Sautéed Bell Peppers with Onions and fresh Basil Recipe

This recipe is very easy, very tasty, you only need a few fresh ingredients and you have a perfect summer side dish to accompany meat or fish.

Peppers cooked this way are also fantastic served on bruschetta, can also be used as a sauce for pasta dishes, great base for risotto, or simply enjoyed on its own with a fresh crunchy bread. I also love using sautèed peppers as a topping on a pizza.

This dish can really be summed up as a simplicity at its best.

I simply adore peppers, I love them raw in salads, cooked, sautèed, grilled...

I have very vivid memories as a child going with my mother to the farmers market and seeing the vegetable and fruit stalls full of colourful peppers, it just looked so beautiful...

After buying the peppers, I would pick one and my mother would wash it under cold water in one of the Venetian looking fountains in the market, and I would just munch it raw during the trip back home.

As soon as the peppers were available fresh to buy at end of spring and during the summer, when they are in abundance, my mother would make this dish very often and here I am very happy to share it with you..

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 6 mixed colour bell peppers, about 1kg (I used yellow, orange, green and red, you can use just one variety or a mixture of your preference)

• 1-2 onions, about 200g (peeled and thinly sliced)

• fresh basil, few leaves

• sea salt

• 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• chili, optional

Method

Wash and dry the peppers, cut them in half, remove the seeds and the white filaments.

Cut the peppers into smaller pieces.

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Peel the onions and slice thinly.

Add the oil into a fairly large non stick pan.

Heat the oil and add the onions and a pinch of salt

Stew the onions over medium-low heat, for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions become soft and translucent.

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Add the peppers, mix them well with the onions, add sea salt, fresh basil leaves and chilli if using.

Cover with the lid and cook the peppers on a medium-low heat anything between 30-50minutes, stirring occasionally.

The peppers, after this time, should be completely soft and all the water should be completely absorbed.

If the peppers are completely cooked but still quite watery, take the lid off and cook further for few minutes until all the water is completely absorbed.

Add few more fresh basil leaves and your peppers are ready to be enjoyed hot, warm, at room temperature or cold.

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Just a thought

Peppers cooked this way can be stored for about 2-3 days in the fridge in an airtight container.

Freezing this dish is not recommended.

You can add crashed garlic (1 or 2 cloves) if you wish and replace fresh basil for fresh flat leaf parsley or use both.

Wine suggestion

Friuli Colli Orientali Sauvignon DOC 2019 by Valentino Butussi, Colli Orientali, Friuli

Minestrone Primavera (Spring Vegetable Soup) recipe

This is a really lovely soup to make, it is delicious, comforting, easy to prepare, and it is a great choice for a light lunch or dinner. It will soon become one of your favourites as it is ideal for a rustic style meal or for a more elegant option dining.

What I love about this minestrone is that it is really uncomplicated to make and it looks so pretty with all the new vegetables, yes, spring in a plate and a real celebration of springtime.

This soup is Italian in origin and due to such a close geographical proximity of my homeland it became incredibly popular, it is prepared in almost every household on a weekly basis, and because of its healthy and nutritious properties it is a popular choice in nurseries, school canteens, restaurants and nursing homes.

It is also very common to blitz or puree this soup and use it as a baby food.

In Slovenia you can find it in the menus as Zelenjavna Mineštra and in Istrian dialect being referred to as Maneštra.

This spring vegetable soup is quite light but it is very common to turn it into a more substantial meal just by adding a bit of small shaped pasta or rice, barley, freshly cooked or tinned cannellini or other type of beans, chickpeas and similar.

Minestrone Primavera is one of those dishes that was created out of necessity, using what was available in the season. The idea behind this, is that you would go to the vegetable garden during the spring and early summer season and pick the vegetables that were ready to be used in cooking. And this is exactly what my both paternal and maternal grandfathers used to do.

As a alternative, if you do not have a vegetable patch, you can go to the farmers market, food stores or supermarket and pick up the spring vegetable that you like.

The beauty of Spring minestrone is that it can never taste exactly the same, as the selection of vegetables will slightly vary each time you cook it.

