Salsa Verde Tuna, Sicilian Tomato & Pasta Salad

This Sunday, I cooked.
I cooked the Salsa Verde Tuna with Sicilian tomato and pasta salad, even though there is so much more to it than the title offers.
Pg. 198 of the "Pasta" section it is.
We had a stray piece of tuna in the freezer so I thought what better way to use it than in a light and flavorful salad with integral pasta and loads and loads of veggies and spices.
The tuna tasted like real men meat, until the oregano and fennel seeds kicked in to give it a whiff of tenderness and individuality.

This is what I came up with:

There are so many ingredients and components in this recipe, it is really vital to either follow Jamie's lead passionately or be really sure of your own way. I sort of went astray. 

Jamie says to cook the pasta first and then make the salsa verde. Well, I first cut my tuna part into nice long fillets, then rubbed them with the salt, pepper, oregano and fennel seeds on both sides. I placed that on a cutting board and set aside. This way the tuna will absorb more flavors by sitting through the process. Next, I dealt with the salad, chopping the tomatoes, rocket, black olives, jarred red peppers and the green chili. I put all that into a bowl which I set by the tuna. Then I went to the Salsa Verde, putting the top part of the fresh parsley, lemon juice, garlic, capers, olive oil, mustard and aceto balsamic (with which I replaced white wine vinegar, whatever you prefer). I couldn't find the fresh mint in my nearby market or at my supermarket, so I opted for fresh marjoram, about 7 leaves. I blitzed that for about 2 minutes, and when it came out it was rather clumpy so I loosened it with 2 tablespoons of water and left it as it was. 

This is when I finally dealt with the pasta. A couple of weeks ago when I was grocery shopping for another one of the recipes I did, the Barilla Integrale Lumaconi Rigati was on sale, and seeing this recipe and making it a goal to do it, I bought it. I saved it till now, when I emptied the whole 500g of it for the four of us. I was positive they were the very same ones Jamie used, but they weren't, he used the Perline. 

Anyways, I cooked that for about 10 minutes as the packaging says, make sure to check it on any pasta you are using, because it may differ. And don't forget to salten the water or else it will be really bland. When that was nearly done (since we know that pasta cooks longer than the tuna, and I didn't want to reheat my pasta), I took out my gril, put 2 tablespoons of olive oil on and when it was heated, I placed my 8 tuna pieces on. Jamie says its ideal if they are pink on the inside, but since I like my meat well done, I may have kept it till it was dark brown. Not burnt though! So that took about 4 minutes on medium heat. While that was frying, I tossed my pasta with the tomato and half the salsa verde, poured on a platter and placed the rest of my ingredients. 

Note: I should've mixed the rocket in when I was mixing the tomato and pasta. 

By this time my tuna was done so I placed half of it over the pasta and voila! 

P.S. Shave over some Parmesan while it is still hot.

To achieve this meal, you will need: 

Ingredients out * Kettle boiled * Large lidded pan, high heat * Food processor (bowl blade) * Large frying pan, medium heat * 

Serves 4, 651 calories

Ingredients

Pasta&tuna

320g dried pasta shells

8 black olives 8(stone in)

400g ripe mixed-color tomatoes

4 jarred red peppers

70g rocket

4 x 120g yellowfin tuna steaks

1 tsp dried oregano 

1 tsp fennel seeds

olive oil

1 fresh red chili

20g Parmesan cheese 

1 lemon 

Salsa verde 

1 big bunch of fresh mint 

1 big bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley 

1 lemon

2 anchovy fillets (I skipped this)

2 tsp capers (drained)

1 clove of garlic

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 

1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp white wine vinegar 

Start cooking 

Put the pasta into the large pan, cover with boiling salted water and cook according to packet instructions. Rip the top leafy half of the mint and parsley into the processor, squeeze in the lemon juice, add all the other salsa verde ingredients (peel the garlic) and blitz until fine, then season to taste, loosen with 2 tablespoons of water and set aside.

Squash the olives (discarding the stones), randomly cut up the tomatoes and peppers, and put them all into a large bowl, then roughly chop and pile the rocket on top. Rub the tuna with salt, pepper, the oregano and fennel seeds, then drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, put into the frying pan and cook for 1 1/2 minutes on each side, ideally so that the tuna's blushing in the middle. 

Drain the pasta, reserving a cupful of the starchy cooking water, then add to the tomato bowl, toss with half of the salsa verde, loosening with a splash of cooking water if needed, then pour onto a nice platter. Put the tuna on top, spoon over the remaining salsa verde, scatter with the finely sliced red chili, then shave over a little Parmesan with a speed-peeler and serve with lemon wedges. 

Note: recipe was taken directly out of the cookbook, my version is stated above. 

Bon Appétit! 

