Ingredients:
12 tomatoes OR 4 x 400g cans peel tomatoes, lightly crushed
1 tablespoon oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 small onions, chopped
1 cup red wine
2 tablespoons chopped oregano, basil or marjoram leaves cracked black
pepper & sea salt
Method:
If using fresh tomatoes, place them in a saucepan of boiling water
and cook for one minute. Drain, peel the skins and chop the tomatoes,
reserving any liquid. Ignore this step if using canned tomatoes.
Heat the oil in a deep frying pan over medium to high heat. Add the
garlic and onion and cook for 4 minutes or until soft.
Add the tomato, wine, herbs, pepper and salt and bring to the boil
Allow the sauce to simmer for 20 minutes if using canned tomatoes
and 35 minutes if using fresh tomatoes.
Refrigerate
the sauce for up to 3 days. This sauce can also be frozen in portions
and used before 5 months.
VARIATIONS
OF THIS SAUCE -
Roast
Tomato Sauce
Use only fresh tomatoes for this sauce. Halve them and place on an
oiled baking tray with the cut sides up. Bake in a pre-heated 180º
oven for 30 minutes or until soft. Follow the classic sauce recipe,
adding the roast tomatoes instead of the fresh or canned.
Prociutto
or Bacon and Sage Tomato Sauce
Follow the basic recipe. After cooking the onion, add 6 slices of
roughly chopped bacon or prosciutto to the pan with 2 tablespoons
of chopped sage leaves. Serve with extra grilled crisp bacon or prosciutto
pieces.
Tomato
and Basil Soup
Follow the basic recipe and add 2 cups of vegetable stock when adding
the tomatoes to the pan. When this has simmered, stir through 1/3
cup of basil and serve in deep bowls topped with pepper and Parmesan
cheese.
Chilli
and Eggplant Tomato Sauce
Add 2-3 sliced and seeded red chillies to the pan when cooking the
garlic and onion. Chop one medium-sized young eggplant (aubergine)
into large pieces and add with the tomato, following the basic recipe.
Roasted
Red Pepper and Chourico Sausage Tagliatelle
Ingredients:
2 Red Peppers, roasted cut into strips
2 Chouriço sausage thinly sliced
1 Onion freshly chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
1 Bunch spring onions, finely chopped
1 Bunch Coriander (Leaves only)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Method:
Pan frying the chouriço sausage until crisp and then remove
from the pan
Cook the onion and garlic in olive oil for 2-3 minutes.
Add the red pepper and the sausage and warm for a minute
Toss into the cooked pasta and drop in the coriander leaves, olive
oil and salt and pepper.
Variations
include tomato dough (add tomato paste), spinach (add pureed cooked
spinach) herb dough (add chopped herbs). Remember with the adding
of other items, the dough’s consistency will change. More flour
might need to be added.
Tagliarini
with roasted Butternut, Feta and Rocket
Method:
Pan-fry the onion, garlic and spring onion for 2 minutes. Add the
butternut and warm through. Mix in the cooked, drained pasta, add
the rocket, season and add olive oil to taste.
Roasted
Vegetable Lasagna
Grill
a mixture of your favourite vegetables such as:
Courgettes, baby corn, mange tout, cocktail tomatoes, asparagus in
your skillet with olive oil, rock salt and ground black pepper.
Add
some roasted red and yellow peppers to your assorted vegetables.
Creamed spinach is also great to add to this dish.
Make
a cheese sauce as per your favourite recipe.
You can either use fresh pasta or dried lasagna sheets for this recipe.
Spray
your lasagna dish with spray and cook.
Layer some pasta sheets on the bottom of your dish. Pour some of the
sauce over the sheets.
Layer with the roasted vegetables, then place the sheets over and
cover with more sauce. Continue layers ending with the sauce on top.
Grate
some mozzarella cheese and sprinkle over the top. Bake for +/- 45
minutes at 180°.
NOTE: -
Coriander and almond pesto
- Sun dried tomato pesto
- Roasted cherry tomatoes, rocket and avocado
Also
great added to pasta and served with homemade garlic bread or toasted
ciabata.
