The laurel is not only a beautiful aesthetic decor piece for your garden. Bay leaves can give a delicious final touch to your delicacies. We would like to list some nice dishes.
A GRANDMOTHER'S WAY CLASSIC: spaghetti bolognaise
Italian cuisine has quickly found its way to our Belgian stoves in recent decades. Today, spaghetti bolognaise is a true classic on the menu of many families almost every week.
How to prepare?
- Spaghetti
- Bay leaves
- Mixed minced meat.
- Carrots
- Dried thyme
- Dried oregano
- Porto
- Diced tomatoes
- Onion
- Broth
- Salt.
- Pepper
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- 1 finely chopped onion. Cut the carrots into slices. Peel and crush 2 cloves of garlic.
- Fry the minced meat in a little oil. Add the onion, carrots and garlic. Mix well.
- Add the tomato cubes, the broth, the oregano, thyme, bay leaf and a dash of port. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes, or until the carrots are tender.
- Boil the pasta in salted water until ready to eat. Drain.
- Season the sauce with salt and pepper. Mix immediately with the spaghetti. Serve with the cheese in a separate bowl.
Hasselback potatoes with bay leaf
A culinary creation by Claudia Allemeersch, who in the past won 'The best hobby chef in Flanders'. As the author of more than ten bestsellers, she also enjoyed serving a nice dish with bay leaves.
Picture copyright Heikki Verdurme
How to prepare?
- 12 ratte potatoes
- Butter for buttering the baking dish
- 8 flat parsley sprigs
- 12 thyme sprigs
- 1 tbsp flaky salt
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 48 bay leaves
- 1 whole fresh garlic bulb, cut into 4 with peel
- 8 carrots, cleaned
- 8 black peppercorns
- 4 rosemary sprigs
- Sour cream
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Wash the potatoes and place them between 2 skewers (wooden spoons). Cut the potato every 0,5 cm, bt do not cut it down to the bottom (hence the sticks) so that the bottom of the potato stays together.
- Butter a oven dish and arrange the potatoes in it.
- Zip the leaves of 6 thyme springs in a mortar. Add the leaves of the flat parsley along with the salt and crush into a paste.
- Add the olive oil and mix well.
- Pour the mixture over the potaties and shake well so that the skin is surrounded by the spice-oil mixture.
- Stick the bay leaves into the slots and add rosemary and other thyme sprigs along with the garlic, peppercorns and carrots.
- Place the dish in the oven for 40 minutes until the potatoes are crispy on the outside and cooked on the inside.
- Better remove the bay leaves before eating the potato. Best served with a spoonful of sour cream.
Be inspired by so much more.
Would you like to know more about Claudia Allemeersch or would you like to discover even more recipes with laurel? You will find everything in our book The Laurel, all year round.
Order our book