My mum would make this soup very frequently especially in the spring and early summer when there are fresh vegetables available in abundance.

There are also quite a lot of regional variations of this dish like Minestrone alla Genovese, a variant typical of Liguria (Italy), that commonly uses fresh basil pesto and a greater amount of fresh herbs.

What gives this humble minestrone a real boost in flavour is to put the end of a Parmiggiano Reggiano or Padano cheese rind into the soup rather than to throw it away. The rind is that part of the cheese that develops on the outside wheel as it ages and acts as a protective layer. When you are no longer able to grate the cheese, as you get to the crust that also becomes quite hard (i.e. the rind), you do not throw the crust away, use it in a soup to enrich it as it is packed full of flavour.

It just transforms the overall taste of the minestrone, as if just by magic, you have to trust me on this one! You will be amazed what an old rind of cheese can do!

This is a poor, peasant soup, my paternal nona shared with me that when she was young ingredients were scarce, and the word abundance was almost hardly ever used when it comes to food. It is quite emotional to think how incredibly clever and creative people were to use everything they could to give them fuller flavour with something that would normally end up in the bin or compost.

Here I will share a basic recipe for the minestrone, just how it has been made in my family for generations and it is just a guide, as there is no set recipe.

Ingredients

Ingredients for soffritto (Italian in origin, it is a flavour base for many dishes, gently fried chopped onions, carrots and celery in olive oil)

• 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 medium onion, approx. 140g, finely chopped

• 1 medium carrot (finely chopped), use 70g for soffritto and chop the rest of the carrot and use it in a soup together with the other vegetables

• 1 celery stick (approx. 70g), finely chopped

Ideally, the onion, carrot and celery stick should be chopped quite finely when preparing soffritto. If you have a mini food processor, this is the time to use it.

The rest of the ingredients for the soup

• courgette (approx. 100g), a handful, sliced and roughly chopped

• 1 potato (approx 130g), peeled and cut into cubes

• 4 runner beans, washed trimmed and sliced

• 4 green asparagus, wash, trim off the wooden ends and finely slice the stalks leaving the tips whole

• 4-5 radishes, washed and roughly chopped

• 5 broad bean pods, podded

• fresh sweet peas in pods (approx. 150g), remove the peas from the pods (frozen petits pois would do just fine, about a handful)

• baby spinach, about a handful, chopped

• 1 handful fresh flat leaf parsley, stalks included (that is where the flavour is), finely chopped

• 3-4 fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

• 1 fresh sage leaf

• 2l hot vegetable or chicken stock (using instant stock is perfectly fine). You can just simply use hot water if you do not have any type of stock in hand.

• sea salt (to taste)

• freshly ground black pepper (optional)

• Parmiggiano Reggiano cheese rind (optional)

• 80-100g small shaped pasta or broken up spaghetti

Method

Prepare all your vegetables as described in the Ingredients list above and put it aside.

Drizzle the oil in a casserole pan, add onions, carrots and celery and prepare the soffritto by gently and slowly frying the trio of vegetables for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until soft.

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Add all the other vegetables and fry gently together with soffritto for few minutes.

Add all the herbs, stock and cheese rind, if using, and cook for about 40 minutes.

Taste and adjust the seasoning with sea salt and black pepper. If using cheese rind there might be no need for extra seasoning as the cheese rind is quite salty already.

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Halfway through cooking add barley, beans (already cooked or canned), rice or any other small shaped pasta you like, very traditional is to use ditalini shape pasta. It is also very common, especially when you realized you have not got any small shaped pasta or completely run out of it, to take a bit of spaghetti and break them up into smaller pieces.

I have lovely memories of my mother giving me this job when I was a child to keep me entertained.

I give this same job to my son today, to keep him entertained...

Serve it hot with freshly grated Parmiggiano Reggiano cheese and bruschetta of your choice.

Wine suggestion

Chardonnay DOC “Vigna Runc” 2019 by Il Carpino, Collio.

Sautéed Early Sweet Peas with fresh parsley and onion recipe

This is a great classic side dish, light and delicious, ideal for a rustic as well as a more formal lunch or dinner, it goes with just about any meat or fish dish, and it is quick and easy to make.

