a fragrant springtime spell
last week we made a huge batch of pesto from this recipe which is a little different from the one in the english wikibooks in that it uses pecorino as well as parmesan. freshly made pesto has an intoxicatingly delicious smell and tastes absolutely divine beyond description. no exaggeration.
other culinary highlights include...
my brother's vegetarian not-quite-bœuf stroganoff
- 300 g marinated seitan and/or tofu-type stuff, cut into strips
- 200 g button mushrooms, sliced
- one onion or a couple of shallots, diced
- olive oil
- a heaping handful of carrot cut into short sticks
- tomato paste (about one tablespoon)
- paprika
- flour
- vegetable stock
- pickles, cut into slices
- salt and pepper to taste
sweat onion/shallots and carrots in olive oil, add seitan/tofu/whatever and fry until it begins to brown. (actually, it might be easier to fry the seitan/etc seperately before adding it to the vegetables, will try it this way next time).
stir in tomato paste and a little paprika. sprinkle about one tablespoon of flour over the mixture and stir to distribute evenly. pour over enough vegetable stock to almost cover everything stirring constantly. add pickles. cook until vegetables are soft but not overcooked and correct seasoning. serve over noodles or rice.
this makes a nice, comforting meal, nothing too fancy but very satisfying.
