Goats' Cheese, Cherry Tomato & Tapenade Tart

       

   So, we love goats' cheese, tomato and olives...hmmm...so I came up with this super quick tart that both of demolished within minutes of it coming out of the oven. It came out so tasty, flaky, crispy...well perfect! I made our own tapenade but you can find it already made or you could even substitute it with pesto if you like (do not use the same quantity though as it has a stronger taste. We also used a mixture of coloured cherry tomatoes (red, purple & yellow) but you can use only red ones if you cannot find multicoloured ones. Oh yes, the goats' cheese, although it is not a melty cheese, it give this tart the delicious unique flavour that goats' cheese has. I also used a ready made puff pastry sheet but you can also make your own obviously but ready made pastry is fine if you're in a hurry.  

      Tapenade usually is a bit oily and runny and this ruin your tart by making the pastry too soggy, so what I have done I just added some pumpkin seed to the mixture so they can act as a thickener. If pumpkin seed are hard to come by, you can also use sunflower seed. Whatever seed you use, they will give your tapenade a nutty taste to your tart. So, give this a go and am quite sure you will love it and so will your family and friends. You will need...

For the tapenade

• 4 tablespoon green pitted olives
• 5 giant capers or 1 tablespoon small capers
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin seed
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• Pinch dried oregano
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 5 tablespoons (75ml) extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

For the tart

• 1 ready made puff pastry sheet
• 150g multicoloured cherry tomatoes, cut in half (red ones only will do)
• 125g soft goats' cheese, sliced or crumbled
• Rocket (Arugula) leaves
• Extra virgin olive oil
  

How to...

1. Start by preheating the oven to 200°C.
2. Next up let's prepare the tapenade by blending all the ingredients in a food processor or stick blender (that's what I used) until you get a homogeneous smooth mixture. 
3. Unroll the pastry sheet onto a baking sheet or large baking tray covered with greaseproof paper. I trickled some olive oil before I put my pastry on.
4. Spread the tapenade evenly on the pastry leaving about an inch from each side. Top up with the split cherry tomatoes, add the goats' cheese, add some olive oil and bake in the hot oven for about 25 minutes.
5. After 25 minutes take out of the oven, let cool down for 5 minutes and add rocket/arugula leaves and serve warm.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Tunisian Ojja

When we went to Tunisia I soon realised that Tunisians love their eggs...they use them in a myriad number of dishes. One of them was Ojja. I used to have this dish everyday for breakfast. It's delicious...some crusty bread and you will not even need a fork to eat it :) The peppers, spices and harissa really give this dish its unique North African flavours. Harissa is basically a Tunisian chilli paste which is very hot, so if you want to do a mild version of it, you can omit it but it takes away the Tunisian touch off it though haha. Harissa is stocked in supermarkets and it is well worth keeping a stock of it if you like your chilli, it can be found in tubes or cans [see picture]. To quicken the cooking time, grill the peppers, peel the burnt skin off and chop them into slices. You can also prepare the tomato sauce in advance and freeze it till needed. I will explain below how to prepare everything but if you are in a hurry or feel lazy you can use pre-grilled peppers in jars or ready made tomato sauce. So, you will need...

• 4 medium sized eggs
• 300ml tomato passata or chopped tomatoes
• 2 bell pepper, split in half and deseeded
• 1 teaspoon harissa, or to taste
• A pinch of ground coriander
• A pinch of ground cumin
• 2 small garlic cloves, sliced
• Olive oil
• Crusty bread, to serve

How to...

1. Start by adding the chopped garlic and olive oil in a pan. Heat them on a lower heat until the garlic starts turning golden. Now add the tomato passata or chopped tomatoes very carefully, so as the oil does not spit and burn your hands. Stir well and let it simmer for about 10 minutes (if using passata) or 20 minutes (if using chopped tomatoes). When done, set aside.
2. Whilst the sauce is simmering, switch on the grill on high heat and put the halved peppers underneath it  skin side up. Leave them until they are charred and completely burned. Now carefully turn upside down and grill the other side for a couple of minutes. Turn off the grill and carefully take them out, let them cool slightly and peel all the burnt skin off. Now chop them in slices and then in half. Set aside.
3. In a separate shallow frying pan, add some olive oil and the peppers. Switch the heat on medium and cook for about 2 minutes. Now add the tomato and garlic sauce, stir in the harissa and spices and cook for a few minutes. 
4. Now make 4 'holes' in the sauce and carefully crack 4 eggs in them, make sure you leave the yolk intact. Lower the heat, cover the frying pan and cook until the eggs are cooked through, just as you like them. Make sure you leave the yolk runny though.
5. Serve hot with crusty bread and make sure you mop up all the delicious spicy sauce.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Maltese Balbuljata [Tomatoes & Eggs]

This is another Maltese classic dish. It is very easy and quick to prepare. I love it and I could eat a whole Ħobża maltija [Maltese bread loaf] with this dish. That is how it is eaten in Malta. It is a very old dish and I can remember eating it everywhere...from my mum, to both of my nannas and also my mum-in-law. Eggs and tomatoes go very well together, in fact there are loads of dishes which consist from these two ingredients from the Tunisian dish Ojja to Huevos Rancheros which is a very famous dish in Spanish speaking countries. So here is what you will need...

