Pasta Broccolini e Patate (baby broccoli and potato pasta)

Pasta e broccoli is a staple southern Italian easy to cook dish that tastes fresh, wholesome and can be cooked all in the same pot!
Some would have referred to Pasta e Broccoli as peasant food, however I have come to learn that peasant food is the tastiest.

For this recipe you only need 6 ingredients... pasta, broccolini (or normal tender broccoli), potato, olive oil, chilli & parmesan cheese.

I used some home made rigatoni and fusilli pasta that I had in the freezer from a previous cook up to make this meal (a mix of varieties always works great!) however you can use any type of pasta to include orecchiette, pappardelle, spaghetti or pasta of the gluten free variety in any shape or form. I'll be using gluten free pasta the next time i make this dish.

Broccolini Vs Broccoli for this dish....
Broccolini are sweeter and have delicate stalks that do not require any peeling, these are my preferred ingredient for this dish.
 
What you will need...
* One large pot filled with water and one flat teaspoon of salt
* Large colander

Ingredients 
(to serve 4)  
* 2 bunches broccolini (approx 400 grams)
* 4 medium sized potatoes
* 400 grams of pasta
* 1 small red chilli with seeds removed
* 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
* Parmesan to sprinkle on top

How to cook your "Pasta e Broccoli"
1. Peel your potatoes and roughly cube into 1-2 cm cubes and add to a pot of boiling salted water.
2. Rinse the broccolini and chop into 4-5cm stalks and add in to the same pot.
3. Allow ingredients to boil on high heat for approximately 20-25 minutes until they soften.

4. Add your pasta into the water and let all ingredients cook together until your pasta is cooked to your liking.

5. Take the pot off the heat and strain into a colander. Keep the pot aside.
6. Add your chilli and transfer back into the pot.

7. Dress the pasta with extra virgin olive oil and mix.
8. Pasta is now read to serve. Don't forget to add the parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top.

Tip: Over cooking your potatoes isn't a problem for this dish, the more crumblier and over cooked the better it will coat your pasta and provide an even better taste.

Counting Calories & Health Benefits?
This pasta e broccoli dish contains approximately 570 calories with zero cholesterol. Adding raw extra virgin olive oil to a balanced diet can reduce chronic disease development and increase life expectancy. Broccoli contains healthy levels of Vitamin A, C & K. It also provides a good source for fiber, zinc and phosphorous. Click for more information on the health benefits of Broccoli.


This pasta broccoli recipe is easy and one that I had to share. I hope you love it as much as we do!

If you have any questions, please post your comments.

Buon Appetito!

x Steph

Hummus... the italian version

Traditionally Hummus is made using chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice and olive oil. My version is just as simple however carries a bit more kick and zing!

Chickpeas can be purchased pre-cooked in a can or dried. The dried version isn't too hard to prepare and is my preference because you get a far more smoother and creamier dip compared to the canned version that can leave a grainy consistency.  

Cooking dried chickpeas...
To cook dried chickpeas just soak them in cold water over night (or for approx 6-8 hours), drain and boil in new water with a touch of salt until they turn soft and the chickpea flesh it coming apart. This might take 45 minutes to an hour.
Once boiled, the chickpeas can be drained and placed in the fridge for a couple of days until you need to use them.

For this version of chickpea hummus you will need...
A blender or mix master & mixing spoon

Ingredients
2 cups of cooked salted chickpeas
1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 small clove of garlic
1 red chilli with seeds removed
1 small bunch (handful) of parsley
50 ml lemon juice
50 ml balsamic Vinegar

1. In your blender/ or mix master add your cooked chickpeas and parsley and turn it on
2. Whilst the chickpeas are breaking down, slowly pour in half the amount of olive oil
3. As the ingredients continue to combine, add the garlic, chilli, lemon juice and balsamic
4. Add the remaining olive oil, scrape the sides down to ensure it all blends evenly and let it mix until you achieve a creamy finish.

Tip
The more olive oil you add the creamier it will become.... add more if you need it!

That's as simple as it gets! You can serve it with sliced vegies (carrots or celery) or on fresh or toasted bread, crackers... up to you!

Health Benefits
Chickpeas are a great source of protein and iron. They also carry a very low GI therefore are great for weight loss. This chickpea hummus dip also contains vitamins C, A and zero cholesterol. The garlic and chilli also carry great antiviral and antibacterial benefits to keep you healthy.


We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do! Enjoy!


x Steph

A Tasty Easy to Cook Gluten Free Chicken Cacciatore Recipe

On the weekend we got to host a little dinner party with some good friends. I wanted to cook something Italian that was gluten free as one of Sandro's friends cannot eat flour, barley or grains.

