Zucchini Lasagna

It's the first recipe I wanted to try from the Sept 06 issue of my favourite food magazine, Everyday Food. It's my way of incorporating more greens into my diet (I know, pathetic attempt, but the recipe does call for reduced-fat cheeses) and it tastes as good as it looks, though don't forget to cover with foil when baking like I did! I had to do some damage control right after and was able to save it :) Duh!

Here's a link to the recipe on the Everyday Food website.

Spaghetti Carbonara

I may have blogged about this dish before but I'm pretty sure I didn't post a recipe for it. So here goes... What I like about pasta is that it's easy. All you need is a skillet, a few fresh staples, and a pot of boiling water. This recipe for spaghetti carbonara is the Italian equivalent of bacon and eggs.

I once heard that this dish came about a long time ago through some Italian men working in the mines. They worked late and so for dinner they would carry some eggs, cream and pancetta ... and have an almost-instant meal. (Or was it that they worked early and made it for breakfast?) The beauty of this dish is that the heat of the pasta cooks the egg so there wasn't any cooking involved for the miners. Oh yeah, if you have an aversion to raw-ish eggs, you may want to skip out on this one. My question is, how did they cook the pasta? Or did they just carry leftover pasta? I don't know about some of these stories. Apparently they didn't use pepper either, the ash in the air is what speckled their food with little black marks.

I know, I know, I know what you're thinking ... where do I get my info from??!

Anyway, all that to say that this dish is very simple to prepare.

1. In a bowl, beat two eggs with some finely grated parmiggiano reggiano and a little heavy cream.

2. Cook two servings of spaghetti until al dente. Drain. Add it to the bowl and toss immediately so the hot pasta cooks the egg. Season with a little sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Toss again.

3. Heat a little olive oil in a non-stick skillet, add a little minced garlic and cook up about 75g of thinly sliced, chopped pancetta in it. Add to the spaghetti mixture and serve.

Mango Chutney Mayonnaise

I must be in a chutney phase because it seems like that's all I've been blogging about lately. Anyhoo, this is one of my favourites -- mango chutney mayonnaise. I don't exactly make the chutney itself, that's store bought. But I mix it with the mayo and some other ingredients to get this delightful flavoured mayonnaise that is sure to enhance many meals.

Here's a picture of my breakfast from this morning. Just regular scrambled eggs on toast right? Wrong! There's mango chutney mayo on the toast which just takes this simple breakfast to a whole new level. Seriously.


There's a great restaurant, Cielo's in White Rock, and I think they drizzle something very similar to this over their thin crust chicken pizza and it tastes amazing! I find that coriander (aka cilantro) is really complimented by the mango chutney mayo so if you're every cooking something with coriander, consider serving it up with some of this. There are quite a few things you can do with it. I've also served it on the side with my roasted salmon and polenta fries. It works well as a dip, a sandwich or cracker spread, a drizzle ... you name it.

Credit for the recipe goes to Everyday Food magazine (Issue 25) where I first discovered it.

Chicken in Phyllo with Roasted Red Capsicum, Feta & Basil

This recipe is an old favourite. It looks somewhat fancy but can be put together easily and it's tasty. I use chicken thighs but you can use chicken breasts as well. I just prefer thighs in general because they are juicier and don't dry out as easily. Phyllo pastry is inexpensive, and a fairly underused ingredient even though it is simple enough for everyday cooking. You can find it in the freezer section of your supermarket. Defrost it overnight in the fridge before using the next day. It tends to dry out quickly so you need to work fast and not leave it exposed to the air for too long. If you'd rather not rush, cover the sheets you're not using with a clean, damp cloth.

Capsicum-feta filling:
2 capsicums (bell peppers)
1.5 cups crumbled feta

Quarter and seed capsicums and broil at 375F on a baking sheet for several minutes until skins are blackened. Place capsicums in a ziploc bag, seal and allow to cool. Peel the skin and discard. In a small bowl, mix with feta and combine well.

Chicken phyllo parcels:
8 phyllo pastry sheets
olive oil for brushing
4 large chicken thighs, cut in half (or 2 large breasts each cut into 4) and seasoned with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
small bunch of fresh basil leaves
capsicum-feta filling

Heat your oven to 375F (190C). Taking one sheet of phyllo at a time, fold it in half along the width. Brush olive oil onto the edges. Place a piece of chicken near the bottom of the pastry. Top with capsicum-feta filling and some basil leaves. Roll the chicken and filling over once. Fold the edges toward the middle and continue rolling to form a small rectangular package. Brush with olive oil and place on a baking sheet. At this point you may want to cover it with a damp cloth while you work on the rest. Bake for 25 minutes. Serve with any side of your choice, though preferably something not dry like couscous. Soup or salad would work well.

Serves 2-3.

Coriander Chutney

Well, after my last botched experiment (see previous post), I had to attempt to redeem myself. What you see in the picture above is all that's left of my most recent batch of coriander chutney; sorry about that but I couldn't wait to dig in!

Coriander, aka cilantro, is one of those foods you either hate or love. I happen to LOVE it as I'm sure you can tell from the title of this blog. If you too love coriander, this is a recipe you will not want to skip.

It's my mother's recipe and I recently got a chance to copy it from her books. I tend to only ever eat it between two slices of bread or as a spread over toast, though it can also be eaten on the side with rice/curry.

The flavours are pungent, aromatic and delicious in only the way that coriander can be.

2 large bunches coriander, leaves and tender stalks only
6 cloves garlic
1 1/4 cups fine unsweetened coconut
2-3 green chillies
1-inch piece of ginger
8 peppercorns
1 tbsp tamarind paste
sugar and salt to taste
water

Grind all the ingredients to a fine paste in a blender or food processor, adding very little water as needed. Add sugar and salt to taste and combine well. Store in the refrigerator for upto 3 weeks.

Makes about 2 cups.