Nutella & Mixed Berries Pizza

March 19, 2015January 5, 2019 amcarmen2 Comments

Hello Everyone! Before I begin, I would like to dedicate this post to my little sister April who would’ve been 17 years old today. She unfortunately showed no signs of life when she was born.

Today, I am finally ending this short pizza series on a high with this pizza recipe from SORTED Food. I’ve been wanting to give this recipe a go for a very long time and I’m glad that I’ve managed to cross this off my list of things to make, and will continue to make over and over again. So, during the process of making this dessert pizza, there is one step where you have to place the pizza in the oven with the Nutella spread and hazelnuts to bake before adding the berries on top. When I took the pizza out to do this, I saw that the Nutella started caramelising. I stupidly, without thinking, put my finger in the Nutella spread because I wanted to know whether it has hardened… And I burnt my finger. My first reaction (of course) was to quickly put it in my mouth… And thus I also burnt my tongue. Well done Allison. Well done indeed. Other than this little stupidity of mine, the pizza was a success. The flavours were on point and that mascarpone cheese to top it off was pretty amazing.

Of course you may use other berries as well, those that are in season wherever you are in the world. Fresh or frozen, it doesn’t matter. I really wanted to try it with boysenberries since I absolutely LOVE them. I saw punnets of them on the shelves at Coles a few times during December-January time. But by the time I came around to making this pizza, the berries were off the shelf and they didn’t even have any frozen ones *sob*.

PREP TIME 15 MINS | COOKING TIME 8-10 MINS | SERVES 4-5

INGREDIENTS

Classic New York Style Pizza Dough Recipe
1 punnet (125g) blackberries
1 punnet (125g) blueberries
1 punnet (125g) raspberries
1 punnet (125g) strawberries, sliced
Fresh mint leaves
Roasted hazelnuts
Mascarpone Cheese
Nutella

METHOD

Preheat oven to 220C. Place your pizza stone in the oven as well to heat it up.
Roll out your dough to a circle the same size as your pizza stone on a lightly floured surface as thick or thin as you want.
Brush around the edge with a little water, then create a wall of raspberries all the way around. Fold the edge over the raspberry wall and seal it in by pressing down on the damp dough to form a stuffed crust.
Spread a thin (or if you are that type, a generous) layer of Nutella onto the dough and top with the roasted hazelnuts (place them in to oven for about 5-6 minutes if your hazelnuts are raw). Don’t forget to lick your spoon, or whatever utensil that you used to spread the Nutella with, clean!
Carefully remove the stone from the oven and quickly slide the pizza over the top of the stone. Place it back in the oven and bake for about 3 minutes. Remove from the oven and top the pizza with the berries and bake in the oven for a further 3-4 minutes or until cooked all the way through. It should not take more than 10 minutes in total.
Remove from the oven and top with mascarpone cheese and fresh mint leaves.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Garlic & Rosemary Pizza

March 17, 2015January 5, 2019 amcarmen3 Comments

Hello Everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates on the blog! I did say in the last post or so perhaps that I’d be travelling during this time and that I was unsure of whether I’d have, not so much the time, but more the internet connection to be able to post updates for you guys – and that’s exactly what happened! The first week of my trip I was staying in Sta. Maria Bulacan where my grandmother is currently residing has no wi-fi connection. I am now in Lucena at my cousin’s place with internet!

3 pizzas down and just 1 more to go after this recipe. I prepared this post and the next even before I left for holidays, but as I said, I didn’t have the connection. Today I have a very simple pizza recipe for you. The first time I had this pizza was back home in Brunei at a restaurant called Fratini’s. I was with my Mom and two younger sisters at that time for a 50% off dinner promotion during the month of fasting for Muslims known as Ramadhan. If I’m not mistaken (since I am talking about several years ago), we ordered their winning dish Linguine Fratini which was quite a hefty dish, but sharing that between 4 people was not enough; just. So we decided that we wanted to order a pizza too, to share, but nothing to hefty as the pasta dish. So the waiter/waitress at the time recommended the garlic and rosemary pizza, which we ended up ordering at the end. When it came to the table, I was actually quite shocked. “Where’s the sauce?” I asked myself. Everything that I knew about what pizza was meant to be, stuffed crust, tomato sauce, and cheesy goodness, all gone. But when I had a slice of that pizza, I was in heaven. It was like garlic bread, but in pizza form. It was delicious that I didn’t even want to share the pizza with anyone else!

