Tag: végétarien

Pimientos de Padrón

8 October 2026

Pimientos de Padrón are mild, sweet tasting and small green peppers, originally from the Galicia region in Spain, but now they are more widely available. Story has it that one in a hundred (or more?) is actually very spicy, but rest assured, we have eaten many more and never encountered a spicy one.

Wine Pairing

The dish combines sweetness and saltiness. The charring of the peppers gives extra flavour. In general you’re looking for a crisp non-oaked white wine. We enjoyed a glass of white wine, made with verdejo grapes in the Spanish Rueda area by Bardos. The wine has a beautiful yellow colour and its taste is fruity and fresh with nice acidity. A glass of Cava will also be great with the peppers!

We could also imagine drinking a Vinho Verde with the Pimientos de Padrón. Vinho Verde is a wine from the most northern part of Portugal, between the Douro and Minho rivers. Verde refers to the fact that the grapes are harvested very early in the year. This implies that the grapes contain a fairly small amount of sugar. As a result of this the wine (in most cases) has a fairly low percentage of alcohol (think 10%). But don’t be surprised if you find one with a higher percentage. In general Vinho Verde is undervalued. It’s a great, very tasty wine; one that is not just wonderful on a summer’s evening

What You Need
  • Pimientos de Padrón
  • Olive Oil
  • Sea Salt
What You Do
  1. Wash the peppers and dry
  2. Heat a heavy iron skillet, add olive oil and fry or better said blister the peppers for a few minutes
  3. Make sure the peppers are fried and not cooked
  4. Remove from the heat
  5. Sprinkle some salt over the peppers
  6. Move the pan making sure the salt is evenly distributed and somewhat absorbed in the olive oil
  7. Serve immediately
Pimientos de Padrón ©Christian Köppchen
Pimientos de Padron ©cadwu

Mushroom Balls

6 March 2025

We were asked to prepare a vegetarian main dish for a buffet style dinner. We immediately knew what we wanted to cook: mushroom balls and oven baked vegetables. Tasty and colourful. Could we make it gluten free? Which in this case means not adding breadcrumbs to the mushroom mixture, so we needed to think about an alternative. We tried well cooked rice, but that didn’t do the trick. Next idea was to blender the rice and make a very sticky paste. It did what we hoped it would do: the mushrooms balls are firm, but not dense. Great! Plus, they go very well with the vegetables!

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed a glass of French Malbec with the Mushroom Balls. In general you’re looking for a long, full bodied red wine, smooth, with hints of berries and ripe dark fruit.

What You Need
  • 25 grams of dried Porcini
  • 150 grams of fresh Mushrooms (Button Mushrooms, Shiitake)
  • 1 Shallot
  • 2 cloves of Garlic
  • 1 sprig of fresh Oregano
  • 2 sprigs of Thyme
  • 1 sprig of Rosemary
  • 1 sprig of Sage
  • 40 grams of Rice
  • ½ beaten Egg
  • Parmesan Cheese
  • Black Pepper
What You Do
  1. Boil the rice in water (with a pinch of salt) or in vegetable stock for 40 minutes. The rice should be thoroughly cooked.
  2. Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water for 30 minutes. Drain and check for sand.
  3. Chop the shallot and fry in oil until translucent.
  4. Clean the fresh mushrooms, chop, add to the pan and fry on a higher heat.
  5. When the mushrooms are somewhat fried, add the chopped garlic for five minutes. Be careful not to colour the garlic.
  6. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and allow to cool.
  7. Chop the soaked mushrooms. Add to the mixture.
  8. Use a kitchen knife to chop all herbs and then add these to the mixture.
  9. Blender half of the rice until it’s a sticky paste.
  10. Add remaining rice, paste and a relatively large amount of pepper to the mixture.
  11. Beat ½ egg and grate a generous amount of Parmesan Cheese.
  12. Add cheese and egg to the mixture.
  13. Pulse with a blender. The mixture should have granularity.
  14. Taste and add pepper and/or Parmesan if necessary.
  15. Allow the mixture to cool and transfer to the refrigerator.
  16. Preheat the oven to 180 °C or 355 °F.
  17. Use your hands to make balls, line a rack with baking paper and place the balls on the paper.
  18. Bake for 15-25 minutes until the balls are slightly coloured and firm.
  19. Allow to cool and leave for a few hours at room temperature.
  20. Preheat oven to 160 °C or 320 °F.
  21. Bake mixed, chopped vegetables (beetroot, parsnips, sweet potato, potato, butternut squash, parsley root, kohlrabi) by placing them in a large oven dish with plenty of olive oil and sprigs of rosemary, thyme, sage, marjoram in the oven for 20 minutes under aluminium foil at 160 °C or 320 °F and then 15-20 minutes at 180 °C or 355 °F without foil.
  22. Warm the mushroom balls in the oven in a separate oven dish.
  23. Combine just before serving.
  24. If gluten are okay, use half the rice (no need to make the sticky paste) and add breadcrumbs. The mixture will firmer and drier, so perhaps use 1 egg.
PS

This recipe is for two. The picture shows the result of the recipe times 2.

 
Mushroom Balls ©cadwu
Mushroom Balls ©cadwu