For those who want to Cook and Eat well but don't know how to do it right...Easy recipes all tested at home. Polish home cooking - healthy and DELICIOUS!!!!
Baked tomatoes with eggs is a dish so simple to prepare that there is no chance you would fail. Perfect option for a starter. Takes 30 minutes to prepare and am sure you will love it.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
4 large tomatoes
1 Tbsp freshly hashed thyme
5 tsp butter
4 eggs
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
freshly chopped parsley to garnish
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 220 C.
2. Wash the tomatoes and cut top of each tomato. Then scoop the inside leaving approx. 1 cm. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add 1 tsp of butter to each tomato. Add thyme and at the end add fresh egg.
3. Put the tomatoes into pre-heated oven and bake for approx. 20 minutes.
4. Serve immediately garnished with freshly chopped parsley. You can surve with fried mushrooms like I did. My guests loved it.
One of my favorite soups. Takes less than one hour and this delicious dish will steal hearts of your loved ones. Thick, flavorful lentil soup is full of nutrition. Healthy and rich of proteins. Lentils are originated in central Asia. They were found in the tombs of the Ancient Egyptians in 2400 BC. They come in all shapes and colors - can be brown, green, yellow, red or black. Lentils are Lentils are low in fat, high in protein, folate, phosphorus, fiber and iron. They are very easy to cook and don’t need soaking like dried beans. In less than 40 minutes they will be all soft and ready to eat.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 finely chopped carrots
2 chopped leeks
1/2 finely chopped celery root
2 parsley roots - sliced
250 - 300 g dried lentils
1 chilli pepper - finely sliced
250 ml natural yoghurt
1 l chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 tsp freshly ground coriander
1/2 tsp freshly ground toasted cumin
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
300 g finaly chopped sausage - I use a smoked sausage.
1/2 Tbsp dried oregano
1/ 2 tsp dried sage
freshly chopped parsley to garnish
Method:
1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Once hot, add the onion, carrot, sausage, celery, parsley roots, chopped leeks, salt and pepper. Cook until the onions are translucent, approx. 5 minutes.
2. Add the lentils, broth and all the spices. Stir well to combine. Increase the heat to high and bring just to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook at a low simmer until the lentils are tender, approx. 30 minutes. Remember to add fresh water to keep lentils covered and stir from time to time.
3. Add yoghurt previously mixed with a bit of hot soup. Stir well and cook all together for another 10 minutes.
Cabbage and Meat Rolls served in Tomato & Capers Sauce are known in Polish as gołąbki (literally: little
pigeons) and definitely are one of my favorite traditional Polish recipes. Cabbage rolls stuffed with a
meat, rice and 'secret' herbs mixture are simply delicious and very easy to prepare. Full of nutrition and will keep your stomach full for many hours.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 100 minutes
Ingredients:
1 whole head cabbage - white or green - with large leaves
1 large onion, chopped
2 Tbsp butter
2 eggs
2 Tbsp dried marjoram
2 Tbsp dried thyme
500 g minced beef meat
500 g minced pork meat
2 cups cooked white rice
4 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 l beef or vegetable stock
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
mashed potatoes to serve with
500 ml tomato sauce made from fresh tomatoes
150 g capers to mix with the sauce
Method:
1. Chop the onion. Add minced garlic cloves. Saute both in butter in large skillet until onion turns gold. Once ready. Leave aside to cool.
2. Beat the eggs. Add marjoram, salt, pepper and thyme. Add the eggs into minced beef mixed with minced pork. Add rice, onion and garlic. Mix well with your hands.
3. Leave aside in a fridge.
4. Core the cabbage and blanche its leaves in boiling salty water. Peel them off as they become limp. Once you separated all the leaves, cut off thick stems to prevent the limp leaf from bending.
5. Put about 2 Tbsp of meat & rice mixture in the center of each leaf and fold the sides of the leaf in a roll shape. Should look like a little envelope package.
6. Move all cabbage rolls into a casserole dish with their seam down. Pour beef stock into a casserole to come about half way up the rolls. Cover the
casserole tightly and cook in a preheated oven in 190 C for 60 minutes.
7. Check the level of liquid in the casserole. Pour away
all but 1 cup. Pour on the fresh tomato sauce with capers and cook, uncovered, for a further 30-40 minutes, or until the cabbage is tender. You can reduce the heat to 170 C.
