Pasta Recipes

Fresh pasta ravioli with lemon butter sauce

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INGREDIENTS:

FOR PASTA:

150gr of 00 flour

50gr semolina flour

2 eggs

FOR FILLING:

200gr pork mince

Handfull of chopped parsley

Handfull of grated parmesan cheese

3 garlic cloves (minced)

1 egg

Salt & pepper to taste

FOR SAUCE:

100ml of Vermouth

100ml of chicken stock

1 shallot

50 gr of butter

lemon juice to taste

3 caper berries

 

PREPARATION:

Let’s make pasta first. Combine flour & eggs into one bowl. Start mixing with the fork first until you get a homogenous mixture, then transfer onto a clean surface and work it for around 5-10 min (depending how strong you are:)) . Kneed it until it gets some elasticity. Wrap the dough into plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge for 30min to an hour to rest.

While pasta is resting let’s make the filling. Combine all ingredients into one bowl and mix it until very well combined. Set it aside.

As pasta has rested for an hour in the fridge roll it with the pasta machine or rolling pin until very thin. Of course it’s so much easier to do it with pasta machine but rolling pin works as well.

Let’s make a ravioli. There are so many ways to do so. I have used the method of two long pasta sheets which overlay each other and then used the cutter to cut circular form of ravioli itself.  I have used 1 teaspoon of filling per ravioli separating each filling every 3-4 fingers apart. I have used eggwash in between the filling to make top sheet stick to the pasta sheet beneath.

When all raviolis are made I start making the  sauce as it will take approx 10-15 min to make it. I start by cooking the onions in a pan until they get translucent then add vermouth and cook for a min or so to help alcohol evaporate. Then add chicken stock and cook it on medium to low heat until it sauce is reduced by half.

While sauce is reducing I start boiling the water for the ravioli. Make sure you season the water with salt. Add raviolis and cook for about 4-5 min on simmering water. It is usually enough for pasta and filling to cook through.

When the sauce has reduced by half add butter, lemon juice and chopped caper berries into the sauce and simmer for further 2-3 min. Make sure you taste the sauce before serving and add salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer everything to the plating dish , pour the sauce over the raviolis and …

BON APPETIT:)

Pasta Recipes

Spaghetti with pan fried salmon,dried mushroom chips & tarragon sauce

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INGREDIENTS (2 PERSONS):

2 x 200 gr salmon fillets

2 shallots (finely chopped)

1 garlic clove (finely chopped)

50gr of dried porcini mushrooms

100gr of spaghetti pasta

Salt , pepper & tbs of olive oil

1 tbs of creme fraiche

1 large sprig of fresh tarragon (leave some to garnish )

1 handful of parsley

1 lemon

1 caper berry or 1 tbs of capers

1 tbs of unsalted butter

100ml of white wine

PREPARATION:

Firstly we need to make a mushroom stock out of our dried mushrooms.  Use 300ml of boiling water on top of the dried mushrooms and set it aside for mushrooms to soften a little. In about 20 min you will have a dark brown mushroom stock. After 20 min separate the mushrooms from the stock.

Now lets cook salmon. Season with salt & pepper and cook it skin side down most of the time (about 2-3 min) only turn once and cook for 1 more min. Don’t worry if salmon doesn’t look fully cooked as it will go to the sauce at the very end of cooking to finish off.

I used the second skillet to cook my dried mushroom with a little of of butter & olive oil until they became crispy. Then remove them onto the paper towel.

Let’s cook the shallots and garlic  in the same pan the one we cooked the fish in and sauté until they become translucent and add the wine to de-glaze the pan. Let wine evaporate for a min and add mushroom stock, finely sliced caper berry and chopped tarragon . Cook it on a medium heat and reduce it by half. It will take 10-15 min.

In a meantime lets cook the pasta. Please follow pasta cooking instructions as one pasta cooks more than other. Cook it al dente so it still got a bite to it as it will go to the sauce at the very end.

When  mushroom stock has reduced  to your liking ( it depends on how much sauce you want to have with your pasta) taste it for seasoning and add salt & pepper if need be. Add tbs of creme fraiche and turn of the heat. Take cooked salmon and break it apart to smaller pieces and transfer it to the sauce together with pasta and parsley. Pasta will absorb some the sauce.

