Vegetarian Archives - Pagina 10 van 11

Pumpkin Salad

This recipe is inspired by one of our favourite chefs of the moment, Yotam Ottolenghi.

Serves 4

Ingredients
2 medium butternut, halved, seeds removed and each half cut into thirds (peel the skin off if you like, but we tend not to)
3 red onions, cut into wedges
50 ml olive oil, plus extra to drizzle over the salad
4 Tablespoons white tahini (available from health food shops)
lemon juice, to taste
1 garlic cloves, crushed
50 g pine nuts
2 Tablespoons za'atar (a Middle Eastern spice mix of dried thyme, sumac and sesame seeds)
small bunch flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
50 g rocket leaves
50 g baby spinach

Method
Preheat the oven to 220C.

Place the butternut and onion on an oven tray, add 40 ml olive oil, salt, pepper and the za'atar. Spread out evenly and roast for about 30-40 minutes until the vegetables have coloured and are cooked through. Keep an eye on the onions that they don't burn. Set aside to cool.

Make the dressing by mixing the tahini with lemon juice to taste, 2-3 tablespoons water, garlic and salt. Whisk until the sauce is the consistency of cream.

Heat a frying pan with the remaining 10 ml olive oil over medium heat and fry the pine nuts until golden. Transfer to a bowl to cool.

To serve, place the roasted pumpkin and onions on a serving dish. Drizzle over the tahini dressing and sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts and chopped parsley. Top with the rocket and spinach leaves, drizzle with 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

by Bernadette Evers

Pear and Saffron Chutney

Autumn is the prefect time to use pears, which are fully in season. Other than poaching or roasting them, why not turn them into a chutney. This also makes a great gift to give to others.

This recipe has been adapted from renowned British chef, Jason Atherton.

Makes about 1 kg

Ingredients
160 g onions, diced (about 2 onions, depending on their size)
200 g apples, peeled, cored and diced (about 2 apples)
200 g sultanas or golden raisins
1 Tablespoon orange zest
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
40 g finely chopped fresh ginger
200 ml white wine vinegar
1 kg pears, peeled, cored and diced
350 g caster sugar
¼ teaspoon saffron threads, infused in 1 Tablespoon warm water

Method
Place all the ingredients except for the pears, sugar and saffron in a large pot. Bring to the boil, stirring often and cook until the liquid has reduced by two-thirds. Add the sugar and the saffron and cook for further 5 minutes.

Add the pears and cook gently, uncovered for about 1-2 hours or until the chutney is thick and syrupy. The chutney is ready when you can draw a line across the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.

Spoon the chutney into sterilized jars and seal while still hot. Store in a cool place.

We also make the pear chutney ourselves. Please contact us if you like to order. Subject to availability.

by Bernadette Evers

Egg en cocotte

Serves 2

Ingredients
50 g samphire
knob of butter
125 ml crème fraiche
50 g grated Parmesan
2 free range organic eggs
2 thick slices white or whole meal bread
salt and pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Place the roasting tray in the oven and half fill with hot water. Bring a small pan of water to the boil and cook the samphire for 1 minute. Drain off the water and leave in the colander.

Grease 2 ramekins or oven-proof cups with butter and divide the samphire between them.

Beat the crème fraiche to loosen and season with salt and pepper. Spoon into the ramekins, grind over some pepper and sprinkle over half the cheese.

Press lightly with the back of a spoon to create a ‘crater’ and carefully break in the eggs, ensuring the yolk stays intact. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese.

Place the ramekins in the roasting tray filled with hot water and cook 8-10 minutes for soft cooked or 20 minutes for hard cooked.

Toast the white or whole wheat bread until golden brown and cut into ‘soldiers’ (strips). Serve the eggs cocotte with the toast soldiers.

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

by Bernadette Evers

Weekend Canapés

The weekend is a great time to visit the market and different specialty food shops. Here are 2 simple and delicious recipes to serve with drinks. Click here to find out how to make crostini's.

Mushroom and Taleggio Crostini

Ingredients
15 g dried porcini
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove
500 g mixed mushrooms
salt and pepper
100 ml cream
300 g Taleggio cheese

Method
Soak the porcini in warm water for about 10 minutes.

Finley chop the garlic, slice the mushrooms. Squeeze the water out of the porcini and chop them up too.

Heat a frying pan with 3 tablespoons olive oil and fry the mushrooms and porcini over high heat. Add the garlic about half way through the cooking. Season with salt and pepper and add enough cream to bind the mushroom mixture, about 100 ml.

Slice the taleggio. Top the crostini with some mushroom mixture, a slice of Taleggio and place in a hot oven until the cheese has melted, about 3 minutes. Serve while still warm.

Veal Sweatbreads with Capers

Ingredients
500 g veal sweetbreads
seasoned flour, for dusting
olive oil, for frying
100g unsalted butter
4 tbsp capers, drained
squeeze lemon juice
3 tbsp chopped parsley

Method
Bring a pot of seasoned water, flavoured with a bay leaf, some sprigs of thyme and parsley stalks to the boil. Add the sweetbreads and poach gently for about 10 minutes. Remove from the pot, weight between 2 plates and allow to cool. Once the sweetbreads have been weighted down and cooled, peel the skin off using a small kife. Lightly dust the sweetbreads with seasoned flour.