My pizza came out a little too tan for my liking, and didn’t really have the same flavour I experienced back then. It was nonetheless still tasty, however I think I overdid the salt a wee-bit too much.

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 8-10 MINS | SERVES 3-4

INGREDIENTS

Classic New York Style Pizza Dough Recipe
1/4 cup garlic infused olive oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed then minced
1 sprig of rosemary, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Combine all the ingredients to a small bowl and let it sit for about 30 minutes to an hour for the fresh garlic and rosemary leaves to macerate in the olive oil.
Preheat oven to 220C. Place your pizza stone in the oven as well to heat it up.
Roll out your dough to a circle the same size as your pizza stone on a lightly floured surface as thick or thin as you want. Then drizzle the olive oil mixture over the top of the dough.
Carefully remove the stone from the oven and quickly slide the pizza over the top of the stone. Place it back in the oven and bake for about 8-10 minutes or until cooked all the way through. It should not take more than 15 minutes in total.
Remove from the oven and serve with any sort of pasta dish as a side!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Smoked Salmon Pizza

March 5, 2015January 5, 2019 amcarmen1 Comment

Hello Everyone! This pizza was actually the last pizza I made before flying off, so it was basically a pizza with anything I had left in the fridge to top it off with (except for the smoked salmon though, I bought that especially for this pizza). I have a few others up my sleeve but I haven’t had the chance to try them out. Maybe I’ll do another pizza series later on in the year when I get around to making them again.

If you read my very first post on the pizza series, you would’ve read somewhere that I was inspired to make my own pizzas from a DIY pizza night that my friend Tara held for her birthday last year. I made sort of the similar thing as tonights post. What I had planned was to do another stuffed crust pizza recipe, but I realised, once I had lined the walls of the pizza and sealed it, the dough that I rolled out was too thin in the middle. So what I ended up doing was folding the dough back in and instead of it being a stuffed crust pizza base, I incorporated the mozzarella cheese into the dough.

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 10-15 MINS | SERVES 3-4

INGREDIENTS

Classic New York Style Pizza Dough Recipe
White Pizza Sauce Recipe
1 small red onion, halved then sliced
125g marinated mediterranean bocconcini
100g smoked salmon
2 tsp baby capers
1 tsp dried chilli flakes (or fresh chillies if available)
Handful of rocket leaves
Mozzarella cheese

METHOD

Preheat oven to 220C. Place your pizza stone in the oven as well to heat it up.
Roll out your dough to a circle the same size as your pizza stone on a lightly floured surface as thick or thin as you want.
Top with a handful of mozzarella cheese and fold the dough in again to incorporate the cheese into the dough. Or, if you prefer a stuffed crust, brush around the edge with a little water, then create a wall of the mozzarella cheese all the way around. Fold the edge over the mozzarella wall and seal it in by pressing down on the damp dough to form a stuffed crust.
Spread a thin layer of sauce onto the dough. Be very careful not to overdo the sauce; if you use too much sauce, it’ll be too rich and also will bubble over the pizza and burn. A quarter cup to a third is just about right per pizza.
Top the pizza with the bocconcini, capers, and red onion. If these aren’t quite to your fancy, then get creative and top your pizza with your favourite toppings.
Carefully remove the stone from the oven and quickly slide the pizza over the top of the stone. Place it back in the oven and bake for about 5-7 minutes. Remove from the oven and top the pizza with the smoked salmon. Then put it back in the oven for a further 2-3 minutes or until cooked all the way through. It should not take more than 15 minutes in total.
Remove from the oven and top with fresh rocket leaves and chilli flakes before serving.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Layered Pistachio Cake with Honey Vanilla Buttercream

