Tag: hungry

Uncategorized

Minestrone Soup

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Minestrone Soup
Minestrone Soup

2 onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
4 carrots, chopped
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 x 400g tin of butter beans (or any other white bean, cooked)
4 x 250ml vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
5ml dried thyme
250ml small pasta, e.g. elbows, shells, vermicelli
125ml fresh parsley, chopped
salt and black pepper

Add some olive oil to a saucepan set over medium-high heat and fry the onion until soft.
Add the garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute.
Now add the carrots, tomato, beans, stock, bay leaves and thyme. Cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes.
Stir in the pasta and cook uncovered until done – about 10 minutes.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Sprinkle the chopped parsley over the soup and serve piping hot.

Uncategorized

Cheat’s Milktart

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Cheat’s Milktart
Cheat’s Milktart

Biscuit base:
250g dry biscuits
100g butter, melted
1 egg white

Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Add the biscuits to the bowl of a food processor and process to crumbs.
Whisk the egg white just until frothy and add it to the crumbs with the melted butter.
Mix well until the mixture resembles wet sand.
Tip the crumb-mixture into a loose-bottom tart tin and level it out. Use a glass with a flat bottom to press the crumb down firmly all over and up the sides of the tin. Keep pressing until the base comes together.
Place the tart tin on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
Set aside to cool.

Filling:
60ml cornstarch
120ml water
2 egg yolks
500ml ready-made custard
ground cinnamon

Add the cornstarch to a large mixing bowl and pour the water over. Mix to a smooth slurry.
Add the egg yolks and whisk through.
Pour the custard into a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Remove from the heat and slowly and in a very thin stream, add it to the slurry while whisking continuously.
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and place it on medium heat while whisking until it thickens.
Pour the filling into the cooled base and sprinkle with ground cinnamon.
Refrigerate the milk tart for 3-4 hours before serving.

Uncategorized

Fruit Salad

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Fruit Salad
Fruit Salad

papino
raspberries
blueberries
cape gooseberries
1 x container ready-made vanilla custard

Peel the papino and cut it in half. Slice a small section away on the rounded side so that it forms a base on which the fruit can “stand”.
Place the half on a serving dish and fill the cavity with the berries and a generous dollop of custard!!

Uncategorized

Quick Biscuit Trifle

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Quick Biscuit Trifle
Quick Biscuit Trifle

1 x container ready-made vanilla custard
1 x packet of your favourite biscuits
2 x packets of instant jelly, prepared according to the packet instructions

Place the biscuits in a plastic bag and smash it with a rolling pin. Do not make it too fine as little chunks of biscuit add a good texture.
Cut the prepared jelly into small cubes.
Assemble the trifle by layering the biscuit crumb, custard and jelly.
End with a layer of custard, add some fresh fruit and serve with a smile.

Uncategorized

Hot Cross Bun Pudding

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Hot Cross Bun Pudding
Hot Cross Bun Pudding

4 eggs
180g sugar
600ml cream
600ml milk
15ml vanilla
6 hot cross buns
butter
125ml pistachio nuts
grated zest of 1 orange

Preheat your oven to 170℃.
Add the eggs and sugar to a mixing bowl and whisk together with electric beaters until pale. Set aside.
Pour the cream and milk into a saucepan and place it over a high heat. Bring the mixture just to the boil.
Pour the cream and milk onto the egg and sugar in a very thin stream, while constantly whisking.
Add the vanilla to the mixture and stir through.
Set aside to cool slightly.
Slice the buns in half and spread each with butter. Dip each half into the milk mixture, allowing 2-3 seconds for the buns to absorb the liquid.
Arrange the halved buns so that they overlap slightly in a 18 – 23cm ovenproof dish.
Now pour the rest of the mixture through a sieve and drizzle it onto the buns.
Scatter the pistachio nuts and orange zest over and set aside for 20 minutes so that the buns can soak up the custard mixture.
Place the pudding in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.
Dust with icing sugar and serve with custard.

Uncategorized

Sweet Bougatsa/Custard Pie

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Sweet Bougatsa/Custard Pie
Sweet Bougatsa/Custard Pie

There are shops in Greece devoted entirely to serving Bougatsa, called Bougatsazidika. They open from 4 a.m. until lunchtime and you will often see people queueing outside in the very early hours, to get their slice of happiness…

150g + 150g sugar
8 egg yolks
60g semolina
60g cornflour
10ml vanilla
grated zest of 1 lemon
grated zest of 1 orange
1l milk
500g phyllo pastry
200g butter, melted
icing sugar to serve

Preheat your oven to 240℃.
Add the egg yolks and 150g sugar to a mixing bowl and whisk together.
Add the semolina and cornflour and whisk until smooth.
Add the vanilla, lemon and orange zest and whisk again. Set aside.
Pour the milk and 150g sugar into a saucepan and place it over medium-high heat.
Bring the mixture to a boil while stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Drizzle the milk onto the egg mixture in a very thin stream while whisking continuously.
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and place over medium heat.
Whisk the mixture until it is thick and starts to bubble.
Take the saucepan from the heat and set aside.
Brush a 27cm x 37cm x 5cm roasting tray with the melted butter.
Lay a sheet of phyllo pastry in the tray and brush the top of the pastry with butter.
Lay down two more sheets, brushing each with butter.
Pour in the custard mixture and spread it out evenly.
Cover the filling with another three phyllo sheets, again brushing each with melted butter.
Fold in the overhanging pastry around the edges of the roasting tin and make it look like a sealed parcel.
Brush the top with melted butter and bake for 12 minutes, until golden.
Remove the bougatsa from the oven and cut into portions.
Dust with plenty of icing sugar and serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Uncategorized

Stuffed Sweet Peppers

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Stuffed Sweet Peppers
Stuffed Sweet Peppers

250ml orzo pasta
6 sweet peppers
200ml olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 onions, finely chopped
4 zucchini, diced
50g pine nuts, toasted
50g feta cheese, crumbled
50g black olives, pitted and chopped
250ml chopped tomato

Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Cook the orzo pasta according to packet instructions and keep aside.
Cut the tops off the peppers so that you have a “lid”. Scoop out the insides with a teaspoon and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place the peppers in an ovenproof dish and set aside.
Heat 100ml olive oil in a frying pan, add the garlic, onion and zucchini and cook gently for 10 minutes.
Add the cooked orzo, pine nuts, feta cheese, olives and tomatoes and stir through.
Spoon the mixture into the peppers and pour over the remaining olive oil. You may place the tops which you cut off onto the peppers.
Bake in the oven for 35 minutes.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

Uncategorized

Oven Roasted Lamb Ribs

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Oven Roasted Lamb Ribs
Oven Roasted Lamb Ribs

1,5kg lamb ribs
15ml dried origanum
10ml ground cumin
grated zest of 1 lemon
2,5ml salt
30ml olive oil

Yoghurt Sauce:
250ml yoghurt
100g feta cheese, finely crumbled
a handful of mint leaves, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2,5ml salt

Preheat your oven to 160℃.
Add the origanum, cumin, lemon zest, salt and olive oil to a small bowl and mix together.
Cut the ribs into individual pieces.
Rub the spice mixture over the ribs and space evenly in a baking tray.
Cook in the oven for 90 minutes.

For the yoghurt sauce:
Mix the ingredients together and stand for at least an hour to allow the flavours to develop.

Serve the ribs with the Yoghurt Sauce.

Uncategorized

Clam and Porcini Spaghetti

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Clam and Porcini Spaghetti
Clam and Porcini Spaghetti

300g dried spaghetti
1kg clams, washed
60ml white wine
45ml olive oil
45ml butter
250g porcini mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
10ml dried oregano
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
a large handful of parsley, chopped

Bring 5 litres of water to the boil in a large saucepan with 30ml (8 teaspoons) salt.
Add the spaghetti to the pot of boiling water and cook for 9 minutes.
Heat another large saucepan over a high heat.
Add the clams and the wine, cover with a lid and cook over a high heat until the clams have opened. This should not take longer than 8-10 minutes. Discard any clams that stay closed.
Drain the clams and set aside.
Place a large frying pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil and butter to it.
Add the sliced porcini and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the onion, garlic and oregano and cook for another 3 minutes or so.
Now add the tomatoes as well as the clams and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
Drain the cooked spaghetti and add it to the sauce.
Sprinkle the parsley over and stir through.
Serve immediately.