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To Marmite

This came to me while I was eating dinner and musing over expat life. In the style of Dr Seuss. I hope you enjoy!

'Marmite! Marmite? What is that?'

Shriek the girls in my Italian flat.

'How do you eat it? What do you do?

It looks untrustworthy through and through!'

'Well now I'll tell you,' and their heads I pat,

'It's good with eggs, on toast that's flat.

It's good with cheese, and on its own.

Even on a ricecake - one mustn't moan!

It's good with beans for a flavoursome lunch - 

Relax, my dear, that face you scrunch.

It's good in soups, chillies, stews - all kinds of fayre!

In truth wherever love is, you'll find Marmite there.'

Edam and Courgette 'Rustica'

Now this, this was an absolute EXPERIMENT in the dark that turned out VERY WELL, born of a leftover courgette lurking in my fridge and the desire to eat something other than pasta for once in my Italian life.

Serves 2 (with a side salad. Could stretch to four with lots of other bits on the plate too)

Ingredients:

Cheese of some description - the title says Edam because it was what I used the first time due to it being the cheapest available in the supermarket at the time. I generally just have a rummage and try to find whatever medium, fairly flavoursome cheese is on offer on the day though - pretty much anything will do. Haven't tried Cheddar yet, and don't use anything too sloppy or mild.

1 courgette

1 pack ready-roll pastry (because I am a lazy, good-for-nothing CHEAT, people. Actually, Italian ready-made pastry comes already rolled in its own baking parchment wrapper, which is perfect for a short-term foreigner living in student accommodation. Kills approximately four birds with one small and perfectly formed stone.)

Bit of milk for brushing.

Method:

1) Pre-heat oven. I'm afraid I can't give you a temperature, my oven has two heat settings - 'big flame' and 'small flame'. Just make sure it's hot enough to...cook it.

2) Open the pastry and plonk it in a baking dish/tray to suit the size of the pastry itself, so some of it can still be folded over at the edges and ends

3) Chop the courgette into rounds and place into the pastry case

4) Chop (don't grate, chop - it makes it more rustic) the cheese into chunks and scatter over the courgette. Make sure they're evenly spread.

5) Fold over the edges and brush with milk

6) Pop in the oven and remove once the cheese and courgette is a lovely melty goo and the pastry is golden. Can be enjoyed straight away or eaten cold with a picnic!

Ratatouille

After I wrote up the risotto recipe that I went on to describe as 'possibly my best Italian culinary achievement to date' yesterday, I remembered this humble dish, which served me well in five ways:

1) It's dirt cheap

2) It's filling

3) It's warm on a chilly day

4) It's ridiculously easy to make

5) It's super healthy

I'm somewhat ashamed to say that ratatouille is a vegetarian staple that I'd never really given the time of day until I moved to Italy, which is ironic given that it's French. Anyway, here goes:

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 courgettes

1 aubergine

2 peppers (red, yellow or orange)

12-15 cherry tomatoes, or six normal ones

1 onion

Drop of olive oil

Dried mixed herbs

Bouillon powder/vegetable stock cube

Method

1) Add the oil to a large (and I mean large!) pan. Chop the onion and fry gently for about five minutes, over a low heat.

2) Meanwhile, chop all your other veggies/plant products

3) Bung all the veggies in the pan, including the tomatoes (they're a fruit I know, hence 'plant products', for the pedants out there)

4) Add a small splash of water. Literally just a splash. Like...show it some water. These ingredients will release a lot of water as they cook anyway.

5) Sprinkle over a teaspoon of the Bouillon powder, or crumble over the stock cube. Give the mixed herbs a good generous shake over everything.

6) Mix the whole concoction well.

7) Put a lid on the pan and leave it to cook for about 35-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. It will reduce considerably and release a lot of moisture. Once everything's looking cooked through, dish up and enjoy with crusty bread or rice. It probably goes well with chutneys too!

Spinach and Pesto Risotto with Gorgonzola

It's been a wee while, and I realised that while I've documented some of my philosophical ponderings over the last five months, I have not as yet paid much attention to my culinary adventures!

This recipe was born of an excess of frozen spinach in my freezer and is really quite seriously good (if I say so myself).

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Knob of butter

3 espresso cups of risotto rice (if you don't have espresso cups, an egg cup or a shot glass will do. Measurements in my Italian kitchen are somewhat haphazard, but this amount makes two good portions on a hungry day. Just do two if you're planning dessert.)

1 onion

3 chunks of frozen spinach (If you're using fresh you just have to look at it and think 'when that's wilted, will it be enough? and go from there...but use a decent sized bag at least)

1 litre Bouillon powder or vegetable stock (if you use less rice you will have to adjust the amount of stock accordingly)

1/2 tub of fresh green pesto

Chunk of soft Gorgonzola (I'm going to say make it a generous...30 grams. Maybe more)

Generous handful of Parmesan

Method:

1) Put the spinach in a small pan with a little water to defrost. If you're using fresh spinach, wilt it in a colander with boiling water and put aside.

2) Chop the onion. Melt the butter in a large pan and soften the onion for around five minutes. 

3) While the onion softens, boil the kettle and make up the stock. (I don't have a kettle so I get my water boiling before I do anything else) Add the rice and stir until glossy with butter.

4) Start adding the stock to the rice little by little and stir constantly until each part of the water is absorbed. Do this on a high heat until all the stock has been absorbed by the rice, then turn the heat right down. Be very careful not to let the rice stick to the bottom of the pan as it will be a pig to scrub clean later! Towards the end of the process you can afford to turn the heat down a bit and leave it to its own devices with just the occasional rigorous stir while you grate the Parmesan. Or if you're really organised you can grate it in advance.

5) Add the spinach and pesto and stir until mixed through. Then add the Parmesan and Gorgonzola and stir thoroughly. If you want, keep back a bit of the Parmesan for sprinkling on top.

Serve up and enjoy!

Can be accompanied with a light white wine if you fancy, and if you're really hungry and misjudged the quantities of stock vs rice (voice of experience) then a nice bit of crusty bread is good for mopping up juices. And if you STILL have space then by God you're most of the way to becoming Italian already and something like strawberries for dessert would follow it well. Perhaps nestled in meringue nests with a hint of cream. Naughty. But less is more, perhaps best just to let the strawberries stand alone. Your call!