Wild garlic and walnut pesto

It’s been a long time, since I posted the last time. I am sorry, somehow I could never find the time. But there are plenty of recipes I wanted to share with you. So today there’s a wild garlic and walnut pesto.

I guess the season for wild garlic is already over (typically me …), or maybe not? You can still try it next year :-)

This recipe comes together in a few minutes, and still tastes very good. Perfect for me.

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch wild garlic
  • 80g walnuts
  • 4 Tbsp Parmesan (optional)
  • olive oil
  • salt & pepper

 

Start with chopping the walnuts coarsely and toast them in a pan without any grease, stirring to prevent them from burning. As soon as the walnuts start to smell nicely toasted, take them off the heat and set aside to cool.

Wash the wild garlic and pat the leaves dry, as dry as possible. Place the wild garlic and the walnuts in a food processor and blitz a few times until you have a coarse mixture. Add olive oil, and blitz adain, pouring the oil as you go until you have your desired texture. I prefer my pesto quite runny, so maybe I use more oil, than others would. Now season with pepper ans salt, add the parmesan and blitz a few times again.

Pour the pesto in a clean jar and smooth the top. I poured a thin layer of olive oil on top, hoping this would keep the pesto longer fresh.
this pesto tastes very nice in the classical way with pasta and topped with parmesan. But you can also mix it into your salad dressing or pour it over roasted vegetables.

 

Pasta mit Bärlauch-Walnuss-Pesto

Pasta with cabbage

Congrats, you read this posts title and still clicked on it to read the recipe! Great!
I spent some time trying to come up with a better name for this recipe, because it is surprisingly tasty. Up until now I don’t have a good idea, if you have one, please let me know :-)

This dish is again a result of my organic delivery box (Bio Kiste in german, I don’t know how to translate properly, comes once a week with regional, organic fruit and vegetables).
I am always amazed about how much cabbage is in this box.
Even in summer. You would think, no one grows cabbage in summer, anything else grows in summer, no need to plant cabbage. But yeah, somebody does, and there it is, in my box.

I cannot recall how we first came up with the idea to pair pasta and cabbage, but when we did, we liked the result very much. It is the perfect office lunch. Only a few ingredients and quickly made.

Ingredients

  • 500 g spaghetti
  • 1/2 head white cabbage (if it is a small head, use the whole)
  • 200 ml cream (oat or spelt works nicely)
  • 200 ml white wine
  • 2 tbsp butter/margarine
  • nutmeg, salt & pepper
  • parmesam (optional)

WeisskohlPut a big pot with water on the stove and bring to a boil.
Halve the cabbage, and put the unused half in the fridge.
Remove the outer leaves and cut the cabbage again in halve or in quarters, depending on it’s size. Remove the stalk and slice the cabbage in approx. 1 cm slices.
Melt the butter/margarine in a pan, add the cabbage and steam for a couple of minutes. Season to taste with pepper, salt and the nutmeg.

Now the water should be boiling, add 1 tsp of salt and the pasta. Cook according to packet instructions.
Pour the cream and the white wine into the pan with the cabbage and mix well.
Take 1/2 cup of pasta boiling water an add to the cabbage, check the seasoning and let reduce a little bit. It is important, that the cabbage still has some bite, and is not overcooked.

Drain the pasta and arrange everything nicely on the plates. Sprinkle some parmesan on top if you like.

 

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Spaghetti Trapanese „Office style“

We do a lot of cooking in my office. We are a group of maybe 6–7 people, who enjoy eating together and therefore we rotate with the cooking. Today I decided to create an office version of the classic dish „pasta alla trapanese“. We are not really well equipped in our office kitchen (at least we have one … I guess that is luxury), so if you cook this at home you could use a food processor to do most of the chopping :-)

Ingredients

  • 100g almonds, roasted
  • 100g sundried tomatoes (dry or oil packed, use whatever you have)
  • 1–2 cloves garlic
  • 500g tomatoes (again: any kind you have)
  • 4 Tbsp olive oil
  • salt, chili powder & pepper to taste
  • 2 good handful basil
  • 700–800g spaghetti (whole wheat, spelt, whatever you like, and depending on how much you eat)
  • parmesan (for the non-vegans)

IMG_4586First put the almonds and the garlic in a pan without oil to roast them. Because I don’t like raw garlic very much, I roast it together with the almonds. If you are fond of raw garlic, skip that part and use it without roasting.
Move the pan from time to time, that the almonds catch colour on all sides and don’t get burnt.
Put the pot for the spaghetti on the stove and heat the water.
Chop the tomatoes into 1/2 cm chunks, the sundried ones can be a bit smaller.

