Lenten Recipes and ideas

Hello all, I am creating this topic as a bank of recipes to be used for Lenten fasts. Feel free to add to it and also share your experiences with each recipe. Also thank you to all the members who have already contributed.

Spaghetti alle vongole
Serves 2 people

500g (1.1 lb) clams
150g (5.3 oz) spaghetti
2 cloves Garlic, thin sliced
Chili flakes
Black pepper, freshly grounded
Chopped Parsley
Salt
Olive Oil
75~90 ml pinot grigio

Cook spaghetti al dente. Rinse clams in COLD water to remove sand. Do not open the clams.

While boiling, heat olive oil on a large pan, medium heat. Saute garlic and chili flakes. Once garlic is golden, add white wine. Add the clams and cover the pan for 3-5 minutes. The heat and steam will open the clams.

Remove the clams, and add parsley. If watery, reduce the sauce by heating it more. Add some clam flesh to the sauce if desired.
Add the cooked spaghetti and mix together, coating the spaghetti with the sauce. Plate it, and garnish it with the clams and parsley.

Shrimp Etouffée
2 cups of water
1 cup of rice
500g White shrimp
~1 cup of water or seafood stock,
Roux
50g butter or oil
50g flour

The Holy Trinity
1/2 Bell pepper, diced
2-3 stalks of celery
1/4 onion diced
diced garlic aka the Pope

Seasonings:
Salt
Black pepper
Cayenne pepper
Paprika
Parsley, to garnish

Rinse rice. Bring water plus salt to a boil in a pot. Add rice and cover 3/4 of the pot. Simmer until ready.

In an enamel, cast iron, or Dutch oven, melt the the butter in medium heat. Once hot, add the flour and stir constantly until brown. Add your Holy Trinity, sauté for 5 minutes and add the garlic. Add your water or stock.

Stir around until you reach a uniform liquid. Add seasoning to your preference. Let it simmer until you reach a consistency you like. Add the shrimp at the last five minutes.

Tips:
-Avoid sweet shrimp, such as Gulf Shrimp.
-Roux should be the color of peanut butter
-Adding tomato is optional, but it becomes Creole at that point

Trout
Trout filet, scales removed
3-4 small Potatoes, cubed
10-15 french beans, tips removed
4 Cherry tomatoes
1 clove of garlic, halved
Salt
Pepper
Parsley
Lemon

Prepare the filet by removing its scales. Sprinkle with salt on the flesh side and let the salt add flavor and remove moisture.

In a small frying pan, heat oil or butter. Fry potatoes until golden. While frying potatoes, melt butter in a large frying pan in medium heat.

Add the trout skin facing down to the pan. Baste by tilting the pan. Add the half garlic or both in the pan until gold. Remove the garlic and reserve the halves for the potatoes. The butter will now have garlic infused with it. Cook the fish for 4-5 minutes or until skin is crispy. Flip the filet.

After flipping the filet, add the French beans and tomatoes. add salt and pepper to taste. Sauté for a few minutes.

Once potatoes are done, strain excess oil and pat dry. Dice your cooked garlic. In a small bowl, add your potatoes. Season with Salt, pepper, diced garlic, and some chopped parsley.

Garnish with parsley and a slice of lemon. Enjoy

Tips:
-Let the pan get hot. This will make the skin crispy quicker
-Butter is preferred due to high smoke point
-Cook the potatoes ahead since they take the longest.
-Garlic cooks quickly. Overcooking will make bitter butter.

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Soparnik (traditional Croatian Lent food)

Ingredients:
Dough:
500g flour
250ml water
3 spoons of olive oil
Half a teaspoon of salt
The rest:
700g of Swiss chard
1 knot of parsley (2 spoons)
4 or 5 cloves of garlic
Salt
Olive oil

The steps:

  1. Wash the chard and cut off/snap off the hard bits, cut it in strips, mix it with the garlic, parsley, salt, and olive oil. Put it aside.
  2. Put all the dough ingredients into a bowl and mix them by hand.
  3. Once the dough is ready, slice it in half and roll them into identical shapes
  4. Place one half in a floured pan using a rolling pin, then spread the chard over it. Make sure there’s room left to connect it with the top dough layer.
  5. Place the second layer on top and roll the edges inwards to enclose the chard.
  6. Bake in a preheated oven at 200 celsius for 20 minutes.
  7. Once baked, sprinkle olive oil and garlic on top
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Forwarded from a member, thank you for this entry!

Lenten “Gumbo”

Ingredients:

Peanut Oil

unbleached, unborminated flour

1 Onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

5 celery stalks, chopped

1 lbs raw peeled and deveined shrimp

1 entire head of garlic, minced or finely chopped

half a gallon of seafood stock or vegetable stock

3-4 bay leaves

To taste: salt, black pepper, cayenne, basil, parsley, thyme, Gumbo File

Directions:

in a pan, sautee the veggies without seasoning in a little peanut oil until veggies are tender. Set aside to cool

in your stock pan prepare a roux with the peanut oil and flour. it should be a chocolate color when done. do not use a burned roux. do not use a light roux. there is only one color of roux you use for gumbo and that’s a dark nutty roux.

when the roux is done introduce the veggies and shrimp (which should be cooled a bit now) to it. just till the roux grabs hold of it a bit. (bout 5 minutes) and start stirring in your seafood stock (slowly. no clumps)

add aromatics and seasoning and reduce till thickened, you may want to stir in a little corn starch (properly prepared by premixing it with a bit of warm NOT HOT water) and this is fine if you want it really thick or are strapped for time (the roux itself takes a good half an hour)

server over steamed white rice.

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Here’s a simple lentil soup recipe that was suggested on Gab.

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Found this tasty looking middle eastern recipe that fits the ortho requirements Make these Middle Eastern stuffed onions for a warming weeknight meal | CBC Life

A couple vegan desserts: (canned coconut milk is best choice imo)

This one is rlly tasty, but not oil free (warning, the prunes give these a built in anti-gluttony defense :troll:) (recipe in video description) :

This recipe is pretty quick and tastes amazing, and it’s pretty good for ppl who don’t like seafood bc it doesn’t have a strong fishy flavor

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