Serve it in a plate of your choice together with wedge of lemon and cooked mushrooms.

Bon appetit:)

 

Meat Recipes

Miso duck with apple puree

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INGREDIENTS:

2 duck breasts

4-5 medium sized apples

knob of butter

“Miso” paste

“Mirin” or any other rise vinegar

Lemon juice (2 tbs)

Parsley

PREPARATION:

Peel and slice the apples and add the to the pot with a knob of butter, lemon juice & couple of tablespoons of water. Heat them through on a low heat stirring occasionally until they release their juices.

In the small pot prepare the glaze for the duck. Add tablespoon of “Miso” paste, delude it with couple of tablespoons of water and add “Mirin” to balance the saltiness with the acidity. Dissolve the paste and leave it to rest.

Put duck breasts in a cold skillet skin side down on a medium heat and cook it slowly until you see skin to get crispy and nice golden brown colour. Please be aware that most of the cooking (about 80-90 %) is done on a skin side, because we want to render as much fat as possible (It takes about 5-7 min depending on the amount of fat )

While duck is cooking blend the apples and add chopped parsley to your liking.

When the duck skin is nice and golden , its time to rotate it on the other side and glaze the skin with the glaze you prepared earlier. If it became too thick just heat it up. Give it a min on this side and the put it back on the skin side. Glaze this side with remaining glaze and turn  the burner off. Leave the duck to rest in a skillet. Cooking of the duck must be treated the same as cooking the stake, which it has to be nice and pink in the middle (same colour as a medium-rare steak)

Prepare the plates, add the apple puree and duck on top of it. It is very delicious.

Bon appetit:)

Soups

French onion soup

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INGREDIENTS (for 2) :

5-6 large onions

1ltr of beef stock

100gr of ‘Konte’ or ‘Gruyere’ cheese

2 slices of bread

Garlic clove

Olive oil + salt + pepper

2 sprigs of Thyme & oregano

 

PREPARATION:

Slice the onions into small strips lengthwise and start sautéing in a pot with a little bit of olive oil on a small heat. Keep stirring from time to time. There’s gonna be huge amount of onions in a pot but they will melt down significantly during cooking. What we’re looking to achieve is dark caramelised colour of the onions (not burned).

While onions are cooking prepare the bread. Slice bread into slices and put it into the oven of 200deg C for about 5-6 min until it gets golden colour. Take them out and rub with a garlic clove and leave it to cool.

When onions are cooked to your liking add all beat stock, springs of thyme & oregano and cook it uncovered for about 20 min until it reduces by almost a half. You still want to retain a ‘thick soupy’ consistency .Taste it and add seasoning to your liking. Please remove any leftovers sprigs of thyme & oregano.

And its time for the next step which is combine the ingredients together. Fill the soup bowls with the soup, put a slice of bread on top of it and grate the cheese. Shove it under the broiler and cook until cheese is melted.

Bon appetit;)

Lithuanian dishes

“Kibinai” – National dish of Karaimai

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(ALL CREDITS GO TO MY WIFE )

INGREDIENTS:

For the dough:

  • 1kg of plain flour.
  • 380g creme fraiche (at least 30% fat, but more is better).
  • 250 grams unsalted and chilled butter.
  • 2 eggs.
  • salt
  • pepper

For the filling:

  • 500g unsmoked pork loin joint
  • 500g smoked pork loin joint
  • 2 big onions
  • salt and pepper

First of all a little bit of history of this dish which is very popular in Lithuania. It was brought to Lithuania with ethnic group of people which is mostly based in Trakai nowadays. Kibinai became very popular in Lithuania as they are very delicious and very easy to eat , perfect when you need to pack your lunch or when you want to feed a large group of people. You do not need cutlery to be able to eat which makes them good for picknics too.

Lets get started with the dough first, as it will need to rest in the fridge for about 30 min once finished. Take 1kg of plain flour and run through the sift , put some salt and pepper so the dough wasn’t bland. Grate in butter, mix it with the flour thoroughly, you should not have any big butter pieces left and flour will become a bit yellowish and wet grainy crumble (You can spread this process up by using food processor). Now make a well in the centre and put all wet ingredients which is 2 eggs and creme fraiche. Kneed the dough while no flour is left on a work table, everything is well combined and not sticking to the hands. Wrap the dough into a cling film and put into the fridge for about 30 min.

