Spicy Korean Style Gochujang - Vegan 'Meatballs' with Kimchi Gratin

I made this Spicy Korean Style Gochujang mock 'meatballs' some time last year, but never got round to blogging it for whatever reason.  It was whilst looking at photographs in my computer food files that I was reminded of it and have decided to share it as I haven't been doing much exciting cooking or baking the last few months.  

Life is just busy and I want to make the most of my lazy days with the other things happening in my life...family ...friends...the garden...

I remember the mock 'meatballs' being fine, they often are when they are out of a packet, but the spicy Korean style Gochujang sauce was exceptional and very glossy.  I liked it more the following day when the flavour matured a bit more. 

Gochujang is a thick red paste made up of fermented chillies and soy beans.  It's salty and spicy, but not hot hot.  It also umami tasting, I remember someone once describing it as a blend of miso paste and marmite with a little bit of kick. 

I admit it was a bit of a mish mash of a meal, the meatballs served here with broccoli, but it all came together on the plate with the Kimchi Gratin.  Yes Kimchi Gratin, I know …but it tasted good!

I take no credit for the Kimchi Gratin as it came from a book called Living Food by Daphne Lambert, which I picked up from Oxfam in Cardiff.  I was prompted to make it as I still had a jar of homemade kimchi in my kitchen cupboards. Gratins never photographs well.. And some chefs like to make them in mould or cut them out with round moulds - full marks for presentation, but a lot of waste - not in this house!.

Also here is an article by PeTa for 13 Vegan Korean MeatFree recipes.  I also recommend that you look at the defunct foodblog The Vegan 8 Korean that has loads of vegan Korean recipes for you to recreate at home, as well as The Korean Vegan who has some proper tasty Korean eats veganized.  Please also check out these awesome vegan BBQ Seitan Ribs with Spicy Korean Sauce by Delightful, Delicious and DeLovely.

Gochujang glaze
3 tablespoons gochujang
2 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons Tamari
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 fat clove garlic, crushed
Method
Place all the ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.
Cook for a few minutes or until thick and glossy.
Reduce the heat and keep warm, until ready to serve
Gently spoon over a tablespoon of the sauce over each meatball.
The sauce was adapted from Quiet Good Food: Veg Eats for Everyone who adapted it from Tiger Burger in New Zealand published May 2016 issue of Cuisine magazine. 

Smoked Paprika Chutney No it's more like Ketchup

I spent a few hours in the garden over the weekend.  Clearing vegetable plots in readiness for next year.  

I have pulled out the last of the marrow and courgette plants and did a quite a bit of weeding. The squash and pumpkin plants did not do well at all, so they got pulled out too. 

These are the last courgettes, some with flowers in tact.  I will be chopping and then roasting them in the oven with a little oil and seasoning, and then dousing them with a squirt of fresh lemon juice to be served as a side dish.

The red tomatoes in the greenhouse are still coming along.  Soon there will be no more red tomatoes, just greens ones. I will have to pick up some jars, so that I can make green tomato chutney. 

We also have some rainbow chard in the garden plot. 

My husband, who I affectionately call D on the blog pulled out the last of the rhubarb stalks. I thought they may have been too far gone, but apparently the season ends September.  They appeared and felt okay, so I chopped them up and put them in the freezer in readiness for winter Rhubarb Crumbles.  We also have some cooking apples, which are also getting the same treatment, peeled and chopped and then transferred to the freezer.  I have also made some jams and chutneys (see below)

This was supposed to be Apple Chutney, however the apples turned to pulp, that it was more a thick sauce like ketchup, than chutney. Also I could not find sweet paprika, so ended up adding smoked paprika which of course overwhelmed the whole thing.  So we will be eating this with vegetarian sausage rolls. My husband was so convinced that there were tomatoes in this, because it is so red, but the red is coming from the smoked paprika.  

