Homemade ketchup sauce

Ingredientes:

• 5,5kg. de ripe plum tomatoes. 
• 2 onions. 
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder.
• 4 cloves garlic. 
• 2 cinnamon sticks.
• 15g. clove spices.
• 10g. de mustard powder
• 1/3 de l. de vinegar. 
• 1/3 l. de honey.
• Paprika of the Vera. 
• Salt. 

(for 1,5 litres)

Preparación:

1. Peel the tomato with potato peeler. If they aren't Escaldar, enfriar, pelar y cortar los tomates en cuatro.
2. Chop the onions.
3. Put the onions, tomatoes and cayenne pepper in a large pan over medium-low heat for 20 minutes. 
4. Blend it very well and filter through a sieve over another pan.. 
5. Add the cayenne pepper, mustard, vinegar, honey, paprika and salt. Mix well. If you prefer the ketchup less sweet, reduce the amount of honey or delete.
6. Tie the chopped garlic, the cinnamon stick and the clove spice in cheesecloth, creating a spice bag. And add it into the pan.
7. Cook uncovered over low heat for 2 houtrs. 
8. Remove the spice bag and fill the jars.

And enjoy!!

Pasta al pesto

Ingredients:

• Pasta
• Pesto
• Grated cheese

Directions:

1. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water until done. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat a frying pan over medium-low heat.
3. Add pesto and cook about five minutes.
4. In a large bowl, mix pesto mixture into pasta.
5. Optional, stir in grated cheese. Serve.

And enjoy!!

Yummy pancakes, the original recipe

Ingredients:

• 100g plain flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 large egg
• 15g butter
• 150ml milk
• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• Salt

Directions:

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl and add a pinch of salt. 
2. Stir in the sugar, then make a well in the centre and break in the egg.
3. Add the butter and a splash of milk.
4. Whisk the mixture to form a thick batter, then gradually whisk in the rest of the milk.
5. Set the mixture aside for 5 mins.
6. Using a piece of kitchen roll soaked in oil, grease a nonstick frying pan. Heat until hot but not smoking.
7. Pour in enough mixture to make a small, thick pancake about 7-8cm across. Cook until bubbles form on the top and the base is golden brown. Flip over and cook the other side until golden.
8. Slide on a plate and keep warm by covering with a clean tea towel.
9. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
10. Serve with sugar or marple syrup.

And enjoy!!

Cream of Asparagus Soup

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg. asparagus. 
• 3 leeks. 
• 1 onion. 
• Olive oil. 
• 1/4 l. de chicken broth.
• 2 potatoes. 
• Salt
• Pepper. 
• Croutons

Directions:

1. Peel and chop the onion and leeks.
2. Clean, peel and chop the tips off your asparagus. Chop the asparagus stalks too.
3. Bring to the boil the tips with 1/4l in water with salt until they have softened. Drain.
4. In the large saucepan, over low heat, add a good lug of olive oil . Add the onion, leeks and asparagus stalks until they are soft and sweet.
5. Then, add the chicken broth, the liquid to cooking asparagus and 1/2l. water. 
6. Peel and chop the potatoes. And add them.
7. To obtain a compact and soft cream with the same consistency of a custard a little thick, calculate well the liquids.
8. Purée the soup using a blender until smooth.
9. Season the soup with salt and pepper.
10. Put the soup back on the heat, but don't allow it to boil. 

Serve with the asparragus tips, or in individual bowls with homemade croutons.

The white wine is a great match for this wonderful cream soup.

And enjoy!!

Roasted pumpkin seeds

Ingredients:

• Pumpkin seeds
• Salt
• Sugar

Directions:

1. First, remove the pumpkin seeds and you drain the rinsed seeds. 
2. Then, pour them onto a large, dry cookie sheet and let them sit for 24 hours or so to dry out.
3. Make sure that there are mounted on each other and add enough salt with double purpose season them and it removes the excess moisture.
4. Preheat oven to 150º.
5. Bake them for about 45 minutes or until golden brown. Stir them occasionally.
6. They are ready, when the shell is very cripsy.
7. Remove them from oven.
8. Sprinkled a little bit of sugar on while they were hot...makes a great taste.

And enjoy!!

Original pesto sauce

Ingredients:

• 30g. fresh basil
• 1 clove garlic
• 60g pine nuts
• 150 ml olive oil
• 50g Parmesan cheese
• 50g Pecorino cheese
• Salt

 Directions:

1. Wash the fresh basil leaves.
2. Peel and chop the clove garlic, to make easier to blend later.
3. Add the basil leaves, garlic, salt and pine nuts in a blender or mortar.
4. Blander all together, mix well.
5. Now, we add the olive oil.
6. Let stand 5 minuts. It will enhance the flavours.
7. Now, we put in a wide container and add the two grated cheese.
8. Mix all ingredients well until we have an homogeneous sauce.

 And enjoy!!

Roquefort sauce

Ingredients:

• 50g. roquefort cheese
• 2 tablespoons vinegar.
• 10 tablespoons sunflower oil.

Directions:

1. Crush the cheese with the vinegar into the mortar. 
2. Now, add the oil while stir the mix with the wood spoon bit by bit without stopping. 
3. Refrigerate 30 minutos and serve.

And enjoy!

Homemade croutons

Ingredientes:

• Bread
• Olive oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic

Preparación:

1. Cut the bread into even-sized cubes.
2. Peel and chop the garlic.
3. Fry the garlic and remove it from the pan.
4. In that same oil, spread the croutons out in a single layer in the pan and fry them on medium-high heat for approximately 10 minutes or until they are really golden brown.
5. Place them on a paper towel to allow any excess oil to be absorbed.

And enjoy!!

Homemade tomate sauce

Ingredients:

• 2kg de ripe plum tomatoes
• 2 onions
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Directions:

1. Pour the olive oil into a large stockpot over low heat.
2. Diced the onions and add them.
3. Saute until onions are translucent and tender.
4. Wash and chop the tomatoes. Simmer on low heat for 2 hours.
5. Turn off the heat and let stand for 5 minuts.
6. Use an immersion blender to puree sauce until smooth. If you want a thicker sauce, skip this step.
7. Season the sauce with salt. If you don't like the tomate acidic taste, you can add 1/4 teaspoon caster sugar. It alters the acidic taste.
8. Ready to use it. 
9. Use fresh or store in the fridge up to 5 days, or can fill jars and freeze them, for future use.

And enjoy!!

Tortellini soup

Ingredients:

• 1 garlic glove
• 1 medium celery stalks
• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• chicken broth
• 1 medium chicken breast
• Olive oil
• Tortellini
• Parsley
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. 
2. Chop garlic, cerely, carrot, onion and chicken breast. Cover and cook them in olive oil 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in broth. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Stir in tortellini. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tortellini are tender.
4. Stir in chopped parsley. Cover and simmer 5 minutes. 
5. Grate the cheese. 
6. Top each serving with cheese.

And enjoy!

Chicken broth

Ingredients:

• 1 Whole chicken
• 500g cooked chickpeas
• 2 onions
• 2 big potatoes
• 2 carrots
• Water
• 1/2 tablespoon of salt

Directions:

1. Chop the chicken.
2. Peel and chop the vegetables and combine them in a large stockpot.
3. Pour in enough water to just cover them completely. Heat the water to boiling over medium-high heat. Skim any fat or scum from the surface with a large spoon. Season the broth with salt.
4. Cook for about 2 hour.
5. Taste it and add salt for perfect taste. 
6. Then , strain into another pot and let the broth gets cool. Cover and refrigerate (max. 5 days) or freeze the broth for future use. 

And enjoy!

Cooked chickpeas for your recipes

Soak them overnight, if you have the time. 

Place them in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Make sure to cover them well with water, the chickpeas will expand to over double their size. 

Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let them soak overnight. 

Drain the water and rinse the chickpeas before add them in any recipes. If you want for hummus or salad, you will need to cook them.

If they aren't part of a recipe...

Place them in a large pot and cover with several inches of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add salt, if desired.

Let the chickpeas cook for 60-90 minutes till desired tenderness. Adjust cooking time to achieve the desired tenderness for your purposes. 

When the chickpeas are fully cooked, drain in a colander and allow to cool.

Store
To store cooked chickpeas in the refrigerator (max 3-4 days), place them in a covered airtight container without any additional liquid. 

To store them longer for future use, freeze them. Pour them into a plastic zipper bag and put immediately back into the freezer. Frozen chickpeas will keep for up to 1 year.

Source: Toriavey