Tortelloni in Vegetable & Herb Broth

Ingredients:
1 red pepper
2 tomatoes
1 courgette (zucchini)
1 carrot
3.5 oz mushrooms
1 tsp olive oil
1 vegetable stock cube
1 packet spinach & ricotta tortelloni
1 Tbsp coriander

Directions:
Core, deseed, and cube red pepper.
Skin, halve, deseed, and cube tomatoes.
Cut courgette and carrot into thin strips.
Slice mushrooms.
Heat oil in a large pan and fry the vegetables for a few minutes.
Crumble the stock cube into 1pt boiling water and add to the vegetables.
Simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the tortelloni and cook for 7 minutes.
Serve in bowls, sprinkled with coriander.

Source: Somerfield Magazine, November 2008

Serves: 4 (but it actually only served the 2 of us tonight)

Prep Time: The recipe says it will only take 30 minutes. It took me longer because skinning tomatoes is NOT easy.

Marcos' Rating: 8

My Variations:

• So I didn't use vegetable stock because I didn't have it. Instead, I used chicken stock and it tasted great!
• I also didn't add mushrooms because I don't like them.
• My courgette was probably sliced a little too thin, so the slices ended up being a little mushy. But it still tasted great!
• And I didn't want to buy coriander just for this so instead I added basil and rosemary to the veggies and broth while simmering.
• A lot of water evaporated before I added the pasta so I added about a cup of water. After serving, Marcos added salt & pepper to taste.

We really enjoyed eating this dish with bread to sop up the liquid. If I make it again, I'll probably leave the tomato skins on and see if it makes any difference. Seriously, who skins tomatoes?!

P.S. We call it "tortellini" in the states.

Ratatouille with Red Chili Bean Salsa

Ingredients:
1 green pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 red pepper
1 onion
1 clove garlic
1 zucchini
1 tsp olive oil
1 can (400g) chopped tomatoes
1/2 can (425g) chili beans
4 cherry tomatoes
2 Tbsp Creme Faiche

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 F or 200 C.
Halve, core, and de-seed peppers; then cut into large chunks.
Peel and cut onion into wedges.
Crush garlic.
Cut zucchini into chunky slices.
Place all of the above on a baking sheet or a casserole dish.
Cook in oven for about 20 mins until softened and beginning to char on the edges.
Then transfer veggies into a large saucepan. Add the canned/chopped tomatoes and heat through.
To make the salsa, place the chili beans into another saucepan.
Chop the cherry tomatoes and add to beans.
Heat through and serve with veggies and a spoonfull of creme fraiche to finish.

Prep Time: 40 mins

Serves: 2

Variations: I used the whole can of beans and omitted the creme fraiche. I also added a couple more cherry tomatoes. I only halved them, but it would be good with them cut into smaller pieces. We liked it much better when we added a lot of the bean salsa to our plate.

Source: Somerfield magazine, May 2008

Marcos' Rating: 4.5 (He had seconds, but only because it was there. He said he'd be fine if I never cook this again. LOL)