spinach | potatofaces.com spinach | easy vegetarian recipes

Posts Tagged ‘spinach’

Christmas party – menu

January 5, 2013 by potatoface

I said recipes were coming soon, but who truly can define ‘soon’.

In other words I was just being lazy, doing what you should over Christmas – do nothing, eat, drink, and be merry…

But here it comes, christmas party menu:

Beetroot soup with mushroom parcels

For the beetroot soup you need:

2-3 beetroots (fresh)

1 carrot

1 parsnip

1 onion

3 pints of water

salt

pepper

dried marjoram

oregano

lemon juice from 1 lemon

1 spoon of olive oil

1. Boil water in a pan. Add olive oil.

2. Peel all the vegetables , cut them into big chunks (onion in half) and add to boiling water.

3. Add salt and pepper.

4. After few minutes add lemon juice. Boil for 15-20 minutes, taste and add more seasoning or lemon juice if you need to.

5. You can take all the vegetables out of your pot (we need clear beetroot soup) and add herbs and a dash of an olive oil.

I’m not going to lie, you can make yourself mushroom parcels (like tortellinis with porchini mushrooms). My sister does. But I bought them frozen from a Polish shop (one can only do a few things at a time).

mushroom parcels

beetroot soup with mushroom parcels

Next thing on the menu were Beet and Goat Cheese Terrine with Rocket and Roasted Butternut Squash Salad

beetroot and goat cheese terrine

beetroot and goat cheese terrine

You can find the recipe in ‘Fresh’ by Anna Olson

I served it with Rocket and Roasted Butternut Squash Salad, Ina Garten aka Barefoot Contessa’s recipe:

You can find it in her book ‘Back to Basics’

or on the Food Network website here.

For the main we had Spanakopita (Spinach and Feta in Filo Pastry). I tried different variations of this Greek dish but my favourite recipe which I used over and over again is Jamie Oliver’s from his ’30 Minute Meals’ book

There were two deserts. One of them was mince pies in filo pastry, dead easy. You need to cut filo pastry into squares, brush with melted butter and arrange in a muffin tin. If you feel artistic and have time arrange them with corners making a star. Fill them with vegetarian good mince meat, zest of lemon and fresh cranberries, bake till golden and sprinkle with icing sugar and maybe little sugar snowflakes…?

mince pies in filo pastry

And there were also Gingerbread Cupcakes.

Christmas gingerbread cupcakes

Christmas gingerbread cupcakes

And the recipe you can also find on the Food Network website here.

Category dessert, dinner, Party, soup, starter | Tags: baking powder,butter,butternut squash,cheese,christmas,cinnamon,cupcakes,eggs,feta cheese,flour,garlic,herbs,lemon,mince pies,mushrooms,nutmeg,olive oil,pepper,pine nuts,rocket,salad,salt,spinach,wine | No Comments
easy spinach and ricotta lasagna

September 21, 2011 by potatoface

I don’t really believe in comfort food, maybe because I don’t have this weird relationship with food that some people do. I don’t eat to comfort myself, because something happened which made me feel uncomfortable, etc. I eat because I like cooking and I freaking love food. Though sometimes you eat something which makes you feel warm and dreamy. I definitely feel like that after eating this lasagna…

lasagna

Easy Lasagna

Fresh lasagna sheets ( if you are adventurous you can make it from scratch but unless you are dating Jamie Oliver who you’d want to impress, it’s probably not worth the bother)

200- 300 grams of spinach

200 grams of ricotta cheese

salt

2-3 spoons of nutmeg

olive oil

tomatoes (chopped tinned ones are just fine)

basil

hard cheese, grated (cheddar is ok)

1. Saute spinach in olive oil.

2. Mix it with ricotta, nutmeg and salt.

3. Warm up the olive oil, add tomatoes, stir and cook until excess liquid evaporates. Season, add some basil at the end.

4. Layer spinach and cheese mixture in a buttered lasagna ovenproof dish, then the pasta sheets. Repeat till you run out of spinach and ricotta mixture. Layer the top with a pasta sheet. On top of that spread your tomato sauce and sprinkle grated cheese.

5. Bake in the oven ( 180 c) till cheese starts getting golden.

Category dinner | Tags: basil,cheddar,lasagna,nutmeg,ricotta cheese,spinach,tomatoes | No Comments
Pasta with any veg you can find in your fridge

September 1, 2011 by potatoface

pasta with vegetables

This pasta recipe should be dedicated to my friend Marcelina because it reminds me of her. Basically the whole pasta dish is made with what you can find in the fridge – the one I’m posting is with spinach, mushrooms , tomatoes and courgettes because these are vegetables I always have in my fridge, but sometimes I use variations – mushrooms, broccoli and tomatoes or mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes.

