Ingredients for 4 People
Almond-Vanilla Lassi
- 250g natural yogurt
- 350ml water
- 4 heaped teaspoons Maharishi Ayurveda Almond Drink
- 4 pinches of natural vanilla powder
- Sharkara sugar to taste
Rocket Salad with Pine Nuts and Raisins
- 150g rocket
- 60g baby spinach (or half a package)
- a handful of raisins
- 50g pine nuts
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon Pitta Churna
- Pepper
Parmesan Crackers
- 200g spelt flour
- 70g soft butter
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 3 tablespoons cold water
- 80g grated parmesan
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 2 tsp. paprika powder
- 1/2 tsp. ground fennel
- 1 tsp. rosemary leaves
- 1 tsp. salt
Polenta-Eggplant-Towers au Gratin
Polenta Ingredients
- 200g instant polenta
- 450 ml water
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 pinch pepper
- some ground nutmeg
- 1 tbsp. ghee
Eggplant Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant
- salt
- 150 g mozzarella
- Pitta Churna
- olive oil
- basil oil
- fresh basil
Basil oil
- a handful of fresh basil
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- salt to taste
Green beans in tomato sauce
- 500 g delicate green beans
- 500 g juicy tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves
- 1cm cinnamon bark
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 pinch asafoetida
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 120 ml water
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon oregano
Italian Hazelnut Biscuits
- 250 g softened butter
- 80 g Sharkara sugar
- 250 g spelt flour
- 150 g roasted and ground hazelnuts
- 2 teaspoon aniseed
- vanilla powder
- a pinch of salt
- sour jam (raspberry, currant)
- Sharkara sugar for sprinkling
Creamed peaches with mascarpone topping
- 600 g ripe peaches, plus a peach for garnish, and one for garnish
- 120 ml apple or pear juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla powder
- 2-3 tablespoons raw cane sugar
- 2 level tablespoons corn flour
- 100g mascarpone
- 1 tablespoon sour cream
- 1 pinch Cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and vanilla
- 1 tablespoon cane sugar
Italian Summer Menu
Enjoy the magic of Italian cuisine in the comfort of your own home.
Our Ayurvedic summer menu is simply sensational: Italian, vegetarian, and easily prepared. Surprise your friends and family with delicacies from 'Bella Italia.'
Heide Maria Vendler, Ayurvedic cook from Austria, has yet again created a fantastic menu for you, and makes cooking fun. Bring the South into your home!
Buon appetito,
your Maharishi Ayurveda Team
Almond-Vanilla Lassi
Preparation
Vigorously whisk the yogurt, almond powder, vanilla and water, sweetened to taste with Sharkara.
Serving
Fill four glasses with the lassi and decorate with a mint leaf, rose petals or lavender.
Rocket Salad with Pine Nuts and Raisins
Preparation Wash the raisins in hot water and marinate them for half an hour in lemon juice. Roast the pine nuts very slowly in a pan on the lowest heat without oil.
Wash the rocket and spinach and dry it in a salad spinner (tosser). Strain the raisins. The lemon juice will be used as the basis for the dressing. Combine the lemon juice, Pitta Churna, honey, salt, vinegar, and olive oil, and use a whisk to mix them into a creamy dressing.
Carefully mix the spinach and rocket, and arrange them loosely on four plates. Sprinkle with the dressing, raisins, and pine nuts, and garnish with freshly ground black pepper. Serve immediately.
Parmesan Crackers
Preparation
Finely chop the rosemary leaves and mix them together with the other spices, salt, and spelt flour. Now add the other ingredients and quickly knead the mixture into a smooth dough. Allow it to rest for half an hour. Roll it out to about 2 mm thickness with a rolling pin on a floured surface. Cover a baking tray with baking paper and lay the rolled dough on top. Cut the dough into small squares (4 x 4 cm) with a knife or a pastry wheel. Bake in a pre-heated oven (with top and bottom heat) at 180 C° until the crackers are slightly brown—about 7-10 minutes. Let the crispy crackers cool down and keep in an airtight container. This way they will keep for two to three weeks.
