Rustic roasted ratatouille with homemade wholemeal garlic, rosemary and black olive focaccia

A fresh, tasty and rustic vegan dish packed with vitamins together being filling and satisfying. The secret of t

Roasted ratatouille

• 1 aubergine (chunks)
• 2 courgettes (chunky quarters)
• 1 red onion (chunks)
• 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
• 2 peppers (deseeded and sliced)
• 1/2 butternut squash (deseeded and cut into chunks)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 and 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
• Black pepper (to taste)

Wholemeal garlic, rosemary and black olive focaccia

• 450g wholemeal flour
• 1 tsp table salt
• 7g sachet fast action yeast
• 300ml warm water (not hot)
• 2 tbsp dried rosemary
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 50g black olives (finely chopped or sliced)
• 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
• 2 and 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Recipe for roasted ratatouille

1. Prepare all of the ingredients and set aside.

2. Place all of the ingredients in a large roasting tin and ensure all of the vegetables are coated in the oil, garlic and herbs (best way is to get your hands amongst the ingredients and cover them by hand).

3. Cook the ingredients at 200C for around 45 minutes ensuring that you give them a stir two or three times during cooking.

4. When the ingredients are softened and a little charred then they are ready to serve.

5. Serve and enjoy!

Recipe for wholemeal garlic, rosemary and black olive focaccia

1. Put the flour, table salt, yeast and 1 and 1/2 tbsp dried rosemary into a large mixing bowl and stir until thoroughly mixed.

2. Ensure there is a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the water, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic and 40g black olives making sure to thoroughly mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon. It should end up like a sticky dough at this point.

3. Flour a clean surface together with preparing a baking tray which should be covered with greaseproof paper that has a little olive oil on it to ensure the bread doesn’t stick during cooking.

4. Turn the dough onto the floured surface and knead for around 10 minutes.

5. After the 10 minutes bundle the dough into a ball and throw down onto the baking tray.

6. Shape the dough into the shape of the focaccia (remember it is a flat bread so around 2 to 3cm thick is fine), cover with a clean tea towel and leave in a warm place for around 45 minutes to rise.

7. Ensure the oven is pre heated to 230c and, after 45 minutes, uncover the bread. Get a cup of warm water, dip your finger in the water and poke deep holes in the dough in several places making sure to dip your finger in the water after every poke.

8. Drizzle or brush the remaining extra virgin olive oil over the top of the dough and sprinkle the remaining dried rosemary, black olives, sea salt and garlic evenly over the top of the dough.

9. Bake the dough for around 15 minutes until the top of the bread is golden then remove the bread from the oven, cover with the clean tea towel and allow to cool for around 20 minutes.

10. Once cooled slice as much bread as you require and keep the remainder in a airtight container.

11. Serve and enjoy!

TVL

The Good Life?…

I visited home this weekend and was pleasantly surprised by my sister’s allotment and the amount she has managed to harvest from it of late.

This got me thinking, why do more people not do this local Council’s often have plots available at a very reasonable price? She gave me baby pak choi, strawberries, shallots, beetroot, round carrots and curly kale but is currently also growing/has recently harvested courgettes, brussel sprouts, broccoli, lettuce, raspberries, rocket, French beans, peas, gooseberries, blackcurrants, cauliflowers, sweet potatoes, celeriac, red cabbage and rhubarb as well as an assortment of fresh herbs.

People think having an allotment is a time consuming exercise but, whilst it can be somewhat addictive, she has 3 young children and still manages to grow and harvest all of the above. In fact, she cites some of the main reasons for having the allotment as drumming up the children’s interest in veg, keeping their intake at least partially organic, getting them even more active and saving money in the process.

So when it comes down ‘brass tax’, unless it’s a large plot, you will not be entirely ‘veg self-sufficient’ off of it but you will get amazing produce all year round to supplement your diet and, flavour wise, there is nothing like it.

An example of the cost of the upkeep of an allotment is, with my sister’s plot for example, £60 to the Council per year, £30 for seeds etc, a small amount for materials (although you can scavenge most/improvise) meaning a total yearly cost of around £100. For the amount of fruit and veg you will get in that year together with the enjoyment of growing your own produce, you can’t say fairer than that.

 

TVL

Courgette, black olive and feta savoury muffins

Muffins are usually sweet but these muffins are perfect for picnics and summer lunches!

Ingredients

• 250g plain flour
• Salt (pinch)
• 100ml extra virgin olive oil
• 175g courgettes (grated)
• 100g feta cheese (crumbled)
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 2 eggs
• 4 tbsp black olives (finely chopped)
• Ground black pepper (to taste)

Recipe

1. Prepare all of the ingredients and set aside.

2. Preheat your oven to 180C and grease a muffin tin (preferably a 6 cup tin).

3. Pass all of the dry ingredients together into a mixing bowl.

4. In a separate bowl beat the eggs with an electric whisk until they are smooth and then add the black olives, feta, courgettes, black pepper and lemon zest.

5. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir the mixture. Ensure that it is only stirred until just combined.

6. Add equal spoons of the mixture into the muffin tin and bake in the preheated oven for around 30 minutes.

7. Remove the muffins from the oven and allow to cool for around 10 minutes before taking the muffins out of the tin and allowing to cool further on a rack.

8. Serve and enjoy!

 

TVL