Roasted tomato soup

The ultimate recipe for tomato soup. You won't buy it from a can ever again!

serves 4

Ingredients
1,5 kg ripe plum tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
2 onions, finely sliced
vegetable stock, about 750ml (we use an organic vegetable cube)
olive oil
salt and pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 220C. Rinse the tomatoes and cut them in half. Place in a roasting dish together with the garlic, thyme and bay leaves. Drizzle generously with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes until the tomatoes are well roasted and they have released their juices.

Heat a large pan with a good glug of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and sweat until soft for 7-10 minutes. Add the roasted tomatoes with their juices and vegetable stock to cover. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for about 15 minutes.

Blend the soup in a blender or with a stick blender until smooth. Season, if needed with salt and pepper. Reheat the soup and serve as is or with creme fraiche and basil.


Ravioli with Sauce Vierge

We all have our favourite ravioli, whether it's filled with pumpkin or spinach and ricotta. This recipe works whatever your favourite ravioli is.

English

Serves 2

Ingredients
16 pieces of your favourite ravioli
2 tomatoes
1 shallot
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons capers
small bunches each of basil, flat leaf parsley and chervil
75g rocket
60ml olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Method
Bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Finely chop the tomatoes, shallot and garlic.

Place the olive oil in a small pot and stir through 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar. Add the tomatoes, 2 tablespoons capers, shallot and garlic and heat gently (do not let the ingredients fry!).

Cook the ravioli gently for 3 to 4 minutes or until al dente. Finely chop the herbs. Drain the pasta.

Divide the pasta between 2 plates. Stir the herbs through the sauce and season with salt and pepper. Spoon the sauce over the ravioli. Dress the rocket with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on top of the ravioli and serve at once.

Nederlands

voor 2 personen

Ingrediënten
16 stukjes van je favorite ravioli
2 tomaten
1 sjalotje
1 teen knoflook
2 eetlepels kappertjes
klein bosje elk basilicum, platte peterselie en kervel
75g rucola
60 ml olijfolie
zout en peper
1 eetlepel rode wijn azijn

Bereiding
Breng een pan water met zout aan de kook. Snijd de tomaten, sjalot en knoflook fijn.

Doe de olijfolie in een pannetje en meng de azijn er doorheen. Voeg de tomaten, kappertjes, sjalot en knoflook toe en warm lichtjes op (niet laten koken!).

Kook de ravioli in 3 tot 4 minuten gaar. Hak de kruiden fijn. Giet de pasta af.

Verdeel de pasta over 2 borden. Meng de kruiden door de saus, maak op smaak met zout en peper en lepel over de ravioli. Maak de rucola aan met olijfolie, zout en peper. Leg bovenop de ravioli en serveer.


Sir Hummus

In Amsterdam's ever more popular Pijp district, Sir Hummus opened their doors at the beginning of January 2015.

Founded by Guy, Dori & Lior, their quest has been to search for the perfect hummus.

Guy and Lior moved to Holland to study. During this time, Guy developed a passion for making hummus. After much experimenting, he found the perfect balance.

We walked in, drenched from one of the wettest days this year in Amsterdam. After warming up over a glass of mint tea, we ordered bowls of smooth, creamy hummus with delicious soft pita breads and Lior's vibrant red special salad. They only serve hummus 3 ways, au natural, with slow-cooked beef or with magic eggs!

The hummus is made with the greatest love and care. Dried chickpeas are soaked overnight, then cooked up and blended with Israeli tahini, lemon and cumin. We suspect that one of the secrets to this hummus's perfection is the addition of the cooking liquid while blending and balancing all the ingredients.

They also have a secret sauce, sharp and spicy. We suggest you use it with caution.

We'll definitely be back. This is pure, honest and real food - just the way we like it.

For more information, please visit Sir Hummus.


Pistachio-Olive Oil Cake

A delicious and unusual cake with a flavour of the middle east. The cake gets it's beautiful green colour from the pistachios and the olive oil keeps it moist. It's quite a rich cake, so a small piece will suffice. We usually serve it as part of a dessert with a parfait or some marinated pineapple. Yum!

