I think I might make them with feta next time. Also maybe use spring onions instead or at least cook the red onion a little first, the taste was too harsh.

Pumpkin, Sage & Blue Cheese Fritters

Makes 12

2 cups grated pumpkin

1 small red onion, sliced

100g+ blue cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup rice flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg white

1/4 cup sage leaves, chopped

Salt & pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

12 sage leaves, extra

Lemon wedges, to serve

Place pumpkin, onion, cheese, flour, baking powder, egg white,  sage, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well to combine.

Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat.

Shape tablespoonsful of the mixture into patties and top with extra sage leaves.

Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden and cooked through.

Serve with lemon.

Risotto with Chicken & Brussel Sprout

Serves 4-6

1.1L stock (chicken or vegetable)

2 tablespoons olive oil

A knob of butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

400g risotto rice

500ml dry white wine

1/2 half a cup of peas (frozen or fresh)

salt and pepper

70g butter

115g grated parmezan cheese

2 large? handfuls of brussel sprouts, shredded

1 tablespoon butter

2 pieces of chicken breast

Heat the stock and keep it simmering hot on the stove.

Put the olive oil and butter into a separate pan, add the onion and garlic, and cook very slowly for about 15 minute without colouring.

Add the rice and turn up the heat. The rice will begin to lightly fry, so continue to stir it. After a minute it will look slightly translucent.

Add the wine and keep stirring.

Once the wine has cooked into the rice, add your first ladle of hot stock.

Turn the heat down to a simmer so the rice doesn’t cook to quickly on the outside.

Continue adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring the creamy starch out of the rice, allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next. This will take around 20 minutes but always varies so taste the rice to check if its cooked. If not, continue adding the stock until the rice is soft but still has a slight bite. Don’t forget to check the seasoning carefully and if you run out of stock just add some boiling water.

When the rice is almost cooked, put a fry pan over medium heat with a splash of olive oil and fry the chicken. In another fry pan place the butter and fry the brussel sprouts.

Remove the risotto from the heat when cooked and add the butter, parmezan and the (frozen) peas. Stir well.

Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for 2 minutes.

Add the sliced chicken and brussel sprouts.

Divide between plates and eat as soon as possible.

A thing of beauty. Honestly, the most satisfaction you’ll get out of anything this simple. Try it.

Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

via Smitten Kitchen

Serves 4

800g whole peeled canned tomatoes

70 grams unsalted butter (I used salted and still added salt but it’s probably better to err on the side of caution)

1 medium-sized yellow onion, peeled and halved

Salt to taste

Place the tomatoes, onion and butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat.

Bring the sauce to a simmer then lower the heat to keep the sauce at a slow, steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free of the tomatoes.

Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon.

Remove from heat, discard the onion, add salt to taste and keep warm while you prepare your pasta.

These meatballs were awesome. They may very well be the best, really light and soft – adding ricotta is a genius idea. They were really fresh tasting as well. I used pork and veal, but you can use whatever you like.

Meatballs

Serves 4

via Totally Addicted To Taste

185 ml Olive Oil

1 Onion, finely chopped or grated

100g Pine Nuts

3 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped

40g Parsley, chopped

Small handful of thyme

55g fresh or dried breadcrumbs

300g Ricotta

40g Parmesan cheese

Zest of a lemon

1 Free Range Egg

250g Mince Pork

250g Mince Veal

Heat half of the olive oil in a saucepan and cook the onion and pine nuts until onion is soft and the pine nuts are light golden brown.

Add the garlic and thyme and cook for a few minutes more – making sure you don’t overcook the pine nuts.

Place the parsley, breadcrumbs, ricotta, Parmesan, lemon zest and egg in a bowl and add the mince.

Add the cooled onion and pine nuts, season with salt and pepper and mix briefly until all of the ingredients are combined. Test for seasoning by frying one small meatball and tasting for flavour. Leave the mixture to rest in the fridge for at least 30 mins. This will help the meatballs hold their shape whilst cooking.

To make the meatballs, roll about 50g of mixture into a ball about the size of a golf ball. At this point you could put on your water for your pasta – to get it boiling.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a large saucepan and fry the meatballs until golden brown on both sides. You will probably need to cook these in a couple of batches to avoid overcrowding the frying pan. Once browned on both sides, remove the meatballs from the pan. Don’t worry about cooking them through – we’ll do this later. By just searing them each side for some colour and texture, you will keep the meatballs moist inside.