Smoked Paprika Ketchup
Adapted from this recipe. Please note for the above recipe, I made the mistake of using smoked paprika in place of sweet paprika.  Also please feel free to include or omit the raisins.

My contributions to Harvest Monday seem to be every other fortnight, but at least I join when I can and I am pleased about that.  Harvest Monday is hosted by Dave who blogs at Our Happy Acres.  

Oh we also have some black kale and curly kale.  It seems to be having a second lease of life, with new leaf emerging free of pests.  So I may still get to enjoy some homegrown brassicas.  For those of you interested, I also host a vegetarian #EatYourGreens vegetarian food event, Just follow this link to see how you can participate. 

Gnocchi in Red Pepper and Blue Cheese Sauce

We have been eating lots of pasta based dishes from lasagne's to cheesy bakes, a bit like this Gnocchi in Red Pepper and Blue Cheese Sauce. 

I made this when I had barely any vegetables in the house and lots of cheese in the fridge from Christmas and New Year binge eating.  this is a relatively easy recipe, especially if you use roasted red peppers from a jar and ready made gnocchi, then lunch or dinner will be on the table in no time.  The sauce is whizzed in a food processor and then its just about cooking the gnocchi and bringing the two components together.

This photograph does not do this Gnocchi in Red Pepper and Blue Cheese Sauce Bake justice, it really was quite delicious; and this comes from someone who is not a huge fan of blue cheese.

D loved this and went back for seconds, in fact he finished off what was left in the pot.  He loved the Red Pepper Blue cheese sauce and I loved how the the pillowy potato dumplings became crisp under the grill.

Easy Plum and Raspberry Ketchup or Sauce

I got back a few hours ago from my short break in the U.K.

I will share more later next week with lots of photographs, but this evening I share with you a easy Plum and Raspberry Ketchup or Sauce.

Both the plums and the raspberries are from my garden plot.  

This Plum Ketchup was the result of an accident.  

I had planned to make  Plum Leather, but I had pureed the plums way too much that I had to find a way of rescuing them rather than washing it down the sink.  As well as making this Plum and Strawberry Ketchup, I also made a Plum Milkshake and Plum Yogurt Ice-Cream.

Spicy Green Harissa

I used to make red harissa and chermoula quite a lot in my University days.  I preferred both the red harissa and chermoula on my oven baked (sweet) potato chips to the brand name ketchup, but I haven't made either in a long while.  

This was about to change when my mother gave me a bunch of coriander and from my own garden, I harvested about a small bunch of parsley - a mixture of flat and curly, just in case your wondering. 

This is a fresh, fragrant and flavour packed green harissa. Please do come on over in the next few days when I will showcase some dishes that have been enhanced with a dollop or two of this lively green harissa sauce.  I am sharing this recipe with Lavender and Lovage for Cooking with Herbs  challenge.

My tolerance of chilli is quite high (advancing to bhut jolokia aka ghost chilli), but you can be cautious and use as many or as little as you like. If your interested in trying the red devil version, then follow this link for red harissa. 

Spicy Green Harissa
Makes a jar 
Ingredients
1 bunch of coriander, including stems
1 bunch of flat leaf parsley including stems
2 - 3 cloves garlic, sliced
4 - 8 long green chillies (or more), depending on how spicy you like it- with or without the seeds
60ml olive oil
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Salt to taste
Method
Put all the ingredients into a blender (I used my super duper Optimum 9400) and process until smooth.  Taste and adjust salt if necessary and blitz again briefly before pouring into a jar or bowl. Keeps well in the fridge for a week.

Quinoa Carrot 'Meatballs' in Tamarind Sauce

I share with you another very autumnal looking dish - Carrot Quinoa 'Meatballs' in Tamarind Sauce.

I know I have already shared a blog post for VeganMofo featuring mock 'meatballs', but this one is not made with TVP or 'meat' substitutes.  These are made from scratch with quinoa, carrots and chickpea flour, then rolled into bite sized balls and pan fried before being added to the tangy sauce. 

