Marinated Tuna Steaks

Who doesn't love BBQ season?  Here's a healthy recipe as an alternative to the normal meat recipes one is used to associate when barbecuing.  Although they do look like a piece of steak don't they?

Ingredients for 2 persons:

• 2 Tuna Steaks
• 1 cup fresh basil
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1/3 cup white wine

Method:

1. Put the basil, garlic and olive oil in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Place the tuna steaks in a dish and pour over the freshly blended 'pesto'.  Pour over the lemon juice and white wine.
3. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.  Then grill on a barbecue or on a hot plate for about 2 minutes on each side.

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Trio di Calamari

Since I love fried calamari I wanted to try it at home with fresh calamari, and while at it I did 3 variations so at least after the hard work of cleaning and cutting the calamari once eaten you will be left with the thought "..when will I do these again!!"

Ingredients:

• 4 Calamari
• 2 Cups Milk
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Cup Flour
• 1/2 Cup Breadcrumbs
• 1/3 Cup Ready made Sweet Chilli
• Salt & Pepper
• FryingOil
• Olive Oil

Method:

The calamari are normally cleaned by the fishmonger however you need to rinse them properly and check for any transparent 'bone'still within.  After cleaning them thoroughly cut them into rings usually not larger than about 2cm, depending on your likings.
Mix the 1 egg and the milk in a bowl and place all the calamari in, cover and refrigerate for at least 30mins to 1 hour.
Prepare a bowl with the flour, salt and pepper and toss in all the calamari and coat evenly.

Lightly Floured Deep Fried Calamari:

1. Put a deep pan with about 3 inches oil and put on high heat.
2. Fry in batches so that the calamari rings will cook evenly and will not soak too much oil. Fry for about 3 minutes.

Breaded Calamari Rings:

 1.  Beat the remaining egg in a bowl and put the floured calamari in and coat evenly.
 2.  Remove the excess egg and toss in the bowl with the   breadcrumbs.
 3.  Make sure that the oil is heated up properly (especially after frying the other batch) and toss it carefully.   Fry for about 3 minutes.

Calamari in Sweet Chilli sauce: 

1.  Toss the floured calamari in the heated non stick pan and cook for about 1 minute with a drizzle of olive oil.
2. Pour in the sweet chilli sauce and cook for a further 2/3 minutes.  If sauce is too thick add a little water or white wine. 

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Stuffed Pasta Shells

I am not a big fan of pasta, so when I feel like having some pasta I like it to be a little creative and try to make the most out of it.  Here follows one of my recipes that I made recently.

Ingredients:

For 2 persons

• 250g fresh ricotta
• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons grated cheese
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• Salt & Pepper
• 250g Pasta shells
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• Olive Oil
• 400ml Tomato sauce
• 1 small Maltese sausage (optional)
• 4 tablespoons milk (optional)

Method:

1. Beat the eggs in a bowl, add the ricotta and mix with a fork so the crumble the ricotta.
2. Add the grated cheese, parsley, salt and pepper and give a good mix.
3. In order to quicken the process of filling the pasta shells, get a new plastic bag and tip in the mixture.  Cut out the the corner tip of the plastic bag and use it as a 'pasty bag' unless you already have one.  Fill in the pasta shells (I bought lumaconi) and place in a dish. *Note: I did not pre-cook the pasta shells.
4. Pour in the dish the milk and set aside.  This step can be ignored, the difference is that the milk will help to moisten the shells.
5. Chop the onion and garlic and toss in a pan on low heat with a drizzle of olive oil.  
6. Once onions are translucent, mix in the sausage meat and cook until meat changes colour.  Then add the tomato sauce and simmer on low heat for about 10.
7. Turn off the heat and pour the tomato sauce over the pasta shells and let it sit for about 1 hour.
8. Preheat oven at 200°C, place the dish in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes.  Turn off the oven and let it sit for another 30 minutes before plating.

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Marinated Chicken Wings & Grilled Veggies

Now that the barbecue season is open here is a recipe, which is quick and will not break the bank.  This will make cheap meat into a very tasteful dinner.

