theme: Orange

I’m posting for Michael – I’ll let him add comments and notes and conversions

Carrot, lentil & orange soup

From BBC Good Food

Serves 4 (I think he at-least doubled it)

Ingredients

* 1 tsp cumin seeds

* 2 tsp coriander seeds

* 1 onion chopped

* 225g carrots diced

* 75g red lentils

* 300ml orange juice

* 2 tbsp low-fat natural yogurt

* fresh chopped coriander to garnish

* pinch paprika to garnish

* 600ml vegetable stock

92 kcalories, protein 4g, carbohydrate 17g, fat 1 g, saturated fat 0g, fibre 2g, salt 0.56 g

Method

1. Crush the seeds in a pestle and mortar, then dry-fry for 2 mins in a large pan until lightly browned. Add the onion, carrots, lentils, orange juice, stock and seasoning, then bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 30 mins until the lentils are soft.

2. Transfer to a food processor in batches and process until smooth. Return to the pan, then gently reheat, stirring occasionally. Adjust seasoning to taste. Ladle into individual serving bowls, swirl the yogurt over and sprinkle with the chopped coriander leaves and paprika. Serve immediately.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, Vegetarian Christmas 2006 .

Great fresh out of the pan, so-so microwave re-heated an hour after the pan. I’m going to try a convection oven reheating soon. It was great fun last night – lots of interesting and yummy stuff.

Pan-Fried Lemon-Ricotta Gnocchi

Compliments of Jaden’s Steamy Kitchen

1 cup	whole milk ricotta – I used part-skim
1/2 cup	freshly grated parmegiano reggiano (plus extra reserved for garnishing)
1 large	egg yolk
1 teaspoon	lemon zest (use a microplane grater) (plus extra reserved for garnishing) – I made half with orange zest. Like the lemon better.
1 teaspoon	kosher salt (or 1/2 tsp table salt)
3/4 cup	all purpose flour, sifted
1 tablespoon	chopped parsley (plus extra reserved for garnishing)
1/2 teaspoon	finely minced chilli (or red pepper flakes) – adjust chilli based on your tastes
2 tablespoons	clarified butter (or just regular butter, but the clarified butter works much better)
1 tablespoon	olive oil

1. Combine ricotta, parmegiano, yolk, zest and salt in large bowl. Mix well. Sprinkle half of the flour on the mixture, gently turn with spatula a few times to incorporate. Dump mixture on clean, lightly floured countertop. Sprinkle remaining flour on top of the mixture. Gently knead with your fingertips, just bringing together the mixture until flour is incorporated through. This only should take a minute or two. Any longer and you will be over-kneading. *If you are using skim milk ricotta – you may have to use more flour, as there is more water content in skim ricotta. I didn’t use extra.

Dough should look like this:

2. Divide dough into 4 parts. Take one part and roll into a long, 1″ diameter log. Cut gnocchi into 1″ pieces. You may use your wooden doobie-bopper or tines of a fork to get those pretty grooves that will eventually disappear after frying anyways.

3. Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Add butter and olive oil. when butter is just lightly browned, add gnocchi in single layer. Fry on one side for 2 minutes, flip. Add chilli. Fry other side for 1-2 minutes. Timing really depends on how big/thick your gnocchi is. Do a taste test – do you taste flour? Not done yet. Serve with a sprinkling of lemon zest, parmegiano and parsley.

Oh, and on the clarified butter, I just melted it on the stove, poured it into a narrow, high container, skimmed the top, and then refrigeated until ready to use.