D is not that keen on tamarind, which surprises me as he likes citrussy things, but I guess tamarind offers a different kind of twang, rather than a zing.  I love tamarind.  I grew up eating and drinking it, especially when my taste buds need waking up or when I am feeling a little poorly. 

Back to this Tamarind Sauce based dish.  I must add that this is not a soupy sauce, its a little on the thick side as it is rich in flavour, but feel free to water it down with either a bit of water of vegetable stock if you so wish. 

Carrot Ketchup

I've made some vegetable burgers recently, and wanted to try out something different in place of relish or supermarket bought red ketchup or the brown sauce varieties. I had loads of carrots in my vegetable basket and decided to take inspiration from my recent Carrot and Coriander Hummus and thought what if I went a step further and pureed the carrots to a sauce, the result awesome.  

The Raw Carrot Ketchup was sweet from the carrots, but it also delivered a light twang from the tamarind, and a little bit of warmth from the dried chilli flakes.  The coriander is of course,  optional.  I love the flavour, so tend to throw it in lots of savoury dishes, but feel free to omit this if you so wish.   I also loved how smooth the carrot ketchup was, considering it was made from raw carrots, there were no bits at all.  Pour and scrape into a squeezy bottle and squirt over oven baked chips, sweet potatoes wedges, vegetable burgers and much more.   Yes you read right, I did use raw carrots for the recipe.  If your carrots are organic, you do not even have to peel them, just give them a good scrub.  For ease I used tamarind concentrate, but you can if you so wish use **tamarind pulp or those dried pressed tamarind cakes which of course will need to be soaked and pressed of its juices, then omit or reduce the water in the recipe below.

You can try to make this ketchup in you blender, but I must tell you that I chose to try out my new Optimum 9400 Blender from Froothie.  I do have a blender from a  well known designer brand, and often make spreads and dips such as Hummus, but it does not offer the same creamy smooth bit- free that I got from the Optimum 9400 Blender. The other thing I noted immediately is that majority of the blenders that I have used in my life would take a good 10 - 15 minutes in reaching the point of creamy smoothness, as well as a lot of stopping and scraping down of the blitzed vegetables from the sides.  Using the Optimum 9400 Blender  reduced this massively.  The ketchup was made literally within a minute and I hardly had to scrape the vegetables off the side.  It was such a breeze to use. 

This carrot ketchup is a delicious change from tomato ketchup or even brown sauce!  Next watch out for my Beetroot Ketchup!

Carrot Soup with Tamarind Swirl

I can't believe that its June and I am craving for a bowl of tangy soup.  Part of the reason is this crazy indecisive weather.  I don't know what its like where you are, but here in Wales it has changed from rain to shine, shine to rain within moments.  I mean yesterday, I left the house with a coat on as it was raining quite heavy, by the time I got into the town centre the sun was blazing and many people were donning T-shirts and naked legs, I most definitely felt overdressed, but not today - its very, very breezy outside.  In fact, its similar weather to that day when I lost my plastic greenhouse and compost bin.

I am so glad I don't have any physical running around to do today for my upcoming venture and can stay happily indoors.  However, this doesn't mean I haven't got loads of things running through my brain, so instead of making the most of my free day lazing in front of the computer; or TV with a DVD as I have done most of the week, I got on with a bit of cooking and stirring of pots.   

One of the dishes that I completed earlier was this sweet Carrot Soup. I know Carrot Soup, doesn't sound that exciting and I guess its not, but if I mention it with Tamarind, it may just peak your interest. I personally love the flavour of tangy tamarind, there is something just soothing about it, the way lemon soothes when you have a bit of a sore throat. 
I like this soup bowl, I got it a couple of years ago when I went to Paris for the first time ever.  It only comes out now and again; and has appeared on this blog a couple of times already.