Parma Ham Macaroni with black olives, cherry tomatoes and green peas is simply delicious and very easy to prepare. Full of nutrition and will keep your stomach full for many hours. Also if you skip adding ham, that might be a good option for vegetarians. You might be creative here and get additional ingredients, anything you like to have in macaroni dish.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
2 leeks - chopped
400 g frozen peas
200 g Parma ham - chopped
400 g macaroni
300 g grated mozzarella cheese
3 Tbsp mustard
300 g cherry tomatoes - in halves
500 ml vegetable stock
2 chilli peppers - chopped
150 g black olives
5 Tbsp basil leaves - chopped
4-5 Tbsp olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh basil leaves to garnish
Method:
1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add leeks, chilli pepper and Parma ham. Cook all together for 5 minutes or until leeks are soft.
2. Add peas and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
3. In the meantime cook macaroni. When ready, drain the pasta and leave aside to cool a bit.
4. Now add macaroni into leeks and peas. Add vegetable stock and stir well. Add half of grated cheese and mustard. Add sea salt and pepper. Mix well. If needed add a more of olive oil. Cook for 5 minutes - stirring from time to time until cheese melts.
5. At the end of cooking, add cherry tomatoes, chopped basil leaves and black olives. Mix and leave aside for a moment.
6. Now move the pasta from skillet to large baking dish. Pre-heat the oven to 200 C with no fan and if you are using fan to 180 C. Sprinkle remaining half of grated cheese over macaroni and leave in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
Serrano ham salad with black olives is a perfect option for light lunch or a great dinner starter. Takes only a few minutes to prepare and worth every single bite.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
200 g wild rocket leaves
lettuce leaves
spinach leaves
5 Tbsp of black olives
250 g cherry tomatoes
small red onion - finely sliced
100 g camembert cheese - cut in fin slices
2 Tbsp sunflour seeds
extra-virgin olive oil
150 g chopped serrano ham
sea salt & freshly ground pepper
Method:
1. Mix wild rocket leaves with lettuce and spinach. Add cut in halves cherry tomatoes.
2. Add finely sliced red onion and black olives. Add chopped serrano ham, sliced camembert cheese and sunflour seeds.
3. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Sprinkle with olive oil and your salad is ready.
Home made roasted halibut in cherry tomatoes and black olives tastes like heaven. When I discovered it for the first time in Italy, I was speechless. Simply delicious and takes only about 25 minutes to prepare. Perfect option for vegetarians.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Wait Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
500 g halibut fillets or any other white fish fillets
200 g black olives halved
700 g cherry tomatoes in halves
sea salt and black pepper
70 g pine nuts
4 Tbsp basil leaves - the more, the better
1 lemon
125 ml olive oil
Method:
1. Clean the fish under cold water. Season with pepper, juice from one lemon and 50 ml olive oil. Leave in a fridge for about 2 hours.
2. Heat the oven to 200 C.
3. Heat remaining olive oil in a large skillet and cook the fillets for about 2-3 minutes until one sides turns gold crispy.
4. Move the fillets into a large baking dish. Add cherry tomatoes cut into halves, basil leaves, pine nuts and halved black olives. Season one more time with black pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
5. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes or until fish becomes tender. Remember to cover top of the baking dish with a tin-foil to avoid fish drying.
6. Serve hot on warm plates decorated with fresh basil leaves. You migh drizzle a bit of olive oil over the fillets.
Wild rocket salad with grilled chicken stripes is a perfect option for light but nutritious lunch or simply a starter. Takes only a few minutes to prepare and worth every single bite.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
200 g wild rocket leaves
2 Tbsp of green olives
a few cherry tomatoes
lettuce leaves
small red onion - chopped
extra-virgin olive oil
150 - 200 g chicken breast
sea salt & freshly ground pepper
Method:
1. Mix wild rocket leaves with lettuce. Add cut in halves cherry tomatoes.
2. Add fine chopped onion, decorate with green olives.
3. Grill chicken breast on hot olive oil and cut into stripes. Spread ready chicken stripes over the salad, add sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Sprinkle with olive oil and your salad is ready.
Pita bread with tandoori chicken is simply delicious and makes ulimately great lunch or dinner. This recipe will keep all your friends and neighbours coming for more.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
3 skinless chicken breasts - approx. 500 g
2 onions - sliced
6 pita pockets - warm
fresh lettuce leaves to put into pita pockets
3 Tbsp capers
3 Tbsp green olives
200 g natural yoghurt
200 g tandori pasta or a package of tandori spice mix
2 tomatoes - sliced
5 Tbsp olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
1. Wash the chicken first and then cut into small chunks. Visible fat trimmed.
2. Put chicken into a separate dish and add marinade made from natural yoghurt, sea salt and pepper and tandoori pasta. Add olive oil. Stir well and leave chicken aside for minimum 2 hours in a refrigerator. You can also marinate it overnight for even a better flavor.
