Miso eggplants with baby potatoes

Cut an eggplant into two and make some incision with a knife, like shown in the photo. Sprinkle with salt and sweat for 30 minutes. Rinse and place, cut side down, in a hot skillet greased with oil. Add some cut baby potatoes, if you like (optional). Sauté until the eggplant starts to look slightly burned. Turn over and add miso paste diluted with water, to taste. You will need enough liquid to almost cover the eggplants. Add soy sauce if you like (also optional). Bring to boil and then simmer on low until all the liquid has evaporated. Serve hot.

  Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Potato salad with Fresh As Tarragon, capers and Friarielli flowers, plus focaccia and eggplants with Fresh As herbs - plant based paradise!

I have been trying a few freeze dried herbs from Fresh As and this potato salad is definitely a winner.

Boil the potatoes and peel, then cut and mix with vegan mayo and capers. Sprinkle with Fresh As French Tarragon. I also added some edible flowers from my friarielli (cime di rapa) plants.

The friarielli seeds come for Italian Seeds Pronto, such a great winter crop! Eat the leaves, tips and flowers!

I also tried other Fresh As powders: chili, garlic, oregano, basil and rosemary (plus the French Tarragon) on focaccia. I used letter stencils before adding the powders, just to record what went where. FYI, the garlic becomes orange after baking.

Delicious, and also pretty in a bread basket!

And on some fried eggplants (added after frying, with salt).

 Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Melanzane fritte (fried eggplants) and photos of peonies

I love fried eggplants, on pasta, on pizza, in a panino, as a side dish… or just by themselves, they are so versatile! Just cut them very thin (I use a bread knife) make them sweat with salt for an hour, rinse them and pat them dry. Fry them a few at the time with plenty of olive oil and a clove of garlic. Drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle with salt. Serve or use as required.

And now a few photos of peonies - now in season!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Japanese Vegan bento with tofu and eggplant

Leftovers from Japanese dinner make good a bento (lunchbox). Here from the bottom right there is tofu, pan fried with vegetable oil and sesame oil, then finished with soy sauce (gluten free, use tamari) and lemon juice. The Asian eggplants had a similar treatment (minus the sesame oil): at home we just love the soy sauce + lemon juice combo! Next to it some seaweed salad, this was bought ready made, something that I would happy do more often if I didn't think that they overdo it with artificial colouring! But I love seaweed and you can use the dried types - dried wakame soaked in water will make a nice salad. Finally there is leftover rice, topped with vegetable, nori and sesame seeds furikake (Japanese seasoning for rice, look for it in Asian stores, and choose the one without fish or other animal products).

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Israeli cous cous with grilled eggplants and capsicums

  For this dish I cooked a packet of Israeli cous cous (but fregola pasta is perfect too) with just water and salt, then I drained it and rinsed it under cold water to cool it down and separate the 'grains'. I added extra virgin olive oil, a few drops of lemon juice, and finely chopped herbs and garlic. Then I mixed it with the char-grilled eggplants. Finally I filled some char-grilled capsicums with it. It needs to rest for a few hours at room temperature, so that the cous cous gets more flavour. Easy and quick, and it makes such an impression!

And now just some pretty things I saw: loved this wallpaper with plates, + real plates!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Sautéed Asian eggplants and asparagus with Italian herbs (and baby potatoes)

One of my favourite kitchen smells is garlic and herbs sizzling in olive oil! Here I used fresh rosemary, sage and oregano, a couple of garlic cloves, and a few long Asian eggplants, cut into halves or quarters (depending on their size). When the eggplants were done I added the asparagus (which take less time) and sauté the lot for one more minute, then added more fresh herbs, a good pinch of salt, a heavy lid, and turned the heat off. If you leave the veggies like this for 5-10 minutes they will just 'finish' cooking in their own steam.

I had herbs leftover, so I half-boiled some new potatoes, peeled them (sorry Kiwis, but I love to peel my potatoes, unless they are organic) and placed them on a baking try lined with baking paper. I added rosemary and sage, salt and olive oil. I baked the lot and the kitchen smelled lovely.

 Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Japanese dinner: the last course, rice and eggplant and tofu miso soup

These are the final dishes of my Vegan Japanese dinner. For those of you who missed some 'episodes', the antipasto was raw avocado sashimi, and the main Fried tofu puffs simmered in vegetable broth, and by clicking here you can find the side vegetables, Broccoli and cauliflowers with easy miso sauce, and Quick Japanese Cucumber and Radish Pickles.

So, how do you finish a Japanese meal? Usually with soup and rice (dessert is optional really, a little seasonal fruit is preferred, like in this Autumn meal, where the fruit was persimmon, this fancy Japanese picnic basket, with mandarins - they are easy to carry, or this Summer meal, where dessert was... berries). 

But not fruit tonight, we just finished with rice and soup. Rice is served at the end to fill  the stomach, and diners eat what they need according to their body mass (this, I was told by a Ryokan chef in Kyoto, Nami, is it true?). By the time I served the rice and soup the light was gone, so apologies for the bad photos. Also, I had to hurry before the soup got cold! The rice is short grain and needs to be rinsed a few times, and then cooked by absorption. Usually I don't add salt to it. When ready I just put a umeboshi (pickled plum) on top, something usually done for breakfast in Japan, but I don't eat rice for breakfast so I use my umeboshi for lunch or dinner :-). And for the miso soup? Well, I like all types, but miso with eggplant is my favourite!

