Our spinach beet is growing beautifully at the allotment and it’s time to start eating it. These pasties were inspired by the recipe for Chard Pasties in the Five-a-Day Fruit & Vegetable Cookbook.
450g spinach beet, trimmed and chopped including stalks
2 tbsp butter
2 small or 1 large onion, finely chopped
10 rashers streaky bacon, chopped
80g Gruyere cheese, grated
1/2 to 1 cup fresh brown breadcrumbs
6 tbsp single cream
For the pastry:
2 1/2 cups plain flour
generous 1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
beaten egg, for glazing
To make the pastry, place the flour in a mixing bowl and rub in the butter. Add the grated cheddar cheese and a little cold water to mix to a soft dough. Add extra flour if the dough gets to sticky. Knead gently on a floured surface. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.
Place spinach beet chopped leaves and stalks into a heavy-bottomed pan, cover and cook over a low heat for 8 minutes until the stalks are tender and the leaves wilted, shaking the pan occasionally. Strain, pressing out the excess liquid and place in a mixing bowl to cool.
Melt the butter in a frying pan and fry the onion and bacon until the onion is lightly golden and the bacon is browned.
Add the onion and bacon to the spinach beet and stir in the Gruyere, breadcrumbs, cream and seasoning to taste. Preheat the oven to 220′C/Gas 6.
Divide the pastry into four and roll out into rounds. Spoon the filling onto the centre of each and dampen the edges with water. Bring the sides together over the filling and press together to seal. Brush with beaten egg and then put on a non-stick baking tray. Bake for about 20 minutes until the pastry is golden. With the leftover edges of the pastry rounds that I cut out, I rolled two smaller rounds and with a little filling saved, made two mini-pasties for the children.
Written by The Little Green House on August 7th, 2006 with no comments.
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Another of the collective with a current courgette glut, I’ve been trying out some new recipes. This is from The Complete South African Book of Food and Cookery, with some amendments. It is a winner in our house.
3 large courgettes, thickly sliced
2 tbs olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
500g minced lamb
1 tsp flour
1/2 tsp dried oregano
200ml vegetable stock (or whatever you have available)
freshly ground black pepper
brown sugar
red wine vinegar
3 large tomatoes, peeled and thickly sliced
2 tbs grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbs soft breadcrumbs
Sauce:
2 tbs butter
2tbs flour
300ml milk
salt & freshly ground black pepper
100g feta cheese, crumbled
2 egg yolks, beaten
Put courgette slices into a colander and sprinkle liberally with salt. Leave 30 minutes to drain, then rinse and dry slices on recycled paper towels. Heat oil in a frying pan and saute courgettes until golden on both sides. Remove courgettes with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add onion and garlic to the pan and cook gently until soft. Turn up heat, add mince and cook until it changes colour, stirring and breaking up lumps with a fork. Sprinkle with flour and oregano and stir in, then add stock and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook gently for a few minutes, stirring once or twice. Taste and add a touch of brown sugar and vinegar as needed.
Make the sauce: melt butter in a saucepan, add flour and cook, stirring, on gentle heat for 1 minute. Remove from heat, cool a little, add warm milk, stirring until smoothly blended. Return to heat and stir until boiling. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in feta cheese, remove from heat and whisk in egg yolks. Stir 2 tbs of sauce into meat mixture.
Turn meat mixture into a greased, wide but fairly deep ovenproof dish. Arrange tomatoes in a layer on top, then courgette slices on tomatoes. Pour cheese sauce over courgette and sprinkle with Parmesan and breadcrumbs. Bake in a preheated moderately hot oven (190′C/Gas 5) for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Serves 6.
Written by The Little Green House on July 23rd, 2006 with no comments.
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Found this on the BBC website:
Roast Rhubarb and Apple Crumble
Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 7 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins (Oven)
Ingredients
500g (1lb) rhubarb, cut into 2-inch lengths
500g (1lb) apple, cored, cut into wedges
100g (4oz) caster sugar
25g (1oz) butter, cubed
50g (2oz) plain flour
100g (4oz) luxury muesli
1 tblsp. light muscavado sugar
pinch cinnamon
Method
1. Put rhubarb, apple and caster sugar into a small roasting tin and roast at gas 7, 210 C for 20 minutes.
2. Rub together butter and flour and mix in remaining ingredients.
3. Spoon crumble over the roast fruit and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Serve with crème fraiche.
5. Stem ginger could be added to the fruit for a change.
I’m making it tonight with some rhubarb I ‘found’ on an abandoned plot - so I’ll let you know what it’s like.
rhubarb info
Written by exmonkey on May 20th, 2006 with 3 comments.
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