Recipe: Puy Lentil Stuffed Aubergine

I had the girls over for dinner, but being the only vegetarian in the party made me worry that making something simple like pasta or ratatouille would be a bit of a disappointment, so I wanted to showcase a more interesting vegetarian dish.

For starters, we had delicious green olives and sun-dried courgettes (both from Sainsbury's):

(these are deliciously sweet but laden with oil, watch out!)

The main course was puy lentil stuffed aubergine, a recipe I developed from two separate Yotam Ottolenghi recipes from his 'Plenty' cookbook (his were a bit complicated, and a bit wasteful with veg).

Serves 4 (gluten and dairy free)

Aubergines:
2 medium/large aubergines (depending on whether it's a starter or main)
Olive oil
8 sprigs of fresh thyme
Salt & pepper

Stuffing:
200g Puy lentils, rinsed
3 small carrots, peeled (or leave skin on if organic)
2 celery sticks
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs of thyme
1tbsp red wine vinegar
1tbsp chopped coriander
1tbsp chopped parsley

1. Heat the Oven to 200°C/Gas 6. Slice the aubergines in half lengthways, leaving the green stalk for decoration. Using a small knife, make 2 or 3 parallel incisions down the cut side of the aubergine halves, being careful not to cut through the skin on the other side. Then turn the knife 45° and repeat to get a diamond-shape pattern. 


2. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the 4 aubergine halves cut side up, then spray or brush the aubergines with olive oil several times so that the flesh has absorbed lots of oil. Place the thyme sprigs just on top of the vertical incisions (so the flavour will diffuse through the flesh) and as much salt and pepper as you like. Roast for 40 minutes or until they look soft and browned (you may want to top up the oil half way through baking).


3.  With the aubergines taken care of, you can start work on the stuffing. Place the lentils in a sauce pan, with the bay leaf and sprigs of thyme, bring to the boil, then simmer for 25 minutes. Yotam says to skim any surface froth away, but I never got any. 


4. Cut the carrot and celery into 1cm dice, mix with the tomatoes, lash in some olive oil to coat everything lightly and a few pinches of salt. Spread out over a baking tray and cook on the shelf above the aubergines for about 20 minutes (it helps to time this with the second half of the aubergine bake time). 


5. Back to the Puy lentils - when cooked, remove and drain in a sieve. Remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs (don't worry if leaves have broken off), transfer back to the saucepan, spray in a bit more olive oil and the vinegar and lots of salt and pepper. Pop the lid on the pan to keep it warm and wait for everything else to finish cooking (with a bit of practice, we could probably time this perfectly).


6. Add the cooked vegetables to the lentils in the saucepan, with the chopped herbs and taste, add seasoning if required. Place the cooked aubergines onto plates, then spoon the lentil mix on top and into the nooks and crannies created by the incisions - these will have expanded during baking (don't rush, the lentils like to roll off everywhere if you're not careful). Serve with a great big smile on your face because it looks (and tastes) awesome.

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If you like, Yotam suggests putting a dollop of crème fraîche or yoghurt on top, but I decided not to, to keep the recipe dairy-free. I served mine with a central bowl of broccoli, I reckon you could probably serve cauliflower or cabbage and the tastes would still compliment.

I had been given this lovely wine at Christmas, but saved it for a nice occasion. It was terrific, very soft and plummy, and my boyfriends barcode scanner app tells me you can get it at some supermarkets for only £10. It is very, very much worth trying.

For desert, I gave up being dairy-free and made that same ginger ice-cream I made at Christmas, which I served with slices of mango. I know it's from a very different cuisine, but we all thought it went really well anyway (food snobs probably hate me though).

