A Vegie Delight

A Veggie Delight 

 

I frequently have milk sitting in the fridge, I don't drink Milk or have it in either coffee or tea, but I like to have some 

on hand just in case of course and  it is necessary for some cooking 

I check the use by dates and when it is very close to the end ,  I usually turn the milk into bechamel sauce and freeze it

Very handy 

Also I tend to buy too many vege and need to use them up before they go off

So, using what I had in my freezer and fridge, I concocted this delicious Pasta bake

 For my one cup of sauce I used these ingredients 

Bechamel Sauce 1 cup (to make Bechamel Sauce see at bottom of the blog)

1 tbs olive oil

1 tbs butter 

1/2 onion finely chopped 

1/2 red pepper sliced

1/2 courgette grated

5 cherry tomatoes sliced

Grated cheese

Fresh breadcrumbs 

To accompany

I sautéed some red onion, sliced Bok Choy and some sliced 

Celery lightly in a little olive oil

Method

In a pan melt the oil and butter

Add onions sauté till soft

Add red pepper and courgette and tomatoes

Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 

Continue to sauté till soft not browned 

Warm your prepared  bechamel sauce 

Add to vege 

Place in greased baking dishes 

Sprinkle with grated cheese and top with the breadcrumbs 

You can prepare this far ahead and set aside for cooking later 

Heat oven to 170C 

Cook till bubbly and the top is getting crisp

Serve with the sautéed vege on the side

Voila...Dinner is served 

Simple recipe for Bechamel Sauce

50 gms Butter
1/4 cup of plain flour
2 1/2 cups of milk
Sea salt and ground white pepper 

Gently melt the butter in a pan
Add flour and back on the heat for about a minute to cook the flour out
Slowly add the milk stirring with each addition to avoid lumps 
When all the milk is added 
Slowly bring to a simmer stirring all of the time 
Season with S & P to taste
This is now your base for any white sauce that you would like to cook with
It’s nice sometime to add a bay leaf while cooking but remove when the sauce is ready or the flavour will be too strong
Set aside
I am only using a cup of sauce for this recipe you can freeze the remainder another time

Waste Not Want Not

 Cooking for one person has it s challenges but I am a Leftover Queen and I hate waste

Here's a little delight That was simple and delicious 

I had 250 gms mince in the fridge and turned that into a bolognaise sauce

Very simple 

Olive oil

1/2 red onion chopped 

1 stick celery finely chopped

1/2 carrot finely hopped 

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 

Beef stock

In a frying pan heat to medium heat

Add 1 tbs olive oil

Add mince and fry till brown

Remove and set aside

In the same pan 

Add a little more oil

Add onions sauce till soft

Add other vege

Season with S&P

When soft

Add mince back to the pan and add 

Enough beef stock just to cover and simmer for about 15 -20 mis

Meanwhile in a large pot of boiling salted water

Add a cup of pasta (I used Conchiglee, which look like little ears )

Cook for about 8-10 mins till al dente

Drain, toss in a little oil 

I like to add the sauce to the pasta before serving so that every little ear

Is covered in sauce

Serve covered with some grated Parmesan 

Sometimes a little chopped parsley for colour 

Of course there was quite a lot left over so I stored that in the freezer 

Last night I had lamb chops with mashed potatoes and peas

Of course again leftovers

Now time to be a little creative 

Cottage Pie me thinks

I removed the left over bolognaise from the freezer

I wanted to make it a bit more exciting

So I made a small bechamel sauce 

2 tbs butter

1/2 red onion finely chopped

2 tbs flour

Sea salt and white pepper 

Milk 

Melt the butter in a pot and add the onion 

Sauté till soft 

Season with Sea Salt & ground white pepper 

Add flour put back on the heat and gently heat till it forms a roux

Start adding enough milk a bit at the time till you get the consistency you want

Add to the mashed vege

Put aside

To assemble

Grease  some ramekins, this amount made 3 dinners

Add the mince mixture to the ramekin

Cover with the potato mixture and 

Voila, ready to go into the oven or freezer 

When ready to cook

Thaw and heat oven to 180C

Grate some cheese on top

And cook for about 20-30 mins till bubbling 

Delicious

😋 

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Stuffed Capsicums or Stuffed Peppers Whatever you like to call them

I have been having some very unusual dreams recently and this recipe came to me in a dream

Obviously my shopping trip yesterday was stuck in my brain, when I went to 

sleep, wondering what I would do with the food I bought

In my dream I devised this recipe...I had gone quite mad on the amount of vegetables in my trolley and the vegetable bin was full... so I thought, how about

Stuffed peppers

I used potatoes mashed with shallots parsley and cooked chilli prawns for the stuffing and they were very very tasty

I baked in the oven with grated cheese on top

What a delicious dinner 

So, you need

2 medium potatoes

A little milk

Butter

 

Prawns in chili sauce - I had 12  already prepared from the market

Parsley 1 Tablespoon finely chopped

1 Shallot peeled and finely chopped

1 red pepper and 1 yellow pepper cut in half and remove seeds 

Grated cheese

Peel and cook the potatoes till fork tender, 

Drain and mash with a little milk and large knob of butter

Put a little oil in a medium heated pan and drop the prawns in and cook for about

4-5 minutes

Remove from pan … chop, add to potatoes 

Then add the chopped shallot and the parsley 

Season with some freshly ground black pepper

Mix well

Line a tin with baking paper

Cut the capsicums in half

Stuff the  pepper halves with this mix

Sprinkle with the grated cheese

You can do this earlier in the day and refrigerate till you are ready to cook

Heat oven to 180C

Bake for 20-30 mins 

Remove from oven and devour 

Delicious...enough for 2 people or 2 meals for one