Cooking with Lemons

Our third meeting was about all things lemon. With a record turnout, after much chatting, nibbling and sipping, we split into two groups and cooked up a zesty two course feast! Many hands made light work and we sat down to a delicious lemony pasta, a favourite recipe supplied by Katy, followed by Lemon Delicious, a self saucing pudding which is an old favourite of mine.

We had a fun mix of women who had no trouble chatting well into the night about things food related and otherwise. Hopefully some of them will drop by and share their favourite lemon recipes with us here. It was great to have Emily from Fuss Free Cooking join us for the first time, check out her blog and her yummy recipe for Lemon, leek and feta quiches which she made for us.

Orriechetta with Lemon Zest, Basil and Chilli Garlic Masala

from David Bitton - A French-inspired cafe cookbook

serves 4

This is a classic Italian pasta dish that combines the summery tastes of lemon and basil. The addition of chilli garlic masala is perfect with the tomatoes and basil. This is an easy to prepare dish for those times you don't really feel like cooking.

750g orriechetta dried pasta

125 g butter

1 tbsp chilli and garlic, finely chopped

Zest of 1 lemon, finely chopped

200g cherry tomatoes, halved (or quartered if large)

8 basil leaves, finely sliced

Sea salt and white pepper, to season

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and add a couple of teaspoons of salt. Add the pasta and stir to prevent them from sticking together. Boil according to packet instructions. Drain well, if not ready to use immediately stir through a dash of olive oil to prevent the pasta from sticking together and set aside.

Place a large saucepan over medium heat and add the butter. When it is foaming, tip in the cooked pasta and stir to coat with the butter. Add the remaining ingredients and toss gently to combine. Taste for seasoning and serve in pasta bowls.

Lemon Delicious
serves 6, but keeps well overnight and heats up nicely the next day if you only have 2.

When the pudding is cooked you will have a delicate cake on top and tangy lemon sauce underneath. Serve hot, with cream or custard.

45 g butter

¾ C caster sugar
2 tsp finely grated lemon rind
3-4 eggs, separated
3 tbsp plain flour
1 C milk
¼ C lemon juice
pinch salt

Cream the butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add lemon rind and egg yolks and beat well. Sprinkle sifted flour on top and stir in with milk and lemon juice. Beat eggwhites in with salt and a bit of the sugar until stiff peaks form and fold lightly into pudding mixture.

Spoon into a greased 6-cup ovenproof dish and place in a roasting tin containing enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the dish. Bake in a pre-heated moderately hot oven 160C for 1 hour until cake topping is cooked when tested with a fine skewer. (A fine skewer, because if you test it with a knife, it will probably deflate like a souffle.)

{Pasta} Duck Ragu

Another favourite pasta sauce, perfect for your homemade pasta. The recipe comes from a fantastic little pasta restaurant in Surry Hills, Sydney called Il Baretto.

Duck Ragu
serves 4
This makes a meaty sauce in a rich gravy. To make it go a bit further or for a more traditional tomatoy sauce add a tin of tomatoes.

1 duck, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 stick celery
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp plain flour
3-4 L water
salt and pepper
800 g tin tomatoes (optional)
150g baby spinach

fresh pappardelle

Preheat the oven to 230C. Place salted duck in a reoasting pan and bake for 45 minutes. Turn the oven down to 190C and bake for another 60 minutes. Allow duck to cool, then take the meat off the bones. Save the juices from the pan and the bones, discard the skin. Chop the duck meat into small pieces.

Place the juices in a saucepan. Add carrot, onion and celery. Saute, then add bones, tomato paste and flour. Saute for 10 minutes. Cover with water and cook, uncovered for 2 hours on low heat until stock is reduced. If its too thick add more water. Season to taste. When sauce is reduced to a creamy consistency, strain throu a sieve, pressing down to get out all the liquid. Place the sauce and duck meat in the pan and gently heat.

Fold duck and baby spinach through cooked pasta until the spinach is just wilted.

{Pasta} Beef Ragout Recipe

This ragout is best made at least a day before serving and served with a thick pasta such as pappardelle. This recipe is adapted from one originally found in Sunday Life magazine many years ago!

Beef Ragout
500g beef shoulder or similar cut
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 sticks celery, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 bay leaf

Red wine sauce
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely sliced
1 brown onion, finely diced
1 stick celery, finely diced
1 cup red wine
2 tbsp tomato paste
400g can diced tomatoes
1 cup beef stock

To serve
pappardelle or other pasta of your choice
flat leaf parsley
parmesan

Place beef, garlic, celery, carrot and bay leaf in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover saucepan with a lid. Check pan every 10 minutes or so and add more water if required (the meat needs to be submerged in liquid). Cook for 1-2 hours or until meat is meltingly tender. Remove from heat and allow meat to cool in cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, for the red wine sauce, place olive oil in saucepan over a gentle heat. Cook garlic, onion and celery for 10 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Add red wine and, once it has evaporated, stir in tomato paste and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes and stock and cook for 15 minutes to develop rich flavours and achieve a thicker consistency. Once the meat has cooled, tear into shreds. Add shredded beef and vegetables from broth to the red wine sauce (I use a slotted spoon for this task). Adjust seasoning as necessary.

Toss the ragout with pasta and finish with finely chopped flat leaf parsley and parmesan.

{Pasta} Pasta dough recipe

Here is the fresh pasta recipe we used. You can mix the dough by hand or using a food processor, I have given both methods below. We used the dough to make fettucine, ravioli and tortellini.

Fresh Pasta
generously serves 4

4 large eggs
440g flour (white wings works well, you don't need 00 flour)

Place 400g flour in a pile on a clean bench and make a well in the centre, set 40g aside. Crack eggs into the well. Use a fork to mix the eggs and gradually add in the flour until a dough forms. Knead the dough by hand adding extra flour as needed.

Alternatively combine 400g flour and eggs in a food processor and pulse until a dough forms.

Cover dough and rest for 30 minutes.

Divide dough into 3-4 equal pieces and roll each out using a pasta machine, keeping the remaining pieces covered. Start on the thickest setting, if you didn't knead the dough by hand then pass it through at least 6 times, folding the ends into the middle to keep a neat rectangular shape. Once dough is smooth, continue to pass through the pasta machine, adjusting to a thinner setting each time.

Place sheets on a floured bench and cover with a dry teatowel until needed.

Use the attachment to the pasta machine to cut into fettucine etc or use the whole sheets to make ravioli, tortellini, lasagna etc...

Pasta, pasta and still more pasta!

The roads were wet, the air was cold, but the atmosphere was very warm and welcoming as we prepared to cook and eat at the second instalment of FEAST! The theme for the evening was pasta.  After some chatting and nibbles, the pasta making began.

From this...

...to this!

We decided to make three different types of pasta - tortellini, ravioli and fettuccine.  The tortellini was filled with a pork and veal filling, the ravioli with baby spinach and ricotta, and the fettuccine was served with a lovely beef ragout.

Pork and veal (and garlic and pecorino and parsley and and and...)tortellini

Many hands make light work

Well, so much chatting and eating, and not a lot of discussing the next FEAST. So, keep your ears open, you will be sure to hear something soon!  I will post the pasta filling recipes shortly.