4. Once chicken is ready, place it together with a marinade to a pre-heated with olive oil pan on a medium heat. If you re-use marinade and cook your chicken in it - meat will be more tender and all juicy. Cook chicken for 10-15 minutes.
5. Put pita bread pockets in aluminium foil and leave in a pre-heated oven to 200 C for 5 minutes. That way your bread will be all nice and warm.
7. Stuff each pita with fresh lettuce leaves, add onion, capers, olives and tomato slices. Then place tandoori chicken into pita pockets.
Super delicious and healthy dessert. Perfect option for cold autumn afternoons. Takes just a few minutes to prepare. Just give it a try and you will see what I mean.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
2 large apples
4 Tbsp raspberry jam
1 Tbsp vanilla sugar
1.5 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp cloves
Method:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 190 C. Wash the apples and scoop out the core from top of the apple, leaving a hole. Do not cut all the way through.
2. Stuff each apple with butter, vanilla sugar and 2 Tbsp of raspberry jam.
3. Place the apples in a shallow baking dish and pierce cloves into skin of the apples. Bake for approx. 30 minutes until apples turn tender.
4. Ready apples place on a plate and serve hot immediately.
Mozzarella and tomato salad is one of the easiest salads you can prepare in less than 15 minutes. Also perfect salad for vegetarians and of course healthy and nutritious for everyone. Mozzarella cheese is produced from milk obtained through cows or buffalos. It originated in Italy. Most common use of mozzarella comes on pizza or lasagna. However, very often you can find it in a variety of salads like the one below. The word “mozzarella” was first discovered in 1570 in a cookbook by Bartolomeo Scappi. A 100 gram mozzarella ball contains approx. 22 grams of protein and 22 grams of fat. Healthy and nutritious.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
2 balls of mozzarella cheese - approx. 300 g
3 large tomatoes
50 g rocket leaves
6-8 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp balsamic sause to decorate
basil leaves to garnish
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
Method:
1. Cut mozzarella balls and tomatos into slices with same thickeness.
2. Arrange the tomatoes and mozzarella on rocket leaves and drizzle with olive oil.
3. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and docorate with fresh basil leaves.
4. Optionally you can also drizzle with some balsamic sauce or venegar. Serve immediately.
Little sauerkraut and mushroom pies are a perfect accompaniament for any clear soup like Christmas beetroot soup called in Polish barszcz. These little pies are made from puff pastry which you can make yourself or buy a ready pastry in supermarket. My pies are just for two bites so a perfect little snacks. It might look complicated to prepare but not that difficult. Most important is to have a great sauerkraut and mushroom filling.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 80 minutes
Ingredients:
600 g pastry for pies (at its most basic, it is a mixture of flour and fat bound with water to form a paste) - puff pastry
1 kg sauerkraut mixed with two grated carrots and 1 Tbsp of cumin
45 g dried mashrooms eg. edible boletus, king bolete
2 big onions - chopped
6-8 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 l of boiling water
1 egg - beaten
Method:
1. Finely chopped onion fry in a large skillet with olive oil. Keep stirring until onion is soft and translucent.
2. Pour hot water into dry mashrooms and leave aside for 10 minutes.
3. Now cook the mashrooms with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper for 10 minutes.
4. Cut sauerkraut into small pieces. Add sea salt and pepper. Now add cooked mushrooms together with their boiling sauce. Now add boiling water and cook on medium-low heat until half of water evaporates. Should take approx. 30 minutes.
5. Roll out the pastry in the flat surface, dusted with a bit of flour and form a square shape, then cut it creating two triangles. Pastry should be max 5 mm thick. Triangle hight should be about 10 cm long.
6. Prick each triangle with a fork. Brush each square with well beaten egg.
7. Spread 1 Tbsp of sauerkraut and mushrooms on on each pastry.
8. Now connect two opposit corners of pastry together. Brush with an egg again.
9. Put the tarts on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake in pre-heated to 180 C degrees oven for approx. 30 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.
