Coconut tofu and vegetables strips with Eastern herbs - plant based paradise

I planted some ginger roots in my garden from a bought root that started sprouting and got a beautiful plant... but the flower looked like that of the wild ginger (a weed in New Zealand) and I was a bit worried... my neighbour told me that it is a good ginger, the flower is similar but it doesn't make the seeds that birds spread around the forest. Well, since I was worried I remove the plant (the flowers looked good in a vase anyway) and used the root to make gari (delicious, recipe here) and this tofu dish.

Very easy: just simmer some sliced tofu in a pot with coconut milk, vegetable stock, ginger, chili, lemon grass and a shallot. Add some celery, carrots and capsicum strips and simmer for a few more minutes, then turn the heat off and add some cucumber strips, fresh coriander, basil and Vietnamese mint and serve with Thai rice.

And now a few more subtropical delights from my garden: cherimoya (not ready yet) and bananas (the best bunch so far, shared with many friends!)

Had some flowers too, outdoors...

And indoors.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Capsicum pastry rolls and peperonata recipe

This is one of those creations that happened while using up leftover vegan pastry and a bit of peperonata I had in the pot. The resulting dish was so pretty and delicious that I decided to share it,

Capsicum pastry rolls

Yu must use some cooked capsicums (bell peppers) for this recipes, and I had some peperonata ready:

Peperonata

2 yellow capsicums

2 red capsicums

1 green capsicum

1 garlic clove

half carrot

1 small celery stalk

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (plus more to drizzle at the end)

A little water

salt to taste (if the capers are not too salty)

chopped Italian parsley and fresh basil leaves, plus a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to finish

Wash and cut the capsicums into thin strips. Peel the garlic and cut into two. Wash and chop the carrot and celery into small pieces. Heat the olive oil in a pan and sauté the vegetables, then add the a little water and salt. Cover and simmer on the lowest setting for 45 minutes to one hour, stirring from time to time, and adding more water if necessary. Adjust with salt at the end, if necessary, and finish with some freshly chopped parsley, fresh basil and another drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

I then used some of the capsicum strips for my pastry rolls: I cut the vegan pastry sheets in long strips and place a thin strip of capsicum on the border of each pastry strip (see photo) and then rolled it up.

To keep the rolls nice and round I place them in a mini-muffin pan, and used some mini-cupcake cases. I sprinkle the top with salt and dried herbs and baked everything at medium heat until the pastry was golden and puffy. Serve hot or cold.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Peperoni e salvia fritti - fried capsicums and sage

Red capsicums are so nice fried in olive oil, and then sprinkled with a little salt… this time I tried a different pairing though: sage! And it works really well. Of course I really like fried sage, so I guess that that help. (In the background I have some fried eggplants, but you all know how to make that right?) :-)

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Vegan Goulash with tofu

Ingredients:

2 blocks of tofu, frozen for one day and then defrosted

3 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion

1 tsp sweet paprika

1/2 tsp hot paprika (or to taste)

2 carrots

4 large potatoes

1 green capsicum (bell pepper)

1 red capsicum (bell pepper)

2l l vegetable broth

Salt to taste

If you freeze the tofu and then defrost it it becomes porous and easy to cook in stew without breaking up. Also it will absorb flavors really well! Once the tofu is defrosted cut it in big cubes. Chop the onion and sauté with the olive oil. When the onion is translucent add the paprika, the sweet paprika will give flavour, and the hot one… heat, so use this according to taste. Then add the tofu cubes and stir well. Add the vegetables and the hot vegetable broth. Simmer until the carrots and potatoes are ready, but before the potatoes start to break up. Goulash is more like a soup than a stew. If you prefer a thicker stew just cook it for longer, stirring often and breaking up the potatoes. Add salt to taste (no necessary if the broth is salty enough).

 Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Fried Mochi and capsicums served with soba, seaweed salad, avocado and Japanese pickles

I really like the mochi cakes, the Japanese glutinous rice blocks that are traditionally found in the traditional New Year soup (zoni). Mochi is usually grilled before going into the soup, but I don't have a grill for it, and tend to just boil it into it for a little. I love it. My family less so. And they don't like the idea of mochi in any our miso soups. So I tried to pan-fry it, thinking that they like everything fried, and guess what? Fried mochi is a new favourite! Now I add a block of pan-fried mochi in almost every Japanese meal I make (that is, while my mochi stock last: it is not so easy to find it in New Zealand!). 

In my (short) experience one of the best ways is to pan-fry mochi is with something that will also give it a bit of flavour, like capsicums. These are the little capsicums from my garden, small but tasty! Heat the oil in the frying pan, add slices of capsicum and mochi, turn everything a few times (I like to turn the mochi blocks on all six sides) and serve hot. Here is my mochi and capsicums served with soba, seaweed salad, avocado and Japanese pickles, a quick and balanced lunch!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Fregolotto (Fregola risotto)

 Outside Italy it is very difficult to find fregola, but Israeli couscous is readily available in many shops now, and can be a great substitute. 

Fregolotto

1 small onion

1 capsicum (any colour)

1 celery stalk with leaves

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

400 g fregola (or Israeli cous cous)

1 cup Italian tomato passata

1.5 l vegetables stock

Parsley and cherry tomatoes to decorate (optional)

Chop the onion, capsicum and celery, then sauté with olive oil. Add the fregola and stir, when hot add the Italian tomato passata and then, ladle by ladle, the vegetables stock, stirring constantly like when making a risotto. When the fregola is cooked and all the liquid absorbed serve, decorated with parsley and cherry tomatoes (optional).

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Capsicums (Bell peppers) with capers

Ingredients
2 yellow capsicums (Bell peppers)
2 orange capsicums (Bell peppers)
1 red capsicum (Bell pepper)
1 garlic clove
half carrot
1 small celery stalk
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (plus more to drizzle at the end)
1 tbsp tomato puree
A little water
1-2 tbsp capers
salt to taste (if the capers are not too salty)
chopped Italian parsley to finish






Wash and cut the capsicums into thin strips. Peel the garlic and cut into two. Wash and chop the carrot and celery into small pieces. Heat the olive oil in a pan and sauté the vegetables, then add the tomato paste, a little water, the capers (rinsed) and a little salt (unless the capers are already too salty). Cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes, stirring from time to time, and adding more water if necessary. Adjust with salt at the end, if necessary, and finish with some freshly chopped parsley and another drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Serve hot or cold, with some nice crusty bread or bruschetta, or even to dress pasta.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Pasta Caponata

The sauce is a bit like a caponata, or at least, the caponata that I make! Eggplants and capsicums are more affordable now, and are among my favourite vegetables:

Ingredients:

1 eggplant,

3 capsicums (red, yellow and green)

1 stalk of celery (optional)

1 garlic clove (peeled)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (plus some to drizzle)

one 

2 tbsp black olives

a few capers

salt to taste

Cut the eggplant into cubes and sweat with salt for 30 minutes. Rinse well. Cut the capsicums into cubes as big as the eggplant, and the celery cut into thin slices, if using. Place all the veggies plus the garlic into a pot that can be covered with a lid, add the olive oil and sauté for a few minutes, then cover and simmer on low for about an hour, adding a little water from time to time and stirring often. I usually add the olives, capers (rinsed) and salt halfway through the cooking (actually, I add them when I remember...) and cook until the eggplants are mushy and the other vegetables really soft. Cook the pasta al dente (I used rigatoni) and dress with the vegetables, adding a little more olive oil at the end. I love this pasta :-)!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Red and Yellow Bell Pepper Risotto

This is a super quick, simple but tasty dish

Ingredients:

1 large red capsicum

1 large yellow capsicum

2 garlic cloves (peeled)

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

400 g arborio rice

1 glass white wine

1.5 l hot vegetable stock

Chop the capsicums into small cubes, place in a pot with the garlic and olive oil and sizzle. Before the capsicums start to brown add the rice and stir to coat the rice with the oil, then add the wine. Let the wine absorb then add the stock, ladle by ladle, stirring constantly, until the risotto is cooked (about 20 minutes). Serve immediately.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Potato and Capsicum Curry

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

The colurful curry on the table is Potato and Capsicum:

Peel and cube 4 large potatoes

Wash and cut into large strips 4 capsicums (one green, one yellow, one orange and one red).

