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Avocado and broccoli pesto

Pasta pesto makes me think of living in Hackney. Of taking the 55 bus home from work (because I couldn’t afford the tube). It reminds me of getting off the bus early at Diss St, picking up pesto, pasta & chilled coronas at the corner shop and going to see two beautiful friends. Their flat always felt so much more grown up & together. Their jobs were more important and exciting.

Their nights out were what urban stories are made from. Whenever things were rocky in my own life, I would pile into their flat and we would eat pesto pasta, drink beer & try to widen my film knowledge.

What I would give for corona & chats with those two right now but I would make the pesto, because this version is even more delicious & also because it contains avocado which would amuse them both.

This sauce is good. Really really good. It’s rich and creamy, but at the same time it isn’t heavy. By switching out the usual oil for avocado you get a sauce which is packed with good fats, loaded with vitamin C and most importantly it sticks perfectly to pasta (or courgetti for that matter). The broccoli base doesn’t mask the basil but adds an earthiness as well as packing in even more vegetables. There are no nuts in this but you could add in pine nuts or cashews if you wanted. There is also no salt, making it baby friendly, so salt your portion as needed. If your little one is just starting with pasta then use chopped vermicelli for spoon feeding or easy to pick up fusilli as finger food. If they aren’t on pasta yet then you could easily let them just eat a spoonful of the pesto or stir it in with pureed potato. I imagine it is delicious too on toast topped with perfectly ripe tomatoes, or mixed with hummus a top a baked potato. It will keep in the fridge, in a sealed jar, for five days so enjoy experimenting with it. For the record, I recognise that this is hardly a pesto as the ingredients haven’t been pounded together. It’s also hardly a Genovese sauce as it doesn’t contain hard cheese or pine nuts. But it is a creamy, basily sauce of deliciousness that takes minutes to create & will feed a family. Enjoy

Ingredients (makes 6 servings)
1 head broccoli

1 ripe avocado

1 large handful basil

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp pepper (optional)

Method
Cut the broccoli into florets & boil until well cooked

Place into a food processor with all the other ingredients (avocado at the bottom)

Blend until you have a thick creamy sauce

Stir through cooked pasta

Enjoy

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Beitzels – the beigel, pretzel hybrid

First came the Cronut, then the duffin….and now we have the beitzel! My hybrid of a beigel and a pretzel. These bad boys are a seriously good thing!

Our baby is definitely half Bavarian. I say Bavarian rather than German because she was born in Munich, during Oktoberfest time & her absolute favourite food are bretzel. Pretzel are a go to here. For breakfast split & slathered with butter, on the go during the day, for “Brot zeit” dinner (bread & cold cuts) and of course the supersize version to help mop up beer.

If the little one is being particularly cute you can guarantee that somebody in a bakery or cafe will hand her one having dusted off the salt. I have to let you in on a secret though, I don’t like pretzel. It’s the distinctive lye taste that I don’t like. Lye is used to give pretzel their traditional brown colour and you can replicate it at home but it’s pretty dangerous as it involves sodium hydroxide, gloves & eye protection…..which makes me question whether it is a good thing to be ingesting. I also wanted to make a pretzel that was simple, that shunned the buttery dough and all the added salt.

These beitzels are a pretzel -beigel hybrid. They are made from a simple risen dough which is then shaped & boiled, sprinkled with seeds and then baked till golden brown.

These beitzels have the shape of a pretzel & the delicious doughiness, but they also have the satisfying crunchy chew of a traditional boiled beigel. The little one had one this morning, we had some last night warm out the oven, dipped in sweet potato hummus. They are great spread with jam or made into a sandwich and if you are celebrating Oktoberfest then I’m sure that they paid well with any beer too!

