Sicilian Style Broccolini Pasta

3/4 C currants
1/3 C verjuice
1/2 C flaked almonds
2 bunches broccolini, trimmed
250 g penne
1 T + olive oil
150 g ricotta
Handful + of chopped parsley
Shaved Parmigiana Reggiano
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Soak currants in verjuice for a couple of hours.

Dry fry or bake almonds. Cool and set aside.

Blanch broccolini in boiling salted. water for 1 minute. Refresh in cold water.

Cook pasta according to packet directions in broccolini water.

In a frypan add almonds, currants and some pasta liquid. Cook for 2 minutes on medium high, tossing. Add broccolini. Add in pasta and heat for 1 minute. Spoon in ricotta and parsley. Mix to distribute evenly.

Divide into bowls. Add shaved cheese, drizzle with olive oil and a generous dash of pepper.

You can listen to Pete Bufo talking us through the recipe here.

Image: "oh, the penne" by hash-slinger

Me-Healthy Farm

Another example of the Regional Providore's that provides both a service and an inspiration, Me-Healthy Farm is located at 147 Upper Orara Road in Karangi.Open each Friday and Sunday from 10 am - 2 pm Me-Healthy Farm is a great place to get your fruit and vegetables, herbs and nuts as well as seeds and seedlings. You can also stop by the cafe, check out the gift shop, meet the farm animals and tour the vegetable garden.

Like Me-Healthy Farm's Facebook page to find out what is in season, check out the photos, keep up with the news of the Farm and, in the next few months, discover information on the up-coming workshops.

Got extra produce for sale, Me-Healthy are also looking for more farmers and growers to join in the fun.

Sam joined Pearl in the Passionfruit and Chilli kitchen for a yarn about Me-Healthy Farm. You can listen in here.

Image from Me-Healthy Farm's Facebook page

Camden Public School Garden

A school with an award winning garden helping students to connect with where their food comes from, the taste sensations that result and a range of environmental activities. no wonder they are award winning!

Swing by the schools website for more details on what they are doing that includes, but goes beyond, just teh three R's.

Check out the chat with Penny Love-Lipinski here.

Byron Bay Chilli Company

Surely one of the best chilli sauce makers in the world - with an almost complete set of international awards to prove it - Byron bay Chilli's are also home to salsa and corn chips. Drop by their website to check out your local suppliers, buy some delights online or check out a great range of recipes. And if you would like someone else to do the cooking, and you are in Byron Bay, swing by OzyMex - it is just by the main roundabout, you can't miss it!

For listeners closer to Bellingen, swing by and meet John and co, have a taste and a chat at the weekend's Sawtell Chilli Festival. And if you aren't a big chilli fan, drop by anyway as Sawtell's First Avenue explodes with food, entertainment and color.

Roast Fennel with Breadcrumbs, Parsley and Parmesan

2 large fennel bulbs
100 ml olive oil
4 T water
1 T butter
1/2 C roughly chopped parsley
4 sprigs thyme
2 thick slices ciabatta
3 T freshly grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oven to 200 C.

Cut fennel vertically into wedges. Cook wedges in frypan in a little of the oil until browned. Add butter and water and for for another 3 minutes.

Put fennel and the stock it is cooking in into oven dish. Sprinkle over parsley and thyme. Rip up bread into chucks and scatter over fennel. Sprinkle over the rest of the oil, season to taste and sprinkle over Parmesan.

Roast for about 20 - 30 minutes.

Recipe supplied by Pete Bufo

Image: "Fennel" by Ewwiej

Roast Tomato Pasta Bake

1 packet pasta, cooked according to directions on packet
800 g really ripe tomatoes
1 head garlic
1 onion, quartered
1 onion, diced
Oil or butter, for frying
400 g canned or cooked kidney beans
1 T tomato paste
About 1 T sugar (depending on the sweetness of the tomatoes)
Herbs of choice, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste


Cut the tomatoes in half horzontally and place in a baking dish making sure you salt the bottoms and the cut edge, with the quartered onion and garlic. Cook in a moderate over for about 30 minutes.Allow to cool and blend in a food processor until the desired consistency is achieved.

Meanwhile, fry off the diced onion in a little oil or butter until translucent - don't overcook. Add the drained kidney beans. Add the tomato paste and blended tomatoes. Add the sugar and season according to taste. Cook for about 20 minutes until well combined.

Image: Pasta by karma2014

Bush Tucker Shack

You can contact Sue from the Bush Tucker Shack on Facebook or find them at the Dorrigo markets (first Saturday of the month) or the Woolgoolga markets (second Saturday of the month).