Second step would be to prepare the filing. Dice the meat in 1cm cubes, mix with diced onions, season it with salt and pepper (Do not use minsed meat instead as it will change the texture completely). Kibinai supposed to have a bit of heat so don’t be afraid to put a bit more pepper. The quantity of the salt used in the filling depends on the saltiness of the meat. I normally mix 500 gr. of raw pork loin with 500 gr. of lightly smoked pork loin therefore I put less salt.

When dough is relaxed and filling is made, take the dough out of the fridge and divide into 4 equal pieces.

Roll each piece as shown in the picture below (Roughly 30 cm length rolls). Divide each piece into half and each half into half again and you should end up with 16 equal pieces.

Roll each piece into circles as per pictures below. I find it best to roll all of the pieces first and then spread the filling evenly. To make the proper form of Kibinai follow pictures below. If the edges of the dough became too dry you may want to brush it with some egg wash. Stick the sides of the dough together and then to make a nice looking pattern on top, twist the top part of the dough towards yourself and press lightly (See the pictures below).  When finished with the pattern, line up your baking trays with some baking paper and transfer Kibinai leaving some space in between as shown in pictures below. Brush with an egg wash and bake in preheated to 200deg C oven for 30 min or until golden brown.

Traditionally it goes with chicken broth (bouillon) but it is very nice with the fresh salad or beer. Bon appetite!

 

Seafood

Cod with mediterranean salsa

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INGREDIENTS:

500gr of cod fillet

50gr. of flour

1 onion (chopped)

3 anchovies

50ml white wine

1 chilli pepper (chopped)

1 Tbs of dried marjoram

1 Tbs of dried oregano

Handful of fresh basil

1 tbs of cappers with 1 Tbs of capers marinade (Juice in which capers comes in)

10 black olives (I used Calamata olives )

8 fresh medium size tomatoes (cut into quarters)

Fresh parsley & dill

Olives oil, Salt & pepper to taste and sugar (if needed)

 

PREPARATION:

Firstly let’s cook the Cod. Season the cod fillets with salt & pepper and coat with flour. Make sure you shake off the excess before transferring fish onto the pan. Heat the pan on medium-high heat. When pan is relatively hot transfer the fish. Cook for 2 min each side or until it’s lightly golden brown. Remove it from the pan and leave it aside.

Let’s make a salsa. In the same pan, add anchovies and cook until they break down and almost melts. Add the onion with chilli pepper and cook until onion gets translucent. Add the dried herbs (oregano & marjoram). Cook them for about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and reduce the heat to low-medium and cook them for about 8 minutes until they break up and release their juices. Add olives and wine and cook for 2 more minutes until the alcohol evaporates. Add parsley, dill & basil. If salsa at this point is very thick(depends on tomatoes you use for this recipe), introduce 1-2 tablespoons of water. Now adjust the seasoning. I didn’t season at the beginning just because anchovies were very salty. If salsa is on a sour side, introduce a little bit of sugar just to balance it out. Add fish fillets into the salsa mix and cook for 1-2 min just to warm up the fish.

Garnish with fresh basil leaves and chopped chilli pepper. Serve it with a slice of bread of your choice, I used Ciabatta bread.

Bon appetit:)

 

 

 

 

Seafood

Seared scallops with cauliflower-corn puree and sun dried tomato pesto

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INGREDIENTS:

CAULIFLOWER & SWEET CORN PUREE:

2 baby cauliflowers

2 sweet corn cubs

50 g of unsalted butter

150ml of milk

salt to taste

SUN-DRIED TOMATO PESTO:

100gr of sun-dried tomatoes in oil

50ml of extra virgin olive oil

50gr parmesan cheese (grated)

1 clove of garlic

1 cup of basil leaves

salt & pepper to taste

PICKLED RADISHES:

10 Sliced radishes

A bunch of chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 tbs of extra virgin olive oil

50 ml white wine vinegar

SEARED SCALLOPS:

8 scallops (for 2 people)

olive oil

salt & pepper to taste.

