Roasted Red Onion and Garlic Ravioli with Cream and Thyme Sauce

I was extremely happy with how this dish turned out. It is very rich, so you do not need much per person.

Don't be scared by the amount of garlic - when garlic is roasted it becomes very sweet and loses a lot of its pungency. It is absolutely delicious.

You may have some of the ravioli filling left over once the ravioli is filled. I cooked a little extra just in case, and also to give to Otis if he was hungry.

Making fresh pasta is a bit of a process. If you do not enjoy cooking, you may want to buy gow gee wrappers and use those instead. But of course, the results will not be the same. If you can persevere, the dish is that much better with fresh egg pasta.

Heat will ruin fresh pasta, so if it is humid while you are making it, try and cook in a cool place. It is sometimes easier to divide the pasta into portions and work with only smaller amounts at a time. Also, it dries out easily, so store it under a damp, clean tea towel or in the fridge if necessary.

The ravioli can be made in advance. I probably wouldn't make it any more than 1 day in advance, unless I was going to store it in the freezer.

The pine nuts can be toasted the day before. If you wanted to, you could make the cream sauce earlier in the day, but I would not keep it for too long.

Ingredients

3 eggs

1 3/4 cups plain flour ('00' strong flour is best - this is now available from the supermarket)

4 red onions cut in half (skin on)

2 heads garlic with the top cut off

3 sprigs thyme

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh breadcrumbs

2 sprigs thyme (extra)

2 teaspoons dried thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

400 ml thickened cream

3 sprigs thyme (extra)

100g butter

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon pine nuts

Method

Place the flour and eggs in a food processor and process until a dough forms. (If you do not have a food processor, place the flour on a clean work surface, make a well in the centre and add the egg. Whisk the egg with a fork, slowly incorporating the flour until a dough forms).

If your dough is too wet, add a little extra flour.

Knead the dough well on a lightly floured surface until it is smooth and elastic. Cover with a damp tea towel and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Once rested, either use a rolling pin to roll into thin strips about 1mm in thickness and a few inches wide. If you have a pasta machine, pass through the machine at each setting until it is about 1mm in thickness. I personally like my ravioli to be as thin as possible.

I like to cut my pasta into squares (or sometimes they are rectangles due to the way the pasta has been rolled out) about 8-10 cms square. You then place a few teapoons of the ravioli on each square, brush with a little water and seal, making sure that all the air is pushed out. But be gentle! They break easily. Dust the pasta with flour while you are waiting to fill it, and also once you are done. Once filled, I store the pasta on a tray lined with baking paper. I dust both sides of the ravioli with flour and store in the fridge.

Now for the filling. Drizzle the garlic heads and red onion halves with oil. Wrap the garlic in foil. Toss the onion with the thyme. Place the garlic, onion (cut side down) and thyme on a baking paper lined tray and roast for 30-40 minutes until soft. Allow to cool.

The soft garlic will then pop easily out of its skin. Therefore remove each clove of garlic. Remove the onion flesh from its skin and blend, mash or process in a food processor both the onion and garlic. Add the vinegar, fresh thyme and dried thyme and mix. You'll need to taste the mixture and add salt and pepper as you like. Fill the ravioli.

Just before serving, cook the ravioli in boiling salted water. They only take a few minutes and will rise to the surface once cooked.

While the water is boiling toast the pine nuts in a dry pan until lightly browned. Also while the water is boiling, heat the cream, butter and thyme in a saucepan until simmering and the butter has melted. Add salt and pepper to taste as well as a handful of parmesan cheese. Keep warm.

Divide the ravioli among four serving bowls. Top with cream sauce and a few pine nuts. Sprinkle with remaining parmesan.

Prawn, Avocado, Prosciutto and Aioli Bruschetta

I made the aioli myself for this recipe, but you could easily use store bought mayonnaise and add a clove of garlic. Of course, the final product will not be as delicious, but it is easier.

I will publish a full time plan for the whole Sunday Lunch menu, but for this particular dish, the time plan is as follows.

The day before:

1. cook the prosciutto


2. toast the bruschetta


3. make the aioli

Just before serving, cook the prawns. While the prawns are cooking, mash the avocado. Don't be tempted to mash the avocado in advance - it will go brown.

Aioli

The fenugreek adds a wonderful, sharp tang which is not dissimilar to mustard. I think it compliments the other flavours very well in this recipe. But you therefore need to add less dijon mustard than you normally would.

Ingredients

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1/2 cup sunflower oil

1 teaspoon fenugreek

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 clove garlic crushed

Dijon mustard (extra - to taste)

Squeeze lemon juice

Salt and white pepper to taste

Method

Place the egg yolk and dijon mustard in a small bowl. Whisk until combined. Add the sunflower oil one drop at a time, whisking continuously. Continue whisking until the ingredients are emulsified. The mixture should be rich and creamy. Add the garlic powder, fenugreek and fresh garlic. You will need to taste the mayonnaise at this point to work out what else it needs. Whisk in extra dijon mustard, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.

