Butternut squash gnocchi with roast garlic, burnt butter and crispy sage

#butternutsquash #gnocchi with #burntbutter and crispy sage with a bit of #pecorino

A photo posted by Lara Beans (@beanslala) on Nov 12, 2016 at 1:52pm PST

This was a really lovely easy recipe to make!  I’ve adapted it from Daniel Ottolenghi’srecipe for gnocchi in today’s guardian, using what I had at home to make the sauce plus my love of sage with butternut is no secret! 

I have a lot of butternut at the moment. And i mean a lot! I‘ve been cooking it in roasts and stews and salads, and still they keep on piling up.  I get at least 1 with every veggie delivery! I was looking for something new to make, and I’ve been thinking about gnocchi so when the recipe came up today, I thought, why not?

This recipe can be easily multiplied.  You can also make the gnocchi in batches ahead of time – simply freeze on the tray after shaping into individual gnocchi, then place in freezer bags in whatever size portion you want).  I’m definitely going to make a couple of night’s worth of portions, this recipe is easy enough as it is, but to have the veggies roasted and the gnocchi prepared beforehand means dinner could be on the table on a weeknight in the time it takes to make the burnt butter sauce! J  These little pillows of happiness are softer and definitely tastier than ready-made ones you get at the shops – and as an added bonus, you feel like a total “nonna” making these and pushing each one down on a fork!  I look forward to making these with my nieces, they will love it!

Butternut squash gnocchi with roast garlic, burnt butter and crispy sage

Stop Chasing Ganesh! a.k.a. Chocolate cake with Dulce de Leche filling and Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate Dulce de Leche Layer Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache

I know, I know!! The title’s misleading!  There is no Indian elephant god Ganesh in this cake, however honestly if there was to be a cake that represented a god, this would be, at the very least, a contender!

The title comes from a line out of an episode of The Simpsons, where Homer dressed up as Ganesh and tries to stop Apu from getting married.  In turn, my lovely friend Joe always says “Ganesh” instead of “Ganache”, and frankly, that stuff is pretty godly so it does make sense in a way ;)

Anyway, I was looking for a cake that would fit perfectly with one of my best mates – she adores chocolate and toffee like substances, so what better cake for her than a moist dark chocolate cake, filled with lashings of dulce de leche, topped with smooth dark chocolate ganache??  YUM! 

This is definitely, no doubt about it, a celebration cake.  This isn’t something you do on a weekend to have something with tea.  This is a cake to be placed at the centre of attention, shared and enjoyed. 

I have accidentally also found one of the best chocolate cake recipes ever!  I will most definitely be using this when I make chocolate layer cakes.  It’s moist, dense, insanely dark (I don’t know what it is about an almost black chocolate cake that just excited me!), wonderfully chocolatey, and yet, somehow, it still manages to be delicately soft and light.… YUM!  For the Maltesers, what I was looking for essentially was a cake I can make from scratch that rivaled the old school Fontanella cake.  Unfortunately, I believe they have gone downhill over the last few years, hence the need to replace it with something! AND.. SUCCESS!!   I have finally found the right cake!  And to top it off, I know exactly what goes into it as I’ve made it myself (always a concern when ordering cakes from out) J

Wild Asparagus and Greens Pasta (Wild, Natural foods take 2)

Springtime is a great time for foraging in Malta.  There are plenty of delicious and healthy options to find just on your weekend walk in the countryside (and sometimes, even just walking around residential areas!)

Happy Spaghetti sauce :)

Flourless Chocolate and Hazelnut cupcakes

Sometimes a regular cupcake just won't do.  Sometime, you  need it to be more like a fancy chocolate, decadent, rich, moist and full of sinful pleasures from top to bottom.  Sometimes, you just need an excuse to make the most chocolatey gooey cupcakes.  This day came, when I decided to make a gluten free cupcake for a chocoholic friend.  What better excuse to make a flour-less cupcake?  

