COLUMNIST: ELI APPLEBY-DONALD
Our recipes often incorporate fresh produce from the garden, adapting to whatever is in season and this is one of our favourites. Shakshuka is a delicious one-pot dish made with tomatoes, onions, garlic, spices, and poached eggs, all simmered together in a rich tomato sauce. Common in the Middle East and North Africa, it is incredibly simple to make and highly versatile.
The original recipe we learned includes paprika, cumin, and chilli powder for a flavourful but not overly spicy dish. You can easily adjust the spices and vegetables to suit your taste. It is a great dish to use up your garden harvests, with the ability to add various extras to the base recipe.
Our garden produces an abundance of peppers, tomatoes, onions, and garlic so these form the base of our shakshuka. We also grow a lot of greens so we often add these, including pak choi, which we used both for its stalks and its blanched leaves, similar to how you might use spinach.
This recipe takes about 30 minutes to prepare and comfortably serves two people, or more if you serve it with bread.
Sauté the onions and peppers in a little oil until the onions soften and become translucent, and the peppers start to soften. Add the chopped pak choi stalks and cook until they soften, then in goes the minced garlic and spices, frying for about a minute.
Add the chopped tomatoes, including their juice, and simmer, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens and the tomatoes start to break down. Finally pop in the shredded pak choi leaves (or other greens) and cook until they soften. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Create wells in the mixture and gently crack the eggs into them, being careful not to break the yolks. Cover the pan and allow the eggs to poach in the tomato sauce. Aim for runny yolks, which usually takes about 5-6 minutes.
When serving, be gentle to keep the egg yolks intact. Breaking them into the tomato sauce is simply divine. Enjoy your homegrown shakshuka!
Hummus is one of those fridge staples like pesto, which can be added to so many dishes to liven them up, from sandwiches to a simple dip for your beetroot crisps. The beauty of making your own is that you can adjust flavours and consistency to make it just right for you. If you want more tang, up the lemon juice, want a bigger garlic boost, add another clove - you are in charge!
Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan/gas mark 6). Cut the red peppers in half, remove the seeds, and place them on a baking tray, skin side up. Roast in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, until the skins are charred.
Remove from the oven and place the peppers in a bowl. Cover the bowl with cling film and let it sit for 10 minutes. This will make it easier to peel off the skins. Once cooled, peel off the skins and chop the peppers into smaller pieces.
In a food processor, combine the roasted red peppers, chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and cumin. Blend until smooth. If the mixture is too thick, add a tablespoon of water to achieve the desired consistency.
Taste the hummus and add salt and black pepper to taste. Blend again briefly to mix the seasoning. If you like a little more tanginess, you can add more lemon juice.
Transfer the hummus to a serving bowl. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with smoked paprika if desired. Serve with pita bread, vegetable sticks, or use as a spread in sandwiches and wraps. Enjoy your homemade red pepper hummus!
This is one for the colder, darker nights. When winter rolls in, it is easy to feel a bit down as we start missing the garden and its bounty. To counter this, we make batches of food with our homegrown crops, and can or freeze them to give us a little taste of summer when we need it most.
There is something extra satisfying about enjoying food you have grown yourself, especially when paired with some freshly baked sourdough bread. For anyone who might fancy trying their hand at sourdough bread for the first time, here are some links:
Make your own sourdough starter: https://youtu.be/SdzhPW_8lNA
Super easy sourdough bread: https://youtu.be/qFfvRVUVuX8
Now, back to the soup, one of our favourites!
Preheat your oven to 200°C. Place the pepper and onion halves (cut side down), tomatoes, and garlic on a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake at the top of the oven for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are roasted and tender.
While the vegetables are roasting, melt the butter in a large pot over low heat and soften the chopped celery. Be careful not to burn the butter.
Add the tomato puree, sun-dried tomato paste, and chilli flakes to the vegetable stock and mix well. Pour this mixture into the pot with the sautéed celery. Remove from heat.
Once the vegetables are roasted, remove the peel from the onion and garlic cloves, and the skin from the peppers and tomatoes. Roughly chop them and add to the pot. Place the pot back on low to medium heat. Using a hand blender, blend until the soup is smooth.
Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste. Gently simmer until the soup reaches a comfortable temperature. Avoid boiling. Serve with homemade sourdough bread.
Enjoy the cozy feeling of your summer garden, in a bowl.
Eli Appleby-Donald, one half of 'In the Garden With Eli and Kate' tends an urban garden in East Lothian which she has managed to make beautiful and productive. She considers herself a perpetual learner gardener, and has spent the last 11 years learning by experience, success, and failure.
Eli is a digital education guru for a local university by day, and due to the lack of good information about growing in Scotland when she started gardening, she decided it was time to put those skills into action to correct this. She now regularly blogs and vlogs about gardening on YouTube where she has hundreds of videos all about her gardening journey and her top tips, as well as appearing as a guest on others worldwide.
You can find out more about Eli and all the fun of creating your own suburban garden paradise on either her YouTube channel, her website or instagram.