10. Serve hot. You can serve it plain, as is, or together with a clear soup like beetroot soup.
Salmon in delicious white wine aspic is another perfect dish for Christmas dinner. Does not take long to prepare it. Am sure you will love it, from the first moment you try. Healthy and reach of proteins.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
500 g salmon fillet - no skin
250 ml white dry wine
250 ml vegetable stock
2 carrots - sliced
2 large onions - sliced
2 finely chopped leeks
2 parsley roots - sliced
1/3 celery root (celeriac) - finely chopped
2 Tbsp gelatin
2 egg whites - slightly beaten
juice from 1 lemon
5-7 bay leaves
2 pickles to decorate
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh parsley leaves to garnish
Method:
1. Clean and prepare the fillets. Cut them into larger pieces.
2. Simmer all the vegetables with salt and pepper in vegetable broth for about 15 minutes. Add white wine and all the spices mixed with lemon juice.
3. Now add salmon fillets and cook on medium-low heat for another 10 minutes.
4. Remove salmon from the soup and filter all the vegetables. We do not need them anymore.
5. Put cooked salmon fillets on the bottom of small bawls and decorate with sliced picles and parsley leaves.
6. To clarify stock, add slightly beaten egg whites to the stock and bring to
boiling point, stirring lightly. Strain through cheesecloth.
7. Add gelatin into filtered soup and stir well. Season with salt and pepper if needed.
8. Pour the soup into bawls with salmon and leave in the fridge until firm.
9. Serve topped with lemon juice or simply vinegar.
Dried Fruit Compote is another example of traditional Polish recipes for Christmas. It is one of the 12 dishes that should be served on Christmas Eve dinner. Very easy to prepare, takes less than one hour. You will love it as much as I do. Also you can serve it both chilled or hot.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
2 l water
250 g dried plums
300 g dried apples
200 g dried pears
100 g raisins
juice of 1 lemon
3 Tbsp powder sugar
40 g vanilla sugar
1 Tbsp whole cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
Method:
1. First you need to rinse and soak all the fruits for approx. 30 minutes in hot 2 l of water. Later, move the fruits into a large pot, together with water they were already soaking. Make sure you have about 2 liters of water, if needed add some more.
2. Add sugar, cloves, lemon juice and cinnamon into the fruits. Cook for 30 minutes, adding more lemon juice or sugar to taste.
3. Filter the compote and you can serve it chilled or hot. I like both and cannot even decide which one I prefer. I love to serve it with Christmas cookies or a gingerbread cake for a dessert.
One of my favorite dishes. Original Christmas fish soup is made from fresh carp. However, you can use any fresh fish you like or you can buy in a grocery store like cod, halibut, sole, sea bass. Carp are various species of freshwater fish, native in Europe and Asia. Delicious and warming up in cold autumn or winter days. Easy to make and takes just a little to prepare this delicious soup. Healthy and reach of proteins.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
2 kg fresh fish like cod, carp, sole, sea bass or any you like
3 carrots - sliced
3 large onions - sliced
2 finely chopped leeks
2 parsley roots - sliced
1/3 celery root (celeriac) - finely chopped
3 tomatoes - chopped
250 ml sour cream (18%)
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 Tbsp sweet pepper
dried thyme
dried oregano
dried sage
dried fennel seeds
3-4 Tbsp butter
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
freshly chopped dill to garnish
Method:
1. Clean and prepare your chosen fish. Cut fish into large chunks. Best fish soups are the ones where you use all the fish parts like bones and head. Later on we will filter the soup so don't be afraid of bones.
2. Simmer your fish and all the vegetables with salt and pepper slowly in 2 l of water for about 30 minutes.
3. After 30 minutes, we have to filter the soup and cut fish into smaller pieces removing all the bones. Add chopped fish meat into filtered soup. Add all the spices.
4. Thicken with a mixture of butter and flour. Melt butter on medium-low heat and add flour. Stir well. Cook for 3 minutes, then move the flour butter mixture into filtered soup. Stir well.
5. Add sour cream previously mixed with a bit of hot soup. Stir well and cook all together for another 10-15 minutes.
Beetroot Soup is another traditional Polish dish. This soup is served in most Polish houses on Christmas Eve dinner (December 24th) after the first star can be seen on the sky... My version of beetroot soup has to be started about 5 days before serving. In traditional version you have to prepare your own leaven (starter dough). Just give it a try and you will love beetroot soup.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Wait Time: 5 days
Cook Time: 130 minutes
Ingredients:
1.5 kg fresh beetroots for main soup
3 kg beetroots for leaven
4-5 cloves of garlic - sliced
skin of brown loaf
4 big onions
40 g dried mushrooms
100 g dried plums
250 ml dry red wine
juice of 1 lemon
1Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp marjoram
10 pimentos
7 bay leaf
2 Tbsp salt
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to season
fresh parsley to decorate
Method:
1. You need to start preparing your beetroot soup about 5 days before serving. First we need to prepare beetroot leaven and leave it aside for 5 days.