Flourless cakes are my favourite.  I can't go past a small slice of moist, dense cake.  Putting them into cupcake form was a great idea.  These cakes are not the kind of cakes you just keep on eating.  They are very rich!  I made them into fairy cake size, which is halfway between a mini cupcake/muffin size, and a "normal" cupcake (muffin) size.  I would say this is ideal, they are a decent hit of chocolatey goodness, and yet, you could probably have 2 and get away with it ;)  I will not judge you if you had to eat more than that! 

Don't be fooled by the light colour, under the delicate crust lies a dark, moist chocolate experience

Have your Artichokes and eat them :)

Artichokes - I love them SO much!  I love the idea of eating a flower bud, I love the idea of something so fleeting and seasonal!  The only problem I see with seasonal food is that I always want to enjoy it when it's out of season, without the added burden on our planet of unsustainable farming methods.

In Malta, I love how in just a few weeks, I'll be seeing a small field of these lovely plants, being allowed to mature fully so that the farmers can collect the seeds for the next year.  An artichoke in full bloom such a beautiful sight!!  The size of your head, a MASSIVE purple pall, just like your regular thistles, only much larger! :)  I drive past it every year, and it always seems to be at sunset, when the purple flowers look so pretty in the fading light :) 

When you think about it, the fact that Artichokes are a type of thistle really shows!

Apple berry oat crumble :)

This is an experiment to try making a somewhat healthy dessert, that's can still warm the cockles.  It was a total experiment, but I think it turned out well.  It was awesome served with some Greek yoghurt, but you could also use warm custard, cream, or even a nice vanilla ice cream! 

The berries released their delicious red juice into a lovely sauce, and dyed the apples bright red.  Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the ready product, oops! :)

Just as I put it in the oven, when cooked it turns into a golden crunchy oaty topping with a delicious saucy red base :)

Filling

2 Granny smith apples

1 cup mixed blueberries and raspberries (I used frozen, use fresh if in season and available)

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Crumble topping

2 tablespoons butter (I used "can't believe it's not")

a cup or so of quick cook oats

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Peel, core and slice the apples finely and place in a pie dish

Throw the berries and sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon on top, and mix until evenly spread around. 

To make the "crumble", melt the butter and then add the sugar, oats and cinnamon.   Sprinkle/spread on top of the fruit and bake until the fruit is cooked and the top is lovely and brown.  Mine took about 25 minutes in a hot (200C) oven.  Let sit for a few minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Tartiflette

Oooh!  Tartiflette!  I love the name, and I love absolutely everything about this!  It's a lovely dish, a DEFINITE winter warmer, and the whole of this dish, from beginning to end is all about decadence! :D  This is definitely not a "diet-friendly" meal, in any way, shape or form.  It's originally from Haute-Savoie a tiny part of France tucked away between lake Geneva and Mont Blanc (also, incidentally, the first ever Winter Olympics were held there, in Chamonix).

This dish is such a great dish to serve with a couple of friends, it's lovely and simple, and so tasty! You could easily adapt this recipe (say, using mushrooms, or using different cheese to Reblochon) to become something that is not Tartiflette, but Tartiflette based.  I have no issue with this.  I'm sure that it would be awesome, and to be honest now I just want to try the recipe with mushrooms and Brie/Port Salut.  But that is not Tartiflette.  This is Tartiflette :)

Tartiflette!  What a great word <3

yummmm

Mushroom mushroom soup :)

This soup is so mushroomy, I had to put it in the title twice! :D

so tasty, and SO ridiculously simple and quick!

I'm always on the look out for recipes that I don't need to plan ahead for.  I love cooking things that take lots of time, but I also work a 9-5 job, and sometimes, I just don't have the time or inclination to plan ahead.  This means that I either end up eating at 930pm sometimes, or I need to find things that don't take long to cook. 

Enter - the humble mushroom!  Mushrooms cook in a jiffy, are available ALWAYS (but especially in the colder months, when they thrive, even outdoors!) and can be made into so many different things.  I love a soup that's fast to make too, because all my favourite ones apart from this one actually take a while. 

Additionally, I've just started a Weight watcher's diet, so am trying to adapt recipes to fit into my daily allowance.  Essentially, I'm still eating low carb (although I'm allowed to have carbs on this diet), but now with additional low fat! 