March 4, 2015January 5, 2019 amcarmen2 Comments

Hello Everyone! Today I have a special post for you as today is my not so little sister’s 19th birthday! Today is also the first time in 4 years that I have been home to celebrate with her and the rest of the family. If you have been following my blog since September last year, you would know that I started getting into baking cakes. I never really liked baking cakes to be honest, only because I find it very time consuming and my level of patience does have a limit. Since I started baking cakes, my Mom and sisters now prefer a homemade birthday cake instead of an expensive and cliché store-bought cake. So on Sunday, with the help of the birthday girl, we baked her birthday cake together. We baked it on Sunday even though her birthday is today. Why? Well only because tomorrow we’ll be off for a 1-month vacay to the Philippines, and if we had baked it today, leftovers would be sitting in the fridge until April.

Today’s cake recipe has been slightly adapted from, and can be found on Joanne Eats Well With Others. As you have already read from the title, it is a 3-layer pistachio cake with honey vanilla buttercream. I decided to add the strawberries and crushed pistachios on top to bring some life and colour to the presentation of the cake. I substituted some ingredients, such as instead of using cream of tartare, I used lemon juice instead. I barely use cream of tartare in my baking and buying a jar of it didn’t seem very economical as I know it’ll just sit in the pantry waiting for its expiry date. Also, instead of cake flour, also because I barely use it, I used plain flour combined with cornstarch instead. The easiest way to do this substitution is to put 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in the bottom of a 1-cup measuring cup, then fill the cup as usual with plain flour and level the top. In addition, I lessened the amount of sugar and butter in this recipe and it still turned out fine for me! I am not a huge fan of overly sweet desserts, and also I had to take into consideration my Mom who is a diabetic.

Before I move on to the recipe, I HIGHLY recommend that you buy shelled pistachios. We went to four different grocery stores and could not find any and so we decided to buy the shelled ones. It took forever to shell just over a cup of pistachios – thank goodness I had my Mom and my sisters to do the tedious job while I worked on the batter. Also, have a food processor handy, but if you’re like me and don’t own one, then all you need is a motor and pestle to bash it all up as well as grinding it. It takes time but it gets the job done. I think that’s why towards the end of this cake I was starting to lose a little bit of my patience because everything took longer to do! But hurray for a gas oven! I cannot stress how much I hated using the oven at the Doncaster Lodge. Everything took at least double or triple the normal time to cook!

PREP TIME 30 MINS | COOKING TIME 1 HOUR | SERVES 8-10

INGREDIENTS

For the cake

3 & 1/4 cups plain flour
1 & 1/2 cups ice water
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup shelled pistachios, plus extra for decorating
250g unsalted butter, softened
3 large free range egg whites, at room temperature
1 large free range egg
5 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp lemon juice

For the buttercream

300g unsalted butter, soft, cut into small pieces
1 & 1/2 cups milk
1 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup plain flour
1/3 cup thickened cream
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 160C or gas mark 3. Grease three 8.5-inch cake pans with a little butter.
For the Cake Batter: Using a food processor, pulse the pistachios until coarsely chopped. Remove half of the pistachios and transfer to a small bowl. Pulse the remaining pistachios until they are an almost powder-like consistency.
Transfer to a large bowl and whisk together both the roughly chopped and fine pistachios with the plain flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside
Cream the butter using an electrical mixer on high speed for about 3 minutes. Add in the sugar and vanilla and beat until fluffy for about another 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and then add in the egg, mixing until just combined.
Turn the mixer to low and add the flour+pistachio mix to the butter mixture in three additions, alternating with the ice water, mixing each time until just combined. Scrape down the bowl and mix on low speed for a few more seconds.
In a medium, clean bowl whisk together the egg whites with the lemon juice until soft peaks form, about 3-5 minutes. Fold the egg whites into the batter.
Divide the batter evenly among the cake pans and smooth the tops. Bake for 40-45 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Transfer to a cooling rack and let them completely cool.
For the Buttercream: Meanwhile, as the cakes are cooling down, whisk together the flour and sugar in a medium-sized saucepan. Then, add in the milk and cream, and cook over medium heat, whisking frequently, until the mixture comes to a boil and then thickens, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Transfer the hot milk mixture to a large bowl and mix on high speed until cool, about 9 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter, a few pieces at a time, until it is full incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy for a further few minutes. Then add in the vanilla and honey, and continue mixing until combined. If the frosting is too soft, chill it in the freezer for a while and then mix again.
Assembly: Place one cake layer top side up on a serving platter. Use a long serrated knife to cut the top so that it is flat and even. Spread a little over a cup of frosting on top. Add the next later and, again, trim so that it is flat. Top with another cup of frosting. Add the remaining cake layer and trim the top again. Spread cake with a very thin layer of frosting for the crumb coating. Put in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes. Spread the sides and top of the cake with the remaining frosting and decorate as desired.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Anchovies & Capers Pizza