2. To prepare beetroot leaven you need to add 2 Tbsp of salt into 1 liter of warm water in large glass bowl. Remove the skin from 3 kg of fresh beetroots and cut them into slices. Pour salty water into beetroot slices, add garlic, brown loaf skin and 2 sliced onions. Water should cover the beetroots. Cover the glass bowl with kitchen towel and leave aside for 5 days in a warm place.
3. After 5 days, filter the juice from beetroots.
4. Pour hot water into the mashrooms and leave for 10 minutes.
5. Wash under hot water 1 kg of beetroots and boil for 40 minutes in hot water with some salt.
6. Cut 2 onions into quarters and put into a large pot of 2 liters of water. Add dried plums. Add mushrooms together with their juice. Mix well and cook approx. 1 hour.
7. Now ready beetroots cut into small pieces and add into onion, plums and mushrooms soup. Add beetroot leaven, bay leaf, pimientos, marjoram, sugar, lemon juice, ground black pepper and salt. Cook for approx. 30 minutes on low-medium heat.
8. When your soup finally has nice dark red color, add red wine and we are ready to filter the soup. Separate the vegetables from the bullion, add some pepper and salt for a better taste and your soup is ready to serve.
9. You can decorate with fresh parsley.
In Poland this soup can be also served with 'uszka'. These are small dumplings with a shape of an ear (thus the name) stuffed with sauerkraut and mashrooms. I love to serve it also with special little pies stuffed with sauerkraut and mushrooms. I will tell you how to prepare those at home - they are simply Delicious.
Hunter's cabbage stew is well known in Poland and called 'bigos'. We love to prepare bigos especially in cold winter days. The greatest thing about bigos is that the longer it stays in the fridge, the better bigos taste is. Serve with white bread.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 145 minutes
Ingredients:
1 kg sauerkraut mixed with two grated carrots and 1 Tbsp of cumin
300 g lean pork meat - cut into small pieces
200 g smoked bacon - cut into smoked pieces
300 g sausage - sliced
3 Tbsp all purpose flour
150 ml red dry wine
100 g dried plums
100 g dried mashrooms eg. edible boletus, king bolete
2 big onions - chopped
6-8 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
ground cumin
pimento
marjoram
rosemary
coriander
ground garlic
7 bay leaf
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 l of boiling water
Method:
1. Finely chopped onion fry in a large skillet with olive oil. Keep stirring until onion is soft and translucent.
2. Pour hot water into dry mashrooms and leave aside for 10 minutes.
3. Now cook the mashrooms with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper for 10 minutes.
4. Cut sauerkraut into small pieces. Add dry plums, sea salt, pepper, bay leaf, pimento, marjoram, rosemary, coriamder, garlic and cumin. Add cooked mushrooms together with their boiling sauce. Now add boiling water and cook on medium-low heat until half of water evaporates. Should take approx. 40 minutes.
5. In the meantime, in a large skillet cook smoked bacon for 10 minutes.
6. In a separate skillet fry pork and sausage together on olive oil. Add bacon and cook for another 5 minutes.
7. Move all the meat and sausage and onion into the sauerkraut and mix well. Simmer on low-medium heat for approx. 60-80 minutes or until cabbage is soft. At the end add dry red wine.
8. Heat 6 Tbsp of olive oil in the large heavy skillet and add flour. Keep stirring until mixture turns a bit brown and then immediately add it to the cabbage and mix well. Cook for another 5 minutes.
9. You can serve your bigos with white bread or eat it as it is. It can stay in your fridge for a few days and it will taste better and better every day.
Classic Trout served with capers and steemed green beans is full of nutrition. Low in sodium, great source of protein, vitamin B12 and manganese. Trout similar to salmon is rich in heart-healthy Omega-3 fatty acids. Trout lives mostly in freshwater. Rainbow trouts eat meat. They feast on insects, crustaceans, and small fish. The largest trout grew to 57 pounds. It takes only a few minutes to prepare this delicious dish. Just give it a try and enjoy!!!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
4 trout fillets with skin (approx 800 g)
150 g butter
2-3 garlic cloves - sliced
juice of one lemon
2- 3 Tbsp chopped parsley
2 Tbsp capers
green beans to serve with
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
Method:
1. Wash the trout fillets and pat dry with a paper towel.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 200 C with fan.