This soup can be adapted to be as creamy and decadent, or as low fat as you like.  Really though, the low fat version doesn't taste all that different!  I'll give you the recipe for the low fat one, and will comment in the actual method of how to make it just a little extra decadent and rich, ideal for a soup starter for a wintry dinner party. 

You will need a blender (either immersion or stand alone) for this soup.  I've never tried it without blending it, but I'm sure it'll taste great too! Just slice the mushrooms a little neater if you are planning not to blend it :) 

Qaqocc Mimli (Stuffed steamed Globe Artichokes)

The start of the Artichoke season to me means a few things (apart form deliciousness!)

Ready stuffed and packed tightly into the pan for cooking

1) The start of the really cold part of winter
2) Those brilliantly sunny but crisp cold days of January (hiking!)
3) The urge to squirrel away these delicacies to bring them out at the height of summer.
4) The excitement I feel when the farmers leave a field of them to flower so that they can use the seeds for next year.  Anyone lucky enough to have seen these fields, they are simply spectacular. The flower grows to be the side of your head, and when they are in bloom, you really see the fact that they are, in fact, a thistle!

What we call the "choke" in an artichoke is in fact the hairy mass of immature petals that would otherwise bloom to become that purple mass in a mature flower.  In culinary terms, the globe artichoke is the bud, which is edible just as it's been formed, and before it starts opening up to bloom.

Here in Malta, they are a seasonal delicacy, even though you can prepare them (and I will let you know how in a later post!) to freeze and store for later on in the year.  Currently, the price is still "high" as it's right at the start of the season, but in a few weeks, we'll be buying a box load for summer use :)

The preparation of artichokes starts from the selection;
They need to be as tightly closed as possible (especially the inner leaves). 
Firm to the touch and feel heavy. 
They need to be as round as possible, not tapering to a point at the top. 
Ideally, choose them from a Green grocer who keeps them on the full stalk, and only ask him to trim it down to 10cm if you are using them on the day. 
If you plan to use them the day after, keep them on the stalk as long as possible, and you can even do as I do and chuck em in a vase as a decoration until you need to use them (keep them only a couple of days though)

This recipe is based on the typical Maltese way of stuffing artichokes.  There are many variations, and this is most certainly not completely traditional.  I made do with the breadcrumbs, mostly because i didn't have any bread in the house, however they do keep the stuffing lovely and absorb much of the delicious, delicious liquid.  if you choose to add them, just crumble up some day old Maltese bread (or a good firm sour dough if unavailable), and soak with a splash of vinegar (the vinegar i added to the recipe anyway and mixed with the other ingredients.  Then add the rest of the stuffing ingredients to that. 

The method below is actually completely vegan (as long as you don't serve it with tuna hahah)  Bonus!

Many other Maltese recipes call for Tuna.  I like to serve my tuna on the side.  But really, the tuna is lovely when added to the filling too.  next time i'm making these, i'll chop a few anchovies into the stuffing.  I think it will be delicious!

Garlic mushrooms

This is a very simple dish.  This is the side that matches so many things, as well as being a meal on its own when served on some lovely buttered sourdough toast.  I use these mushrooms with breakfast, as a filling for omelettes, I serve them as a side to meat/veg dishes, use it as a base to make a mushroom pasta sauce.  It's my "standard" mushroom dish, and I'm surprised I haven't posted it before!  I cook all mushrooms like this at some point.
You can make it with any mushrooms, but normally I just use regular white mushrooms (either in button or cap form).  Today, I made them with chestnut mushrooms, which are meatier and stronger than regular cap mushrooms.  Regardless of the type of mushroom, choose the heaviest, firmest ones you can find.  If they feel light as air and spongy, they aren't fresh.

I usually just wipe mushrooms with a kitchen towel to remove any dirt.  I don't wash unless i'm preparing for a pregnant lady like my lovely sis.

Garlic sautéed mushrooms

Mushrooms (around 400 grams) sliced into .5cm slices
butter
olive oil
A few cloves of garlic
freshly ground pepper
salt

Prepare all the ingredients before starting to cook :) Super Mario mushroom joins his friends :P

Heat  some butter and olive oil in a frypan or wok until the butter is melted and has started bubbling.  Grind plenty of pepper into the oil.

