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Posts Tagged ‘Courgette’

An Irish Minestrone Soup…. almost

Posted in All things food, Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , on November 13, 2012| 2 Comments »

The weather has been so grey since yesterday….. yes, I’d say there are 50 shades of grey out there…. DEFINITELY!

This is just reminding me that only last week, I was still harvesting (granted from the polytunnel) but there were delicious tomatoes, peppers, and my hugely proud of aubergines! Yes, for the first time ever I managed to grow aubergines (egg-plant to non-Irish folk).

I am not going to let this greyness get in on top of me!!!!

So last week we had the end of harvest mixed bag of vegetables that needed using.

aubergines (eggplant) tomatoes

I thought a variation of Minestrone Soup???

So that’s what it started out as…. but it didn’t end up as soup!!!!

You are probably wondering about the strange mix of vegetables?  I hate to see waste and there were a few bits and pieces lingering that just needed to be used up.  Hence the potatoes went in there too!

Ingredients:

  • 1 onion
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • Olive oil
  • 1 medium aubergine (egg-plant)
  • 1 large courgette (zucchini)
  • 6 or 8 fresh tomatoes
  • Handful of runner beans
  • 1 pepper
  • 2 or 3 small potatoes cubed
  • 1 lt of chicken stock
  • 1 tin of tomatoes
  • Pasta – quantities will be explained in a bit!!
  • Selection of fresh herbs – I used oregano and basil
  • Salt and Pepper

Method:

Finely chop the onion and garlic.  Heat the oil in a large saucepan and gently colour the onion and garlic.

Chop your other vegetables into cubes and add these into saucepan with the stock and the tin of tomatoes.

Bring to the boil, then simmer gently (about 20 minutes) until the vegetables are almost cooked through.

At this point I added in about 2 ozs of Penne pasta with the herbs and seasoning and cooked for another 5 – 10 minutes.

And that was (I thought) my Minestrone Soup ready for lunch the next day!!!!  So you could just stop here!!!!

We did not!

When himself came home….had a taste and smell….. and suggested that it would make a nice pasta bake.  Yes, the carnivore himself, suggested a vegetarian pasta bake!

So next day, I added in a further tin of tomatoes.  About another 4 oz pasta.  Topped it all with Mossfield Cheese.

Baked in the oven for about 25 minutes.  Sprinkle with fresh basil.

Pasta Bake

Comfort food at its best!

And healthy 🙂

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

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Cauliflower & Courgette Salad

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , on September 26, 2012| 2 Comments »

I know, I know, the season for salads is most probably over, and this week has been more about soups!

I HATE THAT WINTER IS UPON US!

In particular, I hate that it is dark by 7.30 pm.  I love the long days.

However, putting all that aside, we still have lots of produce coming from the garden and the polytunnel here in Redwood.

My one courgette plant is being so prolific this year…. much to ‘you know who’s’ distress!  But, but I did succeed the other evening in convincing him with this salad!!! Yeah!

Courgette & Cauliflower Salad

Again just catering for the two of us….

I grated half a medium courgette.  Cut about quarter of a (raw) cauliflower into bite size florets.  Mix in some mayonnaise to taste…. and then, add in a sprinkling (about a teaspoon) of grated Parmesan.

Really lovely!

Enjoy!

And now I’m off to the garden to gather up some more of the harvest 🙂

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Cornbread Muffins

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , on August 21, 2012| 2 Comments »

Like almost everyone we seem to be having a major glut of courgettes (zucchini) this year.  Trying to find inventive ways to use them can become a seasonal nightmare!

I love watching what other people are doing with courgettes.  I must try this cake from Dee over at Greenside Up

I’ve made bread, soup,  and chutney for later in the year.  I’ve made salads and cooked them as accompianements for now…. but they’re not too popular that way with the other half!

So last week I tried the muffin option.  They went down a treat with visitors, especially the American ones…. but himself is still not convinced!

The cornbread idea was inspired by my old reliable book Soups by Tania George which has some lovely bread and scone recipes at the back.  I’d not tried baking using cornmeal before…. it used to be so difficult to source but now I can get it whenever I want from our friend Lily over at My Mexican Shop

Cornbread Muffin

Recipe:

  •  2 medium courgettes
  • 125 g cornmeal
  • 200 g spelt flour
  • 50 g Mossfield Organic cheese
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons caster sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 egg beaten
  • 75 g melted butter
  • 300 ml buttermilk
  • about 6 tablespoons regular milk

Method:

Mix all dry ingredients together.

Grate the courgettes and cheese into dry mixture.

Mix the melted butter, buttermilk and egg together and add to dry mixture.  Add the regular milk a tablespoon at a time until you have right consistency.  (Consistency should be almost like porridge but not quite!)  Don’t over beat, just mix gently.

Dollop into muffin tray – this amount made 18 muffins.

Bake at 180 deg. C for 30 minutes until golden.

Let me know your verdict!

 

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