Heat a frying pan and add enough oil to just cover the bottom of the pan. Add the sweetbreads and fry undisturbed until golden and crusty underneath. Turn and repeat with the other side.

Add the butter to the pan and cook until dark and nutty, flipping the sweetbreads in it. Add the capers, lemon juice to taste, parsley and a pinch of salt.

Spoon on to crostini and serve.

by Mischa de Winter

Easy 'Fondue' (baked cheese)

Ingredients
2 Saint Felicien or other favourite cheese, in an oven-proof container
2 cloves garlic
2 sprigs rosemary
1 small Turkish bread
2 figs
2 Belgian endive
olive oil

Method
Preheat the oven to 200° C. Remove the plastic from the cheeses and place them back in their containers. Make a few incisions in to the cheeses. Slice one garlic clove into thin slivers and finely chop the other. Pick the rosemary leaves off the stalks. Insert the garlic slivers and some of the rosemary leaves into the incisions made in the cheeses.

Drizzle the bread with 2 tablespoons olive oil, the remaining rosemary and finely chopped garlic clove. Place the cheese in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.

Place the bread in the oven for the last 5 minutes of the cooking time. Slice the figs into wedges and loosen the leaves from the endive.

Slice the bread into ‘fingers’. Serve the melted cheese in their heatproof dishes on a wooden board with the figs, endive and bread.

* Saint Felicien is available at Bilder & de Clercq stores in Amsterdam.

by Bernadette Evers

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.

by Bernadette Evers

The perfect green salad

The perfect green salad relies on the freshness of it's ingredients, the variety of lettuces and herbs you add and of course the perfect balance between a good olive oil and vinegar or lemon juice.

Start with a selection of leaves and herbs, preferably from the market. Examples are butter lettuce, cos, frisse, chicory, rocket and watercress. Bring in some freshness with herbs - mint, flat leaf parsley, onion cress, chives and basil.

You can add some texture if you like in the form of green asparagus (lightly blanched or grilled) or croutons.

Place all the ingredients for your salad in a large bowl. It's important to have room to lightly toss your salad with the dressing so that each leaf is evenly coated and not bruised by being over-worked.

The next important step is the dressing. The dressing should never overwhelm a salad, but compliment it's ingredients. The simplest and best form is a vinaigrette made from good olive oil, good vinegar or lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Basic vinaigrette dressing
2 tablespoons vinegar or 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt and pepper
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (optional)
90 ml extra virgin olive oil

Method
In a small bowl, whisk the vinegar or lemon juice with the salt, pepper and mustard if using.
Gradually whisk in the oil in a steady stream until the vinaigrette is blended and thickened. Taste for seasoning. If the dressing separates, bring it back together by whisking rapidly.

Once you have your dressing made, pour it over the salad at the very last moment just before serving. Remember the word 'dressing' says it all - it should just be a light coating around the leaves and not flood the salad. Remember too that if the dressing is added too long in advance, the vinegar or lemon juice will begin cooking the leaves and they will turn limp and soggy.

Your salad can be put together with whatever you have or is in season. Feel free to add other ingredients to turn it in to a more substantial meal. Think too about adding different flavours to your vinaigrette in the form of chopped garlic, shallot, herbs or flavoured vinegars.

by Bernadette Evers

Parsley Soup

Ingredients
olive oil
30 g butter
2 leeks
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 large floury potato
1 large bunch flat leaf parsley
about 1 liter vegetable stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
splash of cream

Method
Finely slice the leeks and onion and finely chop the garlic. Peel the potato and cut into 1 cm dice.

Heat 2-3 tablespoons olive oil and the butter in a pot over medium heat. Add the leeks, onion, garlic and half the parsley and sweat gently for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, bring a small pot of water to the boil. Remove the stalks from the remaining parsley and blanche the leaves for 20 seconds in the boiling water. Remove and plunge immediately into a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process.

Add the potatoes, stock, salt and pepper to the vegetables and bring to the boil. Cook for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft.

Roughly chop the blanched parsley and add to the soup. Blend until smooth. Adjust the seasoning if needed and should it be too thick, thin down with a little extra stock.

Reheat the soup gently. Divide between 4 bowls and serve with a swirl of cream.

by Bernadette Evers

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.

by Bernadette Evers

Red onion soup

Ingredients
15 g butter
4 tablespoons olive oil
6 large red onions
1,2 litres vegetable stock
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 slices French baguette
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
50 g grated Gruyere cheese
4 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper

Method
Halve the onions and slice thinly. Heat the olive oil and butter in a pan and add the onions. Sweat them gently until soft, about 30 minutes.

Add the balsamic vinegar, thyme and bay leaf to the pan.

Add the stock to the pan and increase the heat. When the soup boils, turn down to a simmer and cook gently for a further 10 minutes.

Preheat the grill. Spread the mustard on the slices bread and top with the grated cheese. Transfer to an oven tray.

Place the tray under the grill for 2 minutes until the cheese is melted. Season the soup with salt and pepper.

Divide the soup between 2 bowls and place the grilled cheesy bread on top.

by Bernadette Evers