Red pepper, ricotta and thyme ravioli

As of this week, I now officially have no space for any new kitchen equipment in my flat (please note if you are already thinking about buying me a Christmas present). This is annoying, because I have also just applied for a new mortgage and have worked out that it's likely to be another five years before I can afford to buy a new place with a larger kitchen. That means five years without buying any new cooking gear. I'm sure I will survive, but it will take self restraint.

The reason for this storage crisis is that I have bought a new toy - a pasta maker. And today was my first attempt at making pasta with it.

The main attraction of buying a pasta maker was the ability to make stuffed pasta like ravioli and tortellini. I'm sure that homemade spaghetti and tagliatelle are sufficiently superior to what you can get out of a packet to make it worth the effort or the special equipment. But homemade ravioli allows one to be a great deal more creative.

The pasta dough itself was very easy to make - just flour and eggs blitzed in the food processor. It looks slightly odd at first, because what you're left with looks like a bowl full of yellow crumbs. But the crumbs come together into a stiff dough very easily.

The pasta maker itself took a bit more getting use to, but it was very satisfying feeding the sheets of pasta through the machine, watching them get progressively thinner.

The pasta maker came with a ravioli mould included - however, since I didn't feel like making star-shaped ravioli tonight (the novelty of that wore off before the machine had even arrived in the post), I decided to make the ravioli freehand.

For the filling, I mashed up a pack of ricotta with an egg, grated parmesan, fresh thyme and black pepper. For the sauce, I charred some long red peppers under a very hot grill before blitzing them in the food processor and then mixing them with garlic and red chilli sautéed in olive oil, more fresh thyme, and the juice of a lemon. Amazingly, the ravioli did not fall apart as soon as they hit boiling water, which I was convinced they would do. The end result was very impressive and far better than anything you can buy in a supermarket. It definitely wasn't a quick meal to prepare, but it was worth the effort, and I'm sure I will be experimenting more in the near future.

Barley, tomato and garlic risotto

This isn't actually risotto at all - it is orzotto, made with barley instead of rice. The recipe appeared in Yotam Ottolenghi's Guardian column a couple of weeks ago, and is every bit as delicious as one normally expects his recipes to be. The use of pearl barley gives the dish a very different texture from risotto - whereas rice slowly breaks up during cooking, releasing its starch and creating a creamy texture, the barley maintains its integrity and is al dente even after an hour of cooking. The long cooking time also results in a rich, concentrate tomato flavour, while the garlic (two whole heads of garlic!) mellows during cooking and creates even greater depth of flavour.

Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil, plus an extra trickle at the end

2 whole heads garlic, cloves separated, peeled and quartered

750g fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped

200g passata

½ tsp smoky paprika

⅛ tsp dried chilli flakes

1 tbsp picked thyme

4 strips fresh lemon zest

1½ tsp caster sugar

1 tsp salt

270g pearl barley, well rinsed in cold water and drained

Roughly 200ml water

20g chopped coriander leaves, plus extra to garnish

Black pepper

200g feta, crumbled roughly

Fry the garlic for a couple of minutes. Bung everything else in the pan, apart from the feta and coriander. Simmer for an hour or so with the lid off, stirring occasionally. Add a bit of extra water if it dries out. At the end, stir in most of the feta and coriander. Serve and then sprinkle the remaining feta and coriander over as a garnish.

Aubergine meatballs and arrabiata sauce

The following recipe is another product of too many hours spent watching the Good Food Channel. The original recipe for polpette di malanzane, or aubergine meatballs, was by Catherine Fulvio. This is my version.
Ingredients
2 large aubergines4 cloves of crushed garlic100g of grated pecorino, parmesan or finely crumbled feta250g breadcrumbs1 tablespoon of chopped mint1 tablespoon of chopped oregano, or half a tablespoon of dried oregano1 eggSalt and pepperOlive or sunflower oil for frying
Arrabiata sauce
2 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes1 tablespoon of tomato puree4 cloves of crushed garlicHalf a teaspoon of dried red chili flakesJuice of 1 lemonSaltOlive oil
Put the aubergines on a baking tray and then place under a very hot grill, turning occasionally, until the skin is charred. Set to one side and allow to cool. Once the aubergines have cooled, slit the skin open and scoop out the flesh onto a chopping board. Chop finely and then place in a bowl. Add the herbs, garlic, egg and cheese, season with salt and pepper, and then stir to incorporate all of the ingredients. Then add the breadcrumbs and stir until fully incorporated. Next, shape the balls by scooping out teaspoon-sized pieces of the mixture and rolling them into balls in your hand. Place on a tray or plate and set to one side until you have shaped all the mixture. Next, heat the oil in a large frying pan. Once the oil is hot enough, carefully drop the balls into the hot oil. They will take a couple of minutes to cook on each side. Turn them to cook the other side so that they are browned all over. Remove from the pan and place the cooked balls on a baking tray while you cook the remaining balls in batches.
Once you have cooked all the aubergine meatballs, make the arrabiata sauce. Fry the garlic gently in olive oil, then add the tomatoes, tomato puree, lemon juice and chili. Season with salt and stir until the sauce is simmering. Next, add all the aubergine meatballs to the pan and stir so that they are coated in sauce. Continue cooking for a few minutes to ensure the balls are heated through.
Serve with pasta and freshly grated pecorino or parmesan. Serves 4.

