Restaurant Review - Versatile Vegetables

Versatile Vegetables

Versatile Vegetables Versatile Vegetables

Words by Gillaine Hathaway 01/11/2007

THIS MONTH GILLAINE HATHAWAY RETURNS TO THE FLAVOURS AND SCENTS OF ANDALUCÍA

November is generally considered to be a fairly gloomy month, especially in the run up to Christmas, but not for the Andalucian housewife. In times past she would be busy with her husband working on the matanza (killing of livestock), which involved a lot of hard labour after the slaughter... preparing the meats and making sausages and other products to store and feed the family in the months ahead. So, at the end of such a busy day many family meals were based on seasonal vegetables. Yes, versatile vegetables abound at this time of the year: from aubergines and courgettes to red and green peppers. And, of course, the all-important staple Andalucian vegetables: onions, tomatoes and garlic.  
The following dish of stuffed red peppers is cooked in the oven and provides a tasty starter or a main course. Like all this month's vegetable recipes it is also a healthy, economical meal. Look out for the biggest, freshest peppers you can find and make sure the oven is really hot before you cook them.

RED PEPPERS STUFFED WITH RICE
(serves 4)

Ingredients:
4 large red peppers
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
8 tablespoons sliced tomatoes
300 gr. rice
250 gr. minced meat (equal mixture of beef and pork)
I tablespoon sweet red pepper (pimentón dulce)
150 ml olive oil
150 ml stock
a few strands of saffron (azafran)

• Heat the oven to 200ºC.
• Wash and fry the peppers and with a sharp knife cut off each "crown", leaving a hole big enough to allow the stuffing to enter. Remove the seeds and discard but keep the piece of pepper to use as a topping once it is stuffed.
• Heat the oil in a deep frying pan or casserole and gently cook the onion for approximately five minutes.
• Add the minced meat, stir in and when brown add the tomatoes and leave to cook for a further five minutes.
• Add the pimentón, saffron and rice and, stirring all the while, cook for a further minute before adding the stock. Continue cooking until the liquid has evaporated.
• Remove from the heat, salt the peppers inside and out and, using a spoon, fill with the stuffing.  "Seal" with the saved crown. Place on a greased baking sheet and cook in the oven for 35 minutes.

Aubergines, or berenjenas in Spanish, are often a neglected vegetable, perhaps because recipes state they have to be left in salt for half an hour or so to remove the bitter taste. But the eggplants available on the Costa del Sol are so fresh that this process is not necessary. Just look for the ones that are heavy for their size with a smooth, shiny skin and no blemishes.
Wrinkled, loose skin is an indication of age and thus the fruit will be more bitter. Smaller eggplants have fewer seeds, thinner skin, and tend to be sweeter, more tender and less bitter. Press your finger lightly against the skin. If it leaves a light imprint, it is ripe. If it's too soft, it's too old.
An Andalucian speciality which makes a wonderful tapa or starter is fried aubergine slices. Many people use milk to soak the aubergine slices before frying, but Manolo Gonzalez, the owner of a delightful courtyard tapas bar, Il Pavona, in San Pedro Alcántara (Calle Zamora), always uses beer. It works so much better, he told me, and Manolo should know as he has been preparing and serving a wide variety of tapas for many years to his contented customers. 

BERENJENAS FRITAS
(serves 4 to 6)

Ingredients: 
4 medium-sized aubergines
1 can of beer
2 or 3 tablespoons flour

• Cut the ends off the aubergines and peel them. Cut into thin slices and soak in the beer for around half an hour. Remove to kitchen paper and dry.
• Toss in the flour to give them a light coating and fry in a deep fat fryer, or in a frying pan with plenty of oil, for a few minutes until golden brown.
• Remove, drain on more kitchen paper and serve with a sprinkling of salt or with a drizzle of local honey.

If you would like an easy accompanying vegetable dish for fish or meat try aubergines baked in the oven. So easy and so good!

