And we are workshopped!

Last Friday was such a great day! After months of planning, Sneh and I held our first workshop. We combined forces for a food writing, styling and photography workshop at the Cook Republic HQ. Of course the day flew so it felt like we ran out of time but I think that is the sign of a good day. Our group was a fabulous bunch, all interested in working together and hearing each others ideas. I loved it. Normally when you do writing exercises (and I have done my time with writing courses trust me) no one ever wants to read out their work. I'm normally one of them. Not this time! People were so willing to share and it really made the day. I also am a little blown away by the quality of the writing.

We were lucky enough to have some great sponsors help us out including Pressed Juices and Salt, Meats Cheese as well as Breville Australia who generously gave us a Nespresso machine to give away to one of the workshop participants. Meet Ange - she won the machine and I have a feeling it will be put to great use!

For lunch we had a delightful vegetarian pasta dish, one that Sneh cooked for her family Christmas - it is satisfying, colourful and easy. What more could you want? Here is the recipe. 

CHRISTMAS HONEYCOMB CANNELLONI

(adapted from Delicious Magazine December 2010/January 2011 Issue)

 

Preparation Time – 60 minutes

Resting Time – 60 minutes

Cooking Time – 30 Minutes

Serves – 8 to 10

 

 

Ingredients

 

500g-600g cannelloni tubes

 

for the red sauce

2 X 400g cans chickpeas, drained

2 X 400g cans diced tomatoes

1 X 400g jar pasta sauce of your choice (I used Portobello mushroom and garlic)

2 red onions, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

250g button mushrooms, finely chopped

1/4 cup sliced black olives

1 cinnamon quill

2 dried red chillies

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/4 cup red wine

small bunch of fresh rosemary, leaves chopped

few sprigs of thyme

handful of oregano leaves, chopped

handful of basil leaves, torn

salt to taste

freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 bay leaf

 

for the white sauce

500g English spinach

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

300ml light pouring cream

400ml sour cream

1 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan

grated zest of 1 lemon

juice of half a lemon

salt to taste

freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon oil

 

for the topping

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

few sprigs of fresh rosemary

 

Method

 

To make the red sauce

 

Heat oil on medium in a large casserole. Add the bay leaf, cinnamon twill, red chilli, garlic and onion. Sauté for a few minutes until onions are tender. Add carrots, mushroom, chickpeas, olives, rosemary, oregano, thyme and basil. Sauté for 5 minutes, mixing constantly with a wooden spoon. Reduce heat to low. Add the canned tomatoes, pasta sauce and red wine. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer on low for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure that the sauce doesn’t stick to the bottom. You may at this point add 1/4 or 1/2 cup of water to get the right consistency (slightly loose but still thick pasta sauce consistency). After 25 minutes, remove from heat and set aside. Pick out the red chill and bay leaf. Discard. Pick also the cinnamon quill and reserve for assembling later.

 

To make the white sauce

 

Wash and pat dry spinach leaves. Chop them finely. In a large frying pan, heat oil on medium and add spinach. Toss spinach around for a couple of minutes until leaves start wilting and look glazed. Remove from heat. Season with nutmeg. Place in a large bowl. Add cream, sour cream and parmesan. Add lemon rind, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix well. Set aside.

  

To assemble

 

Preheat oven to 180C. Take a large 23cm wide and at least 12cm deep ovenproof casserole pan. Grease the insides with a light oil spray or melted butter. Add half the red sauce. Stand cannelloni upright in the sauce, making sure the tubes are next to each other and quite snug. Press down gently to make sure they are touching the base of the pan.

 

Spoon in half the white spinach sauce over, around and into the tubes. Sprinkle over some parmesan. Spoon over the remaining red sauce around, into and over the tubes. Repeat with the white spinach sauce. With the palm of your hand, gently push the cannelloni tubes further down into the pan. Top with the remaining parmesan and rosemary sprigs. Insert the cinnamon quill next to one of the cannelloni tubes. Cover the pan and rest for at least 30 minutes (this helps to soak up some sauce into the pasta tubes, making them soft).

 

When ready to bake, place in pre-heated oven for 30 minutes. Bake covered until browned and cooked on top. Serve hot with a chunky basil pesto and salad greens.