Rice Balls in Rich Tomato Sauce.

I have had a fantastic day. I have spent the day relaxing with one of my favourite activities- cooking. It's been a massive week. I've been working quite a lot, at both my day job and in my creative pursuits- deejaying and curating. It's lovely just to have a day to potter. Admittedly, I feel a little bit scattered today. I'm finding it very hard to concentrate on just the one thing. I think this is because my job insists that I put my mind in many different places at the one time. I find it hard just to stop. So I've made a whole bunch of food and am working on some projects, one of which I'll let you know about soon

On Sunday, we went to the Torrens Island markets. Tomatoes are currently $2 a box. Bargain! I've just made a large pot of Italian style tomato sauce. It's rich, thick and delicious with surprisingly only a few ingredients.
For dinner we had rice balls that I filled with mushroom pate, but you can fill them with whatever you like. It seems like it's all a little complicated, but when it gets down to it, you don't have to spend much time actually cooking. Most of the time is spent watching the ingredients cook and letting the beautiful aromas fill your gorgeous house.

The Sauce
Time: 10 minutes prep for the sauce, 45 minutes cooking.
Makes: About a litre and a half (6 cups).

Ingredients:

• One Tablespoon of oil.
• One onion, chopped.
• About 12 tomatoes, chopped.
• One teaspoon of salt.
• Half a teaspoon of sugar or stevia. 
• 6 leaves of basil.
• 2 Tablespoons of tomato paste.
• One bay leaf.
• One clove of garlic, minced. 

Method:

Place the oil in a saucepan and heat over medium to high heat. Add the onions and garlic and fry for a few minutes. Add the other ingredients and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer with the lid on for about 45 minutes. Let cool and remove the bay leaf. Pour the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. I do this to avoid having to remove the tomato skin beforehand. 

The Rice Balls

Time: 15 minutes to cook the rice. Five minutes to roll.

Makes: 6-8.

Ingredients:

• One cup of brown rice.
• Two cups of water.
• One teaspoon of vegetable seasoning.
• Filling of your choice. I used mushroom pate, but you could use a nut cheese or well... anything. 
• Half a cup of flour. 

Method:

You know how to cook rice, right? Do it. Place the rice in a saucepan with the water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Drain. Allow to cool. 

Place the rice in a bowl and stir in the vegetable seasoning and flour. Take a small scoop of rice and place it in the palm of your hand to make a semi-circle. Press your thumb into the middle. Add about a teaspoon of the filling of your choice. Place another semi-circle of rice on the other side and shape into a ball. Repeat until there is no rice left. 

The Rice Balls in Rich Tomato Sauce

Preheat the oven to 200C or 400F. Take a casserole dish and half fill with tomato sauce. Any left over tomato sauce can be frozen until your next pasta dish. Gently place the balls in the sauce and drizzle with a little olive oil. Place in the oven and cook for about 25-30 minutes. The outside will be crispy when they are ready. 

Enjoy with a gorgeous side salad. 

Cannellini Bean Pasta Sauce with Olives, Capers and a hell of a lot of Garlic. xx

It's 4:51 AM. I have spent tonight drawing, watching episodes of Luxury Comedy and New Girl and cooking this pasta sauce. Although it is really delicious even if I do say so myself, where is the fricken greenery? That is one problem with being between night shifts. There is no where to buy lettuce at 3 AM. This pasta sauce is made of a bunch of things I had laying around. The capers were a bargain 75 cents for a giant jar and the beans I buy in bulk, so all in all this is quite a frivolous meal. You can eat the beans with out the pasta but hey, I love carbs. 

Time: 10 minutes prep. 30 minutes if cooked in a pressure cooker, 20 minutes on the stove top, 4 hours on high if cooked in a slow cooker. 

Serves:6-8.

Ingredients: 

• One onion, chopped.
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced.
• One capsicum, sliced.
• Half a cup of olives.
• One quarter of a cup of capers. 
• Three cups of dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight in water and drained.
• Quarter of a cup of olive oil.
• Half a cup of tomato paste.
• Four cups of water. 
• One pinch of salt.
• One pinch of pepper.

Method:

Place all of the ingredients in a pot/ pressure cooker/ slow cooker. 

If using a pot on the stove top, bring to the boil and let simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally.

If using a pressure cooker, place the lid on and bring to pressure. Reduce heat and continue cooking for half an hour. Reduce the pressure and the sauce should be ready.

If using a slow cooker, place all of the ingredients in the cooker and cook on high for 4 hours.

Good night, fancy world.

Sweet dreams xx

Make it Sweet! Sweet Chilli Sauce.

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I was so obsessed with sweet chilli sauce at one point. So obsessed that it got to the point that it started to make me feel ill. I ate so much of it that I couldn't eat it for about 3 years.
I have started to rekindle my love of sweet chilli sauce and I love the twist on this recipe. Many of the ingredients I had growing in my garden and there is nothing better than knowing that what you are eating came from your own little house of love.

Time: 10 Minutes prep. 30 Minutes cooking.
Makes: 300 mls approximately or 1 and a 1/3 of a cup.