Add mushrooms and toss them in the butter.  Keep stir-frying on a pretty high heat.  Continue until the mushrooms are all squeaking and sizzling, add the garlic, and keep stir-frying until there's a little bit of water coming out of the mushrooms.  Add some salt to pan, this will draw out the moisture.

If you are making pasta, this is the time to add the cream or wine or whatever you want to add to it to make it all lovely and saucy (see a recipe for gnocchi with mushrooms cooked in this way here)

To have them as a side dish, just keep stir-frying until the water has mostly evaporated, taste and season if necessary, and serve piping hot :)

aaand they're done!

Also lovely with a squeeze of lemon, and/or chopped herbs, or add a tiny amount of white wine (make sure it evaporates mostly!) when you add the salt for a lovely tang :)

Enjoy!

Roast butternut and potatoes

This is a perfect side dish for roast meats.  also a perfect weekday dinner if you just add some other veggies into the mix :)

I've discovered that the smaller the butter nut, the better it is for roasting.  It keeps its shape, and is lovely and soft, sweet and nutty on the inside.  The larger it is, the stringier it gets (so I would keep the larger ones for soups).  Also, I always like to make a little extra, to use in salads or just to nibble on the next day, or if there's lots, it's great to make roast pumpkin soup!.  so delicious!

Honey Roasted Pumpkin soup with Indian Spices

So a lovely friend of mine works as a flight attendant, meaning she's a super jet-setter. She gets to go to all these interesting places for a few days :)  Last time she flew to Mumbai, and asked if i wanted some nice fresh Indian spices.  Sure enough, I was excited to get a couple of spices, but not as excited as I was when i actually saw what she brought, which was a whole bag of stuff!!!

Now that the weather has cooled enough for me to handle being in the kitchen, I decided that it was butter-nut pumpkin soup time!  The reason i use butter-nut is because frankly, i prefer it.  It's easier to cut, it keeps its shape when roasting, melts smoothly into soups without going stringy, and the taste - so sweet, nutty, delicious!

1 medium butternut (i would say about 1-1.5kg) peeled, seeded, chopped into smallish cubes (1.5-2cm)
1 large onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
one potato, peeled, diced. 
If in malta, some "karfus" (aka Maltese celery). If overseas, a celery stem, chopped finely.
some chicken stock (probably about a litre?) (Use veg stock if you please, and to make this dish completely vegetarian)
Goda Masala (or some curry powder, or some cumin, or whatever spice mix you would like to use.  I normally use just cumin, but this time, i decided on the Goda Masala, having never used it, but it said it goes really well with veggie curries, in fact, specifically, pumpkin curry!) More info below
Turmeric
Honey
Salt, pepper.
Vegetable oil
Fresh cream (or coconut cream if you want it to be vegan!), to serve

Spread chopped pumpkin in a baking dish, toss with oil, drizzle some honey, salt and pepper and cover tightly with foil.  Place in hot oven until the pumpkin is cooked (about 30 minutes).  Remove foil, toss a little, and return to oven to get some nice burnt bits going.  Burnt bits = more caramelly nutty flavour in soup :)

In the meantime, place onion, carrot and celery into pot with a little oil, and sweat for a few minutes (sautee with lid on).  Add spices (i used about 2 teaspoons goda masala, and about a teaspoon of turmeric), stir in chopped potato, add some stock - not too much, 2 or 3 cups should be fine, simmer until potato is cooked and kitchen is smelling of spicy goodness.

Once the pumpkin is done, throw it in the pot, simmer for 5 minutes and turn off the heat.  Let cool a little before blending.**

Blend until completely, velvety smooth.  Add cream to taste, and season if necessary.  Stir around with the ladle until the cream is completely blended in. 

Serve with an extra dollop of cream, and some freshly chopped spring onions/chives if you have any at hand. 

