Food photography is a funny business. While I was making this dinner of quinoa stuffed peppers and a Macedonian tomato gravy Mr. Stripey was playing with a wacky new wide angle lens he'd bought. I'm not sure it's quite the thing for food porn but it certainly gives a new perspective on the food we ate.
The peppers were rather ordinary in the end despite being packed full of green garlic from the garden, hot green chillies and plenty of oil, which was disappointing.
On the other hand the rather dull sounding tomato gravy, a thickened roux flavoured with paprika and tomato produced something that was easy, tasty and a useful new addition to the repertoire, winning the prize for supporting artist with ease.
Makalo, a very traditional part of Macedonian cookery doesn't have to be strongly tomato flavoured and can be used in a variety of ways; as a cook in sauce for 'meatballs' or vegetables, as a pour over sauce for baked dishes and as a dip for chips and fried food. You don't have to come from the north of England to enjoy gravy with your chips.
To make it you need:
3 tbsp bland vegetable oil
75g plain flour
750ml water or vegetable stock
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped or minced
100ml passata or other smooth tomato sauce (this item to taste)
1 tsp paprika (smoked is good)
salt and pepper
Heat the oil in a heavy pan and sprinkle in the flour. Use a spoon to mix the flour into the hot oil and allow to cook gently, stirring continuously until the flour is just beginning to colour up and smell toasty. Add the garlic and combine.
Add the stock in small increments stirring all the time, just enough in each addition that the roux mixture sucks it all up before you add the next splash. Done carefully this should allow you to make a sauce with no lumps but if you're unlucky just get your whisk out and smooth those lumps away.
Add the passata and seasonings, stir well and allow to simmer gently, stirring frequently, for at least 10 minutes to ensure the flour is completely cooked through. Add extra stock if necessary to get the thickness you prefer. Check the seasoning, this shouldn't be overpoweringly strongly flavoured but does need a touch of salt to make it good.
Next time I think I'll cook the peppers in the sauce instead of separately as I did here.
4 comments:
The makalo sounds interesting...it sort of reminds me of "tomate frito" in Spain, but it's a little different. I like the photos too. I'm curious...what are the little rolls around the side of the pepper?
Hi Rose,
I think the Spanish version has a lot more tomato in it, and no flour.
The little rolls are hasselback potatoes, the potatoes are rather old over here at the moment and they didn't really go as beautifully golden as I would have liked.
Hello,
I'm a 6 year vegetarian and recent vegan convert. I've been following your blog with a special interest because I'm going to study in Nantes, France for school in the fall. I can see it's not easy being vegan in France! I am preparing to give up veganism while I'm there, as I won't even have a kitchen, and returning to it once I'm back home. I'm looking forward to trying new produce - I'm from Illinois and I've never seen many of the vegetables on your blog!
If you have any advice, favorite vegan French products, or accidentally-vegan foods, I would love to hear about them. Could I convince you to make a special post on veganism in France? :)
Thank you for writing this blog.
Lauren
Hi Lauren,
Thanks for your confidence, I'm going to give it a go now!
Post a Comment