Eggs in Purgatory with Pancakes

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This recipe, perfect for every single meal (especially for trendy brunches) gets its Dantesque name for its colours. In Naples, where this dish seems to have originated, they say that these ova ‘mpriatorio represent souls trying to escape the flames of purgatory (the tomato). Anyways, everyone can look for their own allegorical interpretation of this dish full of flavour and colour.

I usually side this recipe with basmati rice but, this time, I decided to try something different and give it a brunchy touch, incorporating the pancakes, more typical of breakfast.

Ingredients for eggs

• 6 eggs.

• 250 ml. tomato purée.

• 2 cloves of garlic.

• EVO.

• Salt.

• Chili powder.

• Parsley.

Steps to follow

• Pour a splash of EVO in a pan over medium heat.

• Stir in 2 cloves of ground garlic.

• When the garlic begins to brown, add the tomato to cook for about 5 minutes.

• Add salt and chili to taste.

• Add the eggs to the tomato and cook with the lid on for about 3 minutes.

• Cover with powdered parsley and serve.

Ingredients for the pancakes

• 180 g. of chickpea flour.

• 120 ml. of oat milk .

• 50 g. of diced Serrano ham.

• ½ teaspoon of garlic powder.

• ½ teaspoon of dry yeast.

Steps to follow

• Mix the dry ingredients with the oat milk until you get a lump-free butter.

• Add the ham.

• Heat a frying pan over medium heat with a drizzle of oil.

• Pour a tablespoon of butter and let the first side cook until the surface bubbles.

• Once flipped, let cook for another half minute.

Cannelloni Stuffed with Pink Hake and Cauliflower

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On these Christmas weeks, cooking, but especially eating, gets a little out of hand. That’s the main reason why we always end up with huge amounts of leftovers in the fridge. As you know, in our house nothing goes to waste so, it’s time to rack our brains and create some new recipes.

In this case, I came up with this cannelloni stuffed with pink hake and cauliflower recipe. I hope you like it!

Ingredients:

• 400 g. of cauliflower (we will also use the leaves if we have them).

• 300 g. of hake (pink, line-caught … the one you like best).

• 30 ml. of fish broth.

• 100 ml. natural tomato purée.

• 10 sheets of fresh lasagna.

• 25 g. of smoked San Simón cheese.

Steps to follow:

• Grate the cauliflower with a grater.

• Cut the cauliflower leaves into small pieces with scissors and scald in boiling water for 3 minutes.

• Crumble the hake and mix it with the cauliflower.

• Put a pan on the hob with a splash of EVO over medium heat. Add the cauliflower and hake mixture and sauté for a few minutes. Then add the fish stock and 50 ml of natural tomato purée.

• Lower the heat to medium / low. Let the mixture cook for about 8 minutes or until the liquid gets evaporated. 

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

• Take a sheet of lasagna and put two tablespoons of the mixture 2 cm from the edge of the sheet. Then roll it up until you get a cannelloni. Do this step with all the lasagna sheets.

• Put 3 tablespoons of natural tomatoes covering the bottom of the tray in which you will bake the cannelloni. Then place the cannelloni next to each other until the tray is full.

• Cover the surface of the cannelloni with tomato and the remaining cauliflower and hake mixture.

• Grate the San Simón cheese on top to give it a smoky touch.

• Bake for 15 minutes at 180 degrees.

• Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Marmitako

Marmitako is one of the key stews in Cantabrian cuisine (especially in Cantabria and the Basque Country). This dish is named after the container in which it is prepared, a metal pot called marmite.

Ingredients

• 5 medium potatoes.

• 1 kilo of tuna belly.

• 1 onion.

• 1 clove of garlic.

• 2 teaspoons of choricero pepper paste.

• Salt

• EVO.

Steps to follow

• Chop the onion into brunoise.

• Put a pan on the hob with 30 ml of EVO. Sprinkle the onion and garlic with a pinch of salt. Sautée until the onion turns golden.

• Add the pepper to the mix.

• Snap the potatoes and add to the pan. Mix with the sauteed and cover with water.

• Cook over low heat for 20/25 minutes.

• Check the seasoned, in the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the tuna.

• Let stand before serving.

Tortellini in Brodo

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This recipe belongs to the Italian gastronomic culture (Bolognese, to be exact). In brodo means “in broth”, as the key to this simple dish is a good broth to enhance the flavour. Although this recipe is a very recurring first course on Italian homes during winter, it is at Christmas when it becomes the protagonist. On the 25^th, using the carcase from capon served on Christmas Eve dinner, Italians prepare a good capon broth to cook tortellini, also known as l’ombelico di Venere (the navel of Venus) for its shape.

Ingredients

• 1 litre of chicken / capon/ beef bones broth (left to your choice).

• 250 grams of tortellini (the filling is your choice too. In my case, the tortellini are filled with meat).

• ½ tablespoon of Bovril.

Steps to follow

• Cook the bones or carcasses that you are going to use (chicken, capon, cow …) for 4 hours, to create the broth. Use at least 5 litres of water.

• Once the broth is ready and with the desired flavour, set aside 1 litre and freeze the rest.

• Put the litre of broth in a pan and bring to a boil. Then, add half a teaspoon of Bovril to give it an even higher touch of umami.

• Once the water starts boiling, add the tortellini and cook them for about 3 minutes.

• Serve immediately.

You can purchase your broth, if you want, but in this case, I recommend making it from scratch. The taste you will achieve will be spectacular.

Kale and feta pie with filo pastry

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Ingredients

• 8 sheets of filo pastry.

• 250 g. Kale.

• 150 g. feta cheese.

• 1 clove of garlic.

• EVO.

Steps to follow

• Boil the kale for 3 minutes in salted water.

• Drain the vegetables and sautée with a drizzle of oil and finely chopped garlic.

• Form a square with the filo pastry (overlapping the edges) and paint on top with a little EVO. Then put another layer of 4 on top and repeat the process.

• Move the filo pastry base to a ovenproof skillet and put the kale with the feta cheese inside. Cover the content with the rest of the dough (like a package) and paint with a little EVO.

• Bake for 20 minutes at 170 degrees Celsius.

Roast Beef with Chinese Five Spice Gravy and Roasted Potatoes

Today I bring you Roast Beef with Chinese Five Spice Gravy and Roasted Potatoes. A delicious recipe that, although it seems quite laborious, is really the oven the one who does most of the hard work.

The spices that make up this Chinese combo are cinnamon, star anise, Sichuan pepper, fennel seeds and cloves. A combination that, with a very little amount, gets an explosion of stunning flavour.

As for the potatoes, the recipe is an adaptation of the recipe of one of my cooking spiritual animals, British chef Jamie Oliver.

Roast Beef

Ingredients

• 1 kg. Beef.

• 1 onion.

• 2 carrots.

• Salt.

• EVO.

• 1 dessert spoon of 5 spice.

• 100 ml. white wine.

• 2 bay leaves.

• 250 ml. vegetable broth.

Steps to Cook the Roast Beef

• Seal the meat in a pan for a few minutes on each side until completely golden on the outside.

• Cut the onion into eighths and the carrots into chunks. Then season with five spice, a pinch of salt and a drizzle of oil. Stir well and make a bed with them on an oven tray.

• Place the beef on the bed of onions and carrots and sprinkle with 100 ml. of white wine.

• Put the 2 bay leaves in the tray and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes.

• Once the meat is ready, let it rest for at least 20 minutes before cutting.

• Recover the meat juices and vegetables from the oven tray, pour them into a container with 250 ml. of vegetable broth and blend until you get a homogeneous sauce.

• Put the gravy on the burner (medium / low) so that it reduces slightly.

• Cut the roasted beef into slices just before serving and cover with a tablespoon of gravy.

Baked Potatoes (Jamie Oliver Style)

• 8 potatoes.

• 3 tablespoons EVO.

• Salt.

• Thyme.

• Rosemary.

• Oregano.

• 30 ml. red wine vinegar.

• 4 cloves garlic.

