To Market, To Market!

This is becoming a habit, isn't it? Benjamin and I will go to the Queen Vic Market on the weekend and I'll cook something delicious to post here. We make a day of it: spend a lazy morning at home, then venture out to the market, also stopping for a coffee at Seven Seeds (or, today, at De Clieu: Seven Seeds' Gertrude St venue).

I lost track of how much we spent today, and while some of them were impulse purchases (a lamb backstrap, fresh Australian garlic and Murray River Pink Salt), what we've tried so far has definitely been worth it. I can't wait until stone fruits are truly in season, so I can buy a box of peaches to make chutney!

Gluten Free Beef Ravioli with Leek and Fennel Braise

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Gluten free beef ravioli, enough to feed 4

2 small leeks

2 small fennel

1 head fresh garlic (or 2 cloves dried garlic), sliced thinly

water

50g butter

goats cheese*

salt

pepper

Method:

Wash the fennel and leeks well. Trim the base and top of the fennel, reserving some of the fronds, and slice the fennel bulb thinly. Thinly slice the pale section of the leeks.

Heat half the butter in a large pan. When foaming, add the garlic, fennel and leek and stir to coat. Cook until slightly softened. Add enough water to cover the base of the pan, then cover and simmer until soft.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to packet instructions.

When the pasta is nearly cooked, add the remaining butter to the braise and stir until melted. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the pasta with a generous helping of the braise, some crumbled goats cheese and the fennel fronds.

* A note on goats cheese: please, please, please try to get good quality cheese. If you're in Melbourne, several of the vendors in the Queen Vic Dairy Hall sell jars of Meredith goats cheese, which is absolutely delectable (Seven Seeds do a wonderful toasted sandwich with the cheese, quince paste and toasted hazelnuts). If you can't get the good stuff, most supermarkets sell jars of it, usually around the olives and marinated vegetables. Just be warned, it's a little rubbery (as I discovered for myself earlier this week).