3. Put trout fillets in a large baking dish, season with black papper and 2 Tbsp of fresh lemon juice. Put approx. 30 g of butter on the top of fillets.
4. Cook in the oven for approx. 12-15 minutes until fish is ready.
5. Melt remaining butter in a small sauce pan. Add lemon juice, chopped parsley and sliced garlic. At the end, add capers and cook all together for 1-2 minutes.
6. Pour butter sauce over the trout fillets and serve with steemed green beans.
Super delicious recipe for cold winter days. Takes less than an hour to prepare and it is very easy. Most important is to have a good quality minced meat. I use minced veal. Can be served as a starter or simply as a main dish. My family and friends love it. Serve warm.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 40-45 minutes
Ingredients:
4 big peppers (I took red and green)
5-6 cloves of garlic - sliced
2 chopped onions
2 eggs
4 large picles in clices
50 g grated mozzarella cheese
4-5 spoons of extra-virgin olive oil
500 g minced meat - veal for example mixed with pork
50 ml beef stock
125 g cooked white rice
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp dried oregano
dried thym, marjoram and chilli - I like it more spicy so I added quite a lot of chilli and black pepper
Method:
1. Wash peppers well. Slice the tops off the peppers and remove all the ribs and seeds.
2. In a heavy skillet, heat the oil and saute the onion with garlic for 2-3 minutes. Then add minced meat and keep cooking until meat is almost cooked. Should take approx. 7 minutes.
3. Add some salt and freshly ground pepper and all other spices. Add beef stock and keep cooking.
4. Once meat is ready move it to a large bowl, add cooked rice, 2 eggs, sliced picles and again a bit of salt and pepper. Mix well.
5. Stuff the peppers with meat and rice. Check if you dont need to add any more spices. If the feeling tasts well, you are ready to go. At the end season with grated mozzarella top of stuffed peppers.
6. Put the peppers in a large baking dish, each pepper wrapped in aluminium foil and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 C for 30-35 minutes.
Stuffed eggplant with autumn vegetables you can get in every grocery shop is one of the most tasty dishes for light dinners or hot starters. I love it!!! Eggplant is famous for low in saturated fat and cholesterol. It is also a good source of Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Potassium and Manganese. Perfect dish for vegetarians, you don't need to add small sausage if you don't like. All vegetables provide you with vitamines and fibers. It takes only about one hour to prepare.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Wait Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients:
2 mid size eggplants cut into halves
1 Tbsp capers
1/2 red pepper - chopped
1/2 green pepper - chopped
3 Tbsp crumbled bread
1 large tomato - chopped
2 spring onions - finely chopped
4 Tbsp finely hashed chives
150-200 g grated mozzarella cheese
3 small pepperoni sausages - in slices - optional
8 champinions - sliced
1 egg
1 Tbsp dried oregano
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Method:
1. Wash eggplants well and cut into halves. Season with a sea salt and leave aside for 30 minutes. After that time you will see spots of water on your eggplant - remove it well with a paper towel. That way you will ensure your eggplant won't have bitter taste anymore.
2. Once eggplant is ready, scoop out the pulp leaving about 0.5 cm pulp around the skin. We will fry the pulp on the olive oil later.
3. In a heavy skillet, heat the oil and saute the onion with eggplant pulp, champinions and little sausage (optional) until onion turns yellow-gold. Add some salt and freshly ground pepper with oregano.
4. Add chopped red and green pepper mixed with chopped tomato. You can add more ground pepper and a bit more salt if you wish. I like to make it a bit more spicy. Keep frying for approx. 5-7 minutes until vegetables turn tender. Leave aside to cool down.
5. Once your vegetables cool down a bit, add capers, hashed chives, whisked egg, 3/4 of grated mozzarella and crumbled bread. Mix well with a spoon.
6. Stuff the eggplant halves with vegetable and cheese pasta and spring remaining mozzarella over the top of each.
7. Pre-heat the oven to 180 C. Place stuffed eggplants on a large non-stick dish and bake for approx 50 minutes, or until eggplants become tender and cheese stuffing turns gold.
Super delicious and healthy dessert. Perfect option for cold autumn afternoons. Takes just a few minutes to prepare. Just give it a try and you will see what I mean.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
4 ripe pears, peeled
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1.5 Tbsp butter
vanilla ice cream to serve with
Method:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 190 C. Cut peeled pears into halves. Remove the seeds with a small spoon.