On top of all that, my lovely friends brought me some lovely Spring tulips:

and when I had been picking up my ingredients earlier on, I had spotted these bargain hyacinths for £2.99 which will pop out something beautiful in a few weeks, just in time for the end of my degree (as a wee present to myself):

C x

Edinburgh Blogs

Presenting a quick list of Edinburgh-based blogs that are well worth clicking over to:

• Greener Leith - Green living and community participation in Leith (relevant to anyone interested in Scottish green living)
• Chatiry World - Crafts, baking and things to see in Edinburgh. Her guide to Independent Shops in Edinburgh is excellent, it's exactly the kind of thing I'd like to do (but now don't need to).
• Veggie Lady - I had no idea this blog existed but I love it, it's as though it was written for me. Fantastic recipes that can be adapted for any budget.
• The Edinburgh Blog - Mainly restaurant reviews, among other things to see and do in Edinburgh. I particularly like the range of budget and luxury places.
• Thingy Bobs - This is filled with lovely things, music and book recommendations, style and interiors, all written by an Edinburgh-based French lady (which, by default, equals good taste).
• Miss Smidge - is a personal blog, filled with lovely photos and inspiring things. She also organises Edinburgh blogger meet-ups, which I might go to, if I can pluck up the courage...
• A Daddy Long Legs Is Not A Father - is a girl after my own heart. A superbly written blog about life, music, film, and anything else that catches Ali's eye. She also has great taste in literature.
• Cupcake Couture Beauty. Fashion. Baking. I don't think more description is required. But this is a great blog, and it's one of Edinburgh's most popular too.

C x

PS - If any other Edinburgh bloggers want to be included on this list, drop me a line!

Recipe: Conchiglie with olives, capers and raisins

LOVE raisins in savoury dishes. Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi's Guardian column, The New Vegetarian, to suit a smaller-budget lifestyle*.

Serves 4 (can be served hot or cold)

4 stalks celery
2 tbsp olive oil
30g pine nuts
40g capers with 2 tbsp of their brine
40g pitted green olives, diced to ~1cm
* 1 good pinch saffron Small pinch of turmeric and oregano
1½ tsp white-wine vinegar
80g raisins, soaked in water (1h)
250g conchiglie pasta
30g chopped parsley
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove, crushed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pecorino(V) or parmesan (which is not vegetarian), optional.

1. Cut any leaves off the celery (but keep aside) and cut the stalks into 1cm dice. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the diced celery and pine nuts. Fry over a high heat until the nuts start to brown, stirring all the while. 

2. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the capers and their brine, the olives, turmeric and oregano, the vinegar and the drained raisins. Set aside.

3. Cook the pasta, drain into a colander and shake well. Tip the pasta into the pan, place over medium high heat to quickly heat through. Keep stirring, then add the parsley, lemon zest, garlic and lots of black pepper. Taste and only add salt if needed.

4. Transfer to serving plates or bowls, scatter the reserved celery leaves on top and if you want, finish with a little cheese (but not much).




Really nice sweet and sour dish, that takes 25 minutes to make and you can toss in anything else you like, perhaps fennel or red onion instead of celery, or anchovies if you're not veggie. The original recipe called for more raisins but I found 100g was a little too much (I reduced to 80g). Perhaps having saffron would counteract this.

C x

Recipe: Spinach & Pine Nut Pasta

I'll admit I can be quite lazy after a long day at uni and just want to pop on a slice of toast or three for dinner. So I made this the other night to try and eat something more nutritious:

The Quickest, Easiest Pasta Recipe Ever

Ingredients:

• Pasta - fusilli or something similar
• Pine Nuts
• Rocket
• Spinach
• Olive Oil

1. Boil and cook pasta.
2. Drain then put back on the heat with the oil, spinach and pine nuts, stir through for a minute or two, until the spinach wilts. If the pasta starts to stick to the pot add a wee bit more oil. Serve.
3. Top with rocket.

Bish Bash Bosh.

Recipe: Nut Roast, Poached Pears

Belated seasonal post - January was too cold and snowy to inspire anything other than overeating and hot toddy consumption.

