Pumpkin Gnocchi with Kale Pesto

This is deceptively simple and quick. I've wanted to try a vegan gnocchi for a while and I cannot get over how Amazeballs this is.

I used about a cup of organic raw pumpkin, cubed, which I boiled until al dente. Then, I drained and put in a large bowl. Add between a cup and a cup and a half of spelt flour and stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms, then turn out into a chopping board and knead some more.

I find the best way to make gnocchi is to roll it into long snakes and then chop into 1cm pieces. 

Put the gnocchi pieces into a bowl and refrigerate for twenty minutes until firmed up. Meanwhile, set a pot of water boiling and add some olive oil and salt. 

(My little helpers love to watch the cooking action)

Boil the gnocchi pieces for around 3-5 minutes and then strain.

 Serve with your topping of choice (I made a kale pesto with kale, walnuts, Parmesan, garlic, evoo). 

Vegetarian Sausage Rolls (GF, could easily be vegan)

Yesterday was one of 'those' days in my house. A day where it felt like little master three had a serious conversation with miss one and between them, they decided to pull out all the stops to make me want to rip my hair out. No naps, toilet training accidents, tantrums for no reason, and 36'c and extreme UV outside, leaving us more or less house bound with a very frazzled set of personalities by the end of the day. SO, for dinner, I needed something that would hold them quiet and still for at least fifteen minutes (essential decompression time for this mum!). Enter the sausage roll. And a glass of wine.

I make my pastry using a recipe that was my husband's grandma's, and it's a cinch. If I'm doing big batches, I use the food processor, but for a small amount like this, I just go by hand. I even melt the butter completely and (so long as I then have time to rest it in the fridge) it works perfectly. To make it vegan, you can switch out butter for a nut butter or, preferably, a virgin organic coconut oil. 

Ingredients

For the pastry:

110g butter (about 80g coconut oil or, if it's melted, maybe 1/3 cup). 

225g spelt flour

A few tablespoons of water

For the filling: 

1 kipfler potato

1/2 small sweet potato

1 carrot

1/3 cup peas 

About 50g goats feta (exclude for vegans)

Melt the butter so that it's liquid but not molten, then remove from heat. Incorporate the flour until you have the consistency of breadcrumbs. Add the water tablespoon by tablespoon until you get a pastry dough consistency and knead until it's well combined (don't overdo it or it can get tough). Gladwrap it and put it in the fridge. 

Peel and chop the vegetables, with the exception of the peas (save them for later). Put in a saucepan covered with boiled water and continue to cook for around ten minutes or until al dente. Strain and mash, then add the goats feta and peas and continue to mix. At this point, you can add in any additional seasonings - more chopped cheese, fennel seeds, spring onion, basil, etc. 

Remove the pastry and roll flat (about 2 - 3mm). Scoop the vegie mix down the center and form sausage rolls. 

Bake at 180'c for 25 minutes. I served these with a homemade tomato sauce but they don't really need anything (you have probably guessed that yesterday was not a day for arguing if I didn't have to). 

Enjoy!

Home Made Ice Cream Cones (GF, Organic, Vegan)

Look, I'm so very excited by these. I'm not kidding, of all the things I've been wanting to master, these have been in the top ten. It's not like we're ice cream fiends. In fact, my children polished off a box of cones last week that were left over from my son's first birthday party (he's three and a half). That in and of itself beggars belief. What the heck is used to make these things last so long without losing any of their crunch or crisp? Yikes. 

There's nothing uniform about how they look. But I guess that's part of the appeal. Plus, you can make them large for grown ups or tiny for kids, and all you have to do is change the quantity of batter you pour out. 

I used a frying pan first but then switched to a flat sandwich press which I found much better. 

The trick is not to get too much sugar - you can play around with the quantities to taste, but too much sugar will make them burn before they're cooked through, and not enough will make them not sticky enough. 

To get four small cones or two large ones:

Ingredients

1/3 cup spelt flour

1/3 cup raw organic caster sugar

between 1/3 and 1/2 filtered water

Combine the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined, then add the filtered water, stirring constantly. 

Once you have a batter than resembles a thin pancake batter, you are good to go. Heat your frying pan (and add a little oil or butter), or your sandwich press. Add about two tablespoons of batter and  leave to cook. If you're using a frying pan, keep the heat moderate and flip halfway through. If you're using a sandwich press, cook with the lid up for a couple of minutes then press lid down so that it's firmly pressed against the flattened out cone. 

The trickiest part of these is shaping them, and that's just because they're molten lava hot. I found that laying a clean tea towel out in front of the sandwich press or hot plate was essential. 

I used an egg flip to remove the 'pancake', then, pressing either a spoon or small rolling pin into one pinch point, I was able to clip the bottom (using the tea towel as a sort of glove between my skin and the cone).

 Shape it into a cone and depress for about thirty seconds along the seam until it feels firmly held. I then transferred mine to a small 7 oz beer glass to settle for a few more minutes (an egg cup is great, too). It's amazing how quickly these transform from flat pancakes to rock hard ice cream cones. And I think this must be similar to how fortune cookies are made. 

I served this with an ice cream stalwart - our mango and passionfruit. 

In the ice cream and the cone, there were SIX ingredients, and both components were made today in my own kitchen. As far as desserts go, this one feels pretty awesome. 

Steamed Gow Gee - vegan.

Ingredients: 

Store bought gow gee papers (round) - available in the refrigerated section of most supermarkets, or asian grocers

A combination of filling - I used onion, potato, celery, garlic, peas and mushrooms, which I minced by hand to a fine consistency

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cumin

Butter/oil for frying

A little water

Melt butter in a pan over moderate heat. Add your vegetables and cook until soft. Add the spices and stir until combined. 