Put the pasta on to boil.

Place the meatballs into the pan, sitting in the tomato sauce. Place a lid over the top and simmer for 10 mins. Give the pan a little gentle shake every so often, just to make sure that the sauce or the meatballs haven’t stuck to the bottom, as this will cause them to burn. You want the sauce to be on a gentle simmer.

Drain the pasta, divide between bowls, top with a few meatballs, sauce and parmazan.

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Often I’m quite tempted to leave the risotto just like this. Thyme, butter and cheese, what a combination.

This was delicious. I don’t know why I’ve never added any meat to my risottos before. Also the balsamic reduction was an easy was to make the risotto even richer, it’s sticky and sweet and super tasty.

Recipe from bread & honey

Except…

I just used this recipe to make the actual rice, purely because I know it from memory.

I didn’t add the mushrooms in the beginning. I torn them into smaller pieces, fried them for a few minutes until they began to colour, then I seasoned them with salt and pepper, added some chopped garlic, a knob of butter and thyme and roasted them in a 200°C preheated oven for 6 minutes or so, until cooked through and rich in flavour. You can chop them into smaller pieces at this stage if you prefer. Again, this is just because it’s how I always do mushrooms.

Also, why have I been frying thick pieces of chicken breast in a pan which takes forever?! This time I fried each side for a few minutes and then chucked it in a 180°C for 7 minutes or so. Much juicer.

This is just before I let it stand for a few minutes with the lid on.

I got the recipe from souvlakiforthesoul

Frittata with Zucchini, Asparagus, Cream Cheese, Blue Cheese & Rocket

Flathead In Carpione

Serves 6

1kg Flathead fillets, cut into smaller pieces

Plain flour, for dusting

Olive oil,  for frying

Butter, for frying

6 medium sized carrots, sliced

Chicken stock

300ml dry white wine

300ml good quality white vinegar

Peppercorns, whole

3 fresh bay leaves

Salt and pepper

Dust the flathead pieces lightly in flour.

Heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan and fry fish on both sides until a light golden brown.

Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.

Heat a little more oil and some butter in the same pan and add the carrots.

Saute over a low heat.

Add a splash of stock and saute slowly until the carrots are tender.

In a separate pan, bring the wine to boil.

Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

When cold, stir in the vinegar.

Arrange some pieces of fish in a smallish, non-reactive dish and top with carrots.

Sprinkle on the peppercorns, tuck the bay leaves among the fish pieces and season with salt and pepper as you go.

Continue layering the fish and carrots.

Pour the wine-vinegar mixture over the top.

Cover and refrigerate for at least one day before serving.

Smoked salmon bilinis with capers

Zucchini frittata

Roasted capsicum with breadcrumbs and olives

Pumpkin and feta rolled in lasagna sheets

Panna cotta with cherries and pistachios

Classic film, classic pizza. Seriously original and tasty combination, by far one of the best in Melbourne.  I’ve been here a handful of times and the food and service have been consistently good. Go check it out!

Anna Karina (above), star of Bande à Part (and Jean-Luc Godard’s one time wife and muse) ate her (Karina) pizza here when she visited Melbourne last year for the International Film Fesitval. Pretty cool.  “Karina pronounced the pizza — grilled peppers, pesto, goat’s cheese and speck — delicious, and reminisced about her first experience of eating out in Paris at the age of 18, newly arrived from her native Denmark and unable to speak French. Determined to treat herself, she went to the famous Cafe Flore. “The only thing on the menu that I could afford was something called ‘couvert’, so I ordered that,” she recalls. The waiter informed her this was the word for cover charge. “He was very kind,” she adds. “I think he gave me a bread roll as I left.” The Age

Tom Cooper (Smoked Salmon, Mascarpone, Chilli & Chives), Blue Velvet (Prosciutto, Taleggio, Red Wine soaked Pears, Potato)

Karina (Speck, Roasted Peppers & Goats Cheese)

749 Nicholson St

Carlton North 3054

03 9388 8950

cider and pizzas.

potato pizza with taleggio & radicchio

italian sausage with broccoli & chilli and gorgonzola & leek