Serves 8-10 

Ingredients
50 g fine polenta
200 g ground pistachio nuts
50 g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
125 ml olive oil
100 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 eggs
200 g caster sugar
juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 orange
icing sugar for dusting

Method
Preheat the oven to 160 C. Mix the polenta, ground pistachios, flour and baking powder together.

Add the olive oil to the melted butter. Whisk the eggs and caster sugar until pale and fluffy, then slowly whisk in the olive oil and butter. Whisk in the pistachio mixture, then add the lemon juice and zest and orange juice.

Pour into a greased and lined 24 cm springform tin and bake for about 40 minutes. The cake should be slightly underdone in the middle, so that if you insert a skewer it will come out with a little of the mixture sticking to it. While cooling down, the cake will finish off cooking through. Leave to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tin.

Once completely cooled, cut into slices and dust with icing sugar.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours


Preserved Spicy Lemons

This is a recipe we've adapted slightly from the beautiful cookbook Honey & Co. by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich.

Ingredients
5 small lemons, unwaxed
3 Tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon smoked chilli flakes
olive oil to cover

Method
Slice the lemons as thinly as you can, removing any pips. Place the lemon slices in a bowl and sprinkle with the salt and smoked chilli flakes. Allow to sit for about 30 minutes and room temperature.

Push the lemon slices into a sterilised jar so that they re tightly packed with all the liquid that has formed in the bowl. Add enough olive oil so that they are covered  and seal the jar. They can be used the next day, but improve over time. Once the jar has been opened, store in the fridge and use within a month.

When you use them for cooking, take as much as you need out of the jar. Chop and use the entire lemon slice - you don't need to discard the flesh. They can be used as a relish with fish or chicken , chopped through a flavoured butter or try mixing through some mayonnaise to serve with our Roast duck salad.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours

 


Weekend Lunch

Before you go to the market this weekend and restock your fridge with fresh produce, use up the vegetables you have left in the fridge for lunch. Here are 2 easy ways:

Roasted Vegetables
Heat the oven to 200 C. Roughly chop and aubergine, red pepper, courgette and a couple of red onions. Toss them in a roasting dish with some fresh thyme and a couple of whole, unpeeled garlic cloves, olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for about 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are tender and tinged with a golden hue. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Aubergine Spread
Take 2 aubergines, and chop them into 1 cm cubes. Heat a griddle pan over medium-high heat. Toss the aubergine cubes in olive oil and grill until tender and coloured. Season with salt and pepper. Place half in a food processor with a couple of tablespoons good mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Pulse to a chunky puree. Transfer to a bowl and fold the remaining aubergine pieces through. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

 


Roasted Chicken with Heritage Carrots and Fennel

Serves 4

Ingredients
1,8 kg whole free range or organic chicken
1 lemon
1 small bunch thyme
5 cloves garlic
olive oil
50 g butter
salt and pepper
2 bunches heritage carrots (12-16 carrots)
2 fennel bulbs

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 C - 200 C. Cut the lemon into quarters.  Fill the cavity with the lemon segments, thyme and garlic cloves. Rub the butter all over the chicken and drizzle with some olive oil.

Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper making sure you don't forget to season in the cavity as well. Place in a roasting dish, breast side down and roast for 45 minutes.

In the meantime, peel the carrots and slice diagonally. Trim the hard outer layer away from the fennel and roughly slice. After the 45 minutes, take the chicken from the oven, turn over and baste with the juices in the pan. Add the carrots and fennel around the chicken, mixing them well with the juices. Add a little salt and pepper. Return to the oven for a further 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and golden brown.

