oriental pesto

another jar in my christmas gift basket contained this oriental pesto. the combination of dates, almonds, cumin and dried tomatoes reminds of ariabian nights. with eg penne you get a pretty good pasta dish.

pasta al ragu

the other day when i was in my christmas cookie baking frenzy, i made this amazing ragout in between. as much as i love cookie dought (and yeas i probably ate countless cookies raw), but even i can’t just exist on sweet things, but also need something savory in between, kind of like to neutralize my taste buds. so this recipe was just right. the preparation is really quick and since it has to simmer for at least 2,5 hours, so the meat gets all soft and disintegrates, it is perfect, to let it do its work on the stove while i am busy baking cookies. next time i’ll try it with some veal or beef instead of pork. but also like this it was very tasty – i was really thrilled by the strands of meat (i don’t like it in pieces, but in these small portions…). it does have a resemblence to goulash obviously, but with a different kind of taste. i made it with penne, but you can use any kind of short pasta that you like and i think it would be nice with pappardelle too.

pasta con le polpette

i wanted to make polpette (pasta with meatballs) for ages, somehow i never got around to it. but especially on days like today that already let you feel the coming fall, it has something comforting, homey to make a hearty meal, the smell of sun-ripened tomatoes in the air, you get a summery feeling from the inside – just good and simple comfort food 🙂

when i saw nigella lawson making her version, i finally had enough motivation to try them myself. the ingredients aren’t that different to sauce bolognese, but the taste is completely different. the aroma of the tomato sauce is more intense and the taste of the minced meat is different. as soon as you’ve made the meat balls, it’s only a few more steps until a delicious meal. you can make a bigger portion for guest or to freeze it for another rainy day.

avocado feta pasta

today a super quick recipe, when the pasta is cooked, you’re ready to eat. i’m always searching for new ways to use avocado and did find this delicious recipe. easy, only a few ingredients and just yummy! if you’re short on time (10, max 15 min) and still want something rather healthy to eat, you have to try this. also it you’ve made too much sauce, you even can use it as a spreadvon bread!

wild garlic

oh how nice it is wild garlic season. last weekend i was on the search for these green leaves. thanks to mundraub you can easily find out were to find wild garlic, herbs, fruits, etc in vienna. i decided to go to the steinhof gründe and started at castle wilheminenberg. it didn’t take long and i found what i was looking for. didn’t know where to start picking 🙂 but please be careful: smell all leaves if they have the distinct smell of garlic. meadow saffron is growing right next to wild garlic, looks almost the same, but is highly poisonous and can be deadly. that’s why i also only eat my pickings myself and don’t share with anyone – wouldn’t want that on my conscience.
since i had so much wild garlic, i first made pesto to preserve some for later. for that just grind wild garlic, some salt, walnuts (or other nuts) and some olive oil into a paste. then add more and more oil until you reach the desired consistency. i like it more without cheese/parmesan, but add some if you like. then fill the pesto into sterilized glasses, top off with some oil to seal. you can eat the pesto as is with some pasta, use it as a seasoning or mix it with cream for a creamy pasta sauce.

then i made pasta with a wild garlic cream sauce. sweat onions, add soup and let reduce to about a third, add cream. then fold in chopped wild garlic, let boil for a minute. with a handheld blender mix until smooth and creamy, maybe thicken with some starch. serve with pasta.

third i made some savory croissants. finely chop wild garlic and mix with goat cream cheese, maybe salt a little bit.

cut ready made croissant dough (eg from knack & back) into triangles, put some of the cream cheese on the lower edge and roll into a croissant.

brush pastries with egg and bake according to instructions on package. it’s super easy & fast and a delicous snack or a great treat/fingerfood for a party.

after all that i have enough of wild garlic for now 😉 i hope you have fun picking and experimenting!

presents from the kitchen – seasoning mix for tomato sauce

everyone got their own recipe for tomato sauce – sometimes tricky sometimes easy. with this seasoning mix you have a delicious sauce in no time. especially people that are always busy will be delighted about this present. in this mix there are a lot of herbs and other seasonings, you don’t need much more and voilá the sauce is ready. best to write the recipe for fixing the sauce on a card and attach it to the mix.

presents from the kitchen

i know christmas is already over, but if i would have posted this earlier it wouldn’t have been a surprise. besides you can give these presents also to other occasions or just reward yourself.

again this year my christmas presents for my family where homemade. this year they found the following in their gift baskets:

• winterly apple pear jam
• mango chutney
• curry tomato ketchup
• seasoning mix for tomato sauce
• herbal salt (just finely chop herbs that you like and mix with salt)
• vanilla sugar (cut vanilla beans into pieces, with some sugar finely chop in a mincer/food processer)
• orange sugar
• chocolate confectionary
• caramelized almonds and pumpkin seeds

for more ideas what diy’s you can give, check here

italian delights – lasagne

another of my italian favorites is lasagne. the mixture of aromatic meat sauce, creamy bechamel and pasta is simply glorious. frozen, store bought lasagne just isn’t the same, that’s why i always make it from scratch.

italian delights – sauce bolognese

today one of my favorite dishes – pasta bolognese. for this it really is worth it to make the sauce yourself, instead of using a ready made sauce. it’s simple and fast to make, but you should plan 1-2 hours for it to simmer.

asian gnocchi

a while ago i found a recipe for ricotta gnocchi in “gusto”. sounded simple, so i tried it at once. but what to go with it? i wasn’t in the mood for a typical pasta sauce, so i just fried them with veggies and minced meat and added asian seasoning. and there i had a wonderful meal.