It can also be used as a base for pasta and risotto dishes and is very tasty used in frittatas and on top of bruschetta.

It is ideal to make this dish in spring using fresh peas as they are very sweet and tender. For this recipe, however, you can use fresh peas when in season but frozen petits pois are the ones I use most of the time as they are great alternative to the fresh peas when they are not in season and can be enjoyed all year round.

My mother made sautéed peas very frequently, they are nutritious, healthy and delicious, and they were served on a weekly basis, used fresh when in season but most of the time my mother used frozen petits pois as an alternative.

As a child I loved going to the allotment with my maternal grandparents and have vivid memories picking the pea pods from the plant. I also remember being always amazed walking home with big wicker baskets full of pea pods and ending up with half of what we picked after removing the peas from the pods.

I found picking the pea pods very entertaining, I liked very much opening the pods and finding this lovely vibrant green peas inside them.

As a child, I also soon spotted the opportunity to play and as the peas were all different sizes I would create a long line of peas starting with the smallest.

I thought that was great fun, it also provided fantastic healthy snack, I ate them as I went along creating this pea chain.

My most heart-warming memories around peas, whether they were picked at the allotment or bought at the farmers market, must have been me sitting at the table with my mother or paternal grandmother, and remove the peas from the pods. It provided the opportunity just to be together, have conversation or just stay in silence and smile at each other, I guess I felt reassured, loved...

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Ingredients

Serves 4 as part of meal

• 1kg fresh early sweet peas in pods (after removing the pods you should end up with roughly between 400- 500g of peas)

  You can use sugar snap peas, in this case you will need about 2kg to get roughly 400g of peas after removing the pods.

  In both cases do not worry if you end up with more or less peas. Just use what you end up with after taking them outside the pod and follow the recipe.

  You can also use frozen Petits Pois (about 500g) or canned peas.

• 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 onion, medium size (about 130g), finely chopped

• fresh flat leaf parsley, about a handful, finely chopped

• hot vegetable stock or Bouillon powder instant stock

• sea salt (only needed if using vegetable stock without the salt)

Method

If using fresh peas, clean and prepare them by removing the peas from inside the pods and discard the pods.

In a skillet add the olive oil and onions and sautéed them over gentle heat until lightly browned and softened (this should take 5-7 minutes).

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Add the peas, fresh or frozen, and sautéed them together with the onions for few minutes. If using frozen peas cover with the lid as it will help to defrost them quicker.

Add fresh parsley and hot vegetable stock just enough to completely cover the peas.

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Cook uncovered over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid is absorbed but the peas are still nice and moist and not dry (it should take around 15 minutes).

Taste and season with sea salt if needed and serve warm.

Just a thought

You can keep the cooked peas in the fridge, in a airtight container, for about two or three days.

They freeze very well, so good side dish to prepare ahead.

My mum's Creamed spinach (without cream) recipe

Creamed spinach is one of my absolute favourite side dishes and it is one of those recipes that you will go back to time and time again. Spinach is a beautiful leafy plant but it is sometimes an unsung hero of dinner greens. It is quick and easy to make, perfect to introduce as a vegetable dish during midweek or to serve along those special weekend meat roasts. It is very tasty, nutritious, healthy and accompanies really nicely just about any fish or meat dish.

Spinach cooked this way was the one I loved most as a child, and I could never get enough of it, I could literally eat it out of pan with a spoon, nothing much has changed. And of course, I was never told off for eating too much of it! Definitely worth giving it a go if you have children (and adults) that are not so kin on vegetables.

My mother made creamed spinach very often for me and my brother when we were little during the week as a quick meal together with mashed potatoes and fried egg. This vegetable side dish is very popular back home and still served as part of school meals just as it used to be. It is reassuring to know that some things just haven't changed...

Ingredients

Serves 2-4 as part of meal

• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 clove of garlic, peeled

• 500g of baby spinach (washed and ready to use) You can use other varieties of spinach or Swiss chard in which case you remove the stalks

• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

• 250 ml milk (semi skimmed or full fat)

• sea salt

• nutmeg, freshly grated (optional)

Method

First of all you need to wash the spinach thoroughly if you bought it unwashed. If you are using the spinach that has been washed already and is ready to use just skip the following step.

