Creamy chanterelle orzo pasta

Chanterelles are probably my favourite mushrooms. They are so cute and tasty and also very special as I only rarely eat them.

Ingredients:

1 onion

1 clove of garlic

1 cup of dried chanterelles

100ml cream

Orzo pasta

Thyme

Salt

Pepper

Vegetarian pasta cheese

Olive oil

Simple steps:

Soak the chanterelles in water for 15 minutes. Chop the onion and garlic and grate the veggie pasta cheese. Heat olive oil in a pan and fry the onions, garlic and chanterelles. Add the cream after a while and let it soak in the lovely flavours and stir occasionally while simmering at moderate heat.

Season with thyme, salt and pepper. Add some vegetarian pasta cheese into the sauce and save a few cheese shavings for the presentation.

Boil the pasta and when it's al dente mix it with the sauce and your dish is ready to be served.

Your VegHog

Spring forest picnic

What could be nicer than to pack a few fresh fruits and veg for a picnic and then have a stroll in the forest. I chose the New Forest as my picnic destination and got lucky with a sunny day even though this spring's weather hasn't been ideal. I think that there's no need to write a lot about this, you know what I'm talking about! I'd rather let the photos to speak for themselves.

I love my beautiful new hand painted Nkuku tiffin that was convenient to transport as it's small enough, it kept the food fresh and it's nice to look at.

I took only a few snacks with me: Tomato, mozzarella and basil sticks, strawberries, grapes, cheese focaccia and white wine.

There were also some curious friends trying to join me.

Have fun at your picnics and tell me where you went!

Your VegHog

Chestnut mushroom burger

If you want to make an uncomplicated vegetarian burger this is probably the best way to go. Instead of making difficult burgers you can just bake a juicy giant mushroom and that's about it!

To make 4 burgers:

Make the easy carrot and spelt rolls (recipe here) or just use 4 other rolls of your choice. However the carrot and spelt rolls are quite brilliant with these mushrooms for the right rustic feel. The only difference is that this time I used poppy seeds as topping instead of oat flakes.

4 flat chestnut mushrooms

1 small onion

1 clove of garlic

Double Gloucester cheese

Pepper

Salt

Parsley

Pea shoots

If you are making the rolls from scratch start with them. Then wash the mushrooms and remove their stems. Place the mushrooms into an oven dish.

Chop the mushroom stems, onion and garlic finely and grate the cheese. Fry these ingredients in a pan for about 10 minutes and then mix them with the grated cheese. Add parsley to this mix and put it into the chestnut mushrooms.

Bake them at about 180C until the mushrooms are baked throughout and cheese is melted. It should take around 15 minutes. Cut the rolls in half and fill them with pea shoots and the mushrooms. Enjoy the tasty goodness!

Stay hungry!

Your VegHog

Pineapple, coconut and gin cocktail

Fancy a refreshing cocktail? On a hot day make a pitcher of this drink, which basically is a fruity gin & tonic. It's quite exciting to use a fresh coconut as well for a change. Good luck with opening it!

A few ingredients are needed:

Pineapple juice

Juice of one coconut

1 lime

Tonic water

Gin

Ice cubes

Put ice cubes and approximately equal amounts of gin, pineapple juice and tonic water to a pitcher. 

You can make the cocktail stronger or milder on gin after your own taste.

Add coconut juice and press lime to the drink. Use a few lime slices as decoration. 

Mix all well together and prepare to be refreshed.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

New potato and leek soup

Potato and leek soup is a nice classic, especially now in the spring time when new potatoes are available and also leek is in season. It can be a filling lunch, a starter or even a dinner in its own right as it's so filling.

Ingredients

2 leeks

10 new potatoes

1 onion

1 clove of garlic

Vegetable stock

Parsley

Pepper

Salt

Oil

Method

Chop the potatoes into smaller pieces and heat oil in a pan. Chop the onion, garlic and leeks and prepare the vegetable stock.

First fry the potato pieces for about 5 minutes at moderate heat and then add the onion, garlic and leeks. Fry them until they are slightly glazed and add the vegetable stock. Let simmer under the lid by occasionally stirring and season with pepper and salt. Add more vegetable stock if necessary.

