Roasted Aubergine, Basil and Caramelised Onion Pasta

They call aubergine the poor mans meat, or is it the vegetarians gold? I love this recipe, it’s velvety, creamy, economical and beautifully simple. Heat oven to 180C. Slice 2 aubergines lengthways and use a knife to score through the flesh in a criss-cross pattern close to the skin. Drizzle with oil and bake for…

Imam Bayildi

(Makes 4 stuffed halves) Legend has it that this dish acquired its name because it caused the Turkish Imam to faint through pure pleasure. Great served warm but some say best enjoyed at room temperature the next day, which makes it a perfect BBQ side dish, easily prepared in advance. Make a meal out of…

Lamb Kofte

Lamb Kofte (Makes about 12 sausage sized kofte) Kofte go well with so many other ingredients so designing a menu plan is easy for a social gathering. You could marinate some feta in advance in jars, make an array of dips (humous, tzatziki, baba ganoush), serve it alongside Greek salads, tabouleh, olives, pestos and finally,…

Crab Linguine

It’s a great shame that 95% of our crab is exported to Europe. It seems we are depriving ourselves of exceptional national produce (possibly seeing it as special occasion/holiday fodder), rather than relishing it as island dwellers with all sorts of seafood on our doorstep. Now is the perfect season for eating crab, this recipe…

Pork Larb in Lettuce Cups

I love this quick and simple recipe. It’s great as a canapé, main with sticky rice and green papaya salad or as part of a South-east Asian inspired banquet. I last made these with asian fish cakes and prawn toasts which all go well with sweet and sour dip and satay so everyone could mix…

Smoky Sardines with Sweet Tomato Chutney

In Australia, sardines became a staple in our household as we used the BBQ more often than the oven. Really easy to gut yourself or just ask your fishmonger. Use a griddle pan if too cold or wet for a BBQ and leave to char to promote the smoky flavour. Sardines are relatively cheap and…

Summer Broad Bean Mint and Pancetta Pasta

(Serves 2) This recipe is a picnic to make, it’s worth taking the time to remove the beans from their skins (unless you can get them super-fresh). Refreshingly seasonal and nutritional and having made it once, I’m sure you’ll make it again. Choose crisp-looking un-withered pods at your local farmers market this month, or better still, pick…

Sprouting broccoli and Pea Pesto Orecchiette

It may not sound hugely exciting but blending broccoli is one of the most simple and tasty ways of eating it. I have been sneaking it into classics like carbonara and pesto, roasting it with spices and frying it with Asian flavours Put 200g of sprouting broccoli (green or purple) and 100g frozen peas into…

Super-Spicy Daal with Eggs and Spinach

I really love this recipe. It is packed with loads of nutritious ingredients, it’s filling, it’s protein, it’s cheap and it makes enough to feed a small army (freezes well so don’t worry).  Great to whip out if you come down with a sore throat and versatile too…. Serve as breakfast, brunch, as a side…

Thai Inspired Roasted Cauliflower Soup

I know the words Thai and cauliflower don’t normally go together, but why should the flavours suffer the same fate? When I attempted to google this, I was lead to a website ‘Cauliflower ear, the easiest way to pick up girls’ promoting Muay Thai fighting, as all girls apparently love scars of any kind?  The…

Prawn Noodle Salad with Sesame-Ginger Dressing

This is a special post as it marks the 1000th subscriber to The Travelling Pantry – so thanks to everyone that has made it happen! It also represents the end of one journey and beginning of a new one (leaving Melbourne and moving back to the UK). I began the blog in order to document…

Simple and Delicious Marinated Fish Kebabs!

I made first made these this Christmas and have since made them twice already. The idea was to have a BBQ on Christmas day, so we made these, BBQ chicken skewers, satay chicken skewers, marinated prawns, calamari, Thai chicken balls and salads galore (all cooked on BBQ throughout the day to keep us going and…

Spicy Noodle Salad with Tuna Toasties & Tobasco Tomatoes

Living so close to Victoria Street has given me a taste for Vietnamese, lots of mighty flavours and infinite ingredients to experiment with…… if you are nearby, check out ‘Weasels Garden Café’ it’s on Murray St, tucked away, always very quiet, the foods pretty good and the garden is like a slice from a tropical…

Herby Roast Vegetable Salad with Tahini Dressing

Back again to Daylesford for Ben’s birthday and a sneaky surprise stay in an old butcher’s… Back in Daylesford and our little country escape, I thought a nice warm vegetable salad would warm the cockles and also spare us more time for the finer things in life (monopoly and Prosecco in this case). This is…

Beet Tartare and Avocado Spread

The only reason I stumbled across this recipe was the fact it mentioned ‘tartare’ which appealed in it’s resemblance to the common steak tartare – which I LOVE. I thought it was time to feature something a bit ‘healthy’ and bright on here and with such a low risk of bacterial infection, how could I…

Date, Apricot and Walnut Loaf…or is it cake?

You don’t need to ‘use your loaf’ to make this one, it’s very simple, very nutritious, a great breakfast and quite tasty too. We ran out of bread and milk yesterday and had nothing to ‘rustle up’ quickly, apart from beans (which you don’t always fancy at 7am). In order to make up for this…

Sweet Pepper, Cherry Tomato and Basil Oil Orecchiette

I am really happy to be posting this, as it’s really delicious and I feel safe having the recipe here as I will never lose it or forget about it. It’s one of the simplest pasta dishes there could possibly be and meat lovers – add pancetta or some other meaty morsel, it will also…

Broad Bean, Pea, Pancetta and Herby Spring Salad

Just as I’d found the perfect finger less gloves, spring arrives and it’s already too warm to wear them. On the positive side, spring brings with it some exciting, colourful foods that I felt like I’d forgotten, in the midst of all the kale and sprouts. Smack bang in the middle of a pretty intense…

Harissa Fish with Zucchini, Mint and Lemon Potatoes

Described commonly as Tunisia’s main condiment, harissa is used in all kinds of stews, a rub for meat, a flavouring for couscous and in a chickpea soup which is usually served for breakfast. No harissa I have ever bought has tasted the same as the next and as always it’s far better to make your…

Pasta with Roast Pumpkin, Rosemary, Smoky Bacon and Spinach

I came across this recipe in my diary, it’s slightly embarrassingly called ‘The Foodies Diary’ maybe you have one too? The thing is, it’s great for listing seasonal produce, festivals and farmers markets and me being from the UK – everything’s back to front over here and good to know what’s in season – even…

8 Hour Lamb with Herby Dressing and Crumbled Feta

I came across this particular recipe in the first cook book I bought since being in Australia ‘What Katie Ate’ and this is what inspired me to create my own food blog. Katie Quinn Davies only really got into cooking in her early thirties, spending most of her twenties as a graphic designer where she…

Baked Eggs in Tomato Sauce

I enjoyed this breakfast over the weekend but also felt slightly annoyed I hadn’t thought of this before, as it was so good. Perfect quick, simple breakfast but hearty enough to obliterate the worst of hangovers, great to feed a crowd, nurse a cold or flu and made from pantry staples too! – just add…

Pantry Harissa Wholegrain Linguine

I love to find a new pasta dish that is created (I wanted to say spawned but it sounds a bit alien) from pantry staples. This is it! It has flavour, it’s healthy and it really works! Substitute ingredients for others you have, such as swapping kale for spinach or changing the type of pasta…

Getting Exotic with Corn on the Cob

Every season brings with it great foods and corn has that oomph factor in the spring/summer (Sept-March in Australia). We usually eat this as a starter but have recently become more experimental with the sunny kernels. Some ideas to jazz up your cobs……. Spiced butter – I have a recipe in my post as follows,…

Zucchini Fritters with Sour Cream and Smoked Salmon

I had always fancied making breakfast fritters of some kind as I’m always partial to ordering them if on breakfast menus. Potato rosti are also a massive temptation, I remember one of the best meals I have ever eaten in Palma was lobster tortellini served on potato rosti – I’ll have to try and recreate…

Spiced Cauliflower Torchietti with Chilli, Tomato and Bacon

Mark Twain described the cauliflower as ‘cabbage with a college education’. Now I am starting to educate myself about this mysterious white vegetable. I started to sauté cauliflower about a year ago, which went down very well with my partner who normally detests the stuff. I llike to fry the florets in a little oil…

Avocado on Toast – with Friends…

This post is really just to inspire ideas as we don’t want anyone’s breakfast getting mundane. I’m sure those of us that like avocado have had it on toast before, it’s a breakfast/lunch that I find myself snapping up again and again so it’s constantly evolving. Just simple additions can make it so much more…

Going Nuts!

Eat a handful of almonds a day, walnuts for your heart, peanuts for your brain and pecans and brazils for men’s health! If all the nut advice is driving you nuts, I advise to keep a stash of raw nuts/seeds – and familiarise yourself with a handful of recipes incorporating them. Be creative about when…

Encapsulating the Pantry

Welcome to my blog. The name has derived from the fact I think that good ingredients should be ‘well travelled’ meaning they can complement or camouflage into any type of cuisine from anywhere in the world. I am also a collector of most ‘kitcheny’ things and small animal figures (the animal army). Since I have…