Miso soup with eggplant, tofu and onion weed

First you have to go back for a moment to the Fried tofu puffs simmered in vegetable broth, I used some light vegetable stock to cook the tofu puffs, and the leftover broth after draining the tofu was the base for my miso soup. Then I cut two long eggplants into six pieces each. I took the stock back to simmering point and I added the eggplants and four small cubes of Japanese freeze dried tofu (available in Japanese shops - but I have Japanese friends who send it to me by post regularly. Thank you Hideko and Atsuko!). I simmered everything for 30 minutes, then I took the miso paste left over from Broccoli and cauliflowers with easy miso sauce (in Japanese Zen cuisine everything is recycled!), and added a bit more miso paste to get the amount I wanted - personal taste here, and mixed it well. With chopstick I picked up the eggplant pieces and tofu and divided them between four bowl (3 pieces of eggplant and 1 small block of tofu for each bowl) then I quickly mixed the miso paste with the broth, and poured it into the bowls. To finish I topped the soups with some chopped onion weed. I love miso soup with eggplants! Did I said that already? :-)

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

eggplant and chickpea tajine with cous cous

No fuss eggplant and chickpea tajine

Slice 2 eggplants and sweat them with salt for 1 hour. Heat a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive in the tajine pan, and sizzle 2 cloves of garlic (cut into two lengthwise), a few coriander seeds, a few cumin seeds, chili flakes and rock salt. When the spices start to jump around the pan add a roughly chopped onion and when the onion is translucent (not brown) add the eggplant sliced (rinsed). Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring, and then add the content of a can of chickpeas (with their liquid) and a handful of coriander leaves (or parsley, if you don't have/like coriander). 

Now cover with the Tajine top and simmer on the lowest setting for a hour or so. At the end the eggplant will be a mush, and the chickpeas incredibly tasty. Add some smoked paprika if you like it hotter. Serve on couscous dressed with extra virgin olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice. 

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 ©

Orecchiette with chili white eggplants

Another recipe from my Italian diary. The eggplants come from my aunt veggie garden, and they really look like eggs! The chili is from a pot on my mum's kitchen window.

Put the chili and garlic in a pan with olive oil, fry for a few minutes and then add the eggplants, cubed. Stir often until the eggplants start to colour. Add a little water and salt and cover with a lid. Stew the eggplants, stirring often and adding water if necessary, until they are soft. At the end add half a cup of chopped parsley, a little olive oil and, if you like, some more chopped garlic and even chopped chili (but only if you like it super spicy!). Cook and drain the orecchiette pasta and then dress with the eggplants.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Tortiglioni with Eggplants

Another quick and easy pasta dish

Ingredients:

2 medium eggplants

rock salt

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves

1 chili pepper (optional)

2 cups Italian Tomato Passata

salt to taste

500 g pasta

serves 4-5

Cut two medium eggplants into cubes, place in a colander and add some rock salt. Let the eggplants sweat for 30 minutes, then rinse under cold running water. Set aside.

In a frying pan put three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and two peeled cloves of garlic, cut into halves. If you like it hot add the chili pepper too. Fry the garlic (and chili), then, before it becomes dark, add the eggplants. Fry the eggplants on low, when they become a little dry add two cups of Italian Tomato Passata. Cook until the eggplants are soft and the tomato sauce thick, add salt to taste, and one more tablespoon of olive oil. Use this sauce to dress pasta, here I used tortiglioni pasta.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Nam Prik Thai dip

This is my adaptation of the Thai dip Nam Prik, (there are many versions, this one is more like the ones from the North of the country). I like this version because the ingredients are easy to find in most countries, but the taste is really 100% Asian!

Ingredients:

1 or 2 fresh green chilies,

1 or 2 fresh red chilies,

1 eggplant (possibly white, but I tend to use the purple ones which are easier to find)

2 garlic cloves (peeled),

1 shallot (peeled) ,

1 or 2 tomatoes,

2 tbsp lemon juice,

2 tbsp light soy sauce,

half tsp salt

(In Thailand they also put in a littles sugar, but I don't)

Wrap the chilies, eggplant (cut into four) garlic shallot and tomatoes in a sheet of tin foil. Seal well and bake at 175°C for 30 minutes. Remove the content and place:

1) in a large mortar, and start pounding with the pestle adding the lemon juice, soy sauce and salt. this way you will get a a chuncky sauce with lots of skins but lovely and spicy.

or

2) in a blender, for a smoother texture.

Now, in the original recipe they don't remove the skins from the vegetables, but I do, and also I add less chilies (max 2). If you like to add sugar the dose is 1 tsp.

The colour is not great (brown), but the taste is truly addictive! Serve as a dip for raw vegetables sticks or to accompany rice and other Thai dishes.

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 ©

Smoked paprika tofu and eggplants with saffron rice

This main is incredibly easy to make and yet it taste so good that everyone will think that you have spent hours making it!

Cut the tofu into cubes and fry it with olive oil and garlic until golden. Set aside. Cut the eggplants (I used the thin Asian type) into halves and sweat with salt for 30 minutes or so. Rinse. Heat the oil again in the pan, add more garlic, and sauté the eggplants for a few minutes, then cover with a lid and and cook them in their own steam. When they are nearly done add the tofu, 1 tsp of smoked paprika and smoked slat (I used Maldon). Add a glass of white wine and stir. Cover and turn the heat off.

Wash the rice and cook by absorption, when it is ready add the saffron and stir. No need to make a risotto here, or to add salt: the rice will taste of saffron and nothing else, and will go well with the salty, spicy and smoky flavour of the tofu and eggplants.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©