Lentil Bolognese

After a fanatastic camping holiday what better way to enjoy the trip home than with a stop at a delightful country town cafe. We stumbled across Alfreds Cafe in Euroa.  An eclectic yet boutique cafe with delicious food and five star service. Walking in with kids all a little shabby post camping, we were warmly welcomed with a high chair, colouring books and kids menu.

Enjoying lunch at Albert's Cafe in Euroa

 

Veggie mum and dad enjoyed a very satisfying coffee followed by a smoked salmon, Milawa brie, preserved lemon tart and zucchini and haloumi fritters. We couldn't resist the cake selection and chose the orange almond cake to share on the drive home. Incredibly light for an almond cake with the unmatchable flavour of whole orange. Any drive along the Hume would be enhanced by Alberts Cafe in Euroa.

licking the every last piece of cake crumbs...

So we got home rather late, needed a quick and reliable dinner, and I was pretty keen to get my hands back on the Thermomix dials.  Was better than a trusty Lentil Bolognese.  It’s one of those favourites that you can use whatever veges you have on hand or prefer and the lentil can be pre cooked dried green lentils or straight from a tin if time is calling you.  Any pasta if fine but the kids love spaghetti and topped with some fresh parmesan cheese you can’t go wrong.



Lentil Bolognese with Spaghetti

Lentil Bologese

 

40g parmesan cheese cubed

1 onion

1 clove garlic

20g olive oil

1 carrot

1 zucchini

1 handful of mushrooms

¼ red capsicum

1 tin lentils drained

1 tin tomato

1/4 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp vege stock concentrate

50g red wine or water

Handful of fresh herbs eg basil, oregano or 1 tsp dried herbs

• Add cheese to Thermomix bowl and chop for 4 seconds on speed 6 then set aside
• Add garlic and onion to bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 6
• Add oil and sauté for 3 minutes at 100° on speed 1
• Add roughly chopped carrot, zucchini, mushrooms and capsicum and chop for 4 seconds on speed 7
• Add all other ingredients (if using fresh herbs leave for last 5 minutes) and cook for 15 minutes at 100° on Reverse speed 1
• Meanwhile cook your favourite pasta to your liking then serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese

Enjoy!

Zucchini, Lentil and Haloumi Fritters

How good are home grown zucchini’s?!?!

The new vege patch is proving very worthwhile as we’re picking on average a zucchini a day and don't they taste amazing!  The kids eat them like cucumbers and the list of recipes to use them in is endless.  I’ve made Baked Zucchini Flowers, Zucchini Cake, delicious Sautéed Zucchini with Pinenuts and Figs as a side, but the family’s favourite is my Zucchini, Lentil and Haloumi Fritters.

Zucchini's grown happily in the new vege patch!

They’re quick, easy and super tasty.  They're great served warm with some yoghurt and salad or cold the next day for the kids as fingerfood.  You can add whatever herbs you have in the garden but I find a little bit of mint gives them a lovely kick and a bit of a Greek flavour alongside the haloumi cheese. On that note, the haloumi can easily be substituted for feta.  I add the lentils not only for added protein but also for little colour and texture flecks which works well.

Mint and chives

And I may need to apologise in advance as I cannot find my written recipe for these fritters so am going by memory.  Here goes...

Zucchini, Lentil and Haloumi Fritters

100g Puy Lentils
180g haloumi
2 medium zucchinis
5-6 mint leaves
A few chive sprigs or spring onions

1 free range egg
80g plain flour (more if needed)
Freshly ground pepper
A little olive oil for pan frying

 

• Place Puy lentils in a saucepan with plenty of water and boil for approximately 20-25 minutes or until tender and set aside in a colander to drain well.  Alternatively use a tin of lentils but Puy lentils have a much nicer texture for this recipe
• Place herbs in Thermomix bowl and chop for 4 seconds on speed 4
• Add roughly chopped haloumi and chop for 5 seconds on speed 5 then set aside
• Place roughly chopped zucchini in Thermomix bowl and chop for 2 seconds on speed 4.  Avoid over chopping as this releases extra moisture
• Add all other ingredients including haloumi and herbs and mix on Reverse for 20 seconds on Speed 2
• Set aside for 10 minutes for moisture to absorb a little while you heat a frying pan with a little olive oil to medium heat
• Place large spoonfuls of mixture int frying pan and cook on 2 minutes each side until golden and the fritters hold together
• Drain on paper towel

Serve with Greek Yoghurt and a side salad and enjoy!

Mediterranean Vegetables, Lentil and Ricotta Bake

As most vegetarians would understand we go through a lot of vegies in our house.  So much so that our latest project is to build a 2^nd vegie patch in the garden.  It literally will be in the garden, amongst gum trees and other natives but raised a little with the hope there isn’t too much competition for water and nutrients.  We were almost given some gorgeous pieces of recycled wood from my dad but it turns out white ants have made them their home.  A small purchase required instead.



Here is little Finn in his favourite place, the sandpit, not far from the new vegie patch

Stayed tuned for progress on the vegie patch but here’s a delicious recipe for heaps of Mediterranean style vegies, with lentils and ricotta.  It’s pretty quick and simple and open to variation.  And did I mention healthy too?  I like to cook my vegetables in a flat sandwich press / grill but you can pan fry instead.  When you have time home made pasta sauce is great but in this dish store bought works just fine.  You can even make this without a Thermomix so no excuses – give it a try and watch the family make it disappear!

Mediterranean Vegetables, Lentil and Ricotta Bake

1 large eggplant
1 red capsicum
Approx 600g sweet potato
1 zucchini
4 field mushrooms
Approx 600g tomato pasta sauce
1 tin or 400g brown lentils
¼ cup basil leaves
2 eggs
500g fresh ricotta
40g parmesan
¼ tsp nutmeg
Salt and pepper

Slice vegetables into about 1cm slices and cook in grill or frypan in batches and set aside
Grate parmesan for 6 seconds on speed 8 in Thermomix (or by hand and add to a large bowl)
Add ricotta, eggs, nutmeg, salt and pepper and blend for 20 seconds on speed 4 (or stir together by hand)
Preheat oven to 180°
Spread a little pasta sauce in a baking dish then layer vegetables and lentils.  I went for eggplant, capsicum, mushrooms, lentils, sweet potato, then zucchini
Roughly tear basil leaves and scatter over
Spoon ricotta mixture over and spread out
Bake for 30 minutes or until golden then rest for about 10 minutes before slicing and serving

Serve with a green salad or crusty fresh bread and enjoy!

Vegetarian Sausage Rolls

It was grand final weekend and as most people do we decided to watch the game with some friends and have “footy food”.  As vegetarians the food I chose to make and share was Vegetarian Sausage Rolls.  We had all good intentions of watching the game but with young kids who really cannot sit still we decided to venture outdoors to explore instead.

Vegetarian sausage rolls

We headed to a nearby parkland to kick the footy but soon Summer lead us into the forest to where “the fairies used to live...” As her imagination and storytelling ran wild the younger 2 followed in awe as we crept through the lush growth with the sunshine peaking through in a real fairy land kind of way.  It really was pure magic.

The kids in fairy land...

 Back to the Vegetarian Sausage Rolls which are super tasty and even look strangely meaty.  I’m not one to try and make vegetarian food look “fake” but even my friends were a little confused when I turned up with sausage rolls.  They are nutritious and have plenty of protein with the addition of walnuts, sunflower seeds, lentils and cottage cheese and most importantly the kids love them.  In fact they're a great way to "hide" lots of goodness for fussy ones.  And while there may seem like a lot of ingredients, this recipe makes quiet a lot so there’s plenty to share or even pop in the freezer for a rainy day.  Dip them in some tomato sauce or chutney and they’re a really tasty and healthy treat.  Yum!

Brainfood - walnuts

Remember breadcrumbs are easily made from frozen left over bread.  Lentils can be cooked in Thermomix by placing in basket with enough water to cover and cooked for 30 minutes on speed 3 at 100° or using the canned variety is just fine.

