Cheesy Carrot Lasagne

Cheesy Carrot Lasagne

2 tbsp oil
3  (300g) onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
4  (470g) carrots, shredded
1 tsp salt
1 can  (400g) chopped tomatoes with juice
180g / 2/3 cup greek yogurt
200g / 6oz your favorite cheese, shredded
250g / 9oz no-boil lasagne noodles

1) Preheat oven to 200C / 400F. Line a 20x20cm / 8x8inch baking dish with parchment paper or prepare a silicone baking dish.

2) In a medium saucepan, heat oil and add onions and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned. Add shredded carrots and salt. Stir-fry until carrots soften a little bit. Remove from heat and set aside.

3) Cover the bottom of the baking dish with 1/2 of chopped tomatoes (with juice). Top with 1/4 of the noodles. Top noodles with 1/3 of the carrot mixture and sprinkle 1/3 of cheese. Top with 1/4 of noodles, remaining chopped tomatoes and another 1/3 of the carrot mixture. Top with 1/3 of cheese. Spread 1/2 of Greek yogurt and top with 1/4 of noodles. Top with remaining 1/3 of the carrot mixture and remaining noodles. Top with remaining Greek yogurt and cheese.*

*You don't have to follow all these steps. This is what I did but you can arrange your lasagne the way you like it.

4) Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 180C / 350F and continue baking, covered, for another 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for additional 10 minutes until the top is golden brown.

5) Let cool for a few minutes, slice and serve!

Recipe by collecting memories

Falafels with Tahini Sauce

I'm obsessed with falafels. Seriously. I'm obsessed with food in general but falafels have always been my favourite thing. It's strange I've never made them at home before! I guess I didn't want to spend a lot of time soaking chickpeas, grinding everything, refrigerating, frying etc. But, surprisingly, it didn't take as much time as I thought. The only time-consuming thing was making the Tahini sauce but I wanted to make everything by myself and not use store-bought products. Another reason why I've never tried making them is that I try to avoid deep-frying food. But for falafels, I can make an exception. It's worth it!

Falafels with Tahini Sauce

Falafels
1 cup (220g) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
1 small onion
4 cloves garlic
3 tbsp fresh parsley
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp flour
pinch black pepper
Oil, for frying

Tahini Paste
100g sesame seeds, lightly toasted
1 tbsp oil

Tahini Sauce
Tahini paste (recipe above)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp honey
3 tbsp (45ml) lemon juice
4 tbsp (60ml) water
1 tsp salt

lettuce, chopped
tomato, sliced
onion, sliced

1) First, make the Tahini paste: add sesame seeds into your food processor and process until it starts turning into a paste. Add oil and pulse for a few minutes until it's smooth.

2) To make Tahini sauce, add all the ingredients into your food processor and pulse a few times until smooth. Set aside.

3) To make Falafels: put all the ingredients into your food processor and process until chickpeas look like tiny grits. You don't want to turn this mixture into a paste. Test if the dough is fine by taking a piece of dough and trying to form it into a ball. If it holds together, stop mixing. Refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes.

4) Heat oil in a pot or a saucepan. If you have a thermometer, make sure the temperature is 180C (350F) degrees. Form little balls and fry for about 4-6  minutes or until nicely brown. Drain on paper towels. 

5) Serve with tahini sauce and salad (and some pita bread, if you like). Enjoy!

Recipe by collecting memories

Greek Salad

This is my version of the famous Greek salad. It's quite basic - the only unusual ingredient is balsamic vinegar. You could omit this if you want but I think it goes well with everything. I also added some dried basil and oregano, but if you have fresh basil - I highly recommend using it instead. 

Greek Salad

Juice of 1 lemon
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
salt & pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (optional)
1 head (450g) your favourite lettuce (I used Iceberg), chopped
4 plum tomatoes, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
1 can (110g drained) black pitted olives, sliced
100-150g feta cheese, crumbled

1) Throw everything in a bowl and mix to combine. Serve immediately.

Recipe by collecting memories

Creamy Pasta Salad with Greek Yogurt Feta Dressing

Pasta dishes have always been my favourite ones. It's because pasta is extremely versatile and you can think of thousands of yummy dishes to make with it. One of my latest experiments was this creamy pasta salad. What is good about it, is that despite being amazingly delicious, it is also healthy. The dressing is made with greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise.
P.S. it is even better the next day after being refrigerated overnight. Enjoy!

Creamy Pasta Salad with Greek Yogurt Feta Dressing

200g ditalini pasta, cooked and drained
1 can sweet corn
1 large tomato, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, sliced
55g (handful) of black olives, halved
1/2 head lettuce (Iceberg), chopped
75g mixed baby leaves, chopped
salt & pepper

Greek Yogurt Feta Dressing

100g Feta cheese
300g/ (a little more than 1 cup) greek yogurt
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp dried dill
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp white pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp lemon juice

1) In a large bowl, combine together all the ingredients for the salad. Set aside.

2) For the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to make a smooth paste. Alternatively, you can simply put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix everything by hand.

3) Pour the dressing onto the salad and mix until evenly distributed. Keep in refrigerator.

Recipe by collecting memories

Farro Bake

Here's another proof that healthy food can also be delicious. I like all kinds of grains but farro is among my favourites. 
This farro bake is very simple and maybe that's why I like it. The two bright flavours you basically taste is parmesan and tomato sauce. That's why I suggest using homemade tomato sauce. If it contains basil, oregano, onion, garlic - even better! If using simple tomato sauce, feel free to add herbs like dried oregano or basil. Just be sure you sprinkle enough Parmesan on top!

Farro Bake

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ tsp salt
300g/1 ½ c pearled farro
225g/1 cup tomato sauce (preferably homemade)
600ml/2 ½ c vegetable broth
60g/1 1/4 cups Parmesan cheese, divided

1) Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Prepare 20x20cm/8x8" silicone baking pan or lightly grease a metal pan.  

2) In a large saucepan, heat olive oil. Add onion, salt and garlic and bring to medium-high heat. Cook onions until they start to turn translucent. Stir occasionally. Add farro and cook for another minute. Add tomato sauce and vegetable broth. Stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and then remove from heat. Stir in 1 cup of the Parmesan cheese.

3) Transfer the mixture into the prepared baking dish and cover with foil. Cut a few slits in the foil. Bake for 45 minutes, removing the foil when it's almost done just to let the top darken. Remove from oven and sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Recipe adapted from here.

Chickpea Stew

Chickpea Stew

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion
5 cloves garlic
1 medium carrot
1 small potato (80g), cut into small cubes
1 can chickpeas (240g drained)
5 tbsp tomato sauce
1/8 tsp curcuma
1 tsp smoked paprika
generous pinch of salt
1 tsp curry powder
water, as needed

1) In a saucepan, heat the oil and add onions. Cook 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned and fragrant. Add garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.

2) Add carrot, potatoes and 1/2 cup water. Cook 5 minutes. Add chickpeas, tomato sauce and spices. Cook, covered over medium heat, until the liquid is absorbed. Then add additional water and cook until it is absorbed again. Repeat the process as needed. Add water in small quantities - you don't want to have too much liquid in your stew. Cook until the potatoes and carrots are soft and all the liquid has been absorbed.

Serve over rice or eat plain. I prefer this without anything else, it's just too good!

Serves 2 (I ate it all by myself)

Recipe by collecting memories

Bread Pizza

Pizza has always been one of my favourite Italian dishes. Even though I love experimenting with topping ingredients and love the additions such as pineapple, pickles or blue cheese, I always  love to come back to the basics. Mushrooms, cheese, tomato sauce and some herbs is everything I need for the best pizza. However, the crust sometimes takes too much time to mix up, knead, roll out etc.  So I thought I could use white sandwich bread instead of making pizza dough. It took no time and helped me to use up the old bread. And you know what? It was so good. The crust was browned and crunchy and and the surface of the bread absorbed some of the pasta sauce. The topping was perfectly delicious and cheesy. What is more, I liked that this was divided into small portions. If you have no time but crave for pizza, there's nothing better than topping slices of white sandwich bread with your favourite pizza ingredients.

Bread Pizza

6 slices white bread
~1 cup of homemade tomato sauce*
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
dried oregano
dried basil
salt (optional)
180g mushrooms, sliced
80g gouda cheese, shredded

*My tomato sauce contains parsley, onions, garlic, pepper and a dash of olive oil so you may add these seasonings too. If there's no oil in your tomato sauce, I highly recommend adding some, or sprinkling the bread with about a teaspoon of oil before topping.

1) Preheat oven to 200 deg C. Prepare a tray with parchment paper.

2) Place bread slices on the baking paper. Top each of them with tomato sauce. Sprinkle with garlic, oregano, basil and a pinch of salt.Top with mushrooms and sprinkle with cheese.

3) Bake as long as you wish. This may take from 5 to 25 minutes. I like to bake them longer because I like my bread extra crispy and browned.

Recipe by collecting memories

Homemade Tomato Sauce

Homemade Tomato Sauce

Makes about 1-2 cups

10 medium tomatoes, peeled
2 medium onions, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
A handful of fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp red wine vinegar
Dash of olive oil (optional)*

*If using oil, you can saute onions in it before adding all the ingredients to the saucepan. They will enhance flavour. However, if you do not want to use oil just follow the directions below.

1) Prepare a large saucepan. Chop peeled tomatoes into small chunks. Add onions, garlic, parsley, oregano, basil, smoked paprika, ground pepper and salt. Cover and set over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally.

2) When the mixture comes to boil, lower the heat, uncover and let simmer until the liquid evaporates. Stir occasionally. Just before removing from heat, add red wine vinegar. 

3) Let cool completely and serve with pasta or pizza or whatever you like.

Recipe by collecting memories