Farfalle Pasta with Meat and Vegetables

Tomorrow is the 21st of June, the official first day of summer and the longest day of the year, or the summer solstice. It is also Father’s day in Lebanon, so make sure to wish your father a good one if you haven’t yet! Its already unbearable to sit in this heat without air conditioning. During this hot weather we eat vegetables, a lot of vegetables, to compensate for the water loss from sweat. This is why I’m making a salad everyday before having the main course. Today, I decided to have a meal which includes vegetables. Using what ingredients I could find in my fridge, I put together this lovely meal.

Ingredients:

• 400 grams beef cubes
• 1 large eggplant
• 1 medium onion
• 2 carrots
• 2 red tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon salt + 1 teaspoon for the meat
• 1/2 teaspoon seven spices
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil

Preparation:

• In a pressure cooker heat the cooking oil, fry the meat cubes,add 1 teaspoon salt and pepper, cover with water and cook for about 10 to 12 minutes after it starts whistling
• Preheat the oven to 200 C
• Place the oil in a tray, put the half cooked meat over the oil with one cup of the meat stock
• Time to prepare the vegetables: peel and dice the eggplant, cut the onion in quarters, peel and dice the carrots, slice the tomatoes and put them all over the meat
• Dilute the tomato paste with a cup of water, add the salt and the seven spices then pour over the vegetables
• Cover the tray with aluminium foil and bake for about 25 minutes; remove the aluminium foil and keep baking for about ten more minutes
• Cook the Farfelle pasta as per instructions on the box
• To serve, place the pasta on a plate and put over the meat with vegetables

Today’s Salad:

• Mix: lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, spring onions, green pepper, some leaves of purslane and green thyme.
• For the dressing: salt with balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.
• After mixing, place some cherry tomatoes on the top for decoration

ET VOILA..C’EST TOUT.  BON APPETIT 🙂