hot water (or bean cooking water if you kept it)


Heat the oil in a large lidded saucepan. Add the onion and fry a bit. Add the spring onions, garlic and ginger and fry a little more. Add the thyme, allspice, chilli, beans, coconut milk, salt and pepper, and bring to the boil. Stir in the rice and add the water. Cover and simmer until all the liquid has been absorbed - approx. 30 min. Remove from the heat, cover and let steam for 10 min before serving. Discard thyme stems, allspice berries and chilli before serving.


This made loads! A half quantity would be fine for us... But luckily it was a big hit with both S and s, so disappeared within a couple of days!

Asparagus, garlic, feta, lemon, thyme

Also belated from early Summer...

We did a pretty good job of asparagus season this year, if I do say so myself. We ate lots... and as much of it from our veg share as possible (think we ordered a special asparagus bag every week!). Everything seems to be growing well this year, and I guess asparagus was no exception. And it turned out small S loves it (although only the tips: he is a discerning little bug)... Much of it was prepped v simply - either with st george’s mushrooms or just boiled for 4 min and then dressed with melted butter and lemon juice... this is only slightly more complicated, but is now my other favourite way to eat it...

olive oil

c. 4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 large bunch asparagus, tough bits snapped off and rest snapped into nice-sized  pieces

salt+pepper

zest and juice of approx 1/4 lemon

c. 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

1/2 pack of feta

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan with a lid and add the garlic. Sizzle for a few min, then add the asparagus pieces. Season with salt and pepper, cover and cook for a few minutes, then uncover and cook until excess moisture is gone and there is a little colour on the asparagus (it should be tender). Turn off the heat and let cool a bit, then squeeze over the lemon juice and add half the zest. Allow to cool a bit more, then serve warm, with the feta crumbled on top and thyme leaves and rest of the lemon zest scattered over it.

Sunshine beet salad

We got golden beets in our veg bag 2 weeks ago. I wasn't very inspired at first - seemed like disappointing leftover winter veg. But we also got a recipe leaflet that my former teammate Ina started making with her students. One of the recipes was golden beets with lemon juice+zest = sunshine beets. I took the combination and made it into something more substantial... and it worked really well.


2-3 medium-large golden beets
salt+pepper
olive oil
1 cup pearled spelt
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
juice and zest of 1/2 a large lemon
1 tsp white miso
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar reduction
1 tsp cider vinegar
salt+pepper
handful of chives, chopped

Wash the beets and then wrap them in foil with a little salt and pepper and olive oil. Put on a baking tray and roast at 200C for approx. 1 hour until soft. Let cool completely. Meanwhile cook the spelt in water until tender, drain and let cool.

When ready to assemble the salad, first make the dressing: chop the thyme and then mix with the lemon juice+zest, miso, 2 tbsp olive oil, vinegar reduction (use honey instead if you don't have it), vinegar, salt and pepper. Dice the beets into 1 cm dice and put in a serving bowl with the spelt and chives, then add the dressing and mix well. Eat straight away, or keeps well in the fridge for several days.


The beet-spelt-lemon-thyme combination works really well - and it does taste and look like sunshine... appropriately enough, given the insane sunny weather we've been having.

Walnut pesto (and walnut-cauliflower pasta salad)

Our heap of walnuts remains, as yet undwindling. Seb is mocking me for spending all my spare moments cracking nuts with my Granddads favourite nutcracker from 1981. But the proceeds are so nice. Some went into cookies for people waiting to be deported in Jutland at J's bday get together. For a totally different use, I thought of walnut pesto, I think inspired by this. I adapted that recipe only in as much as I substituted stuff we had in the house.

1 cup shelled walnuts
1 small garlic clove
1/4 cup grated parmesan
3 tsp mixed dried thyme, chilli and salt
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tbsp red pesto (subbed for 2 tbsp sundried tomatoes - used a bit less oil and cheese accordingly)

Toast the walnuts and let cool. Put in a blender with the garlic and pulse until roughly chopped. Transfer to a bowl and mix in grated cheese, herbs and salt, vinegar, oil and pesto. Mix together, taste for seasoning and vinegar, and eat on everything.