My variations though are in a totally different category than Marcelina’s. She used to add things to her pasta which she found in a cupboard or fridge, but they were totally random, not going together at all. Something like sweetcorn, gurkens and walnuts for example. Her style of cooking was really adventurous and totally bonkers. Such an inspiration she was.

So here it is – pasta inspired by Marcelina.

Pasta with any veg you can find in your fridge

Ingredients

gnocchetti pasta (you can use farfalle, pennne or whatever you have in the cupboard)

tin of chopped tomatoes

1 courgette

spinach

mushrooms (a cup or 2 handfuls)

olive oil

fresh basil

1-2 cloves of garlic

salt and freshly ground pepper

parmesan (I use vegetarian one)

1. Chop mushrooms. Warm olive oil in a pan, add crushed garlic, fry for a minute, add mushrooms.

2. When the mushrooms are fried, add cubed courgette and chopped tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes, add salt and pepper.

3. When the courgette softens, add spinach gradually, stir.

4. In the meantime cook pasta.

5. When vegetables are cooked but not overcooked, add basil, drain your pasta, mix with your sauce.

6. Serve on a pre-warmed plate with grated parmesan on top and red wine, preferably Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.

Category dinner, lunch | Tags: basil,courgettes,farfalle,garlic,gnocchetti,mushrooms,olive oil,parmesan,pasta,penne,pepper,spinach,tomatoes | No Comments
wholemeal pancakes with spinach – no nonsense food

August 8, 2011 by potatoface

wholemeal pancakes with spinach - no nonsense food

There is no story behind pancakes with spinach. I like spinach, I like pancakes, that’s why I have combined the two together. Cheese is nice as well. And that’s basically it. They taste good though, everyone should try them…

Wholemeal pancakes with spinach and cheese

Ingredients for pancakes:

1 glass of wholemeal flour

1/2 glass of soya milk (doesn’t have to be soya if you don’t have it)

2 spoons of olive oil

2 eggs

1/2 glass of water if the batter is too thick

Ingredients for stuffing:

spinach

200 grams of cheddar cheese

2 spoons of olive oil

salt and pepper

1. Mix all ingredients for pancakes, if the mixture seems to thick, add some water.

2. Heat the frying pan. It has to be really hot. Then when the pan is hot and your batter smooth and creamy, using the ladle pour some onto the pan, tilt the pan in a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly, leave until it sets, flip it and put it onto a plate on the side.

3. To prepare spinach, heat olive oil in a pan, saute spinach (you need to do it on a low heat, add spinach gradually and cover).

4. Add salt and pepper.

5. When the spinach is done, spread some butter in an ovenproof dish (you can use a separate dish for each person), grate cheese, spread some spinach in the middle of the pancake, on top of the spinach sprinkle cheese, roll the pancake, put it into an ovenproof dish.

6. When your ovenproof dish is full of rolled pancakes, sprinkle more cheese on top of them.

7. Leave them in the hot oven (180C) till cheese melts properly.

Enjoy!

Category dinner, lunch, starter | Tags: cheese,eggs,flour,milk,olive oil,pepper,salt,spinach | No Comments
Spinach and cherry tomatoes quiche – a dinner party winner

July 31, 2011 by potatoface

spinach and cherry tomatoes quiche

When you invite people for dinner ( I don’t understand why you would want to do that but whatever), you don’t want everyone to enjoy themselves, drink at the table and gossip, while you are slaving in the kitchen. My best advise coming from experience is; prepare dessert in advance and for dinner serve quiche. It’s easy and simple, tastes nice, and when the guests arrive, you can stick it in the oven and enjoy nice conversation and an even nicer glass of wine. Another advantage is that even if you get tipsy during that process, your dessert is already made, so you are not going to mess it up. You can only burn a bit of your quiche, like what I did as you can clearly see on the picture…..