When the potatoes are fully cooked, season with fresh parsley and puree the soup with a hand mixer. Serve hot.

Stay hungry!

Your VegHog

Zucchini and spelt bread

Here's a recipe for a really easy and juicy homemade bread that can be made without kneading with hands.

Ingredients

1 zucchini grated

2,5dl milk

25g yeast

4dl spelt flour

3dl wheat flour

1tsp salt

50g butter melted

Poppy seeds

Grate the zucchini and mix it to lukewarm milk. Add the yeast and salt and mix. Then add both types of flour and finally the melted butter. Just mix all together with a spatula. Put the dough into a loaf tin and let it rise covered with a tea towel for about one hour at room temperature. Sprinkle poppy seeds on the top before baking.

Pre-heat the oven to 220C and bake for about 30 minutes until the top is crispy and the dough is baked throughout. Baking time also depends a little bit on the format of your loaf tin. After baking let the bread cool down for a while but then enjoy fresh.

Your VegHog

Homemade hedgehog shaped ravioli with mushroom filling, parsley and lemon butter and steamed asparagus

It's the Hedgehog Awareness Week 2013 (5.-11. May) so just to spread the word I came up with this idea to make whimsical hedgehog shaped ravioli. Asparagus is ideal on the side as it's now in season and the mushroom filling is in my opinion also very suitable to the hog theme.

All you need is a hedgehog cookie cutter, mine is from Ikea's current range and a pasta machine that makes your life a whole lot easier. You could theoretically cut every hedgehog individually with a knife or pastry cutter but that really is a massive task.

Parsley and lemon butter:

100g butter

½ lemon

A few leaves of fresh parsley

This is a fresh and quick herb butter to make and goes well with many vegetables. I find it especially tasty with asparagus.

Make this butter first with just a few easy steps. Take soft butter and squeeze the juice of half a lemon to it. Then chop parsley leaves and mix all these ingredients together. Roll to a small rod in cling film and let set in the fridge.

Ravioli filling:

A handful of porcini mushrooms

2 cloves of garlic

1tsp vegetable stock powder

A few leaves of fresh parsley

Vegetarian pasta cheese

Roasted pine nuts

Bread crumbs

Olive oil

This is a very savoury and strong mushroomy filling, therefore it doesn't need a strong sauce to go with it.

Rehydrate the dried porcini mushrooms in a small amount of water containing a teaspoon of vegetable stock powder. When the mushrooms are soft heat a little oil in a pan and lightly fry the mushrooms there so that they can lose the excess fluid. Add the finely chopped garlic and fry a moment longer.

Grate the cheese, chop the parsley leaves and grind the pine nuts. Add some bread crumbs to remove any excess fluid. Then mix the mushrooms with those ingredients and let the mix set in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Pasta:

400g grade 00 pasta flour

4 eggs

Salt

My pasta dough recipe is for a large dough, which makes about 25 raviolis and they can even be slightly thicker. Please read my more thorough ravioli making tips here. Make only half of the dough if you don't have several hungry eaters.

Knead the ingredients to a firm and even dough and then let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes wrapped in cling film. Once the dough has rested long enough start either rolling out sheets of it with a rolling pin, which requires a lot of strength, or work it through a pasta machine to produce thin sheets. I personally don't find super thin pasta so good for ravioli as thicker ones hold better together and are more filling.

When the pasta sheets are rolled out start cutting the hedgehog shapes out, fill them with the mushroom mix, brush the sides with water and press two hog pieces firmly together. Repeat several times and cook the ravioli in boiling salt water for about 10-12 minutes. The ravioli are done when they float on the surface.

Steamed asparagus:

Asparagus is finally in season and you should be able to obtain lovely local produce. At the same time as boiling the pasta steam them to keep the flavour strong, glaze with the parsley and lemon butter and serve as a side dish.

Finally make a masterpiece on the plate with hedgehogs snuffling in the undergrowth. Let parsley and lemon butter melt also on the ravioli, add some fresh pea shoots to the presentation and enjoy.

Some just can't get enough of hibernation...

Happy Hedgehog Awareness Week!

Your VegHog