Broccoli sauce with walnuts and lemon

Blender alert (see Note)

This creamy broccoli sauce is perfect for pasta, and so easy to make. Whizzed together with walnuts and seasonings, it is both surprisingly satisfying and creamy. The first time I cooked it, my reaction was that it was hard to believe that it was dairy free.  Broccoli is by no means a voyaging vegetable, because it keeps so poorly, but it is readily available in many places. This recipe is a particularly good way of using up broccoli, when has started to turn yellow and it's great if you haven't been able to use up the stalk.

I like to serve it with spaghetti, but I think it would go well with most varieties of pasta.

 

Serves 2 

 

Ingredients

 

1/2 broccoli

1/3 cup walnuts

1 clove garlic

1/2 tsp onion powder

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tbsp nutritionalyeast

1/4 tsp chilli flakes

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

 

Instructions:

• Add about half a cup of water to a saucepan and bring it to the boil.
• Cut the broccoli into florets, and cut off the woody end. Peel the thick skin from the stalk and slice the stalk. (You can use a peeler, if you wish, but I find that you can loosen the skin from the base of the stalk and simply tear it off with your knife blade.) Boil the broccoli and stalk for 4-5 minutes until just soft.
• Remove from the pan, reserving the cooking water, and tip it into a blender or food processor.
• Add the walnuts, garlic, onion powder, lemon and olive oil to the blender with the broccoli and whizz them together until they form a smooth paste.
• Season generously with salt and pepper, then add a little of the cooking water, whizz again, and continue adding more water until it reaches a sauce-like consistency.  Check the seasoning, once the sauce is the thickness you want..
• In the meantime, cook your pasta of choice according to the instructions on the package. You can use some of the pasta water in the sauce to thin it to the correct consistency, if necessary.

Serve the sauce piping hot with the pasta, with more black pepper ground over it.

 

Note:

• If you don’t have a blender, you can still make this into a delicious sauce, but of course it won’t be as creamy.

Variations:

• Leave out the salt and/or lemon juice and add some salted lemon at the blender stage.
• Add freshly-grated nutmeg just before serving.
• instead of blending in the walnuts, chop them, to add additional texture to the sauce.
• Instead of using onion powder, chop a small onion and cook it with the broccoli.
• Rather than using this as a pasta sauce, pour it over vegetables or any main course dish.

Mushroom and sunflower seed pâté

 

 

This is truly delicious and certainly good enough for a special occasion.  It's also inexpensive, keeps several days in a covered bowl, without refrigeration and leftovers go well in a sandwich. They can also be thinned with a little water, milk or wine to make a great pasta sauce.

Serves 4

 

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 onion, diced

3-6 cloves garlic (depending on size), minced

2 cups (200 g) mushrooms, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 1/2 tsp dried sage

1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

2 tbsp soy sauce

salt to taste

water as needed for blending

Method:

• Toast the sunflower seeds in a frying pan, over a medium high heat until they are golden brown. Stir frequently. Set aside.
  
• In the same pan, heat the olive oil and then add the onion and fry for a couple of minutes until it's starting to turn translucent.
• Add the garlic, mushrooms, pepper and herbs.
• Continue to fry until the mushrooms have shrunk down and their liquid has evaporated. If the mushrooms are a bit dry, add a splash of water (or wine) to start them off
• Remove from the heat, and stir in the soy sauce.   
• When the seeds and mushroom mixture have cooled down enough, combine them in a blender. Blend whilst gradually adding a splash of water until you have a spreadable uniform texture. Scrape down the sides as needed The amount of water you need will vary, so start off slowly. If you have a high speed blender, you may not need to add any.
• Add salt to taste and blend once again before serving.

Variations:

• Add extra coarsely-cracked pepper 
• Add Dijon mustard 
• As with traditional liver pâté, this is quite strongly seasoned with thyme.  If you're not fond of that herb, you might want to add the herbs at the end and taste as you go.  
• Add sherry or brandy to deglaze the pan 
• Use deodorised coconut oil instead of olive oil for a richer texture. 
• Make ‛butter’ to pour over the top with deodorised coconut oil, a touch of turmeric and a pinch of salt. 
• Use toasted walnuts instead of sunflower seeds.
• Try the pâté with different types of mushrooms.