The best way to wash the spinach is to put it in a sink or large container of cold water. Swish leaves around and than let them stand for a few minutes allowing the dirt to sink to the bottom.

Place washed spinach in a big pot and pour over boiling hot water. If you prefer you can bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and then add the spinach. In both cases you need to push the leaves down to completely submerge them in the water.

Blanch the spinach for about 40 seconds to a minute (blanching is most often used as an intermediary step for a dish and it means giving greens, in this case spinach, a quick cook in hot water to cook them through and soften them).

Place a large colander in a sink, drain the spinach and run it under cold water just for few seconds. This will stop the cooking immediately (and retain the nutrients) but it will also help to cool down the spinach.

Let the spinach cool completely for few minutes and drain as much as you can. You want to remove as much excess liquid as you can (spinach contains quite a lot of water). I do this in batches by taking small handfuls of spinach and squeeze it very well. I end up with few balls of very well drained spinach.

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Transfer drained spinach on a chopping board and chop quite finely.

Put the extra virgin olive oil and peeled clove of garlic in a saucepan. Infuse the oil with the garlic on a medium-low heat and when the garlic turns nice golden colour remove it from the saucepan and discard it. Be careful not to burn it, trust me this is easily done.

Add the flour and cook briefly, stirring constantly, until the flour turns golden colour.

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Add chopped spinach and stir well so the spinach is mixed well with the flour mixture. At this point the spinach mixture might stick to the bottom a bit, do not worry if this is the case.

Start pouring gradually the milk, stirring and mixing constantly, incorporating well. Season with salt and add some freshly grated nutmeg, if using, and cook further for about 5-7 minutes on a gentle heat, stirring constantly. By this time you should end up with a lovely thickened creamed spinach. If it does look a bit watery give it another minute or so.

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Just a thought

If you prepare this dish in advance it might get a bit thick. When heating up just pour in gradually a little bit more milk and stir constantly until you get the desired consistency.

Sautéed courgettes with onions and parsley recipe

I simply love cooking with courgettes, this humble vegetable is divine and incredibly versatile.

Courgettes are fantastic when grilled, fried, roasted, used raw in salads, but sautéed courgettes with onions and fresh parsley must be the method I most often return to when cooking with courgettes, as it is a classic side dish to accompany just about any main course.

This is a rustic dish and offers a great deal more than meets the eyes. My mother made this dish on a weekly basis, especially during late spring and summer when they are in season.

In this recipe, the courgettes are slow-cooked until they become creamy, golden in colour and silky in texture, with sweet and caramelized taste.

Courgettes cooked in this way originate from the Italian recipe Zucchine trifolate, where trifolare in Italian simply means a method of preparing vegetables with onions or garlic or both, olive oil, and fresh parsley until they are thoroughly cooked and soft.

And once again, the proximity to Italy of my homeland and the mild climate offering the courgettes in abundance when in season, would explain the popularity of this dish.

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Courgettes prepared this way, would most commonly be served as a hot side dish for grilled, barbecued or roasted meat or fish dishes or used as a base for risotto, frittata or omelette or simply stirred through pasta.

Fantastic used in savoury pies and served in a less traditional way, for example stirred through couscous or with jacket potatoes.

At room temperature or cold are a great addition to an antipasti selection and fantastic spooned onto bruschetta with fresh chopped basil or mint if it's summertime.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6 as part of meal

• 1 kg courgettes (4-6 courgettes roughly, depending on the size)

• 1 onion (about 150g), finely chopped (you can use garlic instead if prefer or use both)

• 4-5 Tbsp (about 15g) fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

• 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 100 ml vegetable stock (you can use good quality instant vegetable stock or water), optional if you prefer a less creamier consistency as an end result.

• sea salt

Method

Wash the courgettes under cold running water, dry them a bit, place them on a chopping board, cut off the tops and the bottoms. Cut the courgettes in half and then slice them in half lengthwise.

