I am not a big fan of excessive use of cream with my pasta sauce. A little cream is okay though. Also vegetables in combination with cheese are one of my favorites. With the use of vegetables in this sauce you can be creative. I used what ever I had at home.

preparation time: 20 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Bring salted water to boil. Cook the Tagliatelle until al dente.

Cut the carrot, zucchini and paprika into stripes. Cube the onion, cut the spring onion and the leek.

Add oil to a deep frying pan and fry the onion and the carrot for about 5 minutes. Then add the other vegetables and fry those for a few minutes.

Add the white wine and let it boil a bit. Then add the cream. Reduce the liquid a bit then add the cheese. This should result in a thick creamy sauce.

Season with chopped dill, parsley, salt and pepper. Serve with the Tagliatelle.

A classic dish of the Spanish cuisine is the Tortilla. It does not require much time an needs just very few ingredients.
I like the flavor of fried potatoes and onions in combination with eggs. The Spanish like using lots of oil to fry this dish, I personally prefer to use a non stick pan and less oil.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

difficulty easy

Preparation:

Peel and cube the potatoes. Fry the cubes in a pan with some oil until golden brown. This takes 10 to 15 minutes. Flip the cubes occasional in order to fry them form all sides. After 10 minutes add the chopped onions and fry them for another 5 minutes.

add the eggs to a bowl, season and beat them. Add the potato and onion and mix. Now pour the mix into the pan and let it fry on low heat for 5 minutes. Flip once, then serve.

Before the summer ends I want to post my favorite breakfast. Greek yogurt with fruits is something I can always eat. On Sundays this is what I usually prepare in the morning.

I like using Olympos yogurt. It just tastes better than Total. I like all sorts of fruit but with the yogurt I prefer melon, peach, pear, grapes and figs. I also like bananas but only the small ones that can be found in Crete and Cyprus.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Put the yogurt into a bowl and let it get room temperature.
Meanwhile cube the fruits in 2cm cubes. Half the grapes. Put the fruits on top of the yogurt.

You can add walnuts or almonds to it. It is also nice to pour some honey over the fruits and yogurt.

This soup is from Cordoba, Spain and has a great similarity with Gazpacho. It is reduced to a few ingredients and contains no cucumber. Salmorejo is also much thicker than the Gazpacho because it contains more bread. A great and intense tomato taste!

Salmorejo can be also found on the Canary islands. There it is a marinade and peppers and chili is added to it.

Preparation time: 15 minutes + 2 hours of chilling

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Put the tomatoes into boiling water and leave them there for a couple of minutes until the skin breaks. Remove them and let them cool down a bit. Skin the tomatoes and cut them in quarters.

Add all ingredients to the mixer and transform into a smooth puree. Season with salt and pepper. Fridge for at least 2 hours, then serve in chilled bowls.

Lentils are one of my favorite ingredients. I like eating them in warm meals as much as in salads. This salad is reduced to a few tasty ingredients. Peppers and onions develop their aroma while baking in the oven.
They are being combined with lentils and a light lemon and cumin dressing.

Preparation time: 25 minutes + soaking the lentils in water over night

cooking time: 10 minutes

einfaches Rezept

Preparation:

Soak the lentils in water over night. Drain them then bring them to boil in a pot with water. Do not over boil them, they should be al dente.

Wash the peppers and put them in the pre-heated oven at 180 degrees centigrade.

Peel and quarter the onions and also place them in the oven.

Bake the peppers until their skin bubbles. Bake the onion until they are soft and took a bit of colour.

For the dressing mix the lemon juice, salt, pepper, cumin and olive oil in a small bowl.

Put all ingredients into a salad bowl and mix with the dressing.

Sprinkle some chopped coriander or parsley over it.

Ideal for summer weather is this cold version of a vegetable soup. It is an alternative to Gazpacho, which I have written about quite a lot this summer. The iced vegetable soup can be done with a variety of vegetables, this version however is prepared with rocked salad, which gives it a spicy touch.

Preparation: 25 minutes

cooling time: 120 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Peel the cucumber and remove the seeds. Chop up the spring onion, but only use the white bit.

Peel and cube the garlic and the onion. Put all vegetables into a blender and add the vinegar and some olive oil. Add the piece of dry bread, it will give the soup more consistence.
Mix all well, like a smoothie.
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve chilled.
Fridge for at least 2 hours.

Vegetable Soup

A an other delicious cold soup is the cold zucchini and potato soup with roasted almonds. The almonds give the soup a lot of volume and the yogurt provides a fresh touch for the soup. The ideal meal on a hot summer day.

Preparation time: 25 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Cube the Zucchini. Peel and cube the potato. cut the onion and put all vegetables into a pot. Fry them with some olive oil for a couple of minutes. Then add the vegetable stock. Let it boil for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile roast the almonds in a pan. Do so fro a couple o minutes, so they get some color.

Then take them out and crush them with a knife.

Put the soup into a mixer. Blend the soup. Add the yogurt and most of the almonds and season with salt and pepper.

Put the soup into the fridge to chill.

Serve cold.

A gazpacho with a twist. After having posted the plain one and the version with beet root I am posting the one with watermelon. The watermelon gives a fruity and sweet twist to the soup that combines very well with the peppers and tomato. It is important though that you use a very ripe melon.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Put the tomato into boiling water until the skin breaks open. Remove them form the water and set them aside to cool down. Peel them.

Peel the onion the garlic and the cucumber and cut into pieces. Cut the bell pepper into slices. Remove the pits from the melon.

Put all ingredients into a mixer and blend until smooth.

Season with cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, and some vinegar. Fridge, then serve cold.

Last but not least I want to present the bean salad that Will had prepared. This dish is commonly known in Greece as φασόλια γίγαντες. Will had made an alteration to the recipe though. He had placed the cooked beans on top of Paximadi bread, which is used for Dakos. A dish of dried bread and diced tomato and cheese.
This new combination of things was interesting and worth a try.

Preparation time: 10 minutes and soaking the beans over night.

cooking time: 30 to 40 minutes

difficulty easy

Preparation:

Soak the beans over night. Drain the water the next day.

Peel the carrots and cut them in slices. Dice the onions. Cut the bell pepper into stripes.

Fry the vegetables in a pan with some oil. Meanwhile skin the tomatoes and dice them.
Add them with the beans to the vegetables and cook all until the beans are soft.
Season with salt and pepper. Pour the beans over the Paximadi bread and serve.

The second salad we had on board was made by Annette. She had prepared an oriental style salad made out of carrots, ginger, curry and raisins. The carrots are slightly cooked which leaved the salad with a bite. The seasoning is very different form a traditional salad dressing which was very welcome on board.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

cooking time: 25 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Peel the carrots and cut them into thin rounds. Fry them in a pan with some oil for a few minutes. Then cover the pan and let it simmer for 10 minutes on low heat.

Meanwhile dice the onion and chop up the ginger.

remove the carrots form the pan and set them aside.

Fry the onions and the ginger, add the curry powder. Stir and fry for a couple of minutes.

Add the carrots to the seasoning, stir well and season with salt and pepper. Add the lemon juice and set the pan aside to cool off.

Serve the salad cold.