Ratatouille

GET
8 large juicy organic tomatoes
5 large organic garlic cloves
3 tbsp cold pressed olive oil

2 medium organic onions
2 firm organic aubergines

2 small organic zucchinis, sliced.
3 tbsp cold pressed olive oil
Basil

DO
Make a tomato sauce. You may prefer to do this the day before and use some of it for a spaghetti sauce.
Pour boiling water over tomatoes and peel them.
Press garlic and fry slowly in a pan.
After a few minutes add sliced tomatoes and cover with a lid.
Continue to cook on a low heat for about 5 hours until the liquid has mostly evaporated and a sugo (sauce in Italian) remains. Stir occasionally. Remove lid for some periods to reduce the liquid.

Garlic, easy to peel

Chop onions and fry slowly in olive oil, stirring occasionally until lightly golden.
Rinse the aubergines and press out the brown liquid.
Cut aubergines into cubes.
Add aubergines to the onions.
Fry for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add zucchini slices.
Fry for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
Add the tomato sauce, stir in and cover. Cook for about 30 minutes
Add the chopped basil.

Heritage Tomatoes

Serve hot with penne pasta. Cheese top the left overs on the next day and bake in the oven.

Macadamia Pesto

Macadamia flowers

get

1 bunch basil 

2-3 cloves garlic

300g raw macadamia nuts

10 tbsp olive oil

all organic

do

Finely chop the basil with a large sharp knife and place in a large bowl.

Add the peeled and crushed garlic.

Grate the nuts with a medium grater. Mix under the other ingredients.

Stir in enough olive oil to make a smooth paste.

Flatten the surface of the pesto and dribble some oil on top.

Serve cool.

The pesto should have a light green colour. If it is dark green add more nuts. This will depend on the size of your bunch of basil. If it seems dry use more olive oil. If you like plenty of garlic, use more.

Serve with pasta or potatoes and a salad. It compliments noodles with tomato sauce very nicely.

 
Coriander pesto

Artichokes

get

2 -4 globe artichokes depending on the size
2 cloves garlic
6 tbsp olive oil

do

Cut the stems off leaving about 2 cm. Remove a few petals near the stem.
Wash artichokes thoroughly especially between the petals.
Steam them for 30 - 60 minutes depending on the size until the petals can be easily pulled off.

Crush the garlic into the olive oil and mix. Place in 2 small bowls.

Eating

Discard the first petals. Place the artichoke on a plate and remove some petals. Dip the base of each petal in the garlic oil, bite into the soft fleshy part and eat it. Discard the hard part. Repeat with all the petals until you reach the heart. The top may be fluffy or thistle-like. With small artichokes this is soft and can be eaten but with large ones it has to be discarded by scraping it off with a knife. Then you come to the base which is like a small plate. This is also eaten after dipping in oil.

Sufficient for 2 people

Capsicums with rice and tofu

Get
5 green, yellow and red coloured capsicums
4 red onions
6 pieces of garlic
Some olive oil
A pinch of rosemary
Some black peppercorns

250 g rice mix of
long grain rice, Camargue red rice and black long wild rice

Tofu
(All organic)

DO
Boil rice for approx. 40 min in 700 ml of water at low temperature with a closed lid.

Wash capsicums, cut inside and stems out. Peel onions and cut in thin slices. Fry red onions in olive oil. Once the onions start to look golden, add capsicums cut in thin long strips and garlic. Fry and stir constantly. Should moisture evaporate, add some hot water/stock, the rosemary and peppercorns. cover with a lid and cook gently.

Fry tofu in a little olive oil

Remove lid from capsicums, stir until no moisture remains.

Serve with multi-grain rice and the tofu and a green salad.

Okra in Tomato Sauce

get
500g small to medium okras (finger length)
500g tomatoes
3 large cloves Russian garlic
Olive oil

do
Pour boiling water over the tomatoes in a bowl. Then cold water after 5 minutes. Peel them.
Add a little olive oil to a pot and heat. Add garlic cloves. Lightly fry for a few minutes.
Add peeled tomatoes. Cover and cook at a low temperature for 1 hour. Stir and crush tomatoes and garlic occasionally. Remove the lid and continue to simmer for another 1 hour until the sauce thickens.
Clean the okra. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan. Add the okra when hot and fry for about ten minutes turning from time to time. Add the fried okras to the tomato sauce and cook slowly for ½ hour.Serve hot or cold. This dish goes well with Feta and Figs Variations

Coriander pesto

get
1 large bunch of coriander
1 large piece of garlic
100g cashews
200g goats’ milk fetta cheese
10 tbsp olive oil

do
Pluck the leaves from the coriander. Wash and drain them. Chop very finely.
Press or grate the garlic into a bowl.
Finely grind the cashews with a hand grinder.
Roughly grate the fetta cheese into the bowl.
Add the coriander.
Mix.
Add the olive oil while mixing until a thick green paste forms.
Press down in the bowl and add the remaining olive oil on top to cover the paste.
Store cool covered with a plate.

Serve with noodles of your choice. Goes well with noodles and tomato sauce. Also goes well with potatoes.
Can also be made with parsley, basil, or a mixture of herbs. Macadamia nuts are a good alternative to cashews.

See
Macadamia Pesto

Image: 'Anacardium occidentale', from Koehler's 'Medicinal-Plants' (1887) via Wikipedia

Tomato sauce with noodles

Get
1.5 kg Tomatoes (e.g. Roma, fleshy)
lots of Garlic
4 Tbsp Olive oil
Pepper corns
Bay leaves
Noodles of your choice.



Do
Heat the olive oil in a large pan or flat, wide saucepan.
Press the garlic into it. Fry it just a little - do not brown or burn.
Put tomatoes in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes slowly, so they stand in the hot water for a few minutes. Then pour in cold water. This loosens the skins.
Peel them and remove any hard core.
Add to the hot garlic. Cover with a lid.

Cook at a very low heat all day, occasionally removing the lid for a while. Add the pepper and bay leaves after a couple of hours.
Most of the liquid should evaporate away leaving a thick 'sugo'.
Boil a large pot of water. Add noodles to fast boiling water and keep it boiling.
Cooking time depends on the noodles. Test them from time to time.
Pour off water when ready and add the noodles to the sauce. Serve immediately.

Goes well with Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano-Reggiano) either grated or sliced thinly. Also goes well with a pesto made of basil or coriander. And a green salad.

A variation on this sauce for non-vegetarians is the Italian style sauce which includes just one sardine in the initial stages with the garlic. (thanks Sabine of Zweitrad)

Roast Whole Garlics

Baste whole garlic heads with olive oil and a little salt
Place in casserole and cook for 30 min.
Cut off the bottoms, squeeze out paste
Serve with vegetables or bruschetta (video).
Inspired by Enjoy: New Veg, Nadine Abensur