Salmon
Trout, Spinache and Ricotta Lasagna with Saffron Foam
Ingredients:
1kg fresh salmon trout, skins and bones removed
2 bunches spinach, de-stalked, cleaned, chopped and blanched
400ml cream
1 large onion, chopped
150gr ricotta cheese
Nutmeg
Seasoning
Mozzarella cheese
300gr fresh lasagna sheets (can use dried)
Method:
Make the creamed spinach first by sweating the onions and garlic for
2 minutes. Add the cream, the spinach and nutmeg. Add seasoning and
reduce. Cook for 10 minutes keeping the colour.
Slice the salmon trout into even slices.
Grease a large baking dish and layer the spinach, pasta, ricotta and
salmon in alternate layers doing 3 of each.
Top with the pasta, cover with tin foil and cook for +/- 30 minutes.
Top with mozzarella cheese and finish in the oven. Gratinate the top
under the grill.
Cut and spoon out carefully.
Veloute
Ingredients: 150ml
fish stock
150ml fresh cream
Mix and reduce by half.
1g Saffron
For
the sauce:
Boil the
fish veloute with saffron until a deep yellow saffron colour appears.
Froth up with a bar mix and spoon around the plate.
Beef
Wellington
Ingredients:
1.5kg beef fillet
1 med onion, chopped
300g button mushrooms
400g puff pastry
1 bunch spring onions, chopped
50g parsley, finely chopped
30g chopped chives
Egg for egg wash
50ml Dijon mustard
50ml olive oil
Salt & pepper
Method: Trim
beef fillet and season with salt & pepper. Seal in a hot pan until
evenly browned. Allow to cool
Finely chop the mushrooms (food processor)
Sweat the onions, spring onions and then add the mushrooms over a
moderate heat for 3 minutes ~ then drain
Roll out the puff pastry evenly. Place the meat in the middle. Coat
the meat with the mustard, then crust with the herbs & mushroom
mix.
Close up the pastry & decorate with pastry leaves. Remember to
cut two small holes to let the steam escape.
Brush with egg wash and cook for 20 – 25 minutes in a medium
oven (200ºc)
Slice and enjoy with your favourite vegetables and potato.
This dish is also delicious cold the next day.
Serves
5 / 6
Other
ideas for the beef:
Toasted ciabata gourmet sandwiches
Pita breads
Cherry tomato & avocado salsa
Stir fry
Pork
cutlet “Milanese” with caramelised onion mash,
grilled vegetables and sun dried tomato pesto
Ingredients:
4 x 180g pork cutlets, trimmed
80g Parmesan cheese, grated finely
150g white bread crumbs
2 eggs for egg wash
100g flour
Salt & pepper
Olive oil for pan-frying
For
the grilled vegetables:
1 med aubergine
1 yellow pepper
1 red pepper
5 courgettes
1 punnet oyster mushrooms
1 punnet yellow patty pans
150g rocket
Olive oil
Basil
For
the pesto:
150g marinated sun dried tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
50g toasted pine nuts
30g parsley chopped
Salt & black pepper
50g grated Parmesan or Pecorino
100ml olive oil
For the mash
400 g mashed potatoes
2 med onions sliced
100g brown sugar
Method:
Beat the pork cutlet until thin and season. Coat with flour &
then egg wash & then bread crumbs and parmesan mix.
Pan fry in a little olive oil.
Slice the onions and sweat in a little olive oil. Sprinkle with sugar
and allow to caramelise. Mix into the mash thoroughly.
Slice, seed and clean the vegetables and prepare for the grill.
For
the aubergine:
slice thinly, dust in a little flour and panfry.
Grill the rest of the vegetables in a skillet on the stove top and
place in a roasting pan if you plan to re-heat.
For
the pesto:
combine all ingredients, except olive oil, in a food processor &
blend. When done add the olive little by little.
Other
ideas for pork
Sweet
chilli butter / garlic butter / lemon butter / herb butter
Roasted red peppers
Bacon & onion mash
