Month: October 2018

Butternut squash week day 1

Let’s start this week with a very easy and stunning butternut squash recipe that takes only 12min to make if you use already made pasta. If you want to roll your pasta, depending on how quick you are add that time too. I chose spaghetti for that recipe because I wanted al dente pasta rather than too soft pasta like tagliatelle or parpadelle. I am also inclined to think that long pasta brings a better balance…

Butternut squash and hazelnut pasta (2 servings)

– 120g of long pasta (spaghetti…)

– 120g-150g of butternut squash pealed

– a handful of hazelnuts

– olive oil

– salt and pepper

In a small pan boil some water and boil the pealed butternut cut in large chunks under cover until soft. In the mean time boil a large pan of water for the pasta and start boiling the pasta. In a small frypan roast the hazelnuts. When the butternut is soft, remove the water and with a wooden spoon, spatula or a fork purée the butternut squash, add olive oil, salt and pepper. By then the hazelnuts should be roasted, crunch roughly in a mortar with a pestle. Add half of the hazelnuts to the butternut squash purée. Keep the rest for plating. When the pasta are cooked al dente, drain. In the plates, serve the butternut squash purée, add the pasta on top, a but of olive oil, salt and pepper and then top with some hazelnuts. Enjoy right away!

Butternut squash week!

I know… last week I was already writing about butternut squash and as said, I bought a new one again this weekend in the countryside. One butternut squash a week when in season is a good pace for us. Combined with other vegetables it last the whole week. This time, after some classics, I am experimenting a little bit more with new ideas of recipes or preparations. After browsing my past post on butternut squash I realized it deserved a proper “week” as shiitake, zucchini , eggplant… had. So I have decided to go for a butternut squash week this week with 4 of 5 recipes using butternut squash that are new to me. For the past published recipes please look here (many of the pictures have disappeared during our migration, I am slowly working on fixing that).

First recipe coming tomorrow!!!!

Myoga

Now is the season for harvesting myoga, this little very fragrant plant, delicious eaten with silky tofu and soya sauce or in miso soup. Two weeks ago when I met with our old neighbor she told me that their used to be plenty of myoga in our garden, but I never found any. So after identifying the leaves I went and browsed the garden and found indeed quite a few spots with similar leaves, but nothing like the edible part of the myoga, though I dug around. I was quite disappointed… So when she came again this morning I asked her to show me how to pick myoga. And what I discovered is that myoga plants are gendered and in our garden now we have mainly only male plants… so we found only one myoga with an edible part. The part that is edible is actually the flower, or rather the bud or the stem of the flower. But it doesn’t grow on the plant, it grows independently on the ground about 15cm away from the leafy part. And it has a lovely flower with very thin petals.

Myoga has a very typical flavor that is one of the important flavor in Japanese food. I love eating it in miso soup or with tofu, but also pickled and in vegetables mixes. That’s what it has served for today. A pot of autumn veggies roasted in a pan and with a bit of white soya sauce and thin slice of aburage, and served with rice. Here onigiri filled with red shiso miso.

Really simple and very tasty!

Butternut squash love

Since the very first I saw this season I have bought butternut squash every week and I am not yet tired of it. Whether it is with Japanese rice, risotto, faro, pasta or quinoa, it is always great. In jumbo ravioli also it is perfect. I love the taste and the texture and I love it because it cooks super quickly, it keeps quite long even after cut open. It is the perfect ingredient for me this week since A. is away on business and I cook only for myself. Oh! And I was forgetting that it suits very well melty cheese be it cheddar, Parmigiano or gruyère.

So I’ve tried faro risotto style pure and simple. Topped with plenty of grated red cheddar. For that I first boiled the faro a bit before cooking the butternut squash in olive oil and added the faro.

I did tagliatelle with butternut squash, when it was really late and needed to eat quickly. For that I added the butternut squash cut in bites to the boiling water of the pasta 5min before they were supposed to be done. Topped with grated Parmigiano and a bit of olive oil.

And finally I added it to some quinoa soup, a recipe that over the years has been a classic of the chilly season. I just tossed the quinoa with a carrot, a piece of lotus root, chunks of butternut squash and winged beans in gently boiling water, in order of cooking time. Added some curcuma, salt and pepper and ate all warm.

There are still a few more recipes I want to try with butternut squash, but it will be next week until I buy a new one…

Spicy carrot pie

The other day we went for lunch at cafe Boba and while we were waiting for our food to arrive I browsed an American cookbook on pies. Something that was perfect for the season. And with my basket full of autumn vegetables, I was very much inspired by the recipes with pumpkin, carrots… and one really attracted me. It was a sweet and spicy carrot pie. But of course I didn’t do what the recipe said, I just get the inspiration and made a savory carrot pie with spices. It was super simple and really delicious. I like the idea of a carrot pudding in a pie crust, it makes the pudding easier to serve and gives a good boost with healthy carbs.

Here is my recipe, I hope you’ll enjoy it!

Spicy carrot pie (makes 6 individual pies)

For the pie crust:

– 100g of flour of your choice (I used a mix of white and whole wheat flour)

– 80g of butter

– a bit of water

– cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt

For the filling:

– 3 large carrots

– 3 eggs

– same spices as above

You can add cream and fresh grated ginger, but I had none.

Prepare the pie crust by stirring all the ingredients and kneading until soft. Roll and set in your pie dish(es)

Peel and boil the carrot, when soft, put them in a blender with the eggs and the spices and purée the mix. Pour the mix in the pie crust. Bake for 30min at 190deg. Enjoy!!

And because I had a bit of leftover pie crust, I made chai apple tarts too!!!

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