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Tag Archives: pesto

Stromboli

26 Sunday Jul 2020

Posted by Fabric of Madness in Dinner, Pasta

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cheese, dough, ham, mozzarella, parmesan, pesto, stromboli, tomato

Hot out of the oven – Stromboli

Do you ever feel like pizza but not pizza? Does that even make sense? If you know what I mean, you might like to think about Stromboli. It makes a change from pizza and if you decide to make it for guests they will be very impressed.

I have used homemade pizza dough – there are plenty of places to get a recipe – I might even post one at some stage. I prepare the pizza dough in the bread-maker on dough stage, and then a quick 5 minute knead and it’s ready. Make sure that your bench is well floured – you don’t want the pastry to stick when you are rolling it.

Pizza dough with tomato paste

For this Stromboli I made the dough with 3 cups of flour – it is a lot of dough – this should feed around 6 people.

Measurements aren’t really that necessary here – and you can easily substitute plenty of ingredients. For example, prosciutto, salami etc. Put some hot peppers in, maybe sub chicken for ham. You get the drift I’m sure.

  • Tomato paste
  • Pesto
  • Grainy Mustard
  • finely sliced ham (or whatever you prefer – it could just be vegetarian)
  • Mozzarella (about 1-1/2 cups)
  • Parmesan, grated
  • sliced pepper
  • sliced onion (I had some red onion to use up so used that)
  • baby spinach leaves
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 egg, lightly whisked

Roll out the dough, add paste, pesto, mustard to base of dough. Not too thick. Add ham and whatever other toppings you are going to use. Then add cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Lightly brush egg on far side of dough. Start rolling- you need to be careful when rolling to make sure that the dough is not sticking. About a third of the way through fold in the sides. Keep rolling to the end.

Carefully put your Stromboli on a baking sheet with baking paper (if you prefer to use baking paper) – with seam side down.

Brush the top of your Stromboli with the egg mixture, add salt and pepper, parsley and some parmesan.

Cook in oven for around 45 minutes, until golden.

Let cool a little and then serve sliced. This can also be served cool – and is great for picnics and leftovers.

Serve with a salad. We also had some chilli jam and aioli.

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Olive Tapenade

23 Sunday Apr 2017

Posted by Fabric of Madness in Appetisers, Nibbles, olives, Party, Uncategorized

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anchovies, capers, dip, garlic, olives, parsley, pesto

Last year we were lucky enough to have a great crop of olives. And, sadly, now we have moved we don’t have any olive trees – though to be 100% honest I think I would be just as happy to buy or trade some fresh olives from someone – even 2 small trees provided far too many olives for just one person to plough through – Mr MWCED doesn’t like eating olives so that leaves them all for me.

The olives we picked were mostly very small.   I decided to brine them and now have a multitude of jars in the pantry. They really need to be used.   It is a labour of love using them in anything as it takes an age to stone them, but at the same time I know exactly where they came from and what has gone into them.  IMG_0867.JPG

I have to admit that the taste on their own isn’t amazing. I don’t know if it was the type of olive, or my brine.   They are fine cooked but I wouldn’t put them out for snacking on.   As they are fine when cooked I thought maybe a tapenade might be worth trying. Though not cooked, I thought a mix of other ingredients may work to create a tasty mix.

IMG_0868.JPG

An hour later (well, it felt like an hour!) after stoning a cup of olives we now have tapenade. Most recipes call for fresh garlic, however I had some roast garlic from the other night and it works fine, probably providing a somewhat more refined garlic taste.

Olive Tapenade 

  • 4 cloves roasted garlic
  • 1 cup pitted olives
  • 2 tablespoons capers
  • 3 tablespoons diced fresh parsley
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons basil pesto (or to taste)
  • 2 fillets anchovies – rinsed
  • Black pepper (grind into blender – as much as you want)

I just put everything into the blender and mixed it up. The pesto was an addition at the end as I felt the mixture needed a bit of jazz.   It worked perfectly.   The recipe makes enough for two ramekins.

