Asparagus Pastries

Preparation 25 Minutes

Cook 30 Minutes

Serves 8

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C.

  1. Cut each pastry sheets into 4 squares. Mark 1cm in from the edge of pastry to resemble a photo frame. Place on paper lined baking trays.
  2. Panfry onions in oil for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Pour in wine and brown sugar and cook for a further 5 minutes stirring continuously. Stir in pine nuts and cool.
  3. Place heaped spoonfuls of onion mixture into the centre of each pastry square. Arrange mushrooms and asparagus on top. Sprinkle with feta and brush edges with egg. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes. Serve.

Ingredients

70g Sunbeam Pine Nuts, roasted

2 sheets puff pastry

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, peeled and sliced

1/4 cup red wine

2 tsp brown sugar

6-8 button mushrooms, sliced

2 bunches asparagus, trimmed and blanched

100g feta cheese, crumbled

1 egg, lightly beaten

Recipe Collection

Roast Pork with Pistachio Stuffing

Pat the pork belly dry with a paper towel, then score the rind at 1cm intervals.  

To make the Pistachio Stuffing, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low-medium heat. Add the shallot, lemongrass, garlic, ginger and chilli flakes. Cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes until softened. Then add the remaining ingredients. And cook, stirring, until pistachios are lightly golden. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Then stir in the lemon zest and parsley leaves.  

Butterfly the pork belly, leaving one edge intact. Spoon the Pistachio Cranberry Stuffing inside the pork and then roll up. Secure the pork with kitchen twine. Place pork into the fridge overnight (or for 12 hours) to allow the skin to dry up and the pork meat to take on the stuffing flavour.   

Preheat the oven to 180℃ fan force.  

Place pork onto a wire rack and into a roasting tin. Rub the oil over the pork belly skin and sprinkle over salt. Place into the middle of the oven and roast for 30 minutes. Turn heat down to 160℃ and continue to cook for 2 hours to slowly cook the pork meat. Then, to finish, turn the oven up to the highest grill setting and continue cooking for 2-4 minutes until skin has turned to crackling – you may need to use tongs to rotate the pork a few times to brown all sides evenly. 


Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes, before carving.  

 

Lemon Date Slice with Cream Cheese Frosting

  1. Line a 20 x 20cm slice tray. Place dates and 100g of the cream cheese in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until a paste has formed. Add oats, coconut and lemon rind. Pulse until smooth. Remove to a bowl and fold in blueberries. Press into prepared tray and refrigerate for at least 2 hours until firm.
  2. For frosting, whisk together the remaining cream cheese, icing sugar, juice and lemon rind. Spread over slice and sprinkle with pepitas, refrigerate until required and cut into squares.

Sunbeam Christmas Cake

Soak fruit overnight in brandy, if you warm the brandy it infuses faster and you can soak for a few hours instead of overnight.

Place soaked fruit, water, butter, maple syrup and sugar in a saucepan. Slowly bring to the boil then remove from heat and add bicarbonate of soda mixed with one tablespoon boiling water. Cool for 15 minutes.

Add lightly beaten eggs, mixing thoroughly. Fold in sifted flours, spices and vanilla essence.

We used a 21cm bundt tin. Bake at 160°C for 75 to 90 minutes. Cool in tin.

Decorate with Caramel glaze and Sunbeam flake almonds.

Walnut Sultana Zucchini Carrot Cake

Preheat oven to 180ºC (160ºC fan).  Grease and line base and sides of two x 22.5cm (9”) round baking tins. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with beater attachment, combine zucchini, carrot, flour, sugar, 50g of walnuts, sultanas and spices.  Mix on low until just combined.

Whisk together oil and eggs then add to the zucchini mixture and beat on low until just combined.  Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared tins, smoothing the surfaces.  Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean.  Allow the cakes to cool in tins for an hour, then invert onto a baking rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, combine butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment.  Whisk until smooth.  Add sifted icing sugar and whisk until smooth and fluffy.

To decorate, spread half the icing on top of one cake.  Arrange the second cake on top and spread with remaining icing.  Sprinkle with chopped walnuts to decorate.

Stuffed Baked Apples

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced).
  2. Cut a 2cm slice off the top of each apple and set aside. Using a spoon or melon scoop, scoop out the core of the apple. Place apples into a baking dish.
  3. Combine the raisins, walnuts, sugar, butter and spice. Using finger tips, mix it all together until a rough mixture has formed. Spoon into the cavity of each apple and bake for approx 25 minutes until apples are tender. If using the tops of the apples, add to the oven half way through cooking time and serve these with the baked apples.

Chocolate & Prune Pudding

  1. Grease the base and sides of a 1.5L pudding basin. Combine prunes, raisins, sultanas and brandy in a microwave proof bowl and cook for 2 minutes. Stir well and set aside.
  2. Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat until smooth and pale. Add eggs one at a time until well incorporated. Fold in the flour, breadcrumbs, cocoa, chocolate and mixed spice, followed by the fruit mixture. Mix until well combined.
  3. Pour batter into prepared pudding basin and cover (if no lid, use a couple of layers of baking paper and secure with string or a large elastic band. Then cover with a layer of foil, securing with a large elastic band. Place into a large pot with a small saucepan in the base. Pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the basin. Cover with a lid and simmer for 3 hours. Top up water as required.
  4. Remove from pot and either serve immediately, or leave in the basin and refrigerate until required.
  5. For butterscotch sauce, combine all ingredients in a small saucepan, and gently bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside.
  6. For mascarpone cream, fold mixed spice into mascarpone and set aside until required.
  7. For serving, place upturned pudding onto a serving plate and dollop with mascarpone and drizzle with butterscotch sauce. Decorate with seasonal fruits and toasted nuts.

Join Our Recipe Club