OTAGO FARMERS MARKET

Perfect weekend for playing around in the kitchen! It is national roast week so that's a good place to start and to be honest when it's wet and cold i could think of nothing better. 
I am however not cooking a roast from our cosy mobile kitchen this week  (that was last week with havoc) but i will have a pot of vegetable soup on with thanks to Steve from McArthurs.  Jerusalem artichokes are still available and Wairuna organics are delicious.  Pasta is on the menu and i will be making a very seasonal pesto with walnuts and parsley it is simple to make and perfect flavours for this time of the year.  To finish a little pudd - baked apples with caramel sauce, it may be nothing fancy but it is utterly delicious and they would finish off your roast dinner nicely!
See you all soon....

FRESH PASTA WITH WALNUT AND PARSLEY PESTO

Cooking within the seasons is all about making the most of what is available; walnuts with their caramel notes combined with fresh, clean tasting parsley is a fantastic combination drizzled over pasta!

Serves 4

200g spaghetti

salt

For the pesto

100g walnuts, fresh

1 fat garlic clove garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

100g hard, tasty cheese – parmesan or pecorino, grated

50g flat-leaf parsley leaves

About 150ml good olive oil

Juice of ½ lemon

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Firstly bring a large pot of heavily salted water to the boil.

To make the pesto, place the walnuts, cheese, garlic and parsley leaves into a food processor and pulse to blend.  With the food processor on, drizzle in the oil and juice of lemon, season lightly with salt and pepper and blend for a minute to emulsify, taste once more and set aside until ready.

Cook the spaghetti as directed or until al dente (tender to the bite), drain the pasta reserving ¼ cup of liquid.  Spoon over half the pesto and toss to combine; add 1 – 2 tablespoons of the cooking water to loosen up the pesto and to help give the sauce a lovely gloss, if you think you need more pesto then by all means add until you are happy with the flavour.  Check for seasoning, and serve with extra cheese.

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES

Have a unique flavour, particularly when they are baked until almost melting.  To achieve this, roast halved artichokes (if left whole, they may explode in the oven) at a high temperature (200C) drizzled in a little oil until the skin is golden on both sides and they are fully cooked. They are delicious roasted in butter with fresh thyme, lemon rind, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Boiled artichokes scrubbed but unpeeled, can be mashed, creamed with knobs of butter and a good dash of cream – just remember that they don’t mash quite like potatoes. Boil or steam unpeeled artichokes with extra virgin olive oil and toss through a tiny bit of finely diced garlic, some flat-leaf parsley, lemon rind, sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

VEGETABLE SOUP

With thanks to McArthurs wonderful array of vegetables you could take your pick to make a vegetable soup of your choice, below is a simple recipe to get you started.  Feel free to add herbs, spices, pulses and variety of vegetables to create your own soup!

Serves 4

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp butter

1 onion, diced finely

1 leek, washed well and sliced

2 carrots, diced

2 sticks celery, sliced thinly

2 potatoes, cubed

Generous handful greens – cavolo nero, kale, cabbage or parsley, stalks removed and roughly chopped

4 sprigs fresh thyme

Parmesan cheese to serve (optional)

Method

In a large pot add the oil and butter, add the onion, leek, carrot, celery and thyme and cook with the lid on over a moderate heat for 10-15 minutes to extract as much flavour as possible.  Cover with cold water and bring to the boil, then reduce the temperature to a gentle simmer.  Add the potatoes and greens and cook until the potatoes are just tender (about 5-10 minutes).

Season with salt and freshly ground pepper, serve hot with a little freshly grated parmesan if desired.

BAKED APPLES WITH CARAMEL SAUCE

This is a simple dessert made all the more impressive due to the fantastic quality and array of apples available at the farmers market.

Serves 4

For the baked apples

4 large apples (your choice)

60g butter, melted

60g sugar

For the caramel
1 Tbsp water
50g sugar
80ml apple juice
50ml cream

Method
To prepare the apples.  Preheat the oven (without fan) to 170C

Wash the apples and pat dry.  Using a small knife, trim a slice off the base of each apple so that it will sit upright. Now make a small incision through one side of each apple, slightly above and beyond the core.  Push the core up through the base of the apple as far as the incision and then twist it to release the core or if like me you can keep them whole.

Brush the apples with the melted butter and roll in the sugar to coat all over.  Brush the baking dish liberally with butter and sprinkle with sugar, then stand the apples in the dish.  Bake for 35-40 minutes until the apples are tender but still holding their shape. Set aside.

To make the caramel.  While the apples are in the oven, put the water into a large saucepan, spoon the sugar evenly over and let it absorb the water for 1-2 minutes.  Now bring to the boil and cook to a dark golden caramel.  Add the apple juice and bring back to the boil.  Add the cream and reduce by half or until it thickens a little.

Serve over the warm apples with plenty of good quality vanilla ice cream or cream.

Rob from Cardrona Lamb

Me  (ALISON) doing what i do best cooking

PASTA DORO

ALISON WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING VENDORS FOR THEIR FANTASTIC PRODUCE

MCARTHURS BERRIES – selection of seasonal vegetable

SUNRISE BAKERY – selection of freshly baked goods

WAIRUNA ORGANICS – Jerusalem artichokes

WILLOWBROOK ORCHARD – apples

PASTA DORO – fresh pasta

NUT COMPANY- fresh walnuts

ROSEDALE ORCHARD – fresh fruit juice