Tag Archives: tomatoes

Parsnip & Tomato Bake

29 Sunday Dec 2024

Posted by in Main Courses, Starters, Vegetable Dishes, Vegetarian

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Creamy, warming and savoury and a little sweet, this bake is a meal on its own which I used to cook regularly in the British winter before moving to Spain. Here you didn’t see them as they clearly don’t do well in this hot dryness, the odd time you would find them they would be woody and small, great for adding flavour to a dish but not much more.

So I was surprised to spot some plump ones in the supermarket and decided to revisit this recipe from my dim and distant past. Thin sliced of parsnips layered with slices of fresh tomatoes and ricotta style cheese and seasoned with the usual salt and pepper and a touch touch of sweetness, a sprinkling of brown sugar, or for me today some quince jelly as a have jars of it in my store. I know it might sound too much putting sugar with parsnips and tomatoes that are both sweet, but trust me it really adds to the richness of the dish.

For 2 portions

2 large parsnips

3 large tomatoes

ricotta or similar cheese

salt and freshly ground black pepper

brown sugar

olive oil

Grated pecorino or Parmesan

Slice the parsnips and tomatoes into fairly thin rounds.

Using an ovenproof dish start with a layer of parsnips, then scatter over the ricotta cheese, then season with the salt, pepper and sugar, then add a layer of the sliced tomatoes.

Continue layering in this order until the dish is full ending with a layer of parsnips and seasonings.

Brush over with olive oil and cover with tin foil. Bake at 150C for 1 hour 30 minutes. Remove the foil, sprinkle generously with grated pecorino or Parmesan and put back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so until the cheese is a bubbling golden brown.

Enjoy!

A Trio of Roast Vegetables

21 Sunday Jan 2024

Posted by in Food for One, Main Courses, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes, Vegetarian

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This is another one of my not really a recipe recipes. Plain roast carrots, beetroot roasted with orange slices and Pedro Jimenez glaze and roast tomatoes with spring garlic and a crunchy oatmeal topping.

The carrots bought from the local market were so sweet and full of flavour that I had the idea of roasting them to keep all that flavour in and concentrate it a little. I simply coated them with olive oil before roasting.
To accompany the carrots beetroot baked in tin foil. It was cut into chunks, I added chopped garlic and thin orange slices then drizzled with olive oil and Pedro Jimenez glaze which is a concentrated sherry glaze and similar to balsamic glaze, which can be used instead. They were seasoned with sea salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
Currently I’m in love with roasted tomatoes, so a small tray of them had to be the third dish. I cut plum tomatoes into chunks, added chopped garlic, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Then I crushed up one of my oat crackers, this batch had been made with the addition of Panch Poran, a mix of whole spices, cumin, fennel, black mustard, nigella and fenugreek seeds, and sprinkled this on the tomatoes. This worked really well as some of the oats soaked up the juice from the tomatoes and some stayed crispy while the spices added interesting flavours.

The three vegetable dishes went into the oven at the same time at 140C fan/ 165C/325F/ gas mark 3 for 40 minutes.
As is quite often the case, I had about a third of each dish left over, so the following day it made a not so pretty but super tasty tortilla.

Bulgur Wheat Salad

29 Saturday Jul 2023

Posted by in salads, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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As promised the recipe for the bulgur wheat salad that was part of my Turkish lunch.

Makes 4 generous portions

150 grams bulgur wheat

80 ml boiling water

200 grams grated soft tomato flesh

1 tomato – cut into small cubes

1/2 cucumber – peeled and cut into small cubes

2 tablespoons finely chopped spring onions

1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

fresh green chilli – finely chopped – to taste

salt and freshly ground black pepper

sprigs of fresh basil roughly chopped

black olives to garnish

Start to prepare the salad a couple of hours before you plan to eat.

Put the wheat in a large bowl and pour over the boiling water. Stir to mix well and leave to soak for five minutes.

Next grate in the tomato. I had a nice big beef tomato that had gone soft and watery. Cut the tomato in half across its equator and the grate the flesh side on a coarse grater, seeds included, until you are left with just the skin in your hand. Bin the skin.

Mix the tomato into the wheat and leave to steep for 20 minutes.

Add the rest of the ingredients except the olives and basil and mix well.

Leave to steep until you are ready to serve.

Put the salad in your serving dish and decorate with olives and basil. Enjoy 😊

Autumn Red Salad

29 Monday Nov 2021

Posted by in salads, Starters, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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I made this to have with the Potato and Chickpea Cakes in the previous post using ingredients that are currently in season here. Fragrant green peppers from the huerta, this years almonds which I love dry toasted in their skins, big winter radishes and plum tomatoes from the local market.

You will need –

Several leaves of red oak leaved lettuce

2 medium tomatoes – chopped into chunks

2 samall or 1 large green pepper

about 20 whole almonds – either with skins or if you prefer without

1 large cooked beetroot – cut into smallish cubes

Winter radish – about 20 thin slices

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 tablesoons water

1 teaspoon honey or agave syrup

2 tablespoons extra virgen olive oil

Start by steeping the radishes. The large winter radishes can be quite peppery, so a sweet marinade will make them less so. Mix the vinegar water and honey or syrup in small bowl, then add the radishes. Leave to marinate for at least ten minutes.