 

PREPARATION:

Let’s start with pickled radishes. Slice the radishes thinly, add white wine vinegar and leave it to pickle for approx 30 min. Just before you serve it , add chopped parsley and olive oil, mixed it through.

Let’s make sun-dried tomato pesto. Add sun-dried tomatoes,  parmesan cheese, 1 garlic clove, basil and salt & pepper. Blend all together at the same time adding olive oil until you reach desired consistency of your pesto.

Now onto cauliflower puree. Heat the pan (griddle pan if available) and cook 2 sweet corn cubs until they slightly chard . Then carefully take the corns off the cub. Leave it to rest. In a mean time cut the cauliflower into smaller pieces so it cooks faster. Heat the pot, add  a little bit of butter and add the cauliflower. Cook it for 4 minutes until they starts to soften then add milk and corn. Bring it to the boil and simmer for about 10 min until cauliflower is fully cooked through and tender to the knife. Take the hand blender (or blender of your choice) and blend it until smooth consistency. If it’s a little too thick add some milk and blend it again.

Lastly –  The scallops. Heat the pan until it starts to smoke, add olive oil . Add a little salt & pepper onto the scallops and transfer them onto the pan. Make sure your pan is smoking hot , otherwise your scallops will cook in it’s own juices and not caramelise. Depending on the size of the scallops cook it for about 20 sec on each side (I like my scallops just a little raw inside). Then transfer them to the plate to rest and start assembling the dish. It’s up to each person taste how they want dish to look.

Bon appetit.:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pasta Recipes

Mushroom ravioli

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INGREDIENTS:

FOR FILLING:

  • Mushrooms (Chestnut) 100gr (chopped)
  • Dried mushrooms 10gr (soaked in water and chopped)
  • Mascarpone cream (2 tablespoons)
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • Half of mild chilli (chopped)
  • 1 shallot (chopped)
  • 1 clove of garlic chopped)
  • 100gr of spinach (chopped)
  • 1/4 of a teaspoon of nutmeg
  • Salt, pepper & olive oil.

FOR DOUGH:

  • 200gr. all purpose flour
  • 2 eggs + 1 egg yolk.
  • Pinch of salt.

FOR SAUCE:

  • 50gr of butter
  • 100ml of chicken stock
  • 100ml of white wine
  • 100ml of single cream
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Bunch of thyme leaves (3-4 springs)
  • 1 shallot
  • Salt

PREPARATION:

Let’s start with the filling. Heat the pan on medium heat and add shallot, garlic and chilli. Cook the shallots until they get translucent and add the chopped mushrooms, thyme, nutmeg and lemon zest. Cook it off until all liquid released by mushrooms is evaporated. Add dried mushrooms and cook it for further 5 min on medium heat. At the very end of the cooking add spinach and cook until they wilt down. Transfer to the bowl let it cool down a bit, then add mascarpone cream. Mix it well and transfer to the fridge.

As our filling is done let’s start with a dough. Whisk the eggs. Add flour and eggs to the food processor and pulse it slightly until mixture resembles wet sand. Dust the surface with a flour and transfer the dough mixture and start kneading. It will take from 10-15 min. Knead until the dough stops sticking to the surface and your hands. After it’s done wrap the dough with the plastic and transfer to the fridge for at least 30 min.

After 30 min. start rolling the dough. If you have a pasta machine( the lucky ones!) just run the dough through the pasta machine from the highest setting to the lowest. Pasta must be paper thin for a good ravioli. As I didn’t have pasta machine I used a good old rolling pin:) After rolling the pasta, make 2 round pasta pieces (see pic) for 1 ravioli (you can use pasta cutter or as I did – I used the cup). Add 1 teaspoon of filling in the middle of one piece. Brush the edge with water and put another piece on top and lightly press so it sticks to the bottom piece. Make sure you don’t trap the air inside the ravioli as it may explode during the cooking process. Use can press the sides with a fork to have a nice textural element (this is optional). I managed to make 14 raviolis.

Now start making the sauce. Add 1 shallot into the pan on medium heat. Cook it off until translucent. Add white wine, chicken stock, juice of 1 lemon and thyme leaves. Reduce mixture by half and add salt to taste. Add butter and cream and simmer on a low heat for about 5 min.