March 3, 2015January 5, 2019 amcarmen2 Comments

Hello Everyone! To kick off the week, we have something that might not fit people’s fancy. Yes, you read the title right, ANCHOVIES. I know a lot of people hate anchovies, in fact I heard from my manager while she was doing research for her client that there is even a ‘National Pizza with Everything (except Anchovies) Day’ which falls on the 12th of November. Both my manager and I found this ridiculous because we both love us some anchovies. If you too are part of the haters club, then just substitute the anchovies in this recipe for something else.

The links to the pizza dough and white-based pizza sauce is linked below in the ingredients list. Now, if you’re like me and don’t have a peel (a shovel-like tool used by bakers to slide loaves of bread, pizzas, and other baked goods into and out of an oven), then make sure that you roll out your pizza dough onto baking paper to ease in transferring the pizza onto the pizza stone.

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 10-15 MINS | SERVES 3-4

INGREDIENTS

Classic New York Style Pizza Dough Recipe
White Pizza Sauce Recipe
1/2 punnet (125g) cherry tomato medley, halved
125g marinated mediterranean bocconcini
100g pitted kalamata olives
8-10 anchovy fillet
2 tsp baby capers
1 tsp dried chilli flakes (or fresh chillies if available)
Handful of rocket leaves
Mozzarella cheese

METHOD

Preheat oven to 220C. Place your pizza stone in the oven as well to heat it up.
Roll out your dough to a circle the same size as your pizza stone on a lightly floured surface as thick or thin as you want.
Brush around the edge with a little water, then create a wall of the mozzarella cheese all the way around. Fold the edge over the mozzarella wall and seal it in by pressing down on the damp dough to form a stuffed crust.
Spread a thin layer of sauce onto the dough. Be very careful not to overdo the sauce; if you use too much sauce, it’ll be too rich and also will bubble over the pizza and burn. A quarter cup to a third is just about right per pizza.
Top the pizza with anchovies, bocconcini, capers, cherry tomatoes, chilli flakes, and olives. If these aren’t quite to your fancy, then get creative and top your pizza with your favourite toppings.
Carefully remove the stone from the oven and quickly slide the pizza over the top of the stone. Place it back in the oven and bake for about 8-10 minutes or until cooked all the way through. It should not take more than 15 minutes in total.
Remove from the oven and top with fresh rocket leaves before serving.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

White Pizza Sauce

February 26, 2015January 5, 2019 amcarmen4 Comments

Hello Everyone! Before we knuckle down to the pizza business, I just want tot cover one more basic recipe. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t discriminate when it comes to pizza toppings, but there are times when I can’t stand tomato-based sauce spreads on my pizza. Most of the time I don’t mind, but there are times when I prefer not to have them and I don’t have a clear definition to explain why. It might be the flavour? Too acidic at times for me perhaps?

White-based sauces can never go wrong for me, which is why you’ll notice in a few of the upcoming pizza recipes, I stuck to a white-based pizza sauce. The recipe is very simple and basic. There’s nothing difficult about it other than getting the balance of flavours right. Get creative and spice it up the way you want to! The original recipe, along with a pizza topping recipe, can be found at Macheesmo. I was actually out of plain flour at the time I made this sauce, and since I was at that time flying off in a week’s time, I wasn’t bothered to buy a whole 1 kilo bag for just a tablespoon’s worth. So I used what I had… Wholemeal flour!