BAKED AUBERGINES
(serves 4 to 6)

Ingredients: 
4 medium-sized aubergines
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 or 3 tablespoon olive oil
approx. 2 teaspoons salt and pepper

• Pre-heat the oven to 350°F (180°C) or mark 4.
• Trim off the stalks, cut the aubergines lengthwise in half and make deep intersecting cuts in the exposed flesh to form a lattice design.
• Season with the salt and freshly ground pepper. Sprinkle with the finely chopped garlic, pressing it down into the deep cuts in the flesh.
• Lightly oil a roasting tin and arrange the aubergines, cut sides uppermost, in a single
• layer. Sprinkle the cut surfaces with more olive oil and bake for about 35 minutes or until the aubergines are tender and are lightly browned on the surface. Serve hot.

Green courgettes are more plentiful on the coast than white ones. The small white ones are generally only found these days in Gibraltar, as one of the Rock's special recipes is for stuffed courgettes. But the green ones are great for soups or as a vegetable to accompany meat, etc.  Both varieties are great in stir-fries or can be finely sliced in rounds, dipped in flour and deep-fried like the aubergines. 
Courgettes are always to be found in my vegetable rack and the following soup is an ideal winter warmer which also freezes well, so you can make it for use the same day or double quantities and store the dish in the freezer for another day. Diced bacon is easily available in small packets in local supermarkets, but use whatever you fancy: the taste is just as good.

COURGETTE AND BACON SOUP
(serves 4 to 6)

Ingredients:
600 gr. courgettes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
300 gr. diced bacon
1 litre ham, chicken or vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste

• Cut the stork and tips off the courgettes and wash in cold water. Then chop into two-centimetre chunks.
• Heat the oil in a large pan and fry two-thirds of the bacon until it starts to brown. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently until the onion is soft and translucent.
• Stir in the courgettes and add the stock. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or so until the courgettes are very tender.
• Remove the soup from the heat and allow to cool before processing with a hand blender or in the food processor. Re-heat and season with salt and pepper.
• Before serving cook the remaining bacon in a small frying pan until crisp then remove and drain on kitchen paper.
• Serve the soup with a sprinkling of the bacon pieces on top and, if you fancy it, a dollop of yoghurt.

I often use courgettes to make the following dish. It makes four generous portions, and keeps and heats up well. It is great served as an accompanying vegetable with meat or as a starter with a fried egg.

Ingredients:
4 or 5 medium or large green courgettes
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 garlics, peeled and coarsely chopped
salt and pepper

• Lightly scrape, wash and dry the courgettes and dice into approximately one-centimetre pieces.
• Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, lightly fry the garlic, add the courgettes and stir well to coat with the oil.
• Cover with a lid and leave to simmer until the courgettes are soft.
• Remove the lid, season with the salt and pepper, turn up the heat and cook until lightly browned

Left-over cooked cauliflower also works well and means that you have another easily prepared vegetable to accompany meat dishes. Or you can use mushrooms, setas or hongos.

So now how about combining peppers, aubergines and courgettes with onions, tomatoes and garlic and making a delicious vegetable dish? Pisto, a Spanish version of the French ratatouille, was said to have originated in Cataluña but is now a staple throughout Spain and particularly in Andalucía. Again, this dish keeps well in the fridge.

PISTO
(serves 4 to 6)

Ingredients: 
2 red or green peppers, de-seeded and sliced
2 aubergines, diced
3 large green courgettes
1 kg ripe red tomatoes, peeled and chopped
4 or 5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
approx. 4 tablepoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh basil
pinch of sugar
11/2 teaspoons salt
pepper to taste

• Cover the bottom of a casserole pan with olive oil and fry the onion and garlic until softened. 
• Add the aubergines, courgettes and peppers and stir well, cooking for around five minutes until they begin to soften.
• Finally, stir in the tomatoes, sugar and basil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Cook for around 30 minutes, stirring from time to time until all the vegetables are tender.
• Check the seasoning and serve.

TOP TIP
You might wonder about "fresh" basil leaves at this time of the year, but here is a simple tip for basil and other soft herbs...
Put a couple of bunches into your food processor and pulse until chopped. Add a tablespoon or two or water and scoop the herb mixture into ice cube trays. Freeze and store in a plastic container and use when required. Remember too that one cube equals one tablespoon of herbs.