While sauce is simmering let’s start cooking our ravioli. Add ravioli to the pot of  simmering salted water (on medium to low heat) and cook until it flows to the surface, this usually takes 3-4 minutes. Remove them for the pot and add on a paper towel to drain. Then plate it up. Add some sauce, add a ravioli and some more sauce on top. I used a spring of thyme to garnish the plate.

Bon appetit.:)

 

Pasta Recipes

Dried mushroom risotto

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INGREDIENTS (for 2 people):

  • 2 shallots (finely chopped)
  • 2 springs of thyme
  • 100ml of white wine
  • 50 gr of dried mushroom (I use boletus. Can be replaced by porcini)
  • 150gr (or cup) of risotto rice (Carnaroli or Arborio rice)
  • Chicken stock (800ml)
  • Parmesan cheese .
  • Salt, pepper & olive oil
  • A knob of butter (about 50 gr)
  • Parsley

PREPARATION:

Prepare mushrooms first. Add mushrooms into a bowl and pour over some boiling water (about 200ml). Leave it for about 10-15 min for mushrooms to soak up some oh the liquid. Water becomes dark brown colour. Take the mushrooms out and chop them into smaller pieces. Do not discard the water. Add it to the chicken stock.

Heat a pan on medium heat. Add olive oil and shallots and cook them until translucent for about 5 minutes. Add the rice and lightly toast them until they become sticky when squeezed between the fingers (warning: they are very hot when doing that!). Add the wine and let it evaporate for about a minute. Now add the mushrooms, season it with salt and pepper and add a ladle of warm chicken stock into the pan(Keep stock on simmering at all times!). Continue to stir the rice until they absorb the liquid, then add another ladle.(Continuous stirring helps the rice to release its starch what gives risotto a creamy texture) Keep doing it for about 20 min until the rice still has the bite to it (not chalky) and not mushy(Italians call it al dente). At the very end of the cooking add parmesan cheese, thyme leaves and butter. Stir it well. Add last ladle of stock, cover the pan and leave it to rest for about 5 min. Risotto must have a liquid – runny texture. Add parsley to garnish and eat straight away:)

Bon appetit.:)

 

Desserts

Basil panna cotta

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INGREDIENTS:

 

For Basil Panna Cotta:

  • 500ml of single cream
  • 100ml of milk.
  • 3 sheets of gelatine.
  • 200mg sugar
  • 200gr of basil leaves.
  • raspberries to garnish

For strawberry coulis:

  • 100gr of strawberries
  • 2 tbs of lemon juice
  • 1 tbs of sugar

For caramelised pistachios:

  • 200gr of pistachios (shelled)
  • 200gr sugar
  • 200ml of water
  • 1 tbs of lemon juice.

PREPARATION:

Let’s start with preparing the basil. Add basil leaves to the blender and blend until smooth. Run everything through a sift so we have nice basil juice at the end.

Add gelatine sheets into a pan with cold water and leave it aside for 10 min

Heat the pot for panna cotta , add 500ml of single cream, milk and sugar. Add basil juice and stir until sugar is completely incorporated into the mixture. Don’t let the mixture boil. Remove from the stove and add gelatine sheets by squeezing them beforehand to remove excess water. Mix everything and pour into ramekins. I usually get 4 full ramekins from this amount of mixture. Leave it to cool at room temperature for 30 min , then transfer it to the fridge for 6 hours preferebly.

While panna cotta is chilling, we can start with our coulis. Transfer strawberries into the blender add lemon juice and sugar, blend everything and run the mixture through a sift to make sure all seeds are left out. Transfer the mixture to the fridge.

Transfer whole pistachios to the food processor and run it for 5 sec to have a finer texture. Add them to the bowl.

Heat the pan on low-medium heat and add water with sugar. Mix it up well and heat for approx 10 min until we get sirupy texture. Add pistachios to the pan and mix. Distribute them evenly on a cooling rack (I usually put it on a baking paper). Transfer to the fridge if possible to let it solidify.

Just before serving transfer pistachios into the blender and blent it for a couple of seconds so we have nice caramelised crumble.

Remove panna cotta from the ramekins by running a knife to loosen it. Tip out on to a serving plate. Add coulis and pistachios.

Bon appetit.:)