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 10 MINS | MAKES SAUCE FOR 3-4 REGULAR-SIZED PIZZAS

INGREDIENTS

4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 large red onion, minced
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 tbsp plain (or wholemeal) flour
1/2 tsp fresh thyme
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of salt

METHOD

Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat. Once melted, bring the heat down to low and add the minced onions. Cook and soften the onions a bit, but don’t brown them. Have a little patience and let the onions cook low and slow until they are translucent.
Then add in the minced garlic and cook for a few more seconds, followed by the flour which will help thicken the sauce. Be careful not to over cook the flour or your sauce won’t thicken correctly. Stir it around for about a minute or two.
Slowly pour the cream over the flour mixture while constantly stirring or whisking to avoid the forming of lumps.
Once all the cream in stirred in, let the sauce simmer for a few minutes until it thickens. It should be the consistency of a light gravy. Season it with a pinch of salt, pepper, fresh thyme, and done!

Let the sauce cool down to room temperature before saucing your pizza. If you have any left overs, you can store it in a fridge and it will keep fine for a few days. You may find that it will solidify; don’t freak out. It’ll turn back into a sauce once in the oven.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Classic New York Style Pizza Dough

February 24, 2015January 5, 2019 amcarmen6 Comments

Hello Everyone! It been a while since I last posted, and I had my reasons for that. If you aren’t following my page on Facebook, then you would’ve missed out on the announcement I made over there. I decided to take two weeks off as during those past weeks I was busy finishing up a submission so that I can hopefully graduate from my degree, finalising my packing (seriously packing up 4 years of your life was a pain), and travelling to two countries altogether in that span of two weeks. I’ve finally settled down in my hometown Brunei and have a whole lot of recipes lined up for the next month. During this time I will also be travelling so I do apologise if things aren’t running as smoothly as it was before.

Before I left the beautiful city of Sydney, I had been firing up the oven and creating a few homemade pizzas. So for the next two weeks on the blog, I will be covering these recipes, kicking off with how to make your own basic pizza dough! Now, if you don’t have a pizza oven, you can still make pizzas in a regular oven. It is highly recommended that you get a pizza stone as well if you want to cook them in the oven so that your pizza cooks all the way through without taking forever to do so.

I was inspired to try out making my own range pizzas from the lovely Tara; she celebrated her birthday last year with a DIY pizza night at her place. And the pizzas that came out of the oven that night were to die for! I simply had to do a repeat – all for myself that is! *cheeky grin* Anyway, this simple pizza dough recipe should be able to make one large pizza or two small pizzas. Also, you can find the original recipe that I followed on American Food.

PREP TIME 2 HOURS 35 MINS | COOKING TIME — | MAKES DOUGH FOR 2 REGULAR-SIZED PIZZAS

INGREDIENTS

2 & 1/2 cups bread and pizza flour, plus 1/2 cup extra
1 cup lukewarm water (not hot!)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra
1/2 tbsp white sugar
2 & 1/4 tsp instant dry active yeast
1 & 1/2 tsp salt

METHOD

Start by adding the water, yeast, and sugar, and a 1/2 cup of the flour into a large mixing bowl. Stir well and let it sit for at least 20 minutes to proof. The mixture should become bubbly, if not then your yeast is probably dead and you will have to start your mixture all over again. To check if your yeast is still alive, proof it first by using the same ingredients excluding the flour.
Then, add in the olive oil, salt, and the remaining 2 cups of flour, and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until it is together enough to turn out onto a lightly floured work surface to knead.
Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, while adding more flour a little at a time. The dough should be soft, elastic and slightly sticky dough. Add just enough flour to keep it from sticking to the work surface as you knead.
Form the dough into a ball and place in a large oiled bowl. Drizzle a few drops of oil and coat the top of dough to prevent the surface from becoming dry. Place a kitchen towel over the bowl and place in a warm spot for 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.
Punch down the dough and divide into 2 balls. Place in large zip lock plastic bags and refrigerate overnight.
When ready to use, remove from fridge, and let the dough come up to room temperature before using.

