Garden Puree for Bruschetta

This was a recipe from Tyler Florence. I really like his The Ultimate Series” on TV.

I got 3 meals out of it.
Lunch: Served on Bruschetta
Dinner: Tossed into spaghetti
Dinner again: And as a topping for baked Kumara.
(You could use baked potatoes, just as successfully)

What a versatile dish.

The pasta recipe below I thought would be great for "Ruth's Presto Pasta Night" this week hosted by Pam of Sidewalk Shoes have a look at her site here

1 cup frozen peas
200 gms asparagus
200 gms French green beans
3 spring onions green tops only
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Take hard ends off the asparagus and peel the stem cut into 2 1/2 cm pieces
Top and tail beans and cut to same size as asparagus
Bring a large pot of water to the boil
Season and add the beans, asparagus and spring onions
Cook until bright green and just tender about 3 minutes
Throw the frozen peas in for the last minute.
Drain into a bowl of iced salted water, to stop cooking
Salting the iced water keeps the flavour at its peak.

Drain again and place in food processor

Add ricotta, drizzle of olive oil and freshly ground black pepper
Whizz, test seasoning and add sea salt if necessary.

Toast some slices of French or country bread
Spread with puree.
Of course I have these superb tomatoes, so I topped the bruschetta with that
A little sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and
As you can see I couldn’t wait I had to take a bite.
That night I sautéed some prawns with garlic, chili and lemon zest.
Squeezed some lemon juice over them and reduced a little

Cooked some spaghetti
Drain and tossed with 3 tablespoons garden purée
Into serving bowl
Top with prawns and then poured the pan juices over the top.

A grind of freshly ground black pepper

Dinner!

Two days later, we had Steak and Roasted Red Onions, accompanied by Baked Kumara topped with the Puree.

Delicious

I really liked the steak and onions cooked like the following.

While I was baking the Kumara, I also baked a medium red onion each
After 1 1/2 hours at 180C, I removed the onion, peeled it and cut into chunks.

Meanwhile I seasoned a piece of Rib Eye Beef (300 gms, about 2.5 cms thick)
Rubbed it with a little olive oil.

Onto a hot pan 2 minutes 1 side
Flip
Another 2 minutes and into a 200C oven for about 6 minutes.
Remove steak and set aside to rest

To the pan, I added a good slosh white wine and a heaped teaspoon French mustard.
Stir to deglaze pan and bring to boil then reduce a little
Add the chopped onions
The beef was a little rare when I sliced it so I tossed it around in the onion mix for a minute or two and then served with the Kumara

Sorry the steak looks a bit messy but it was fabulous.

The Garden Puree and Kumara would make a good lunch -– solo.