It’s been a bit crazy here, but we have managed to fit in some gardening between the crazy and the Sydney storms!
Tomato plants have been popping up all over the place this year and we add a couple from the nursery, so we are at the beginning of a tomato glut I think. The herbs are also doing really well this year and we are able to pick them for every dish we cook. We also have blueberries, strawberries, mushrooms, spinach and chilies! and this week we have started to see a real benefit from the garden.
Our first great haul this summer were these great mushrooms, which I put with one of our chilies, 2 tomatoes (sorry just off the picture) and some herbs to do a bolognese. It was extremely satisfying cooking and eating our own food. Tasty too!
First Good Garden Haul – homegrown mushrooms, chili, tomatoes and herbs
Our second haul looked like this:
The next haul! More tomatoes, spinach, shallot and a chili.
The baby tomatoes went to Lexi with her dinner, which was great because after 20 minutes of “I’m hungry” I placed dinner in front of her to hear, I don’t want dinner – pretty typical routine. and then she spied the baby tomatoes, and next thing I know she’s eaten all her dinner!!
For us I made a kinda Chachouka dish. We had some organic meatballs, eggs and mushrooms from Aussie Farmer Direct and some garlic, a can of white beans, capsicum and a dash of wine from the fridge/pantry and…
Chachouka, garden style
we had a truly delicious dinner!
We have a very small garden and in summer, very little light thanks to a very large tree, but we make it work. We have already taken over some of our neighbours garden – with their encouragement – and now we have joined forces though with some neighbours who started an unofficial community garden on the railway land and we hope to extend our gardening and our dinner! Watch this space!
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 4 people | 5 minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 20 minutes | 15 minutes |
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This is a recipe that can change with the seasons and what you have in the fridge, pantry or garden! You can also prepare it ahead of time and let it simmer while you bath the kids or watch your favourite episode.
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- 1 tbsp olive oil or your preferred oil
- 1 packet organic meatballs bacon or chorizo would be ideal replacements
- 2 cloves garlic finely diced
- 3 diced ripe tomatoes I used 2 from the garden and some cherry tomatoes from the fridge
- 1 sliced shallot onion or leek would work too
- 1 sliced chili optional
- 2 sliced large mushrooms
- 1/4 sliced capsicum
- a dash wine whatever you didn't finish last weekend..!
- 1 can butter beans or whichever beans you have on hand
- 4 eggs
- finely chopped spinach
- salt & pepper
fry the meatballs in the oil,
add the other ingredients one at a time except the eggs and spinach. the dish can now sit and simmer with a lid on for however long you need, it will only get better.
5 minutes before serving add the spinach, stir though. turn the heat to low and make 4 holes and crack the eggs in. put the lid back on and let simmer for 4 minutes or until the eggs are how you prefer them.
serve and enjoy!
