This Week's Recipe: Raw Bean Salad with Roasted Cherry Tomato Dressing

Why Raw Bean Salad?

Although I relish in slow cooked stews and warming soups during winter I do, however find myself missing a fresh vegetable here and there. While leafy salads are refreshing in the summer months, during winter a heartier green is what I crave.

What I love to do is mix a green vegetable that I would normally cook (such as beans, broccoli and cabbage), finely slice it and serve it with a warm tasty dressing.

Try broccoli with a warm Gorgonzola cheese dressing made by melting a some cheese and mixing it with a little olive oil and a white wine vinegar.

Or this easy bean salad. Green beans are earthy and robust when eaten raw. Slow cooked tomatoes are always sweet and full of flavour (even if the tomatoes are not at their best during the colder months) and perfect mixed with a pungent eschalot dressing.

This salad is great eaten straight away or even better the next day after the flavours have had a chance to mingle longer.

Ingredients
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
250g green beans (I used a variety called Purple King)
1 eschalot, finely diced
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Preheat oven to 120°C. Line a baking tray and lay the tomatoes flesh side down. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with 1 tablespoons oil.

Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour or until the tomatoes are wrinkly on the surface and a deep red colour.

Meanwhile thinly slice the beans on an angle and place in a large bowl.

While the tomatoes are still warm place in a small bowl with the eschalot, the rest of the oil and vinegars. Season with salt and pepper and dress over the beans.

Serves 4 as a side or 2 as a main.

The tomatoes can be roasted a few days ahead and stored in the refrigerator covered in oil. To serve place tomatoes and the oil in a small sauce pan and warm over a low heat.

Make Your Own... Labne

Labne is a cream cheese made from strained natural yoghurt. Made from cow, sheep or goats milk, it is a delicious cheese that while rich and creamy keeps that unique natrual yogurt tartness.

A traditional ingredient in middle eastern cuisine, this cheese is popular to make as it, prolongs the life of yoghurt, is perfect for cooking with (as the higher fat content to moisture will prevent it curdling at different cooking temperatures) and tastes great in both savoury and sweet dishes.

Labne, also known as labnah/labna will last in the refrigerator for up to two weeks covered in oil. The creamier the cheese the longer the straining process will take, however you can make a delicious labne within as little as 24 hours.

Always use the best quality yoghurt when making labne. Try to buy locally made yoghurts from farmers markets as they taste creamy, fresh and unique to where the milk came from. I add few ingredients to my yoghurt during the straining stage and coat them with different herbs and spices after I have rolled them.

Eat labne with bread and crackers, in salads or in pastas and on top of pizza.

Ingredients

1kg thick Greek yoghurt
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon sea salt
2 cups extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons sumac

Method

Place yoghurt in a bowl with lemon juice, zest and sea salt and stir to combine. Lay a large piece of muslin cloth or thin clean tea towel in a bowl.

Place the yoghurt in the centre of the fabric, then gather up muslin sides and tie with string. Tie the yoghurt ball to a wooden spoon and rest the spoon on top of a large bowl so that the yoghurt is suspended.

Leave to drain in the fridge for 1 to 3 days (the longer you leave it however the creamier and thicker your cheese will be). Discard the whey that has drained out and remove yoghurt to a bowl.

In the meantime scatter the sumac on a large tray.

Roll yoghurt into golf-sized balls, lay on a baking tray and roll around in the sumac. Place in a sterilised jar and cover with oil and seal.

Keep for up to 1 week.

Makes 10 -15 balls.

Bon Appetite

Chargrilled Parsnip Pasta with Sage and Burnt Butter

Why chargrilled parsnip pasta?

From everyday bolognese to delicate handmade ravioli, pasta in any form always gets my taste buds excited.

What I really love about pasta is that it makes a few ingredients and simple ideas come together creating a spectacular meal.

Take anchovies, garlic, chilli flakes and olive oil cook them together slowly, mix in a freshly cooked spaghettini and you have a delicate yet full flavoured pasta.

Even freshly grated Parmesan and a knob of butter can become comfort food when al dente penne is added.

What ever you have in your pantry and refrigerator - no matter how dismal it looks - can be transformed into a wonderful meal with the addition of pasta.