Some became an awesome pasta salad, with roasted cauliflower and tomatoes, white beans, parsley and diced mozzarella (or feta) - this is recommended. But it works with everything - a spoonful on top of some pasta e ceci, for example...

New Year's Hygge Soup (chunky spiced red lentil and root veg)

We live in Denmark now. Since last Sunday. Crikey: nearly a week. After a rush of moving and flying and packing and cases and goodbyes and Christmas and birthday and everything, there we were. It snowed. Amy arrived from Berlin for New Year's Eve - hurrah. We explored a bit. Walking: the Mermaid and the busbies in Amalienborg. 360 degrees of Round Tower. Half-electric bikes to look at the Carlsberg elephant gate. Looks like we can swim and sauna at the harbour baths, but we didn't know in time to achieve it on New Year's Day. Sooo many fireworks.

Discovering supermarkets. Nearest is Rema 1000 (seems to be mid-range), also Aldi; Irma (seems to be more fancy / økologisk). After some foggy outdoor explorations on New Year's Day it felt like enough activity and we went home to create some hygge. With a bag full of red lentils and root vegetables. Soup.

(this served 3 good appetites, with bread, for dinner)

~2 tbsp olive oil (olivenolie)
3 cloves garlic (hvidløg), peeled and chopped
2 medium leeks (porre), sliced
4 medium persillerod (aka petersilienwurzel aka parsley root aka my new favourite thing - seems quite easy to get here; alternatively use parsnips, pastinak), peeled and diced fairly small
6 medium carrots (gulerod), peeled and diced fairly small
1/4 celeriac (knoldselleri), peeled and diced fairly small
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin (kommen)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (kanel)
1/4 tsp turmeric (gurkemeje)
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground thyme (timien)
1 cup red lentils (røde linser)
1 veg stock cube dissolved in boiling water
more boiling water
6 baby pattypan squash, chopped
6 mushrooms (champignon), chopped
splashes of balsamic vinegar (eddike)
splashes of soy sauce (sojasovs)
salt+pepper (salt og peber)

Heat oil in a large lidded saucepan. Add garlic and leeks, cover and cook for a few minutes. Add the chopped root vegetables, cover and cook for a few minutes more until everything is slightly tender and just starting to soften. Add the spices and thyme and stir for a few minutes until you can smell them. Add the lentils and stir, then add the stock and enough water to achieve a consistency a bit runnier than you'd like to end up with (the lentils will absorb some). Turn down low, and simmer for 10-15 min, until the lentils and vegetables are almost tender. Add the squash and mushrooms and cook another 5-10 min, until everything is done. Taste, and add vinegar, soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Eat warm with bread (brød). Would be good (perhaps better) reheated the next day, if there is any left.


This came out just as I wanted, and really hit the spot. A big pan of it went down real well.

Parsnip, almond and garlic soup

We got these parsnips in our CSA weeks ago, then started getting loads of greens that required immediate preparation. So the parsnips lurked accusingly in the refrigerator, while temperatures rose and I felt less and less like turning on the oven to make the soup I had earmarked them for, and we ran out of almonds and then out of garlic and I felt guiltier and guiltier about neglecting my little beige roots.

Yesterday S went to watch USA vs Portugal, and I decided to stay home and get on with some stuff, including granola (while the oven was on...) and soup.

300 g parsnip (approx 6 small ones)
1 garlic bulb (10 cloves)
1 onion
~1 tbsp olive oil
125 g / 1 cup almonds, blanched
4 cups hot water, or more to taste
1 tbsp cider vinegar
~1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper

Heat oven to 400F / 200C. Peel parsnip, garlic and onion. Cut into smallish chunks. Put in a roasting tin and toss with olive oil. Bake for 15-20 min, until tender and lightly browned. When the vegetables are done, remove from the oven and place in a blender. Add almonds, hot water, vinegar, thyme, salt and pepper and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning and acidity.


