Zizi's Adventures - Real Food, Real Stories

Spicy Udon Noodles with Cabbage and Shiitake

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I mentioned earlier that I have been a fan of oriental noodles – udon, soba, vermicelli, etc. – for a while. Udon is a type of thick wheat flour noodle popular in Japanese cuisine. The origin of udon in Japan is credited to Buddhist priests who traveled to China around the beginning of the 9th century to study Buddhism. He got back to Japan with the recipe of udon.

Udon noodles are served chilled in the summer and hot in the winter. Toppings are chosen to reflect the season and to balance with other ingredients. Most toppings are added without much cooking.

Spicy Udon Noodles with Cabbage and Shiitake

Ingredients (serves 2)

For the noodles
– 200 g udon noodles
– 6 dried shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, soaked in water for about 30 minutes, caps thinly sliced
– 1 small cabbage, thinly sliced
– 4 cloves garlic, chopped
– 150 g tofu, diced
– 1 small piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
– 4 spring onion, thinly sliced
– 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
– 1 tablespoon coconut oil
– salt

For the sauce

– 2 tablespoons soy sauce
– 2 tablespoons water
– 1 teaspoon dried chili

Method
In a dry pan toast the sesame seeds over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until pale golden, then transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
Heat the coconut oil in a pan, add garlic and ginger and saute them until fragrant. Add shiitake and saute, stirring frequently until it gets tender. Reduce the heat to medium and add tofu, after 5 minutes cabbage and spring onion too. Cook, stirring occasionally until tofu and cabbage is crisp-tender and a bit golden brown. Pour over the sauce, simmer 2-3 minutes more. Set aside but keep it warm.
While cabbage is cooking, cook udon in boiling salted water until the noodles tender. Drain well, transfer to a large bowl, give the vegetable mixture, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with fresh chopped spring onion on top.

Spagetthi Al Limone

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The recipe is Italian but the lemon I used to make this recipe is from the island of Aegina, Greece. The island is full of lemon trees (I fell in love with it!) and we picked some fruits while we were there. The aroma of these lemons are amazing… I have never smelt anything good before. I think the paradise can smell like these gorgeous yellow lemons… 🙂

Spagetthi Al Limone

Ingredients (serves 2)

– 250 g spagetthi
– 1 organic lemon’s skin and juice
– 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
– basil leaves, chopped
– 1 teaspoon dried chili
– 3 tablespoons olive oil or 30 g butter
– Parmesan, freshly grated
– salt, pepper

Method

In a large pot cook spagetthi in salted, boiling water until al dente. In the meantime peel the lemon thinly (without its white part) and chop the skin finely. In a large bowl mix together olive oil or butter, the chopped garlic and the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Drain the spagetthi then add it to the lemon mixture, sprinkle with chili, basil and lemon’s skin. Serve with Parmesan.

Butternut Squash-Leek Lasagna

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This is a very simple recipe but I made it for the first time. I ate lots of pumpkin, butternut squash this season and certainly I’m going to miss it at summer time when I will crave for some butternut squash-chocolate muffins. 🙂

Butternut Squash-Leek Lasagna

Ingredients

– 250 g lasagne sheets
– half of a smaller butternut squash, halved, deseeded, baked on 170-180C (350 F) for about 45-50 minutes, peeled and mashed
– 1 leek (only the white part), sliced
– 3 cloves garlic, chopped
– 3 dl oat creme (you can use creme fraiche)
– 70 g freshly grated parmesan or pecorino
– 1 tablespoon freshly chopped rosemary
– salt, pepper
– olive oil

Method

In a bowl mix together the mashed butternut squash with 1,5 dl oat creme, salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary.

Turn the oven to 180C (350F). To assemble the lasagne rub a lasagne dish with olive oil, lay some sheets of lasagne over the bottom. Add a layer of butternut squash mixture, slices of leek and a sprinkling of parmesan. Repeat the layers, finishing with a layer of pasta covered in the remaining oat creme, parmesan and some pepper. Cook in the preheated oven on 170-180C (350F) for about 35-45 minutes until the top gets golden brown.

Baked Cauliflower and Broccoli Cannelloni

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Ha még nincsen mára ebédterv, íme egy jó kis recept. Ízorgiában volt részünk múlt vasárnap ezzel a paradicsomos, tejszínes, sajtos szószban sült karfiollal és brokkolival töltött cannellonikkal. Érdemes belevágni Jamie receptjébe.