Ingredients:

• 6 red chillies, chopped.
• 6 cloves of garlic.
• 1 cup fresh coriander.
• 10 Kaffir lime leaves.
• 1 Tablespoon minced ginger.
• 1 Thumb size piece of galangal, minced (or you can use more ginger).
• 1 cup of rice vinegar (you could use white if you can't get rice, but it is available at most Asian grocers).
• 1 cup of water.
• 1 pinch of salt.
• 1 cup of raw sugar.
• 1 stick of lemongrass.

Method:

Put the chilli, garlic, coriander, lime leaves, ginger, galangal and lemongrass in a blender and blend well for a few minutes. Add half of the rice vinegar and blend for another few minutes.
In a saucepan, add the rest of the vinegar, the water and the sugar. Heat over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves.
Add the chili mix into the saucepan and bring to the boil.
Simmer for 20 Minutes.
If the sauce is still a little chunky, you can pour it into a tall container, like a jug and a hand blender and blend well. Be careful, because the mixture will be hot.
Pour the mix into a serialised jar. To do this, get a clean jar and pour boiling water from the kettle over it. Once again, be careful!

And there you have it! It's delicious and goes super well with Better than Cream Cheese. It lasts for quite some time, too. Mine has been in the cupboard for about two months and it still tastes great.

Easy Vegan Pumpkin, Sage and Cashew Ravioli with Tomato and Basil Sauce.

Right now it's freezing cold. I'm in the lounge room watching old episodes of The Mighty Boosh with a blanket over my knees and a warm cup of tea. My belly is full of this delicious pasta goodness.

Ravioli is usually filled with spinach and ricotta from what I have found. It is a little bit difficult for us earth friendly creatures to find vegan ravioli. As I have said before, I'm really not a big pasta fan but I have wanted to make my own pasta for quite sometime because nothing beats fresh pasta. I'm kinda cheating with this recipe though, using Chinese dumpling wrappers instead of actual pasta. This is mainly to cut down on time constraints and it makes it super cheap and easy. They're made of flour, water and vegetable oil for the most part, and cost something like $3 from your local asian grocer. Here is a link to a site that can show you how to make your own. It's such a great idea because you can keep them in the freezer and fill them with all kinds of things. My mum filled them with stewed apple and baked them and they tasted just like apple pies. You could even make samosas or hell, dumplings.

Also, today I have to load up on gluten as I'm getting a blood test tomorrow to see if I'm coeliac. Three members of my family have been diagnosed and honestly, even if it tests positive I'm not too worried. Many of my recipes are gluten free anyway. It'll give me an even bigger excuse to get creative.

But back to the pasta.

This recipe is quick and easy. The sauce is super easy and tasty and can be used in a variety of situations. You could even use it as a sauce for a savoury pie or a lasagna or something. Delicious. Oh! and the filling! To die for...

Time: About half an hour.

Serves: Makes about twenty dumplings or 2 as mains, 4 if you serve with a side.

Ingredients for the ravioli:

• Dumpling wrappers.
• One cup of pre-roasted pumpkin, that has been cut into small chunks and, well, roasted.
• Half a cup of chopped cashews (can be left out for those with nut allergies- Nina... :)
• One onion, chopped.
• Two cloves of garlic, minced.
• Quarter of a cup of sage leaves, shredded.
• One tablespoon of oil.
• One tablespoon of soy sauce.
• Pepper to taste.
• A large saucepan full of boiling water.

Method:

In a fry pan, add the oil over medium heat. When warmed through, add the onion and garlic and fry until translucent.  Add the cashews  and the sage and fry for a further two minutes.

Add the pumpkin and mush it all up together. Fry for a further two minutes.

On a chopping board, pop a few dumpling wrappers and in each one, add about a teaspoon of the mixture into the wrapper and then fold it in half over the mixture.

Using wet hands, paint the edges with water and they should stick together easily. Add each one to the boiling water. When they float, they are ready to be scooped out..

Continue with all of the ingredients until there is none left. Put them on a plate and top with tomato pasta sauce.

Quick yet delicious, and therefore freaking genius pasta sauce.

Ingredients:

• One brown onion.
• Two cloves of garlic, minced.
• One tin of canned tomatoes, crushed.
• Three quarters of the same can full of water.
• One tablespoon of oil.
• One tablespoon of soy sauce.
• Pepper.
• Three tablespoons of fresh, shredded basil leaves.

Method:

In a saucepan, add the oil and heat over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and fry until browned.

Add the tin of tomatoes and water and stir for a few minutes. Add the soy sauce and stir through.

Add the basil and pepper to taste. Simmer for about five minutes.

Super easy and delicious.

Vegan 'Honey' Soy Stir Fry Sauce

How long has it been since you ate this? This sauce is sweet and salty and delicious.
Take one tablespoon of cornflour and add just a small amount of water into a cup or small bowl. Mix to make a smooth paste. Add three tablespoons of water, mixing well, and two tablespoons of soy sauce. Add a tablespoon of rice syrup. Pour the lot over the top of your nearly cooked stir fry. Allow the sauce to heat through and thicken up. Et voilà- 'honey' soy stir fry sauce.