Ilse's Kitchen - culinary adventures of a girl who loves to eat

I was in the mood for some good old fashioned vegetable soup with meatballs - the kind my grandma might have made. It’s one of those soups you’ll find throughout Europe from north to south, all with slightly different details but very close to this. This version is an Italian variant using half beef half pork meatballs, oregano and acini di pepe and popularly known as as ‘Wedding Soup’.  Ingredients (serves 3): meatballs 250g minced meat, 50% beef 50% pork 2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped salt and freshly ground black pepper  1/4 cup breadcrumbs 1/4 cup grated parmesan 1/2 egg soup 1 stalk celery, finely chopped 50g spinach, roughly chopped 1 cup baby carrots, cut into 1/2 cm thick slices 1 medium-sized onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1.25L chicken broth 1/3 cup acini di pepe  2 tablespoons olive oil  Instructions: 1. Put the minced meat in a large bowl and add the oregano, parsley, breadcrumbs, parmesan, egg and salt an...

Every now and then you have to indulge. This is an indulgence pasta dish. There’s nothing light about it, but sometimes that just doesn’t matter one bit: the heart - and belly - want what they want. I like to give in, especially on rainy days. My belly was grateful. Ingredients (serves 2): 120g fettuccini (or other pasta of your choice) 300g shrimp, peeled and deveined. 200g cherry tomatoes 1 tablespoon Cajun spices 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon butter Alfredo sauce 120g cream cheese 250ml whole milk 50g butter 1 cup finely grated parmesan 1/2 teaspoon Italian herbs 1 tablespoon freshly minced garlic freshly ground black pepper to taste fresh parsley to garnish Instructions: 1. Cook the fettuccini according to the instructions on the packet. When it’s ready, set aside to use in step 4. 2. Rub the shrimp in Cajun spices, salt and pepper. Melt the tablespoon of butter in a skillet and add the shrimp. Cook for 3-4 min...

The last time I tried to make polenta, I failed miserably. I was aiming for some sort of polenta fritters but the texture came out all wrong, and they were definitely not worth writing home about. I gave up on polenta ever since - so there was a bit of resistance I felt like I needed to overcome. This time wasn’t smooth sailing either; it took me two tries to get it right. The first time the liquid wasn’t warm enough and I didn’t whisk vigorously enough, and I got a strange chunky mixture that was impossible to get smooth after that. So I threw it out, and started over. Second time was a winner :) Ingredients (serves 2): 100g quick-cook polenta 600ml vegetable stock 100g Spanish soft chorizo, chopped 60g spinach, chopped 180g shrimps, peeled and deveined 1 clove garlic, minced 50g parmesan 30g unsalted butter 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Instructions: 1. Heat the oil in a skillet and cook ...

The first time I had gorgonzola and spinach together was when Paulijn, a former housemate, made me gorgonzola spinach pasta - about a hundred years ago. At the time I wasn’t very experimental when it came to food, and I was not a fan of gorgonzola. Too blue, too strong, too smelly. I was decidedly sceptical, but tried to be well mannered and keep my mouth shut about it. And glad I did, for what she made wasn’t strong or smelly at all. What I learned that day was not too judged too quickly - ingredients change when you combine them with others, and things you never thought you’d like may surprise you in all kinds of wonderful ways. I also learned that spinach and gorgonzola make a lovely pairing. Here’s a lovely gorgonzola spinach gnocchi recipe, adapted from Brandy at Nutmeg Nanny.  Ingredients (serves 2): 250g gnocchi 1 shallot, thinly sliced 120ml cup heavy cream 120g crumbled gorgonzola cheese, plus some for topping 85g fresh spinach 1/2 teaspoon fresh oregano, minc...

One month ago - on March 16th - I decided to spend some of my quarantine time blogging. I wanted to see if I could manage to post a recipe per day. At the time, quarantine was set to last three weeks. It has since been extended for another three until April 28th, and next week we will find out what happens after that. It’s not unlikely we’ll be looking at another extension.  But that’s then, and this is now - once again the 16th. That means today is a bit of a milestone - with a whole month of once-a-day recipes behind me. And I haven’t given up just yet, so here’s another one for you :) When you remove it from the oven, this dish doesn’t look like much. In fact, it looked iffy enough to give me some serious doubts. But then I stuck the first forkful in my mouth, and I was sold. It’s insanely delightful and makes a wonderful side dish. Proves yet again what we already know: just how deceiving looks can be.  Recipe (enough for a side dish for 2): 1 large fenne...