Stay tuned for the next upcoming two weeks for some easy pizza toppings that are sure to please either yourself or a crowd! Likewise, you can get creative yourself and come up with your favourite flavour combinations to top your own pizza now that you’ve got the dough down.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Chicken Adobo

February 5, 2015January 5, 2019 amcarmen5 Comments

Hello Everyone! For those of you who don’t know (or haven’t read the about me section of this blog), I was born and bred in Brunei, but I have the blood of the Philippines running in my veins. Even though I have never really lived in my country of residence, I am very familiar with the many cuisines the Philippines has to offer. This is through my travels to the Philippines, and of course also from my mothers cooking.

Tonight’s recipe is one that was always on the menu when I was growing up as a kid, and up to today, it is one of my go to dishes if I want a quick and hassle-free dinner. Its got the proteins, and all you really need is to load it up with carbs, which usually is just steamed rice and a side of boiled veggies to go with it. A perfect meal (well for me that is), especially since I get home at around 8/8:30pm after a good workout at the gym, a hassle-free dinner is just what I need. All you really have to do is add all the ingredients to a pot, simmer for 20 minutes and ta-da! How easy is that? I’ve read other recipes where it says to marinate the chicken beforehand anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours, but I honestly don’t think it needs the marinating, it tastes just as good the way my mom taught me how to make it!

Chicken Adobo is a very famous Filipino dish. I say famous because, besides swear words being the number one thing people say they know when I tell them I am Filipino, “do you know how to cook Chicken Adobo?” is the next thing they’d ask. It may not look that appetising; I know, I struggled to make Chicken Adobo look aesthetically pleasing on a plate but I just couldn’t, but believe me when I say this dish tastes amazing!

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 20-25 MINS | SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Cover and bring to boil. Once boiling, lower the heat and let it simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes until sauce is reduced and thickened, and the chicken is tender. The great thing about this is you don’t have to stir it around!
Serve with steamed rice and a side of veggies of your choice.

As you can see the chicken does produce a lot of oil, so what I usually do is separate the chicken and set the sauce aside in the fridge for a few hours until the oil has settled. Once it has settled, I then scoop out the oil and heat the sauce up again.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Greek-inspired Barley Salad

February 3, 2015January 5, 2019 amcarmen2 Comments

Hello Everyone! I can’t believe that it’s already February, which means sad times ahead as I only have less than two week in this beautiful city I have been calling home for the past 4 years. I’m finding it difficult to wrap my head around the fact that once I leave, the possibility of coming back is unlikely. Yes I will be back for graduation, but after that it’s quite possible that it’s sayōnara for good.

So why am I starting off my blog post on this matter? Well it’s because leaving and knowing you won’t be back in a long time has me in this cleaning-up-the-pantry phase. I discovered that I have a tin of pearl barley in my pantry and so I wanted to make use of this. I came across a recipe on the Food Network for a Barley Greek Salad and decided to give this a try. I didn’t change much of the recipe besides the fact that I used balsamic vinegar instead of red wine vinegar only because I had about a quarter of a bottle left of balsamic. I didn’t want to buy a whole new bottle of red wine vinegar seeing as I didn’t have any (since my whole point is to clear the pantry)! I also decided to throw in some avocado chunks instead of cucumber because for those who know me, cucumber isn’t my thing.

Easy, simple, and packed with lots of flavour. Good for a light and healthy (I presume) lunch or as a side to a classic Aussie summer BBQ. The flavours worked really well together; you’ve got the saltiness from the olives, counterbalanced with the acidity of the balsamic vinegar. You’ve got the freshness of the added vegetables as well as the crunch from the diced capsicum, chewiness from the pearl barley, and creaminess of the avocado. Like fireworks in your mouth I tell you; an absolute burst of flavours to the palette!

