Bread stuffed cabbage leaves, step by step

Cabbages are cheap and healthy, and when I buy one I can cook with it for a family of four for three days! Usually I start with cabbage rolls, to use the larger leaves, and these can be done in a zillion ways! I have another  good Vegan recipe here, but today for the filling I used stale bread. But first thing first:

Wash the cabbage leaves (the bigger outer leaves, about 15, and steam or boil until soft but not too soft! In the meantime put one onion, one carrot, two celery sticks with leaves and a little parsley in the food processor and mince.

Heat two tbsp of olive oil in a pan and sauté the vegetables, stirring often, for 10 minutes.

Soak some old bread in water, doesn't matter what kind of bread, I had two white bread rolls and some seed sourdough, so I used those. 

Squeeze the water out of the bread and crumble it into the pot with the cooking vegetables. Add a little vegetable stock if necessary and cook everything for about 15 minutes. Stir often and make sure that the mixture is quite thick and not too watery or runny. Adjust with salt and pepper (I quite like to use smoked salt here).

Spread the cooked cabbage leaves on clean tea towels.

Divide the vegetable and bread mixture between the leaves.

Roll up the leaves.

They look so pretty!!

In a capable pan heat some olive oil (about 3-4 tbsp) and sizzle a couple of garlic cloves and 1 heap tbsp of tomato puree.

Pack the cabbage rolls in the pot tightly,

 if there is not enough space put some on top, during cooking they will 'reduce' and you will be able to move them down into a single layer.

Add about half a litre of vegetable stock, cover and simmer on low for about 40 minutes.

Serve hot (I had mine on polenta!)

The leftovers rolls and sauce I wrapped in filo pastry and made a pie for the second day, and on the third day I still had the centre of the cabbage to use (quite a lot in fact, I had it after a few days though, for variety) for a Vegan Cabbage Bolognese Sauce.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Polenta e lenticchie (polenta with lentils)

Brrrr it is cold! I envy my friends in the Northern Hemisphere now that evenings are becoming chilly, but on the other hand I like to cook nice winter casseroles! This dish is vegan and gluten free, for the polenta recipe I just use polenta flour, water and salt and follow the packet instructions (real polenta takes about 45 minutes, the instant takes 5!). Usually I make soft polenta, thus adding a bit more water, but packet instructions tend to be for the 'harder' type, the one that you pour onto a wooden chopping board and then cut into slices. My nonna (Grandmother) used to make the hard one, and then she cut it with a string attached to the chopping board: no knife needed and even the youngest kids can do it!

For the lentils, wash the brown lentils with water and then soak for a little. Soaking is not really necessary but I like to do it so then I can give them another rinse and get rid off possible dirt that 'escaped' in the first wash. In the meantime sauté a finely chop carrot, celery stick with leaves and garlic (or onion) with two tbsp of olive oil, add the lentils and cover with vegetable stock. You can also add a tbsp of tomato paste, or some herbs, but this time I just added some chopped parsley at the end of cooking. Simmer the lentils as long as you can, stirring often and adding more water if necessary. Adjust with salt and pepper (and parsley) at the end, add another drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and save hot, with slices of hot polenta.

And now a little gardening update: I picked this orchid stem from my garden, so happy to have some cut flowers even in winter, and in the garden they seem to attract ants, so it is better to keep them inside. They last a long time too. I have also collected all my pumpkins (4), one is quite big, the others not so, but considering that they came form a plant that I didn't plant I am happy! They look good too, too pretty to cut, but eventually they will get eaten! The Irises instead are not from my garden, but  I am seriously considering planting them, they are so pretty. I am not sure if they will do well in the bush though, anyone has them in their gardens in Auckland?

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

On books, magazines, and Polenta like my Grandmother used to make

Today I received an email from my publisher congratulating Arantxa and me for having our book  Party Food for Girls included in the Storylines Notable Books List for 2012, (the only cookbook to be included in the non-fiction category). Beattie's book blog has already reported the news, and you can read about the other books that have been selected directly on the Storyline website, The Storyline Notable Non-fiction is awarded for "authoritative, well-designed informational books accessible to children and young adults".

And if you have young children (0 to 5) check out the current issue of Little Treasures Magazine for my food feature Café at Home, with some yummy restaurant-like vegetarian meals for children.

Meanwhile at home is starting to feel like Autumn, and colder evenings are perfect for polenta. Usually I make soft polenta, I always preferred the soft type that you spoon into a plate and cover with a thick wild mushroom sauce or a stew, but memories are coming back of the type of polenta my Grandmother used to make in the North of Veneto: it was dense and stirred with a thick wooden stick in a gigantic pot over a wood fire, and then she pour the hot golden mass on a big wooden tray where it set hard in no time. She kept the polenta in the drawer of the kitchen table so you could get a slice at any time, and attached to the wooden tray there was a piece of string used to slice the polenta, so you didn't even need a knife.

Of course I attached a string to my chopping board: I wanted to do the same as Grandma, and I hope that you will like the idea too. Serve the slices with your favorite casserole, or top with cheese and let it melt, and when the polenta is cold just grill the slices or fry them, or cut them really thin and use them instead of pasta for a gluten free lasagna. Or you can also make these polenta chips.

Photos and Recipes  by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Did I say spring?

Yep, I did, but actually the evenings are still cold, some days are cold, most are wet!!!

And then there is this dust cloud, my husband couldn't fly to London for the Book Fair on Saturday, but in a way I was happy: many of our friends are stranded in other continents, and unable to get home, it would have been worst if he was stuck there instead. I really feel for all those travelers, being so often one of them, and unsure about our own future plans now.

So, more evenings at home with the family, and more 'wintery' food on the stove.

Polenta with mushrooms

I discovered frozen mixed mushrooms (apparently with some pieces of porcini in it, but I couldn’t see many). In any case, unable to forage now, these looked good to me.

I used a 300g bag of mixed mushrooms

30g dried porcini mushrooms,

a few garlic cloves

olive oil

tomato passata

salt

The dried porcini mushrooms need to be soaked for a an hour or so.

Sauté the garlic with the olive oil, add the frozen mushrooms, and after five minutes the porcini mushrooms and their soaking water. Add the tomato passata (about a cup) and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir often and add water if necessary. Add salt to taste.

I served these mushrooms with polenta, and then, since I had a few left over, I made some pasta the day after.

I heard from other bloggers about the Garofalo brand, in NZ I could only find it in one shop, and it was too expensive even to consider, so I thought that I should try it while I am in Italy. I choose mezze maniche for this dish.

Mezze maniche with mushrooms

I cooked the mezze maniche al dente. In the meantime I warmed up the pan with the left-over mushrooms and added 250 ml of cream. Then I added some freshly chopped Italian parsley and some freshly ground pepper. I drained the mezze maniche and passed them in the pan with the mushroom and cream sauce. They tasted great!

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini©

Fried Polenta Sushi

idea, recipe, photo, all by Alessandra Zecchini

This is easy! Use leftover polenta and roll it up in a sheet of nori seaweed using a sushi mat...just like when making norimaki. Cut into pieces and deep-fry until the polenta is golden. Sprinkle with a little salt and serve.