This week’s menu runs from meat and fish to the Asian touch of the bao, or pasta with sea flavour. And, of course, the best ending for this spring batch cooking: orange and white chocolate tart. A mix of flavours and colours to make your week a little bit fresher and different, with that new flavour that spring always brings to us. Because spring is much more than just allergies.
Ingredients
Bacon bao with pickle cucumber and spring onion
For the bacon:
- 200g Bacon
- 4 Tablespoons of brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons of salt
- Pepper
For the bao:
- Bao buns
- Bacon (previously explained)
- Teriyaki sauce
- 100g Pickle cucumber
- 100g Pickle cucumber
Whole spaghetti with prawns
- 400g Whole grain spaghetti
- Water
- Salt
- 300g Prawns
- Olive oil
- 2 Teaspoons paprika
- 2 Cloves of garlic
- ½ Leek
- 120ml Soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoon of sesame oil
- Black sesame seeds
Hake with veggies
- 2 Carrots
- 3 Artichokes
- 200g Potato (for garnish)
- ½ Red onion
- 100g Bimi
- 600g Fresh hake
- Salt
- Pepper
- Tartar sauce
Meat and mushrooms cannelloni
- 1 Onion
- Olive oil
- Green pepper (1)
- Red pepper (1)
- Yellow pepper (1)
- 250g Shiitake mushrooms
- 350g Mince beef meat
- 1 Tablespoon of flour
- 350 ml Milk
- Salt
- Pepper
- Cannelloni pasta
For the béchamel:
- 50g Butter
- 50g Flour
- 500 ml Milk
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 Teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- Grated Emmental cheese
Orange and white chocolate cake
For the base of the tart:
- 1 Sheet of shortcrust pastry
For the orange and white chocolate cream:
- 4 Jelly sheets
- 400ml Double cream
- 300g White chocolate
- 2 Oranges
To serve:
- 1 Orange
- Blueberries
- Blueberries
- Pistachios
- Dark chocolate sprinkles
Bacon bao, pickle cucumber, and spring onion
For the bacon, mix sugar plus salt and pepper, and coat the bacon with it. Wrap the bacon with aluminium foil and cook in the oven at 190 °C for 90 minutes.
Then, remove the foil and keep cooking for 30-45 more minutes, to taste. If you want everything crunchy, cook the bacon in a skillet when sliced.
Steam the bao buns as indicated on the package and stuff them with the sliced bacon, and teriyaki sauce to taste, slice the pickled cucumber, and the chopped green part of the spring onion.
Whole grain spaghetti with prawns
Cook spaghetti in water with salt as indicated on the package. Strain, cool with cold water to stop the cooking process, and add olive oil to prevent sticking.
Peel the prawns and mix in a bowl with some oil and paprika. Heat a skillet over low to medium heat and cook the prawns. Set aside.
Slice the cloves of garlic and cook in the same skillet than the prawns with some more oil until they are a bit crispy. Then, add the sliced leek and stir fry together.
Add the prawns to the vegetables, the drained spaghetti, the soy sauce, the sesame oil, and mix until well-combined, reducing soy sauce.
Serve with black sesame seeds.
Hake with veggies
Peel and cut artichokes into quarters and dice carrots. Cook both veggies for 15 minutes in water with salt and a bit of lemon to prevent artichokes to darkening, and drain.
Cook the potatoes too without peeling them for 30 minutes in water with salt. Halve them. Add a dash of olive oil all over and cook in the oven at 190 °C for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
In a skillet with oil, stir fry the diced red onion. When translucent, add the carrots, artichokes, and bimi. Cook for 5 more minutes and toss with the baked potatoes.
Add salt and pepper to the hake and cook until golden brown in a skillet for both sides, beginning for the peel side.
Serve with some tartar sauce and the veggies.
Meat and mushrooms cannelloni
For the cannelloni, chopped the onion finely and stir fry in a non-stick saucepan with some olive oil. When translucent, add chopped peppers and mushrooms and cook for 5 more minutes.
Add the minced meat, cook, and add the flour. Stir well. Pour the milk, little by little, while stirring. Add salt and pepper. Set aside.
For béchamel, melt butter in a saucepan, cook the flour a bit, and add milk little by little, while whisking and combine with butter and flour. Repeat the process until you have used all the milk for a soft béchamel cream.
Stuff the cannelloni with meat and mushroom and place them over a tray suitable for oven. Pour the béchamel all over them and add grated cheese on top. Bake at 190 °C for 30 minutes and serve. If needed, grill for the last 5 minutes to golden brown.
Orange and white chocolate cake
For the base, grease a quiche type mould. Spread the shortcut sheet and trim edges.
Place a parchment paper over it with some chickpeas to press the dough and bake at 190°C for 20-25 minutes. Set aside to cool.
For the orange and white chocolate cream, hydrate the jelly sheets and heat double cream in a saucepan, bringing it to a boil. When boiling, remove from heat and put the jelly into it.
Add the white chocolate until it melts and, last, orange juice. Pour the mix over the baked shortcrust pastry and let it cool for two hours
When the cream solidifies, garnish with wedges of a peeled orange, blueberries, ground pistachios and dark chocolate sprinkles.