Spinach and cherry tomatoes quiche

For the pastry:

1 glass of flour

1/2 pack of butter

few spoons of cold water

pinch of salt

For the filling:

spinach (300 grams)

2-3 spoons of olive oil

cherry tomatoes

2 eggs

half a cup of soya cream (or ordinary single if you are pleased)

spoon of nutmeg

salt

any fresh herbs (basil, oregano, etc) but if you don’t have any, dried herbs de provence will do

200 grams of hard cheese (whichever you like, cheddar is absolutely fine)

breadcumbs

1. To make pastry sieve the flour, add a pinch of salt, cut room-temperature butter into cubes . Add it to the flour and using your hands mix it together until you have a breadcrumbs texture. Add cold water (just few spoons,enough to make firm dough) and using your hands mix everything until you form nice pastry, then leave in the fridge for half an hour.

2. Saute spinach in a pan with olive oil. Add nutmeg, a pinch of salt and herbs. Leave to cool for a bit.

3. Take the pastry out of the fridge, dust with more flour, roll it out on a floured surface. Butter flan dish, I usually sprinkle the dish with 2 spoons of breadcrumbs. Line the dish with pastry. I never use fancy baking beans, I just simply poke the pastry with a fork, leaving plenty of little holes.

4. Pre-bake pastry in an oven for about 20 minutes (temperature 150 C).

5. Take it out of the oven, sprinkle a spoon of breadcrumbs into the pastry, then some grated cheese. Spread spinach and add cherry tomatoes. Whisk eggs with cream and pour it into the pastry. Sprinkle more cheese on top.

6. Bake it in the oven till eggs set and cheese melts (30 -40 minutes, temperature about 170 C).

Serve with a salad and a smile.

Category dinner, lunch | Tags: cheese,cherry tomatoes,cream,eggs,herbs,nutmeg,olive oil,spinach | 2 Comments
simple spinach pasta – how to cheat your way

June 23, 2011 by potatoface

spinach pasta

Have you ever been in a situation when you had only 10 to 15 minutes to make something for lunch or dinner, something to fill you up, comforting and warm? Well, I’ve quite often been in that situation. There is no need to panic, you can keep your socks on, there is always pasta with spinach. It’s so easy that a 6 year old could make it, it’s also very nice. If you serve garlic bread or focaccia, salad and wine with it, you can even offer it to people coming for dinner. To make it look more like an effort and dinner party dish, you can give it some fancy name, like ‘pasta fresca’, ‘spaghetti aglio olio e spinaci’ or something like that. Trust me, not many people speak Italian or have a clue what they are eating, and a fancy name for a dish never fails, people always assume it must be something sophisticated if it’s got an Italian sounding name. Warning! As Woody Allen said ‘never bluff the bluffer’. If you are cooking for someone who knows something about cooking, just admit you are making something simple, because simplicity in the kitchen is as ‘in’ as neon is the new black in fashion.

Simple spinach pasta

This is the simplest and quickest way of making pasta.

2-3 spoons of olive oil

spinach

100 grams of pine nuts

3 cloves of garlic

salt and pepper

fresh basil

parmesan

spaghetti (or any pasta you like)

1. Boil salted water for pasta.

2. Warm olive oil in a pot, add crushed garlic and fry for a while. Don’t burn the garlic, so keep on a low heat with lots of stirring.

3. Add spinach, cover the pot.

4. In the meantime boil pasta.

5. Add some salt and pepper to spinach.

6. Roast pine nuts and add them to your pot of spinach.

7. Drain pasta, add it to the spinach. You can sprinkle it with some more olive oil and chopped basil.

8. Serve with parmesan.

Category dinner, lunch | Tags: basil,garlic,nice,olive oil,parmesan,pasta,pine nuts,spaghetti,spinach | No Comments
spinach risotto – easy way to show your love

June 6, 2011 by potatoface

Risotto is one of my favourite dishes. I can’t say my absolute favourite, like I can’t say what my favourite film is- there is just too many amazing ones to choose from.

Here’s the thing though – if you ever go to a posh restaurant where waitresses look like models and you sit on uncomfortable but beautiful to look at chairs, you won’t find anything vegetarian on the menu apart from mushroom risotto. And it’s always the most horrible dish you can ever try and you have to pay for it (honestly, they should pay you for making you eat it). It’s either undercooked or overcooked, looks like grey blob and is tasteless. Trust me, the only good risotto I ate was the one I had in Italy or at my sister’s.

(more…)

Category dinner, risotto, spinach risotto - the easy way to show yor love | Tags: arborio rice,basil,butter,easy recipe,garlic,italy,love,olive oil,parmesan,pepper,recipe,spinach,spinach risotto - the easy way to show yor love,tasty,tomato,vegetarian,wine | 2 Comments