Rye crisp canapés

Yesterday I wrote a post of my rye whisky and rye gin tasting and the company behind these wonderful products, the Kyrö Distillery Company. These are the canapés I enjoyed during the tasting and still didn't have a rye overkill yet.

It's always nice to make colourful canapés to serve, and these are quite effortless to make. You can put any of your favourite vegetables and cheeses on them. Soft cheese always gives quite a nice and fresh contrast to these.

Ingredients

Rye crisps – Rye crisps can be obtained in well stocked supermarkets and health food shops or online. You might not get exactly the same ones as I had, but any thin rye crisp bread is good.

Olives – Olives are always a nice addition to a canapé serving.

Here are the different sorts I made.

Tomato and basil crisps:

Small tomatoes ( I used my own produce, Tomato Tigerella)

Fresh basil leaves

Chilli cheddar

Radish crisps:

Radishes

Plain soft cheese

Sea salt

Cucumber crisps:

Cucumber

Plain soft cheese

Chilli flakes

Pepper crisps:

Baby peppers

Olive oil (for roasting)

Smoky cheddar

There wasn't much preparation needed, mainly just chopping and filling. Fill the crisps just before serving as depending on the filling, the crisp can get soggy quickly.

The only thing that required a bit more cooking were the roasted baby peppers. Brush them with olive oil to get them extremely sweet, yet smoky. About 30 minutes roasting time is needed for these.

Serve these canapés at a party or just during a cosy film night. What are your favourite fillings for these?

Have further a nice week!

Your VegHog

Roasted mini aubergines with a snack board

Do you really need anything else for lunch than a snack board full of beautiful products? The answer is no. I don't know how you feel about this, but I do prefer a cold lunch to a warm meal in the middle of the day. If I'm supposed to work and pay attention after lunch, then a cold light lunch is the best option for me.

Yesterday I assembled these things together as a snack board for two persons, and it had a little bit of a Mediterranean feel. On that board there was nothing else to be cooked than the roasted mini aubergines, and they are easy.

Cut the mini aubergines in half. Pour three tablespoons of olive oil into a roasting tin and one teaspoon of oregano on the top. Put the aubergines there and mix first cut side down and then turn them cut side up for the roasting. Roast them at 220C for about 10 minutes until tender and golden brown. The aubergines can be eaten either warm or cold.

Serve them on a board of snacks, and you can have whatever you like there. These are the items I had on my board with the roasted mini aubergines:

• green olives
• emmental cheese
• roasted pepper antipasti
• aubergine caviar
• green heirloom tomatoes
• olive bread
• baguette

Do you ever make this kind of lunches, and if so, what are your favourite food items to use then?

Your VegHog

Olive focaccia

I'm pretty tired today (again!), so I'm only going to share a quick bread recipe with you. Having freshly baked bread is always great, and there's something about a fluffy, easy focaccia. I seasoned this one with green olives and rosemary for a nice Mediterranean feel. Have a look how easy it is!

All you need is:

500ml wheat flour

1tbsp dry yeast

1tsp sugar

1tsp salt

200ml water

2tbsp olive oil

200g green olives

20g grated Emmental

Rosemary

Sea salt

Chilli flakes

And this is how it's done:

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, dry yeast, sugar and salt) and then add the lukewarm water and olive oil and knead to a dough.

Spread the dough on a baking parchment and let it rise for about 40 minutes under a teatowel.

Press the whole green olives into the dough. Then sprinkle a little grated Emmental cheese, rosemary, sea salt and chilli flakes on the top.

Bake the focaccia at 220C for about 20 minutes and it's done!

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Your VegHog

Black olive rolls

I got spontaneously baking again when I noticed that there is no bread in the house. Sometimes baking is just easier than going to the shop... These rolls in any case are very easy and anyone can make them, spelt flour is the secret ingredient once again.

Ingredients for about 9 small rolls:

250ml milk

150g black olives (small can)

3dl wheat flour

4dl spelt flour

2tbsp dry yeast

1tsp salt

3tbsp olive oil

Method:

Warm up the milk lukewarm and chop the olives smaller. Mix the dry ingredients (flours, salt, yeast) together. Then add the milk, olive oil and the chopped olives to the mix and stir. There is no need to knead the dough a lot, you can even just stir it all with a spatula. Let the dough rise under a tea towel in a warm place for about one hour.

Shape rolls of the dough and place them on baking parchment. Brush little cold water on the roll surfaces before baking.

Bake at 225C for about 10-15 minutes until the rolls are golden brown with crispy crusts.

Have them as breakfast with butter and cheese or serve with a soup or pasta dish.

Your VegHog

Tomato and olive spelt crust pizza

To celebrate my 200^th blog post I decided to dedicate it to a wonderful favourite of mine, a vegetarian thin crust pizza. I wanted to reach the 200 post mark this year and it looks like there will be a few more to come as we are approaching the main eating season of the year. One thing is very clear to me, I certainly wouldn't have the strength and enthusiasm to do this without you, my dear readers. So thank you so much for reading, commenting and trying out the recipes, you are the best!

On to today's recipe: I made a juicy tomato and olive pizza on a spelt crust. The olives I used had a hint of lemon and I would recommend you to add little lemon juice if you can't get hold of such lemony olives. Unlike to my regular habits I didn't make a tomato sauce for this pizza, but covered the crust with great local selected tomatoes and huge basil leaves.

The crust:

14g dry yeast

200g wheat flour

200g spelt flour

350ml warm water

2tsp salt

3tbsp olive oil

The topping:

Selected tomatoes

Fresh basil

Mozzarella

Green olives

Ground black pepper

Make the spelt crust first. I normally prefer either half spelt or half rye crusts instead of crusts fully made of wheat flour. Mix the dry ingredients together and add the warm water. Knead it to an even dough and add olive oil. Then knead for a while further and let it rest under a tea towel for about 40 minutes.