Steps to follow

• Cook the potatoes for about 15 minutes or until lightly flaky.

• Drain the potatoes and place on an oven tray.

• Season with salt, thyme, rosemary, oregano and 3 tablespoons of EVO.

• Add 4 cloves of crushed garlic (skin on) with the palm of your hand or with a knife.

• Additionally, they can be splashed with 30 ml. of red wine vinegar.

• Bake for 45 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. After that time, lightly crush the potatoes. Making them crack turns them even more crunchy.

• Bake again for 15 more minutes.

Pumpkin Cream

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Another great comfort food dish, to rock in the fall months, is the pumpkin, in all its forms. The one we like to prepare the most at home is the pumpkin cream. We usually cook it spiced, other times with apple … but today I share with you the simplest version of them all (which does not mean that it is the dullest). Pumpkin cream baked with salt, black pepper and oregano. Quick recipe that requires zero effort. You only need an oven and 1 hour of your time.

Ingredients

• 1 pumpkin.

• Salt to taste.

• Black pepper to taste.

• Oregano to taste.

• EVO.

Steps to follow

• Remove the ends of the pumpkin and cut it in half. Remove seeds and threads all around.

• Season to taste and add a drizzle of EVO.

• Bake for 50 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.

• Once the pumpkin is roasted, separate the meat from the skin with the help of a spoon.

• Pour the pumpkin meat into a bowl (or food processor) along with the juices that have been created in the oven (it’s an explosion of flavour, believe me!) and beat until you get the right creaminess.

• Incorporate the pumpkin cream into a saucepan and heat over low heat until it starts to boil.

• Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Turnip Greens Galician Soup

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Today I bring you one of the quintessential Galician “comfort food” recipes: Turnip greens Galician soup. This variant is my favourite of all times, hands down. That slightly bitter touch of the turnip greens is simply spectacular.

Ingredients

• 400 g. of turnip greens.

• 100 g. of white beans.

• 50 g. of Iberian pork fat.

• 250 g. of desalted pork shoulder.

• 1 chorizo.

• 3 potatoes.

• Salt.

Steps to follow

• Set a pan with about 3 litters of water (approx.)

• When the water starts to boil, add the beans, meat and the pork fat. Cook for 1 hour or until meat and beans are cooked. It is important to skim the beans from time to time.

• Once the meat is cooked, remove it, along with the pork fat, and add the turnip greens and sliced ​​potatoes. Cook for 20 minutes or until potatoes are cooked.

• Salt to taste and let stand before consuming.

Notes 1 – If you use dried beans it is important to soak them overnight. 2 – I do not incorporate the meat I use to give substance to the soup into the final result of the dish. I usually serve it with cabbage, chickpeas and potatoes (Galician stew for 2 people) or set aside to make croquettes.

Migas Manchegas (En)

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Keeping up with the “comfort food” series, today I bring you a recipe typical of La Mancha’s cuisine: Migas (crumbs). This dish is so delicious, but you have to admit that it is one of the champions in the league of high-calorie meals (does it have those grapes to compensate for the excess fat?). I don’t recommend them as a weekly dish but, hey, from time to time, why not?

Another positive point is that migas are perfect as a zero-waste economic dish, as you use the leftover bread crumbs as the main ingredient and side it with chorizo ​​and bacon.

Ingredients

• 400 g. of stale ​​bread (if it’s cake, better).

• 3 chorizos.

• 250 g. of bacon.

• 1 tablespoon ​​choricero pepper.

• 3 cloves of crushed garlic.

• 100 ml. water.

• 6 grapes.

Steps to follow

• Cut the bread into squares and moisten with 100 ml. of water. Stir and place in a cloth to drain excess water (1 hour).

• Cut the bacon and chorizos into small chunks and sauté in a frying pan or wok. As soon as they have a golden colour, set aside on a plate.

• Sauté the bread over medium heat, using the fat of the chorizos and bacon. As soon as the bread is well browned, add the chorizos and bacon again, along with the crushed garlic and a tablespoon of choricero ​​pepper.

• Sauté for another 3 minutes and serve with the grapes cut in half.