August 31, 2018

Feed your family

Aaron Harvie shows how to cut down the hours and dollars spent on cooking by creating one delish dish everyone can enjoy – even the pickiest of little eaters.

DUMPLINGS

makes 15

Ingredients

200g minced chicken

50g water chestnuts, diced

½ bunch coriander, finely chopped

2 tablespoons light soy sauce, plus more to serve

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 packet circular dumpling wrappers

Method

Grab a mixing bowl and add the chicken mince, water chestnuts, coriander, light soy and sesame oil. Mix together well.

Fill a small bowl with water and line a tray with baking paper. Grab a dumpling wrapper and dip your finger in the water, tracing around the edges of the wrapper to moisten.

Add 1 tablespoon chicken mixture to the center of the wrapper. Fold over the wrapper to make a half-moon shape then press edges together, making sure you pinch them to secure. Place the dumpling on the baking tray and repeat until all of the meat mixture has been used.

Fill a steamer with water and place over medium heat. Place the dumplings into the steamer in batches and cook for 10-12 minutes (check a dumpling has fully cooked before serving, by cutting in half). Repeat with remaining dumplings.

Leave dumplings to cool and serve with a little soy sauce.

PENNE WITH PUMPKIN & PANCETTA

Ingredients

1¼ loaf sourdough bread

250g butternut pumpkin, peeled and diced

50g pine puts

300g penne

3 tablespoons olive oil

150g pancetta, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

50g unsalted butter

3 sprigs sage, roughly torn

40g parmesan, plus more to serve

Sea salt and cracked black pepper, to season

Method

Fill a pot with water, add some salt and bring to a rolling boil. Fill a steamer with water and place over medium heat. Place the pumpkin into the steamer and cook for 8 minutes, then remove from heat. Set aside.

Place sourdough bread into a food processor and blitz into crumbs, ensuring there are no big chunks. Put the crumbs onto a fat baking tray and place under a griller on high heat. Grill until the crumbs are brown, toss the return under griller ensuring they are evenly cooked. Set aside.

Place a dry non-stick frying pan over medium heat and cook the pine nuts until golden. Set aside.

Add the penne to the pot and cook until al dente then drain (save a couple of tablespoons of the starchy pasta water).

Place 1 tablespoon olive oil in the same pan over medium heat, add the pancetta and cook until it has browned. Add the garlic and the remaining olive oil and butter. When the butter starts to foam and colour add the sage, pumpkin and pine nuts, cooking until the pumpkin begins to colour.

Add the penne and pasta water to the pan, mixing together well. Sprinkle over a couple of handfuls of breadcrumbs then taste and season with salt and pepper.

Serve with a generous grating of parmesan and a rocket or spinach salad.