Minestrone with damper

Here’s a deliciously hearty combination to keep you warm this winter! It’s simple, and doesn’t take long to prepare – the most time-consuming part is chopping the veggies. And the damper can be fully prepared while the soup is simmering on the stove.

The great thing about minestrone is that you can make it up as you go along. If you don’t have the exact ingredients I’ve listed below, simply substitute them with whatever you have in your fridge or pantry. Capsicum, zucchini and kidney beans are some examples that also work well in minestrone.

It’s nicest eaten the same day because if left overnight, the pasta will eventually soak up most of the moisture, and it won’t be soupy anymore (it'll still taste great, though).

 
Minestrone

Ingredients

2 Tbs oil
2 brown onions, diced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
6 rashers of bacon, chopped
Half a bunch of celery, chopped
2 carrots, diced
1 cup green beans, chopped
2 x 400 g tins of chopped or crushed tomatoes
2 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 x 400 g tin cannellini beans, drained
4 cups vegetable or beef stock
3 cups boiling water
2–3 cups spiral pasta

Method

1. Heat oil in a saucepan, then stir in onion, garlic and bacon and brown for a couple of minutes.
2. Add the remainder of the ingredients, bring to boil,  then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
   
   

   Serves 8–10

Parmesan damper

Ingredients

4 cups self-raising flour
2 cups parmesan cheese, finely grated
1–2 bunches of chives, roughly snipped
1 cup oil
1 cup milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and line baking tray with baking paper.
2. Mix flour, cheese and chives in a large bowl, then add oil and milk, stirring to form a loose dough.
3. Turn out half the mixture onto a lightly-floured board, kneading lightly to coat with flour. Roll into a short, fat, sausage-shaped loaf and place on prepared tray. Repeat step with the remainder of the mixture to form a second loaf, and place on the tray also
4. Bake 20–25 minutes, then cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or cold, with butter.
   
   Serves 8–10

Banana bread

Got bananas going bad in your fruit bowl? Hate to see them go to waste? While I detest the sickly-sweet flavour of overripe bananas, that sweetness is the perfect ingredient to incorporate into some delicious baked goodies. My personal favourite would have to be banana bread. Sure, it's so unhealthy that it completely defies the point of eating fruit, but at least I'm not wasting bananas... Right?
It has taken me a few attempts to get my banana bread turning out the way it looks in cafes. I've found that a great result requires dark brown sugar, heaps of bananas (the riper the better, and if you have time, leave the mashed bananas sitting for a few hours to brown slightly), and a few hours for the loaf to settle after baking. The result? Deep brown, moist banana bread that slices like a dream.

Ingredients
270 g dark brown sugar
2 eggs
280 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
500 g mashed bananas, browned
140 g unsalted butter, melted

mashed bananas

after a few hours, browned

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease a 23 x 13 cm loaf tin and dust with flour.
2. Combine sugar and eggs with an electric mixer, add bananas and beat until well combined.
3. Add dry ingredients and beat thoroughly again, before slowly pouring in the melted butter and beating until well combined.
4. Pour mixture into the loaf tin and smooth the surface with your spatula or a knife
5. Bake for around 70 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the loaf comes out clean. Cool in tin for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. This loaf is best left to rest for eight hours before slicing.

Tips

• The riper the bananas, the sweeter the bread.
• 500 g equals about five medium-sized bananas. If you want a lighter bread, simply use less bananas. The recipe will still work, but won't be as dark, dense or sweet.
• I find it easiest to "mash" the bananas on a plate using the back of a fork. Once they're mashed, I leave them on the plate to brown for a few hours. This isn't necessary, but I think it makes the bread a little darker in colour.
• To prepare the loaf tin, just grease it as normal then sprinkle with flour. Turn the tray gradually in one hand, tapping it sharply with the other hand to spread the flour around the surface of the tray. The flour will stick to the greasy surfaces as it moves around the tray. This step ensures that the loaf is very easy to remove from the tin after baking.
• Why leave the loaf to settle for eight hours after baking? It's not at all necessary, but I have found that the bread will be more dense, and the slices will be neater and look more professional. But don't worry if you can't wait, it will taste just as good fresh from the oven!