Remove from the oven and rest for 5-10 minutes before carving and serving with the roasted carrots and fennel.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours

 


Fattoush

Ingredients
2 pita pocket breads, cut into strips about 2 cm wide, then toasted and crumbled
2 heads Romaine lettuce, chopped
4 spring onions, thinly sliced
4 tomatoes, diced (let them drain a minute or two if extra juicy)
1/2 cucumber, diced (same size as tomatoes)
small bunch coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves
small bunch coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley (leaves only, no stems)

Dressing
2-4 cloves garlic, chopped (depending on how garlic you like it)
1 teapoon salt
lemon juice, to taste
1 teaspoon Sumac, plus more for sprinkling at the end if desired)
125 ml extra virgin olive oil

Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C. While the oven heats, mash together the chopped garlic and salt using a mortar and pestle, or the side of a knife. Put the garlic paste in a small bowl, then the add lemon juice and 1 teaspoon Sumac. Whisk in the olive oil and set dressing aside. (You can also make the dressing in a glass jar and shake to combine.)

Cut the pita into strips about 2 cm wide and arrange on baking sheet. Bake until the pita strips are crisp but only just starting to brown, less than 10 minutes. Watch carefully as they can go from crisp to overly brown rather quickly.

Remove the outer leaves from the Romaine, trim the stem end and then wash and dry with paper towels. Cut  the Romaine into quarters lengthwise, then turn and chop crosswise into small pieces. (If you have a salad spinner, you can chop the Romaine first, then wash it.) Put chopped lettuce into salad bowl large enough toss all ingredients.

Chop tomatoes, spring onions, cucumbers, mint, and parsley and add to the lettuce. Add about half of the dressing and toss, then add the crumbled pita chips and toss again with more dressing. (You may not want to use all the dressing, but this salad should be quite wet.) At this point the salad should sit for a few minutes (or longer) to let flavours blend and so the pita chips absorb some of the dressing. To serve, arrange the salad on a platter and sprinkle with a bit more Sumac.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours


Pizza Bianca

Ingredients
1 1/2 mugs self raising flour
about 1/2 mug luke warm water
8 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic
3 sprigs rosemary
75 g grated Parmesan
75 g grated Provolone
2 medium roseval potato
50 g rocket
6 anchovy fillets
salt and pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to  220 °C. Place the flour, water, a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a food processor and plus to a smooth dough. This can also be done by hand if you don't have a machine. Leave to rest for 10 minutes. Roll the dough out on a work surface, sprinkling with a little extra flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil in a frying pan. Roll the dough over a rolling pin and lay it carefully into the pan. Place the pan over medium heat and cook until the dough is cooked through, turning once during the cooking.

Strip the leaves from the rosemary stalks. Rinse the roseval potato and slice as thinly as possible. Peel and finely chop the garlic clove and place in a bowl with 2 tablespoons olive oil, about a third of the rosemary and a pinch of salt. Brush the pizza base with half the garlic oil.

If the frying pan you're using doesn't fit in the oven, transfer the pizza base to an oven tray. Spinkle over the Parmesan, Provolone and remaining rosemary, leaving a 1 cm border.

Divide the finely sliced potato evenly over the pizza and drizzle with the remaining garlic oil. Season with a touch of salt. Place in the oven for about 10 minutes, until the pizza id golden brown and the potatoes are cooked through.

Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle over the anchovies.

Dress the rocket with olive oil. Top the pizza with the salad, drizzle all with a little extra olive oil and serve.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours


Fried Artichokes

Ingredients
4 artichokes
sunflower oil for deep fat for frying
5 salted anchovies
200 ml olive oil
freshly ground black pepper and salt

Method
Heat the sunflower oil in a large pot or if you have a deep fat fryer, use that till the oil has reached 180° C.

Trim the hard outer leaves away from the artichoke and shave off the tough layer of the stalk. Fry the whole artichokes for about 10-15 minutes. Once golden brown and tender, remove from the oil and drain. Cut the artichokes in half, remove the hay from the centre and then press them between two plates.

Heat the olive oil in a small pot over a low heat. Fillet the anchovies, if necessary and rinse well under cold water to remove any excess salt.

When the the olive oil is warm add the anchovies and soften using the back of a fork until the anchovies break up, season well with salt and pepper.

Before serving, quickly refry the artichokes in the deep fat to reheat. Drain the artichokes on kitchen paper, season with salt and pepper and serve the anchovy sauce separately.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours