200ml NZ Extra Virgin olive oil

15 garlic cloves, peeled and halved

500g cherry tomatoes

1 cup basil leaves, loosely packed

250g feta, roughly crumbled

Place the Extra Virgin olive oil and garlic in a saucepan and fry over a moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is golden and soft (about 6 minutes). Add the tomatoes and basil, stir well and cook for about 3 minutes until the tomato skins just begin to burst. Add the feta and gently mix in. Taste for seasoning, then spoon the sauce over the cooked past or gnocchi.

(The olive oil and garlic in this recipe may seem excessive, but as it dribbles down your chin you’ll realise it is well worth it!)

150g sugar                            150g or 165ml NZ extra virgin olive oil

100g flour                             50g semolina

2 egg yolks                            3 egg whites

1 lemon, zest and juice       ½ tsp vanilla paste

Pinch of salt

Cream the sugar with the egg yolks until pale and fluffy. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla paste followed by the flour and semolina. Beat until smooth.

Slowly pour the olive oil into the mixture and stir until the oil is incorporated into the batter. It will be quite thick and shiny. Let it rest for a while so that the flour and semolina can absorb the oil. Stir again.

Add a good pinch of salt to the egg whites and beat them to a very firm peak. Gently fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the cake mixture, then the second third and then the last third. This will ensure that the cake is light and fluffy. You can either pour the batter into a round spring-form tin or into a ring-form tin depending on how you want to serve it.

Bake at 170C for about 40 minutes.

To serve, sprinkle with icing sugar and server in wedges with orange segments and whipped cream. Mascarpone or yoghurt makes a nice alternative to whipped cream.

A winter warmer to add to stews.

100g self raising flour                        

50g shredded suet

2 tsp chopped fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried

2 tsp chopped fresh sage or 1 tsp dried

Mix flour and suet and add herbs. Stir in enough cold water to make an elastic dough. Divide into 12 balls and place around the edge of the hot pot for the last 20 minutes of cooking.

Sservers 4-6, Prep time 15 mins, cooking time 45 – 60 mins.

This is a good way to use that zucchini that turned into a marrow when you weren’t looking!

300g zucchini or marrow                       300g sugar

4 eggs                                                     200ml olive oil

1 tsp vanilla extract                                2 drops lavender oil (optional)

280g flour                                               2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

For icing:

300g cream cheese softened              150g butter at room temp

2 cups icing sugar                                1 tsp vanilla paste

Preheat oven to 200c. Butter a 22cm round cake tin and line the base with baking paper.  Grate the zucchini and let it rest in a sieve over the sink.

Beat together the sugar and eggs until well mixed and pale. Add the zucchini, olive oil, vanilla extract and lavender oil into the egg mix and combine.

In another bowl sift the flour, baking soda and baking powder with a pinch of salt. Mix this into the zucchini mix and combine loosely. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for 45 mins. or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Make the icing by beating together the cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and vanilla paste. Spread on the top of the cake and decorate with flowers or nuts.

Smooth and Creamy Coconut Butter.

(Recipe by Sonia!  The Health Foodie)

Ingredients

·         6 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

·         ½ cup coconut oil

·         ¼ tsp Himalayan salt

Instructions

1.       Add all the ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and process for a total of 8-10 minutes until creamy and fairly liquid. You will have to stop and scrape the sides a few times, but it shouldn’t be too often.

2.       Force the coconut butter through a fine mesh sieve by pushing it down with a ladle or rubber spatula.

3.       Place the coarser butter that stayed in the sieve back in to the processor and process it for few more minutes until it becomes liquid again.

4.       Force through the fine mesh sieve once again. You can repeat this process one or two more times, just to make sure you get the most out of your coconut.

5.       Pour the smooth butter into a glass jar and put it away to give it time to set, at least 24 hours.

6.       By all means do not discard the grainy butter; keep it in a separate jar and use it as a garnish for pancakes, muffins, scrambled eggs, salads... let your imagination run wild!

NOTES