Tuesday 22 September 2009

Simple Feta and Tomato Supper

I have had a productive day. This morning I finally got the plumber over to install a shiny new tap that swings from side to side (rather than being fixed in place). I was so pleased I thought I could just sit feeling proud of myself for the rest of the day. But Sylvia decided to sleep for almost three hours this afternoon. Such uninterrupted quiet calls for a little organization (before the inevitable evening with a sleepless baby).

While she slept I hung out the washing on the line, made stock and potted a tomato plant I had been given. I have never potted plants by myself before but I was a bit worried about this one dying so I had a go and will check with my mum when she gets home to see if it is ok. I did some blog housekeeping and was inspired by my blog for ideas to make dinner tonight. I have a bunch of spring onions that I don’t want to get old and wrinkled so I have used some in a variation on Lentil Salad with Halloumi and Asparagus.

I even made a fancy pizza for lunch. I bought some delicious pita bread yesterday and planned to make us pizza tonight but the pitas were already showing mould spots today so I thought I better use what I could salvage. I fried some eggplant with a bit of oil spray on my non stick frypan. Then I put pesto, eggplant, mushrooms, tomato and cheese on top and grilled it.

The pita bread was part of my bounty from a long walk down Brunswick way yesterday. I paid a visit to La Manna Fresh for last night’s dinner. I had seen a tomato and feta bake in a food magazine. It called for 400g of feta cheese but at $10 for a packet of 200g I thought that one packet was enough. A handful of rocket and a bunch of asparagus was all that I needed to complete dinner.

We just missed a train going home and had to sit waiting for another. As we waited, I spied a flash of white in Sylvia’s smiling mouth. Somehow her first tooth had come through with minimum of fuss. Although, maybe we can blame her unsettled sleep lately and red cheeks on the tooth.

Last night's recipe was a good simple one for a night when I was tired out by the little rascal. I especially appreciate something easy when I need to ask E to help out. When I sat down to feed her I instructed E to stir in the herbs and pour into the casserole dish when the timer rang. Even he could do that, although he wasn’t sure what to do with the feta in the dish. I had forgot to tell him it had to be baked with the tomato sauce. I added spring onions because I had them in the fridge and I used parsley rather than oregano but I think any fresh herbs you fancy would do. E suggested adding olives.

The bake didn’t look quite like in the picture but it tasted lovely with some sautéed asparagus, fresh rocket and warm pita bread. However, the below proportions between the two of us were ample with some pita bread because it was quite intense. E said half would have been enough. I am glad he liked it because I have already filed this in the mental list of recipes for a tired night.

Baked feta with tomatoes

Adapted from
BBC Australia Good Food August 2009
Serves 2-4

  • 1-2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 400g tin of diced tomatoes
  • large handful of chopped parsley (or other fresh herbs)
  • 1 spring onion, thinly sliced (optional)
  • 200g feta cheese

Preheat oven to 220 C. Heat olive oil in frypan over medium. Fry garlic for 30 second. Add tomatoes, bring to the boil, stir and then simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in herbs and spring onions. Crumble feta into a small casserole dish. Pour tomato sauce over feta and bake for 20 minutes until hot and bubbling.

On the stereo:
From the Witchwood: The Strawbs

12 comments:

  1. Simplicity itself--and yet it sounds divine! I love baked tomatoes. And the pizza sounds wonderful, too. Now that Sylvia's getting her teeth, she'll be sharing such things in no time! :)

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  2. Ohhh Johanna! Made this tonight... a genuinely quick and easy dinner, amazing :) Can't believe the original called for 400g feta? I am a freak for feta but even I'd keel over with that amount. Trying not to pick at the leftovers to save for my lunch tomorrow... thank you!

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  3. This looks like a perfect standby for a busy evening, and I bet it's good comfort food too. Congraulations on Sylvia's first tooth (and the funky new tap!)

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  4. Sounds like it’d taste delicious but I think you’d definitely need something to ‘temper’ it, it’d be very rich!

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  5. Babies sleeping for such a long time is always a double edged sword. Such peace and quiet in the day, but the evening is a whole other story when you get the daytime quiet!

    I love feta so this meal sounds absolutely delightful!

    And congratulations on Sylvia's very first tooth!!

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  6. Ohhhh, your feta bake with the warm pita sounds absolutley dreamy! I so adore feta...

    Your new tap looks awesome! SO cool!

    Congratulations on Sylvia's first tooth!!!

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  7. Interesting! I've heard of baked ricotta but not feta although I think I'd really like it as I like the saltiness of feta :)

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  8. Thanks Ricki - I need more simplicity in my life (but not boring baby food)

    Thanks Shauna - glad you loved it and glad you had leftovers - wise move (and relieved you were able to work around me forgetting to put feta in the recipe - have amended that)

    Thanks Lysy - it is great comfort food to have one standby because other than feta we usually have the rest of the ingredients

    Thanks Gab - yes it would be very rich on its own

    Thanks Vegetation - I have a theory that sylvia only sleeps so many hours a day and if we use them up too early there is hell to pay later

    Thanks Astra - the new shiny tap looks so good it puts the rest of the kitchen to shame

    Thanks Lorraine - I almost salted the tomato sauce and then remembered I didn't need to because there was plenty in the feta

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  9. Oh, yum. I'm with E - olives too!

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  10. I'm a bit behind with my blog reading Johanna, so I've only just spotted this recipe. Lovely idea and so simple as well. If it had been me, my automatic reaction would have been to put the fetta on top, but I love this idea.

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  11. the pitta with feta and tomato looks wonderful... i need to get more creative with my lunchtime treats! very nice, indeed!

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  12. I love simple dinners, so this one's on my list. It's great to hear you've got a tooth without fuss.

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