Looking for a delicious eggplant recipe? Something warming and easy to whip up for just one or two? Maybe a tasty wee pasta dish? And something sweet to dig into afterwards? We’ve got three mouthwatering recipes from Nici Wickes’ new cookbook that are sure to go down a treat.
Nici is back this month with a brand new book, More from a Quiet Kitchen, and it’s a must-have for every kitchen (and every life really) because it’s so much more than a cookbook. Make sure you check out our interview with Nici from last week and then dive into these recipes!
Sticky Eggplant
Sweet and salty, exciting and comforting, this dish has it all and I can’t get enough of it!
SERVES TWO
- 1 large eggplant
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 red capsicum, sliced
- ¼ cup light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- a pinch of chilli flakes
- a handful of round green beans
- a small handful of fresh coriander
- 1 teaspoon black or white sesame seeds
- cooked rice to serve
Cut eggplant in half lengthwise then slice into 1cm-thick half-moons.
Heat half the oil in a large pan over medium–high heat and brown eggplant well on one side then flip and cook until golden. Push eggplant to the side.
Reduce heat to medium, add remaining oil and fry onion until soft then add garlic and capsicum, frying until cooked and softened. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, brown sugar, black pepper and chilli flakes. Pour into pan and add green beans. Stir everything together and simmer for 6–8 minutes or until beans are bright green and just tender.
Sprinkle over coriander and sesame seeds and serve with rice.
Note: For a different dish, brown pork or chicken mince and add it in with the green beans. Yum!
Chilli Prawn Pasta
Always buy top-quality Australian prawns. And always chop them up so that they go further and you get a piece of prawn with every bite!
SERVES ONE
- 75–100g dried or fresh pasta (fettucine, linguine, spaghetti)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 4–6 Aussie prawns, raw, peeled and deveined
- ½ fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (or ¼ teaspoon chilli flakes)
- ¼ cup white wine
- chopped fresh parsley and chives
- lemon wedge to serve
Cook the pasta as per packet instructions. When it’s done, drain it, reserving ½ cup of the pasta water.
Melt the butter in a large frying pan and gently fry the garlic for 3–4 minutes — you want it cooked but not browned as that makes it bitter.
Chop each prawn into about 3–4 pieces and add these to the pan, along with the chilli and white wine. Turn up the heat until it’s simmering like crazy.
When the prawns turn pink, you know it’s time to tumble in the cooked pasta and a splash of the pasta water. Give it a toss and it’s ready!
Get it onto the plate ASAP, shower in parsley and chives and enjoy slurping your way through this buttery, garlicky tangle of deliciousness.
Gorgeous Blackberry & Apple Galette
Galette for one? Why not! Small quantities of homemade pastry are quick to make and so gratifying.
MAKES ONE 12–15CM TART
Pastry
- 2 tablespoons chilled butter
- 2 heaped tablespoons plain flour
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- 3–4 tablespoons ice-cold water
Filling
- 1 cup peeled and chopped apple
- ¼ cup frozen or fresh blackberries or other berries
- 1 tablespoon sugar + extra for sprinkling
- 1 tablespoon flour
- zest of ½ lemon
- 1 tablespoon butter
- milk for brushing
- whipped cream to serve
To make the pastry, whizz the butter, flour and sugar in your food processor, pulsing until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of the water and pulse again, adding more water as you need for it to come together and stay together when pinched between your fingers. Turn out, roll into a ball then flatten to a disc, wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a tray with baking paper.
To assemble, toss fruit with sugar, flour and zest.
Roll out chilled pastry to a 22–24cm circle. Transfer to the lined tray.
Pile the fruit in the centre leaving a 4–5cm rim free of fruit. Carefully fold up the sides, pleating and pinching them as you go. Dot the fruit with the butter. Brush the edges with a little milk and sprinkle over some extra sugar.
Bake for 35–40 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the fruit is soft and bubbling.
Serve with whipped cream.
Note: Feel free to use other seasonal fruit like peaches, nectarines, apricots and rhubarb.
More From a Quiet Kitchen by Nici Wickes, photography by Todd Eyre, published by Bateman Books, RRP $49.99, release date July 2024