In the meanwhile slice the tomatoes and grate the mozzarella. As you will notice, this pizza doesn't need much work at all.

When the dough has risen enough, roll it into a thin crust. Place the basil leaves, cheese, tomatoes and olives on it and grind some black pepper on the top. I would normally put the cheese on the top, but this time I placed it under the tomatoes and olives, which was a very good choice for this particular style of pizza.

Bake the pizza at 200C for about 10-15 minutes until the crust is crispy and the cheese melted and golden brown. Serve the pizza with good wine and enjoy.

Stay hungry!

Your VegHog

Vegan tomato and olive tofu spread

I think that it's difficult to find great ready made vegan bread spreads, so I decided to make my own. That way I know that all ingredients are fresh and I can make combinations just like I want them.

This is a very simple spread to make, so go on and have a try!

Ingredients

400g soft tofu

100g black olives

200g cherry tomatoes

1 orange pepper

½ red onion

1 garlic clove

Olive oil

Basil

Pepper

Salt

Method

First make a sauce, similar to a tomato sauce. Chop the onion, garlic and pepper finely. Heat some olive oil in a saucepan and add the tomatoes. Simmer them under the lid until they are breaking apart and forming a saucy texture. Then add the onion, pepper and garlic and let it simmer further. Season with salt, pepper and basil and let the sauce cool down.

Chop the olives and add them to the cool tomato and pepper sauce. Add the tofu, which you might want to press first to remove any excess fluid. Then puree everything into an even paste and it's done.

I served this spread with Peter's Yard artisan sourdough crispbreads and that was a lovely match. But you can combine this spread as you please.

Stay hungry!

Your VegHog

Olive baguettes

I made these rustic and easy baguettes just because homemade bread is always great. I wanted to spice a regular baguette up a little bit and that's why I added olives.

Ingredients for about four middle long baguettes:

200g green olives

4dl spelt flour

3dl wheat flour

2,5dl milk

25g yeast

50g butter

Sesame seeds

First mix the flours and dry yeast. Add the lukewarm milk and melted butter and finally the olives. This bread doesn't really need any added salt as olives are fairly salty. In order to avoid too much saltiness also use unsalted butter.

Knead until you have a firm bread dough. Let the dough rise covered with a tea towel for about one hour. When it's ready to be baked it should be fluffy and easy to handle.

Divide the dough into four parts and shape baguettes of it. Then sprinkle sesame seeds on them and bake at 225C for 10-15 minutes until the bread is nicely baked.

Enjoy fresh or on the next day. They are really nice as breakfast but then you'd have to get up early enough for the preparations.

Your VegHog

Olive, pineapple and mushroom pizza

I love pizza! If you do too, please take a moment and read about my take on a good homemade pizza. This time I'm making pizza with one of my favourite topping combinations: olive, pineapple and mushroom. For me pineapple is a really important pizza topping but not so commonly used everywhere.

I'm very sorry that I can't reveal the proportions to my secret pizza dough. No, it's just that I have to make it with fingertip feel to get it right and I think it's something that everybody should learn. The secret is also partly in wheat rye flower mix for the dough. By the way I prefer a thin crust pizza with double cheese any day. I normally make a large batch of dough and then directly make several pizzas while I'm at it.

You'll need for the dough:

Wheat flour

Rye flour

Dry yeast

Salt

Olive oil

Water

You'll need for the topping:

Tomatoes

Onions

Garlic

Basil

Black olives

Closed cup mushrooms

Pineapple slices

Cheese

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Make it so:

First make the dough, which can then rise when you're doing other preparations. Mix the dry ingrerients, then add some warm water at room temperature, that'll start the yeast working, and knead until the dough is nice and even. Then add a little olive oil and knead some more. Add more flour or water if your dough doesn't have the right texture. Now the dough shouldn't stick to the bowl. Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm room for about an hour.

Then make the tomato sauce. Bring water to boil, make x-cuts on the tomatoes and dip them into boiling water for about 30 seconds. They should now easily peel. Chop the onion and garlic cloves and start frying them in olive oil. When they are translucent add the peeled tomatoes and crush them. Let it simmer under cover for about 20 minutes while occasionally stirring. Towards the end add fresh basil leaves to the sauce and season with salt and pepper. Puree the sauce with a hand mixed and set to side.

Chop the mushrooms for the topping. I leave the olives whole and use pineapple slices from the tin and slice them into smaller pieces. When your dough is done, roll it out on a baking tray. If you prefer a fluffier crust you can let it rise again under a tea towel. Then spoon the sauce on the dough and put the toppings and cheese on it and bake at 220C for about 15 minutes.

If you're not used to making your own pizza, I really recommend you to try it. It's surprisingly easy and you can make it exactly to your own liking. I will be posting many other pizza recipes as I'm an pizza addict.

Stay hungry!

Your VegHog

Olive and pine nut pasta salad

Hello everybody!

It's time to make a salad again, but not in the traditional sense. A cold pasta salad is a nice lunch and quick and economical to make, for example using your excess pasta. This salad is light but also filling and you don't need many ingredients either.

Ingredients

Pasta (I used fusilli but you can use some other pasta as well)

A few leaves of fresh basil

A tin of green olives

A handful of pine nuts

Vegetarian pasta cheese (Parmesan equivalent)

Salt

Pepper

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Boil the pasta until it's soft and let it cool down. Chop the olives into half and the basil leaves into smaller pieces and grate shavings of the vegetarian pasta cheese. You could also try using other cheeses, such as mozzarella.

Put the pasta into a bowl. Add the olives, pine nuts, cheese and basil. Mix them all together. Season with some salt and pepper.

Finally glaze the salad with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Stir. Done.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog