Homemade Pumpkin Ravioli with Currants and Pine Nuts

We have cheated here and used wonton wrappers from our local Asian grocery store instead of making our own pasta. It's a more than capable substitute.
The filling is made from roast pumpkin, and we served the ravioli with a buttery raisin and pine nut sauce.

Ravioli:
2 cups pumpkin
100g feta
1 egg, beaten
Packet of wonton wrappers
Fresh herbs (e.g. oregano, chives)

To make the ravioli, roast the pumpkin on a tray with a light drizzle of olive oil in a moderate oven until tender (don't let the pumpkin brown too much).
Mash the pumpkin and leave to cool. Finely crumble to feta and combine with the pumpkin. Season with pepper (we didn't add salt because of the feta). Add your fresh herbs.
Fill the wonton wrappers with 1/2tsp of filling. Brush the edges with a little beaten egg then pinch together to seal.
Cook the ravioli in a large pot of boiling water in batches. Boil for 4-5 minutes and gently remove with a slotted spoon and drain well.

To make the butter sauce:
Roast 1/4 cup of pine nuts in a large heavy based saucepan until the start to change colour, then remove them. Add 100g butter to the saucepan and fry until butter turns brown. Return the pine nuts and add 1/4 raisins to the butter. Spoon over the ravioli and eat whilst hot.

Beetroot, Orange and Feta Salad

Time to get cooking again after the winter hiatus, which was largely dominated by colds and flus and a memorable trip to Bairnsdale!

A few weeks ago we cooked up this delicious beetroot, orange and feta salad. We initially made it with lemons and limes and without the addition of the yoghurt-feta dressing. We found it a bit sour for our liking. We add feta to just about anything (probably because we buy it in 1kg buckets and we love salt). The end result is a fresh, earthy salad with Middle Eastern flavours.

1 bunch baby beetroots
1 clove garlic, finely crushed
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup rocket leaves
1/2 orange
1/2 lemon
100g feta
1 cup thick yoghurt

Roast beetroots in a medium oven for about 30 minutes until they are tender  (wrap them in foil first).

Whilst beetroot are cooking whisk garlic, lemon juice and olive oil to make a dressing. When beetroot are cooled enough to handle peel them, cut into large wedges and add to the dressing. Season well with salt and pepper.

Peel the citrus fruits and remove all membranes. Using a sharp knife carefully segment the fruit.

Mash the feta and whip it into the yogurt to make a thick dressing.

Arrange the rocket, beetroot and citrus fruits on a plate. Drizzle with the yoghurt dressing.

Zucchini and feta fritters

So we are eating zucchini like mad now. It's almost like a challenge not to throw one out and find new ways of eating them but not entirely realising you are eating a zucchini at the same time.
This recipe is a winner as it uses a whopping 5 zucchinis in one hit.

These fritters are pretty darn good. In a restuarant they would be deep fried and amazing. For numerous reasons, we will never own a deep fryer, so we shallow fry them instead.

5 medium zucchinis grated

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Fresh parsley, fresh mint

100g feta cheese

2tbs plain flour

2tbs cornflour

Salt and Pepper

1 small onion finely chopped

1 clove garlic finely chopped

Yoghurt to serve

Grate the zucchini and sprinkle with a few teaspoons of salt. Leave for 20 minutes, then give it a rinse and squeeze out any excess water.

Beat the eggs and add to the zucchini. Add the feta, onion, garlic, finely chopped herbs and salt and pepper. Mix together.

Finally add the plain flour and cornflour and combine.

 

Heat some olive oil in a frypan and fry tablespoons of mixture in the oil. 

Serve with some creamy yoghurt and a wedge of lemon.

Surprise chef watermelon and feta salad

We sometimes play surprise chef every now and again when it seems like the cupboards are bare. This week, we had watermelon left over from a picnic. We had never tried this salad before, and there were some reservations but it was surprisingly good.

We used lemon thyme (because our normal thyme is on death row) and made a lemon vinaigrette to go with it. So it was like lemony, salty watermelon. Yum.

Watermelon and Feta Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette and Lemon Thyme

¼ ripe watermelon

100g crumbled feta

Lemon vinaigrette:

Juice of ½ lemon

3-4 TBS olive oil

½ tsp Dijon mustard

1 clove of garlic

Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Lemon thyme

To make vinaigrette:

Rub the mixing bowl with clove of garlic. Add olive oil and squeeze in the lemon juice. Add salt and freshly cracked black pepper and the Dijon mustard. Whisk.

Slice the watermelon into large cubes, crumble over the feta.

Drizzle over the vinaigrette and then finish with the lemon thyme and more cracked pepper.