2 gorgeous recipes

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone!

 

Here are 2 wonderful recipes I have cooked and really enjoyed. My

husband and parents have also enjoyed one or both of them. They are

from a cookbook I read at my brother's house by Nigel Slater (can't

remember exact title, something like Kitchen Diaries). He is a

fantastic cook - really into simple good hearty meals that use in

season produce. It is a book, not just a recipe book as he talks

about the food in depth.

 

These are both easy and not at all time consuming - stick in oven and

leave to cook!

 

Roast Onion Soup –

 

4 medium onions

40g butter

glass white wine

1.5 litres veg stock

 

1 small french loaf

grated cheese (guyere or emmental is good but cheddar is fine!)

 

• Heat oven to 200 C/400 F degrees (sorry,don't know gas mark,

but look up a recipe book and you'll get it)

• Peel onions & cut in half from root to tip.

• Lay in roasting tin, add butter (break into bits and scatter

about), salt & pepper.

• Roast in oven until soft & tender, toasted dark brown here

and there. Turn occasionally.

• Cut cooked onions into thick segments when done (could slice

into whatever size you feel you want to chomp through really!).

• Put in pan with wine and boil - let bubble till wine almost

disappears.

• Pour in stock & bring to boil - simmer for 20 mins.

 

Before serving, slice loaf into thin slices, toast lightly under

grill on one side. Turn over, sprinkle with cheese. Get soup hot

and serve into bowls - float croutes on top. Place under a hot grill

until the cheese bubbles - serve!

 

Watch the bowls though, they are boiling from being under grill. If

you are vegan you could get soy cheese to do the croutes because they

really make it, the cheese with the onion flavour...yum!

 

I never really drink much white wine as I only really like a glass of

it, so I bought a wee miniature bottle - it was perfect - a big glass

for the soup and a smaller one for me!

 

 

Roast Pumpkin with spicy tomato sauce

 

You can use Butternut Squash for this instead of pumpkin - this is

what I did as I couldn't get pumpkin at the times of the year I've

made it!!! It was gorgeous and so easy...I had never tried squash

before either but have bought it several times since! When I've had

a huge squash I've used left overs in a curry with sweet potato - yum!

 

This does about 3 servings:

 

About 6 big tomatoes

2 garlic cloves

2 small hot red chilies, or to taste (I've also used chili flakes)

olive oil

1 pumpkin/squash

 

• Set oven to 200 degrees Celsius/ 400 F.

• Cut tomatoes in 1/2 and place cut side down on baking tray.

• Peel and finely slice garlic, finely chop chilies.

• Drizzle tomatoes with oil and season with chilies, garlic,

salt & pepper.

• Roast for 45 - 50 mins, turning half way through, until soft

and flecked black.

• Halve & peel pumpkin/squash. Cut into thick, melon like

wedges & scoop out seeds with spoon. (Peel squash too!)

• Put on baking tray, toss in oil, season with salt & pepper (I

added a small sprinkling of marjoram).

• Roast for 40 mins, turning after 20 mins or so, until fully

tender: the knife should enter fully and they should be nice and

sticky on cut edges.

• Roughly cut tomatoes to give coarse sauce. When you've

served squash, chuck tomato sauce over top.

 

Nigel says it is nice with brown rice! I had bulgur wheat in so I

had with this which worked well. The first time I had it as a main

dish with some broccoli, which was nice but needed another flavour.

I've had it a couple of times since with veggie sausages and it was

fab! Definitely recommend with sausages and veggies or whatever!

The sweet taste of the squash works wonderfully with the tangy tomato

sauce, and the veggie sausage was the other flavour it was lacking.

So easy too - just chop and bung both in oven to cook themselves.

Gorgeous!

 

Hope you enjoy these as much as I do.

 

Jen