Vegetable & Ricotta Torte

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Books, broccoli, Cape Town, Clifton Kitchen, Cook Books, Cooking thorugh the seasons, feta, food and drink, food and travel writing, Food Blogs, gluten free, Kate Abbott, Lifestyle, Mascarpone, News, onion, Parmesan, Photography, Pie, recipes, Ricotta, spinach, Torte, travel Writing, Vegetables, Writing

 

This torte is one I make often using my favourite seasonal vegetables. It is wonderfully adaptable; to be enjoyed in either winter or summer, using whatever vegetables are in season. I usually make my own Ricotta, which I prefer; recipe included.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

140g broccoli spears

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion chopped,

2 courgettes (zucchini) finely sliced

2 garlic cloves finely chopped and bruised to release flavour

120 g baby spinach

1 tablespoon chopped lemon thyme or basil

80 g parmesan, grated

250 g ricotta

225 g mascarpone

25 g feta, finely crumbled

4-5 eggs

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add the broccoli, cook until stems are soft. Drain and plunge into cold water for a few seconds to stop the cooking process and to retain the colour of the broccoli. Chop into small chunks.

In a saucepan, heat the olive oil, add the onion and cook over medium heat until soft. Turn up the heat and add the courgettes, cook until softened and golden brown. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two, then add the spinach, mix in and cook until the spinach has wilted.

Remove pan from heat, add the broccoli, the herbs and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set mixture aside to cool.

Lightly butter a 20 cm spring form tin and dust with some of the grated parmesan, about 1 tablespoon of cheese should do.

Mix together the ricotta, mascarpone, feta, eggs and about 50g of the parmesan. Add the mixture to the cooled vegetables, folding through to incorporate. Adjust seasoning.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and scatter over the remaining parmesan. Place the tin on a baking sheet which will catch any drips and place in the oven. Bake for about 40-50 minutes. When cooked the top should be golden brown and the mixture still slightly wobbly in the centre.

Remove and leave to rest and set for about 20 minutes before serving. At this point the torte may be cooled completely, then refrigerated and served chilled as a summer torte. Serve with a salad.

Home-made Ricotta

Makes 1 cup

Ingredients

4 cups whole milk

½ tsp. sea salt

3 tablespoons of either distilled vinegar, fresh lemon or lime juice.

Method

Place the milk in a heavy bottom pot. Add salt and heat gently, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching until the milk reaches a temperature of about 80-90C, or if you don’t have a thermometer, heat until the milk starts to simmer and foam at sides. Do not boil.

Remove from heat and add vinegar or the lemon/lime juice. Give the mixture one or two stirs, and then leave alone for the curds to develop. This should take about 5 minutes.

Line a sieve with cheese cloth and place over a bowl. Gently pour the milk mixture into the cheesecloth, disturbing the curds as little as possible in the process. Leave to drain for 5 minutes then bring the ends of the cloth together and tie the bag to the tap over the sink and leave to continue draining for about 15 minutes. The ricotta is now ready to use. The longer it drains the drier the ricotta will be.

Spicy Carrot & Cilantro Soup–the perfect winter dish

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Books, Bushmanskloof Wilderness Retreat, Cape Town, Carrot and Cilantro soup, Cederberg, Cilantro, Curry, food blog, Life, News, onion, Organic cuisine, recipes, Soup, Travel, Writing

A perfect combination of carrot, cilantro and coriander, spiked with a little bit of curry powder, ideal for the cold Cape weather.

I’m using up what’s in the fridge for this evenings dinner, as I leave early tomorrow morning to enjoy a blissful getaway at the Bushmanskloof wilderness retreat nestled at the foothills of the Cederberg mountains which is about 270km from Cape Town. Malaria and predator free, the reserve is a natural playground for those who want to reconnect with themselves and the essence of life, with wide open plains, mystical rock formations, crystal clear water falls, and an abundance of flora and fauna. Exclusive and totally private, with 16 rooms and suites, this Natural Heritage Site is also home to many exceptional displays of San rock art.

