workshop: learn how to make sugo and gnocchi!

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much excitement!


i will be teaching a sugo and gnocchi workshop at spotswood community house on saturday 5 march, 10am-1pm; organic ingredients, lunch included, and take-home goodies for all. places are strictly limited, so get in quick!


an initiative of the newport organic collective and spotswood community house: click here for more details

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harvest

bounty from the garden despite maniac weather:

• two kinds of figs
• peaches
• lemons
• beans
• strawberries
• baby zucchini
• garlic
• red chilli

and the world's tiniest full-grown capsicum

weekend simple: curly endive, pear and walnut salad

this is a great salad that can be eaten as a main course; lovely on warm summer evenings!

per person, use approximately:

6-7 leaves curly endive

1 ripe pear 

large handful of raw walnut halves

vinaigrette (2 parts apple cider vinegar + 1 part olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, 1 clove crushed garlic, small handful finely chopped parsley)

marinate the walnuts and thickly sliced pear in vinaigrette for 20 minutes before topping with curly endive; toss well before serving.

what makes this salad so delicious is the bitterness of the greens, with the sweetness of the pear and creaminess of the nuts.

sugo: the ultimate super-intense tomato sauce

every once in a while, you may be blessed with an enormous amount of something special, fresh and immediate. if that something is tomatoes, this recipe is for you. 


i must have channelled the nonna of all nonnas one night last week; la più venerato nonna made a case of super-cheap, ultra-perfect tomatoes appear to me on the ride home from work; and, critically, by some mystical osmosis, imparted to me the recipe for sugo: the ultimate super-intense tomato sauce.


you will need a big saucepan: at least 10-15L capacity, and and about 2kg of ripe tomatoes. some people say that you need to squish the juice out of the tomatoes before cooking them. forget this: nonna has better things for you to do (eg make gnocchi, but that's another story).


cut the tomatoes in half or quarters into the saucepan until the pan is FULL. don't worry about removing the heart/stem thing; nonna says you blend it all together anyway. put the lid on, and place pan over low heat for about 15-20 minutes until the tomatoes have released a bit of juice so they don't stick or burn.


remove the lid and turn the heat up to medium-high, and stir in: 
2 tbs each of salt and pepper (you can adjust the seasoning later, but it's important to add  this much now)
2 whole heads of garlic
6 tbs dried herb of choice (oregano, basil, whatever)


stir the tomatoes every 20 minutes to stop them from sticking. the sauce will be soupy and runny for a while: you need to cook it down to about a third of the pan's capacity.


after the first hour, add: 
3 tbs sugar
3 tbs vinegar
4 tbs olive oil


turn the heat down to medium-low. keep stirring regularly. if your sauce sticks or burns, pour it into another pan and keep cooking on lower heat.


once it has reduced to a third of the pan full, blend with a stab mixer or cool and whiz in a blender.


nonna says serve with everything! bellissimo!

weeknight simple: mini falafel burgers

it's been hot here for the last few days; unreasonably so. 40 degrees? i mean, come on!!

armed with forewarning of the doomy weather, i cooked a whole lot of food to fridge and eat with salad during the apocalypse. falafel is my all-time favourite vegetarian meal, and it's a doddle to prepare.

the powdered mix is available in most supermarkets, and all you have to do is combine roughly 200g of mix + a cup of water (i like to add a shredded carrot and some fresh herbs too). stir, shape into heaped teaspoon-sized balls and fry in as little oil as possible (using a non-stick pan helps, as much as i hate the things). 

if you're impatient (like me), you can squish the patties flat to speed cooking after you've flipped them over once.

serve with sauce of choice (tomato, hot chilli, relish, chutney, hummus, tahini, mayo) and salad, or wrap in flat bread for portability. these keep well in the fridge for a few days, can be eaten cold or reheated in no time.