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

Recently, I shared a rocket pesto recipe with you. Here’s an example of what you can do with it. :) Ingredients (serves 2): 120g penne 1 small red onion, finely chopped 300g cherry tomatoes 2 handfuls arugula (rocket lettuce) 15g shaved parmesan 6-8 tbsp rocket walnut pesto Instructions: 1. Prepare the pasta according to instructions. 2. Place onion in a large skillet and sauté for 3-4 minutes, then add the cherry tomatoes and sauté for another 2 minutes. 3. Add the penne and the pesto and mix over low heat for a couple of minutes, then remove from heat. 4. Toss in some fresh arugula, divide over two plates and serve topped with parmesan shavings.

When I first discovered Reese’s Pieces, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Indulgence led to cravings led to the desire to be able to make my own: my motto about cooking has always been that if it seems halfway doable, I should at least try to recreate the things I love to eat. It was out of that thought that this experiment was born. My first idea was to aim for peanut butter cups of my own. Then, I started going through my pantry - and a better idea was born... Ingredients: 200g dark chocolate, chopped into chunks 100g white chocolate, chopped into chunks 100g smooth peanut butter 100g walnuts, halved  Sheet of baking paper Instructions: 1. Melt the dark chocolate au bain marie. To do that, bring some water to a simmer. Place the chocolate in a bowl that is big enough to be bigger than the circumference of the pan (so it can sit snugly on top it. Make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the top of the water - the bowl will be heated by steam. Keep...

Ahhh, the joys of meatballs in tomato sauce. They serve them in just about a dozen different countries - as albondigas in Spain, polpetta al sugo in Italy, or just good old meatballs for the native English speakers out there. And yes, the meatball is a common phenomenon here in the Netherlands too. My grandma’s generation served them the size of a small fist (gehaktballen) with potatoes and gravy, or smaller (gehaktballetjes) in vegetable soups. And yet, they never really had me convinced. I wasn't a meatball kinda gal. Meatballs, to me, seemed boring. Until one day, when a friend came over and made some meatballs with a packet of minced meat and a handfull of leftovers from the fridge and the pantry. The sauce was amazing. So were the balls - succulent, aromatic, mmmm. I became an instant convert. Of course, I had to try a repeat. With the pantry fully stocked with nuts for the breakfast bars I made earlier, I decided go a little nuts myself and toss some in. It goes with...

I usually have yoghurt and cereal for breakfast on weekdays, normally with some raspberries, strawberries or blueberries thrown in. Or, if I'm fresh out of fruit, a teaspoon of jam to make it all sweeter. Maybe a boiled egg on the side. Lately though, I've been finding myself, more and more often, all out of time. So I thought I’d try something I could make ahead. The answer that came to me: energy bars. Except, unlike the store bought kind, you can make these to have exactly what you want in them, and leave out what you don't. And it turns out - making your own energy bars is easy, I don't know why I’d never done it before. Doing it at night and letting them set in the fridge shaves making breakfast right off my morning routine those extra early days :) This is one of those recipes that doesn’t require exact quantities. You can put in whatever you like - dried apricots or figs, any variety of nut, nougat, cereal, etc. Remember, they're going to be your e...