Ragu Bolognese

Bolognese sauce is very easy to prepare, it just requires a little time.
Sometimes to speed up the process I use the “fine soup groenten” available in the supermarket instead of the carrot and celery: in this way I save the time I would use to chop the veggie.
To make the best Bolognese saus I use the AH organic minced beef and the AH organic tomato passata, they really make the difference since I add almost no salt.
I usually use the ragu Bolognese to prepare lasagna, but when I am in a hurry I just serve it with pasta (either fresh or dry).


1 tbsp oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 garlic cloves, peeled
500g minced beef
700g bottle tomato passata
½ glass red wine
1 bay leave
freshly grated parmesan cheese


Heat the oil in large heavy pan, add onions and cook gently until translucent but not browned. Add the celery and carrots and garlic and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes more. Tip in the lean minced beef and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-6 minutes until browned all over. Turn the heat to maximum heat and pour in the wine and allow to evaporate by half..

Once the wine is evaporated add the passata. Pour a little water into the empty tomato bottle, swish around then add to the pan. Stir in the bay leave. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, then cover and simmer gently for 45 minutes / 1 hour. Season according to taste. Toss with cooked spaghetti, sprinkle over with grated parmesan cheese and serve.

Mascarpone Quiche

Quiche is a good solution to any meal dilemma from dinner parties, picnics and dinners. Moreover leftovers are great for lunchboxes.
With a sheet of ready-rolled pastry, you can make a smart quiche for dinner in no time at all.
All my efforts to prepare a delicious dinner tonight resulted in empting my fridge. Easy.
I had some mascarpone left, so I used it in place of crème fraîche. Mascarpone really gives a silky creamy texture to the filling and goes well with gorgonzola and with spinach that I had available.

SPINACH MASCARPONE QUICHE

1 pack ready-rolled puff pastry
50g parmesan cheese
200g mascarpone
3 tbsp cream (kookroom)
3 eggs
75g gorgonzola
30g chorizo diced
1 onion
200g frozen spinach
freshly ground pepper
pinch ground nutmeg

Heat some butter in a pan and cook the onion for 5 mins, until soften. Then add the chorizo. Cook for 2 mins more, then turn off the heat.
In another pan cook the spinach. Strain any juices and leave to cool.
Roll the pastry out to line a 23cm spring form tin.
In the meantime beat the eggs in a bowl, then gradually add the mascarpone and the cream. Stir in half the gorgonzola and the parmesan cheese, then add the onion and the spinach. Season with nutmeg and pepper, then tip the filling into the tart case. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese, then bake for 35-20 mins until set and golden brown. Leave to cool in the case, then remove and serve in slices.

After rolling the pastry out, if you have any leftover, as I had, use it to decorate the quiche.

KING CRAB

I love seafood. I always have, I love clams, scallops (obviously), lobster, langoustines, crabs..... But king crabs have been a recent discovers, I have never tasted them before moving to Holland.
They are simply delicious.
They are not easy to find and they don't come cheap, but they are worth every effort.
Since I am not very familiar with them, at first I wasn't sure how to cook them without ruin their delicate sweet flavor....so I went for something safe: pasta :-)

KING PASTA

serve 2

500 gr King crab (I know it's a lot but I like it soooo much :-)
150 gr pasta
1 onion (I have used French oignon allongé, their extremely sweet flavor goes very well with this dish)
Small handful parsley, finely chopped
Butter
2 tbsp Crème Fraiche d'Isigny (if you can find it, it makes the difference, otherwise substitute with a standard crème fraiche)

Cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling water according to pack instructions (I like it al dente so I always cook it two mins shorter than stated in the pack). Meanwhile, heat a knob of the butter in a frying pan. When it starts to sizzle, add the onion and fry for 5 min or until tender, then add the crabs and fry for 2-3 min, be careful not to overcook the crab. Swirl in the crème fraiche, season with salt and pepper, and then stir in the chopped parsley.
When the pasta is just cooked, drain and toss through the crab. Serve straightaway.