Happy Cow Burgers, Old-School Coleslaw & Corn on the Cob (minus the Corn on the Cob)

As far as I have looked into this book, I have to say this is the recipe that appealed to me the most.        Pg. 222, first recipe of the Veggie section.
Since March, when I started the revolution in my diet, I have a smaller and smaller attraction to meat - I would always chose veggies over a steak. So this was right up my alley. It is something very concrete so to say, and very fun to eat too. Everyone loved it, even my traditional dad and grandma were impressed and said it was the best recipe up until now, with which I agree wholeheartedly.
This is what I came up with:

There are so many components in this meal, so it is hard to decide where to start first. The recipe involves corn, but quite frankly corn is really an excess here. I love it to death and would pick it any day, but in this meal, besides all these other gorgeous veggies, its really just a waste of money and time so I skipped that part. 

...and went straight for the homerun! - the burgers. What you do is blend the coriander stalks, mixed beans, broad beans, seasoning and flour, and whiz until fine and combined, until you can form it into a patty. Don't whiz for too long so that it becomes really rare and liquidly so that you cannot form it and  fry it, that's the only thing. Then you take your patty mixture out, flop it onto a flour dusted board and form the patties. Two things: I formed 8 little patties instead of 4 large ones just because the little breads I made 

were too small for the gigantic patties, and I would also rather have two small ones than one big burger for lunch.  Other VERY IMPORTANT thing is not to drown your patty in the flour because when you put it on the oil, the floured parts will burn very quickly, leaving your mixture inside still raw. 

And yes, I have learned that the hard way. 

It says to pour two tablespoons of olive oil in the pan and press down the burgers. Two things again: don't overcrowd the pan or else the temperature will drop and your meal will be ruined, the second thing is that oil can catch on fire quickly, so don't take endless time. 

Get a large pan with high edges so that it retains heat and cooks your burger on the top too, not for all of it to just flow out. When the burgers are done, put them on some paper to remove the excess oil and leave to cool for a sec while you prepare the side dishes. This includes slicing the tomatoes, lettuce, pickles/gherkins, feta and whatever else you desire and like with your burgers (ex. cheese). 

Jamie put this step as last and I actually did this first, which is the coleslaw. You need to grate half the red and white cabbage and onion and put into the bowl you will dress it in. Here is where I stopped and created the burgers. The dressing includes yoghurt, mustard and lemon juice, which I used much more of than Jamie suggested. He says 4 tbsp of yoghurt and 1 tsp of mustard and I used double for the same amount of cabbage, even though my halves were huge. I dressed this right before frying the burgers, for them to be hot when served and served immediately. 

My process: cutting the coleslaw - creating the burgers - dressing the salad - frying the burgers.   

There are so many amazing ways of dressing up these burgers, and the three pictures above are just a serving suggestion of my choice. The flavors, oh boy! The bean burger, the feta cheese, the homemade bap, the unique coleslaw. Bite of this, bite of that, and I was in vegetarian heaven. 

This is the vegetarian burger totally reinvented. Perfect for when friends come over, to be busy with their hands, kids. So filling and so diverse, perfect for any season because all of the ingredients are on hand and it is a huge crowd pleaser. For this you will need:

Ingredients out * Kettle boiled * Oven at 130C/250F/gas 1/2 * Large lidded pan, medium heat * Food processor (bowl blade & coarse grater) * Large frying pan, medium-high heat

Serves 4, 619 calories

Ingredients

• 
  
• Corn
• 4 corn on the cob
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lime
• 1 pinch of cayenne pepper
• 
  
• Burgers
• 1 big bunch of fresh coriander
• 1 x 400g tin of mixed beans
• 200g frozen broad beans
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• 1 lemon
• 1 heaped tbsp plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• olive oil
• 2 large ripe tomatoes
• 1 little gem lettuce
• 4 gherkins
• 75g feta cheese
• 4 burger baps
• tomato ketchup, to serve
• 
  
• Slaw
• ½ a small white and red cabbage (roughly 200g of each)
• ½ a red onion
• 4 heaped tbsp fat-free natural yoghurt
• 1 heaped tsp wholegrain mustard
• 
  
• Start cooking 
• 
  

Put the corn into the pan and cover with boiling water and the lid. Put the coriander stalks into the processor (reserving the leaves), then drain the mixed beans and add, along with the broad beans, a pinch of salt and pepper, the cayenne, cumin, ground coriander, grated lemon zest and flour. Whiz until fine and combined, scraping down the sides of the processor if needed.

Tip the mixture on to a generously flour-dusted board, divide into 4 pieces, then roll each piece into a ball and flatten into a patty about 2.5cm thick, dusting your hands and the burgers with flour as you go. Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the frying pan, followed by the burgers, pressing them down with a fish slice and flipping them when golden. Slice the tomatoes, lettuce and gherkins on a nice serving board and crumble the feta on one side. Put the baps into the oven.

Swap to the grater in the processor, then grate the cabbages and peeled red onion, and tip into a bowl. Chop the coriander leaves and add, with the yoghurt, mustard, and the juice of the zested lemon, then toss well and season to taste. Drain the corn, place on a platter, drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil and lime juice, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and the cayenne. Get the buns out of the oven, cut them in half, dollop with ketchup, add the burgers, and let everyone build their own.

Note: the recipe was taken directly out of the cookbook, my version is explained above.

Bon Appétit!