Millet And Cornmeal Cakes With Wild Garlic Pesto Recipes

SAVORY MILLET CAKES

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in millet and garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add water and salt and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook, stirring once or twice, for 20 minutes. Stir in zucchini, carrot, Parmesan, thyme, lemon zest and pepper. Cook, uncovered, maintaining a simmer and stirring often to keep the millet from sticking, until the mixture is soft, very thick and the liquid has been absorbed, about 10 minutes more. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Uncover and let stand, stirring once or twice, until cool enough to handle, about 30 minutes.
• With dampened hands, shape the millet mixture into 12 cakes or patties, 3-inch diameter (a scant 1/3 cup each).
• Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Add 4 millet cakes and cook until the bottoms are browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Carefully turn the cakes with a wide spatula and cook until the other side is browned, 3 to 5 minutes more. Coat the pan with cooking spray again and cook the remaining cakes in batches, reducing the heat if necessary to prevent burning.

MILLET CAKES WITH BASIL PESTO

Steps:

• Cook the millet according to the package directions until cooked through and fluffy. Let cool.
• Meanwhile, place the carrots, onions, bell peppers, garlic and Italian seasoning in a food processor and pulse until the vegetables are in tiny pieces.
• Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat and add the vegetables. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Let cool slightly.
• Place the millet, vegetables and egg in a medium bowl and thoroughly combine. Form patties, about 2 tablespoons each.
• Once all the patties are made and resting on a plate, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the patties in a single layer and cook until golden, 5 minutes on each side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and let cool. Repeat with the remaining patties, adding more oil to the skillet, if needed.
• Serve the millet cakes with the basil pesto.
• Place the basil, oil, pine nuts, Parmesan, salt and garlic in a food processor and puree until smooth.

CORNMEAL GRIDDLE CAKES

Steps:

• Pour cornmeal into a large bowl; cover with boiling water. Let stand until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour, sugar, melted butter, baking powder, and salt. Mix in milk and egg until batter is smooth.
• Heat a lightly greased griddle over medium heat. Drop spoonfuls of batter onto the griddle and cook until edges are dry, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip and cook until browned on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes more. Repeat with remaining batter.

WILD GARLIC PESTO

Steps:

• Rinse and roughly chop the wild garlic leaves.
• Blitz the wild garlic leaves, parmesan, garlic, lemon zest and pine nuts to a rough paste in a food processor. Season, and with the motor running slowly, add almost all the oil. Taste, season and add a few squeezes of lemon juice.
• Transfer the pesto to a clean jar and top with the remaining oil. Will keep in the fridge for two weeks.

MILLET PANCAKES WITH PESTO

Steps:

• For the pancakes, boil the millet in a pot with vegetable broth. Cover the pot with lid and let cook at very low heat for 20 minutes. Remove the pot from heat and let the millet stand for another 15 minutes, do not open the lid.
• For the pesto, rinse the parsley and chives, pat dry and chop. Puree the parsley and chives with thyme, almonds, half the Parmesan cheese and olive oil in a blender to a smooth paste. Season the pesto with a little salt.
• Mix the ceam, pureed tomatoes, eggs and remaining Parmesan cheese into the cooked millet. Heat canola oil in the pan, spread 2 tablespoons of the millet mixture into flat pancakes and fry on both sides until light brown. Cook more pancakes from the mixture until it is used up. Serve the millet pancakes with pesto.
• Serve as desired with a fresh green salad.

MILLET AND CORNMEAL CAKES WITH WILD GARLIC PESTO

Steps:

• For the millet and cornmeal cakes: Rinse millet under cold running water in a colander. In a saucepan, boil broth with the millet and salt to taste. Cover and simmer 4 minutes. Gradually stir in the cornmeal and simmer over low heat, stirring frequently for 5 minutes. Season with nutmeg, pepper and salt and simmer over very low heat, stirring frequently until the liquid has been absorbed and the grains are tender, about 15 minutes. Rinse a baking sheet with cold water, spread the millet mixture 1 cm (approximately 3/8-inch) thick on the sheet and let cool.
• Crumble the feta into a bowl and stir together with the cream and some yogurt until smooth, season with cayenne pepper. Coarsely chop the pumpkin seeds and fold into the feta mixture.
• Preheat the oven to 220°C (approximately 425°F). Grease a baking sheet. With a 10cm (approximately 4-inch) round cookie cutter cut out circles from the millet mixture. Place on the baking sheet, top with the feta mixture and bake until the pancakes are golden brown and lightly crisped, about 15 minutes.
• For the wild garlic pesto: Rinse the wild garlic leaves, pat dry and finely chop. Lightly toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry skillet, then coarsely chop and puree a blender along with the olive oil until thick and of a paste consistency. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the Pecorino, season and serve with the millet and cornmeal cakes.