Panzanella

Panzanella is an Italian bread salad that makes a fantastic summer lunch. It is traditionally made as a way of using up stale bread (I cheated and made some fresh bread go stale by drying it in the oven). It's best made with ciabatta, but can also be made with other good quality bread like sourdough. However, the bread does need to be quite firm and robust otherwise it will disintegrate in all the juices.
Other ingredients include brightly coloured Mediterranean vegetables. There are no hard and fast rules as to what you include (some people add celery or cucumber), but make sure that all the ingredients are top quality with lots of flavour. 
Ingredients
1 large ciabatta - either stale or dried in a low oven1kg ripe vine tomatoes3 peppers (red, orange or yellow)20 pitted Kalamata olives, chopped into quarters1 tablespoon of capersBunch of fresh basil leaves, roughly torn1 ball of fresh mozzarella, torn into small piecesJuice of two lemonsHalf a cup of olive oilSalt and pepper
Chop the bread into bite-sized cubes. Chop the peppers into small chunks, spread on a baking tray, and they place under a hot grill until they begin to char. Remove from the grill and set aside to cool. Next, peel the tomatoes by piercing them and then dropping them in boiling water for one minute. When the skin begins to split, remove them with a slotted spoon - the skin will slide off easily. Halve the tomatoes and then, using a teaspoon, remove the seeds from the centre. Don't throw the seeds away - instead, reserve both them and the juice for the dressing. Once you have de-seeded all the tomatoes, cut them into strips. Next, add the lemon juice and olive to the tomato seeds and season with a small amount of salt and plenty of black pepper. About an hour before you want to eat, place all the ingredient in a large bowl, including the basil and mozzarella, whisk the dressing, and pour it over. Stir the salad to make sure that all the bread soaks up the dressing, and then leave to one side for the flavours to meld together.
Serves 4-6 depending on whether you have it as a main or a side.

Lentil and smoked cheese lasagne

I'm a massive fan of the Good Food Channel (formerly UKTV Food). I can watch it for hours, much to Wikus's frustration. It is a great way to learn new techniques and the get inspiration for future recipes. This particular recipe was inspired by a traditional Italian lasagne - only without the meat.
Three vegetables form the base for a traditional lasagne sauce - the so-called "Holy Trinity" of onion, carrot and celery. In Italy, this mixture is called "soffritto". Instead of meat, I use lentils, and to add depth of flavour, I use smoked cheddar in the bechamel sauce and for the cheesy topping - infusing the whole dish with a delicious smoky flavour.

Ingredients
150g onions150g carrots150g celery4 cloves garlic600g tomato passata1 tablespoon tomato puree½ cup water200g green lentils / Puy lentils (dry weight)2 teaspoons dried oregano2 teaspoons sweet smoke paprikaSalt and pepperOlive oil250g lasagne sheets
Bechamel sauce
900ml milk50g butter50g plain flour250g grated smoked cheddar (reserve 100g for the topping)1 teaspoon Dijon mustardGround black pepper
Method
Place the dried lentils in a large pan and cover with lots of water (but no salt). Bring to the boil and then boil hard for 10 minutes with the lid off. Then turn the heat down, place a lid on the pan, and simmer for 30-40 minutes until the lentils cooked. Drain and then place to one side.
Chop the garlic and fry gently in olive oil. Finely dice the onions, carrots and celery and add to the pan. Cook gently for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the passata, tomato puree and water. Add the oregano and paprika and then season to taste with salt and ground black pepper. Add the cooked lentils, place a lid on the pan, and simmer for 20 minutes.
Next, make the bechamel sauce. Heat the milk, either in a pan or in the microwave. In a separate pan, melt the butter and once it is bubbling, add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon. Cook the flour and butter for a couple of minutes to ensure the flour is cooked through. Then slowly add the hot milk, stirring vigorously to remove any lumps. Once you have a smooth sauce, add the mustard and plenty of ground black pepper. Then stir in 150g of the grated cheese until melted.
Finally, take a large lasagne dish and spread a thin layer of the lentil sauce over the base. Next, ladle a thin layer of the bechamel sauce over the lentils, and then cover with a layer of lasagne sheets. Repeat until you have three layers, and then top the last layer of lasagne sheets with a final layer of bechamel sauce. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and then bake at 200C for 45 minutes until golden brown and bubbling.
Serves 6.

