{Day 33/365} Tomato soup with basil

Tomorrow my family is coming over to celebrate my 26th birthday, and some of them will stay/come for dinner. It'll be a busy day tomorrow, so I wanted to make some things in advance, for example this tomato soup with red bell peppers. The recipe is from a blog called Will Cook for Friends. 

For 6 servings you will need: 

- 3-4 TBSP olive oil

- 1,3 kg fresh tomatoes (I used about 8 vine-ripened tomatoes, but you could use heirloom, plum, or any other kind of tomato you like)

- 1 red bell pepper

- 3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

- 1/2 yellow onion, diced

- 4 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

- 2 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped

- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

- 1 cup water, as needed

- salt and pepper to taste

- Pinch of sugar, optional (to round out the flavor if your tomatoes aren't sweet enough)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400f.

2. Halve or quarter your tomatoes and lay the on a rimmed baking sheet, cut-side up. Halve or quarter the bell pepper, remove the seeds, and lay it on the baking sheet as well. Drizzle the tomatoes and pepper liberally with olive oil, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.

3. Place the tray in the oven and roast for 45-60 minutes, or until the tomatoes smell sweet and the edges have begun to shrivel up, rotating the pan halfway through.

4. In a large pot over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic for 4-5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of basil and all of the roasted tomatoes, bell pepper, and the juices that have collected in the baking sheet. Stir to combine, then blend smooth with an immersion blender (or, carefully transfer the mixture to a regular blender and place a dish towel over the top to avoid splattering. Pulse a few times, then blend until smooth and return to the pot).

5. Add 1 more tablespoon of basil, 1 tablespoon of the oregano, and the balsamic vinegar. Stir to combine. Add water as needed to thin the soup to desired consistency.

6. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Feel free to add a pinch of sugar, to taste, if the tomatoes aren't sweet enough on their own. Stir in the remaining basil and oregano, and remove from heat. Serve immediately with a drizzle of olive oil, or store in the fridge overnight to let the flavors mingle. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to a week, or frozen indefinitely.

{Day 25/365} Pumpkins

Today, after my exam, I was on my way to see my sister in law, and I stumbled across a lovely biological farmers market. It was a teeny tiny market (run by internationals, to my surprise), but they had lots of vegetables which would make a perfect dinner. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to buy anything, but next time I see them I will definitely buy one of these amazing pumpkins, to make - at least! - one of the amazing pumpkin recipes I found online. For example this recipe for an amazing version of pumpkin bread. But I was also thinking about pumpkin soup, for example this recipe. 

{Day 18/365} Apple galette with caramel

Last week I collected the last bunch of apples from my mum's apple tree, and I just had to do something with them. So I searched for a recipe with apple (so many!) and I found a rather simple recipe for a galette with apple and caramel on a blog called Life's a Feast. Yum! The light (or: the lack of light) was the cause of the worse quality of the picture. Tomorrow I'll come with a better one. But for now:

For this apple galette you will need: 

For the Sweet Almond Pastry Crust:

150 gr cups flour

50 gr cup sugar

50 gr finely ground almonds

50 gr unsalted (vegetable) butter, cool

3-5 tbs cold water

For the Apple Galette Filling:

3-4 apples, peeled, cored and cubed

1-2 tbs flour

2-3 tbs sugar

Scant ½ tsp ground cinnamon

Dash ground nutmeg

Cream for brushing the pastry; sugar for dusting crust.

For the Salted Butter Caramel Sauce (Caramel au Beurre Salé):

1 cup (200 g) granulated white sugar

3 ½ Tbs (50 g) salted butter

1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream

Prepare the Pastry Crust:

1. Place the flour, sugar and ground almonds in a mixing bowl and stir to combine. 

2. Add the butter in cubes; toss to coat the cubes. Using only your thumbs and fingertips, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the consistency of damp sand and all of the butter has been incorporated. 

3. Using a fork, vigorously stir in 3 tablespoons of the cold water; adding the remaining water a tablespoon at a time until all of the dry ingredients are damp and pull together into a ball. 

4. Scrape the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead briefly and gently, adding a bit of flour if necessary, until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky. 

5. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate to chill while preparing the filling.

6. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper.

