Z is for zucchini (or C is for courgette)

Whether you call them zucchini or courgettes these lovely vegetables are incredibly versatile. This morning I was reading a recipe which included grated zucchini in scrambled eggs. I haven't tried it yet. What I did prepare for lunch today was a lovely fresh zucchini recipe which just gets better with time.

I sliced about 4 small zucchini in 1/2 cm slices, then let them sit on kitchen paper overnight. Then today I sliced a clove of garlic and slowly cooked it in olive oil until it was golden. I removed the garlic from the oil and fried the zucchini in batches. Don't crowd the pan - you need to be able to cook each side until they're a lovely golden brown.

Next up I drained the zucchini on kitchen paper. While that was happening, I finely chopped a clove of garlic and sliced a handful of fresh mint.

To pull the dish together, I put the zucchini in a dish, tossed in the garlic and mint and about a teaspoon of dried red chili (adjust this one to your taste - I enjoy a hit of spice). I then added about 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar and tossed it all together.

This is lovely warm, it's lovely when it's cooled. It's even better the next day - but leave it out of the fridge. If you do refrigerate it, bring it back to room temperature before you eat it.

Loving the Leftovers

Do your leftovers pine away at the back of the fridge, forgotten and unloved, and then get thrown out? Finding new things to do with leftovers not only helps reduce your food bills because you’re not wasting so much, but it’s kinder to the planet. Not to mention that it can be great fun to experiment.

I love roast vegetables. A plate piled high with roasted potatoes, pumpkin, carrots and beetroots is truly delicious. Add some greens – beans, peas, broccoli, broccolini – for a veritable feast.

Thing is, when I roast veggies somehow I always seem to cook too much. Especially with the pumpkin.

Not wanting to waste it, I’ve been messing about and have discovered delicious ways to use any leftover roasted pumpkin. These taste so good that now I deliberately cook too much. I have been using what in Australia is called “butternut pumpkin”. In other places it’s referred to as “butternut squash”. But I figure these recipes should work pretty well with any kind of pumpkin. Sorry I can’t give you accurate quantities. Part of the fun of leftovers is experimenting … if you get really stuck, drop me a line and I’ll help you out.

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Fry up diced onion and finely chopped garlic in olive oil. Throw in a teaspoon of cumin seeds and cook until onion is soft and cumin smells lovely. Toss in the roasted pumpkin and some vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for a couple of minutes. Blitz with a stick blender. Check seasoning and serve with a swirl of natural yoghurt.

(For this recipe I used about 5 pieces of roasted pumpkin with one medium sized onion and 2 cloves of garlic.)

Roast Pumpkin Sauce for Pasta

Years ago I ate pumpkin filled ravioli with pumpkin sauce at a restaurant in Venice. Rather too much pumpkin was my thought at the time, but I did like the idea. So I serve this pumpkin sauce with spinach and ricotta filled ravioli.

Mash pumpkin. Add enough white wine to make a fairly thick sauce. If you think the mix needs too much wine, or if you prefer not to use wine, use vegetable stock or a combination of both. Warm through and season with salt and pepper.

I like the sauce to be quite thick and put it in the bottom of a large bowl. Then arrange pasta on top. When I want a meal to be extra special, and feel that I can survive the additional calories, I serve it with a sage and butter sauce, and grated Parmesan. If you’re not using the sage butter, why not add some chopped sage to the pumpkin mix? The flavours go together wonderfully.

Sage and Butter Sauce

Melt butter in fry pan with sage leaves. When butter starts to turn brown remove from heat and quickly add lemon juice. Make sure your butter doesn't burn.

ANZAC Biscuits for ANZAC Day

In Australia and New Zealand, ANZAC Day is our day of remembrance. On 25 April 1915 our forces were part of an allied force that landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula. 

It being ANZAC Day I thought I would make some ANZAC Biscuits. The last time I made these was over 20 years ago. On that occasion I was making them to sell for a charity fundraiser and I pretty much felt like never baking ANZAC Biscuits again after making hundreds and packaging them into cellophane bags. But being away from Australia and seeing messages posted on various social media forums by my compatriots put me in the mood for a taste of home ...

The recipe I used today is by Merle Parrish (viewers of the Aussie version of Masterchef might remember her), and I downloaded it from here. I’ve also copied it for you. I made some of mine small and some larger; the photo is of some of the bigger ones. If you make them all small I’m sure the recipe makes 45, but the size I made, I think I made around 30. 

 This is a very simple recipe - great for making with kids. And it's quick so from the time you decide on the spur of the moment that you really want something sweet, to the time you bite into your first warm ANZAC biscuit is about 30 minutes. But a ward of warning, they really are nicer when you give them about 10 or so minutes after taking them out of the oven to crisp up.

Enjoy! 

Merle Parrish's Anzac biscuit recipe

Prep time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 6-7 mins per batch

Makes: 45

1 cup plain flour

2 tsp ground ginger

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup desiccated coconut

1 cup white sugar

1 tbsp golden syrup

2 tbsp boiling water

1 tsp bicarb soda

160g butter, melted

1.      Preheat oven to moderate (170C) and grease two large baking trays.

2.      Sift the flour and ground ginger into a mixing bowl, and add the oats, coconut and sugar. Make a well in the centre.

3.      Stir the golden syrup, boiling water and bicarb in a small bowl until combined. Add to the dry ingredients, along with the melted butter. Mix well.

4.      Take heaped teaspoons of mixture and roll into balls. Place onto trays, and flatten gently. Bake for 6–7 minutes, until lightly golden.

5.      Cool on the trays for 10 minutes, until they firm up slightly, then lift onto wire racks to cool completely.

Paprika Spiced Cannellini Beans

Have you noticed that there are still people who believe that vegetarians live on salads, or stacks of roasted Mediterranean vegetables? I'm sure at least part of my passion for experimenting with food grew from this and the dire shortage of vegetarian recipe books that were around when I first stopped eating meat many years ago. There are plenty of books and websites around now and they are a constant source of inspiration, but I still love messing around. Especially with different spices and flavours - finding out what works, trying new things. 

So here's one of my favourite recipes. A great storecupboard special.  You can serve this with all kinds of things. Crumble over some feta cheese, add some chunks of avocado, serve with rice, or mop it up with bread. Pile on toast (bruschetta style) or serve with salad. For extra richness top with some sour cream. Use your imagination and have fun. The recipe is just the starting point.

1. Dice an onion and finely chop a couple of cloves of garlic. Cook slowly in olive oil to soften. Cook them until they're soft and pale making sure you don't burn the garlic. 
2. Add about one tablespoon of paprika and the same of ground cumin. Stir and cook for a few minutes. 
3. Then add about one tablespoon of cider vinegar and half a tablespoon of brown sugar. Stir.
4. Add 3 chopped tomatoes. (If you prefer, or don't have fresh tomatoes on hand, use a can of tomatoes). 
5. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. 
6. Add a can of Cannellini beans and heat through - about 10 minutes.

Unlike baking where ratios are important, this kind of dish is easy to adjust to suit your own tastes. Do you prefer more tomatoes, or more beans? Do you want a stronger cumin flavour? More garlic? You can leave out the paprika and cumin and spice it up with some thyme or oregano, or use a different kind of bean.

Remember, recipes aren't prescriptive. Have fun with your food and experiment. Let me know if you come up with something good!