North Macedonia – Lemon & Walnut Pesto Pasta; Roasted Vegetables on Angels Hair & Haloumi Salad
Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia is a landlocked Southeast European country on the Balkan peninsula. Macedonia is a relatively new Country, declaring independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. It shares borders with Albania to the west, Kosovo to the northwest, Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the East and Greece to the South.
Our North Macedonian Dinner Menu included
Haloumi Salad
Lemon & Walnut
Pesto Pasta
Roasted Vegetables
on Angels Hair
& Haloumi Salad
LEMON & WALNUT
PESTO PASTA
INGREDIENTS:
· 1
bag baby spinach (300 gms)
· 1
bunch basil
· 2
lemons
· 200
ml virgin olive oil plus a little extra for the pasta
· 280
gm walnuts
· 6
cloves garlic - crushed
· salt
& fresh cracked pepper to taste
· 1
box of Pasta
METHOD:
1.
pick basil leaves off the stem & discard the stem
2.
wash spinach
3.
juice the lemons
4.
put walnuts into a blender & roughly chop
5.
add basil leaves, spinach, lemon juice, oil & seasoning
& blend until it forms a
smooth paste.
6.
Put a large pot of
water onto the stove. Add a generous amount of salt & a little olive
oil & bring to the boil
7.
Add preferred
pasta to the pot & cook
according to packet instructions
8.
when cooked, tip pasta into a colander, strain & put back
into the pot
9.
Fold pesto through pasta & serve garnished with basil
leaves
ROASTED VEGETABLES on
ANGEL HAIR
INGREDIENTS:
· 1
kg vine ripened tomatoes
· 1
kg zucchini – cut in 1 cm cubes
· 1
kg pumpkin – skinned & cut in 1 cm cubes
· olive
oil
· cracked
salt & pepper
· olive
oil spray
· I
packet Angel Hair pasta
METHOD:
1.
Grease three oven pans (one for each vegetable), with olive
oil & grind a little rock salt over each pan (this will help to prevent
vegetables from sticking)
2.
Pre-heat oven to 180 cel.
3.
Prepare the tomatoes for roasting by first cutting the stem
end out – this can be done quite simply with a small knife – then slicing in
half lengthways.
4.
Lay vegetables on individual trays & spray with a little
olive oil spray & top with some cracked salt & pepper.
5.
Roast in oven until done (around 20 mins).
6.
Pumpkin & zuccini will need to be turned over a few times
to get them golden on all sides (I suggest you use a thin metal scraper for
this task as it will minimise damage to the vegetables & help to keep the
newly formed brown crust on the outside of the pieces)
7.
The tomato should not be turned but about half way through the
cooking it could be good to use the metal spatula to lift the tomato halves
away from the baking tray
8.
Put a large pot of
water onto the stove. Add a generous amount of salt & a little olive
oil & bring to the boil
9.
Add angels hair
to the pot & cook according to
packet instructions
10.
When pasta is cooked strain, place back into the pot, add a
generous amount of olive oil & gently stir
11.
Turn Angels Hair into a large serving platter & top with
the roasted vegetables.
This dish would have been complimented by a generous drizzle
of a dressing made from
Yoghurt & Olive Oil. We didn’t
do this because we were sharing the meal with Vegan family, so we simply served a good quality olive oil
on the table & let guests add the oil & cracked pepper & salt to
their own taste.
HALOUMI SALAD
INGREDIENTS:
· 200
gm Haloumi Cheese – cut in 1 cm dice
· I
tbs butter
· 200
gm cherry tomatoes (or vine ripened tomatoes cut in 1 cm dice)
· ½
a continental cucumber cut in 1 cm dice
· 350gm
bag mixed lettuce leaves including some bitter greens such as rocket
METHOD:
1.
melt butter in a frypan & gently fry haloumi on all sides
until golden then put aside on a plate.
2.
Make a salad with the lettuce, tomato & cucumber then top
with fried haloumi
3.
When the salad is served it is best if the hosts just ignore it if their vegan guests
lick the Haloumi before they reject it onto their loveones plates – lets face
it – only the strongest can resist the lure of fried Haloumi
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