IMG_0866.JPG

The tapenade will go out on a cheese platter later this afternoon when we have some drinks on the deck.   And some of it might end up on the pizza I think we will make for dinner.

 

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Pasta e Fagioli Soup with Focaccia

01 Sunday May 2016

Posted by Fabric of Madness in Dinner, Pasta, Soup, Vegetables

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bacon, beans, bread, focaccia, parmesan, pasta, pesto, vegetables

It must be the colder weather.   I just knew that what I wanted to eat needed to be soup, needed to be pasta, and needed some freshly baked bread.  What I didn’t know was what it was called.  So my apologies to any purists out there – this version was created and then I realised nothing is ever really created (well, ignoring the amazing items that come from Heston) and found that Italy has the name for my pot of bubbling goodness.

tiny little pieces of pasta just waiting to be souped

tiny little pieces of pasta just waiting to be souped


Enough for 3 or 4 people, or 2 really hungry ones:

3 tbs olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
3 cloves garlic finely chopped, or fewer or more, up to your taste
1 carrot diced
4 slices bacon finely chopped
1x400g can diced tomatoes opened
handful parsley chopped – I also had some basil that I chopped with the parsley – use whatever herbs you have on hand (or dried ones if your garden is bare
about 1 litre chicken stock yup, I cheated, and used the little pots of stock that you add water to. They are probably one step up from stock powder, but hey I’m not saying this is gourmet
150g soup pasta to be perfectly honest I would use any pasta shapes I had at home, just happened to have ‘soup pasta’. They are tiny little shapes of pasta that work well for soup.>
1 x 400g can cannellini beans opened and drained – you could be Very Organised and cook up your own, but this dinner is all about speed – after all it’s Saturday night and we have to watch the rugby
parmesan grated – as much or as little as you like – Mr MWCED likes his on the side so not much went into the soup – I grated about ½ cup and it all got used
Pesto to taste, about a teaspoon
salt&Pepper to taste – will depend how salty your stock is – I always grind a fair whack of pepper into my sauces and soups
  • Heat pan with a tablespoon of oil and brown off the bacon. Once this is cooked put aside.
  • Clean out pan and add rest of olive oil. Heat and add onion, let sweat a few minutes then add garlic and carrot.   Cook for around 5 minutes or so, then add tomatoes and half of the parsley. Cook for about 10 minutes.
  • Add half the stock and then pasta.   Stir continuously for around 6-8 minutes until pasta is soft. Add more stock as needed. Soup should be quick thick.
  • Add cannellini beans, a bit more parsley, the bacon and heat through. At this stage add parmesan and maybe a bit of pesto if you like.  Check taste and season with salt and pepper if needed.

This is a recipe that can be adapted however which way. Add more /different vegetables, experiment with herbs, use different pasta, add some chopped Italian sausage, just have fun.   And, more importantly, eat some delicious soup!

Italian Pasta and Bean soup

Because I had been thinking of soup most of the afternoon (I was cold therefore I needed to think warm things),  I was able to be ultra-efficient and get some ingredients into the breadmaker in preparation for dinner (usually I far from ultra or efficient!).   My Focaccia recipe came from a much used bread recipe book (Alison Holst’s Bread Book). Once the breadmaker had finished the dough cycle,  I then kneaded it for about 10 minutes – you know, until that time that the dough feels smooth and doesn’t need extra flour, doesn’t stick to your hands, and makes you feel kind of dreamy and proud of your domestic skills.   Roll into a rectangle, around 20cm x 30cm, place on an oven tray (I line it with baking paper) and put in a warm place for around an hour (my warm place was the oven which had been previously warmed and then turned off).   After an hour the dough should have doubled in size.  Turn oven to 225 Celsius.   Poke the loaf with your fingers to create holes over the surface.  Brush over oil and or whatever toppings you wish.  i had some homemade pesto which I mixed with a little olive oil and spread that over the bread then finished off with sprinkling Maldon salt.    Bake for around 15 minutes, until golden brown top and bottom and you Just Have To Take It Out Of The Oven And Feel Great Satisfaction.

Go on, you can do it!

Go on, you can do it!

 

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