Herbstick

I bought this extremely practical silicone herbstick from the Science museum in London. Fresh herbs and different herb mixtures can be frozen there for instant use. It's nice to store fresh herbs in this fashion as well, as they are very convenient to use for example for weekday meals.

I currently have in my herbstick a mixture for pasta, which consists of rocket, basil, garlic, olive oil and smoked paprika. I can't wait to add some to today's tomato and mozzarella ravioli dish.

Tomato and herb tartelettes

I went to a serene Saturday stroll in New Forest yesterday, and I baked these easy tartelettes in the morning to be taken with as a snack. They really tasted extra special among ponies in a beautiful weather. I want to share a few photos I took there with you.

Now to my recipe that makes about 24 tartelettes. I used my colourful silicone muffin cases that my mum has bought me for the baking.

Ingredients

600g puff pastry sheets

About 24 small tomatoes (1 per case)

100g cheddar

100g mozzarella

3 shallots

2 garlic cloves

A handful of fresh basil leaves

1tsp oregano

1tsp sea salt

½tsp ground black pepper

1tbsp olive oil

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180C.

Chop the shallots and garlic finely and cook them in olive oil briefly until soft. Add the oregano, salt and pepper to the pan. Grate the cheese and roll out the puff pastry thinly, unless you're using already rolled out pastry.

Cut small circles from the pastry with a round cookie cutter, so that when pressed to the muffin case, it rises up and fills out the bottom and the sides; each pastry circle therefore needs to be a little larger than the bottom of the muffin case. First put some of the shallot mix onto the bottom of each case. Then place a single tomato in the middle and fill the cup with the grated cheeses and basil. I chopped the basil leaves coarsely and mixed them with the grated cheese before filling the cases.

Bake at 180C for about 15 minutes. These tartelettes can be enjoyed straight away or even as a cold canapé later on.

Stay hungry!

Your VegHog

Winter gardening

I thought I'd make a small update to urban winter gardening, although it's fairly quiet at the moment as all growing is limited to indoors.

Some of my herbs aren't doing so brilliantly due to the dark winter. The monster basil is still alive and well, though. It's always so handy to have fresh herbs ready to season food, so I hope they start doing better soon again.

The chili is still growing and producing a lot of small chilies. I have just hung another batch to dry and the dried chilies will become really handy in cooking.

I have planned to sow some radishes soon, and possibly some other early veg. I dried the radish seeds from my own last summer's produce, so it will be all exciting when the next generation starts appearing.

I hope that the sun comes out soon, and I can start working on my tiny balcony garden. Please share what you are growing at the moment and what big plans you have for the spring and summer!

Your VegHog

Baked herb and lemon crust tomatoes

This is a very simple but tasty side dish. Using fresh herbs really pays off for this one.

Ingredients:

250g cherry tomatoes

1 garlic clove

Parsley

Thyme

Lemon zest

Bread crumbs

Vegetarian pasta cheese

Black pepper

Olive oil

Follow these easy steps:

Pre-heat the oven to 180C.

Chop the garlic and herbs.

Grate the cheese and lemon zest.

Mix these ingredients with the bread crumbs and add some ground black pepper.

Cut the tomatoes in half and place them into an oven dish.

Brush the tomatoes with olive oil.

Sprinkle the herb and bread crumb mix on the tomatoes.

Bake for about 25 minutes until the crust is crispy.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

The VegHog's garden update

I have promised to update you of my urban garden's progress throughout the summer, so here is a little post about it again. In the meanwhile my balcony is blooming and green and I'm so happy with it.

My first vegetable crops of the year were radishes. I ate the radishes, used the leaves for a pesto and now I let them flower. The flowers are edible and have a nice peppery taste, so I have used them to garnish salads.

The zucchinis are growing pretty fast and are trying to take over my whole balcony. First I didn't think they would grow that well in pots, but I was wrong. I have tried to be inventive with what to make with them. I've even made a courgette flower dish.

My bush tomatoes have been flowering for a good while now and I'm excited to see whether they can produce a fruit. Same goes for the French dwarf beans.

The outdoor and indoor herbs are also doing well. They love the light and warmth that will hopefully last for a while longer. I have recently planted some lettuce and chard, so we'll see how they'll come along when planted a bit later.

As decoration I'm growing sweet peas. They have lovely flowers and they also attract bees.

I will be posting another gardening update and more recipes I have cooked with my homegrown produce soon.

Your VegHog

Related posts:

The joys of balcony gardening 

Homegrown 

Crusted harlequin squash wedges

A while ago I purchased Yotam Ottolenghi's vegetarian cook book Plenty and it's absolutely amazing. It's full of inspiration and tasty recipes.

This recipe is from that book but has naturally been slightly altered (original: Crusted pumpkin wedges with soured cream, Plenty p. 72-73). I used a squash instead of a pumpkin and served them with potato mash seasoned with smoky cheese and some lightly fried lemony zucchini slices. In any case this was a delightful and quick dish to make.

Harlequin squash was a new ingredient to me but I couldn't help purchasing it when I saw its cuteness on the supermarket shelf. It's quite mild yet sweet and tender.

For the squash wedges:

1 harlequin squash

25g grated vegetarian parmesan

15g bread crumbs

2 garlic cloves

4 tbsp parsley

2 tbsp thyme

Zest of one lemon

Olive oil

Pepper

For the side dish:

4-6 small zucchinis

Lemon juice

Chili flakes

Salt

For the potato mash:

500g new potatoes

Red Leicester cheese grated

Smoky Cheddar grated

Butter

Salt

Prepare the squash and its crust first. There's no need to peel the squash, just washing is enough. Slice the squash along its natural wedges. Be careful when cutting as the squash can be tough to cut.

Then make the crust mix by mixing bread crumbs, grated veggie parmesan, chopped garlic, parsley and thyme and grated lemon zest.

Place the squash wedges in an oven dish and brush them with olive oil. Sprinkle the crust mix and little pepper on them. Bake the wedges at 190C for about 30 minutes until the squash is tender and the crust is crispy.

While these bake you can boil the new potatoes for the mash. New potatoes tend to be very small, and the smaller the tastier, so they boil quicker than regular potatoes. When the potatoes are boiled soft, squeeze them through a potato ricer and season with salt, butter and grated smoky Cheddar and Red Leicester cheese. Mix it until smooth.

When the wedges are in the oven and the potatoes are boiling there's time to make the zucchini slices. Slice the small zucchinis thinly lengthwise and fry them lightly in olive oil. Add lemon juice, chili flakes and salt.

Serve all the components together and you'll have a nice and still fairly light meal.

Stay hungry!

Your VegHog

Homegrown

It's the best thing ever if you have your own garden and are able to grow your own vegetables but there's something rewarding in just growing herbs on your window sill. The VegHog is a flat dweller but that doesn't stop it from having fresh herbs and chili around. Its humble chili plantage has given it many chilies to use either fresh or dried.

Fresh herbs are so nice and flavoursome for seasoning different dishes and so easy to grow. You can either buy them in a grown state or buy the seeds. Sometimes however the ready grown supermarket herbs won't last that long.

Spring is coming sooner or later, so I have planted something new indoors and have plans for moving them to the balcony when it gets warmer. I will be growing wild strawberries, herbs, chili, cherry tomatoes and beans. Hopefully I'll be able to harvest some of them later in the year. Watch this space!

Happy planting moments!

Your VegHog