Cooking Light In Spring

Looking for fresh spring recipes? We have got you covered! Move over monotonous meals, rather celebrate the fresh flavors of spring’s best offerings and sprinkle the fruits and vegetables with our two flavorful recipes for spring. As the days get longer, so too does the list of fresh ingredients on offer. Needless to say, eating fresh, local ingredients is easy in the season when farmers’ markets showcase produce that can easily please any food lover! Expert Chef Ranveer Brar gives us two outstanding healthy recipes to add to our spring cookbook.

Duo of pickled water melon gazpacho with warm shrimp caponata tart, Cranberry and red pepper caulis.

Ingredients:
For pickled water melon:
1. Water melon (deseeded and cut into roundel shape) 500 g.
2. Apple juice 1 lit.
3. White wine vinegar 100 ml.
4. Salt 1 tsp.
5. Sugar 30 g.
6. Fresh mint (torn) 5 g.
7. Fresh basil (torn) 5 g.
8. Green chilli (slit) 4 nos.

Directions:
1. Take a mixing bowl mix all the ingredients except water melon.
2. Marinate the water melon with the brine for 6 hours in to the chiller.

For water melon gazpacho:
1. Pickled water melon 300 gms.
2. Cucumber (peeled and deseeded) 25 gms.
3. Tomato (cut in to cube) 25 gms.
4. Red wine vinegar1 tsp.
5. Salt to taste.
6. Extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp.
7. Tabasco sauce ½ tsp.
8. Fresh basil leaves 2 nos.

Directions:
1. Put all the ingredients into the blender and make a smooth puree.
2. Strain it with the strainer and keep into the chiller.

For warm shrimp caponata:
1. Shrimps (peeled, wash and slit) 100 gms.
2. Eggplant (cut into small cube) 100 gms.
3. Red onion (cut into small cube) 100 gms.
4. Golden raisin (soak in water) 20 gms.
5. Pine nut (roasted or fried) 20 gms.
6. Olive oil 20 ml.
7. Red wine vinegar 20 ml.
8. Sugar1 tbsp.
9. Tomato puree 50 ml.
10. Fresh basil (torn) 5 gms.
11. Salt and pepper to taste.
12. Capers 10 gms.
13. Fennel bulb (cut into small cube) 10 gms.
14. Lemon juice 20 ml.
15. Oil for frying.

Directions:
1. Blanched the shrimps with water, lemon juice and salt.
2. Marinate the shrimps with olive oil, seasoning and little lemon juice, keep it aside.
3. Deep-fry the eggplant and keep it aside.
4. Sauté the onion and fennel over medium heat until light brown in colour.
5. Add raisin, pine nut, red wine vinegar and sugar, cook it for a while.
6. Add tomato puree, capers and seasoning, cook for sometime until little dry.
7. Finish with torn fresh basil.

For tart:
1. Flour 500 g.
2. Butter 250 g.
3. Water 250 ml.
4. Salt g.

Directions:
1. Mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and make dough.
2. Make a sheet by the dough with a rolling pin and cut it by the roundel mould.
3. Place the sheet on greased tart mould for baking.

For cranberry and red pepper caulks:
1. Cranberry (puree or jelly) 50 ml.
2. Red pepper (roasted) 100 g.
3. Star anise (powder) ¼ tsp.
4. Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Butter 2 tsp.

Directions:
1. Make red pepper puree with the blender.
2. Cook the red pepper purée, cranberry puree and star anise powder in a sauce pan over low heat.
3. Adjust the seasoning and finished with hard butter.

Serving Directions:
1. Filled the tart mould with caponata and bake into a preheated oven (170 degree C) for ten minutes.
2. De-mould the tart and place into a serving plate; place the shrimps on the tart.
3. Pour the water melon gazpacho in a shot glass and assemble on the serving plate.
4. Assemble the pickled water melon on the serving plate.
5. Served with red pepper and cranberry caulis.