I haven't decided yet what temperature I like best for this - it could be warm or cold, like a white gazpacho (mmm white gazpacho). Note: may be a good idea to soak the almonds overnight if your blender is not awesome - this wasn't all that smooth (although totally acceptable).

Easter eggs: Shakshuka with fennel

Yesterday we made a trip to Brattleboro. It's a little town just over the border in Vermont, and we first went there on a rainy weekend during our first Spring here. That time we pretty much just picked our destination by closing our eyes and poking the map - it was in Vermont and we'd never been there, but was close enough for a day trip (two hours drive). We found a pretty little place next to the wide Connecticut River, with a smaller river running energetically over rocks right through town (reminds me of the Lynn in East Linton). It's nestled among the beginnings of the Green Mountains, and full of interesting secondhand clothes shops, outdoor gear purveyors, a striking Art Deco hotel (Latchis), a great coffee stop (Mocha Joe's - grinds just down the street), and hippies. We love it, and can happily potter around there for hours. But the dealbreaker that really blew our minds the first time, and keeps calling us back again and again, is the Brattleboro Co-op. It is hands-down the best supermarket I've ever been to, especially its gigantic dried stuff by weight section.

Since it was Easter weekend and we were out in farm country, in the best supermarket ever, it seemed very appropriate to buy a half dozen happy, local eggs. Since eggs are such a rare occurrence in my kitchen these days I was more excited about those eggs than about any chocolate ones - just right for Easter. I spent some time today doing justice to those beautiful eggs - first for lunch (brunch?), shakshuka (nb second, clafoutis).

I wanted to make something kind of special but very egg-centric (no pun intended...). Shakshuka had popped up a few times recently - on brunch menus, at dinner at N+G's the other night... Time to make one myself. I used Yotam Ottolenghi's recipe, with a few modifications (like fennel).

(makes enough for a meal for two fairly hungry people, with bread)

½ tsp cumin seeds
2-3 tbsp grapeseed oil
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
1/2 a bulb of fennel, washed, trimmed and sliced to similar dimensions as the onion
3 1/2 tsp demerara sugar plus 1/2 tsp molasses
2 bay leaves
2-3 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 bunch fresh coriander, chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes plus 1 tbsp tomato puree
½ tsp saffron strands
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
up to 250ml water
4 eggs

In a large, wide saucepan, dry fry the cumin on high heat for a minute, until fragrant. Add the oil and sauté the onion for two minutes. Add the fennel, sugar, molasses, bay, thyme, parsley and two tbsp chopped coriander, and cook on high heat for a few more minutes until light golden. Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, saffron, cayenne, salt and pepper. Cook on low heat for 15 minutes, adding enough water to keep it the consistency of a pasta sauce. Season to taste. You can prepare this mix in advance. Turn the heat down to very low, then make four evenly-spaced hollows in the mixture in the pan*. Break the eggs one at a time into a small mug (try not to break the yolk), then pour each egg into one of the hollows in the mixture. Sprinkle with salt, cover and cook very gently until the egg just sets (this took at least half an hour although YO said it would be more like 10 min). To eat, sprinkle with coriander and have some bread on the side.

*The elegant way to do this would be to use one pan per person; I didn't feel like making that much washing up; perhaps the eggs would have cooked quicker in a smaller pan though?


This was really good - kind of a perfect combination: eggs, tomatoes, herbs, fennel, bread, plenty of salt and pepper. Great for any time of day. Other additions I was tempted to make include chives, olives, capers, fennel seed, sumac, chilli, oregano, peppers...

Bean and tomato stew

I am trying to use things up. I don't eat cheese, but S does, and I couldn't let him throw away a perfectly good parmesan rind. This also used up some beans and red wine that had been waiting for their moment for too long. And it's a good combination: beans and tomato and herbs and lush, rich sauce.

