Individual Ratatouille

 If you are looking for inspiration for a vegetable side these individual Ratatouilles may be the answer.

Simple to make with a little preparation and then pop in the oven.  You could even make them a little more indulgent by popping a slice of buffalo mozzarella between the zucchini and tomato.

 

Ingredients

Pasta/Sugo sauce homemade or quality store bought

Zucchini

Tomatoes

Italian dry herbs

Parmesan cheese, grated

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C

Slice zucchini and tomato into similar sized rounds

Place a little pasta sauce in the base of individual oven ramekins

Arrange alternate slices of tomato and zucchini at an angle

Sprinkle over dried Italian herb mixture and Salt and Pepper to taste.

Top with grated parmesan cheese

Bake in the oven for approximately 20 - 25 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and the cheese is golden.

Mamma Marmalade

Aromatic Spiced Lamb Chops and Veggies

Sometimes a photo can be deceiving. These lamb chops are quick to prepare, delish and you can use a variety of veggies to cook in the spice and serve alongside - one pan easy! Enjoy! Colleen 

Preparation           5 minutes plus 5 minutes to chop veggies

Cooking                10 minutes approx

Serves                   4

Ingredients

8 lamb leg chops - trimmed

a splash of olive oil for cooking

3 teaspoons ground Cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground Turmeric

2 teaspoons ground Cumin

1 teaspoon ground Coriander seed

1 teaspoon dried Thyme leaves or fresh 

1/2 teaspoon dried Mint leaves

1/4 - l teaspoon dried chilli flakes - optional - to your taste

1 tablespoon sesame seeds (optional)  

1 teaspoon Sea Salt flakes

few cranks of freshly ground black pepper

squeeze of fresh lemon juice

chopped fresh parsley and/or mint leaves

a few toasted pine nuts for garnish (optional)

Method

Toast the pine nuts (if using) in the dry pan, remove and set aside.

Mix the spices, sesame seeds, salt and pepper together.  Sprinkle over the lamb chops and pat in so it adheres - both sides.

Heat a splash of olive oil in pan and fry the chops approx 3 minutes each side.

Remove from pan and loosely cover with alfoil on a plate to rest for a few minutes.

Using the same pan (and any left over spice mix) quick fry some chopped veggies - zucchini, left over roast pumpkin or potato chunks, baby spinach leaves, broccoli florets, beans etc - add a little extra olive oil if you need.

Place a heaped serve of veggies on plate alongside 1 or 2 lamb chops - squeeze over a little lemon juice, garnish with chopped parsley/mint leaves and some toasted pine nuts.

Enjoy! Colleen

Jelly Cake - Happy 90th Birthday Eric

This is how the story goes, my father is going to turn 90 this month. A wonderful and very special achievement.  He is don't forget, a Leo and so when he sent me a newspaper article on cake recipes I did not misinterpret the message that he would like a home baked cake.  Now as regular followers of FYIC will have noticed, baking is definitely not my strong point.  Colleen my fellow blogger has probably accounted for 90% of the recipes that get the tag "Baking".   So I did my best and chose what I thought was the easiest of the cake recipes he sent me.  It is a put everything in a bowl and mix recipe.  What could go wrong you say?  Well for starters the reference to "softened butter" I left it on the bench overnight but even in sub tropical Brisbane it is still cold enough not to get your butter soft enough to incorporate in a one bowl mix everything together. So why would a few lumps of butter in the mixture cause issue, surely they will melt in the oven. Yes they did but it took longer to cook the cake and the outsides were a little dry. (Maybe perfect for trifle).  Then added to the mix I got my 89 year old mother who suffers from Dementia to help me decorate it.  It was a heart warming experience and I am blessed to have them both in my life.

Ingredients

125g butter, softened

1/2 packet jelly crystals

1/2 cup caster sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup plain flour

Strawberries and whipped cream to decorate

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine.

Beat for 3 minutes using an electric mixer.

Bake in a greased loaf tin for 35-40 minutes

When cool turn out on to a wire rack.

When completely cold, decorate with cream and strawberries.

Happy 90th Birthday Dad 

Mamma Marmalade

Simple Pumpkin, Sage and Feta Pasta

By now you know I regularly have a stash of roasted veggies in the fridge or freezer as the base for quick midweek dinners.  This easy pasta dish is super-quick, nourishing and packed with flavour - a great way to eat lots of veggies and still have a comfort-food pasta meal. The roasted pumpkin chunks are really the star ingredient.   Enjoy!  Colleen

This recipe uses pumpkin you've  already roasted and saved in fridge or freezer.  

If cooking from fresh add an extra 30 minutes.

Preparation          5 minutes

Cooking               10 - 12 minutes.   I cook pasta in one pan and other ingredients in 2nd pan.

Ingredients

Pasta - enough for 2 people, 4 people or a tribe. I like to use spaghetti 

NB reserve some of the pasta water to add back into sauce

Roasted pumpkin cut into chunks.  Bite-size works best

Extra Virgin Olive Oil - good splash plus more just before serving

Butter (optional)  - 2 teaspoons per person approx

garlic - crushed,  approx 1/2 clove per person

sage leaves -      roughly sliced - approx 6 leaves per person

Dried sage  -     tiny pinch per person

Dried mint or thyme  - small pinch per person

Dried chilli flakes - to your taste (optional)

Baby spinach leaves - big handful per person - they wilt to almost nothing

Black olives - pitted and quartered.   4 or 5 per person

Parsley -        small handful - roughly chopped

Feta cheese   - approx 4 tablespoons per person - crumbled 

Freshly ground black pepper - I like to add a decent amount just before serving

Small squeeze of lemon juice just before serving

Method

Cook pasta in rapidly boiling water according to packet directions (approx 10-12min)

While the pasta is cooking

In separate pan - heat the oil and butter, fry the sage leaves, add dried herbs and garlic . 

Toss through the roasted pumpkin chunks to reheat.

Then toss in the baby spinach to wilt

Add the black olives and parsley

Drain the pasta   -  and reserve approx 1/2 cup of pasta starchy water

Add the cooked drained pasta to the pumpkin mixture and stir through some of the pasta water (start with a few tablespoons and add more if you need)  to loosen the pasta -  it makes a bit of a sauce with the oil and butter

Stir through the crumbled feta, black pepper and a dash of lemon juice.

Enjoy!  Colleen