Tasty pockets
Nicola Galloway offers two meals with a leafy green as the hero.
With my lazy gardener traits, I have an appreciation for pickand-come-again greens. Lettuce, rocket, spinach, herbs and the queen of all, silverbeet. Seedlings planted once provide many months of fresh produce. Even better when they selfgerminate around the garden from last season’s plants gone to seed.
If you are not a big fan of silverbeet, when you grow it you soon learn to be one. It is a consistent producer of vibrant leafy greens, a steady contender through the cooler months. And, with more bulk once cooked than spinach, it is my preferred choice for meals in which I want leafy greens to be the hero.
Inspired by the popular Turkish street food gozleme, in this variation of these grilled bread pockets I skip the yeast and use a yoghurt dough that is a little less ‘‘bready’’ and all about the filling.
They can be stuffed with all manner of deliciousness, such as roasted pumpkin, pine nuts and feta; leftover vege curry; or cheese, grated carrot and chutney. Here I have combined my favourite garden green herbs and halloumi. If you haven’t got halloumi use feta, or a mixture of grated cheese and parmesan.
Preparation time: 40 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes Makes: 8 pockets
Yoghurt dough
■ 2 cups (300g) plain flour (or use a combination of white and wholemeal)
■ 2 tsp baking powder
■ 1⁄ 2 tsp salt
■ 3⁄4 cup (180ml) natural yoghurt
■ 1 tbsp olive oil
■ 1-2 tbsp milk
Silverbeet and halloumi filling
■ 1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for cooking
■ 1⁄2 brown onion, chopped
■ 2 garlic cloves, chopped
■ 1 tsp ground cumin
■ 1 tsp dried oregano or mint
■ Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
■ 400g bunch of silverbeet (see recipe for preparation)
■ 200g packet halloumi, grated Yoghurt sauce
■ About 1/3 cup natural yoghurt
■ 1 garlic clove, finely grated or chopped
■ 1 tsp olive oil
■ Salt to season
■ Pinch of dried oregano/mint and chilli flakes
Prepare the yoghurt dough so it can rest while making the filling. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Make a well and add the yoghurt and olive oil. Use a fork to whisk the yoghurt and oil together while gradually mixing in the flour to make a ‘‘scruffy’’ dough. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together.
Tip onto a lightly floured bench and knead for 1-2 minutes until smooth. Invert the mixing bowl over the dough and leave to rest.
Make the filling. Warm the olive oil in a heavy-based frying pan over a moderate heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, cumin, herbs and chilli, cook for a further minute until fragrant.
Meanwhile, wash the silverbeet leaves, shaking off the excess moisture. Finely chop the stalks and add them to the onion mixture, sauteing to soften.
Chop the leaves and add them to the pan, don’t mix. Cover with a lid for 5 minutes. The droplets of water remaining on the leaves will create steam to wilt the silverbeet. Remove the lid, turn up the heat and saute until excess moisture has evaporated. Tip onto a plate to cool down.
Divide the dough into eight and roll each into a ball. Cover again with the bowl.
Grate the halloumi and add to the silverbeet mixture.
On a lightly-floured bench, roll out one dough ball at a time into a round, about 15cm wide. Spoon 3 heaped tablespoons of the silverbeet mixture onto one half of the dough, then fold over the other half to create a crescent shape, pressing to seal. Repeat with the remaining filling and dough, cooking the pockets as you go.
Wash out the frying pan used for the silverbeet and reheat. Add a slick of oil and cook 2 pockets at a time – with a rotation of rolling, filling and cooking. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden – adjust the heat as needed so they don’t burn but keep it hot enough to cook the dough. Add a slick of oil to the pan as needed.
Combine the yoghurt sauce ingredients in a bowl, season to taste.
The pockets are best eaten while warm, served with the yoghurt sauce for dipping. They can also be cooled on a rack then reheated in a pan for a quick lunch.
Braised lentils & silverbeet
I have said this before and I will say it again, lentils are wonderful but they do need extra flavour care when cooking to soften their earthiness. Here I have used vegetable aromatics such as onion, celery and carrot, sometimes referred to as a mirepoix (in classic French cookery) or soffritto (in Italian cuisine) to create a flavour base. Cooked until gently caramelised and sweetened, the time spent on this step pays back in depth of flavour to lift the lentils. This is simple fare, but I find it very grounding and nourishing as the weather cools. Serve with crusty bread or creamy polenta to soak up the juices.
Preparation time: 20 minutes Cook time: 40 minutes Serves: 4-6 as a side or light meal
■ 1 cup (200g) brown lentils (or 2 x 400g cans brown lentils)
■ 2 cups vegetable stock or water
■ 1 bay leaf
■ 3 tbsp olive oil
■ 1⁄2 tsp salt plus more for seasoning
■ 1 onion (about 150g), diced
■ 1 celery stalk (about 100g), diced
■ 1 carrot (about 100g), diced
■ 400g bunch silverbeet, stalks and leaves separated
■ 2 tbsp tomato paste
■ 1 tsp paprika
■ Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
■ Handful parsley, roughly chopped
To serve
■ Crusty bread or polenta
■ Lemon wedges
Cook the lentils. To improve digestion I like to pre-soak the lentils in a bowl of water for 6-8 hours (I do this in the morning) then drain and rinse well in a sieve (or skip this step). Tip the rinsed lentils into a saucepan and add the 2 cups stock or water, bay leaf and 1 tbsp olive oil. Cover and bring to a boil. Remove the lid and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the lentils are just tender.
Once the lentils are ready, remove the pan from the heat, stir through 1⁄
2 tsp salt and leave to infuse while preparing the vegetables.
Warm the remaining olive oil in a large frying pan over a moderate heat. Add the onion, celery and carrot.
Finely chop the silverbeet stalks and add to the pan. Saute for about 10-15 minutes (the longer the better) until everything has softened. Add the tomato paste, paprika and chilli flakes and cook for a further minute.
Remove the bay leaf, and add the lentils, including the cooking liquid to the frying pan. Cook for a few minutes for the flavours to meld, then roughly chop the silverbeet leaves and add to the pan. Cover and cook for 5-6 minutes until the silverbeet has wilted. If the mixture looks dry, add a splash of boiling water. Season with salt to taste then tip into a serving dish and scatter with parsley.
Serve as a side, or as a lunch with bread or polenta. A squeeze of lemon at the table completes this dish perfectly.