In a large pot sizzle half tsp of nigella seeds with two garlic cloves (peeled).

Add half tsp of turmeric, half tsp of coriander powder, half tsp of fennel powder, and half tsp of cumin powder.

Add the potatoes and stir.

Add 1 cup of water, salt to taste, and a tbsp of tomato puree.

Cover and simmer on low until the water has been absorbed.

Add capsicums and stir.

Add one tsp of dried fenugreek leaves, and a little more water if needed.

Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Check if the potatoes are cooked, then add half tsp of garam masala and simmer for 5 more minutes.

Serve hot, with rice or flat bread.

Stewed Yellow Capsicums

More from my Italian Travels' Diary: I got these capsicums from my aunt Alice's veggie garden in the North East of Veneto, Italy, and they were huge! Here a photo when green...

.... And after a week of sun!

Stewed Yellow Capsicums

Chop an onion, a carrot, a stalk of celery and 4 (huge) capsicums. Place in a pot with a little olive oil and sauté for a few minutes. Simmer on low, keeping the pot covered and stirring from time to time for about 40 minutes to one hour. The vegetables should have enough water and as long as you keep the heat very low you probably won't need to add water. I add the salt only halfway through the cooking. They can be used as a side vegetable but also to dress pasta or polenta. They can also be blended into a sauce, dip, or a soup.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Making Fregola Sarda step by step

Making Fregola

I dug out these photos for my friend Tiziana, who was here with me making fregola (or fregula), and she is now a vegetarian! Fregola is something between cous cous and pasta, thicker than the former, and smaller than the latter.

Start with a blend of fine and coarse semolina and a little salted water.

You just need to sprinkle some water on you semolina mix.

Mix mix mix

collect the pellets

pass them through a sieve, keep only the big one and let them dry for 24 hours.

Start over with the smaller ones to make them as big as you like.

We cooked the fregola like a risotto. First chop and saute some fresh vegetables,

slowly add vegetable stock and, finally, saffron.

Yum!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Torta di Verdure in Scapece: my Favourite Summer recipe!!!

Yes, this is my favourite creation, it takes time to make but it can last a week, and the flavour gets better and better. For the ingredients...no measures really, just be aware that you will need a lot of olive oil and lots of eggplants (I use both Italian eggplants and the long Asian eggplants), plenty of zucchini, and red, green and yellow capsicums. Cut all the vegetables in long and large strips, sweat the eggplants with salt for 30 minutes, then rinse and pat dry. Then, using plenty of olive oil, start frying. This is going to take a looooong time. First fry the zucchini, then set aside. Fry the eggplants, set aside; finally fry the capsicums (which have the strongest flavour, so they would alter the flavour of the oil). You will need to add oil from time to time, and be very careful to cook well the vegetables without burning them. When the capsicum are cold remove and discard the skins.

Finely chop plenty of garlic with tons of parsley. Add few more herbs if you wish, either a little mint of a little basil are good. Add salt to taste. You should make about a cup of this. Line a container with grease-proof paper and make a layer of vegetables (this will be the top, so make it pretty!), add some chopped herbs, then a few drops of white wine vinegar and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Repeat, making as many layers as you can. Top with some more grease-proof paper and press down gently. Refrigerate for one day. Before serving you can tip the 'torta' on a platter, and then cut into small slices. You will get many portions out of it, as it is so compact and full of flavour!

For a Gluten free version omit the breadcrumbs.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Twilight menu (inspired by Stephenie Meyer's books)

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Yes, I have 'Twilight fever', or 'Twilight addiction'? Whatever the term, it gets to me at any given time of the day, and I have to open the closest of the Twilight saga's books I can find, and read a bit of it! Pathetic? Yep... but so romantic....

