Food, Finds & Forays
Hey there....
What a week! I hope yours has been as lovely as mine. Rolling on from last week’s letter the Festivus of Sally kicked off. Three birthday celebrations, back to back was a brilliant way to spend the weekend. Friday lunch with a friend, a wonderful surprise dinner organised by hubby and a leisurely Sunday lunch with some old girlfriends was a quite the weekend.
Dining out always leaves me inspired to get in the kitchen. When I’m not gadding about on weekends. I’ve taken to some leisurely Sunday arvo pasta making which leads to Sunday arvo sauce creation. I’ve shared my super easy and fast Roasted Tomato and Salami sauce recipe today, which is also super handy for rushed busy week nights.
On the subject of kitchen inspo some delicious recipes have come my way this week you might like to try too and a gorgeous new addition to the cookbook family.
As always I’m super grateful to you for joining me here every week and would be eternally thankful if you could share my little letter with anyone you think might like a read too.
Have a great weekend.
S x
Food
The grains rain down with a gentle whoosh as I pour them from the crinkled bag. Straw coloured and fine they remind me of dry fine sand from an exotic beach somewhere. I briefly run my fingers through their soft feather light texture almost like the beginning of a meditation, the gentle sweep through the grains setting the scene for my hands, my mind switching off from the swirl of life around me. My fingers leave a crater in middle of the mound ready to receive warm water to transform the grains to a soft pillowy dough. Swirling through the mixture as it amalgamates into a rough ball my fingers warm up, start to stretch and squeeze, coaxing the two forms into one. I notice flour and water have joined and a rough ball has formed, I notice I’ve switched off from the world and almost in a trance have given my whole mind to the process.
Flexing my hands the rough ball lands on the bench from the bowl, stretch, fold, turn, repeat…over and over until the craters, dimples and blemishes smooth out. My hands and eyes silently communicating with each other, feeling the dough as I knead, registering it’s increasing pliability, the surface losing it’s imperfections to a silken smooth outer like the proverbial baby’s bottom. I can feel it’s alchemy emerging, it’s lightness pillowing with each turn. It’s time. Tucking my pasta dough under a cover for a rest it’s time to let it relax, I notice the satisfied feeling in my muscles and the calmness in my mind. The satisfaction of creating something from two simple ingredients and the moments of tuning out to the world and into the union of the elements almost invigorating.
I’m often asked If I have fancy kitchen gadgets like an air fryer, slow cooker or thermomix. Indeed as an avid cook you’d think I would. I confess, as a lover of technology and cooking I am often tempted but I love the process more. Maybe it’s my version of exercise, I do know it’s my way of switching off. And while doing so I get to nourish, nurture and create, three things that are important to me. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes the kneading of a dough may be more ‘vigorous’ than others or indeed the stirring of a bubbling stew less enthusiastic but it’s always satisfying.
So do I have a fancy pasta making machine? No. I actually love tuning into the ingredients in my hands, building an intangible intuition and allowing it to let me know when it’s ready. Trusting and enjoying the process regardless how arduous or enjoyable the day allows it to be.
I’ve recently revisited my love of making pasta guided by this book, which i a few weeks ago. If you'd like to try and make your own basic pasta this is an excellent place to start. There really is nothing like the taste and texture of homemade pasta. Maybe it’s the satisfaction, almost smug-like if I’m honest, of knowing something so nourishing was created with my own hands but the flavour and freshness of it compares to nothing else.
While I massage the dough with my hands my mind invariably always wanders to the final flourish of any pasta dish and how it will be adorned and dressed. Sometimes the pasta will be evolving while a rich ragu bubbles away in the oven (Yes the oven. I’ll come back to that one another day but trust me cooking your pasta sauce in the oven slowly is a game changer). But other times the desire to make the pasta precedes the planning so to speak. Often time while that dough naps under cling wrap, I’m found in the pantry and fridge fossicking for inspiration.
This is one such creation. It’s easy and full flavoured belying the ease with which it comes together. It’s a great end of the week dish using all those tomatoes sitting in the bowl on the bench, in fact will be all the better for some extra ripeness. And yes the bench! Don’t store your toms in the fridge, they last longer at room temp.
Ingredients:
750 gm of mixed fresh tomatoes. The more varieties the better and the riper the better.
3 Tb Extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt flakes
3-4 garlic cloves unpeeled
1 onion peeled and cut into 8 wedges
1 400 gm can crushed tomatoes
½ tomato can of water
100 gm flavourful salami
Method:
Preheat oven to 200c and place a baking tray in the oven to also preheat.
Fill a large pot with salted water and place on the stove over a large flame to bring the water to the boil.
Gather and weigh your tomatoes. Remove any green stalks if you have truss toms, and cut any larger ones into wedges similar sizes to cherry tomatoes if you’re using a mixture (as pictured). Gently toss onion wedges, tomatoes and garlic in the oil and softly tumble into the warmed baking tray, drizzling any leftover oil from the bowl over the top. Sprinkle the salt flakes over and place in the oven for 15 minutes. We want the tomatoes to begin to blister and the edges of the onion pieces to char and caramelise.
Remove from the oven and add the canned tomato and half of that can of water. Gently fold the ingredients together. The onion will start to separate which is fine as that’s how we want to serve it. Return to the oven for a further 15 minutes. It will begin to bubble and thicken slightly.
At this time pop the pasta of your choice in the water to cook.
Remove from the oven for a second time. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper as required though not too much as the salami will add flavour in the next step. Lay the salami slices across the top in a single later and again return to the oven, this time for 10 minutes. The salami with crisp and brown at the edges.
The pasta should be cooked at this time. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce. Fold through and serve.
Mine pasta is ‘rustic’ shall we say, but it all tastes the same right. Give it a go, it's very therapeutic.
Finds & Forays
After sharing this with you last week and in a truly serendipitous turn of events this appeared in the weekend newspaper. I mean seriously!! Look at that!! Hubby isn’t a coffee lover so I’d best have his serve too, he can have a bowl of ice cream that night.
Now I know I said my kitchen isn’t full of gadgets but I’m not a complete sucker for punishment, I do have some little helpers. Life in the kitchen wouldn’t be the same without my stand mixer and my high-powered blender. I also am hopelessly impatient once I have a craving, just like this time. I’m on a marmalade kick at the moment so this recipe is perfect for me. I’m going to try it with all the gorgeous blood oranges around at the moment and maybe a cheeky little splash of gin at the end.
Finally, in the spirit, of handmade and tradition in the kitchen I was a bit excited to see this one pop up this week. I can’t decide wether to go with muffin style or the more traditional loaf. This new one arrived this week too. The photography is sublime but Julia’s recipes and words are next level. I think is my favourite one of hers yet.