After a long weekend of moving house I was in dire need of a good meal. I looked in m fridge and saw parsnips that needed attention and had my sage plant on top of an empty packing box. With a little creative flare I made a meal to remember.

Ingredients
6 baby parsnips, sliced in half lengthwise (3 small parsnips quartered lengthwise)
1 tablespoon olive oil
375g fresh pappardelle
100g butter, diced
10 sage leaves
2 tablespoons lemon juice
50g pecorino, shaved

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.

Place parsnips in a medium saucepan with cold salted water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 8 minutes or until tender. Drain and pat dry on kitchen paper.

Meanwhile heat a grill pan over medium high heat. Brush the parsnips with oil and grill for 3 minutes each side or until nicely charred.

Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. While butter is melting cook pasta until al dente and keep warm.

Add sage leaves to butter and continue to cook until the butter is foaming and starts to turn nutty brown in colour. Remove from heat and carefully add lemon juice.

Toss the pasta and parsnips in the butter sauce season with salt and plenty of pepper and serve with shaved pecorino.

Serves 4-6
Bon appetite.

Make Your Own... Green Goddess Dressing

A creamy dressing full of flavour, green goddess dressing was originally created in 1923 in San Francisco by the executive chef of the Palace Hotel in tribute to actor George Arliss and his play of the same name.

Made with mayonnaise, sour cream and a mixture of parsley, tarragon, chives,capers and lemon, it was instantly a great success and popular for decades after.

Easy to make, green goddess dressing is delicious with simply prepared vegetables such as blanched green beans, fresh witlof, raddichio and grilled artichokes. I personally love it drizzled over a crisp wedge of iceberg lettuce and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Also try it on spread on sandwiches or mixed into your next potato salad.

Ingredients

1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
¼ cup lemon juice
1/4 cup roughly chopped parsley,
3 tablespoons roughly chopped tarragon
1 tablespoon chopped chives
2 teaspoon chopped capers
1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Method
Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until combined. Season with salt and pepper and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving for the flavours to mingle.
Makes approx 400ml.

Keeps in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Bon appetite.

Zucchini Blossom and Goats Cheese Tart

I just smile when I think about good food.

By good food I mean fresh produce (preferably locally sourced), simple ingredients combined to create fantastic flavours and meals that make you feel better just by thinking about them.

A simple savoury custard mixed with fresh zucchini blossoms, herbs, lemon zest and fresh goats curd all encased in a buttery crisp flaky pastry is exactly that – good food.

Besides looking beautiful, with delicate yellow zucchini petals popping through the custard, it is simple to make and tastes delicious.

I can not help but smile when food is as good and simple as this.

Ingredients
2 sheets good quality frozen short crust pastry
1 punnet baby zucchinis with their flowers (or 1 small zucchini and 1 punnet of zucchini flowers)
2tbs olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
6 eggs, beaten
125ml milk
120g parmesan, finely grated
200g fresh goats cheese, crumbled
zest of 1 lemon

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C (160° fan forced). Lay 2 sheets of pastry on a lightly floured surface. Brush a 15cm wide strip of one sheet lightly with water. Lay the other sheet over the first to cover the water brushed area. Roll out pastry until 3mm thick and big enough to cover a 28cm fluted loose bottom tart tin. Roll the pastry over the rolling pin and unroll it over the tart tin. Lift the pastry into the tin and press it evenly into the edges. Trim off any excess pastry and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes remove from the fridge and prick the base with a fork. Line the tart with baking paper and fill with pastry weights or dried beans. Blind bake the tart for 10 minutes. Remove the baking paper and beans and return to the oven for 5 minutes or until the pastry is dry to touch.

Meanwhile remove the flowers from the zucchini and reserve. Slice the zucchini 5 mm thick on an angle.

Heat olive oil in a large frypan over medium heat. Add the onion garlic and cook for 5 minutes until soft. Add the zucchini and cook for 2 minutes until just soft. Transfer to a plate to cool.

In a large bowl whisk together the eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper and fold through the cheeses and lemon zest.

When the onion and zucchini mixture is cool fold through the egg mixture. Pour into your baked tart case and decorate with zucchini flowers.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the custard is firm to the touch but still jiggles when tapped.

Serves 6

Bon Appetite