~2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tin tomatoes
~2 tbsp tomato puree
1 parmesan cheese rind
1 tin lima beans
~1 1/2 cups white beans (cooked and frozen)
~1/2 cup red wine
1-2 tsp dried oregano
1-2 tsp dried basil
1-2 tsp dried thyme
pinch of dried red chilli flakes
2 bay leaves
1-2 tsp dark soy sauce
salt+pepper

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan, add onion and garlic, cover and cook until softened. Add the remaining ingredients (except salt, pepper and soy sauce), cover and cook for at least 45 min, before turning off the heat, tasting for seasoning (salt, pepper and soy sauce) and letting sit for another half an hour. Remove the cheese rind and bay leaves and reheat to serve. Good with bread or pasta or polenta.

Popcorn muffins

I made a lot of popcorn and started daydreaming about baking with it. I was running short of snack muffins so muffins were the obvious choice (referred to this recipe). These are fun!

(makes ~9 muffins)

5 cups popped corn (2 1/4 cups after homogenising)
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (use less if the popcorn was salted)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup fake milk
1 tbsp ground linseed mixed with 2 1/2 tbsp boiling water
2 tbsp veg oil
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Version 1 = dark chocolate, sour cherry and thyme - add 1 tsp dried thyme, handfuls of sour cherries and of dark chocolate chips/chunks in with the dry ingredients.
Version 2 = mango, coconut and cardamom - add 1/2 tsp freshly ground cardamom, 2 tbsp dried shredded coconut and ~4 tbsp diced mango (from frozen) to the dry ingredients.

Heat oven to 400F. Prepare a muffin tin. Grind popcorn (I used the blender) until it is mostly pulverised (don't worry about a few remaining unground kernels - they will be fine+fun). Put ground popcorn in a medium bowl with flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and any additional dry ingredients (see Versions) and mix with a fork. In a separate bowl, beat together the fake milk, linseed mixture, veg oil and vanilla essence. Add wet to dry and mix until just combined. Dollop into prepared muffin cups and bake for 25-30 min, until lightly browned and a skewer comes out clean.


They are tasty but with so many additional flavours the popcorn is lost. I plan to tweak this to get a version that actually tastes like popcorn!

Popcorn with maple syrup, thyme and salt

We got popping corn in the CSA a while back, but when I tried popping it: nothing but burned bits. I had thought popcorn foolproof... evidently not.

This time I think I discovered my mistake: I'd heated the oil before adding the popcorn - do not do this!

~2 tbsp sunflower oil (or other high heat oil... coconut might be nice)
~1/2 cup popping corn
pinch of salt

flavouring to add when popped (optional): dried thyme, maple syrup, salt, all to taste

Use a tall, heavy-bottomed pan with a lid. Put the oil in, then add the corn and a pinch of salt. Put the lid on and shoogle around to coat the corn with oil. Turn on a high heat and, keeping the pan covered, heat it, shaking occasionally, until the corn starts to pop. Keep shaking occasionally until it stops popping. Take off the heat, shake and listen for the last few pops, then uncover. Perhaps best to add additional seasonings on an individual serving basis.

Avenotto aka savoury porridge

Is it the Scottish childhood? Who knows, but ever since I was the only one out of three sisters who ate porridge along with mama and papa bear and chattered about Goldilocks while pouring on the golden syrup... I have been a lover of oats.

I've never used them like this before - like a risotto, but with oats instead of rice as the grain - avenotto (? - I made that up). Seemed like you can't go wrong with oats.

