Category Archives: Italian

Eggplant Bolognese

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Eggplants were on special at my local supermarket the other day, so I bought a couple…but then drew a complete blank on what to do with them. So I turned to one of my favourite sites, Taste.com.au, where I found a recipe for bolognese-stuffed eggplants. I gave it a little tweaking to suit my needs (read: added a lot more veggies), and it was perfect!

This is ideal for those chillier days when you want something warming for lunch or dinner AND it’s jam-packed with veggies.

Delish!

Serves 4

2 eggplants, about 450g each
1 quantity of bolognese sauce (see below)
About 2 tbs chopped basil leaves
1 tbs grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Stick a fork in your eggplants in several places and pop them on a baking paper-lined tray in the oven for about forty minutes, turning once halfway through the cooking time.* Allow to cool so you can handle them easily, then cut in half lengthwise and scoop out most of the flesh. Roughly chop the flesh and add it to your pre-prepared bolognese sauce with the chopped basil, mixing well. Place the eggplant halves onto a tray lined with a fresh sheet of baking paper. Spoon the sauce into the hollowed-out eggplant halves, sprinkle the parmesan over and return to the oven for about 20 minutes or until cheese is beginning to brown.

Serve with a leafy salad.

 

For the bolognese sauce, you’ll need:

1 tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
250g lean beef mince
1 medium carrot, grated
1 cup finely chopped mushrooms
1 cup finely chopped cauliflower florets (chop these to a crumb-like texture in a food processor, discarding the thick stems before you start)
400g ripe tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped**
1 sachet tomato paste (50g)
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt & pepper to taste

Heat a medium saucepan, then add the olive oil. Give it a minute or so to heat up, then add the onion and garlic. Stir over medium heat until the onion is soft and beginning to brown. Add the mince and stir  continually, breaking up any lumps that form, until it’s browned. Add the carrot, mushrooms and cauliflower and stir for a couple more minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and combine well – if need be, adding a little water or stock to ensure that the liquid just covers the meat. Bring to the boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes with a lid on. Remove the lid and continue cooking for a further 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is a nice thick consistency.

 

Each serve has approximately the following stats, not including salad or whatever else you choose to serve with it:

192 Calories
19g protein
11g carbohydrate
8g fat

 

*It’s not strictly necessary to turn the eggplants, but they will develop a flat spot where they sit on the tray, and it’s just neater if each half ends up flat on the bottom. They sit nicely on a plate too.  :)

**To skin fresh tomatoes, simply cut a small cross in the skin on the base of the fruit and place them in a heatproof bowl, then pour boiling water over, just enough to cover. After ten minutes, drain off the water and the skin will peel right off. You can skip this part if you’re using canned tomatoes, but I highly recommend it for fresh; otherwise your sauce will end up with bits of rolled-up stringy tomato skins in it.


 

Chicken Cacciatore

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Serves 6

1 tbs olive oil
1.5kg chicken pieces
1 onion (finely chopped)
1 cloves garlic, minced
400g can crushed tomatoes
¼ cup chicken stock
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sugar
4 anchovies
¼ cup white wine
A handful of fresh basil leaves, torn
Salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
A cup of pitted Kalamata olives

Heat olive oil in a heavy-based pan. Add chicken pieces a few at a time and brown on all sides. Remove and place in the bottom of a slow cooker. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until golden-brown. Add the chicken stock, balsamic vinegar, anchovies and sugar and bring to the boil. Stir frequently until liquid is reduced by almost half. Add the tomatoes, basil, wine, salt and pepper. Pour over the chicken pieces, cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until chicken is tender. Add the olives about 20 minutes before serving.

If the sauce is still too runny when the chicken is cooked, remove chicken to a plate and transfer sauce to a pan. Cook sauce over medium-high heat until reduced, then pour over chicken before serving.

If using a casserole dish, increase the stock to 1 cup and the wine to 1/2 cup and cook in the oven at 150C for 1-2 hours.

Peposo (Tuscan beef stew)

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I spotted this recipe in the current issue of Delicious whilst I was flying over the Tasman, and just knew it would lend itself to the slow cooker. I was right – it was utter perfection.

Serves 6-8

1.8 kg beef shin, trimmed and cut into 5cm cubes
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 anchovy fillets in oil, drained
1/3 cup tomato paste
4 sprigs rosemary
1 cup red wine
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Place everything into an oven-proof casserole (or a slow cooker) and stir to mix. Add enough water to just cover the beef, about a cup. Cook at 150C for four hours (or 8 hours on low in the slow cooker). The meat will be oh-so-tender.

This is meant to be a peppery dish, so add lots of pepper ….or not, if you don’t like spicy food.

It’s traditionally served with polenta, rocket and parmesan. I dislike polenta, so we had pumpkin and kumera mash instead, and since we didn’t have any rocket, I did steamed broccoli.

Tip: Use a decent wine in the recipe, and you get to enjoy the rest with your meal.

Linguine Marinara

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I saw a great-looking marinara mix at the supermarket fish counter the other day, and had a hankering for a pasta dish. So I made this recipe up as I went. You could buy shellfish and white fish fillets separately if you like and make up your own mix.

Serves 2

400g good-quality marinara mix
4-6 green king prawns, shelled but with tails left on
2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely, chopped
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
400g can crushed tomatoes
4-6 sun-dried tomatoes finely sliced (not the ones packed in oil)
A handful of chopped basil
Linguine or other pasta
Extra torn basil leaves for garnish
Parmesan cheese

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and cook the onion, garlic and chilli until onion is tender. Add canned tomatoes, sundried tomatoes and basil, stir and bring to the boil. Add 1/2 a cup or so of water. Simmer for 5-10 minutes, until slightly reduced, then add the seafood. Cover and simmer for a further 5-8 minutes or so, turning the prawns and other shellfish to make sure they cook evenly. When prawns are pink, it’s ready to serve. Have some water boiling and cook the pasta while the sauce is simmering.

Place 1 cup of the cooked pasta in each bowl and divide the sauce between them. Make sure the prawns are on top so it looks posh. :o ) Sprinkle extra basil over the top and add a teaspoon or two of grated parmesan and some black pepper.