Spicy Yoghurt Marinated Chicken Wings

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken wings (cut at the joints to make 6)
• 150g Plain yoghurt
• 1 tablespoon Garam Masala
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

Method:

1. After cutting the wings at the joint, place in a dish. 
2. Mix the garam masala and crushed garlic in the yoghurt tub, pour on top of the chicken and mix well making sure that all wings are coated.
3. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

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Lemon and Herb Marinated Chicken Wings

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken wings (cut at the joints to make 6)
• 1 tablespoon mixed herbs
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Method:

1. After cutting the wings at the joint, place in a dish.
2. Mix the herbs with the olive oil in a cup, add the lemon zest and juice and mix well
3. Pour on top of the chicken wings making sure that the marinade covers all chicken pieces.
4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

These 2 recipes can be both grilled in an oven or barbecued.

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Ingredients:

• 3 Carrots sliced lengthways
• 2 courgettes sliced
• Broccoli florets
• 2 large onions quartered
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon curry
• Sea salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven at the highest temperature.
2. Wash, cut and place all vegetables in a dish lined with baking paper.
3. Mix the olive oil with with curry and salt and drizzle all over the vegetables.
4. Place dish in the oven and put the oven temperature down to 200°C 
5. Roast for about an hour on until cooked to your liking.

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Spaghetti Vongole

I am not a huge fan of fish however this one with fresh shellfish was so good that I had to share it with you.  On my fathers recommendation, a trip to the farmers market is worth while.  Look out for the 'fisherman's wife' van, we have never been disappointed.

Ingredients

• 1 kg fresh vongole (managed to find fresh ones at the local farmers market)
• Garlic
• Cherry tomatoes, halved
• 500g spaghetti
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 tablespoon Olive oil
• 200ml white wine
• Crushed chillies (optional)
• Parsley

Method

1. Put a pan of water for the pasta, to boil.
2. If you are using fresh vongole, sort through them and if there are any which are not tightly closed try to tap them sharply and if they do not close throw them away.
3. Add the pasta to the boiling water.
4. Quickly put a non stick pan on high heat add the olive oil.  When heated through put in the garlic, tomatoes, chilli, salt and pepper.
5. As soon as the garlic starts to colour put in the vongole and the white wine and close the pan with the lid.  Cook for about 4 minutes untill all vongole are open.  If there are any that did not open just toss them away.
6. Drain the pasta and add to the pan of vongole.
7. Stir for a further minute and serve immediately with some chopped parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.

Enjoy! And as a friend of mine always says... 'fresh fish makes all the difference'  

Dedicated to you Jen!

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Denci (Dentex) Fillets

Ingredients

• 1 Denci fillited
• Cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 Green bell pepper
• 1/2 Orange bell pepper
• 1 cup pitted olives
• 1 cup tomato puree (passata)
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper

Method

1. Drizzle a hot non stick pan with olive oil and cook the denci fillets for about 5 minutes.
2. Toss in the chopped bell peppers and cook until softened.
3. Add the cherry tomatoes, olives and tomato puree and season to your liking
4. Let it simmer for about 15/20 minutes until you have a thick sauce.

Goes well with potato salad.

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Summery Salad (with leftovers)

While preparing stuffed zucchini I had some left over minced meat, being summer and its already hot I wanted to do a quick fresh salad and the following delicious receipe was created. 

Ingredients

• Cooked minced meat (seasoned with salt, pepper and some curry)
• Half cucumber thinly sliced
• 1/4 orange bell pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped basil
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• Paprika

Method

1. Put the sliced cucumber in a colander and strain as much water as possible from the cucumbers
2. Mix the cooked minced meat with the cucumber, bell pepper and chopped basil. 
3. Mix in the mayonnaise and sprinkle some paprika.
4. Refrigerate until ready to use.

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Salmon Parcels

Ingredients

• 1 roll of ready made puff pastry
• 2 Salmon fillets
• 1 large onion
• 2 tomatoes
• Salt & Pepper
• Curry (optional)
• Olive Oil

Method

1. Cut in half the rolled out pastry and set on a baking sheet.
2. Place the salmon and the remaining ingredients on top of it, drizzle with olive oil.
3. Close the pastry and prick with fork.
4. Move the baking sheet with the salmon parcels onto a baking sheet and cook in a preheated oven for 30 minutes or until brown at 190°C

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