Slice the courgettes, you should get half moon shaped pieces.

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In a large, wide pan put the extra virgin olive oil, heat it a bit, add the onions and sauté them on a fairly low heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring constantly until the onions become soft and translucent.

Add the courgettes and parsley, sauté them on a medium-low heat for about 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally to stop them from sticking to the bottom of the pan. By now, almost all the water should evaporate, the courgettes should get softer and start breaking down a bit.

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Add vegetable stock or water and cook further for about 25-30 minute on a gentle heat, stirring occasionally now and again.

After this time, the water should be completely evaporated, courgettes broken down and soft, but most probably with not much colour.

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Season with sea salt to taste, increase the heat, and cook the courgettes for few more minutes, so they get a bit of a colour. At this stage, they might start to catch a bit and this is exactly what should happen. If they are still not getting the colour, increase the heat a bit and stir them a little more if needed.

The dish is ready when the courgette pieces are golden around the edges and oozy and creamy in the middle.

Just a thought

It is quite common to add a pinch of red chilli flakes for extra kick.

Sautéed courgettes freeze very well, so it might be a good idea to cook in bigger quantities when the courgettes are in season and freeze them.

Liptauer (Austro-Hungarian paprika spiced cheese spread) recipe

Liptauer, pronounced “Lip-tower”, is a simple, flavourful, central European, or Mitteleuropean, well seasoned, paprika spiced cheese spread with a sharp, rich, and deep smoky taste.

Its origin has long been disputed but the name derived from the German name Liptau for the region of Liptov (Hungarian: 'Lipto') in northern Slovakia, a former county in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Nowadays, Liptauer spread appears in numerous variations throughout many other European countries, and is a part of Slovak, Hungarian, Slovenian, Italian (some north-east regions) and Austrian cuisine, where it is commonly served as a popular dish in wine taverns, and as a snack for kids during break time in schools.

Despite extensive variations on the recipe, as many families have their own unique version of Liptauer, they all have in common the main ingredient which is cheese that can vary from Quark, Bryndza (a sheep milk cheese) cream cheese, cottage or goat cheese and powdered sweet paprika giving a spread a beautiful colour.

It is great for vegetarians and you can change and play around with the quantities of some ingredients to suit your taste.

Here, I will share with you the recipe my maternal Grandma Iva used to make. This dish was a constant part of my childhood and it really does bring back some wonderful memories as it was made on numerous occasions, especially when the family got together to mark special festivals like Carnival (before Lent began), Easter, Christmas, and All Saint's Day, or family celebrations like birthdays and anniversaries.

My grandmother would put the spread in the middle of the table with freshly made home made bread, and everyone would help themselves before the big meal ahead. Along with the spread, there would be a selection of cold meats, different types of cheeses, and a variety of pickles. We children often got so stuffed with this delicacy we did not get to the first course! We just simply could not resist the fresh spread on a crunchy piece of bread. It is a great appetizer from Mitteleuropa to start the children on!

Liptauer has a very versatile use. Traditionally served as part of cheese and charcuterie board and hard boiled eggs.

It is typically eaten as an open sandwich, or on toast, crackers and bagels. It is a great alternative base for a variety of sandwiches, and can be used as canapè spread.

You can serve it with drinks, pretzels, and a selection of pickles, cheese sticks, and really whatever you fancy.

I also serve them as a canapè with drinks, and they do go down as a real treat. Just take a single round of thinly sliced piece of German or Hungarian style salami, spread a bit of Liptauer and roll it into a cigar shape. And there you have it, salami roll ups.

Ingredients

• 250g curd cheese (was difficult to find, now available in most supermarkets and Polish food stores)

• 50g butter (soft at room temperature)

• 1 Tsp Dijon mustard

• 1 Tsp powdered sweet Hungarian paprika

• 1 Tsp caraway seeds (crashed well with pestle and mortar)

• 2 Tbsp pickled gherkins, cornichons or pickled cucumber (very finely chopped)

• 2 Tbsp onions (very finely chopped)

• sea salt, a pinch or to taste

• freshly ground black pepper, a pinch or to taste

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Method

Put all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix and combine well all the ingredients. Serve as a cold starter.

