Cheesy Pesto Mushroom Burger

It was, apparently, world vegetarian day on October 2nd. I only discovered it when I was reading one of the newspapers online. There seems to be a day for every thing now. I try to make a vegetarian dishes regularly anyway. I had planned to make a mushroom burger the day before but didn't get it made so I decided to give it a go. 

It turned out to be an interesting exercise. I had the mushroom out and turned on the oven and then the power went out and remained out for almost 12 hours. So the rest of the meal was made by torch and candle light. I spread the inside of the mushroom with pesto and then put sliced havarti cheese in it, dipped in egg and finally coated in bread crumbs. Thankfully I have a baby Q weber bbq so I was still able to cook. I was going to make chips to go with it but I didn't know how to do that on the bbq and after prepping the mushroom via torchlight I didn't feel like doing any more. I was really pleased with how this turned out. I was concerned that the crumbs would burn on the bbq but they didn't. I haven't used my weber a lot so far but now that it is starting to heat up I plan to use it a lot more. I also took the photo via torch and candle light and it turned out better than expected. 

Pesto roasted tomato tart

So, I have a new subscription. This time to Australian Good Taste. I decided that, like delicious. magazine, I have to use it. There is no point getting the magazine if I don't use it. The best way for me to use it is to post on here that I will be cooking from it every month. See, now I am obligated, it is on the internet, it must be true. ;) 

I didn't get past the cover recipe for something I wanted to make make. Actually that isn't exactly true even if it is on the cover and is the first recipe inside. There are all sorts of things that I want to make but went with the cover recipe to start with. 

As for other things to make, I am not sure I will get them in this month. Although there is still plenty of time. However I also purchased a copy of New Zealand's Dish magazine with some amazing looking recipes. Also this month's delicious. magazine is excellent. I have done so much cooking this month but have been very lazy in regard to blogging about them. Oops, I shouldn't have admitted that, now it is out there I will have to write them won't I. 

Back to the March edition of Australian Good Taste magazine. The glazed pear & goat's cheese salad sounds really good, although it would be feta for me. I have tried hard to like goat's cheese but it is just not for me. I am happy to add feta to salads instead. I am definitely going to make the chorizo, corn & chilli streusel muffins. I can see them being the perfect accompaniment for soup, so it might be a recipe that will have to wait. Although I am sure they would be excellent brunch item too. Tobie Puttock's pesce al cartoccio looks fantastic. It is a fish dish that looks really good to me with a combination of fennel, olives and capers. As far as I am concerned anything with olives and capers is terrific. Plus with most fish dishes it is easy to reduce recipes to one serve. 

The pesto roasted tomato tart was good, although it certainly needed some seasoning. For me it was definitely missing pepper in the mix. I think that I would add more garlic and more pesto next time too. I really liked the parmesan & oregano pastry. It was wonderfully short and crumbly. I got it a bit too thick on the corners. I should probably have been rolled thinner. In fact I think that there could have been a bit less pastry. Perhaps there was a lot of pastry trimmed when they made the tart for the magazine. Overall, it was good but I think it would be great with a few tweaks. It was good cold as well as hot too. Oh, and it gave me a chance to try making pastry in my thermomix. It was so easy and an easier clean up than making it in my food processor. 

Pesto roasted tomato tart

2 tsp olive oil 

1 leek, thinly sliced 

1 garlic clove, thinly slice 

150 g fresh ricotta

50 g goat's cheese (I used feta)

1 tbsp basil pesto

10 mixed baby tomatoes 

2 truss tomatoes, thickly sliced

6 pitted kalamata olives, halved

Fresh oregano leaves, to serve 

Parmesan & oregano pastry

225 g plain flour

150 g butter, chilled & chopped 

20 g (1/4 c) shredded parmesan

3 tsp chopped fresh oregano (I probably used about a tbsp)

1 egg yolk

2 tbsp chilled water

For pastry: 

Add flour, butter, parmesan and oregano to tmx bowl and hit turbo until mix resembles breadcrumbs. 

Add egg yolk and water and mix for 5 - 10 seconds at speed 6 or until mix comes together in a ball. Turn out, shape into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and chill in fridge. 

Cook leek & garlic in oil over a medium heat until soft. Cool. 

Combine ricotta, goat's cheese and pesto. 

Pre-heat oven to 200 C. 