I look forward to enjoying Bushmanskloof’s delicious organic cuisine as well as the breath-taking dining venues while I do absolutely nothing but inhale the beauty and succumb to the peace, quiet and tranquillity of this internationally recognised and award winning Relais & Châteaux venue.

But back to my menu. My first course for this evening, and well suited to the weather is this perfect combination of carrot, cilantro and coriander soup, spiked with a little bit of curry powder.

Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients

500 g carrots, roughly sliced

1 small onion, chopped

2 medium floury potatoes roughly chopped

1 tsp. (10ml) coriander seeds crushed

1 tsp. curry powder or leaf masala

1/2  tsp. salt

1/4  tsp. black pepper

700 ml vegetable stock

1 bunch fresh Cilantro roughly chopped

75 ml cream

A few sprigs of Cilantro for garnish

Method

Put all the prepared vegetables into a pot with the stock, fresh cilantro, leaf masala or curry powder, crushed coriander seeds and salt and pepper. Bring to the boil then cover and simmer for 30 – 40 minutes until all the vegetables are very tender. Remove the lid and cool slightly.

Transfer the soup to a blender/or food processor or use a hand held blender and process until smooth. Return to the pot and re heat. Stir in the cream. Taste and adjust the seasoning before serving.

Garnish with a few sprigs of fresh cilantro.

Shoulder of Goat served with a fragrant dish of Spicy Potato, Spinach & Tomato

Tags

blackpepper, cayenne pepper, cinamon, corriander, cumin, curry leaves turmeric, garlic, goat, onion, organic, potato, roasting, rosemary, spinach, tomato, wine

Although it is middle of the winter here in the Cape, the past few days have been gorgeously warm with the temperatures reaching 22∘ during the day, but dropping rapidly toward the evening. It’s a nice time to be in the garden and I have picked some spinach and herbs for this evening’s meal which will be shoulder of young goat, sealed in baking foil and slowly roasted. This will be served with a delicious side dish, a combination of spicy potato, spinach and tomato, bursting with fragrant flavour.

Growing herbs in the kitchen garden provides much pleasure and is well used in the Clifton Kitchen creations. I notice the beautiful tiny blue flowers on the rosemary bushes as I pick what I need and then on to the curry leaf tree which releases the most amazing fragrances as I run my fingers through the leaves, picking four of them for my dish.

The lemon tree is hanging heavy with fruit, ready for picking. I will probably preserve some and make some marmalade too; but back to today’s meal.

What I like about this dish is the ease of preparation allowing you to get on with other matters at hand while the meat slowly takes care of itself as it cooks away in the oven. The ingredients for the accompaniment can be prepared ahead of time and put together at the last minute.

Shoulder of Goat served with Spicy Potato Spinach & Tomato

Serves 6

Ingredients

Baking foil

1.4kg shoulder of goat

2 tablespoons Olive oil

¼ tsp. Salt

1.4 tsp. Pepper

15ml chopped fresh Rosemary

5 garlic cloves unpeeled but crushed

1 large onion roughly chopped

½ cup white wine

Method

Set the oven to 180C.

Place the shoulder of goat on a sheet of baking foil.

Mix together the olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary. Rub all over the meat. Sprinkle over the chopped onion and add the crushed garlic cloves. Pour in the wine and seal the shoulder of goat in the baking foil parcel. Place in the oven and bake for about 3 hours after which the meat will be succulent and soft.

For the spicy Potato, spinach and tomato

Ingredients

300g spinach washed and blanched in boiling salted water and squeezed dry

4 medium size potatoes cut into cubes and par boiled until just soft

3 medium tomatoes chopped

½ tsp. ground cumin

½ tsp. ground coriander

¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. turmeric powder

½ tsp. cayenne powder

½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

5 fresh curry leaves finely sliced

3 cloves garlic finely chopped

4 tablespoons olive oil

30ml water

Salt to taste

Method

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in pan, add the potatoes and sauté until golden and set aside

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a pan, add the spices, curry leaves and garlic and cook gently for 3-4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, 30ml of water and cook for 5 minutes with lid on pan, add the spinach and potatoes and cook for a further 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve.