Dinner

Everyone should know how to make a good pumpkin soup. This one is a winner because most of the cooking time happens in the oven, meaning you can have a shower or take the dog for a quick walk while the pumpkin, onions, and garlic are roasting to sweet, spiced perfection.

It’s a clever recipe, ticking Clove’s low food waste goals by turning the pumpkin seeds into a crunchy, chilli soup topper! If you’ve never roasted your own pumpkin seeds before, you’ll be amazed that something you normally throw in the bin can taste so good.

Puttanesca is the perfect end-of-the-week dinner when the vegetable crisper is bare. Just forage on the top shelf of your fridge and gather all the jars—capers, anchovies, olives, sun-dried tomatoes. You’ll need about one and a half cups of these antipasti-style condiments, so use up what you have. Our quantities are provided as a guide only. Keep in mind you can include marinated capsicums or eggplants, green olives, or even preserved mushrooms or artichoke hearts, so there’s really no need to go to the shops.

A quick and affordable curry perfect for new cooks. It’s a delicious and easy meal to have up your sleeve especially if there’s a quarter of a cabbage that’s been staring at you from the veggie crisper for a while!

Remember to wash the coriander roots and stems really well, and then wash them again! There’s nothing worse than a gritty curry.

Quick is the word to focus on in this recipe title! It takes the same amount of time to boil pasta as it does to chop the herby green sauce. So, dinner really is ready in 15 minutes.

The parsley, rocket, green olives, lemon, and garlic make this a clean and green pasta, with a little protein from the tuna and a kick of heat from the chilli flakes. This recipe serves two but doubles easily, and the leftovers make a great lunch the next day.

This dish is an excellent way to use up summer vegetables, especially those that have sat in the crisper for too long. The low and slow cooking time disguises any blemishes and wrinkles and turns tired vegetables into a harmony of summer flavours.

You need about 1-1.5 kg of summer vegetables like eggplants, zucchini, and capsicum. You can use equal parts of all three vegetables, or just one. There are no real rules.

Serve this ratatouille with polenta and goat’s cheese, use it as a base for baked eggs, or as a side with any grilled meats, fish, or roast chicken.

Butter beans are one of the best pantry staples there are. High in protein, fiber and folates, they should make a regular appearance in your meals. These butter beans are so easy to make, require very simple ingredients but taste like you know what you’re doing. We use one can of beans to make a quick side for one or two people, but double or triple the recipe depending on how many people you’re feeding.

Serve them on a thick slice of sourdough for a quick dinner, or for something more hearty, serve with a grilled piece of meat, fish, or a tray of roasted vegetables.

Take them to a BBQ when you’ve been asked to bring a dish, and everyone will ask you for the recipe!

This is one of the ‘piatti tipici’ (typical dishes) of Gesualdo, which is my mum and nonna’s hometown. Cauzuni is the local dialect name for these ricotta-filled ravioli.

I remember my nonna was like a machine rolling out the dough into one large, thin sheet using a broomstick as a rolling pin! When making these I tend to use the same utensils; a glass and a fork but I draw the line at the broomstick and use a pasta machine.

What I love most about this recipe is that this filling leaves out spinach, which is commonly used in this dish. Our village’s secret, is just a hint of chopped parsley.

These mini cabbages are nutritional powerhouses. Hidden amongst those tightly packed leaves are essential vitamins, minerals, fibre and antioxidants, so get them on your plate! The peppery and earthy flavours of Brussels sprouts are a perfect pair with salty ingredients like parmesan and pancetta. We’ve added some chilli flakes and red wine vinegar to really make these bad boys sing. You want as much crisp and char as you can get, so crank up the oven and get roasting. They make a great side; pile them onto a lentil stew or serve them with polenta and a hearty ragu.

When it’s tomato season you should eat tomatoes every day! This roasted tomato soup reminds us how simple ingredients can bring so much flavour and satisfaction to a dish. Roasting the tomatoes with garlic, onion and lots of olive oil brings a big depth of flavour and sweetness to the soup. If you’re looking to eat more vegetables and experiment with a more mediterranean style diet, give this simple recipe a go.

Make this risoni! Tangy, creamy and smoky – it’s a flavor sensation. Leeks, green olives, feta and smoked fish, all perfectly balanced in taste and nutrition. It makes a great dinner, and the leftovers are even better the next day for lunch. Hot smoked salmon, smoked trout or canned tuna can all be used in this recipe and one of the best things is that it makes use of the whole leek, green tops and all, so there’s no food waste!

As long-time lovers of a good satay sauce, we wanted to perfect a homemade version that we could whip up. We brush it over grilled

tofu, vegetables or chicken skewers, or make this satay bowl.

It is a substantial salad and a filling meal on its own. While you do need to cook the ingredients separately to avoid things going limp, it is well worth the extra effort. The pleasure of this dish is not just in the flavour but also the textures.

Use what’s on hand and change ingredients according to the seasons. You could swap the tofu out for a little poached chicken, baked fish or stir-fried pork mince.

A galette is a savoury or sweet free-form pie that is easy to assemble, requires minimal technique and is very forgiving for those without pastry skills.

This one is filled with a delicious sautéed silverbeet mix. But really you can fill a galette with anything. Sautéed mushroom, caramelized onion, roasted tomatoes and cheese of your choice.

We’ve included a recipe for an easy sour cream pastry that you make in the food processor, but you could also use store-bought shortcrust pastry.

Kafta is essentially lamb mince seasoned with spices and fresh onion and parsley. It’s really easy to make from scratch, and super versatile to cook with.

This recipe makes approximately 24 skewers which will feed 6-8 people. However, if you are feeding 4, just halve the recipe, or you can make the whole amount and freeze half for another time. Simply defrost and cook as you would regular mince.

Serve it with my Lazy Salad, Yogurt Flatbread, and homemade Baba Ghanouj.

A simple lentil stew is the ultimate vegetarian comfort food. Learn this one by heart and add it to your recipes on repeat. In this version, we’ve used dried lentils but feel free to replace with 2 cans of drained lentils. The main flavours in this stew are pepper and lemon, so be generous with these ingredients. Hearty and nourishing, this stew is best served with polenta, mash or brown rice on a cold night.

If you learn to make this sauce, you’ll always have a go-to quick dinner. It can be served plain on pasta or as the sauce for cannelloni, eggplant parmigiana and so much more.

It’s impossibly simple and will replace store bought pasta sauces. This base recipe uses tomatoes, garlic and basil – but you can also use onion for extra flavour. If adding onion, cook it low and slow before adding garlic, and follow the rest of the recipe as per usual.

Hey newbies in the kitchen, this one is for you! This spag bol is cheap, nourishing, can feed you for a week and you can proudly make it for a dinner party.

Follow the steps, go slow, and keep tasting the sauce, adding more pepper and salt, until it’s perfect.

Once you’ve cooked this a few times you’ll feel confident to make this recipe your own and add in extra grated veggies, pancetta, or some leftover wine.

Cannelloni, meaning large tubes, is one of our favourite stuffed pasta dishes. This recipe brings an impressive and comforting meal to the table – pasta tubes filled with vibrant green spinach and creamy ricotta, all baked in a bright tomato sauce. It’s perfect for dinner parties and family gatherings. We highly recommend using fresh ricotta from the delicatessen for a smoother, lighter filling, as often the pre-packaged tubs have a grittiness and heaviness that weighs down the dish.

Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni is not only delicious and nutritious but also make-ahead-friendly. It’s on high rotation in the Clove Kitchen, and we love the leftovers for lunch the next day. Save it to your favourite dinners folder; it’s a real winner!