Ps- if you need some help shaping your beitzels that check out my video on my instagram page yolandanaturally

Ingredients
450g strong bread flour

1 tsp salt

7g instant yeast

220ml slightly warm water

1 tbsp maple syrup

1.5 ltr water

3 tbsp mixed seeds to top (optional)

Method
Place the flour into a large bowl

Place the salt on one side of the bowl & the yeast on the other

Add in 3/4 of the water and stir the dough to bring it all together

Combine well, adding more water as you need

Tip out onto a lightly floured surface & knead the dough for 10mins

Once smooth, place back into the bowl, cover & pop in a warm spot for 1 hour

Once the dough has doubled in size tip out & split into 12 portions

Roll the portions into long sausages and then shape into pretzel

Bring the water to the boil, add in the maple syrup

Place the pretzels, a few at a time, into the simmering water

Cook the pretzels on both sides for a minute & then remove with a slotted spoon

Place them onto a lined baking rack

Sprinkle with seeds

Place into a preheated (190C) oven & bake until golden

Enjoy!

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YNBO- Tigernut buttermilk pancakes with coconut butter

We just got back from the most beautiful weekend in Cambridge. We have come back reinvigorated, filled with friendship & our kitchen has a few new ingredients to boot.

We got back just in time for this weeks adventures in the tent too, and last night was all about the batter. Was it the first time ever that the ovens were only used in one out of the three challenges? And also is it a bake if it’s not in an oven? Anyway, Great British Batter Off saw the bakers (batterers sounds oh so very wrong) tackle identical Yorkshire puddings, lace pancakes and finally churros. There were some great flavor combinations but personally I have to admit that I missed the baking bit last night. Still, it was fate that pancakes were a challenge & I can home from Cambridge with a bag of unusual flour that I have been itching to use!

I decided for my YNBO batter challenge to make plant based buttermilk pancakes using an ingredient that is totally new to me: tigernuts. Tiger nuts are not actually nuts, they are in fact a tuber & they used to be sold in sweet shops in the 1940s & 50s. They are rich in iron and have a nutrient profile that mirrors…well, breast milk. They are also a pre-biotic too.

They taste creamy, rich & slightly nutty, similar to a cashew. Thanks to a wonderful friend, I am the proud owner of 2kg of tigernut flour & with batter week upon us it seemed like the perfect time to test it out. Tiger nut flour looks not dissimilar to spelt flour. It is nut brown and very finely milled. These pancakes are somehow fluffy & thick and yet dense at the same time. They remind me of buckwheat pancakes. The tiger nuts provide a rich taste and the baking powder gives them lift. The homemade buttermilk helps keep them light & moist (sorry there is no other word!). I added lemon zest to the mix but you don’t have to and these could easily be a savoury base, topped with pesto & roasted vegetables or even made into single bite canapes hosting any toppings you fancy.

The coconut maple butter is inspired by LA and a delicious breakfast at The Butchers Daughter. With the baby asleep in the ergo, I perched on a stool & devoured buckwheat pancakes with berries & melting coconut butter. I practically inhaled them, pausing only to lick stray crumbs off the little ones head. I’ve never had such great pancakes since but these tigernut ones have arrived and are bringing a little bite of Abbot Kinney into our kitchen.Inspired by LA, created in Munich, prompted by Welford Park and facilitated by Cambridge. These are seriously international pancakes.

Ingredients (makes 8 pancakes)
1 cup (250g) tigernut flour

1 cup (250g) spelt flour (or gf flour)

Juice 1 lemon

1 tsp baking powder

1.5 cup (180ml) oat or other milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Method
Place the lemon juice into the milk & set aside for 10 mins

Place the flour & baking powder into a large dish

Add the lemony milk & apple cider vinegar and stir well

Leave to sit for 10mins

Ladle the mixture into a hot greased pan letting the pancakes bubble on the upside before flipping over

Ingredients (Coconut maple butter)
8 tbsp desiccated coconut

1 tsp maple syrup

Method
Place the coconut into a food processor or spice grinder

On a medium setting allow to process

Scrape down the sides every minute to keep incorporating

Keep processing till you have a creamy butter

Stir in the maple syrup & serve

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Mama on a Monday – baked courgette chips

I know that it feels like the day often revolves around making three balanced meals, but sometimes you just need a little snack. These courgette chips are exactly that. They are the most delicious, mid afternoon, makes a change from a yogurt or a box of raisins, snack. They are also a perfect side dish, a side to salmon burgers, or a late summer BBQ. They are really easy to make and follow the same system as the crispy avocado slices so whilst you are making one…you could make the other for a double snack whammy. All day long we have been nibbling these off the baking tray, warm out of the oven, dipped in homemade ketchup, Crazy delicious, crazy addictive.