You can keep the spread in the fridge for up to a week in an airtight container.

Just a thought

This is a great cold starter. If you can, try to prepare it in advance, and ahead of a time to allow all the ingredients and flavours to absorb well.

Wine suggestion

Traminer Aromatico DOC 2019 by Sirch, Friuli Colli Orientali.

Nona Nada's pasta e fasoi Istrian style (pasta and beans soup Istrian style) recipe

This must be one of the most humble, hearty and comforting dishes ever. It originated as a peasant dish, it is flavoursome, makes a robust meal, and it is made with simple, inexpensive ingredients.

Pasta and beans is a traditional Italian soup but there are numerous variations of recipe and names according to the region where it originates from, Central and Northern Italy.

Some vegetables like onions, celery and carrots can be used as a base. Some recipes include the use of diced tomatoes or tomato purée, pancetta or lard and flavoured with rosemary and garlic.

However, no matter how you want to call it, or where it originates from, two ingredients would be in common to all the variations: beans (cannellini beans or borlotti most commonly) and a small variety of pasta like ditalini pasta.

Using mixed shape pasta or breaking spaghetti in small sticks is very common, or the use of fresh egg pasta, like home made tagliatelle works wonderful.

I will share with you my Nona Nada's recipe that she learnt as a young girl from her grandmother, so it really goes back generations. It is the soup that reminds me of home, and of my childhood, and is a variety of simple variations. In the Istrian local dialect, we just simply call it “Pasta e fasoi,” and is based on a Venetian variation (as the area was once under the Venetian empire) characteristic of which is the use of pancetta, lard or cotenna (thick and hard outer layer covering pancetta or prosciutto).

My grandma told me that they would prepare the soup in advance in the morning, put it on the stove on a low heat to cook for hours while they would be working on the fields. Upon return this hearty soup would be ready to be eaten.

This dish is so common that it also appeared in popular culture in the song “That’s Amore” by Warren and Brooks (popularized by Dean Martin) including the rhyme "When the stars make you drool, just like pasta fazool, that's amore".

No matter how simple and humble this dish is, it is a big hit every single time! My son and my husband love it and here is how to make it.

The quantities of the ingredients in the recipe is for a big pot of soup, feeding quite a lot of people, about eight (providing they do not go for seconds!).

This soup also freezes very well. Keep in mind that when you defrost it, or simply refrigerate it and then reheat, it will most probably thicken up quite a bit. You can keep it thick or just dilute it with a bit of water.

You can make half the quantity with 300g borlotti and 2 ½ l of water, smaller piece of pancetta and 100g of pasta

Ingredients

Serves 8

• 500g dried borlotti beans

• 4 ½ l water

• 1 bay leaf, fresh or dry

• few celery leaves

• 1 medium size potato, peeled (about 200g)

• extra virgin olive oil, generous drizzle

• 1 piece, about 130g of pancetta (cured pork belly) or similar like ham hock, pig's trotter, cotenna or bone of prosciutto

• sea salt

• freshly ground black pepper

• 200g ditalini shape pasta (or any small shaped pasta), or fresh egg pasta

Method

First of all, you need to soak the dry borlotti beans in plenty of cold water overnight. The following day drain them using a colander and run them through cold water.

Put the beans in a big pot, add cold water so the beans are completely covered. Add bay leaf, celery leaves, potato, piece of pancetta, drizzle of oil and season with sea salt and black pepper.

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Bring to boil then lower the heat to medium-low and with the lid partially uncovered cook for about 2 ½ h.

Remove bay leaf and pancetta. Cut the meaty bits off the pancetta, set aside and put it back in a soup after you pass it through a food mill.

Take a food mill and place it steadily over a bowl. With a soup spoon, spoon out about ¾ of the beans with the liquid and mill them so you get a bean purée. Transfer the bean purée back in the pot and mix well with the rest and cook for further 30 min.

Add the pasta of your choice and cook until al dente making sure you mix it now and again just to avoid sinking the pasta to the bottom and burn.