 Vegetarian Sausage Rolls

5 sheets of store bought or homemade puff pastry
100g cooked green lentils
100g walnuts
½ MC sunflower seeds
50g breadcrumbs
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
10g olive oil
1 carrot
1 zucchini
70g mushrooms
50g rolled oats
100g cottage cheese
3 eggs (a little reserved for brushing)
1 tbls soy sauce
1 tsp vege stock
2 tbls tomato paste
Sesame seeds for sprinkling (optional)

• Preheat oven to 200° and grease or line baking trays
• If using frozen puff pastry remove from freezer and separate to thaw
• Add walnuts and sunflower seeds to Thermomix bowl and chop for 6 seconds on speed 6 then remove from bowl and set aside
• Add onion and garlic and chop for 5 seconds on speed 7
• Add olive oil and sauté for 2 minutes on speed 1 at 100°
• Add carrot, zucchini and mushrooms and chop for 5 seconds on speed 6
• Add all other ingredients except tomato paste and blend for 10 seconds on speed 6, scrape down with spatula then repeat for another 5 seconds on speed 6
• Cut pastry in half and spread with tomato paste
• Spread mixture down centre of each piece of pastry, roll up with overlapping pastry and brush with beaten egg
• Sprinkle with sesame seeds
• Place on baking trays and make ¾ cuts at 2 inch intervals
• Bake for 20 minutes or until golden

Enjoy with your favourite sauce or chutney!

Immune Boosting Green Soup

It’s that time of year when everyone in the house has a bit of a running nose and is feeling a bit run down.  Time for some immune boosting and what better way to do that than with a yummy soup, filled with nutrients and goodness.  And even better it’s easy to make and easy to eat.  It’s one of those things that the Thermomix does best.


Immune Boosting Green Soup with homemade Tortillas

 

Any of your favourite bread such a some ciabatta would be delicious but today I served this soup with some cheesy toasted homemade tortilla – my latest bread discovery!

Lemon and Silverbeet

 There are heaps of ways to boost your immune system and this soup contains just a few:

• Garlic is a powerful immune booster that stimulates infection fighting white cells, boosts natural killer cell activity, and increases the efficiency of antibody production.
• Vitamin C increases production of infection fighting white blood cells and antibodies especially interferon, the antibody that coats cell surfaces and prevents the entry of viruses.
• Vitamin E is found in sources such as sunflower seeds and has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits.
• Zinc plays an important role in the immune defence system and can be found in legumes and seeds. Soaking them increases their bioavailability which is important for vegetarians.  Dulse and other sea vegetables also contain Zinc and Vitamin E.
• Omega-3 fatty acids such as those found in flax seed oil act as immune booster by increasing the activity of phagocytes, the white blood cells that eat up bacteria.

Fresh Broccoli and Silverbeet

So make you and your family a big pot of this immune booster to keep the chills away or at least reduce their stay.

 
Immune Boosting Green Soup
250g green lentils
800g water
1 onion
1 clove garlic
1 tbls olive oil
1 large or 2 small potatos cubed
1 stick celery roughly chopped
1 small or ½ a large broccoli roughly chopeed
1 bunch of silverbeet with stalks removed and well rinsed to get rid of any grit and any crawling friends
1 tsp vege concentrate
1 tbls fresh thyme
Juice of half a lemon
Pinch of nutmeg
2 tbls flaxseed oil

• Soak lentils in  water for 4-6 hours
• Place basket in Thermomix bowl and pour in soaked lentils and enough water to cover and cook for 20 minutes on speed 1 at 100°
• Remove basket of lentils and set aside stock water for later
• Place onion and garlic in Thermomix bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 6
• Add oil and sauté for 3 mintues at 100° on speed 2
• Add potato and sauté for an additional 5 minutes at 100° on speed 2
• Add celery, broccoli, lentils, thyme, vege stock and water and cook for 10 minutes at 100° on speed 2
• Add silverbeet and lemon juice and cook for a final 5 minutes 100° on speed 2
• Add flaxseed oil and blend for 10 seconds on speed 4

Serve with a dollop of yoghurt and a sprinkle of sunflower seeds

Immune Boosting Green Soup

Enjoy!