Roll pastry out to a 25 x 35 cm rectangle. (mine was a bit thick so would go on thickness rather than size). 

Spread with ricotta, then leeks and finally tomatoes and olives. 

Fold in the edges of the pastry and bake for 30 min or until golden and tomato soft. 

August 2012 - Salmon wrapped in prosciutto

I can't believe that I have left it this long to get something made and posted from this month's delicious magazine. I keep saying that I will do better next month but I guess that I just have to face the fact that this hasn't been the best year so far for me and the blog just has to take a back seat until I am feeling better. Perhaps I might just post some recipes and pictures for things that I have made. I seem to fall down on writing the "chit chat" these days. I will keep going with my delicious magazine recipes though. Will not fall down on that. :-)

There were a few interesting things in this issue. I really liked some of Simon Bryant's recipes. In particular his sesame & tahini puffed rice bars with dark chocolate. I have everything but the puffed rice, oh and the chocolate, so will get that this week and make them on the weekend. I am not sure about the large amount of chocolate. Instead of coating both sides I might just do one, or I might try them without first and then decide if the chocolate is needed. 

I am also keen to make both Valli's south american roast chicken with guacamole and her harira (moroccan lamb, tomato & lentil soup). I just received my new 5 in 1 multicooker today so I think that I might give the harira a go with the pressure cooker function. I am really keen to get using it. So will be looking for lots of things that I can do in it. 

Tonight though, I made the salmon wrapped in prosciutto with pesto and roast pumpkin. I used more of the cashew & lemon pesto that I made before instead of making the parsley pesto in the recipe. I also had a bit of an oopsie with the pumpkin in that I accidentally turned the oven up to 250 C instead of 200 C so it got a bit "dark" around the edges, LOL.  I served it with a nice portion of salad. It was all very good. 

Salmon wrapped in prosciutto with pesto and roast pumpkin

Serves 4

1kg butternut pumpkin peeled and chopped (I used Kent pumpkin)

1 tbsp garlic olive oil

4 x 180g skinless pin-boned salmon fillets

4  slices prosciutto

Pesto and salad to serve

Preheat oven to 200C. 

Place pumpkin on a baking paper lined tray and drizzle with oil and season. Roast for 30 - 40 minutes or until tender.  

Season salmon with salt & pepper then wrap each salmon fillet with a slice of prosciutto.  Cook in a pan over a medium heat for 3 – 4 minutes on each side until cooked to your liking. Serve with pesto and salad.

Pesto Stuffed Chicken

I have been very slack when it comes to blogging but to be honest I have been pretty slack when it has come to cooking. I haven't been well for a while and have just not been cooking much. I have had a few of the better ready meals from the supermarket. I did make a tuna & pasta bake, that isn't really that interesting. Although I suppose even comfort food it worth writing about, it just isn't that attractive to photograph, delicious though. 

I am even still to decide on what to make from this month's delicious magazine. I have one recipe marked to make but it doesn't really interest me at the moment. I am sure there is other stuff in there but my disinterest in cooking and food means that deciding on what to make is a difficult decision. I will get it done though as I am not going to miss a month of delicious recipes. 

I am quite impressed with the recipes in this month's Feast magazine. There are quite a few of them that I would like to try out. Some pretty extensive ingredients lists. Although several of them I have every thing or just need one other thing to make it. It is just a matter of motivation. 

I did, however, get myself motivated enough a couple of nights ago to throw together a good meal. I had some chicken thigh cutlets to use up. I made more of the cashew & lemon pesto that I done previously. It was so easy to put together and the taste was terrific. The flavour of the pesto penetrated the chicken very well. I think that it would also work well with breasts, the oil from the pesto would help to maintain the moisture I believe. I served with mashed sweet potato & steamed beans. 

Pesto stuffed chicken

2 chicken thigh cutlets 

2 tbsp cashew & lemon pesto (or other pesto) 

oil

Pre-heat oven to 170 C (fan-forced). 

Cut a pocket into the side of the cutlets and push as much of the pesto in as possible. Rub any extras  over the chicken. 

Heat oil in an ovenproof fry pan. Brown chicken both sides and then place in over for about 20 minutes or until cooked through. 

Serve with mashed sweet potato, steamed beans and extra pesto. 

