Comit Week #3
Hey there. I hope your week is going well and you've got great plans lined up for the weekend ahead! 🍹⛰️🌞
This week on the menu, we have:
Spinach crêpes, a protein-packed, super-quick meal. So convenient and tasty that you will like this one even if you don't like spinach! ⚡
Vegetable couscous 🌱
Baked potatoes with meat ragù, this one requires a little more work compared to the other recipes this week 💪. But it'll be worth it…
Vegetarian carbonara with asparagus, here we revisit an Italian classic 🌱
🌮 Spinach crêpes ⚡
Ingredients (4 servings)
6 egg whites
100 g fresh spinach
75 g whole wheat flour
100 g cream cheese (like Philadelphia)
100 g smoked salmon
Kitchen tools
A blender
A non-stick pan
A spatula
Instructions
Prepare the Spinach Batter
Place the spinach, egg whites, and flour in a blender.
Blend the ingredients until you get a smooth batter.
Cook One Crêpe at a Time
Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. You can add a drizzle of oil if necessary.
Once the pan is hot, pour a quarter of the spinach batter into the pan to make your first crêpe.
Cook for a few minutes, until it sets and firms up.
Using a spatula, flip the crêpe and cook the other side until golden brown.
Repeat the process three more times with the remaining batter. You will get a total of 4 crêpes, ready to be filled as you like.
Fill and Serve
Spread the cream cheese over the crêpes and top them with the smoked salmon.
Serve the crêpes hot.
Tips
Pour the batter in the centre of the pan and let it spread to the desired size for the crêpe.
You can replace the cream cheese and salmon with other ingredients like cottage cheese and ham.
Important: don't discard the yolks! You can use them for the crêpes!
Storage
The crêpes can be stored, unfilled, for 2 days or frozen for up to 2 months. In both cases, cover the crêpes with plastic wrap to avoid oxidation.
🥣 Vegetable couscous 🌱
Ingredients (4 servings)
250 g of couscous
1 white onion
1 red bell pepper
2 courgettes
1 aubergine
turmeric
Cumin
Cinnamon
Salt
Fresh mint leaves
Extra virgin olive oil
Kitchen tools
A cutting board
A knife
A large pan to cook the vegetables
A small pot to boil the water
A spoon or plastic spatula
A large bowl to mix the cooked couscous with the vegetables
Instructions
Dice the vegetables into small cubes of about 1 cm, keeping them separate.
Add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to a large pan and heat it to medium temperature.
First, add the aubergines and cook for about 5 minutes, then add the chopped onion and bell peppers and cook for another 10 minutes. Finally, add the courgettes and cook for another 5 minutes. Stir often. You can add a few tablespoons of warm water gradually to prevent the vegetables from sticking, if necessary. Once cooked (the vegetables should be cooked but crunchy), season with salt and set aside.
Place the couscous in a deep dish and add 1 level teaspoon of turmeric, half a teaspoon of cumin, and half a teaspoon of cinnamon, and mix.
Boil about 250 ml of water, pour it over the couscous, stir quickly, cook for half a minute until the water is absorbed. Then turn off the heat and let the couscous rest covered for a few minutes until it softens.
Assembly: add some oil and fluff the couscous with a fork. Finally, transfer the couscous to a large bowl, mix well and adjust the salt. The final result should be fluffy couscous, not sticky. Finally, add all the vegetables and mint leaves. Mix well with another drizzle of oil and serve.
Tips
If you can, let the couscous cool for 15-20 minutes before eating it.
If you like, you can add some grated lemon zest at the end of cooking.
If you have a lot of mint left over, you can use it to make infusions or make a pesto to add to meat or fish dishes (or anything else you like. Here is a super simple recipe. It is in Italian but you can rely on the images or use Google Translate for the translation if needed).
Storage
You can store the couscous in the fridge for 3–4 days.
🥔 Baked potatoes with meat ragù
Ingredients (4 servings)
4 medium-sized potatoes
400g ground meat of your choice
300g tomato sauce
1 onion
Salt
Pepper
Grated cheese
Olive oil
Kitchen tools
A large pan, to cook the meat
A pot, to boil the potatoes
A container, to set aside the potato pulp
An oven dish, to finish cooking the potatoes
Instructions
Wash the potatoes well, put them in a pot, and cover them with water. Bring the water to a boil and cook for 30-40 minutes.
Once cooked, drain them and let them cool.
Cut them in half and remove part of the pulp with a spoon (you should get hollowed potato halves which you will then fill with meat - see below). Set the pulp aside.
Place the potato halves in the oven dish with the hollowed side up.
Drizzle them with oil and salt to taste.
In a pan, sauté the chopped onion.
Add the meat and sauté it with spices.
Pour in the tomato sauce and the potato pulp you set aside, mixing everything well. Cook for a few more minutes and stir until you get a homogeneous mixture.
Fill the potatoes you previously hollowed out with this mixture and cover them with grated cheese.
Place the potatoes in a preheated oven at 180 degrees and bake them for 10-15 minutes until the cheese melts.
Tips
The cooking time for the potatoes will vary based on their type and size. The goal is to make them tender but not falling apart. You can check the doneness with a fork.
Feel free to season with spices and herbs of your choice. I really like adding thyme to the ragout, for example.
For a meatless alternative 🌱 you can replace the meat with soy granules.
If you have leftover spinach from the crêpes' recipe, you can use it as a side dish for the potatoes.
Too hot ☀️ for baked potatoes? Never! Let them cool down or enjoy them the next day by reheating in the microwave for 15–20 seconds, just until slightly warmed.
Storage
Store in the fridge for 3–4 days.
🍝 Vegetarian carbonara with asparagus 🌱
Ingredients (4 servings)
320 g spaghetti (or other pasta)
1 bunch of asparagus (green)
6 egg yolks
40 g pecorino (or Parmesan or a mix)
1 clove garlic
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Olive oil to taste
Kitchen tools
A pan
A large container to mix the pasta once drained
A pot to boil water
A spatula to stir the asparagus
A pasta spoon
A colander
Instructions
Clean the asparagus by removing the woody end. Cut into slices.
Heat a clove of garlic in a pan with olive oil, then add the asparagus. Season with salt and pepper, and cook until tender.
In the container, beat the egg yolks with the pecorino and black pepper with a fork until forming a thick and rich cream.
Bring the pasta water to a boil, then add salt and the pasta.
Once the asparagus are cooked, remove the garlic and turn off the heat.
Drain the spaghetti and pour it into the container with the egg yolk and pecorino cream. Then add the asparagus and mix quickly until combined.
Serve the pasta hot.
Tips
Before draining the pasta, make sure to set aside a glass of the cooking water. You can then add some of this water to the container with the pasta and eggs if the cream is too thick.
Important: Don't discard the egg whites! You can reuse them for spinach crêpes.
Storage
If you want to prepare ahead, you can cook the asparagus in advance and use them when needed. They can be stored in the fridge for a few days without any problem. However, the pasta should be consumed immediately.
Shopping lists
Final tips
If you have leftover spinach, you can cook it with a clove of garlic in a pan for about ten minutes. Add salt, pepper, and chili pepper, and use it as a side dish for your potatoes! Also, we mentioned it before, but remember not to throw away either the egg whites or the yolks. Both are useful for this week's recipes.
And finally, you're probably familiar with this by now, but if you're pressed for time, look for the ⚡ symbol indicating a super quick recipe. Also, look for the 🌱 symbol if you're in the mood for a non-meat option.
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And if you have any feedback or ideas, please reach out ;-)
Thank you, and see you next week!
Andrea