Soup....again

I hate this weather. Cold, windy, rainy....it's impossible not to catch a cold.
In fact here I am again, with a box of kleenex on one hand and a box of paracetamol on the other trying to survive the day :-(
Since I am sick I need warm, comforting food and not the usual broodje gezond.
So it's going to be soup day.


EASY BROCCOLI SOUP

1 broccoli (300gr) washed and chopped
1/2 onion roughly chopped
good quality extra virgin olive oil
bread and gorgonzola to serve

Cook the onion with butter or olive oil in a large pan until soft (about 5 minutes). Add the broccoli and cover with stock or hot water and simmer until tender (about 15 minutes). When the broccoli is cooked whizz to a smooth soup in a blender. Season then sprinkle some olive oil on top and serve with gorgonzola over toasted bread. Delicious!

Indian night

I am not particularly fond of Indian food: in most of the cases it tends to be too spicy, too greasy and it doesn't matter what dish you choose on the menu, because it all taste the same.
On top of that I don't like chicken and I hate lamb, so I usually don't have much choice.

Well, this until I had dinner at Maharani in Den Haag.

The food was very delicate, and I even managed to like lamb. I had chicken tandoori and I must say it was the best chicken I have ever tasted.... so moist.
Most of my friends had lamb, I was first reluctant but at the end I tasted a bit of all the dishes: next time I will have lamb!!!! It was fantastic. I usually don't eat lamb because I find the flavor of the meat far too strong, but cooked with all those spices it lost that ugly smell :-)
If I really have to complain about something is the service, we have been waiting a little too long before food was served, but after all we were a big table.
http://www.restaurantmaharani.nl/

Cheesy cookies

The idea was to bake scones, since I had some buttermilk in the fridge....but the result is soft biscuits.
These are not sweet gooey cookies, but soft cheesy ones, perfect for a snack or to serve with tea.

Cheesy cookies
150g flour , plus a little more for dusting
50g brioche flour mix
40g butter
25g young firm goat cheese finely chopped
30g grated parmesan cheese (parmigiano reggiano), plus extra for topping
25g testun ocelli al barolo finely chopped
160ml buttermilk (Karnemelk)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for topping
1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp ruby porto

Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and rubber together (if it feels like it might be too soft, add a little more flour) then bring together to make a soft dough.
Lightly dust the surface with a little flour, roll out the dough to a thickness of approximately 2cm. Using a 5cm plain cutter stamp out the cookies.
Transfer to baking sheet, brush the top with a little more olive oil and grated cheese, then bake for 15-20 mins in a warm oven at 200-220c until golden.

Serve warm.

Something Sweet

This cake is fantastic and simple to make.
I found the recipe in an old issue of Good Food magazine, but I have reduced the amount of sugar since the original recipe was far too sweet.
It's so simple that everybody can do it and it takes just 15 mins to prepare.
I have used tinned pineapple rings, since me didn't have the fresh fruit, when using fresh pineapple I usually double the amount of butter and sugar of the topping.
I added some cherries in syrup only for decoration.
I have also used some aluminum foil to cover the base of the 20 cm cake tin (I use loose bottom cake tin) to catch the juice that might fall from it.

PINEAPPLE CAKE

for the topping:
25g butter
25g lighte basterdsuiker (soft sugar)
7 pineapples rings

for the cake:
100g butter
75g golden caster sugar
100g flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs

For the topping, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy. Spread over the base and on the sides of the cake tin. Arrange pineapple rings on top.
Place the cake ingredients in a bowl with 2 tbsp of the pineapple syrup and beat them until you have a creamy texture (I used an electronic wisk, it's much easier and quicker). Spoon into the tin on top of the pineapple. Bake for 30-40 mins in a warm oven at 180 degrees. Leave to stand for 5 mins and then turn out onto a plate. I served it lukewarm with a scoop of mascarpone, but vanilla ice cream would be much better :-)