Pizza two ways

For my birthday last year, my husband bought me a breadmaker. Up until this point, I had always been a breadmaker sceptic. Bread has an unearned reputation for being difficult to make, and I couldn't see why it was necessary to buy an inconveniently large and ugly machine to do a job that can readily be done with your hands on a clean work surface.

To my surprise, however, I am a convert. The inconvenience of breadmaking is all in the waiting. It's an enterprise which takes time, and unless you're planning to spend ages hanging around the house, it isn't always practical. Breadmakers still require advance planning, but they unshackle you from the kitchen.

One of the great benefits of owning a breadmaker is that it makes it a whole lot easier to make delicious homemade pizza instead of ordering takeaway or buying a piece of horrible refrigerated cardboard from Tesco. It's so easy that, providing you remember to put all the ingredients in the machine before you go to work, it is something that you can knock together without much effort after a long and tiring day in the office.

Today, I decided to make two pizzas - the first was a blue cheese and red pepper pizza, based on my normal recipe, and the second was a more experimental tomato-free pizza bianca with potatoes (carb overload!), garlic and rosemary.

The recipe below is for two pizzas, but you can easily vary the quantities depending on how much you want to make.

Ingredients

For the dough - both pizzas

3 cups of strong white bread flour
1 ⅛ cups of water
½ teaspoon of salt
1 sachet of yeast
1 tablespoon of olive oil

For the tomato sauce - first pizza

400g chopped tinned tomatoes

1 tablespoon of tomato puree

1 clove of garlic, crushed

Juice of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Additional toppings - first pizza

120g grated mozzarella (use the cheap stuff for pizza, and don't use mozzarella in brine, otherwise you'll end up with a very watery pizza!)

65g blue cheese - gorgonzola is good

½ red pepper chopped into strips

Toppings for the pizza bianca - second pizza

250g new potatoes, boiled and sliced

1 small red onion

Sour cream or creme fraiche

4 cloves of garlic

4 sprigs of rosemary

Salt and pepper

Method

For the dough

If you've got a breadmaker, just bung all the ingredients in the breadmaker an hour and a half in advance, and put it on the dough setting. If you are doing it before you leave for work, use the timer delay to start the programme an hour and a half before you get home.

If you don't have a breadmaker, mix the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl and then add the water. Using your hands, combine the ingredients and knead until they form a ball. Once all the ingredients have come together, tip the dough onto a clean work surface and then knead with the olive oil for 5-10 minutes. Place the dough back into the bowl, cover with clingfilm or a damp tea towel, and leave for an hour and a half.

Once the dough is ready, divide it into two pieces. Then take two lightly oiled baking trays and place the dough halves in the centre. Using the flats of your hands, gently stretch the dough to cover the tray. You should aim for it to be around half a centimetre thick. Then set aside for 20 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients. To stop the dough drying out, you can cover it with a piece of lightly oiled clingfilm placed directly onto the dough.

For the sauce

Put some olive oil in a pan over a medium heat and gently fry the garlic. After about a minute, add the tomatoes, lemon juice, tomato puree and oregano. Season with salt and pepper and then simmer for 10 minutes. You don't want this sauce to be too chunky, so if necessary, use a potato masher to make it smoother.

One of the secrets to a good pizza is to be sparing with the tomato sauce. The amount here is enough for 2-3 pizzas, so freeze any that you have left over. It will also keep in the fridge for a few days.

Assembling the first pizza

Using a spatula, smear a quantity of the tomato sauce evenly across the base. Then sprinkle the grated mozzarella evenly across the sauce. Then break the blue cheese into small chunks and scatter them across the pizza. Then scatter the slices of red pepper over the pizza.

Assembling the second pizza

Using a spatula, smear a thin layer of sour cream across the base of the pizza. Season well with salt and pepper, and then finely chop the rosemary and garlic and scatter them over the sour cream. Arrange the sliced boiled potatoes evenly over the sour cream layer and season again with salt and pepper. Then finely slice the red onion and scatter that over the potatoes. To finish, dot the pizza with small dollops of sour cream.

To bake

To make pizza, you need to get your oven really, really hot. This will ensure a nice and crispy base which is soft and chewy inside. I set mine to 240C. Once the oven is at the right temperature, put the pizzas in for 15-20 minutes. The pizza on the lower shelf may take a bit longer. Once the cheese or sour cream is turning golden, they are done. Take them out and leave to stand for a couple of minutes before slicing and serving.

Variations

I reckon the quantities here will serve 3-4 people. If you want to make less, reduce the quantities for the dough to 2 cups of flour and 3/4 cups water.

The great thing about pizza is that the number of potential toppings is huge. For a regular pizza, I always use tomato sauce and mozzarella as a base and then vary the other ingredients. So instead of blue cheese and red peppers, I might use Monterey jack and jalapeños. Or spinach and ricotta. Or caramelised onions and goats cheese. Use your imagination!