Bruschetta

Ingredients

2 slices prosciutto

1 small sourdough bread stick sliced into 12 slices

Olive oil

12 green prawns cleaned and peeled

1 teaspoon sumac

1 avocado mashed

Method

Make the aioli.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the sourdough slices on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake for approximately 15 minutes until golden. Allow to cool.

While the bread is toasting, also place the prosciutto on a baking paper lined baking tray and bake for 12 minutes or until crisp. Allow to cool.

Mix the prawns with a little olive oil and sumac. Heat a fry pan and cook the prawns for 2-3 minutes on each side. While the prawns are cooking, spread each toast slice with avocado. Once the prawns are cooked, top the avocado with a prawn, a slice of prosciutto and a teaspoon of aioli. Serve immediately.

Sunday Lunch

Today our friends Rochelle and Phil came over for lunch with their beautiful son Otis (I am also his very proud God mother!). For the first time today even Oti tasted some of cooking, and he seemed very impressed! He is only one year old, so even if he had not been impressed I would not have minded. But he ate some of everything.

I am still quite obsessed with my spice book, and have made another trip to Herbie's Spices, I'd probably have 35 spices now and try to use at least one in each dish I cook. They add such an interesting and tasty dimension to basic meals.

On the menu for today was:

• Prawn, avocado, prosciutto and aioli bruschetta


• Roasted red onion and garlic ravioli with cream and thyme sauce


• Roast beef with mustard, garlic and herb butter


• Rosemary chips


• Rocket, roast tomato and parmesan salad with pink peppercorn dressing


• Rich chocolate cake with spiced berries and whipped cream

Rochelle and Phil were told that their food would have to be photographed prior to eating it (and they happily agreed), so I will shortly be uploading the recipes and the photos along with a menu plan for what can be prepared in advance. We had a lovely relaxing meal with much being prepared in advance.

Enjoy!

Cardamom Lemon Tart with Allspice Pastry

So again I am experimenting with spices. I took this lemon tart recipe from Comfort a marie claire recipe book by Michele Cranston and have added a few special touches in the form of green cardamom, allspice and vanilla bean seeds.

Green cardamom adds a lovely freshness. And allspice adds a delicious cinnamon and clove like fragrance to the pastry.

On my recent trip to Herbies in Rozelle I bought the most beautifully fragrant vanilla pods. You can small them through the plastic. They are amazing. In this recipe I split open a pod with a sharp knife, scrape out the vanilla seeds and mix them with the whipped cream to serve. Delicious!

In the picture I have served the tart with the vanilla cream and blackberries which I have whizzed in the food processor with a little lemon juice and sugar. Enjoy!

Pastry

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups plain flour

100g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes

1 1/2 tablespoons caster sugar

2 teaspoons allspice

2-3 tablespoons chilled water

Method

I made my pastry in my food processor. If you do not have a food processor, combine the flour, butter, sugar and allspice in a bowl and rub butter into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Then add the water slowly and knead until the pastry forms.

If using a food processor, add the flour, butter, sugar and allspice and process until combined. Add the water slowly until the mixture comes together.

In both cases, wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.

Grease a 25 cm tart tin or pie dish. Roll out the pastry until very thin (I found that I had far too much pastry - you can store the extra in the freezer for later use) and line the tin / dish with the pastry. Chill for another 30 minutes (I put this in the freezer for 15 minutes instead).

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Prick the base of the pastry with a fork, line with baking paper and fill with rice or pastry weights. Bake for 10-15 minutes until dry and slightly golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Filling

Ingredients

Prebaked pastry tart case (see above)

6 lemons

3 eggs

3 egg yolks

3/4 cup caster sugar

2 teaspoons ground green cardamom

250ml whipping cream (unwhipped)

300ml cream, whipped to serve

1 vanilla pod, split in half and seeds removed

Icing sugar to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.

Finely grate the zest of 2 lemons and place in a large bowl. Juice all of the lemons (you should have about 185ml lemon juice). Add to the lemon zest along with eggs, egg yolks, caster sugar and green cardamom. Whisk to combine. Add the cream and whisk once more before pouring the mixture into the tart case.

Place the tart case (carefully!) into the oven. Bake for 35-40 minutes (I found that I needed 50 minutes). The filling should be set but still a bit wobbly in the centre. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Refrigerate to enhance the lemon flavour.

Add the vanilla seeds to the whipped cream. Serve tart with vanilla cream, fresh berries and dusted with icing sugar.