Hozzávalók 4 főre:
– 1 közepes fej brokkoli, rĂłzsáira szedve
– 1 közepes fej karfiol, rĂłzsáira szedve
– 1 db jĂł minĹ‘sĂ©gű paradicsom konzerv (a hámozott, egĂ©sz paradicsomokat pĂĽrĂ©sĂ­tsĂĽk botmixerrel)
– 1 kis fej vöröshagyma, felaprĂ­tva
– 6 gerezd fokhagyma, felaprĂ­tva
– 2 dl zabtejszĂ­n (jĂł a normál tejszĂ­n is)
– 2-3 szál friss bazsalikom, felaprĂ­tva
– 2 szál friss kakukkfű
– 1 kis darab szárĂ­tott chili, felaprĂ­tva
– 50 g parmezán, reszelve
– 1 db mozzarella
– 16 db cannelloni
– vörösborecet
– olĂ­vaolaj
– sĂł, bors

Egy lábasban forraljunk fel sós vizet és főzzük meg benne a brokkolit és karfiolt  félkeményre kb. 6-8 perc alatt.  Szűrjük le úgy, hogy a vizet tartsuk meg, amiben főttek a zöldségek. Tegyük félre. 
Egy serpenyőben olívaolajon pirítsuk meg a vöröshagymát, fokhagymát és a chilit néhány perc alatt, adjuk hozzá a megfőtt karfiolt, brokkolit és 6-8 evőkanál vizet, abból, amiben a zöldségek főttek. Jól keverjük össze, tegyünk rá fedőt, vegyük takarékra a gázt és főzzük 15 percig időnként megkeverve. Ehhez a recepthez szinte pépesre kell főzni a zöldségeket, hogy bele tudjuk tölteni a cannellonikba. Hagyjuk, hogy a víz teljesen elpárologjon, vegyük le a gázról, majd villával nyomkodjuk pépesre a zöldséget, sózzuk, borsozzuk, keverjük össze és tegyük félre, hogy kihűljön.
Egy kis tálkában keverjük össze a tejszínt a parmezánnal, majd hígítsuk egy kicsit a szószt 2-3 evőkanállal vízzel (szintén abból, amiben a zöldségek főttek).
Készítsünk elő egy tepsit, amiben elfér a 16 darab cannelloni. A paradicsomszószt enyhén sózzuk, borsozzuk, keverjük el a bazsalikommal.
A kihűlt karfiol-brokkoli pĂ©pet kanalazzuk egy szendvicses zacskĂłba, vágjuk le a zacskĂł egyik csĂĽcskĂ©t, majd a pĂ©pet kezdjĂĽk el beletölteni a cannellonikba. A megtöltött “csövecskĂ©ket” tegyĂĽk egymás mellĂ© a tepsibe, a vĂ©gĂ©n öntsĂĽk rá a paradicsomszĂłszt Ă©s a parmezános tejszĂ­nt. A mozzarellat tĂ©pkedjĂĽk darabokra Ă©s tegyĂĽk rá a cannellonikra. ElĹ‘melegĂ­tett sĂĽtĹ‘ben sĂĽssĂĽk 170-180 fokon kb. 35-40 percig, amĂ­g a teteje aranybarna lesz.

Soba Noodles With Roasted Broccoli, Tofu and Sesame Seeds

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I started cooking with Japanese noodles a couple of weeks ago. So far I tried udon and now I cooked a simple noodle meal from soba. Soba noodles are native Japanese noodles made of buckwheat flour (soba-ko) and wheat flour (komugi-ko). Soba noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or in hot broth as a noodle soup. Soba is typically eaten with chopsticks, and in Japan, it is considered acceptable to slurp the noodles noisily.

Go and give it a try!

Soba Noodles With Roasted Broccoli, Tofu and Sesame Seeds

Ingredients (serves 2)

– 200 g soba noodle
– 150 g firm tofu, cubed
– 1 medium broccoli, cut into small florets
– 3 cloves garlic, chopped
– juice of 1/2 lemon
– 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
– 2-3 teaspoon soy sauce
– 2 tablespoons coconut oil or olive oil

Method

In a pan heat coconut oil and sauté garlic for 2-3 minutes. Add broccoli, roast for 6-7 minutes, then add 2 tablespoons water to it, put a lid over the pan and let it simmer for 8-10 minutes. Add tofu and sesame seeds and cook without a lid until tofu gets a bit brown.

In the meantime cook the soba in slightly salted water according to package directions, then drain well and toss it with the roasted broccoli and tofu. In a small bowl whisk together soy sauce and lemon juice and add it to the soba salad.

Serve and enjoy!