For sometime now I have been wanting to cook an Italian dish minus flour, however as many of you know, this can be very difficult for Italian cooking.  So.... I got thinking and created a recipe for a Chicken Cacciatore using the traditional ingredients however with a touch of difference....

What is Chicken Cacciatore? 
Cacciatore refers to the Italian term "hunter" and is a meal that is prepared using chicken or rabbit and other in-season vegetables, traditionally field mushrooms, tomato and peppers are added and if available red or white wine.

For this dish I use an organic coconut oil instead of olive oil, massel chicken stock which is one of the best stock available at most supermarkets (no numbers in the ingredients), an organic white wine (home made) and organic canned tomato available at Aldi (I love Aldi!). I should also mention that I use smoked alder salt (see my previous post) and paprika to give the chicken a slightly smoky taste.

For this Cacciatore recipe, the chicken will be coated in a rice flour, cooked in coconut oil and slow cooked with tomato, chicken stock, wine and other veggies for approximately 1.5 hours and will be served on brown rice.  Super healthy and delicious and you will also find that the chicken will tenderize magnificently during the cooking process.

Counting Calories & Health Benefits?
This Chicken Cacciatore isn't a low calorie dish, there is approximately 740 calories per serve if you use the full ingredients listed below... however I have allocated 1.5 chicken thigh fillets and half cup of brown rice per person, you wouldn't eat this much on a normal day, therefore the calories are over stated.  I do like to over cater because the boys generally like to eat much more and to not have enough food is a real nightmare for any Italian. Left overs are great, the meal can be frozen for future eating or left in the fridge for the next day!

There is virtually no cholesterol or trans fats in this Chicken Cacciatore dish, it is high in protein with Vitamin A, C and contains some Iron.

What you will need?
One large round non stick pan to cook on a stove top with a lid
One large mixing bowl
Paper towelettes
& your usual cooking utencils... wooden spoon, chopping boards etc
 
Ingredients...
To serve 4 people

6-7 skinless chicken thigh fillets
1.5 cups of rice flour
1 tspn Smoked Paprika
1 tspn Smoked Alder Salt (optional) OR Pink Salt
3 tblsp Coconut Oil

1 onion sliced and diced
1 large garlic clove crushed
12 medium mushrooms sliced
2 red capsicums sliced
2 tspn capers
2 sprigs of fresh oregano (or 1 tblsp of dried oregano)
Cracked pepper to season
1 can of diced tomato or 2 cups of tomato passatta (pureed tomato)
200 mls of white wine
1 chicken stock cube in 100mls of hot boiling water
100grams of black kalamata olives
2 cups of brown rice 


To Prepare...

1. Add  2 tblsp of coconut oil to pan and heat on high
2. In a seperate bowl add your rice flour, salt and smoked paprika and lightly mix
3. Coat each chicken thigh in the rice mix and place in hot pan one by one
4. Cook the chicken on each side until brown, the chicken at this stage should not be cooked through
5. Set the chicken aside on a seperate plate lined with towelettes. Keep it close on the stove to ensure it remains hot.

6. In the same pan, add 1 tblsp of coconut oil, allow it to melt
7. Add garlic and onion to the pan, ensure the heat is medium and cook until onion is transparent. Should take 1 minute.
8. To the same pan, add sliced mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms have wilted
9. Add sliced capsicums and cook for one minute on medium heat
10. Add the olives, capers, oregano and cracked pepper
11. Stir through ingredients and cook for an additional minute
13. Add you chicken pieces into the pan nicely imbedded within the vegetables
12. Add your diced OR passatta tomato and mix through without disturbing the chicken too much
13. Finally, add your chicken stock and white wine
14. Cover and cook on low to medium heat for 1.5 hours.

This is what the ingredients should look like when they have all been added together... there is ample amount of liquid that will reduce down during the 1.5 hour cooking period.

Tip: 
Ensure to watch the chicken whilst it is cooking to ensure it doesn't burn and using a wooden spoon slightly mix the ingredients from time to time. At half time, try the the saucy part of the dish and season with salt if necessary. 


15. 20 minutes before your chicken is almost ready, prepare and cook your rice.
16. After the cooking time is up, sprinkle the dish with freshly chopped parsley

As you can see in the above picture, water from the wine, tomato and stock has completely reduced down. You should be left with a thick sauce and amazing tenderised chicken that will fall apart as your ladle it onto of your rice - perfection!