Put in a mixing bowl, season with salt and pepper.
Roughly chop the Basil or rip it into small pieces, add to the tomatoes.
Now it’s time to cook your pasta according to packet instructions. Today I used whole wheat spaghetti, which is not always a favourite, but I thought the strong flavours of the pesto can compete with the pasta.

IMG_4588As soon as the almonds are nicely browned, put them in a food processor or (like I did) in a deep jug and whiz with an immersion blender. This wasn’t so easy, but after a while I managed to have small almond crumbs. You don’t want big chunks, but you also don’t want almond meal, so try to get a texture in between, like coarse breadcrumbs.
Now mix all the ingredients for the pesto together, add about 4 Tbsp olive oil, and season with salt, petter and chili powder to taste.
Your pasta should be done by now. Drain, reserving a cup of cooking water, and toss with the pesto.
Add some of the cooking liquid, if you think the pesto needs some more. Also add more oil if you like.
And if you aren’t a vegan, put some parmesan on top.

Spaghetti alla Trapanese

japanese inspired noodle bowl

Japanisch inspirierte NudelschaleThis is real comfort food. You can throw it together in no time, you can use whatever in your fridge looks like growing a pair of legs in a short while and tastes unbelievably good.

Usually I end up cooking these noodles on rainy sunday afternoons, when the main goal is to cuddle up on the couch and watch some episodes of my current favorite series.

I start with the sesame-peanut-sauce. In this recipe I use the US cup measurement, but don’t worry if you don’t have cups, I also added the quantities in ml.

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients sesame-peanut-sauce

  • 3 Tbsp tahin
  • 2 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 3/4 Tbsp fresh ginger (size of a thumb)
  • 1 1/2 tsp chili paste
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  • 2 Tbsp peanut butter or roasted peanuts
  • 1/4 – 1/2 cups hot water (60-120ml)
  • 2 spring onions, cut in rings (optional)

Put everything in a small food processor or blender, except for the water, and whiz until it forms a coarse paste. Now start with adding 1/4 cup of water, whiz again. If you think it’s still to thick, add more water. You want a creamy, but not to runny sauce.

Now it’s time to start with the noodles and vegetables.

You can use alsmost anything you like. I usually choose, what needs to be eaten fast, before turning bad. You can cook it with any kinds of green beans, like Edamame, sugar snaps, runner beans and also peas. But also Sweet potato, celerie and mushrooms. For the protein you can substitute the tofu with seitan or tempeh or leave it completely. You see, it’s very versatile this recipe, and you can always use less different vegetables. Just check your fridge and use what’s there.

Ingredients vegetables & noodles

  • 200-250g japanese somen noodles (you can use any kind of asian noodles)
  • 1 green or red pepper, cut into 1 cm pieces
  • 1 small carrot, julienned
  • 6 mini-corn cobs, cut in ca. 1 cm pieces
  • 5 medium button mushrooms, cut in 6 wedges
  • 1 cup china oder white cabbage, cut in 1 cm
  • 1 cup fried tofu, in 1 cm pieces if using a big block, or those  little fried pieces
  • 1/2 cup ponzu-sauce (120ml) (optional)
  • 1 Tbsp sesame oil, roasted
  • 1 Tbsp neutral oil, for example peanut oil
  • 1–2 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
  • 1–2 spring onions, green and white parts cut in small rings

IMG_4136

Roast the sesame in a thick-bottomed pan without oil on small to medium heat until the seeds start to pop. Put aside until you need it.

Now I usually heat a big pot of water, to cook the noodles in, but before that, I cook the tofu in it for 1–2 min, to get rid of the oily film on the surface.
You don’t need to do that. Now cut the tofu in 1 cm blocks if you have those little fried tofu pieces. Mariante the tofu in the ponzu sauce until everything else is ready to use. I keep the cooking water to cook the noodles in it.

Fry the vegetables in 1–2 Tbsp oil according to the time they need to soften. Start with the carrots, after 2 min, add the baby corn and the pepper. Now remove the tofu from the ponzu sauce, keeping the sauce, and add the tofu together with the mushrooms.
Depending on the noodles you use, you want to cook them now. Of course according to packet instructions. When done, rinse with cold water, to get rid of all the starch.
To finish everything, add the cabbage and the ponzu sauce, mix everything and let the cabbage wilt a little bit.
Now everything ist ready. I usually add the noodles, and mix them with the vegetables, before dividing between to big bowls. Spoon the sesame peanut sauce on top, sprinkle the toasted sesame and the spring onions over everything. That’s it.

Japanisch inspirierte Nudelschale