Polenta-Eggplant-Towers au Gratin
Preparation
Heat the spices in the water. Slowly add the polenta while you whisk it, and cook for 2 minutes until it becomes a thick puree. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Cover the pot with a lid and let the polenta draw for five minutes. Wet a baking tin or rectangular ovenproof dish with cold water and spread the polenta on top. It should be 0.5 to 1 cm thick. Allow it to cool and then cut circles, approximately 7 cm diameter, with a cookie cutter.
Cut the eggplant into 12 thin slices, paint them with olive oil on both sides, and fry them in a pan until they are golden. Remove them and sprinkle with salt and Pitta Churna.
Also cut the mozzarella into 12 slices.
Brush a baking dish with a little ghee and place four slices of polenta on it. Add a slice of aubergine on each polenta slice, then a mozzarella slice, and then again a polenta slice. Repeat the sequence again, covering the last slice of polenta (the lid) with a mozzarella slice. Sprinkle olive oil over the towers and bake them in the oven at 220 C° for ten to fifteen minutes.
To serve:
Serve the polenta towers immediately on a plate with green beans in tomato sauce next to them, sprinkled with basil oil and freshly ground pepper.
Basil oil
Preparation
Place basil leaves and salt in a small, high jar and pour the olive oil over them. Puree with a hand blender to a creamy sauce.
This oil is very fragrant and keeps well in a closed glass jar in the refrigerator.
Green beans in tomato sauce
Preparation
Wash the tomatoes and cut a cross in the stem joint. Blanch the tomatoes for one minute in a pot of boiling water. It is important that the tomatoes are completely covered with water. Pour off the water and peel the tomatoes. Remove the part where the stem joins, and cut the tomatoes into small cubes. Wash the green beans, remove the stalk ends, and cut into two-centimetre pieces. Crush the fennel seeds and peppercorns in a mortar. Heat the olive oil in a pan and braise the green beans with the spices and the sugar for about five minutes. Add the tomato paste and diced tomatoes, then pour in the water, cover with a lid, and simmer gently for about half an hour. The beans should be soft but still have some bite. Season with salt and oregano.
Italian Hazelnut Biscuits
Preparation
Grind the aniseed finely in a mortar. Quickly knead all ingredients into a dough and leave to rest for half an hour in the fridge.
With a rolling pin, roll half of the dough out on a floured surface to 5mm thickness. Cut into 2x4 cm rectangles with a pastry cutter or knife. (Of course you can cut out any shapes you like!). Place the pastry shapes on a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven at 180 C° for about eight minutes, until they are golden and deliciously fragrant.
Form the second half of the dough into a long roll. Cut off small pieces and roll them into balls about 3 cm diameter. Make a depression with a wooden spoon handle in the middle of each ball. Place the biscuits on the sheet and bake until golden at 180 C°—about 10 minutes. Fill the centre of the cooled cookies with a demitasse spoonfull of jam. Put 3 tablespoons of Sharkara in a sieve and powder both pastries with it.
Unless they escape before by being nibbled, these cookies (which melt on the palate) can be wonderfully kept in a cookie jar.
Creamed peaches with mascarpone topping
Preparation
Wash the peaches and blanch them in boiling water for 30 seconds. The fruit should be completely covered during blanching. Drain the water and peel the peaches. Set aside one peeled peach. Remove the stones of the remaining peaches and cut the flesh into large pieces. Add the peaches to the apple or peach juice as well as the lemon juice, and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for two minutes. Finely puree the peach compote with a hand blender. Cut the reserved peach into small cubes and mix with the peach puree. Mix the cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of water or fruit juice. Heat the peach compote again and stir in the cornstarch mix, together with the spices. Stir, bring to the boil and allow to thicken briefly. Immediately fill the creamed peaches into prepared jars or bowls and allow to cool. Meanwhile, stir the mascarpone, sour cream, spices and 1 tablespoon sugar together to make a thick cream. Spread this on the cooled peach cream and garnish with thin peach slices.