Beet root and roasted vegetable lasagna with spicy pumpkin fritters, carrot and basil foam

Ingredients:
For lasagna sheet:-
1. Beet root (roasted and pureed) 50g.
2. Egg 2 nos.
3. Refined flour 300 gms.
4. Salt ¼ tsp.
5. Olive oil 1 tbsp.

Directions:
1. Mix all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and make dough.
2. Make pasts sheet by the rolling pin or pasta sheeter machine.
3. Cut the pasta sheet into desire shape.
4. Blanched the pasta sheet into boiling water.
5. Cooled down with iced water.
6. Transfer into a tray with some olive oil and keep aside.

For lasagna fillings:
1. Eggplant (cut into small cube) 100 g.
2. Zucchini (cut into small cube) 100 g.
3. Mushroom (roughly chopped) 100 g.
4. Bel pepper (cut into small cube) 100 g.
5. Garlic (finely chopped) 1 tsp.
6. Onions (finely chopped) 2 tsp.
7. Olive oil 50 ml.
8. Tomato sauce 100 g.
9. Oregano (fresh) 1 sprig.
10. Salt and pepper to taste.
11. Butter 1 tbsp.
12. Ricotta cheese 2 tbsp.
13. Mozzarella cheese (grated) 20 g.
14. Parmesan (grated) 10 gms.

Directions:
1. Marinate the eggplant, zucchini, mushroom and bel pepper with olive oil, salt and pepper, place into a baking tray.
2. Roast the vegetable into preheated oven.
3. Sauté the onion and garlic with olive oil add tomato sauce and cook stir until thick add roasted vegetable, fresh oregano and seasoning.
4. Finished with butter and ricotta cheese.

For tomato sauce:
1. Peeled tomato (mashed) 500 g.
2. Garlic (finely chopped) 1 tbsp.
3. Onion (finely chopped) 2 tbsp.
4. Carrot (finely chopped) 2 tbsp.
5. Olive oil 20 ml.
6. White wine 50 ml.
7. Fresh basil (julienne) 5 g.
8. Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:
1. Sauté the onion, garlic and carrot with olive oil add white wine and cook, until wine is reduced add peeled tomato and cook it for sometime.
2. When tomato is reduced adjusts seasoning and finished with fresh basil.

For white sauce:
1. Fresh cream 300 ml.
2. Parmesan cheese (grated) 50 gs.
3. Salt and pepper to taste.
Directions:
1. Heat the cream in a sauce pan add grated parmesan and stir, adjust seasoning.
2. When it gets saucy constancy remove from the fire.

For pumpkin fritters:
1. Pumpkin (thin wedges) 2 nos.
2. Refined flour 60g.
3. Corn flour 20 g.
4. Baking powder ¼ tsp.
5. Milk 150 ml.
6. Cayenne pepper 1 tsp.
7. Salt and pepper to taste.
8. Oil for frying

Directions:
1. Make a batter with flour, corn flour, baking powder, milk, cayenne pepper and seasoning.
2. Deep-fry the pumpkin with batter until golden brown in colour

For carrot foam:
1. Carrot juice 500 ml.
2. Salt ½ tsp.
3. White wine vinegar 1 ½ tsp.
4. Lecithin 2g.

Directions:
1. Mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl by the whisker.
2. Strain the carrot juice by the strainer.
3. Make froth by the using of hand blender.
4. Remove the foam by the spoon

For basil foam:
1. Basil puree 300 ml.
2. Water 200 ml
3. Salt ¼ tsp
4. White wine vinegar 1 ½ tsp
5. Lecithin 2g

Directions:
1. Mix all the ingredients by the whisker.
2. Strain it by the strainer.
3. Make froth by the using of hand blender.
4. Remove the foam from the top.

Serving Directions:
1. In a greased (5×5 inch) baking dish spread tomato sauce on bottom, layer with lasagna sheet, lasagna fillings and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layering for 3 to 4 times.
2. Topped with white sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
3. In a preheated oven (180 degree C) bake the lasagna for 10 to 12 minutes.
4. Place the pumpkin fritters on top of the lasagna.
5. Garnish with carrot and basil foam.
6. Serve immediately.