I like to serve this into a giant mug,  sipping and spooning it into my mouth, while siting by the heater  watching Christmas cooking shows :)

**I have learned the hard way why soups that require blending always have the "allow to cool a little" thing  before blending the hard way.  when blending, it releases lots of steam.  in a blender, this means a little explosion of burning hot liquid from the top.  In the pot, this means that IF some splashes on you, you be BURNED! ehe. 

Goda Masala is a dark powder spice mix - it's got a smoky and sweet aroma, and makes things spicy without being hot.  I've never seen it anywhere before, so i have no idea if you can get it.  I would try Indian foodshops if you have access to them.  More info here: http://madteaparty.wordpress.com/2007/06/15/goda-masala/.
However, the actual spices in this soup isn't the important thing, as long as you have something on hand.  I've made it with just a bit of curry powder, or even just cumin and turmeric, with some freshly grated ginger added in.

Aubergine/Eggplant Parmigiana

This is one of the dishes that has a confusing origin, people (including myself) thought that the name suggested that it's from Parma, but in fact wiki suggests it's Sicily and Campania that lay claims to it, which makes sense considering the ingredients! :)

layering the ingredients

I have no idea if my version is traditional, in fact I'm sure it's not, but the point is that it tastes good no?  And is made with healthy, fresh ingredients?  AND as a special bonus - this dish is VERY low carb! :D  here we go! :)

Salsa Cruda - a.k.a bloody simple pasta sauce!

Salsa Cruda literally means "raw sauce", as this sauce requires no cooking at all.  There are so many variations of this, but essentially there are a few things in common with all of them: fresh tomatoes, olive oil, a summery herb, all at room temperature.  The pasta is added steaming hot, making a lovely contrast with the cool sauce. Drizzle with some extra Extra Virgin Olive oil just before serving :)

Everything about this sauce screams summer - invokes the feelings of al fresco dining, relaxation, possibly with a frosty glass of white wine :)

The most important thing in this sauce is that you buy the right quality ingredients.   I adore tomatoes for example, but I will not buy them unless they are EXACTLY the quality I want.  Same goes with everything else in this sauce.  Except the basil, because that's growing in pots all over our coutyard in an attempt to finally have enough basil to see us through summer (I swear we're all basil addicts here, I even use it on toast with a tiny drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of seasoning in the morning, it's not my fault, I walk past 2 basil plants on the way to the kitchen, I can't help but pick a leaf or 2!) 

simple, quick, easy, fresh.  :D

Lemon curd cupcakes

Mmmmm!!!  These cupcakes are amazing.  I am in total awe of the person who actually decided to put together this recipe, for they are just... wow.  


These cakes are for serious lemon lovers... they have the amazing combination of tart, sweet, creamy, textures, everything.  They are... just... wow.  so SO good! 

The curd is so deliciously lemony and creamy, the cake is soft, light, also lemony, and the frosting (which contains some of the lemon curd, as well as cream cheese and whipped cream) brings it all together to a lovely, lemony delight!  

Poor little cupcake, sitting on a plate, it was eaten only a few moments after this was taken

I really felt like trying something lemony, as we suddenly ended up with quite a few lemons from friends' and colleagues' trees, we were going over to my aunt's for tea to celebrate mother's day with Nanna, so thought it was the perfect opportunity to try something delicious and lemony!  These are a winner I think!! 

Carrot Cupcakes - Hummingbird bakery stylez

I adapted this recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook.  I've never actually been to the shop in London, but my sister swears by this recipe, and everyone I know who's been to the shop have adored the food there :)  The recipe was for cake, but this was adapted for cupcakes.  

funny hat wearing cupcakes.

Cheesy vegetable Lasagne

We stuff ourselves silly on Xmas day.  It's ridiculous.  And now that the "kids" have become foodies, we have added, not reduced the amount of courses served at this mammoth, 8 hour lunch.  Every time one of the "traditional" family dishes is threatened, half the family go up-in-arms about it, so it's a bit of a risk to change the staples.  In our family these staples are meat lasagne, and a dessert we call "coffee mousse", which I'm yet to attempt.

I did the daring and changed the meat lasagne into a vegetarian version, in an attempt to at least make one of the courses somewhat easier to digest with all the other foods there.  As not to scare the carnivores, we named it "cheesy vegetable lasagne", with an emphasis on the cheese.  And it seemed to work! 

Cheesy vegetable lasagne

Shortbread (Gill's mum's)

Gotta love a delicious golden biscuit!  This is a recipe that family friend passed on to us (Gill, she actually hand-wrote a beautiful little recipe book for my mum, and added pictures of Australia and friends as a goodbye present when my family left Malta).  This is her mum's recipe :)

This dough is fantastic to keep rolled into a sausage, and tightly wrapped with cling wrap in the fridge, especially at the Christmas/winter season, ready to be whipped out, sliced, and thrown in the oven for freshly baked shortbread biscuits at any time!

Shortbread (the background ones were wrapped as gifts.

Scandinavian Spicy cookies

I know.  This was meant to be a Christmas Post.  Terrible of me really.

These are delicious - buttery cinnamon and spice flavoured cookies, and they literally bring home the smell of Xmas into the kitchen and all around the house.  it's awesome!

I've seen so many differing recipes for these cookies, but the one I liked best was from an issue of Taste (Issue 7, winter 2005), a Maltese magazine that comes out with the Independent.  They had an article about a Danish and a Swedish person living in Malta, and they gave this recipe for "brown cookies".  I had just been to Sweden and tasted these awesome biscuits so thought i'd make them.  and they were delicious! And so much fun to make!

With shortbread in a plate...

Roast Potatoes - Hasselback stylez

Cooking potatoes in this way is a real win/win situation.  They take less time to cook than just placing a whole potato in the oven, and they also look really, really pretty!  Plus you get a little bit of the soft delicious inside, and a crunchy layer on every bite!

They are great served with something saucy, or really, whenever you feel like a roasted potato without waiting for ages!  Hasselbacks are not a hassle at all hehee :) 

There are heaps of variations, you can put various herbs, or even a little bit of grated parmesan to add extra crunch, or simply seasalt and ground pepper... it's great!

Hasslback potatoes with coq au vin

Regarding the type of potatoes, I like to use a waxy one, as they will keep their shape, yet remain lovely and creamy on the inside.  I find that using Charlotte,king edward or nicola is great, but in Malta, they don't come by "name" so just get the ones with the pink eyes, or the ones that are longish (rather than round) and yellow, not white on the inside. 

Ingredients for 4 people

• 8-12 medium sized roasting potatoes
• Chunky and fine sea salt
• Fresh black pepper
• Rosemary, thyme, or herbes de Provence
• Olive oil
• Cold butter (optional)
• A head of garlic, separated into cloves but left unpeeled and whole

Preheat oven to 200 celcius (i think that's about 450 fahrenheit)

Wash and scrub potatoes, removing all the little eyes and bad bits.

Grab a potato, place it on the flattish side down (there is always a flatter side on a potato).  Start slicing with a VERY sharp and thin knife to about 2/3 - 3/4 of the way down. Make about 15 of these slices into the potato.  Be really careful not to go all the way down, but don't freak out if it happens once or twice.  We're not perfect!  Repeat with all the potatoes.  

Put in a mixing bowl, and pour some olive oil over the potatoes, and toss until they are all covered.  Don't be scared to use your hands at this point.  Just make sure that you have all the other ingredients at hand first, otherwise there will be oily cupboards and jars to deal with!

Place the potatoes on a shallow baking tray (i use baking paper also).

One by one, gently and ever so slightly pry the slices open and try and sprinkle some chunky salt in there. This will keep the slices ever so slightly open also, and will help the herbs, pepper etc get into each slice.

Sprinkle with pepper, herbs, some more fine salt (it's very hard to put too much salt on a potato!), and if you want, place a teenzy slice of butter in one of the middle slices.

In the oven...

Put in oven, and leave for about 30-45 minutes, uncovered until they are cooked through and all browned and crispy on the top. 

Leave for about 5-10 min before tucking in, because they will be REALLY hot! :D  luckily you can "open them up" a little with your fork to let them cool faster :D  

They go very well with coq au vin gravy over them too :)