I will happily share with you my recipe for this particular carrot soup, just ask - but you will find that there are a number already on this blog. 
Carrot and Thyme Soup
Carrot and Coriander Soup
Carrot and Potato Soup
Plus, I think most people have a good recipe of their own.  As for the Tamarind sauce - see below.  I am linking this simple recipe with Frugal Follies who is hosting Frugal Thursday.

Tamarind Sauce
Ingredients
Makes about 100ml - 120ml
1teaspoon tamarind concentrate
1 tablespoon ginger, freshly grated
100ml vegetable stock
1 teaspoon tomato paste
Method Combine all the ingredients except for the tomato paste in a small saucepan.  Simmer on medium heat for a few minutes, then stir in the tomato paste.  Simmer for a few minutes more until the sauce begins to thicken.  Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
When cool, pour into a squeezy bottle and use over each bowl of soup.  Simply squeeze and drop a few droplets into the bowl, and then with a spoon just swirl.  Nice.

Spiced Sweet Potato Wonton Pot Stickers

Due to our economic and social circumstances not improving as rapidly as we would like,  we have both of sorts placed austerity measures upon our already small lives.  This means that in the past few months there have been very little treats, (except of course those that come relatively for free).   This way of life is sadly set to continue.  For the consumer in me, this means a firm no to kitchenalia or cookbooks - my simple pleasures. I have to admit I have found it extremely hard to come out of a (secondhand, new or charity) bookshop empty handed; its almost like an addiction, but I have.  What is happening in its place, is my cookbook 'wish list' is growing steadily; and I don't know if that is a good thing.  Hopefully; and I mean that with all my heart that one of us will make some progress and get back into some sort of flow and see some pounds coming our way; our spirits will somewhat be uplifted, once more.

 One of the things I have pleasantly rediscovered on my burgeoning bookshelf are little books - more precisely paperbacks, that often get pushed to the back because they have no glossy photographs; or seem a little out-dated. One that I have been perusing quite a lot recently is Real Vegetarian Thai. There are so many recipes in it that have been exciting me. I've already made Yellow Curry with Cabbage; and many others have been bookmarked. But today I will share with you my adaptation of 'Two Potato Curry Pot Stickers'.

 Although a little more time consuming to make in relation to preparation of ingredients, I actually think I am getting quite good at this, as these pot stickers were a vast improvement from my previous two attempts; one of which was a bit on the soggy side. But when you get it right, oh my...each one is relished with great delight.

Imagine South Asian samosa flavours in a Chinese dumpling.  Well that is exactly what we have here and they were absolutely delicious; and you know I am giving you my honest opinion as I don't often rave about recipes that loudly on my blog. I really enjoyed how something that is both crispy golden; and soft steamed could work so well together.  Then for added luxury, its dipped into a sweet, mildly spiced jelly like syrup. I was really lost for words.  Combined together the Spiced Sweet Potato Pot stickers and Sweet Garlic Chilli sauce was really gorgeous to eat.

If I have at all succeeded in tempting you to make this, then first make the sweet garlic chilli sauce, as the sweetness and speckled ruby red chilli flakes glitter effect enhances the appearance like gloss, as well as the enjoyment of the sublime wontons.

I am sharing a plate of these Spiced Sweet Potato Pot Stickers with Just Another Meatless Monday and Midnight Maniac Meatless Mondays #50. 

Sweet Garlic Chilli Sauce
Makes 1 x 245g Jar
Ingredients
200g sugar
100ml water
125ml white vinegar
3 tablespoons grail, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of sambal eolek or other red chilli suace
Method
In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water, vinegar, garlic and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, sirring until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce thickens and becomes syrupy, about 20 – 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the sambal oelek or other red chilli sauce. Leave to cool, then transfer to a jar and seal tight. Refrigerate until time of serving. Serve at room temperature. It will keep for up to a month in the fridge.