Prepare the Apple Filling:

7. Peel and core the apples and cut into cubes. Place the apple cubes in a bowl and toss with the flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  

Prepare the Galette:

8. Remove the Sweet Pastry Crust from the refrigerator and discard the plastic wrap. 

9. Place the ball of dough on a floured work surface and gently roll out into a 12-inch diameter circle. Carefully roll the dough around the rolling pin and transfer to the parchment-lined baking sheet. Pile the prepared apple cubes in the center of the pastry circle and spread out to distribute evenly, leaving about 2 - 3 inches of dough free all around the outside edge of the circle, enough to lift up as a border to hold the apples in place.

10. Begin lifting the edge of the circle of dough up and place against the apples. Lifting the dough up about 3 inches at a time and moving around the galette, the dough “flaps” will overlap. 

11. Brush the folds of dough where they overlap with a little of the cream and “glue” down, pressing in place gently. Continue all around the galette. Brush the crust all over with cream and dust with sugar.  

12. Bake the galette in the preheated oven for about an hour or until the crust is a nice golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and allow to cool before slicing and serving.

Prepare the caramel:

13. Melt the sugar in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-low heat and cook until completely melted and caramel in color. 

14. Lower the heat to low and whisk in the butter in about 3 or 4 additions. 

15. Continuing to whisk, add the heavy cream in a slow stream; the caramel may foam up, but keep whisking, as it will calm down once all the cream is added and will turn to… a smooth caramel. Once it is smooth and creamy, remove from the heat and allow to cool at least to tepid before serving.

{Day 16/365} Lasagne from scratch

I love making a natural, clean dinner, and tonight I've made lasagne from scratch. I have used a recipe from the food blog What Katie Ate, which you have to check out as soon as possible if you do not know it. It is amazing. This lasagne contains so many ingredients that I love; zucchini, red wine, old Italian cheese, basil, and so on. Try it, and enjoy!

For 4-6 servings you will need: 


Tomato meat filling:

• Light olive oil for cooking
• 2 zucchini, cut lengthways into very thin strips
• 1-2 plump garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small brown onion, peeled and finely diced
• 2 sticks celery, finely diced (I did not use this)
• 4-6 slices round thinly cut pancetta, cut into small pieces
• 500 gr ground beef
• 80 ml cup milk
• 600 gr chopped tomatoes (form tin)
• 50 gr cup tomato paste
• 1.5 tablespoons good quality balsamic vinegar
• Good pinch chilli flakes
• 5 large basil leaves, roughly torn
• Small handful fresh oregano leaves (I used dried oregano)
• 250 mL red wine
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Béchamel sauce:
75 gr butter

• 50 gr plain (or pasta 00) flour
• 500-600 mL milk
• Pinch ground nutmeg
• 80-90 gr Parmesan cheese, grated (I used Pecorino, delicious)

Fresh pasta (I used dried pasta):

