Sunday Long Lunching
Homemade spinach and ricotta ravioli, crispy skinned barramundi with spiced lentils and a completely decadent white chocolate mud cake
We love nothing more than inviting friends over for a late lunch/early dinner on a Sunday afternoon. It’s such a nice way to see out the weekend. I can faff to my hearts content in the kitchen whilst Cork Daddy gets to work icing the drinks and mowing the lawn and the girls take great pride in setting the table and sorting out the snacks.
I always make sure that I’ve got the uniforms laid out and school lunches packed and in the fridge ready to make our bleary eyed Monday morning as seamless as possible. Yesterday being no exception, come with me as I take you through a typical long Sunday lunch in Lo’s Kitchen.
Choosing the menu
Often the hardest part about having people over is trying to figure out what to cook. Don’t you think? Once I’ve made the decision - I throw the menu up on the wall. I find this simple act locks it in stone and takes that indecisiveness away.
A trip to the shops for some supplies and we’re away. The girls love getting involved by making mocktails or punch using whatever they can find in the fridge and the fruit bowl. A few special treats in the shape of some chippies and lollies are a must.
I love eating outside if the weather permits. I often think about how lucky we are living in a part of the world in which we’re able to do so. I see so many people here on Substack posting photos of them wrapped up warmly from head to toe, sitting by a raging fire drinking hot chocolate, snow can be seen falling through the framed window.
And although this scene may be romantic, especially during the 40+ degree heatwave we’ve been having of late, I seem to think that we’ve got it pretty good.
So now that we’ve set the scene - an adults table on the front verandah, a kids one on the lawn - I’ll take you through the menu.
Entree
Homemade spinach and ricotta ravioli with a spicy tomato sauce
The effort that goes into making your own pasta is 100% worth it every time. I find it relaxing, almost therapeutic. This was the highlight of the meal last night - everybody absolutely loved it. So delicate, so flavoursome, so elegant. I can’t wait to make it again.
The beauty of this dish as well is that you can have the ravioli and tomato sauce prepared earlier, simply warming through the sauce and cooking the pasta when your guests arrive. It makes for a fun conversation starter - standing around the kitchen table having a drink as you work away.
Special mention must go to the tomatoes, basil, spinach and eggs - that have all gone in to this dish. All homegrown. I feel like an Italian nonna.
Makes enough for 8 as an entree size
For the pasta dough:
3 x handfuls of plain flour
3 x large eggs
For the filling:
500 grams of ricotta
A huge big bunch of silverbeet, that’s been cooked in a saucepan with a splash of water and then squeezed well to remove the excess liquid
A bunch of fresh basil
2 x cloves of garlic
A good grating of parmesan
A sprinkling of dried oregano
A grating of fresh nutmeg (or a sprinkling of dried nutmeg)
Salt and freshly cracked pepper
For the tomato sauce:
10 x large tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 x cloves of garlic, minced
A handful of basil leaves
A good drizzle of balsamic vinegar
1 x teaspoon of sugar
A sprinkling of chilli flakes
Salt and freshly cracked pepper
Pasta
Firstly, we’re going to make the pasta dough by simply piling up the flour on to a clean work surface, making a well in the centre.
Crack the eggs into the well and using a fork - whisk the eggs together, whilst simultaneously incorporating the flour around the well as you go. Continue to do this until all of the flour has been incorporated and then knead using your hands until you have a nice smooth dough. TIP: if the dough is feeling a little dry, I wet my fingers under the tap and find that that little bit of water helps it along.
Wrap in glad wrap and place aside whilst you get onto making the filling and tomato sauce.
Filling
Simply place all ingredients into a large mixing bowl and blend together using a bar mix. Pop in the fridge until required.
Tomato sauce
Place all ingredients into a medium sized saucepan and simmer until nicely cooked down, adding a splash of water as you go if need be. You can also add a tin of chopped tomatoes to make it go further if you like.
I then blitz using a bar mix to make it smooth. Taste for seasoning.
Assembling the ravioli
Using a pasta rolling machine, divide the dough into three and working with one portion at a time - roll out until you’ve got a lovely long strip of dough. (I start on the ‘O’ setting - putting the dough through twice, before setting the machine to ‘1’ - rolling out twice and then continuing working my way through - ‘2’, ‘3’, ‘4’, etc until number 7. I find that this is then beautifully thin and perfect for making ravioli.
Using two teaspoons - add little blobs of the filling 3/4 of the way down the strip of dough. TIP: A lot of people put the filling into a piping bag when making ravioli but I find that that is too fiddly and this works just as well.
Now we’re going to fold the long strip of pasta dough over to encase the filling before smoothing it out and going ahead and cutting between each ravioli. I use a pizza cutter here.
Using a fork, we’re going to crimp the edges so that the filling stays in place when cooking.
Lay the raviolis out flat on a tray or plates (with a light dusting of flour underneath them so that they don’t stick) and pop some glad wrap over the top, placing them in the fridge until you’re ready to cook them.
Cooking the ravioli
In a large pot of salted boiling water - we’re going to add the ravioli one at a time, working quickly here so that they all have the same amount of time in the water. They literally take a couple of minutes to cook. They’re cooked once they float to the top of the surface.
Take the ravioli out of the water using a slotted spoon.
Take some of the hot tomato sauce and place it on the centre of the plate, before adding about six ravioli, finishing with another dollop of the tomato sauce. Cover in fresh parmesan, some fresh basil leaves and a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil. Eat immediately.
Main meal
We’ve got two meals here - one for the adults and one for the kids.
Pan fried crispy skinned barramundi with spiced lentils and a garden salad for the adults
Oven baked battered flathead fillets with homemade potato chips for the kiddies
The reason why this meal is a goodie too is that like the pasta entree, you’re able to be organised and prepped ahead of time. I love how you can have the salad in the fridge ready to go, same goes with the roast potatoes and the spiced lentils.
Then all you need to do is whack the spuds (which are just some cubes of potato tossed in olive oil with salt and pepper) and fish for the kiddies in the oven and pan fry the barramundi for the adults. Easy peasy.
Garden salad
2 x cos lettuce hearts, washed and chopped
A sprinkling of finely sliced red and white cabbage
1 x Lebanese cucumber, sliced
1 x avocado, sliced
A handful of fresh radish, halved
A sprinkling of roasted cashew nuts
A sprinkling of dried cranberries
A sprinkling of pepitas and sunflower seeds
A good quality store-bought dressing makes this easy for entertaining. I like to buy the La Barre caramelised balsamic finishing vinegar from The Marsden.
Add all ingredients to a large serving bowl, dressing just before serving.
Spiced lentils
I love using tinned lentils as a base for serving fish. They’re not only incredibly tasty, but they can be made ahead of time only to be heated through on the hob just before serving. Play around with this recipe - there really are no rules here in terms of what veggies you add. Kale, mushrooms, capsicum, green beans or tinned chickpeas also work well here.
Serves 8
1 x brown onion, finely diced
2 x cloves of garlic, crushed
2 x 400 gram tins of lentils
1 x 400 gram tin of chopped tomatoes
2 x carrots, finely chopped
2 x zucchini, finely chopped
A sprinkling of ground cumin
A sprinkling of paprika
A sprinkling of dried oregano
A splash of apple cider vinegar
A sprinkling of chilli flakes
A handful of fresh basil and parsley, torn
The juice of one lemon
Salt and freshly cracked pepper
A splash of olive oil
A splash of water
Add a dash of olive oil and throw in the onion and garlic, giving them a head start until softened.
Now add the lentils (with the juice from the tin), tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, cumin, paprika, oregano, vinegar, chilli, salt and pepper and a splash of water. Simmer for 15 minutes or longer until you’ve got a lovely incorporated stew, adding a dash more water as you go if need be.
Now go in with the fresh herbs and juice of the lemon and cook for another 5 or so minutes.
To assemble:
Pan fry the barramundi fillets in a non stick fry pan in a dash of olive oil, seasoning well with salt and pepper on both sides. Start skin side down and allow the pan to be nice and hot to get a nice crispy skin. You’ll want to cook this for about 4-5 minutes before turning over (turning the heat down a tad) and cooking on the second side for half this time. You don’t want to over cook the fish - but you also don’t want to undercook it. You’re able to easily check if it’s cooked by using a knife to poke in to the centre from the bottom of the fish fillet (so as not to poke a hole through the skinned side). It’s cooked if it flakes easily and has turned from translucent to a lovely white colour.
Spoon out a generous serving of the lentils, adding the fish fillet on top along with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a wedge of fresh lemon.
Dessert
White chocolate mud cake
This recipe is one that I’ve been making for years, ever since I made it for Mum’s birthday one time - white chocolate being her favourite. I’ve adapted this recipe from The Australian Women’s Weekly so special mention to them. As with most of their recipes - it’s an oldie but a goodie.
So there we have it - the end of yet another Lo’s Kitchen Today post. I hope you’ve enjoyed diving into the world of the long lunch. Hopefully there’s something here that inspires you to try in your own kitchen.
Thank you so very much for being here. Your support really is appreciated. Very gratefully.
We’ve got loads more food inspo coming your way. Until then though,
Happy cooking.
And eating.
Lo x