Spiced Sweet Potato and Cabbage Pot Stickers
Ingredients

Makes around 32 - 40 depending on your filling*

90g chestnut mushrooms, minced

180g potatoes, cooked and mashed

120g sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed

30g fresh bread crumbs

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon Tamari or soy sauce

½ teaspoon garam masala (or curry powder)

Salt to taste

2 spring onions, finely sliced

80g green cabbage, minced

Handful of  fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Packet of wonton wrapper, about 40

1 – 2 tablespoon for every 12 pot stickers you cook

60ml vegetable stock for every 12 pot stickers

Method

In a bowl, combine the mushrooms, mashed white and sweet potatoes, breadcrumbs, egg, Tamari or soy sauce, garam masala (or curry powder), spring onions, cabbage, and coriander and season to taste.  Combine well until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. 

Setup a work space with a chopping board, a baking sheet (or two), a small bowl of water, the wonton wrappers, and the spiced filling.

Place a wonton on the board and spoon and spoon about *1 tablespoon (or thereabouts) of the filling mixture in the middle. Carefully moisten the edges of the wonton wrapper with water, then fold the wrapper over the filling to form a triangle and gently press seal. Now bring together the two ends of the wrapper and press to seal closed. Gently tap the pot sticker on the board to flatten is base to help it stand upright.  Transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.

To cook: Heat 1 - 2 tablespoon of the oil in a large non stick pan over medium-high heat. Place about 8 – 12 wontons in the pan, you will need to do this in batches as you do not want to crowd the pan. Cook for about 2 minutes, until the bottoms are golden brown. Then add in 60ml of the vegetable stock. Cover and reduce the heat to medium and cook until the stock evaporates and the wrappers are translucent and tender. Remove the pots stickers and serve immediately.  Repeat with the remaining wonton wrappers. Both recipes are adapted from Real Vegetarian Thai by NancieMcDermott.

Creamy Cabbage Pie

Perfect to make and eat on those rainy days.

Why perfect for rainy days? Well this pie is a little time consuming .  It will keep you busy in the kitchen as you have to make everything from scratch - the pastry, the creamy white sauce, and the vegetable filling.

Unlike many of my other vegetable pies that are often on the dry side requiring a good dollop of dark gravy, this is a creamy vegetable pie.  Its not just filled with shredded cabbage.  It also has celery and grated carrots. 

Not that I am much into following foodie trends, but a lot of the pies that are being showcased in foodie magazines at the moment are topless, by that I mean without lids.  I had decided to go with the flow, but I have to point out and admit that this was not deliberate.  It was all very accidental as I just forgot to make double quantity of the pastry.  Plenty for the base, but not enough for the covering, so I had to re-roll the pastry scraps for the presentable topping; and of course an umbrella just seemed appropriate.

Here I have made individual pies, but for ease you can also make one large pie that can easily be sliced. By the way, if you like the look of this cabbage pie, check out this link too.  I am sharing this recipe with Fabilicious Food who is hosting September: Simple And In Season; as well as linking it at The Hearth and Soul blog hop hosted by 21st Century Housewife; Tea for Two hosted by The Plumed Pen, and Fat Tuesdays hosted by Real Food Forager; and Wednesday Cast Party#15 hosted by Lady behind the curtain.

Creamy Cabbage Pie
Fro the pastry to line a 9 inch pastry tin
Double quantity if you want to make a covered pie
Ingredients 
180g plain flour
pinch of salt
75g cold butter
2 - 3 tablespoons water
Method for pastry
Mix in the flour and salt in a large bowl.  Rub in the butter , lifting it high with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Sir in a little cold water and form it into a stiff ball.  Leave it to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes or so before using.
When you are ready to roll the pastry.  Roll it out onto a lightly floured board. 
Oil a pie dish well and lift the pastry into it.  Trim the excess pastry* with a sharp knife.  Blind bake at gas mark 6 for 15 - 20 minutes.  Set aside to cool.
*Re-roll the pastry for topping if you wish

For the white sauce
50g butter
50g plain flour

½- ¾ pint milk depending on the required thickness

Salt and pepper to taste

Method for the white sauce

Melt the butter, add the flour and stir into a roux.  Stir and cook for a few minutes.  Reduce the heat and slowly add in the milk, stirring each addition in thoroughly before the next step.  Continue this until all the milk has been added, and slowly bring to a simmer allowing the sauce to thicken.  Then season with salt and pepper and set aside.

