kale raviolli

Another warm day, I have decided to harvest all the kale to turn it into a filling for hand made ravioli


I found this recipe on line  which looked very nice. As I had some sundried tomatoes left I decided to add these too so the recipe is slightly altered from the original one.

Kale and Ricotta Ravioli

Kale Ravioli

Ingredients

         Makes 20 ravioli  (2cups of plain flour, 2 egg yolks, salt, 1 tbls oil, a little water to make the dough)

         1/2 bunch kale (about 1/2 pound), stems removed

         1 clove garlic, minced

         2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

         1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt, plus more for pasta water

         1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

         1/4 cup breadcrumbs

         1/4 cup ricotta

      ¼ cup sundried tomatoes

         1/2 pound fresh lasagna sheets

         1 tablespoon unsalted butter

         1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves

         2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Put a large pot of water over high heat to boil.  Blanch the kale in boiling water for 1 minute.  Drain, rinse with cold water, and let cool.  Squeeze out as much water as you can with your hands.  Finely chop kale.

Stir together the kale, garlic, 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt , sundried tomatoes and pepper in a bowl.  Set aside 1/4 cup of this mixture.  Add the breadcrumbs and ricotta to the bowl and stir until combined.  Make ravioli.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the ravioli for 4 to 5 minutes.  They should float when they’re ready.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the butter in a sauté pan over low heat.  Add the sage and toast for 3 minutes.  Add the reserved 1/4 cup kale and garlic mixture and cook for 2 minutes. 

Drain the ravioli and toss with sage sauce.  Sprinkle with Parmesan before serving.

We had the last of the strawberries in our salad to have with the ravioli. The meal and company was excellent. Thank you Carmen, Gloria, Yumi and Tang (June) for helping clear the allotment patch and turning it in such a delightful meal.

Kale is ready

The kale is looking beautiful so thought we could make some Kale Patties with some new potatoes and a green salad with strawberries and feta cheese.
Rather than quinoa I am using couscous.

The pesto we made from rocket that was growing in the garden underneath the apricot tree. It got a little tough and has gone into flower  so a good trim gives it space to grow some tender leaves over the coming weeks.


With the Monday group we harvested new potatoes but the ones we did not need I stored in a large plant pot with soil, We dug these up and had with our Kale burger. When we harvested all the lettuces from the garden to make space for the new french beans  we noticed that the ones we sowed in March were now beginning to be ready so we shared them amongst ourselves. One each! they were worth it though.


We  also harvested the lettuce and some strawberries.  Yummy for in the salad as well as the strawberry icecream with only 2 ingredients

Spinach and new potato curry

We harvested spinach a few weeks ago and froze it for future use. So today is the Future and we will use it for the Spinach, new potato curry with coconut with spiced bread and rice.

So off to the allotment we went to harvest the potatoes, lettuces and the strawberries. Look was an amazing haul!

 

500 gr potatoes
500 gr spinach
2 tbsp oil
1 sliced onion
4 crushed garlic
2 tsp ground tumeric
a pinch of chilli
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground pepper
1 can of coconut milk
juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt.


Parboil potatoes in skins for 8-10 mins

Drain and cut in half
Cook spinach and chop roughly
Heat oil in frying pan fry onions with garlic, chilli, coriander and pepper

Back in the kitchen and it was time to process it all and turn it into a lovely lunch.

June and Bela prepared the strawberries for jam.

Add cooked potatoes and cook until slightly brown (6-8 mins) Add spinach and coconut milk, bring to boil and simmer for 7 mins.
Season and add lemon juice to taste.

For some Naan bread we doubled the recipe and used the poppy seeds from last year's poppies

Jasmin showed us how her mother taught her to make flat bread. 

As a side dish we made a green salad, strawberries, Kale, lettuce

INGREDIENTS

• 
  
• 3 cups torn lettuces
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/3 cup pureed strawberries
• Sliced fresh strawberries

As a treat we made some strawberry jam for us all to take home.

• 
  

DIRECTIONS

Combine kale and romaine; sprinkle with feta cheese and sesame seeds. Toss to combine.

Stir together olive oil and sesame oil. Whisk in honey, vinegar and lemon juice. Add pureed strawberries. Whisk until combined. Dress salad just before serving; top with sliced strawberries.

From Spade to Plate friends

 

From Spade to Plate

Peas galore and strawberry jam

It was such a lovely surprise to have Julie come and join us on her first day of retirement.
The fact that Annie managed to make it was amazing too. Her baby is due soon so she is flying back to China tomorrow, but not until she had another cooking session at From Spade to Plate!

She brought Tang (or her English name: June) for whom it was her first time to join this group. She became the queen of pasta making.  We split the group up a little so that we managed all the activities within the 2 hours.

Bella,  Yumi and June  made the pasta, which was left to dry whilst we all went to the allotment to pick the strawberries for the jam.

Whilst there, we picked some flowers to take home and cheer up our houses.

Whilst one group was making the pasta,  Veridiana, Annie and Julie  shelled the peas and cut the asparagus to go into the pasta at the last minute.


We made a soup out of the pea shells, some potatoes and ends of asparagus. Added a couple of hands of lettuce leaves and a stock cube, we let this bubble away whilst picking the strawberries so on return it was soft enough to put through the Passe vite (Mouly), to thicken it a little we added some corn flour.  The soup turned out to be delicious with a toasted piece of granary loaf.



The Jam 90% strawberries and 10% rhubarb was just enough for everyone to take a jar home. They were labeled and left to cool down to set. Fingers crossed it turns out well.

We had our soup and just before everyone had finished, we added the pasta into the boiling salted water for 1 minute. Once done, the asparagus, peas, (zest of 1 lemon) blue cheese and pepper and salt were added and topped with herbs before serving.  Lovely and so simple!

Another lovely morning. I am so lucky with such lovely friends and such amazing food.

New potato and broad bean salad with strawberry puff braid

It is time to harvest the potato bed and do something with the broad beans.

Simone showing the 'mother' potato

An amazing crop from a very shallow bed

Carmen, Mairead and June harvesting broadbeans

Shelling the braod beans and having a chat

This potato and broad bean salad  was just the ticket
We used  milk mayo for the potato salad

We went out to harvest the strawberries in the vertical garden bed.
and got enough to make a 
strawberry braid as well as some strawberry cordial.

washing the strawberries

Asako and June making the braid

Apricot crown