Lay the gow gee papers out on a clean work surface and spoon a small teaspoon into the centre of each round. 

Using a clean finger or pastry brush, run a little water around 1/2 of the outer rim of the pastry, then fold in half to form a crescent shape. Clip the outer edges together, applying firm pressure, to make the shape. 

Steam for around 3 - 5 minutes, then turn off the heat. Once you've steamed them, tip a little cold water over the top to make them easier to lift from the steamer. 

I served these with a sauce made with sesame oil, honey and white wine vinegar, plus filtered water. 

vegan and gluten free chocolate mousse.

I have read a great many recipes for this type of concoction, and I've been so sceptical as to how it would taste. 

It was amazing! 

In a food processor, I mixed a whole, ripe avocado with two bananas and 1/3 cup of carob powder (the recipe called for raw cacao but I am a carob fiend from way back and, as this was for my birthday, I indulged my own little tastebuds). I also added a tablespoon of manuka honey. Blitz it until it's really smooth and airy, set it in the fridge. Now, I topped it with this awesome organic yoghurt that is seriously just so creamy and rich (yet miraculously natural and low fat and low sugar), and some fresh strawberries. If you have kids coming for a party, this is such an excellent option for a treat. Next time I make it for my smalls, I'm going to whip through some peanut butter (keep in mind I'm trying to chub up my petite little miss sweet any way that I can). I will never again sceptically frown when I see avocado and banana parading as dessert substitutions. 

Carrot soup for the souls

As the weather turns colder, and the mornings start to have a really delightful crispness to them, the mind automatically turns to all foods comfort. Particularly to soups and stews, those winter stalwarts that have warmed millions of toddler tummies for generations. Yesterday was one of those delightful autumnal days. Crisp and clear with a refreshingly chill breeze, and I had a bunch of organic carrots just aching to be turned into something tasty. Enter, carrot soup with Greek yoghurt and basil.

I sautéed a heap of garlic and onion (anyone who says kids only like bland food is delusional), some cumin, then 5 chopped carrots and two cups of filtered water. I simmered it for about 45 minutes, blitzed it until it was soup like but still had some texture to it, and served it with a dollop of yoghurt and just-picked herbs.

The best thing about this is that I have some leftover, and I'm just thinking about what to turn it into. Half will no doubt end up as carroty scones, a re-take on their pumpkin counterparts, and for the other half, I'm thinking of a spinach, cashew nd cheddar ravioli with a carrot sauce. Watch this space!

Banana Biscuits (banana and date teething rusks)

Ingredients
1 ripe banana
2/3 cup almond meal
2/3 cup rolled spelt oats
Small handful of dates
Small handful of brazil nuts

Preheat oven to 140'c fan forced.

Combine ingredients in a food processor and whizz until a dough forms. Use your hands to form into logs and bake for two hours in a low oven. Leave to rest for a minimum of one hour to really firm up. Be aware that they are slightly easier to chew because of the moistness of almond meal. You should never leave a baby unattended during meals, but especially not while eating rusks.

These are really good though- sort of like super hard muesli bars. I have already eaten two and Jonno keeps asking for more "banana biccies".

Vegan "sausage" rolls

It's recommended that toddlers eat a 3/4 cup of vegetables each day. I have no problems getting the suggested 1 cup of fruit into my guy; he has always loved fruit. But vegetables present a bigger challenge.

I always thought I would be one of those mums that shied away from "disguising" veggies in meals to make them more palatable. After all, shouldn't children grow up with a real love for and knowledge of their foods?

Hmm. The reality of toddler-rearing, I have found, does not leave much room for such notions! Disguise of every kind is fast becoming this mama's MO. I mash veggies in where I can, make delicious savoury muffins, anything I can do to encourage my son to eat all the nutrients he needs to grow big and strong.

Well, these sausage rolls are a fantastic solution. The pastry is so healthy, I think I'll be turning to this for future baking for myself.

Ingredients-

Pastry:

55g organic cashew butter (a shelf-stable product available near healthy peanut butters)
110g whole meal spelt flour (you could substitute regular)
Approx 1/4 cup of water.

Filling
110g silken tofu
1 cup spelt flour
1 carrot
1/2 capsicum
1/2 broccoli head
1/2 onion


Preheat oven to 200'c and line a flat baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
Put the cashew butter and 110g spelt flour into a bowl and rub together with your fingers until the consistency resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water tablespoon by tablespoon, gradually combining using a wooden spoon until you have a pastry dough. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate.

Meanwhile, in a food processor, blitz the vegetables until they are finely diced. Add the silken tofu and incorporate flour spoon by spoon until a firm consistency is reached. Depending on the veggies you've used, you might need more or less flour than this. I made these vegan but you could definitely add a nice grated cheese here, perhaps half a cup of vintage cheddar.

Remove the pastry from the fridge and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out until about 3mm thick. Lay the filling out in a large log in the middle of the pastry. Dip your fingertips in water and run along one side of the pastry, then roll tightly. Cut off any excess pastry. Place on the prepared oven tray. Repeat until ingredients are used. If you have any pastry over, freeze it. If you have the filling left over, you can turn it into dumplings or freeze it for later use. You can coat the rolls in an optional egg wash or olive oil wash but they don't need either.

Bake for approx 20 minutes, until the pastry is golden.

I made an organic tomato sauce by boiling two whole tomatoes, removing skin. Once the water has reduced to almost nothing, mash until salsa consistency then add 1/2 tsp honey and 1/2 tsp white vinegar. Stir and leave to cool.