For the vegetable filling
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small cabbage head, shredded
2 sticks of celery, sliced
2 carrots, grated
3 tablespoons of fresh parsley, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
In a wide pan, heat the oil then add the cabbage and saute with the lid on for a few minutes, until the cabbage begins to soften.  Remember to stir from time to time.  When the cabbage is nearly soft, stir int he celery and carrots and saute for a couple of minutes. 
Then tip the sauteed vegetables, along with the parsley into the white sauce and stir well.  Season with salt and pepper.  Leave to cool.
To assemble.
Preheat the oven to gas mark 7.
Gently spread the creamy vegetable filling into the pastry case. 
Top with optional pastry covering.
Bake in oven for 30 - 40 minutes.  Recipes adapted from The Wharf Street Vegetarian Cafe Cookbook by Jill Gibbon.

Black Buckwheat Waffles with Mushroom Gravy

A few weeks ago, I missed participating in Johanna's Nut roast Challenge. Not everyone likes nut roasts and that includes vegetarians.  Its seen as old fashioned and a throwback to 1960s-70s vegetarian cuisine, but I actually think they do still have a place in in this day and age.  Anyway, this month Johanna is also hosting the Breakfast Club event #11 on her blog Green Gourmet Giraffe. The Breakfast Club was initiated by Helen of Fuss Free Flavours.  The challenge for May is to create a savoury and vegetarian breakfast. 

Well as some of you may know,  I often indulge in a proper cooked vegetarian breakfast, especially at weekends. For me this can be a veggie fry up or waffles galore.  This time though, I thought I’d go one better and make it all vegan.  My chosen recipe was Buckwheat waffles with a mushroom gravy sauce.

Another excuse for making these buckwheat waffles was my rather large packet of Black Buckwheat flour. The 'Noir' or black in the buckwheat simply means it contains the hull which makes the flour look darker - Just imagine wholemeal flour, well I guess this is Wholemeal Buckwheat flour.  I picked up the flour whilst on holiday in Brittany last year, land of galettes and savoury crêpes and its still unopened. 

I don't know about you, but I have a really bad habit of not using ingredients (sometimes expensive ingredients) and keep them stored well; as if they are an antique of sorts that will gain value if left unopened.  Obviously this is not the case, as they go past expiry date and end up down the sink or in the bin.  In my store cupboard I also have Carob Syrup from Cyprus, Violet Syrup from France, Tiger Nuts when I was in Whitby, Welsh Laverbread from my nephew, Irish Carragheen, Carob flakes, Liquid Smoke, White Poppy Seeds, Barley flour, Sorghum flour, Chestnut flour, the list goes on.

Back to the recipe.  This was my first ever vegan waffle attempt, though cooked through, I had to prise the waffles out from the waffle iron. The mixture was a little thinner than the eggy versions. Also when cooked, the waffles didn't look like its eggy counterparts that are puffy and airy.  I also noted that the waffles had lots of air pockets. I wondered if this was because of the black buckwheat flour and the result may have been lighter had it been just plain buckwheat flour.  This did not affect the taste though which was nutty.  There was also a sweetness that I am guessing was coming from the soya milk. The Mushroom Sauce was especially nice, and one I can see being ladled over some new potatoes and green vegetables like Brussels sprouts.