Had a delicious nut roast for Christmas Day, a super veggie dish that takes minimal effort but is very filling and protein-rich. The 'traditional' dessert of poached pears was made by moi, except I made the mistake of using a very fruity Merlot to poach the pears in, and I think an oaky wine works better, like Rioja, so it doesn't overpower the taste of the pears.


Chestnut Nut Roast
Serves 5

1 tsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
1-2 small carrots, grated or finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
200g chestnut puree (or mashed chestnuts)
1-2 tbsp fresh herbs, finely chopped (I used parsley and thyme)
1 tbsp veggie stock/Bouillon powder
1 egg
1/2 cup (lightly packed) grated cheese
Salt + Pepper

1. Grease and line a loaf tin (about 13 x 22 cm) with baking paper or well greased greaseproof paper. Heat the oven to 200 C.

2. Heat oil in frypan and fry the onion, garlic, celery and carrots for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add remaining ingredients. Mix well.

3. Spoon mixture into prepared loaf tin and bake for 45-60 minutes. Let sit for about 10 minutes and the turn out onto serving dish. Goes superbly well with roast parsnips and cranberry sauce. I had steamed broccoli on the side too (but I only took a photo of the next day's leftovers, which I had freezer veg with instead).













Poached Pears
Serves 4

1/2 bottle good red wine
4 pears, cored (tricky, but an apple corer does the job)
200 g caster sugar
1 clove

1. Put wine, clove and sugar into pot and bring slowly to a bubble.

2. Add pears upright [takes a bit of fiddly balancing] and leave to simmer for 30 mins, or until pink colour has spread through the pear (make take longer than 30 mins, depending on type of pear and ripeness)

3. Remove pears from pan then boil down remaining wine mixture to a sticky syrup [the proper recipes say reduce it by half]. Pour this over each of the pears and if you want something to top it all off with, add a couple of raspberries to the plate.

Recipe: Bhindi Masala

I was inspired by a visit to my favourite Indian restaurant, Kalpna, last night to give my first of what I hope to be many Taste posts, aiming to give you lovely people a few good recipes. Hey, you might even want to invite me along for dinner one night and cook one. I'm just suggesting.

Kalpna recently underwent a huge renovation, converting it from a trendy student curry house into a place of fine dining and soft lighting (is it just me that appreciates understated lighting in eateries?). Plus, it's all vegetarian/vegan so it demands experimental cooking (there are only so many ways one can curry a carrot). The South Indian dishes, I'm told, are particularly excellent, however disappointingly unsuitable for me and my fellow mushroom-allergy sufferers. Still, there are plenty more dishes to choose from. I will present to you my new favourite; Bhindi Masala (aka Spicy Okra).

Serves: 4 hungry people
Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
Okra (Bhindi) ---- 500g
Tomatoes ---- 3 big juicy ones
Onions ---- 2
Green chillis ---- 2
Cinammon ---- 1 stick
Cloves ---- 2
Bay leaf ---- 1
Garlic cloves ---- 3
Oil
1 heaped tsp grated ginger
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp dry mango powder (or squeeze of lemon juice)
1 tsp Garam Masala powder
Pinch of salt
Parsley for a fancy wee garnish, if you want

Method:
1 - Cut the okra (remove stalk and make sure it is completely dry), tomatoes, garlic cloves, onions & green chillies.
2 - Heat the oil then well-fry the okra
3 - Remove the okra, place on paper towel and let the excess oil be absorbed.
4 - With a clean pan and more oil, now fry the cloves, cinnamon and bayleaf for 30 seconds, then add the onion and green chillis and fry until the onion has started to lightly brown.
5 - Add the garlic and grated ginger. Fry for another minute.
6 - Add tomatoes, chilli powder and salt. Simmer until the tomatoes are soft, then add the garam masala powder and dry mango powder. Simmer for another 5/6 minutes
7 - Add the fried okra and stir gently for two minutes, then serve.

Kalpna Restaurant