• 4 eggs
• 1 large tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 small onion, chopped
• Salt & pepper
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• Crusty bread, to serve

How to...

1. Fry the onion in the oil for a few minutes until soft and transparent.
2. Add the tomatoes, sugar, salt & pepper and simmer covered for about 10 minutes on medium heat.
3. Turn the heat to low and crack the eggs in the pan and stir to combine the tomato sauce with the eggs until the eggs are set,
4. Serve with crusty bread.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Focaccia with Caprese Salad

This is Amanda's favourite food EVER!! She could eat it all day, every day!! :)) In fact when I prepare a good Focaccia for her, I always get extra hugs & kisses xx :)) It is one of the easiest recipes to do, Focaccia is very filling and tasty and you can serve it or even fill it with loads of different ingredients. You can put olives and press them in or even small rosemary sprigs. Our favourite is do a plain, just scattered with coarse sea salt and then serve it with a nice Caprese salad. I love to split it in half, drizzle some extra virgin olive oil and put layers of freshly sliced tomatoes, fresh basil leaves and slices of mozzarella....just writing about it is making my mouth water!!! Enjoy it fresh out of the oven....give this a go and you will not be sorry!! You will need...

For the Focaccia

• 600g Strong white flour ("00")
• 300ml lukewarm water
• Half teaspoon sugar
• 7g instant yeast (1 sachet)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Coarse sea salt, to taste

For the Caprese salad

• 4 large ripe tomatoes, sliced
• 3 mozzarella balls, sliced
• fresh basil leaves
• Extra virgin olive oil

How to...

1. Blend the yeast in a measuring jug with 300ml lukewarm water, sugar and the olive oil. Leave it to stand for 10 minutes.
2. Pile the flour into a volcano shaped heap on the working surface. Make a well in the centre and slowly pour in the liquid, start kneading with your hand and adding the yeast mixture until all the liquid has been incorporated.
3. Knead into a smooth dough. 
4. Roll the dough. Do not roll it too thin, leave it about 1cm thick.
5. Place it in a well-oiled, high edged dish, poke it with your finger tips in even places, scatter to taste with the coarse sea salt and cover with cling film and leave to rise for about an hour in warm place.
6. In the meantime preheat the oven to 180°C.
7. After the dough has risen well, drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil put into the hot oven and bake for 30 minutes until it is golden in colour.
8. Cut in squares and serve with the Caprese salad.

Enjoy!!! 

R&A

Conchigliette con legumi, pancetta e pomodoro - Small shell shaped pasta with pulses, bacon and tomatoes

End of the month, everyone is on a tight budget, so I just opened our kitchen cupboards and roved around the kitchen shelves and scanned all the available ingredients and made up something in my head. This is the result. It is a cross between a thick soup and a pasta dish. With cold weather around us it turned out to be a real heart warmer for us. The quantities here are for 4-5 persons as it  is very hearty, so you can make it for your holiday dinners maybe, if not adapt the quantities as you like. So here it goes,

• 200g concighliette [shell shaped pasta]
• 100g bacon steak, diced
• 100g mixed dried pulses [lentils, split peas, barley etc], soaked in water for about 12 hours or overnight
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 small dried chilli, chopped or 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
• ¼ teaspoon dried marjoram
• ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
• Vegetable oil
• 1 mozzarella ball [125g], diced
• Fresh basil leaves

How to...

1. Cook the soaked pulses in water first by boiling them for about 15 minutes and then simmering them for about 45-50 minutes or until soft. Set aside when done.
2. Fry the onion, garlic and pepper on a medium heat until soft, stirring constantly.
3. Add the bacon, herbs [not the basil leaves], black pepper, chilli and sit well.
4. Cook until bacon is cooked well.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes, sugar and simmer on medium heat for about 30 minutes. Stirring frequently. In the meantime cook the pasta.
6. Add the pulses and cook for 5 minutes. Mix well.
7. Add the pasta to the pulse/tomato mixture and incorporate well. 
8. Ladle into bowls. Sprinkle with the diced mozzarella and hand torn fresh basil leaves.

Enjoy!!!!!
R &A