Native Basil and Tomato Pasta Sauce

Pastas like this always remind me of my husband's 'bachelor cooking' before we were married. Ben and Toby (his older brother) lived together and tomato-based vegie pastas were a regular, and when I visited Ben and I would often throw one together for dinner. It's easy - just whatever veg you have handy, a tin of tomatoes and some tasty herbs - yum! This version serves 2-3 and makes use of the flavoursome Native Basil with a touch of Mountain Pepper.

Ingredients
1 tbsp (a splash) extra virgin olive oil
1/2 onion
1/2 red capsicum, halved again and finely sliced
1/2 stalk celery, finely sliced
1 small mild chilli (or a small portion of a spicier chilli!)
A couple of handfuls of mushrooms, halved and finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 400g tin diced tomatoes
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp Native Basil
1/2 tsp Ground Mountain Pepper
Ground sea salt, to taste


Step One

Assemble ingredients and chop onion, celery, capsicum and chilli. Heat oil in pan over medium-high heat.

Step Two

Saute garlic, onion and celery for about 1 minute before adding the capsicum and chilli. Saute for another few minutes and in the meantime, slice the mushrooms.

Step Three

Add the mushrooms to the vegetable mix, stir and continue cooking until all the vegetables are soft.

Step Four


Pour in the tin of tomatoes and 1/4 cup water. Add the basil and tomato paste, and stir. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. While simmering, put your pasta on to cook.

Step Five

Add Mountain Pepper to the sauce with a pinch of salt. Taste and season further if required.

Step Six

Drain pasta and divide between bowls. Top with a generous serve of sauce and a sprinkling of shredded parmesan if desired. Enjoy :)

Native Thyme and Lemon Myrtle Roast Chicken

I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend - it is nice to have a few days 'off'!

Today's recipe is a tasty method of adding native, zesty flavour to a good old roast chook. Most of us have our own methods for roasting chicken, so I will be fairly general about it :)

Ingredients
1 standard Roast Chicken (I prefer free-range)
3 tablespoons softened butter
2 teaspoons Native Thyme
1/2 teaspoon Ground Lemon Myrtle
1 teaspoon crushed garlic

Step One

Preheat oven to 220 degrees. Combine butter, thyme, lemon myrtle and garlic in a small bowl. Mix well.

Step Two
Use your fingers to make a pocket between the chicken breast meat and the skin. Push the herb butter mix in between the skin and the meat, pressing from the outside to spread evenly.

Step Three

Insert stuffing, if desired, into the chicken cavity. I also like to add half a lemon or some whole garlic cloves, depending on the stuffing flavour.
Place the chicken in a roasting dish. Brush lightly with melted butter or olive oil.

Step Four
Place roasting dish in the hot oven for 10 minutes, and then reduce the heat to a moderate 180 degrees. Cook for approximately 50 minutes or until juices run clear when skewered.

I like to roast a variety of vegetables in the pan with the chicken, such as sweet potato, potato, pumpkin and carrot. Add these during the cooking process, depending on the vegetable type and size of the pieces. Larger pieces of potato, for instance, can start off in the pan with the chicken. Pumpkin should be added half-way, unless they are very large pieces.

Step Five

Cut chicken into portions and serve with vegetables.

Chocolate and Wattleseed Self-Saucing Pudding

First of all, sorry for the delay! I was in South Australia last weekend and the weekend before so recipes have been hit and miss for a few weeks. Second of all, Outback Pride products are now available in Oxfam stores - yay! This is very exciting for me as the nearest (large) shopping centre to me is Knox, 10 minutes away, and there is an Oxfam store there. Now I know where to send people who ask me where to buy these delicious products. Fantastic. The Oxfam fair trade coffee is pretty good too.

This chocolate pudding is an old family fave, I'm not even sure where the original recipe came from. It's just an Askham thing ;) Since I know the recipe by heart it was pretty easy to experiment, and the addition of wattleseed is a big success - adding an earthy nutty flavour in a perfect complement to the chocolate-y flavour. You can also replace the cocoa with instant coffee to make a Coffee and Wattleseed pud for a more mature flavour.

Ingredients

2 oz butter or dairy spread, softened
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup milk
1 heaped dessert-spoon cocoa
1 heaped dessert-spoon Outback Pride Ground Wattleseed

Sauce:
1/2 cup raw sugar
2 heaped dessert-spoons cocoa
1 3/4 cup hot water


Step One

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl (suitable for baking or microwaving). Add egg and vanilla essence, mixing well.

Step Two

Sift the flour, cocoa and Ground Wattleseed into the bowl, adding the milk as you stir to combine. OK, to be honest, I never actually sift it :) I just throw it all in and stir vigorously!

Step Three

To make the sauce, combine cocoa and sugar before sprinkling it over the top of the pudding. Pour over the hot water. Cover the bowl with plastic cling wrap. Microwave for 7 and a half minutes on high. This might vary depending on your microwave, you can skewer the pudding to make sure it is cooked. Alternatively, leave off the plastic wrap and bake in a moderate oven (180 C) for about 45 minutes.

Step Four

Serve hot with icecream and/or cream. Enjoy!