Coating slippery vegetables in bread crumbs makes it much easier for small hands to pick them up. I also use a crinkle cutter for fruit like melon or mango to make it easier for the little one. This recipe would also work with pepper slices, marrow and green beans too. For older kids you can add grated parmesan into the breadcrumbs and for kids of any age you can add ground fresh or dried herbs or spices into the breadcrumbs to keep their tastebuds happy.

Ingredients
2 courgettes cut into batons

1 egg whisked

4 tbsp breadcrumbs

2 tbsp flour

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C

Lightly oil a baking tray or large dish

Place the egg into one bowl, the flour into a second and the breadcrumbs into a third

Dip each baton first into the flour, then the egg and finally the breadcrumbs

Place onto the baking tray, spray with a little oil and bake for 20mins or until golden brown and crispy

 

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YNBO – Fig and cardamon braided vegan loaf

Last nights Great British Bake Off saw the bakers tackle bread. They started with chocolate studded loaves, battled with ‘Dampf knodel’ (steamed dumplings), before finally tackling braided breads. I considered making dampf knodel as they are pretty popular in this household. Alex normally gets them whenever we head to the Stadtfest in Oldenburg or the Christmas markets. They are a total meal as you get a huge dumpling which is filled with hot cherries and then bathed in custard. Totally delicious.

The thing is though, that I felt that I had to tackle the plaited or braided loaf. I am not a very technical baker or cook. I rarely attempt anything that requires exact measurements or that needs you to follow specific guidelines. The only bread I tend to make is soda bread and honestly yeast scares me a little. So, in true bake off spirit I decided to do an 8 strand plaited loaf which would be studded with figs and spiced with cardamon. You could use this recipe as the base for so many breads. You could do cinnamon and raisins buns, muesli studded plaited wreath or a kale pesto braided tear and share.

It is actually really easy to do, and whilst I held my breath every time I checked to see if it had risen, it seems to be a failsafe. I made the dough when the little one got up as she played with wooden spoons, left it in the spare bathroom with the towel rail on a low heat, and came back to it two hours later. I replaced the egg wash with a blend of maple syrup and almond milk but if you are making a savory loaf then I’m sure just the milk would work too.

The house smells amazing still, and half the loaf is already gone as Alex is home an has been sitting chomping away, slathering it in local honey. There is officially nothing greater than home baked bread and now I know how to do it, there may be no stopping me…

Ingredients
600g strong bread flour (I used a mix of white and spelt)

12g salt

12g instant yeast

35g softened coconut butter (or normal butter)

400ml warmish water

1 tsp almond milk

1 tsp maple syrup

Optional – 3 finely chopped figs, 1 tbsp cardamon

Method
Place the flour into a large bowl, add the butter in chunks

Place the salt on one side of the flour and the yeast on the other (you don’t want them to touch)

Add 300ml of the water and stir with a clawed hand to combine

Bring all the ingredients together well adding more water slowly if you need it

Tip onto a very lightly floured surface and knead well for 10 mins

Place into a large oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and place in a warm spot for up to 2 hours or until it has doubled in size

Remove and knock down, then split it into 8 even portions. If you are adding in items now is the time to do it. Simply add in fruit/chocolate/nuts into each portion

Roll each portion into a long sausage

Place all the sausages in a row and then join the top ones together (so it looks like an octopus with a top and 8 spread out legs)

Plait the loaf – if you are unsure of how to do it then it is best to google it and follow a video but basically

You take leg 8 over leg 5

2 under 3 and over 8

1 over 4

7 under 6 and over 1 and then repeat till you reach the bottom

Place the dough onto a lined tray and cover loosely and place back into a warm spot for 30mins

Preheat your oven to 210C (fan oven)

Wash the bread with the maple syrup and milk wash

Bake for 30mins or until it sounds hollow when the bottom is tapped

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