The Quarmby's are legends (says me) and if you want to find out more you can check out the Landline interview or their website. You can also follow up Mark Olive here.

Sue mentioned a recipe for Wattleseed, Chicken and Macadamia curry. Sue talked about adapting the recipe to suit her but a great starting point if you wanted to make your own is this recipe.

Gozleme

Serves 6 or 7

Dough:
2 c plain flour
2 C wholemeal flour
1 1/2 C water
1/2 C olive oil

Filling
2 C silverbeat, chopped roughly
1/2 C parsley, chopped
1/2 C mint, chopped
200 g feta,crumbled
250 g ricotta,
1 C spring onions, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, chopped
Pinch nutmeg
Pepper, to taste
Squeeze lime or lemon juice, to serve


Mix dough ingredients together and knead for 10 minutes. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Mix filling ingredients together.

Roll out dough to about 30 cm x 20 cm and 2 - 4 mm thick.

Leaving a margin around the edge, pour on filling to one half of the pastry.Fold over remaining pastry, seal the edges and fry in a cast iron skillet or on the barbecue until golden on one side. Flip and repeat. Squeeze over lemon or lime juice, cut into wedges and serve immediately with a meze plate, tabouli or salad.

Recipe from Pete Bufo

Image from foodie-central

Stove Top Pizza

The oven in the new house isn't working but I had a hankering for pizza so decided to experiment on making a stop top version. Now I confess I had thought pizza earlier in  the day and it proved a happy coincidence that there was basil in the fridge so the pesto had already been made (using peanuts just for a change).

Next step: caramelizing the onions (which we learnt how to do a few weeks ago with Pete Bufo). So I chopped up three onions and cooked them for nearly an hour in a little butter over very low heat. Just perfect!

Then it was time to make the dough (3/4 C warm water mixed with 1 t of sugar and 1 sachet yeast and then combined with 2 C flour and kneaded until smooth and pliable) and add the toppings - my homemade pesto, shredded cheese, my homemade caramlized onions and sliced mushrooms. More toppings that I would normally add but I was feeling a little wild and decadent.

I researched the process for cooking on a stove top (cover the pizza with a lid or tight fitting foil and cook on low for about 15 - 20 minutes to all the toppings to cook, the cheese to melt and the base to crust (but not burn). With instructions that easy, it was worth a try.

Results: 6.5/10. Things I would change next time: make a thin crust pizza - the dough around the edges wasn't fully cooked through - although it was towards the centre of the pie; use a heavy based pan rather than my cheapie frypan; use less toppings - the flavors were great and certainly went together but there was too many big flavors for me to fully appreciate each of them (next time I shall do a pizza bianca with the caramelized onion on one half and the pesto and mushrooms on the other half); and, use half as much cheese - I generally just use a sprinkle of parmesan and I put a bit too much on this one. Not that these were big faults as such, more like tweaks ..... and a reason to cook pizza this way another time :-)

Food Exchange Thursday

I headed down the Bellingen Food Exchange today - what a treat - so many conversations, much laughter and the food! The photo is just a sampling of what was on offer. Put in the diary for next time - 29 March.

Layered Tomato and Basil Salad

1 kg tomatoes
100 g pinenuts or macadamias, roasted
1 bunch basil
Lots of garlic, crushed or chopped very finely.
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
White balsamic vinegar

Slice tomatoes 1/4" thick and lay a third of them in a bowl. Salt. Sprinkle over a third of the pinenuts. Sprinkle over a third of the garlic. Season with pepper. Top with a third of the basil. Repeat until all of the ingredients have been used. At the end drizzle over olive oil and a splash of white balsamic vinegar. Do not stir. Refrigerate for about 2 hours. If you have time you can make the salad the night before.

Recipe by Pete Bufo

Image by Pearl

Partnering Lamb

Whether you are roasting, grilling, barbequing or casseroling you lamb consider using some of these perefect flavor matches with it:

Garlic, Rosemary, Mint, Thyme, Oregano, Bay Leaves, Parsley, Basil, Coriander, Marjoram, Dill, Sage, Tarragon

Allspice, Paprika, Cloves, Ginger, Lemon Pepper, Curry Powder, Moroccan Spices, Chilli

Lemon

It certainly isn't a comprehensive list - let us know what your favorite combinations for rubs, marinade and sprinkles are.

And the perfect mint sauce is not a bought one:
Mix about 1/2 C vinegar with about 1 1/2 t sugar until dissolved and 3 T  chopped mint.  Allow to sit for at least an hour to let the flavors develop - the longer the sitting, the more flavor.

You can adjust any of these amounts by a very large margin to taste.

Image: from Wizard Recipes - Garlic Roast Leg of Lamb