Ingredients

For the asparagus and porcini cream

200 g fresh and cleaned asparagus
300 ml filtered water
200 ml vegetable cream (I used oat cream)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
whole sea salt, just enough to taste
ground nutmeg, to taste
freshly ground white pepper, to taste
4 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in about 70 ml cold, filtered water
20 g dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in filtered water for 30 minutes then drained and chopped

For the vegetables

200 g fresh and cleaned asparagus
200 g fresh spinach, cleaned and blanched in boiling water for about 1 minute
1 garlic clove, peeled and cut into halves
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
whole sea salt, just enough to taste

For the hazelnut and basil coating/filling

half a garlic clove, peeled
a handful of fresh basil, cleaned
2 handfuls of shelled hazelnuts
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
2 tablespoons wholemeal breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

To assemble

250 g kamut or whole wheat lasagna sheets

Makes 4 servings.

Directions

Blanch 200 g asparagus in boiling water for 6-7 minutes then drain and set aside. Cook the remaining 200 g asparagus until they’re tender. Drain and set aside. Pour the water, vegetable cream and olive oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Add the salt, nutmeg and pepper and keep cooking for a couple of minutes on a low heat. Add the cornstarch to the vegetable cream mixture and keep cooking, stirring constantly, until you reach a fairly thick texture. Remove from the heat and let cool a bit. Combine the 200 g tender asparagus and the cream in the bowl of a mixer and process until smooth. Transfer into a bowl, add the porcini, mix and set aside.
In a pan or wok over medium heat, sauté the remaining blanched asparagus and spinach with the garlic, olive oil, pepper and salt. Remove from the heat.
To make the hazelnut and basil coating, process all the ingredients together in a food processor until the mixture looks grainy. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 180° C. Bring plenty filtered water to a boil, add some whole sea salt and cook the lasagne. Drain them and place them on a tray but make sure they don’t stick together. Also, be careful not to break them.
To assemble the lasagne, choose an appropriate baking pan, as you don’t want your lasagne to be too thin or too thick. Oil the bottom of the pan with a little olive oil, then spread some of the asparagus and porcini cream. Arrange the lasagna sheets lengthwise over the cream then spread the lasagne with some of the cream, top with some vegetables (asparagus and spinach) and sprinkle with a little pesto. Repeat layers, and top with remaining cream and pesto. Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. Remove the foil, and bake an additional 15 minutes. Take away from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

Ingredients

3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
a 4-5 cm piece of leek, cleaned and cut into thin slices
3-4 tablespoons filtered water
20 g dried porcini mushrooms, to be soaked in filtered water for about 10 minutes then drained and chopped
200 ml vegetable cream, unflavoured and unsweetened
whole sea salt, just enough to taste
a pinch of chilli powder
freshly ground white pepper, to taste
freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
160-170 g pizzoccheri
1 jerusalem artichoke, peeled and thinly shaved (use a mandolin or potato peeler)
fresh parsley leaves, cleaned

Makes 2 servings.

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat and sauté the leek for a couple of minutes. Add the water and keep cooking for another minute or so. Throw in the porcini and toss them around by shaking the pan. Pour the vegetable cream into the pan, season with a little salt, add the chilli pepper, white pepper and nutmeg, turn the heat to low and cook for another ten minutes. In the meantime, bring a large saucepan of filtered water to a boil, add some salt and cook the pizzoccheri until al dente. Drain the pasta and transfer it into a large bowl or in the saucepan you used to cook the pasta. Stir in the porcini sauce and divide the pizzoccheri into individual plates. Top with the shaved jerusalem artichoke, drizzle some olive oil over, sprinkle some more white pepper and nutmeg on top and garnish with parsley leaves. Serve warm.

Ingredients

200 g semi-whole Manitoba flour
100 g whole rice flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
a pinch of whole sea salt
70 ml extra virgin olive oil
100 ml agave syrup
100-120 ml oat milk
half a teaspoon of essicated ginger powder
half a teaspoon cinnamon powder
2-3 pinches of powdered cloves
3-4 pinches of grated nutmeg
a pinch of mace powder
a pinch of vanilla powder
a pinch of cardamom powder
2 firm apples (I used Golden Delicious)

Makes 12-14 muffins.

Directions

Preheat oven to 170° degrees C. In a large bowl combine the Manitoba flour, rice flour, cream of tartar, salt and spices. In another bowl combine the oil, agave and milk. Whisk well and fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients (preferably using a wooden spatula). Stir gently until the ingredients are combined but make sure you don’t over mix the batter. Add the apples and stir againg just to make sure they’re evenly incorporated into the batter. Fill the muffin cups or muffin tray with the batter, using a spoon. Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick or knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from the oven, transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes before removing from the muffin tray or muffin molds.

Tips, thoughts and ideas

You can either use single greaseproof muffin cases or paper cases placed in a muffin tray. If you spoon the batter directly into the muffin tray, make sure you lightly oil the molds and sprinkle them with flour.

If you love “the” orange winter vegetable as much as I do, here’s another easy recipe to try. This pumpkin-based dish is delicious eaten warm during the colder months, but equally enjoyable if served at room temperature (or even cold) as finger food. You can substitute the cinnamon sticks with ½ teaspoon of powdered cinnamon, although the sticks definitely make the dish look more special.

Makes 2-4 servings.

Ingredients:

1 medium sized pumpkin (butternut, buttercup or autumn cup are all fine), seeded, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks

4-5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon powdered nutmeg

6-7 cinnamon sticks

whole sea salt (to taste)

freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

2-3 handfuls toasted pumpkin seeds

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the pumpkin in a large bowl and sprinkle with the nutmeg, salt, pepper and drizzle with the olive oil. Add the cinnamon sticks and toss everything together. Transfer into a roasting pan and bake for about 30-40 minutes, until the pumpkin is tender. In the meantime, toast the pumpkin seeds on medium heat for a couple of minutes. Set aside. When the pumpkin is done, remove it from the oven and sprinkle with the toasted pumpkin seeds. Serve warm as a side dish or at room temperature (or cold) as finger food.

I had been thinking about hot chocolate for a very long time…until yesterday. Yes, I do have other forms of chocolate now and then…but hot chocolate is different, I can’t just have it without pondering. To me, it’s a real, fantastic treat. I always need to search for a ‘good excuse’ to have hot chocolate. Yesterday, I seriously considered to make some, as I finally convinced myself that I had not only one reason, but two! 1st, a friend was coming over and 2nd, around here, yesterday was probably the coldest day so far this winter…
My hot chocolate turned out great, velvety and glossy with a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg that made it utterly special…and since all the ingredients were organic, it couldn’t be healthier!

Ingredients (makes 2 servings):

1 cup unsweetened organic soy milk

80 g dark chocolate (mine was 85% cocoa solids and brown sugar sweetened), chopped

ground nutmeg (to taste)

ground cinnamon (to taste)

½ teaspoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon water 

In a saucepan over low heat, combine the soy milk and the chocolate. Bring to a simmer and stir. When the chocolate has melted, blend cornstarch with water and slowly add to chocolate mixture. Stir constantly until you achieve the desired thickness. Remove from heat, add cinnamon and nutmeg, stir and serve.