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)

Roasted Red Pepper and coconut soup

This soup can be made in about twenty minutes.It´s wonderfully warming colour and sweetly spiced flavour is perfect for the cold weather.

First fry 1 spring onion finely diced in olive oil.Cook until softened.

Next add one chopped garlic,a little chopped fresh ginger,3 carrots diced finely and cook for about a minute with the lid on.

Next add roasted a jar of roasted red peppers(pimientos de piquillo) and a few leaves of fresh basil.Cook for another minute.

Add half a litre of light vegetable stock,one cardamon pot crushed,two teaspoons of curry powder and cook until the carrot has sofened.

Add half a can of coconut milk and blend untl smooth.

This soup was made for my sweet tooth daughter and partner.If it was made for adults I would have put some fresh chilli at the beginning and changed the basil for fresh coriander...or would I?My alter ego says it was delicious just as the way it was.

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

Summer Tomato Broth

This year we planted 3 types of tomatoes.."de colgar"(for hanging up)...for making Pan con Tomate and they keep until february hanging up in the kitchen(more true treasure).

To make Pan con Tomate you need to toast some bread.Rub them with garlic.Cut a tomate de colgar(or a well flavoured ripe soft tomato) in half and rub it into the bread... all you,ll have left is the skin.Drizzle some good quality olive oil on top and a sprinkle of salt ...and there you have it... a classic Catalan recipe.The concept is simple..good ingredients and you can,t go wrong.Serve this bread with Grilled Asparagus,Tortilla Español,Sauted wild mushrooms or whatever takes your fancy.

The second type of tomato was gordos de Argentina..fat argentian tomates which are the fat,firm full variety..great for salads with olive oil and fresh basil and black pepper.

The last type was monserrat which are large with big folds like a pin cushion... emptyish inside but sweet... great for this summer soup... or for stuffing.

Also there were a few unidentified tomates which grew alone thanks to the compost...one or two cherry tomates and plum tomates and a few nameless bless them.

Forgive my nerdish account of varieties but looking back its nice to see what you planted every year and why.Now on to this soup it had the simplist ingredients because the veggies were so good I wanted to celebrate them.
First saute some finely chopped onion (1medium sized)
Next chop a fresh fat garlic clove and cook until just soft and not browned
Add a half or quarter of diced red pepper...also cooked until soft
And lastly 2 bowlfuls of tomatoes diced up ,skins and all...a mixture of the lovely selection above...deliciously sweet..no added sugar needed.
Add a slash or two of water or light stock...enough to give a nice broth like consistency.
The tomatoes should be cooked but still hold their shape.
Add a hand full of tiny cooked pasta of choice.
Season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Top with fresh basil and some grated parmesan.
Perfect homage to naturally sweet summer vegetables.

note...This soup only works with good flavoured tomatoes...if they dont have much flavour theres no point in trying this recipe...however if you get your hands on some homegrowns celebrate them with this soup.

Pumpkin,coconut and almond soup

Saute two onions finely chopped in olive oil.
In another saucepan heat up some olive oil and pop in some chopped red peppers, cover and let them brown up slightly until soft(alternatively you could use roasted peppers).
Add chopped celery and carrot to cooked onions...then cooked peppers...then roasted pumpkin(I had some frozen....you could use fresh).
With just enough stock to stop from burning...let the vegetables cook until soft.
Add a can of coconut milk and enough almond milk to give it the consistency you want...salt and pepper to taste.

I cook my vegetables separately alot of the time because I like to respect their true nature..sounds pretentious I know...but believe me its true...
Adding fresh peppers will not give you that lovely sweet flavour...same goes for the fresh pumpkin.The almond milk gives it an added bonus prize of calcium for all....