2. Put 2 halves of a pear on a piece of foil and carefully wrap it all around the pears.
3. Season with brown and vanilla sugar and cinnamon. Add small piece of butter into each pear foil package.
4. Place on a baking tray and bake for approx. 30-35 minutes until pears turn tender.
5. Ready pears place on a plate, pour sauce from inside the foil and serve hot with vanilla ice cream.
This is an excellent recipe option for vegetarians. Great for lunch or light dinner. Zucchini pancakes are light and very tasty. Takes about 30 minutes to prepare. Must be served hot, straight from the pan. We are using only fresh ingredients here thus your pancakes are nutritious meal. Enjoy!!!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Wait Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
1 big or 2 smaller zucchinis (350 g)
250 ml cold milk
4 eggs
1 egg white
150 g all purpose flour
2-3 Tbsp hashed basil leaves
2 Tbsp olive oil for zucchini
2 Tbsp olive oil to fry the pancakes
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Method:
1. Beat the eggs with a little bit of salt.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine the following ingredients: milk, beaten eggs and all purpose flour. Mix well with an electric mixer on high speed until the mixture has a cream consistency. Should take about 5 minutes. Whisk until lumps are completely gone. Mixture cannot be too dense. Set the mixture aside in the fridge for about 1 hour to 'breath'.
3. In the meantime, wash zucchini, cut into halves and again into halves. Grate into thin slices.
4. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with 2 Tbsp of olive oil. You can apply it using a paper towel to avoid excess of oil. Add sliced zucchini mixed with sea salt and pepper. Fry until zucchini becomes soft. Should take about 5 minutes. Once ready leave aside to cool down a bit.
5. Add cooled zucchini into cooled mixture and stir well. Whisk the egg white and add to the mixture and zucchini.
6. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of mixture onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side. Should take 60-80 sec on one side and about 30-50 sec on the other side of the pancake. They will turn into nice brown color.
7. Before you put pancakes in one pile, set it aside for a moment letting to cool down, otherwise they will stick to each other.
Cognac pancakes are simply heaven in your mouth. Because we are adding some cognac, the cake will become very tender and fluffy. Takes about 40 minutes to prepare. Must be served hot, straight from the pan. We are using only fresh ingredients here thus your pancakes are nutritious meal. I like to have it for dinner or late Sunday breakfast. Enjoy!!!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Wait Time: 2 hours
Ingredients:
250 ml cold milk
200 ml mineral water with gas
4 yolks
3 Tbsp sugar
5-6 Tbsp cognac
250 g all purpose flour
40-50 g melted butter
1 Tbsp oil to fry the pancakes
4 oranges, peeled and cut into small pieces - no seeds
2 large bananas - cut into 1 cm slices
3 Tbsp brown sugar
30 g butter
60 g hazelnut - roasted in 190 C, peeled and chopped
Method:
1. In a large mixing bowl combine the following ingredients: milk, mineral water, yolks, cognac, sugar, all purpose flour and melted (not too hot) butter (40-50ml). Mix well with an electric mixer on high speed until the mixture has a cream consistency. Should take about 5 minutes. Whisk until lumps are completely gone. Mixture cannot be too dense. Set the mixture aside in the fridge for about 2 hours to 'breath'.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with 1 Tbsp of oil. You can apply it using a paper towel to avoid excess of oil. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side. Should take 60-80 sec on one side and about 30-50 sec on the other side of the pancake. They will turn into nice brown color.
3. Before you put pancakes in one pile, set it aside for a moment letting to cool down, otherwise they will stick to each other.
4. Now we will prepare banana and orange dressing. Peel 2 oranges and cut into small pieces. Remove white parts as much as you can and remove all the seeds.
5. Squeeze 2 remaining oranges to get the juice into a large cooking pot. Then add 30 g of butter. Place on low-medium heat and stir until butter is melted. Add brown sugar and stir until sugar melts in orange-butter juice. Add pieces of orange and slices of bananas.
6. Roast hazelnuts in a pre-heated oven to 190 C until lightly colored and skins are blistered. Should take about 10 minutes. Wrap nuts in a kitchen towel and let steam 1 minute. Rub nuts in towel to remove loose skins and cool completely. Then finely chop all the nuts.
7. Now fold each pancake into quarters creating a triangle and pour orange and banana mixture on the top of the pancake. Season with finely chopped roasted hazelnuts on the top.