Serve on a bed of rice

Please let me know how you go making this recipe if you have any questions please post :)

Buon Appetito!

x Steph

Smoked Salt

On a recent trip to Gewurzhaus (my favourite spice shop in Melbourne!) I was looking for a spice that could enhance the smokiness to my meat patties for my home made burgers. I was introduced to to this Salish Alder Smoked Sea Salt. It is sourced from the U.S and made using an old American Indian tradition where the salt is smoked over slow burning red alder wood. 

It is a very strong however moreish smokey fragrance and can be used to enhance the smokiness to salmon, trout or to chicken or beef recipes. You would use it as you would to season food with salt and large doses are not required. 

For me first experience... I was cooking the beef patties on the pan but wanted to achieve the same smoky flavor you would achieve slow cooking over BBQ coals. Whilst mixing the beef mix and before portioning each patty I added the Alder smoked salt to season. After cooking the beef patties on the skillet pan and consuming the burgers the general feed back was that the flavor was delicious (ofcourse!) and there was a hint of smokiness to the burgers... just the feedback I was hoping!

My next blog will tell of another recipe where I have added this smoked salt to a traditional Italian recipe....

Until next time, happy eating!

x Steph

Easy Toasted Sultana Date & Almond Muesli

Now that we are a little more settled in I have finally been able to focus on creating some more simple and healthy recipes.

Today's recipe is fantastic for the person on the go. The muesli can be made and baked within 20 minutes and stored in an airtight container for up to a month. It contains muesli and almonds for crunch, natural protein powder (pea to be exact), sultanas and dates for a chewy texture, organic shaved coconut and coconut oil, peanut butter and honey. We use frozen berries as they work better for texture once thawed out, but by all means if you prefer to use fresh berries they will taste just as delicious.

Protein powder isn't a must for this recipe, however I do find that it does assist with binding of all the ingredients together and provides a biscuit finish after baked.

This sultana date and almond muesli recipe also makes a great healthy dessert that is very easy to put together and takes very little time in the kitchen to prepare.

We love to use the Aldi Organic Vanilla bean yoghurt, you can see the vanilla bean and the creaminess is fantastic. However if you wish to use a yoghurt with less sweetness try the natural Greek style, there certainly is enough sweetness in the muesli already to offset the tang in a natural flavored yogurt.

What you will need...

An oven set at 200 degrees Celsius , mixing bowl , mixing/wooden spoon, and flat oven tray lined with baking paper.

Ingredients:

Frozen Berries

Yoghurt

Muesli:
2.5 cups of oats (for a large baking tray)
3 tblsp of honey
2 tblsp of light peanut butter
2 tblsp coconut oil
3 tblsp of organic coconut (shaved or desiccated)
1 tbslp of organic coconut to sprinkle 
3/4 cup of sultanas
.5 cup of pitted dates
1.5 cups of raw almonds
1.5 scoops of protein powder

Method to make the muesli:

1. Chop the almonds, sultanas, dates and coconut together roughly.

TIP... if you want to save time, get yourself one of these Tupperware choppers, will save you pulling out electrical appliances and having to chop anything by hand (great for dips, or chopping garlic and onion!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDe0n0aaSmE

2. Using a microwave or saucepan, heat the coconut oil, peanut butter and honey until melted.

3. In a separate mixing bowl place all dry ingredients (include the almonds, fruit & coconut mix) together and mix until all even.

4. Add the melted coconut oil, peanut butter and honey to the dry ingredients and mix using a mixing spoon until well blended. The mixture needs to be slightly moist therefore add additional melted coconut oil and honey if required. 

5. Lay the mixture in the lined baking tray. Using wet hands pat the mixture down flat and evenly until approx 1.5 centimeters thick. Sprinkly coconut shavings on top.

6. Turn the oven down to 180 degrees and bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.

Once the muesli is baked ensure to set it aside to cool. Once cooled you should be able to break up the muesli into large shards and store away in an airtight container for future use. 



The final layering process.... 

Grab yourself a wide glass and place the muesli shard on the base. Add a spoonful of yoghurt, top with berries. Depending on how large you want to make your serve, you can repeat the process.

Additional Tips: 
 - I leave a cup of berries in the fridge to thaw out over night to use the next morning 
 - Muesli also tastes great served as a cereal with almond milk
 - Berries are not the only option, winter is a good time for pears and apples... great winter warmers when poached!

Delicious goodness that I hope you can get to try out for yourselves! Sandro and I treat ourselves to this healthy muesli recipe almost every day, I hope you get to enjoy it as much as we do.

Until next time....

X Steph