Autumn Oven Recipes

I made the most of a box of veggies that my neighbour Ramon dropped in and decided to take advantage  of the oven space by cooking four or five dishes at the one time.When you're going to roast something have a quick look in fridge for anything else you can pop in to make the most of cooking time and organize food for the following days.

Heres what I made-

 Roasted ratatoille

Roasted Aubergine stuffed with  goats cheese,barley, tomato and fresh basil

Tomato sauce

Roasted pumkin and sweet potatoes

Autumn soup

This is no rocket science,easy peasy and boy was I glad the following day having my fridge full of roasted veg ready to be transformed.

Ratatoille

Chop and roughly dice the following-

10 medium sized ripe tomatoes

2 medium onions

1 courgette

1 aubergine

1 red pepper

add-

3 peeled cloves of garlic

1 or two rosemary sprigs

1 tablespoon of dried oregano

1 very large and very generous measure of olive oil

Pop into a preheated oven at 180C ,stir every now and then until it has reduced considerably and the vegetables are soft.

What you´re left with is a delicious rich tomato and vegetable chunky sauce(not unlike real ratatoille-which is slow cooked meticulously adding one vegetable at a time-but this is oven roasted and equally good)

Use this sauce on pasta,with rice,polenta or cereals-add some fresh sauted mushrooms-cooked beans

I whizzed it up for my daughter who now doesn,t eat onions,peppers,aubergine and courgettes(ahhhh three year olds) -as a rich tomato sauce with a wee bit of organic tomato sauce she guppled all the vegetables up(ha ha Anouk )which I added to some cooked barley(lovely and chewy-a great alternative to rice)and some fried smoked tofu.

When I had the ratatoille in the oven I sliced a large aubergine length ways (about half an inch in thickness) brushed with olive oil and popped it into the oven.I turned it over to brown on bothsides and took it out(genius writing skills).

With the a small bit of the ratatoille sauce(to make use of cooking time I took out a few spoonfuls half during the cooking time and blended it up-for the aubergine rolls and for my hungry daughter) I added a few spoons of cooked barley that I had in the fridge,fresh basil and spread the mixture on each slice with some aged goats cheese and rolled it up.In a small baking dish I put a dollop of sauce on the bottom ,aubergine rolls on top with some diced fried smoked tofu sprinkled on top and cook it in the oven until the cheese melted a wee bit .Then I sprinked some fresh basil(still alive in the garden ,I love it ,November and fresh basil-joy) , some fresh parsley and a drizzle of basil oil and our lunch was ready too...yummm

Also added to the little group of oven buddies was some roughly chopped pumpkin and sweet potatoes this time drizzled with sunflower oil(because I wasn,t sure at first what I,d use them for and sunflower oil has a neutral flavour -so you can use them for sweet or savoury dishes after)and roasted until soft.

The following day I  sauted two finely diced onions with some chopped garlic for about 5 minutes added the roasted sweet potatoes and pumpkin ,3 sage leaves,vegetable stock and oatmilk and blended until smooth(adjust the amount of stock and milk to taste),a dash of basil oil and salt and pepper and you have a delicious autumn soup in 10 minutes.Anouk has also declared that she doesn,t like sweet potatoes or pumpkin but in a soup all is forgotten-hail soups!

(For a spicey adult twist add some curry powder,chillies, nutmeg or cinnamon to the onion at the beginning-play people play)

Everything gets whizzed up in autumn for soups in my house-you could blend  the cooked ratatoille with less stock and add lots of pesto or fresh basil and crunchy croutons(dice some stale bread brushed with garlic and olive oil and rosemary and leave in the oven until crunchy and golden stirring occassionally )

Tomorrow I,m thinking of some some corn pancakes filled with the ratatoille

or

with polenta and lots of melted cheese

or

Lasagne with ratatoille

or

pumpkin and sweet potato pie

or

the list goes on,and on-see how easy cooking is when you have a fridge full of oven roasted leftovers(or standbys,I prefer the word standbys)

Smoked Aubergine Soup

We had a Bar-b-q- at the weekend...and I had some left over potato and aubergine charred black from the fire.Instead of turning it into some smokey dips I opted for this soup due to the rainy weather outside...Ain,t nothing like a soup on a grey day.

Saute 2 onions finely diced in olive oil with a pinch of salt.
When the onions are soft add 3 small mushrooms..diced finely.
Add 1 small aubergine,2 radishes,half a cougette chopped finely.
Cook until the aubergine softens and add the charred aubergine (with the burnt skin removed and composted)and cover with a light stock.
Simmer for about ten minutes then blend up for a thick rich soup.
I added the cooked charred potato deskined and cubed up with some cooked green peas before serving for a different texture and that lovely green colour

Abuela Luisa,s Aubergine pickle

Peel shiny healthy aubergines and cut in finger size shapes.
Place in a large colinder beginning with a layer of aubergines ...sprinkle with sea salt....then another layer of sea salt.
Then put the colinder on top of a bowl to collect the bitter juices .
Leave for an hour or so.

Next place the aubergines in a large saucepan and cover them with a mixture half water ,half white wine vinegar.
Boil and cook for five minutes.
Drain in a colinder.
Layer in jars with some chopped garlic,dried laurel leaves,dried oregano,black pepper corns,aji molido(chilli flakes).
Then cover completely with sunflower oil.

The longer you leave the jars unopened the better the flavour but this is v v hard to do.
This pickle keeps very well so I advice you to make it in large quantities.
I suppose this is an Argentina recipe to eat with bar-b-qs but it also delicious with tostadas,crostinis,cheeses,veggie burgers...and the other day I liquidized them with tahini to make a baba ganush style dip.

Aubergines stuffed with quinoa,smoked tofu and black beans.

This was one of those quicky dinners turned good...
For two...
Cut two aubergines in half ,place on a baking tray with a dizzle of olive oil and whack them into a hot oven(250c),turning occasionly until soft and browned underneath...
Meanwhile defrost tomate sauce(see January blog)and a hand full of frozen black beans(or fresh or other cooked beans)and let them simmer in a saucepan.
I added a wee bit of dried tarragon because I,m growing it this year and need to start playing with it, as I know little or nowt about this herb. The only way to get to know a herb is by experimenting and tasting.

In a frying pan I fried some diced smoked tofu until crispy.At the end I put a splash of soya sauce,put a lid on it for spatter relief and let it cook for a minute more.(this soya smoked tofu is great for pizzas rissottos et al)

In another saucepan I cooked some quinoa.Wash it well first then boil in ample water until soft.I saved some for my wee baby(9 months old on the 3rd)as its high in protein,calcium and iron.
Mix the tomatoe beany mixture with the tofu,
quinoa,some chopped parsley, fried garlic and a splinkering of smoked paprika.

When the aubergines are done...scoop out a small bit of the flesh...mix with lemon juice(a squeeze),crushed garlic(to taste),coriander powder(a pinch), tahini(as you wish) ,olive oil,water, salt and pepper.This is the sauce done.hurragh!

Spoon the quinoa tomatoe mixture into the aubergines and serve with the above sauce.ummm
We ate these with a simple mixed leaf salad with balsamic vinegar,olive oil salt and pepper...also ummmm