Perfect recipe for vegetarians and Chinese food lovers. No meat, only fresh and healthy vegetables, green, yellow and made in wok on extra-virgin olive oil and a dark soya sauce. Simply Delicious.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Ingredients:
700 g mix of green, yellow and sweet beans
4 Tbsp dried mung mushrooms
200 g rice noodles
2 small carrots - chopped
3 cloves of garlic - chopped
1 tsp crushed chilli
1 onion - chopped
1 - 2 Tbsp of marinated ginger
small piece of fresh ginger - finely diced
2-3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
8 Tbsp dark soya sauce
juice of one small lime
1 tsp dried thyme
freshly ground black pepper
Method:
1. Remember to wash the beans first. Chop the carrot.
2. Put dried mung mushrooms in hot water for 10 minutes.
3. In the meantime we prepare the beans. Heat large pan and add olive oil. You can also use a wok pan. Once oil is hot, add beans, mung mushrooms, carrot, onion and garlic. Keep cooking for 10 minutes.
4. Add marinated ginger to the beans. Season with chilli, pepper, thyme, add diced fresh ginger, juice of lime and soya sauce. You can add more soya sauce than in this recipe - depands what you like. Do not add any salt - soya sauce is salty enough. Cook for another 5 minutes until carrot and beans turn soft.
5. In the meantime pour hot water into large pot and add rice noodles. Cover with the lid and wait for 3 minutes until noodles soften.
6. Ready vegetables put on the top of rice noodles and serve hot immediately.
Unlike green asparagus, white one has a tough, bitter peel
that must be removed before cooking. I love white asparagus because its taste is more delicate than the green and is less likely to be bitter as long as you peel the skin. Perfect warm dish for everyone. No meat so excellent for vegetarians. Additionally my herbs mix makes our asparagus to taste like heaven. Just give it a try.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10-30 minutes
Ingredients:
1 bunch of medium sized asparagus, about 500g
4 Tbsp of fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp of butter
1 large egg (boiled)
3 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2-3 small shallots, finely chopped
4-5 cornichons, coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp capers
1/4 cup mixed fresh herbs (parsley, dill, chives, tarragon), chopped
sea salt & freshly ground white and black pepper
4 Tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil
Method:
1. Snap off the bottoms of asparagus at the point where they break naturally, then pare off those unpleasant spiky little triangles along the sides. After that, peel the stalks up to the bud at the tip. Now your asparagus is ready to be cooked.
2. Bring water, 3 Tbsp of lemon juice, butter and sea salt to a simmer in a large pot over medium heat. Best is to use a special asparagus pot. See below. Cook until tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, 10-30 minutes, depending on thickness of asparagus. Drain well on paper towels.
3. Once your boiled egg is cooled, remove the shell and separate the white from the yolk. Chop both well.
4. Mix the mustard, red wine vinegar, 1 Tbsp of lemon juice, shallot, cornichons, cappers and chopped egg. Add olive oil.
5. Season with salt and pepper, add chopped herbs.
6. Serve warm asparagus with the sauce on the side. You will love that dish.
It is another typical farmer soup. We prepare it quite a lot in my family, especially on cool autumn evenings. Soup tastes delicious and is full of vitamines. It's rich and creamy with a mild onion-Gruyere cheese flavor. Easy to make and takes just a little to prepare this delicious soup.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
600 g onion - cut in quarters
1005 g butter
1 l home made beef stock
1 tsp cumin
100 g Gruyere cheese - freshly grated
3 Tbsp all purpose flour
a few slices of baguette (a long thin loaf of French bread)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 Tbsp 18% sour cream
Method:
1. Melt the butter on a large skillet and when it foams add onion. Keep stirring for about 10 minutes.
2. Add sea salt and pepper to the onion. Stir well and cover with the lid. If needed you can add a bit more of butter.
3. In a separate large pot, prepare a beef stock and bring it to boil.
4. Add all-purpose flour to the onion and stir well. Now you need to move the onion into the stock and cook for another 25 minutes. Add cumin and sour cream.
5. Move the soup to the blender or food processor and blend well. Once blended add pepper and salt for a good taste.
6. Pre-heat the oven to 190 C. Pour the soup into bowls. On the top of each bowl put slices of baguette and cover it with grated Gryuere cheese.
7. Insert ready soup bowls into the oven and cook for 10 minutes until cheese on the top of each melts nicely creating a nice pillow.
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