• 6 free-range medium-sized eggs
• 600g pasta 00 flour
• Splash olive oil

• 1. Spray a non-stick griddle pan or frying pan and a little olive oil, chargrill the zucchini until browned on both sides, remove strips and rest on paper towel then gather up all strips and chop finely. Set aside.
• 2. Add 1 teaspoon or two of olive oil into a large non-stick pot and warm over medium heat, add the pancetta then fry for a further 4-5 minutes until browned, remove from the pot and allow to drain of excess oil on paper towel.
• 3. Pour a further tablespoon of olive into the same pot, add the chopped onion and minced garlic, cook, stirring often for 4-5 minutes until onion is softened –  taking care not to let the garlic burn – toss in the celery and continue to cook for another 4-5 minutes or until slightly softened.
• 4. Add the ground beef to the pot along with the milk and fry over medium-heat for 10-12 minutes or until browned through. Add in the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, balsamic, chilli flakes, cooked pancetta, herbs and red wine, stir then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Simmer sauce over low-medium heat for 1 hour, stirring often.
• 5. To make the béchamel sauce, add the butter to a pan and melt over low-medium heat, add the flour and beat together with a wooden spoon to form a thick paste (it will clump together ~ this is fine), cook stirring often for 2-3 minutes. Pour in the milk 100ml at a time whisking constantly and firmly as you go until you achieve a smooth, lump-free sauce. Add the nutmeg and cheese and stir to combine. You can beat in a little extra milk if you like to keep the sauce smooth and velvety. Cover pot and remove from heat. Set aside until required.
• 5. Preheat oven to 180˚C.
• 6. To make the fresh pasta, sift flour into a large mixing bowl, make a well in the centre into which you add 5 full eggs, 1 egg yolk and the splash of olive oil. Using clean hands, combine the flour and eggs, incorporating the flour into the eggs and oil. Do this until you have a dough. Turn out onto a clean and floured surface and knead for 10-12 minutes until you achieve a silky dough. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Note: you can make the pasta in a food processor if you prefer.
• 7. Using a pasta maker, roll out the pasta dough in batches starting from the thickest setting and finishing on the second thinnest. Be careful not to make the pasta too thin. If you are using a Kitchen Aid roller attachment, setting 5 will produce the best reults for flat sheets, if you’re using a handroller, the 2nd last setting will normally be fine. Lie sheets in a floured surface and cut into lengths suitable to fit your baking dish. Note: the dish I used to make this lasagne measured: 26cm x 38cm x 6cm*. Allow sheets to dry for 20 minutes.
• 8. Half-fill 2 large pots with water, set one beside your cook top and the other on top of your cooker, the latter into which you add a good pinch of salt and a small glug of olive oil. Bring to the boil over high heat. Add the pasta sheets in batches, cook for 3-4 minutes then plunge each sheet into the cold water in the second pot. Allow sheets to rest in-between clean tea-towels as you cook the remainder of the pasta.
• 9. To assemble the lasagne, spoon some of the tomato meat sauce into the bottom of the baking dish and spread out, scatter a little of the zucchini on top then add some of the béchamel and carefully spread out evenly, top with sheets of the par-cooked pasta, then repeat with process layering meat sauce/zucchini/béchamel/pasta until you fill the dish. Top the last layer of pasta with the remaining béchamel sauce and cover the liberally with grated parmesan cheese.
• 10. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until top is golden brown. Serve hot with a green salad.

{Day 12/365} A late start of the day

I like to start my day off right (and slow!), and having my first class at 11 o'clock instead of 9 is just perfect if you ask me. This morning: freshly squeezed orange juice, and soy yoghurt with homemade chocolate granola (recipe) and banana.

{Day 7/365} Home made chocolate granola

Today I complete my first week of project 365, hooray! It was a great first week. My delight of today is most definitely the taste of the homemade chocolate granola I made yesterday. A couple of days ago I found this recipe on Aleksandra's lovely blog Eat Me!, which is certainly worth a visit.

For a big jar of granola you will need:

- 300 gr rolled oats

- 3 tablespoons cocoa

- 3 tablespoons shredded coconut

- a handful dried cranberries

- a handful chopped walnuts (I used hazelnuts instead)

- a handful of almond flakes

- 2 tablespoons honey (or the sweatener of your choice)

1. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celcius

2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss well. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread evenly the mixture on it. I used a baking tray because of the size of my oven, that works too.

3. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. Pop in every five to ten minutes to toss the granola and watch not to burn it. 

That's all there is! It's one of the simplest recipes I have ever seen, and one of the most delicious, too. Try this, and you know why home made goods easily beat supermarket bought goods. Enjoy this breakfast with (soy) milk or yoghurt, and fresh fruit.

{Day 3/365} A healthy breakfast to go

Lately I have been exploring new kinds of breakfasts with oats. I have loved my standard (hot) oats breakfast since forever, but now I'm experimenting with the cold, overnight version. You can add literally everything to your taste, such as goji berries, chia seeds, raisins, and of course fresh fruits (which I like to add in the morning). I added everything I mentioned here to the jar on the picture below, and the taste was heavenly. The recipe for this amazing breakfast is as follows:

for 1 serving you will need:

- 1 tbs rolled oats

- 1 tbs (soy) yoghurt

- 1 tbs goji berries

- 1 tbs raisins

- 4 tbs (soy) milk or water

Mix all above mentioned ingredients in a jar and let it refrigerate overnight. In the morning you can add whatever you like, for example banana, strawberries, blue berries, black currant, red currant, kiwi, rhubarb, etc. You can add whatever you like, really. 

{Day 1/365} Red Cabbage

Today is the day that I'm officially starting my own project 365. For the next 365 days, I will take (at least) one picture a day of something that makes me smile. 

Lately, I have gotten more conscious about what I eat, so I'm on a quest to use more fresh and home made products. Today I'll be cooking with red cabbage, which I bought yesterday at the local market.  Doesn't it look amazing? I'm really curious what it will taste like, seen the fact that I only know the taste of red cabbage that comes in a jar.