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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 25 FEBRUARY 2015 14 Food Meat-free recipes for Lent After the carnival celebrations we move into Lent. Find some great recipes that are ideal for this time of year, completely meat-free from Gourmet Today TV. Try Pippa Mattei's soppa tal-armla (widow's soup) and Sean Gravina's deep-fried fish bites or a delicious shasuka, an Israeli dish made with eggs cooked in a tomato and pepper sauce. Don't miss Gourmet Today, every Friday at 18:40. Pippa Mattei Serves 6-8 Ingredients • 2 tbsp butter • 4 tbsp olive oil • 2 medium onions, peeled • 2 potatoes, peeled • 1kg fresh spinach, cleaned • ¼ medium cabbage • ½ cauliflower • 1 small lettuce • 1 small endive (indivia) • 1 kohlrabi (gidra), peeled • 1 handful fresh or frozen peas • 1 handful fresh parsley, chopped • 2 tbsp tomato puree (kunserva tat- tadam) • 2 vegetable stock cubes • 1 stick young celery • Salt and pepper To serve • Sprinkling of Parmesan cheese • Fresh gbejniet or soft cheese like ricotta • 1 egg per person Method 1. Clean and prepare all the vegetables, and chop them roughly. 2. Heat the butter and oil in a large pot, then add all the chopped vegetables, and cook stirring occasionally, until all the vegetables are soft (about 5 mins). 3. Add salt and pepper and the tomato puree, stock cubes and enough water to cover. 4. Bring to the boil, then lower heat, and simmer gently with lid on pan for about 45 mins until all the vegetables are well cooked. 5. Before serving this soup, poach an egg per person in the soup, together with the gbejniet or ricotta. 6. Carefully spoon these into individual soup plates, then spoon the soup over these, adding a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. More of Pippa Mattei's recipes are available in her books Pippa's Festa and 25 Years in a Maltese Kitchen. This recipe first appeared on Gourmet Today TV, aired on TVM on 20 February, 2015. Sean Gravina Ingredients • ½ cumin seeds • 180ml light olive oil • 2 large onions, sliced • 2 red peppers, cut into 2cm strips • 2 yellow peppers, cut into 2cm strips • 4 tsp muscovado sugar • 2 bay leaves • 6 thyme sprigs, leaves picked and chopped • 2 tbsp parsley, chopped • 2 tbsp chopped coriander, plus extra to garnish • 6 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped • ½ tsp saffron threads • Pinch cayenne pepper • Up to 250ml water • 8 eggs • Salt and pepper Method 1. In a very large pan dry-roast the cumin seeds on a high heat for 2 mins. 2. Add the oil and onions and peppers and sauté for 5 mins, adding water so that the mixture keeps a pasta sauce consistency. 3. Add the tomatoes, and remaining ingredients (except the eggs) and some salt and pepper. 4. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 mins, adding more water if necessary. (This mixture can be made in advanced and heated in pan when ready to serve.) 5. Remove the bay leaves, then make gaps in the pepper mix and carefully break an egg into each gap. 6. Sprinkle with salt and cover with a lid. 7. Cook on a very gentle heat for 10-12 mins or until the eggs are just set. 8. Sprinkle with coriander and serve with bread. This recipe first appeared on Gourmet Today TV, aired on TVM on 20 February, 2015. Sean Gravina Ingredients • 200g neonati • 600g sea bass • 2 eggs • ½ onion • 60g cornflour • ½ fennel • ½ red pepper • 10g fresh ginger • 2 cloves garlic • 2g fresh chilli • 15g caster sugar • 1 tsp salt • A few drops Tabasco • 18g white wine vinegar • 250g spinach Sweet chilli sauce • 170g white wine vinegar • 50ml water • 350g caster sugar • 2 tbsp fish sauce • 2 red chillies • 1 clove garlic • 2 tsp ginger • 2 pinches salt • 2 pinches of cornflour, mixed with a little cold water to dilute Method 1. Add the sea bass to a blender and blitz. You can use any fish for this recipe including trimmings. 2. Add the eggs, mix until just combined then add the Tabasco, sugar, salt, vinegar and cornflour. Mix again until smooth. 3. Scrape out into a mixing bowl and clean the blender. 4. Add the pepper, fennel and onion to the clean blender and blitz into a pulpy liquid. 5. Chop the chillies, ginger and garlic, then add to the jug and blitz again. Transfer the mix to a bowl and set aside. 6. Blanch half the spinach by placing in a bowl and covering in boiling water for 30 seconds. Strain and set aside ice-cold water to cool. Once completely cool, strain again and squeeze out as much liquid from the spinach as possible. 7. Roughly chop the cooked spinach along with the remaining raw spinach and add to the mix. 8. Add the fish and the neonati. 9. Meanwhile, cook the fish bites. Shape the mix into walnut-sized pieces and deep-fry in hot oil at 180°C for 2-3 mins until golden. Set aside to drain and cool a little, then serve with the sweet chilli sauce. 10. For the sweet chilli sauce, remove the seeds and stalks from each chilli and chop finely. 11. Finely chop the garlic and ginger, then add all of the ingredients to a saucepan (apart from the diluted cornflour) and bring to the boil. 12. Once boiling, whisk in the cornflour solution and boil for a further 1-2 mins, then set aside to cool. This recipe first appeared on Gourmet Today TV, aired on TVM on 20 February, 2015. ingredients (except the eggs) and some serve.) mins or until the eggs are just set. Method 3. Soppa tal-armla (Widow's soup) Shakshuka Deep-fried fish bites with a homemade sweet chilli dipping sauce