1 loaf of sourdough bread
4 cloves of garlic
8 roma tomatoes
sprig of basil
drizzle with olive oil (optional)
Toast bread. Chop the tomatoes and mix gently with crushed garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle both sides with olive oil. Spread tomato mixture on toast and bake on a baking tray for a few minutes. Place on serving platter and serve. Too easy!
4 1/2 cups of plain flour
1 kg of butternut pumpkin, skin removed, deseeded
2 capsicums, halved, seeds removed
1 eggplant, trimmed, thinly sliced lengthways
300gm baby spinach
3 zucchini trimmed
180gm sundried tomatoes
Sift flour and 1 tsp salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and cover with some of the flour. Place 1 cup of water into a saucepan and bring to boiling. Pour boiling liquid onto flour and stir until a firm dough forms. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 3 minutes or until smooth. Stand dough for 10 minutes, then knead for another 3 minutes. Form dough into a round disc. Wrap in plastic film or tightly fitting container and refrigerate for 45 minutes or until firm.
Preheat oven to 190 degrees celsius. Place pumpkin, capsicum and eggplant onto a baking tray and cover lightly with olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes, remove eggplant. Bake the rest for another 15 minutes. Cool and remove skin from capsicum.
Place spinach in bowl, cover with boiling water and stand for 1 minute or until wilted. Squeeze as much liquid as possible out and lay onto a paper towel or clean cloth and press to dry as much as possible.
Using a vegetable peeler, run blade lengthways down zucchini, place in bowl, cover with boiling water and let stand for 1 minute or until just tender. Drain and rinse under cold water. Place onto paper towel or clean cloth and press dry.
Grease and line base of a 20cm spring form cake pan with baking paper.
Roll pastry between 2 sheets of baking paper until 4mm thick. Line cake pan with pastry. roughly trim, leaving a 4cm border of pastry around the edge of cake pan. Re roll pastry scraps into a 4mm round.
Place half the pumpkin slices over base of pastry. Top with spinach, capsicum, goats cheese, eggplant, semi-dried tomatoes, zucchini and remaining pumpkin pressing down firmly.
Brush edge of pastry with egg wash. Cover pie with rerolled pastry. Press edges together and trim. Cut a small hole in the middle to allow steam to escape. Place a fluted round over the hole to decorate. Brush surface of pie with egg wash. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place pie onto baking tray and bake for 45 minutes or until golden.
Stand for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Transfer to serving platter and serve.
2 kg potatoes
1 bunch of mint
olive oil 30ml (optional)
Boil potatoes chopped into large pieces for 10 minutes. Drain, cover in olive oil and mix in chopped mint. Place in serving dish and cover until ready. Put an uncut sprig of mint on top as a garnish.
1 green frilly lettuce
4 Lebanese cucumbers
1 bunch of radishes
2 tsp caster sugar
1/2 cup of white wine vinegar
Finely chopped celery
Combine vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan over low heat and stir to dissolve sugar. Transfer to a bowl to cool. Slice most of the radishes and add to cooled vinegar mixture. Toss until combined. Cover and refrigerate. Trim cucumbers and cut into eighths lengthways. Tear lettuce and place on platter, decorate with cucumber and radishes, add the remaining radishes by cutting the larger ones in quarters and leaving the smaller ones whole. Sprinkle finely chopped celery over salad and serve!
2 cups caster sugar
8 egg whites
1 finely grated orange skin
2 tsp orange juice
1 punnet of berries
1 5am Greek Yoghurt
optionally - add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to egg whites when beating - adds zing!
Beat the caster sugar and the egg whites until really shiny (on high for at least 10-12 minutes). Beat in orange zest and juice a few drops at a time. Spread into 8 rounds on a baking tray and make a shallow bowl with a soup spoon in each one, place in oven at 120 degrees celsius. Turn down 50 degrees every 20 minutes until oven is off, then leave in oven to cool with oven door open. When cool, dollop yoghurt in and top with berries. Delish!