Yesterday I got it early in the afternoon, and it didn't go away. I had to act, so just for fun, but also out of necessity (of providing a meal for the family instead of reading...) I though of making a Twilight inspired menu...obviously vegetarian (but don't the Cullens call themselves the vegetarians of the vampire world?), well, this menu is actually Vegan.

The colours had to be black and red, of course; my daughter insisted that we only buy the books with the red pages, and this was the first of my challenges: I really try not to use artificial colourings in my food, and so I looked for black and red ingredients. And of course the food should also be 'romantic and sensual', Italian and Mexican flavours (which are also mentioned in the books), just a little 'bite' in one of them perhaps?

The second challenge was that...I couldn't go shopping for anything new, I had to do with what was in the house, and at present it is very little because we are leaving in 10 days and I am slowly emptying the pantry!

But I have tomatoes in the garden...

Twilight Starter

Plum Tomatoes with Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena

Well, the first was easy! Red tomato and Modena's black gold: Traditional Balsamic Vinegar(ABTM), possibly one of the most sensual ingredients ever!

Ingredients

Fresh plum tomatoes

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt to taste (I used Maldon)

A few drops of Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena

Assemble as shown in the photo.

New Moon 'Rice'

Tomato and Red Chili Sushi Rolls

I had nori, and it looks black and shiny. And Sushi rolls are round like the moon, but I needed a red moon! Actually, the red rice in the photo is not very clear, these looked much redder to the naked eye. Never mind, they tasted great, I even surprised myself, as I never though of combining tomato and chili with nori seaweed!

Ingredients

Short grain rice

Fresh tomatoes

garlic

red chili

Olive oil

salt

Nori seaweed

I didn't measure the rice, I used what I had left. I washed it and cooked it by absorption. In the meantime I fried some fresh chopped tomatoes with garlic and 1 red chili using a little olive oil. Then I passed everything through a sieve to remove the skins and seeds. I added salt and I stirred the spicy sauce into the rice. I then rolled the rice just like for sushi rolls.

Eclipse Pizza

Red Pizza with Black Seeds

Pizza is a must when teenagers are involved (and it was the first food our heroes, Bella and Edward, shared). I scoured the pantry for black seeds, I finished the poppy seeds, but I had some black sesame seeds. I added the cumin seeds mostly for flavour. I also used up the remaining of a jar of roasted red capsicum antipasto. I finished all my fresh tomatoes with the first two dishes, so I used canned tomatoes instead.

Ingredients

Pizza dough, recipe here

Tomato Sauce, recipe here (but omit the basil)

Olive oil

Salt

Black sesame seeds

Cumin seeds

Roasted red capsicums

Follow the given links to make the pizza dough and the tomato sauce. I have to say that by this stage the most difficult thing for me was not to add anything green to my food! Roll the dough to fill an oven tray lined with baking paper. Better to make a pizza slab that can be cut into small pieces (good if you have a Twilight inspired party). Top with the tomato sauce, then add salt and olive oil, the seeds and the capsicums. Bake at highest setting in your oven until the borders are golden and it smells delicious!

Breaking Dawn Dessert

Black Sesame Seed Pudding with Rose Syrup and Red Rose Petals

I unashamedly admit that I am very happy with the dessert. In the pantry I found some surigoma, crushed black sesame seeds, and I remember that in Japan I enjoyed many sesame seeds desserts. And in the garden I had some beautiful red roses, not sprayed and therefore edible!

Breaking Dawn is all about love.....

Ingredients

50 g crushed black sesame seeds (available in Asian shops)

100 ml water

1 tbsp sugar

1/3 (one third) tsp agar agar (available in Asian shops)

For the Syrup

100 ml water

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp rose water essence

Finish with red rose petals

Place the first 4 ingredients in a small pot and bring to boil. Simmer for 2 minutes, stirring well, and then pour into a small container. Set at room temperature, and then refrigerate. To make the syrup boil the water with the sugar until it halves in size, add the rose water and set aside. Before serving tilt the pudding from the container (this dose makes about 4 servings) and cut. I used a heart shaped cookie cutter here. Place on a plate decorated with rose petals. Drizzle with the syrup. Eat everything , the rose petals are delicious!!!!!