'FF takes on Jamie' Spinach and Pumpkin Rotolo

The other day I flicked through Jamie Oliver's 'Save with Jamie' cookbook and landed on this beautiful recipe. It was the perfect dish because we had all the ingredients at home and we felt like having a meat-free kind of day. It was super delicious and super easy to make!

Spinach and Pumpkin Rotolo

Serves 5

1 batch of fresh homemade pasta dough or 1 packet of fresh lasagne sheets

1/2 a large pumpkin or 1 whole small

1 large onion, diced

500 g spinach leaves

100 g feta cheese, crumbled

1 bottle of passata

4 large garlic cloves, sliced

Salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste

Bake the pumpkin at 200C, until it is soft.

Saute the diced onion in a tablespoon of olive oil until translucent. Add the spinach and cook until it has died down. Put aside.

In another pan saute the sliced garlic. Add passata. Let it cook for about 5-10 mins or until it has thickened. Add salt. Put aside.

Once the pumpkin is cooked, mash it. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.

Now you need to assemble!

Place the lasagne sheets on a clean surface and evenly spread with mashed pumpkin, spinach mixture and crumbled cheese.

Once filled, roll the pasta sheets into logs and slice into quarters.

Place quarters into the tomato mixture and bake at about 180C for 30-40 mins.

Now its ready to serve!

If you have any questions, leave your lovely comments below! Enjoy!

Pasta dough

Pasta dough is super easy to make and is the way to go! I love making fresh pasta as it tastes way better then store bought and is so much better for you!

Egg Pasta Dough

500g White Wings plain flour

5 whole eggs or 10 egg yolks

Combine the flour and the egg.

Knead on a flour surfaced area until smooth and bounces at the touch.

Wrap in cling wrap and rest for 30 mins.

Now its ready to be used!

Remember homemade dough is the way to go!

Dumpling dough

Dumpling dough is probably the most easiest dough to make. You only need two ingredients. Flour and water. The only hard thing about it is the kneading process. Because not much water is incorporated into this recipe you are required to knead the crap out of it until it is soft and bounces to the touch.

Dumpling Dough

1 cup of White Wings plain flour
90 ml of  boiled water (let it rest for 2 mins before using)

Combine flour and water together and knead until soft and bounces to the touch.

Place dough into a zip lock bag and let it stay for 30 mins. This will make the dough nice and soft.

Dough is now ready to use.

Note:

• If you really need to you can add a little more water. I'd say no more then 2 tbsp.
• To get the best results for dumplings, use only a little amount of the dough (I'd say as big as a gum ball) to roll out into a thin circle.

If you have any questions comment below! Enjoy!

Pot Stickers

Dumplings are easy, quick and super delicious! The other day I made pot stickers using the left over filling from the recipe Barbecue Chicken Dim Sum. They were super delicious but I found that it was a little salty. If you're going to use the dim sum filling for this I highly suggest you reduce the barbecue sauce by half! Or make a sauce that does not contain anything high in salt like soy or fish sauce.

Pot Stickers

Ready made wonton wrappers or homemade dumpling dough (recipe here)

Barbecue Chicken Dim Sum filling

OR

Alternatively 

200g Chicken mince

1/2 bunch Coriander

2 tsp Fish sauce

2 tbsp Soy Sauce

3 garlic cloves (add more if desired)

2 cm ginger minced (add more if desired)

Salt 

Barbecue Chicken Dim Sum filling

Get straight into filling the wonton wrappers. 

Alternatively 

Combine all the ingredients. Add more seasoning accordingly. 

I would cook a tiny piece of the chicken to taste the flavours before filling. If its to your taste fill the wonton wrappers.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan. Place your dumplings in the pan once hot.

Cook the dumplings until the bottom has browned.

Fill the pan with 2/3 cup of boiling water to allow the dumplings to cook all the way through.

Dumplings will be ready once the water has evaporated.

Serve with a chilli sauce.

Note:

Quick sauce (Use only with alternate filling)

Combine 4 tbsp chilli sauce, 1 tsp fish sauce and 1 tbsp soy sauce.

Please comment below if you have any delicious filling suggestions! Enjoy!

'FF takes on Jamie' Korean fried rice (bibimbap)

Bibimbap (Korean rice with meat and assorted veggies) is very common in Korea and is eaten quite regularly. Our house has been 'little Korea' for a while now so when I saw this I knew I had to do it!

I was originally going to call this post 'FF vs Jamie' because I was going to make the traditional bibimbap but realised that it required a lot of side dishes and I just didn't have the time so I decided to stick to the recipe instead.  And can I just say that I do not regret my decision one bit. This tasted amazing. It was sweet and savoury all in one. The poached egg cut the sweetness beautifully and the chilli sent your taste buds tingling.

What I didn't like about this dish was that it tasted more like a biryani then a bibimbap. And what I think did that was the rice. Instead of using short grain white rice, he used basmati rice. Basmati rice has a real pungent flavour and smell so its not a rice that you would use in just about everything. So that would have been my only down fall. But all in all it tasted delicious!

If I were to make this again I would probably use white rice just to see how the flavours work and to determine whether or not this dish really needs the flavour that the basmati gives.

Read more »

How to poach eggs!

Poaching eggs has been a problem in every household. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. This is an easy way to do it.

Poached eggs

4 cups water                      

1/3 cup vinegar
Eggs

Pour the vinegar and the water into a pot. Place on to a stove top and let it simmer until its just about to boil.

Crack your eggs into a small bowl so it is easier to pour into the water. 