It is very common to cook pasta separately, drain it and then added to the soup.

If the potato did not end up through the mill, then take the wooden spoon and with the back of it just press the potato against the wall of the pot. By doing so the potato will just disintegrate giving pasta and fasoi a nice thick, velvety, consistency.

Serve hot with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a nice rustic type of bread, slightly toasted even better. It is very common to grate fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan cheese) on top of it.

Just a thought

This is a great dish for vegetarians and vegans by opting out pancetta or similar and using non egg based pasta for the soup.

Wine suggestion

Friulano DOC “Valeris” 2019 by Muzic, Collio.

Sautéed Sauerkraut recipe

The word “sauerkraut” comes from German Sauerkraut, which literally means “sour cabbage”. From sauer “sour” and kraut “vegetable, cabbage.” The origin of the dish has been disputed but it took root mostly in Central and Eastern European cuisines.

Sauerkraut is finely shredded cabbage, that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria and it has a distinctive sour flavour due to the fact, that the lactic acid is formed when the bacteria ferment the sugars in the cabbage. It is the lactic acid that naturally preserves sauerkraut and gives it long shelf life.

It is incredibly popular dish back home, and would appear on tables as a part of a family meal on a weekly basis, especially during colder months. Its popularity is not surprising, if we consider the fact, that the area was under Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of First World War. Almost every household would have a slightly different version of how to prepare and cook sauerkraut.

In Slovenia, you can buy sauerkraut in all supermarkets in sealed plastic bags or glass jars, but I just love getting it from farmer's market, where it is sold on food stalls by local farmers directly from big wooden barrels.

I am sharing with you my grandma and my mum's version of how it is cooked on the coastal region, simply with extra virgin olive oil, a bit of garlic and bay leaf, however, adding a pinch of sweet Hungarian paprika and few crushed caraway seeds is quite common too, in order to achieve once again that “imperial” flavour. This is a great side dish, traditionally used to accompany almost any meat based dish like sausages, cooked ham, pork roast or other meat roasts, pork chops, black sausage...

As children, my brother and I would have it just simply with fried eggs and a bit of potato mash.

Sauerkraut is quite versatile, and it can be also used in a variety of other dishes, and just to mention a few, jota (Istrian sauerkraut and bean soup), Hungarian style sauerkraut, rice and mince pork casserole, and it is great in sandwiches, made for example, with rye bread and cooked ham.

My nona Nada has vivid memories from when she was a child, of every household in the village making a big barrel of sauerkraut; cabbage would be harvested in autumn and fermented during winter month.

Sauerkraut is also very healthy, and has numerous nutritional benefits. Contains live and active probiotics, helping your body to fight off harmful bacteria or toxins, it has high level of digestive enzymes, high in vitamin C and K2. Rich in fibre and minerals like potassium, iron and magnesium.

No wonder Captain James Cook always took a store of sauerkraut on his sea voyages!

It is really not surprising, that sauerkraut has been gaining increasing popularity in the past few years, especially in the countries where it has been less known.

Back home, it has always been there...just like family.

When shopping for sauerkraut, make sure you get a good quality one, just sea salt and nothing else should be added on the ingredient list.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1kg Sauerkraut (sauerkraut is normally sold in glass jars or sealed plastic bags and will have different net weights of sauerkraut, it does not matter if you end up with slightly less or more than 1kg of sauerkraut)

• 1 bay leaf (fresh or dry)

• 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 2-3 cloves of garlic (peeled and crashed)

• sea salt

• few black whole peppercorns

Method

Drain the saurekraut in a colander and give it a quick rinse with cold water if you think the sauerkraut is too acid for your taste, but do not over rinse it, as you will loose the characteristic sauerkraut taste.

Place the rinsed sauerkraut into a large, preferably non stick pan, add sea salt, peppercorns, bay leaf, garlic, extra virgin olive oil.

Add water, just enough to cover the sauerkraut, bring to boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 1-1 1/2 hours.

Sauerkraut is cooked, when you have no excess liquid left in the pan, and the sauerkraut is nice and soft. Adjust seasoning with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Wine suggestion

Cabernet Sauvignon IGT 2017 by Balter, Vallagarina.