For the Black Buckwheat waffles
Makes 6 waffles
Ingredients
240ml/1 cup of soya milk
240ml/1 cup water
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
100g/¾ cup Black Buckwheat flour or plain buckwheat flour
100g/¾ cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
50ml/¼ cup vegetable oil
Cooking spray for waffle iron
Method
Measure out the milk and water and add the vinegar to it. Set aside to curdle.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together buckwheat, flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the centre and add the milk mixture and oil. Mix together until relatively smooth. Let the batter rest for minutes. Meanwhile make the Tarragon Mushroom gravy and preheat the waffle iron.

For the Tarragon Mushroom Gravy
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 shallots, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
250g chestnut mushrooms, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
240ml/1 cup vegetable stock
1 rounded tablespoon plain flour
Optional: 1 tablespoon dried tarragon
Method
Heat a large pan over medium heat and saute the shallots in oil until soft, then add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes. Stir in the mushrooms, tarragon and season to taste. Cook on medium heat until the mushrooms begin to soften.
In a measuring jug, measure out the vegetable stock and stir in the flour ensuring that there are no lumps. Then pour the stock into the shallot-mushroom mixture and gently simmer for 8 – 10 minutes or until the mixture becomes gravy like – thick and creamy.
Whilst the mixture it transforming into a thick gravy, make the waffles according to your waffle mixture.
Then plate up and gently ladle each plate with the mushroom gravy.  Adapted from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

Beetroot and cumin pasta

Although I have found two ways of enjoying beetroot - in the form of hash browns, and beetroot bulgar. I am still, always on the prowl for other recipes to encourage me to eat more of this deep crimson vegetable. Another reason I can't completely overlook this root vegetable is that D really likes its flavour.

Well whilst surfing the web, I stumbled upon this recipe for 'Beetroot, tomato and cumin pasta' and I just couldn't skip it.
It had beetroot for D, cumin seeds for me and pasta. Its been a long while since we sat down and had a good pasta dish, so this evenings meal was decided there and then. The original recipe recommends papparadelle, but I'm quite clumsy with noodle like pasta. Also at the risk of this beetroot dyed pasta falling off my fork and staining my clothing, I chose casarecce, a pasta that would surely hold and trap both the sauce and the grated beetroot. It was an excellent choice, not a red spot in sight.

This is quite a speedy recipe to make and one I'd recommend making after work. First it was a delight to watch how the pasta transformed in colour, from plain beige to deep Gothic crimson. Secondly, the flavours were absolutely wonderful. The earthy beetroot was uplifted by both the sweetness of the tomatoes and the zingyness of the fresh lemon juice; and the warmth of the spices came through subtle as a hint. I will definitely be making this again. Its a very red dish, so the scattering of fresh parsley will also make a world of difference to you or your guests eyes.
I am submitting this to Presto Pasta Nights or PPN as it is fondly known. This weeks PPN#199 is being hosted by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast. Ruth was also the inspiration behind PPN. As this is quite an unusual dish and relatively cheap to make, I have also decided to submit this to Good (& Cheap) Eats link-up for What's On Your Plate?
Beetroot and cumin pasta
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
1 x 400g tinned tomatoes, blitzed in a food processor
1 medium red onion, finely sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, lightly toasted
½ tsp chilli flakes
250g cooked beetroot (not in vinegar)
1 small lemon
small handful of flat-leaf parsley, minced
400g casarecce or pappardelle pasta
Optional 100g Greek feta cheese
Method
Cook pasta according to packet instructions.
For the beetroot and cumin sauce
Heat the olive oil in a wide pan and stir in the onion. Cook, stirring often, for about 8 min until soft. Stir in the cumin seeds and chilli flakes and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and salt to taste, then adjust the heat so the tomatoes simmer, cooking until thick and sauce like. Meanwhile, peel the beetroot (if necessary) and grate. Stir the beetroot into the tomato and add lemon juice to taste and then scatter over the parsley leaves.
When the pasta is ready, drain and stir well into the sauce so that is is well combined.
Optional Crumble over some feta if using and serve immediately. Adapted from this recipe.