I adore risotto but sometimes, I shy away from making it because it can be so hands-on. Easy, yes - but you do have to stand there and stir. Risotto’s not a dish you can afford to leave alone for long. But risotto is also an ultimate comfort food for me, and I decided I wanted to try a pumpkin version so I went looking around for recipes. Then I came across this one - a creamy baked pumpkin risotto. Could it really be - a practically stir-free risotto that makes itself while sitting in the oven? Turns out that it can - and I’m grateful to RecipeTinEats for putting this recipe out there. Ingredients (serves 4): 1 1/2 cups arborio rice 600g pumpkin, peeled and deseeded 1 onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 60mL dry white wine 800mL chicken or vegetable stock 50g unsalted butter 2 tablespoons sage leaves, chopped salt and freshly ground black pepper dash of olive oil Crispy Sage and Brown Butter: 15-20 sage leaves 50g butter pinch of salt grated parmesan to ga...

It’s not for nothing that an entire page on this blog is dedicated to risotto & pasta. Let there be no doubt: if there’s a team pasta, I’m on it. I like the versatility, and being able to throw in whatever inspires me. I like how little time it takes. I like that I can go for whole-wheat, and feel like I’m being somewhat healthy despite the carbs. I like carbs. Ingredients (serves 2): 120g whole-wheat spaghetti 300g spinach 100g Parma ham (or another cured ham), shredded into smaller pieces. 100g sun dried tomatoes, chopped 2 shallots, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 100mL cream 20g parmesan cheese 2 tbsp butter pinch of nutmeg salt and pepper to taste Instructions: 1. Boil the spaghetti according to the instructions on the package. 2. In the meantime, bring water to a boil in a large pan. When boiling, add the spinach and stir for 30 seconds or so, until the spinach is all wilted. 3. Drain, and cool the spinach in icy cold water to bring the boiling process...

I used to make home made pesto all the time - the kind we all know so well, with pine nuts and basil. But sometimes it’s nice to try something different. Substitute rocket lettuce (arugula) for the basil, for instance. Or substitute walnuts for pine nuts. Or do both, and then you get this recipe - inspired by (and an almost exact copy of) Gavin’s recipe at AnotherFoodBlogger. Ingredients: 75g rocket lettuce (arugula) 30g walnuts 30g grated parmesan 1 clove garlic, minced 1 tbsp lemon juice 100mL olive oil Instructions: 1. Lightly toast the walnuts in a skillet. Watch out that they don’t burn - it always tends to happen right at that moment when you stop watching the pan, and then fast. So keep an eye on the pan. 2. Add all the ingredients to a food processor and blend, until you get the consistency you like. (In theory you could add salt and black pepper, but it doesn’t really need it.)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE risotto. And I love it creamy, so creamy that it feels like it melts in my mouth -  with lots of veggies, with meat, with fish; you can go practically every which way. I was planning to make a simple cherry tomato and mozzarella risotto but then I saw the bratwurst in my fridge and thought why not, so I tossed it in. And you know what? It works. But it works fine without it too, so if you’re vegetarian skip the bratwurst, replace the chicken stock with veggie stock, and you’re good to go. Ingredients: 250g cherry tomatoes or small Roma tomatoes, halved 1 medium-sized yellow onion, finely chopped 1 clove garlic, minced 1 bratwurst (optional), chopped in small squares 125g mozzarella, chopped 100g arborio rice 10 basil leaves 1L chicken bouillon 15g gratedparmesan cheese 15g butter Olive oil Instructions: 1. In a large skillet, heat some olive oil and add the onion. Fruit for a few minutes until slightly glazed. 2. Add the bratwurst and sauté f...

Ok, maybe 'healthy' is overselling it a little, but at least this version contains nearly all the food groups and definitely has more veggies than the average. I like to tell myself that makes a difference. Macaroni - with its fair share of cheese - has been in my family as far back as I can remember, but my mother knows better. She first made it as a student, when pasta was far from common at Dutch dinner tables. The instructions told her to prepare each of the ingredients, one by one. She followed them to the letter and served them all separately .   Luckily for us, her macaroni has come a way since then. When I left home, I took my mother's recipe with me and added a touch of my own here and there. The current version is a comfort food I'm happy to make in over-sized quantities and eat as leftovers for days. Ingredients (serves 2 with leftovers): 1.5 cups macaroni  1 red bell pepper 1 green bell pepper 1/2 leek 2 medium-size onions 150g h...

Randomly food blog browsing one morning, I came across a recipe from Smitten Kitchen that looked - and sounded - absolutely fabulous: slow roasted tomatoes . And very, very easy - just the way I like it. All it takes is time (3 hours give or take). That sounds scary, but other than the 5 or so minutes of prep time, you mostly just wait - and there's no need to be anywhere near the kitchen while you do. When they're done, you'll see the wait was worth it - the tomatoes are intensely full of flavour and your kitchen will smell amazing.