Delicious May 2012 - Gnocchi with Cashew & Lemon Pesto

So here is the delicious magazine annual Italian issue. Hmm, to be honest I have to admit that having an annual Italian issue is beginning to annoy me. I am not saying that I don't love Italian food/recipes. It is just that delicious never seems to focus on any other cuisines. Surely they could change it up a bit. How about a Greek issue? Or a Moroccan/Middle Eastern issue? French, Mexican, Chinese, Spanish, Thai or perhaps a mix of Asian cuisines, Indian. There are so many cuisines that could be the focus of a whole issue rather than the same one every year. If you are going to produce and issue each year that focuses on one cuisine a bit of variety would be nice. 

Okay, so now that I have had a bit of a rant. There actually was quite a few recipes in here that I was interested in making. From first read I was going to make Debbie Major's Roast chicken breasts stuffed with mushroom & herb butter. It just sounded so incredible. It sounds like a really fancy recipe and the picture looks like it would take you a while to do but actually reading the recipe it is not that hard. For some reason though, I just never got around to making it. Also part of Debbie's section was Sausage, fennel seed & mushroom ragu with parmesan polenta. It also sounds and looks really good. I think it will get a run one day. Although I don't have pork sausages. I know that I could buy them, but I have a bunch of beef sausages in the freezer so I think I would use them. 

There was a Rick Stein feature in this issue as well. He had a recipe for Bagna Cauda which really interested me only because it featured in one of my favourite tv shows, Babylon 5 though, LOL. It was just in one episode where one of the characters is trying to get the ingredients for it except he is supposed to be on a diet. The Rick Stein recipe show exactly why it is not diet friendly, full of butter, olive oil, garlic, anchovies and cream. It sounds wonderful actually but is really not a recipe for one. Perhaps I will get a chance to make it one day. Another Rick Stein recipe that I was interested in was Slow-braised beef cheeks with parmesan polenta (hmm, lots of polenta in this issue). The recipe said that it served 8, for me it would probably be more like 10 or 12. Even halving the recipe would make too much for me. Plus I already have a freezer full of meals so will keep the recipe in mind. 

I ended up making Gnocchi with cashew & lemon pesto. Actually it was supposed to be almond & lemon pesto but I had cashews in the cupboard but no almonds so I decided that the would work just as well. I also added some parmesan to the pesto. I really enjoyed this. Next time I would probably leave out the prosciutto and  add some extra veg, like marinated eggplant, roasted capsicum and marinated artichoke hearts and perhaps some spinach at the end. The pesto was very good, although was a little bit oily for me so I would probably reduce the amount of olive oil in it a bit, maybe 75 - 100 mls. I almost didn't put it all in, I should have followed my instincts. I was lazy and didn't make my own gnocchi, just bought some from the supermarket, it was surprisingly good. I have gnocchi leftover in the fridge and a heap of pesto left over so I will make it again during the week with the changes I have suggested.

Gnocchi with cashew & lemon pesto

400g potato gnocchi
50g creme fraiche or sour cream
4 slices prosciutto, torn
semi-dried tomatoes, quartered

shaved parmesan, to serve

Cashew & Lemon pesto
1/2 cup cashews

2 garlic cloves
2 firmly packed cups basil leaves
grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup (125ml) extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 120 C. Place cashews on a baking tray and roast in the oven for 5 - 10  minutes or until just starting to colour. Make sure to watch them closely. Cool. 

Using a food processor blitz the cashews and garlic together, add basil, lemon zest & juice and parmesan and process until basil is chopped. Drizzle in the oil with the motor running watch it closely and only use as much as you feel is necessary. Combine pesto with sour cream (I didn't combine it all, I just mixed up as much as I wanted to use). 

Place the gnocchi in a large saucepan of boiling salted water, removing and draining as they come to the surface. 

Combine hot gnocchi with prosciutto, semi-dried tomatoes and pesto. 

Serve with shaved parmesan. 

Pesto & Chargrilled Vegetable Pasta

I am so tired, no exhausted, tonight but I just had to do a quick post about tonight's dinner. An incredibly simple recipe that I found on Taste for Pesto & chargrilled vegetable pasta. I already had everything that I needed for it in the house. It was made even simpler since I already had some homemade pesto in my fridge which was a gift from a friend. I made sure to drain the vegetables well. The sun-dried tomatoes that I have at the moment are in a vinaigrette as are the chargrilled capsicum so that cuts down on a bit of oil. I did add some small cubes of feta but I think that some extra parmesan would be great too.