shapeofthings (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shapeofthings) wrote2006-08-10 08:41 pm
shapeofthings) wrote2006-08-10 08:41 pm
Entry tags:
OMG yum!
Tonight's dinner experiment worked particularly well, so I thought I'd share it as good vegetarian-friendly recipes can be hard to find. It's prime winter comfort food.
First of all, you need to find some long forgotten tortillas of flat bread in the back of the fridge. Once you've found that (look carefully, there's sure to be some), put it down on a bench somewhere where you wont forget it again. Next, get a small bowl or cup. Crush a clove of garlic into it, then add some paprika, fresh torn basil (not much) and a little ground herb salt (normal salt will probably be ok). Pour some olive oil over this mix until it's covered - estimate as much oil as you'll need to lightly brush your stale flat bread/tortilla. Set oil mix aside and clear yourself some space.
Chop up Italian-ish vegetables of your choice into medium-sized chunks. I used mushrooms, capsicum (red pepper for you northerners), 2 ripe tomatoes, and some eggplant (ok, aubergine, or whatever). Dice a medium-sized brown onion and chop/crush a couple more cloves of garlic. Gently heat a little olive oil in a large saucepan and add some dried herbs and spices (cracked black pepper, paprika, sage, rosemary, bay and turmeric, or anything else you fancy) stir spices into oil and add onion. Stir the onion through and cook on low heat, stirring frequently, until onion begins to brown. Now add the garlic, a dash of balsamic vinegar and about half a cup of stock, then inhale. Once that's simmering, chuck in your eggplant (which I salt then rinse first to draw out any bitterness) and stir it through until it absorbs enough liquid to change colour completely. You might need to add some water along the way. While the eggplant is cooking, take your stale bread and wrap in a damp tea towel. The drier the bread, the wetter the towel. Whack it on a plate and microwave the whole thing on medium for 2-3 minutes, or until it's steaming nicely and the bread has softened. Sit aside to cool.
Now back to the saucepan. Add a small can of diced tomatoes if you want to make a 'stew' type thing, or a big can if you're aiming for more 'soupy'. I went for soupy. Maybe add a little more stock - trust your own judgement of your own stock. Leave to simmer gently, stirring occasionally, and turn oven on tho 150-160 degrees C. Unwrap your flat bread from the warm, wet tea towel and chuck the tea towel in the washing pile. Slice the now warm and soft bread into hand-sized pieces (large corn-chip or so). Back to the saucepan, where we're chucking in all the remaining veggies and stirring them in. Add enough water to the sauce to stir them through easily enough (remember stew vs soup) and leave to simmer.
Get out a couple of oven trays. Brush each piece of tortilla/flat bread lightly with infused oil mix and place on tray. You can let the pieces overlap and sit on top of each other, doesn't matter. Whack the trays in the oven and go back to stirring your sauce. Use the last dribble of infused oil to coat inside a casserole dish that will fit your veggie sauce stuff. Turn the bread "dippers" as soon as they start to brown around the edges and return to oven. Take them out as soon as they're lightly browned through and leave to dry on paper towels (should not be oily), then crank the oven to around 220oC.
Add a drained can of mixed/berlotti beans to your saucepan and mix through. Pour the whole concoction (except bay leaves) into your casserole dish and top with chopped/crumbled feta. Shove it in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the feta goes gooey. Remove from oven and serve in bowls with 'dippers' on the side. Praise my genius.
N.B. would likely be nice on top of brown rice, or with pasta, but I had stale tortillas to use, and they're awesome!
First of all, you need to find some long forgotten tortillas of flat bread in the back of the fridge. Once you've found that (look carefully, there's sure to be some), put it down on a bench somewhere where you wont forget it again. Next, get a small bowl or cup. Crush a clove of garlic into it, then add some paprika, fresh torn basil (not much) and a little ground herb salt (normal salt will probably be ok). Pour some olive oil over this mix until it's covered - estimate as much oil as you'll need to lightly brush your stale flat bread/tortilla. Set oil mix aside and clear yourself some space.
Chop up Italian-ish vegetables of your choice into medium-sized chunks. I used mushrooms, capsicum (red pepper for you northerners), 2 ripe tomatoes, and some eggplant (ok, aubergine, or whatever). Dice a medium-sized brown onion and chop/crush a couple more cloves of garlic. Gently heat a little olive oil in a large saucepan and add some dried herbs and spices (cracked black pepper, paprika, sage, rosemary, bay and turmeric, or anything else you fancy) stir spices into oil and add onion. Stir the onion through and cook on low heat, stirring frequently, until onion begins to brown. Now add the garlic, a dash of balsamic vinegar and about half a cup of stock, then inhale. Once that's simmering, chuck in your eggplant (which I salt then rinse first to draw out any bitterness) and stir it through until it absorbs enough liquid to change colour completely. You might need to add some water along the way. While the eggplant is cooking, take your stale bread and wrap in a damp tea towel. The drier the bread, the wetter the towel. Whack it on a plate and microwave the whole thing on medium for 2-3 minutes, or until it's steaming nicely and the bread has softened. Sit aside to cool.
Now back to the saucepan. Add a small can of diced tomatoes if you want to make a 'stew' type thing, or a big can if you're aiming for more 'soupy'. I went for soupy. Maybe add a little more stock - trust your own judgement of your own stock. Leave to simmer gently, stirring occasionally, and turn oven on tho 150-160 degrees C. Unwrap your flat bread from the warm, wet tea towel and chuck the tea towel in the washing pile. Slice the now warm and soft bread into hand-sized pieces (large corn-chip or so). Back to the saucepan, where we're chucking in all the remaining veggies and stirring them in. Add enough water to the sauce to stir them through easily enough (remember stew vs soup) and leave to simmer.
Get out a couple of oven trays. Brush each piece of tortilla/flat bread lightly with infused oil mix and place on tray. You can let the pieces overlap and sit on top of each other, doesn't matter. Whack the trays in the oven and go back to stirring your sauce. Use the last dribble of infused oil to coat inside a casserole dish that will fit your veggie sauce stuff. Turn the bread "dippers" as soon as they start to brown around the edges and return to oven. Take them out as soon as they're lightly browned through and leave to dry on paper towels (should not be oily), then crank the oven to around 220oC.
Add a drained can of mixed/berlotti beans to your saucepan and mix through. Pour the whole concoction (except bay leaves) into your casserole dish and top with chopped/crumbled feta. Shove it in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the feta goes gooey. Remove from oven and serve in bowls with 'dippers' on the side. Praise my genius.
N.B. would likely be nice on top of brown rice, or with pasta, but I had stale tortillas to use, and they're awesome!