1-2 tbsp sunflower seeds
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tiny onion, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
4 mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 cup oats
1 cup veg stock
1 cup boiling water mixed with 1 tsp mushroom powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1-2 leaves kale, washed and chopped
1-2 tbsp chopped parsley
salt, pepper, vinegar

Heat a medium saucepan and toast the sunflower seeds until golden and fragrant. Tip into a bowl. In the same pan, heat the oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook until almost soft. Add the mushrooms and saute until starting to crisp around the edges. Tip the onion, garlic and mushrooms into the bowl with the sunflower seeds. Put the oats in the pan and toast until slightly coloured and fragrant. Add the stock and boiling water-mushroom powder mix. Bring to a boil and add the dried herbs. Simmer until the oats are almost tender and the mixture has thickened (as for regular porridge). Add the kale and then cook until kale and oats are done. Add back in the sunflower seeds and onion-mushroom mixture, along with the parsley. Mix together, add salt and pepper and a splash of vinegar if you like, taste and add more if it needs it. Eat straight away.


Quick and good and digestible. Ha, so far today I had muesli (mostly unadulterated oats mixed with almond milk) for breakfast, this for lunch, and oat yoghurt for after lunch. What was I saying about oat love?

Celeriac pasta

We ate pasta with a creamy celeriac sauce at a place called Fressen in Toronto, years ago now (the restaurant has since been reinvented... but the celeriac sauce has survived on their menu). I didn't immediately realize quite how much S had fallen in love with it, but he had. So ever since we have been recreating versions - cooked celeriac, pureed and mixed through pasta. For this one, I cooked the celeriac just like this, before blending to a smooth puree.

1-2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 a medium celeriac, peeled and chopped into ~1 cm dice
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
salt+pepper
~2-3 tbsp fake milk (used almond)

enough dried pasta (twists or penne, used brown) for two people

Heat the oil in a medium, lidded saucepan then add the celeriac, garlic and thyme. Cover and cook for ~25 min, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile boil a big pan of salted water and get the pasta on. When the celeriac is tender, soft and a little sticky, take off the heat, taste and season, then transfer to a blender cup. Blend until smooth, adding fake milk to achieve the desired creamy pasta-sauce consistency. Taste to check seasoning. Drain the pasta when done, then return to the pan and toss with a little olive oil. Mix the celeriac sauce with the pasta and eat. If you like mix in chickpeas as well.


A good version. Happy to make pasta for S: he loves it so. The celeriac has a remarkable intense taste and creamy texture and this recipe brings both out beautifully while remaining simple, warming and satisfyingly comforting. Perhaps this celeriac sauce would make an interesting substitute for the white sauce in lasagne?

Egg yolk ravioli (and oriecchette)

I spent much of the weekend getting in the mood for Christmas: I cooked brussels sprouts, we bought a tiny tree, I caught up with family and their Christmas plans, I made zimtsterne, put up Christmas decorations, we bought and initiated an advent calendar, stayed in playing games and eating Lebkuchen... And overnight last night it snowed and capped off my indoor decorations with a beautiful (if rapidly melting) outdoor sprinkling of white. I do feel a bit more festive now.

With the three egg yolks remaining after making zimtsterne (I decided Christmas / zimtsterne was enough of a special occasion to warrant buying eggs... fancy, multicoloured ones) I decided to try out making egg yolk ravioli. We'd seen an egg yolk raviolo on Professional Masterchef a few years ago and it looked awesome (think we are usually inordinately excited whenever they make something vegetarian, but in this case it seemed justified). I used the eggless pasta dough recipe I have used before, and decided to try turnip as an additional filling (the traditional version seems to involve ricotta; I was intrigued by the idea of turnip though and had some in the fridge).

For the pasta dough:
(note: this makes way too much for 3 ravioli, hence the oriecchette - estimate enough for ~15 ravioli)
1/2 cup pasta flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 tbsp gram flour
1/2 tsp salt
water

For the filling:
(note: the mashed turnip is probably enough for about 10-12 ravioli, depending on size of turnip)
1 large turnip (the white kind)
salt
~ 1/2 tbsp thyme leaves
1 tbsp soy yoghurt (or fake milk, or nothing)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
pepper
3 egg yolks, carefully separated from the whites so as not to break the membrane
a little bit more egg for closing

First prepare the pasta dough: mix the flours and salt in a pile on a clean worktop, then made a pit in the middle and add the water a little at a time, mixing with your fingers (while being careful not to break the ramparts), until it comes together into a kneadable dough. Knead for a few minutes then wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge for at least 30 min / up to a few days.

While the dough is chilling, peel the turnip, chop into large chunks and then put into a pan of salted water to boil. Boil for ~10-15 min, until tender, then drain thoroughly and transfer back to the pan. Add the thyme, yoghurt (if using), olive oil and some salt and pepper and mash with a fork until fairly smooth. If it seems liquidy at all heat a little while to evaporate off the extra liquid. Set aside and let cool until handlable.

Take out the dough and make six small balls (each about the size of a large marble). Flour a clean worktop and rolling pin, then roll out each ball until it is super thin and you can see through it (try and keep the shape roughly circular). Choose three base pieces and space them out flat on a board. In the centre of each make a little nest of ~ 1 1/2 tbsp turnip mash, with a dent in the middle for the egg to go in. Wet your hands (and anything else you plan to touch the egg yolks with), and carefully transfer one egg yolk into each nest. Gently place the top pieces of rolled-out pasta dough over the egg yolks and press into place carefully, trying to exclude large air bubbles from getting in with the filling. Make a ring around the filling using any remaining egg yolk and/or white and press down firmly all around the circle to close the ravioli. Use the back of a fork to press some more if you want to be really sure of a firm closure. Trim the edges to remove excess pasta (keep the offcuts - you can cook them as random pasta shapes).

Bring a large pan of slightly salted water to the boil. Add the ravioli. Boil for ~3-4 minutes. Remove carefully with a slotted spoon, drain, transfer to plates and eat.


I cooked the offcuts as irregular fettucine. I also made oriecchette (wanted to try making a shape that didn't involve rolling!) with some of the remaining dough to make this into more of a meal: pinch of pieces about the size of a small marble and flatten into discs about 7 mm thick. Put on a clean surface, then roll your thumb across the disc, pressing firmly all the way across. It should roll up into an oriecchette (little ear) shape. These will take a little longer to cook than the ravioli as the pasta is quite thick - perhaps 5-6 min. They can be dried and stored if desired.


The egg yolk ravioli were amazing. The turnip and thyme went beautifully, and I felt like it was nice / important to have something extra to complement the egg yolk taste and also for structure when building the ravioli. Really fun to cut into the ravioli and have the orange yolk gush out. S was excited, and that was my main aim, so I'd call this a success. The mashed turnip was also pretty tasty on its own, and what's more reminded me of S's favourite celeriac pasta sauce, so I mushed it in with the oriecchette and that worked quite well too.

Lion's mane mushroom

I went over to Egleston Square Farmer's Market at the weekend - I hadn't been there since the Winter version started again, they were having a cranberry slam, and I was curious about the mushroom farm our friends A+B were sharing a stall with (travelling in from Western Mass). A+B were not there this time, but mushrooms were. I bought some Lion's Mane (Hericium erinaceus) - a mushroom I had neither seen nor eaten before. It looks a bit like a hedgehog mushroom, with really long, shaggy teeth and no discernable cap. Off-white. Looks fancy!

I sliced the Lion's Mane and fried it in olive oil, with finely sliced onion, chopped garlic and thyme leaves, finished with a little white wine and seasoning. It had a slightly chewy texture and mild taste. It was fine, but not going on my top mushrooms list. I wonder if wild mushrooms automatically taste more interesting than cultivated?

Pumpkin soda bread

This is an adaptation of classic Delia. I first made the original a long time ago, in an effort to use up a whole pumpkin lantern - after souping most of it, why not make some quick and easy bread to go with the soup? That recipe contained cheese and eggs; this is an up-to-date, animal-free version.

8 oz plain flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 oz raw pumpkin or squash (peeled weight), grated
~2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
~3 tbsp white miso paste, broken up into small (~1/2 tsp) pieces
1 oz pumpkin seeds (and some extra for the top)
1/2 oz sesame seeds
2 tbsp ground linseed mixed with 6 tbsp boiling water
1 tbsp fake milk (plus a little more, if needed)

Heat oven to 375F. Grease a baking sheet fairly liberally with olive oil. Put flour, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix with a fork. Add grated pumpkin, thyme leaves and miso (in small pieces) and toss together, then mix in the pumpkin and sesame seeds. Beat the milk into the linseed mixture, then add this to the pumpkin-flour mixture. Mix until it comes together into a sticky dough, using your hands towards the end (add a little more milk if needed).

Transfer the dough to the greased baking sheet and press into a 6 inch, flattened round. Make a cross on top using a blunt knife, then sprinkle with flour and pumpkin seeds. Put in the oven and bake for 45-50 min, until it is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from the oven and let cool for ~ 30 min. Best eaten warm, although perfectly fine at room temperature or toasted.

Pumpkin and tofu roasted with miso and thyme

At last I decided to butcher the squash (I think it was a red kabocha) I got from Drumlin the day I volunteered there way back in September. It was one of the first ones they harvested, and I was excited to eat it, but of course squashes keep well, so it had been sitting patiently in the pantry ever since. It was still in great condition when I finally got to it over the weekend. Some of it became soda bread - I had an old Delia recipe on my mind I wanted to veganise. Some I roasted with miso, tofu and thyme like this. I toasted the seeds with spices, and they came to L's birthday party with me and one of two soda bread rounds. And I still have half the squash left in the fridge!

1/4 of a large kabocha squash (about 9 oz, prepared weight)
2/3 of a pack of firm tofu, drained
2 tbsp white miso
~2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tbsp mirin
1-2 tsp sesame oil
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp maple syrup
black pepper

Heat the oven to 400F. Wash and deseed the squash or pumpkin and cut into large chunks (don't bother peeling). Cut the drained tofu into similar sized chunks. Put both into a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients to make a smooth, viscous liquid. Pour the liquid over the chunks and mix well to coat all the chunks, with your hands or a big spoon. Transfer the mixture to a roasting tin (in a single layer), put in the oven and roast for ~45 min, until the squash is tender and all is nicely browned.


This was really delicious - the squash is tender, deep red, and very sweet and flavourful; I am really into baked / grilled tofu with sauces right now (had some good stuff at the LUrC potluck last night too).

Tomatilloes and thyme

A brought me the last tomatilloes from his allotment. He'd gathered them after the frost - perhaps these really are the final harvest? So some had squishy patches, but in general they were fine. I put them together with a couple I had from ECO, and wondered what to make. I have previously just used tomatilloes raw, in sauces. This time, a chilly evening, I felt like cooking them. Simply. So I did this.

8-10 medium sized tomatilloes
1-2 tbsp thyme leaves
olive oil
salt and pepper

Remove and discard the husks from the tomatilloes and give them a good wash to get rid of their stickiness. Chop into ~ 1 cm dice. Prepare the thyme leaves (wash and remove any twiggy bits). Heat 1-2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan and then add the tomatilloes. Fry for a minute or so then add the thyme. Continue cooking until they have released their juice and then it has reduced back down - about ten minutes. Season to taste.


This was great - I'd forgotten how sweet tomatilloes are, while still being tangy and savoury - halfway between green tomatoes and physalis, perhaps. The tomatilloes and thyme became kind of a sauce for this, and went very well.

Leeks, thyme, white miso

A rescued these leeks from the compost pile. But they were perfect. I cooked them like this.

2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 large clove garlic, peeled and chopped
4 leeks, washed and sliced into ~1/2 inch rounds
1-2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
2-3 tsp white miso
salt+pepper

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan with a lid. Add the garlic and leeks and cover. Cook gently for 20-30 min, adding the thyme halfway through and stirring the miso through 5 min before the end. Stop when the leeks are soft, and taste for seasoning.