Aromatic Cherry Tomato Linguine

This summerly pasta dish is creamy and delicious without any added oil, it does not taste low fat at all.


ingredients: 

1 portion of linguine (buckwheat/spelt/kamut)
 a hand full of basil or parsley
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 tbsp of water
1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp of paprika
1/8 tsp of chili flakes
1 small piece of red bell pepper, finely minced
1 tbsp of tomato paste
400g of cherry tomatoes, chopped
 a hand full of basil or parsley
fresh rosemary twigs
black pepper, freshly ground
a pinch of sea salt

makes: 1 portion/ 2 small portions

preparation: 

Cook the linguine.

To make the sauce heat up a non-stick frying pan (cast iron are the best) and sautee the minced garlic and onion until they are beautifully golden and add some water (the less the better!) to prevent them from sticking to the pan.
When the onions are almost ready, add the paprika, chili flakes, balsamic vinegar and the tomato paste and roast them, while frequently stirring, for a few minutes until the vinegar caramelizes.
Then add the tomatoes and the bell pepper, as well as the tomatoes and the black pepper.
Let the sauce cook for about 10-15 minutes, occasionally stirring.

Add in the herbs and spices and serve with a fresh summer salad on the side.

Japanese Mushroom Soba Hotpot

For  people who do not cook asian food very often, this dish may seem a little complicated, because it calls for a lot of different condiments not everybody has ready at hand.
If you do not possess ponzu, you can substitute it with plain soy sauce, and instead of  mirin, you could try 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar. 
But ultimately the taste will not be the same, and these condiments can be used in a great variety of all possible asian recipes, so although some of them are a tad expensive, they are definitely worth the investment. At least from my point of view.
I have linked pictures to the least well known ingredients, if you want to know, what the things look like, you would have to buy for this recipe.
I hope you will give it a try and enjoy it as much as my family did.

ingredients: 
2-3 people 

dashi (soup base)
20g kombu 
1 litre of water

soup
1 cup of freshly brewed green tea

2 umeboshi plums, pitted
3 tbsp of sake (good quality)
3 tbsp of ponzu or shoyu (salt reduced is best)
3 tbsp of ume su
3-4 tbsp of mirin
1 tbsp of rice vinegar

1 dried shitake mushroom
1/3 tsp of whole szechuan pepper
1/4 tsp of chili flakes
a very small pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp of dries cremini (or other) mushroom powder


200g of enoki mushrooms
200g of Bunashimeji mushrooms brown 
150g of Bunashimeji, white 
200g of shiitake mushrooms,  quartered

200g of dry soba noodles

optional: chopped spring onion for garnish

preparation:

Soak the kombu in cold water for about 10-12 hours, then remove the algae and use the drained (through colander+cheesecloth) soaking water as your soup base later on.
Prepare 1 cup of freshly brewed light green tea.
In a big pot put the umeboshi plums, sake, mirin, rice vinegar, ume su and ponzu. 
Put a lid onto the pot and let the "sauce" reduce for a while, occasionally stirring to keep the sauce from sticking to the pot.
Prepare the shiitake mushrooms by stemming them and cutting them into quarters, then wash them and squish the water out of them with your hands.
Put them into the pot with the reduced sauce and let them glaze for about 5 minutes.
Stem the other mushrooms and add them together with the green tea and the spices.
Let the mix cook for about 20 minutes before you slowly add in the kombu.
Add as much or little as you want according to your taste buds. 
Let the mushrooms cook through very well and add some more mirin, shoyu and ume su to taste.
Cook the soba noodles in boiling water for about 6-10 minutes and rinse them thoroughly before adding them to the soup, which can be enjoyed hot or cold and topped up with some chopped spring onion.


A happy new year to all of you, 
Nora.