Pumpkin Soup recipe

I simply love autumn, the leaves falling gently from the trees and the crunch you hear when stepping on them, the conkers, the woody fragrance in the air, but there is nothing like the sight of a field full of pumpkins of different shapes and colours... Pumpkin to me is a queen of the autumn. Yes, it gets cold and dark, but equally the opportunity arises to cook some comforting dishes.

When you want to cosy up, pumpkin soup must be one of the easiest and fastest dishes to cook with that gives an almost instant reward. Pumpkins are widely available to buy, they are inexpensive and make a very nutritious meal. During the cold autumn and winter months this smooth and velvety pumpkin soup must be one of the most reassuring. It has a silky texture and is perfect to serve as a light supper or lunch or as a starter for a more formal dinner party. No wonder my mother would present it on the table quite often, usually on Sundays as a hot starter followed by a chicken roast and Apple strudel as a dessert.

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It is simply delicious serving the soup with toasted pumpkin seeds and a drizzle of toasted pumpkin seed oil, it really does compliment the soup well giving it extra dimension and completes the dish beautifully. You can also use croutons or just have it with a rustic type bread. If you never had pumpkin seed oil before this is a great opportunity to buy it and try it. It bursts with flavour, has a deeply nutty aroma and is full of valuable nutrients. Its use is very versatile, it is used cold and can be added to salad dressings, dips and sauces.

This little known speciality is gaining popularity very fast among the foodies but has been part of daily culinary use since... forever. It is widely used in central Europe but particularly known for high consumption and production of it are the countries like Austria (especially the region of Styria), Hungary and Slovenia (in particular the region of Prekmurje).

I am sharing here my mum's recipe and the success will be guaranteed.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 2 Tbsp (30ml) extra virgin olive oil

• 2 Tbsp (30g) butter

• 1kg butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and roughly chopped (you should end up with about 600g of butternut)

• 200g potatoes, washed, peeled, roughly chopped

• 1 onion (about 80g) peeled and roughly chopped

• 2-3 Tbsp fresh flat leave parsley, roughly chopped

• 1l vegetable stock (it is perfectly fine to use a good quality instant vegetable stock like Bouillon powder)

• sea salt

• black pepper

• handful of pumpkin seeds, optional (about 30-40g), lightly toasted (I used pumpkin seeds already cleaned and dried directly from a pack, widely available from the supermarkets and other food stores)

• pumpkin seed oil or extra virgin olive oil for drizzling, optional

Method

Clean, peel, deseed and roughly chop the butternut squash.

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Put extra virgin olive oil and butter in a large heavy-based pan or casserole dish set over low heat and allow butter to melt. Add the onions, pinch of salt and sauté gently for about 10 minutes until the onions are translucent, stirring frequently to make sure they don't catch.

Add the squash and the potatoes and sauté further for about 10-15min, stirring frequently. Squash and potatoes will become slightly softer and absorb the flavours from the oil, butter and the onions.

Add stock, parsley and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 25-30min or until the squash and potatoes are completely soft.

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While the soup is simmering, if using, lightly toast pumpkin seeds in a non stick frying pan on a medium to low heat for few minutes giving a pan a shake now and again. They are ready when they turn darker in colour.

Remove the soup from the heat and blend it until completely smooth and velvety in consistency.

Taste and adjust the seasoning with sea salt if needed but bare in mind that your vegetable stock will already have salt in it.

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Ladle the soup into bowls , top with toasted pumpkin seeds and a drizzle of pumpkin oil or extra virgin olive oil. Serve immediately.

Just a thought

Butternut squash freezes really well, so if you end up with more than you need just cut the butternut squash into cubes, put them in the bags and freeze them. It really helps to weight cubed butternut squash before freezing. By doing so, you know that you have 600g of butternut squash in your bag ready to use.

Alternatively you can double the amount of the ingredients in the recipe and cook a big batch of pumpkin soup and freeze it.

Wine suggestion

Bianco IGT “Arteus” 2016 by La Viarte, Venezia Giulia.