Dried tomatoe and oregano spaghetti (vegan)

This pasta might not look all that appealing when you read the ingredients, but do yourself a favour and give it a try. It is really nice and quick and easy to prepare.

Ingredients: spaghetti
2 or 3 garlic cloves
olive oil
salt
a few tablespoons of water
4 or 5 dried tomatoes (you can buy them in a jar in oil, or if you have the dried version, soak them in some olive oil for till they are tender)



a full tablespoon of oregano (seems a lot but makes it taste great)
a tin of plum tomatoes (not triturado if you live in Spain)

Preparation:

Whilst you boil the water with salt for the spaghetti you take a frying pan and add a good splash of olive oil. Meanwhile, you have cut the tomatoes into pieces and either crushed the garlic or cut it into tiny pieces. When the water for the pasta is boiling you add the spaghetti.

Add both to the hot olive oil and stir immediately. The tomatoes and garlic can burn if you don't watch out and you don't want that so make sure you keep stirring. After a few minutes you add the dried oregano and you may add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water. After again a few minutes you add the tinned tomatoes and make sure they are cut into pieces. You can do this with a fork in the frying pan. Sprinkle with salt (to taste)

Leave on a low heat to reduce the sauce somewhat.

When the pasta is ready – al dente – you can add it to the sauce in the frying pan and mix well.

Serve and enjoy!

Spanish style vegan salad

Ingredients:

• avocado
• red or white onion
• capers
• tomatoes
• olives (The photo shoes the recipe without olives, but olives do work really well in this dish)
• olive oil
• vinegar ( I used apple-cider vinegar)
• salt

Preparation:

Cut the avocado into slices, the tomatoes into chuncks, the onion into thin slices, put in a bowl and sprinkle with some salt.

Add  the capers (amounts depend on how many people you are serving) and sprinkle with some vinegar and a good splash of olive oil. Add olives to taste.

Buon appetit.

Simple broccoli salad

Ingredients for the salad:

One head of broccoli

2 tomatoes

1 small onion

Mayonnaise

Apple-cider vinegar

Honey or other sweetener

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Preparation:

Wash and cut the broccoli into pieces

Boil the broccoli in water with a little salt until cooked to your taste. If you like the broccoli to still be a bit crunchy, then do that, if you like the broccoli well boiled then boil it for a bit longer.

Cut the two tomatoes into chunks

Make a dressing with two tablespoons of mayonnaise, a drizzle of olive oil, some apple cider vinegar, some salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar or a little bit of honey (or other sweetener)

When the broccoli is cooked, let it cool down and mix with the other ingredients.

Quick apple pie

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, they say, but they probably don't mean turning it into an apple pie. However, it is so delicious and so easy to make that a little treat every now and then won't harm us. This is a French style apple pie.

Ingredients:
3 or 4 hard apples

one sheet of puff pastry

about 50 grams of butter

brown sugar

cinnamon

1 egg

whipped cream (optional)

You need a pie baking mold and a frying pan

Preparation:

Peel and slice the apple into thin slices. Heat the butter in a frying pan and add about 2 or 3 tablespoons of brown sugar, (if you have a sweet tooth you use 3). If you are using sour apples you might want to put a little more sugar.

Already put the apples in the butter with sugar, so don't wait till the sugar becomes caramelised. Sprinkle some cinnamon over the apples. Mix the apples with the butter and sugar so that all pieces are covered. Keep stirring, this will take about 10 minutes till the butter and sugar start caramelising, it becomes a bit sticky.

Now put the apple mixture in the mold. Put a sheet of puff pastry on the top and prick it with a fork. Beat the egg and brush some of the egg onto the puff pastry.

Put in a preheated oven at 200 degrees and bake till the crust becomes golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Turn the pie upside down on a plate so that the apples are on top and the pastry at the bottom.

Serve (luke)warm and if you like with some cream.

Enjoy!

Balsamic artichoke hearts

Ingredients:

1 tin or glass jar of artichoke hearts,

1 clove of garlic

salt

fresh basil (about 4 leaves)

balsamic vinegar

olive oil

 

Preparation:

cut the artichoke hearts into 4 pieces

take a clean jar and add about 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

add a finely chopped clove of garlic

add the chopped basil and a little bit of salt

add about 3 or 4 tablespoons of olive oil

Now you add the artichoke hearts, put the lit on the jar and gently shake the jar, so that all the artichokes are covered with the dressing

Serve as a side dish

Raw mushroom tapa

Raw mushroom tapa
Ingredients:

• Baguette style sliced bread
• Clean mushrooms, very thinly sliced.
• Garlic
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
  

Preparation
Toast the sliced bread and rub each slice with a clove of fresh garlic. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over the toasted bread and then sprinkle it with a little salt. Now you add some raw slices of mushrooms on the bread and your tapa is ready to eat.

Don’t let appearances fool you; this is actually a delicious surprise for your taste buds! DO TRY THIS AT HOME! Enjoy!

Bruschetta, an Italian starter

Bruschetta as an appetizer or as a snack, it is always a success! This starter, originally from Italy, is easy to prepare and very tasty! The ‘Bruschetta’ was already known in Central Italy as from the 15th century and today it is a standard item on most Italian menus. The basis of a bruschetta is a slice of bread, preferable a good quality, home-made style bread or a French baguette.

Bruschetta with tomato and oregano

Ingredients
• Good quality home-made style bread or French baguette
• 3 tomatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Oregano

Preparation
Toast de sliced bread and rub each slice with some raw garlic. Cut the tomatoes into small cubes and put some of the tomatoes on the sliced bread. Then sprinkle this with some salt to taste and oregano. Finally you drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over the top.



Traditional tomato basil bruschetta

Ingredients
• Good quality home-made style bread or French baguette
• 3 medium sized tomatoes
• 3 or 4 fresh basil leaves
• 1 clove of finely chopped garlic
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt

Preparation
Cut the tomatoes into small chunks. Cut or tear the fresh basil into small pieces and add this and the finely chopped garlic to the tomato. Then add a good splash of olive oil and salt to taste. Allow this to soak for about an hour. Serve on freshly toasted bread.


Bruschetta with olive paste

Ingrediënts
• Good quality home-made style bread or French baguette
• 100 grams pitted black olives cut into small pieces
• 3 mushrooms, cleaned and finely chopped
• Half of a small onion, finely chopped
• 1 or 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic
• Pepper and salt
• Extra virgin olive oil

Preparation
Heat about 3 table spoons of olive oil in a frying pan. Glaze the onion and the garlic. Add the olives and mushrooms and pepper and salt to taste. Simmer this on a low heat for approximately 5 minutes. Take off the heat and when cold you put it into a blender and mix until you have a smooth paste. Spread on the toasted bread.


Bruschetta with mortadella and ricotta mousse

Ingredients
• Good quality home-made style bread or French baguette
• 5 slices of mortadella
• 3 tablespoons of ricotta cheese
• Salt (optional)

Preparation
Mix all the ingredients in a blender until you have a smooth paste. Add some salt to taste (optional) Serve on freshly toasted bread.

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