Tomato Soup

The tomato is a fruit in many different ways. Raw in a salad, or mashed in sauces, and even in drinks and jams, tomato is a versatile ingredient. The recipe of today features a soup, in which the tomato is the big star.

Ingredients (serves 4):

1,5 Kg of mature tomatoes
2 medium onions
3 garlic cloves
200ml of chicken broth
1 bunch of basil
1 spring of thyme
A pinch of salt
A pinch of black pepper
Olive oil

Prepare the chicken broth by simmering chicken pieces, at low heat, for about 2h.
Chop all the ingredients in small pieces. Heat the olive oil and add the onions. Cook for about 3 minutes or until the onions are fragrant. Add the garlic, the tomato, the basil, the thyme and the chicken broth still warm. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat. Cook the mixture for about 15 minutes at low heat, stirring once or twice. Transfer half of the mixture into a food processor and process until you get a homogenous cream. Add the cream back on the pan and stir. Serve hot with toasted bread.

Notes:
In the end you can also add 100ml of cream.
If you prefer a more creamy soup, process the whole mixture.

Classic Lasagne

The UEFA Euro cup has started and the Swedish and the Chef is a fan, because international competitions are always an inspiration for its mixture of cultures. This time, the inspiration was Italy, where the food is known world-wide. Italy is so rich in gastronomy that it was hard to choose where to start. The decision was made, and it was a good one (there were no bad options anyway...), the classic Bolognese Lasagne.

Enjoy your food(tball)!!!

Ingredients (serves 4):

Tomato sauce:
6 tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons of paprika
A small bunch of basil
A pinch of sugar
A pinch of salt
A pinch black pepper
Olive oil

Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan and add the garlic. Stir for 1 minute and add the tomatoes chopped in pieces. Add the chopped basil, the paprika, the sugar, the salt and the black pepper. Bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring now and then. Afterwards, process everything until you reach a creamy texture.

White sauce:
2 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of flour
3 cups of milk
1 teaspoon of salt

In a sauce pan, heat the butter at medium-low heat, until it's melted. Add the flour and stir until smooth. Let it cook for about 5 minutes. Heat the milk separately, and slowly add it to the sauce pan, whisking continuously until you reach a smooth creamy texture. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and season with salt.

Lasagne:
800g of minced beef
150g of pasta for lasagne
2 carrots
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 red pepper
200g of mozzarella
A pinch of salt
Olive oil  

In a large non-sticky frying pan, heat the olive oil and add the minced meat. Let it cook for about 10 minutes, stirring now and then. Add the red sauce and the grated carrots. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the peppers, cook for another 2 minutes, and remove from the heat. Correct the seasoning if needed.

In a large oven recipient, lay a thin layer of the meat mixture. Add a layer of white sauce. Add a layer of the pasta. Repeat until you reach the top of the recipient, making sure the last layer is the meat mixture. On top, add the grated mozzarella, and afterwards, add all the white sauce that is left.

Transfer to a pre-heated oven, and bake for about 40 minutes or until the top layer gets a golden color. Remove from the oven and wait 5 minutes before serving.

Notes:

Add other ingredients to the meat mixture (corn, peas, etc.).

Fruit Skewers with Chocolate

What? Your friends made you a surprise visit and you have nothing to serve them but a bunch of fruits and a cooking bar of chocolate? It's alright... Simple food can look great and taste even better. Surprise them with these fruit skewers.

Ingredients:
100g of dark chocolate
100g of cream
Mango
Papaya
Banana
Strawberries

Chop the fruits in big pieces and make the skewers. Transfer to a serving plate.

In a pan, heat the chocolate with the cream, until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture  is homogeneous. Pour the chocolate over the skewers and serve immediately. 

Notes:

This works for all the fruits.

Use milk or white chocolate if you prefer.

Pumpkin cream

When the temperatures drop, the salads can be replaced by a comforting plate of hot soup. Simple or composed, soups are well known to provide many of the nutrients required on a main meal. The recipe presented here is of a creamy soup made of different vegetables. Light on the stomach is perfect for a winter evening, after a long day.
Enjoy your rest!

Ingredients:
500g of pumpkin
4 carrots
1 onion
1 leek (only the white part)
1 bunch of coriander
A pinch of salt

Chop the pumpkin, carrots, onion, and leek. Transfer the pumpkin and the carrots to a pan with about 2L of water. Bring to a boil and add the onion and the leek. Simmer until the carrots and pumpkin are cooked through. Add the coriander, season with salt and turn off the heat. Process everything until you get a creamy texture (use a hand blender or a food processor). Serve hot.

Peanut Hot Chocolate

Winter is slowly arriving in the southern hemisphere, and hot drinks are back to our lives. 

Hot chocolate is popular all over the world, and there are plenty of recipes to choose from. 

Here, the Swedish and the Chef presents his own version of this sweet winter friend.

Ingredients:
80g of natural cocoa
300ml of milk
100 ml of cream
50ml of condensed milk
100g of grounded peanuts
1 tablespoon of vanilla essence

Melt the chocolate together with the milk, add the condensed milk, the vanilla, half of the cream and the peanuts. Let it boil gently for 2 minutes. Add the remaining cream to bring it to drinking temperature and spread some more peanuts on top.

Notes:
Decorate with whipped cream.
If you prefer your hot chocolate more creamy and thick, reduce the amount of milk.