Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

I got the idea from this recipe after watching a Nigella show. She’s always so colorful when she’s cooking that invites me to make every single one of her recipes… But there are more Nigella recipes than I have time! So, I picked another chocolate one (first one was the Triple Threat Chocolate Cookies) and the cake did not disappoint. In fact, it didn’t last a week!

For serving this Chocolate Olive Oil Cake, I’d recommend a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream. The cake is light and fluffy, not too sweet or too chocolatey. If you want it more Chocolate dense, increase the chocolate to 1/2 cup of cocoa powder.

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

Recipe By: Nigella Lawson

Ingredients:

2/3 up olive oil
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 cup boiling water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup of sugar
3 eggs

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 325ºF. Grease your springform tin with a little oil and line the base with baking parchment.
Measure and sift the cocoa powder into a bowl or jug and whisk in the boiling water until you have a smooth, chocolatey, still runny (but only just) paste. Whisk in the vanilla extract, then set aside to cool a little.
In another smallish bowl, combine the all-purpose flour with the bicarbonate of soda and pinch of salt.
Put the sugar, olive oil and eggs into the bowl of a freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment (or other bowl and whisk arrangement of your choice) and beat together vigorously for about 3 minutes until you have a pale-primrose, aerated and thickened cream.
Turn the speed down a little and pour in the cocoa mixture, beating as you go, and when all is scraped in you can slowly tip in the all-purpose flour mixture. Scrape down, and stir a little with a spatula, then pour this dark, liquid batter into the prepared tin.
Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the sides are set and the very centre, on top, still looks slightly damp. A cake tester should come up mainly clean but with a few sticky chocolate crumbs clinging to it.
Let it cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, still in its tin, and then ease the sides of the cake with a small metal spatula and spring it out of the tin. Leave to cool completely or eat while still warm with some ice cream, as a pudding.

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

I like to make this lasagna from time to time, especially when the weather gets a little nippy. It has only roasted vegetables and cheese in it.

The idea is to get a variety of vegetables to make every layer different. I start off with an eggplant layer, then I make one with mushrooms and roasted peppers. When I make a large lasagna, I usually have room to make another layer with sliced tomatoes and basil; sometimes I put sliced zucchinis in it. Other great ingredients to use are asparagus or artichoke hearts.

Don’t you hate a dry lasagna? To avoid this, I use two sauces: Italian tomato sauce (you can use your favorite canned brand) and béchamel sauce. Use one for the bottom part of each layer, add your ingredients and top with the other sauce.

I’ve included the recipe for Béchamel sauce for you, and it’s a good one from Mario Batali. If you will use the two sauces, make only half a recipe so it yields 1 1/2 cups, which is enough for this medium lasagna.

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

A The Foodies’ Kitchen Original Recipe
Yields: 1 9″ Pyrex Lasagna.
Enough for about 6 people, or 4 very hungry ones.

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant
1 onion
1 red bell pepper
basil leaves, about 5 fresh leaves
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 lb Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 ½ cups béchamel sauce
1 ½ cups Italian tomato sauce.
1 pack lasagna pasta
Dried oregano, for sprinkling.

For the Béchamel Sauce

Yields: 3 cups

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 bay leaf

Procedure:
(For the Béchamel Sauce)

In a medium saucepan, heat the butter over medium-low heat until melted.
Add the flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until the mixture turns a light, golden sandy color, about 6 to 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the milk in a separate pan until just about to boil.
Add the hot milk to the butter mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth.
Bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from heat.
Season with salt and nutmeg, and set aside until ready to use.

Procedure:
(For the Lasagna)

Preheat oven to 425.
Slice the eggplant, toss with olive oil salt and pepper and place in one layer on a cookie sheet.
Quarter the onion, and separate its layers. Slice the bell pepper into thick strips. Drizzle olive oil on it and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Let the vegetables roast for about 25 minutes. Remove from oven.
Bring the temperature down to 375.
Meanwhile, cut your basil leaves chiffonade style.
In a 9″ pyrex, ladle some tomato sauce to cover the bottom. Place one even layer of lasagna pasta. Cover with one even layer of eggplant and onion. Sprinkle with salt, oregano and pepper.
Cover the eggplant layer with some béchamel sauce. Sprinkle evenly with mozzarella and parmesan
Add a second layer of lasagna pasta. Cover with some tomato sauce.
Add a layer of sliced mushrooms, and then add the roasted bell pepper and the chiffonade basil.
Cover with remaining béchamel sauce.
Sprinkle mozzarella and parmesan.
Add the last layer of lasagna pasta and press down a little bit. Cover with tomato sauce, and finish off with a thick layer of mozzarella and parmesan.
Bake for 30 minutes.
When the time is up, let it sit for 30 minutes, outside the oven to let it sit. If you cut it right away, the filling will be too soupy and you will not be able to cut nice pieces.

06:07 PM
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- Baked, homemade, Lasagna, olive oil, roasted, vegetable
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Homemade Tomato Soup

This tomato soup is the real thing. It doesn’t taste anything like the canned variety we all know and love, with this soup you can taste the real tomatoes, olive oil and basil. Since we are using real tomatoes here, you might find that the taste is a little too acidic. You can correct this by adding sugar, 1/4 teaspoon at a time until you find your balance. I think the perfect pairing with this soup is a grilled cheese sandwich, or you can just add croutons to it.

I’m getting hungry just by writing this post.

Homemade Tomato Soup

Recipe from Food Network
Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients

6 plum tomatoes
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small carrot, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic,
1 cup chicken broth
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
½ cup white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream, optional

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Place tomatoes (whole and unpeeled) in a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, to taste, drizzle with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and roast until charred, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat remaining olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion and garlic, cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the roasted tomatoes, reserved tomato juices, chicken broth, bay leaf and butter. Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add basil and cream, if using.
Puree with a hand held immersion blender until smooth, or use blender.
If you will use the blender, don’t try to process everything all at once… everything is hot, and you will make a mess. Blend it in batches.
Pass it through a strainer, and serve hot.
Add extra cream on top, if desired.