Once the water is simmering, grab a whisk and stir the water until you get a whirlpool. Once you can see the bottom of the pot quickly pour the egg into the open space and leave it. The egg will attach itself to the bottom of the pot and form a perfect poached egg. 

Let it cook for 3-4 mins. Repeat with the other egg.

Super easy! Have a go and see how you do! 

If you have any questions leave in the comments below. Enjoy!

Gooey Peanut Butter and Banana Oats

These oats were a perfect breakfast for a cold winter morning. It was nice and hot and gooey and just so damn good! What more could you ask for?

 

Gooey Peanut Butter and Banana oats

Serves 1

1/3 cup Uncle Toby's 3 grain oats

2/3 cup milk

1 tsp of your choice of sweetener (Vanilla essence, honey, sugar, vanilla sugar)

1 large ripe banana

1 tbsp Kraft peanut butter (add more if you wish)

Combine your oats, milk and sweetener in a saucepan and put it on the heat for 5 mins or until cooked.

Meanwhile smash 2/3 of your banana and combine it with the peanut butter and put aside.

Once oats are cooked, layer it with the pb+banana mixture.

Top the oats with the remaining 1/3 of the banana. Serve immediately!

Super easy! Super delicious! Enjoy!

'FF takes on Jamie' Hit 'n' run tray-baked chicken

This recipe has to be the best meal yet and should be in everyones repertoire. Its simple, quick and super easy! The recipe calls for every day core ingredients so there is no need for you to go out of your way to buy them.

For a dish that was super easy and simple, it was packed with delicious flavours! The garlic, onion and tomatoes were absorbed by the chicken beautifully and were super juicy.

I was surprised that there weren't any potatoes with this dish so I made it my highest priority to create these super delicious, crispy potatoes. My family and I absolutely love our taters so this was an absolute must!

Hit 'n' run tray baked chicken 

Serves 4

4 large tomatoes, quartered

3 large onions, quartered

2 capsicums, chopped (they can be of any colour)

4 garlic cloves

1/2 a bunch of fresh thyme or 15g of dried thyme

6 chicken thighs/ 3 large breasts/ 8 chicken tenderloins

2 tsp smoked paprika

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

Combine the quartered tomatoes, quartered onions, chopped capsicums in a bowl.

Crush the garlic with a knife, skin on, and place them in the same bowl.

If you're using the chicken thigh just add it through but if you're going to be using the tenderloins or breast, chop them at a reasonable size (let the photos above guide you). Add them to the bowl.

Add the thyme, paprika, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Add salt.

Toss the bowl until its thoroughly mixed through. Empty bowls contents into a pan and bake it in the oven for about an hour or until the chicken is cooked.

Serve it with a nice fresh green salad!

Enjoy!

Crispy Garlic Thyme Potatoes

Serves 4

        

8 potatoes

boiling water

3 large garlic cloves, sliced, skin on

a few sprigs of thyme

2 tbsp olive oil or as much as you want/need

Salt

Peel and chop the potatoes into quarters. Put them in a saucepan and add the garlic cloves and salt.

Fill the pan with boiling water and cover. Allow the potatoes to cook until they're not yet soft, still a little firm.

Drain the potatoes and return back to the pan with the garlic and return to heat. Add the thyme and olive oil and let it cook on the stove top until they've browned. 

Serve alone or as a side dish with roast chicken, lamb roast or any desired meal.

Enjoy!

'FF takes on Jamie' Barbecued Chicken Dim Sum!

The first recipe I attempted for my 'FF takes on Jamie' are his barbecued chicken dim sum. I absolutely love asian food and as a result I cook a LOT of it. I have never made dim sum (or buns) before so this was a first for me and I must say they were delicious!

The bun was moist and soft and with the combination of the barbecue sauce which was absorbed throughout the whole bun, it was salty yet sweet. It was mouth-watering! Or as Jamie Oliver would say, 'absolutely gorgeous!'

Barbecued Chicken Dim Sum

Serves 8

3 fresh chillies

4 spring onions

300g shredded cooked chicken, can be left over roast chicken or boiled chicken

1/2 a small bunch of fresh coriander

1 cm fresh ginger, peeled and grated

5 tbsp Masterfoods barbecue sauce

1 lime

500g White Wings self raising flour

400 ml milk, you can use coconut milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Slice the chillies and spring onions and place in a bowl of cold water until they curl.

Finely chop the coriander. Combine the shredded chicken, chopped coriander, ginger, barbecue sauce, lime. Put aside.

Combine the flour and the milk. The dough should be sticky as this makes it light and fluffy.

Transfer onto a flour dusted surface and roll the dough into a log, add more flour if it is too sticky.

Cut into 16 slices, roll then flatten into round circles. Fill each circle with a heaped tablespoon of the filling, pinch together then roll into a ball.

Place your ready buns into oiled double cased cupcake cases and place into a bamboo steamer.

Fill your wok with 2 cm of water and let it boil. Once boiled place your bamboo steamer on top of the wok. Steam it for 12 mins or until cooked.

Drain then scatter the spring onions and chilli on top of the buns and serve with the sauce of your choice.

Note:

I found it really hard to use the dough as it constantly stuck to my hands, so I placed a little drop of oil onto my hands and found that the oil made it so much easier to use. Alternatively, you can use extra flour.

Please try it and tell me what you think in the comments below! Enjoy!

FF takes on Jamie

Quick post! I have decided to take inspiration from the movie 'Julie Julia' and do a weekly post from the cook books of one of my absolute favourite chefs, Jamie Oliver! So I thought I'd do only one of his books, Save with Jamie, but have decided I might also dabble a little in to his other awesome cook books. So be on the watch out for my weekly 'FF takes on Jamie' posts.