Meanwhile dry toast the almonds in a thick based pan over a low heat. Stir regularly to ensure that they are evenly toasted and a little browned. Remove from the heat and put to one side.

Rip up the lettuce leaves and arrange them on a large plate, then add the chopped tomatoes.

slice the green peppers and arrange on the salad.

Remove the radish slices from their marinade and arrange them over the salad.

Put the beetroot in the marinade and stir to cover all the cubes.

Spoon the cubes and vinegar over the salad, then sprinkle on the almonds.

Finally drizzle over the olive oil.

Enjoy!

Tabouleh of Khorasan

28 Saturday Mar 2020

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Khorasan is a type of wheat that has large grains with a rich nutty flavour, which I love in a salad. It’s a relative of durum wheat which originated in the Middle East where it is still cultivated. I buy both the grains and flour from an ecological producer here in Spain. If anyone would like their details message me and I will pass them on.

This salad is based on Tabouleh where I have replaced the normal bulgur wheat with Khorasan wheat, and then added seeds and nuts for protein and extra texture.

For 2 portions

100 grams Khorasan wheat grains

1 large tomato – diced

2 tablespoons diced cucumber

2 tablespoons diced raw kohl rabi

1 spring onion – finely chopped

1 heaped tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

2 tablespoons crushed dry roasted hazelnuts

juice of 1/2 a lemon

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

large bunch fresh flat leaved parsley, tarragon and mint – chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

The Khorasan needs to be soaked, either overnight in cold water, or a couple of hours before cooking pour boiling water over the grains.

Cook the Khorasan in salted water for 20-30 minutes until soft. Drain and let cool a little.

Put into a salad bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Check the balance of lemon and oil adding extra of either if needed. Check seasoning.

If you can manage to let the salad sit for an hour, I almost never can, the flavours will have blended and developed to a richer taste.

Panzanella

25 Wednesday Mar 2020

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I decided to prepare this salad today, simply because I have some white rye and walnut bread that is bland tasting and a bit dry. Not good for sandwiches but perfect for this salad of bread and tomatoes which hails from the Tuscany región of Italy. The traditional recipe has anchovies as one of the ingredients, but if you want to make a vegan version of the salad it doesn’t suffer if you leave them out.
With fresh from the garden radishes and asparagus plus a small dish of boquerones, we had the perfect lunch.

For 2 servings

500 grams approximately of tomatoes

2 thick slices bread

1 garlic clove – crushed with salt

1/2 red onion – very thinly sliced

1 tablespoon capers – chopped

1 tablespoon black olives

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh red chillis

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

flat leaved parsley – coarsely chopped

fresh basil leaves – coarsely chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

And if you are making the non vegan version –

2 teaspoons black fish eggs

6 boquerones/ anchovies – chopped

Chop the tomatoes into chunks and put into your salad bowl.

Cut the crusts off the bread and discard them. Rip the bread into smallish chunks and add to the tomatoes.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Let the salad sit for about an hour at room temperature for the tomatoes and onions to soften a little and the flavours to mix and develop.

Enjoy!

Linguini with Fresh & Sundried Tomatoes, Green Olives & Basil

04 Friday Sep 2015

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I was inspired by the tomato pasta of my last post to cook something similarly fresh tasting. So this quick to prepare dish is the result, using ingredients that I already had in the store cupboard. I give you the recipe exactly as I did it, but of course if you don’t have Aliolli and/or Chilli Jam in your cupboard, change for fresh garlic and chilli to taste.

A perfect lunch for one or a light colourful starter if you halve the amounts per person.

IMG_1876

LINGUINI WITH FRESH & SUNDRIED TOMATOES, GREEN OLIVES & BASIL

Per person –

30 gms linguini

10 ml olive oil

1 large tomato

3 sundried tomatoes

6 green olives

1.25 ml aliolli

2,5 ml chilli jam

Fresh basil leaves

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Get a pan of water heating up for the pasta. Add to it 5 ml of the olive oil and half a teaspoon of salt.

When the water is boiling, add the sundried tomatoes to the water and let simmer for a couple of minutes. Scoop out and leave to cool.

Add the linguini to the water and leave to cook at a medium simmer.

Put the other 5ml of olive oil in a shallow pan. Add the aliolli and chilli jam.

Slice the sundried tomatoes and add to the pan.

Remove stones from the olives and cut each olive in half. Add to the pan.

Halve the tomato across its equator and using a fine grater grate the pulp into a bowl until you are left with just the skin in your hand. If the grater is fine enough it should sift out the majority of the seeds. If the odd seed makes it into the sauce, it is not the end of the world.

Add the fresh tomato pulp to the shallow pan.

Roughly chop the basil leaves.

When the pasta is two or three minutes from the al dente stage of crookedness, slowly heat the sauce stirring to mix all the ingredients.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the sauce. Mix well to coat the pasta with the sauce. Season with salt, freshly ground black pepper and two thirds of the basil leaves. Turn again to mix in.

Turn into a pasta bowl and garnish with the rest of the basil leaves.

Enjoy!