PREP TIME 15 MINS | COOKING TIME 45 MINS | SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

1 cup pearl barley
1/2 cup danish feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted
1 avocado, pitted and cut into chunks
1 punnet (250g) cherry tomato medley, quartered
1 small red capsicum, seeded, ribs removed, and diced
1 small red spanish onion, minced
3 tbsp balsamic (or red wine) vinegar
3 tbsp fresh mint leaves, torn
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of salt

METHOD

Combine the barley, 3 cups water, and a pinch salt in a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer until the barley is tender, approximately 45 minutes. Strain* and set aside to cool.
Combine the tomatoes, feta, olives, mint, capsicum and shallots in a large bowl. Once the barley has cooled down, add it to the bowl. Set aside.
Whisk together the balsamic vinegar and olive oil in a separate small bowl. Season with salt and pepper, and dress the salad and toss to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve. It’s best to make the barley salad at least 3 hours ahead of time so the flavours have time to incorporate and mingle into each other.

*Optional: when straining the barley, reserve the water for drinking. There are numerous health benefits associated to drinking barley water such as lowering cholesterol levels in the body because of its high fibre content. Barley water also helps reduce the risk of developing type-2 diabetes. It is a good source of magnesium, which reacts with various enzymes involving glucose levels in the body. To find out more about the health benefits of barley water, check out the Diet Health Club.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Pappardelle al Ragù

January 29, 2015January 4, 2019 amcarmen4 Comments

Hello Everyone! So today’s recipe is sort of a carry on from Monday’s special. If you’re like me, living by yourself, having a whole roast leg of lamb to yourself, you’re bound to have leftovers. What do you do? Lamb Ragù! Well, I’m pretty sure you can come up with other dishes to use your leftovers, if you have any that is, or you could always go out and buy lamb shanks or any other cuts that work for this dish.

I decided to go for a lamb ragù because not too long ago, exactly two weeks ago actually now that I think of it, a friend of mine planned for a little celebration for completing our degrees! We had dinner at the Westfield in Pitt Street, at a place called Janus Italian, and apparently she tried to book Jamie’s Italian but they are all booked out for groups until April! But nonetheless, Janus Italian was a nice dining place too – not to mention spacious as we had the whole back area to ourselves, well illuminated, and we could basically hear each other talk without having to shout across the table – all of which we probably wouldn’t have had/been able to do at Jamie’s. Seriously, though the food at Jamie’s is superb, it’s cramped, dark, and loud. Anyway, where I am getting at with this is that I had the Pappardelle al Ragù with slow cooked lamb. It was the best thing I’ve ever had! I even had the entrée sized dish and I was full about three quarters of the way into my dish. It was so good that when I knew I’d be making a roast leg of lamb, I would be able to make this too! Original recipe for slow-cooked lamb ragù can be found on Taste.

PREP TIME 210 MINS | COOKING TIME 3 HOURS | SERVES 4-6

INGREDIENTS

1kg roast leg of lamb meat
500g pappardelle pasta
1 can (400g) diced tomatoes
3 celery sticks, sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed and then minced
2 red bird’s eye chillies, sliced
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 large spanish onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup fresh herbs such as rosemary and thyme, chopped
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 chicken stock cube
Shaved parmesan cheese, to serve
Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Preheat oven to 220C.
Heat olive oil in a large, frying pan over medium-high heat. Add in the garlic, chillies, and fresh herbs. Sauté until fragrant and then add the onions in. Cook until the onions are soft before adding the carrots and celery in. Season with salt and pepper, and cook for a further 10 to 12 minutes, stirring continuously.
While the vegetables are cooking, add the lamb meat as well as the bones to a casserole dish (in my case I just used my rectangle pyrex dish).
Add the red wine and leave to cook for about a minute or two before adding the the diced tomatoes, stock cubes, tomato paste, and about 2 cups of cold water. Stir to combine and then bring to a boil.
Once boiled, remove from the heat are carefully scoop out the vegetables transfer them to the pyrex dish with the lamb meat. Then pour the liquid into the dish. Cover using aluminium foil, or with the lid if using a casserole dish with a lid, and place in oven to cook for about 3 hours or until tender.
Once the lamb is done, get started on your pappardelle pasta. Bring a medium-sized saucepan of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions, until al dente. Drain and transfer to a serving plate. Top with the lamb ragù and shaved parmesan. Serve!