Recipe for vegetarian wrap stack and harvest tips for winter: Kem Ormond’s garden

Just because these tomatoes are green, doesn't mean you can't use them. Photo / Kem Ormond

Kem Ormond is a features writer for The Country. She’s also a keen gardener. This week, she’s stripping her garden of produce before winter arrives.

OPINION

It won’t be long before the days start to draw out, and we won’t have that wonderful abundance of produce to collect in our vegetable garden.

Over the summer, you may feel like you have been forever bottling and preserving, however, you still want to do something with all those green tomatoes coming on that will never turn red - luckily, there is always a solution for them.

I must say that if I could only grow one thing in my garden it would be the tomato.

Soup, sauce, pasta sauce, relish, it is such a versatile fruit and come winter, I have bottled enough soup to get me through to the start of spring.

Now is the time to strip everything out of your vegetable garden, and when winter arrives you will be so pleased you did.

Make green tomato relish, freeze all your excess cauliflower and broccoli, chillis can go straight into a bag and into the freezer, and strip all your herb bushes and hang to dry.

Make sure you have dug all your potatoes and capsicum can be halved, deseeded and frozen ready for winter casseroles.

Make some piccalilli with small amounts of produce you may have in the garden, use the last of the basil for that final jar of pesto, excess corn can be stripped and frozen, and dehydrate surplus plums and apples.

If I am left with a random selection of odd vegetables, I will wash and trim them and put them in a large bag that I freeze, and on a wet rainy weekend, I will make vegetable stock.

I hate wasting food and if I can make something out of anything in my garden I will!

You may add a few more stir fries and omelettes to your weekly menu, and how about a few green smoothies to use up the last of the kale and spinach?

Winter is when a lot of our vegetables are expensive and hard to come by, so whatever we manage to squirrel away is going to help our budget.

I am often asked for a good vegetarian recipe that I find successful using vegetables from my garden, and my vegetable wrap stack is just the thing.

Not only does it look impressive when you cut into it, it is easy to make.

It does take a bit of prep with the vegetables, but you will get quite a few meals from it, and it is delicious.

Vegetarian wrap stack

Kem Ormond's vegetarian wrap stack. Photo / Kem Ormond

Serves 8

Note: I have used whole flat mushrooms which I softened in butter when I had no spinach on hand or in the garden. Experiment with your favourite spices.

Ingredients

• 3 red capsicums, halved and seeded, (or I have used purchased roasted ones straight from a jar, well-drained and patted dry with paper towels to reduce oil).
• ½ small pumpkin (about 1kg) peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks
• Olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and diced
• 250g frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 150g feta cheese
• ¼ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup finely grated parmesan cheese
• ½ cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1 egg lightly beaten
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 4 large wraps (I like the spinach ones)
• ½ cup onion marmalade or the like
• 140g tomato paste

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees
2. Place the pumpkin and capsicums in a roasting dish and sprinkle over 2-3 tbsps of olive oil.
3. Roast the vegetables until they are cooked. This will take about 15-20 mins.
4. When cool enough to manage, slice the pumpkin and peel the capsicums.
5. In a fry pan, gently cook the onion in a tablespoon of oil until soft.
6. Add the spinach to the pan and cook until all the liquid has evaporated. Set aside to cool.
7. In a bowl, combine the feta, sour cream, parmesan, cheddar cheese, egg, and pepper.
8. Now to assemble — line a 20cm round spring-form cake pan with baking paper. Place one wrap on the bottom (you will need to trim to fit).
9. Cover with the sliced pumpkin.
10. Place the second wrap on top, pressing it down firmly.
11. Cover the second wrap with the spinach and onion, then top with the third wrap.
12. Place the capsicum evenly over the third wrap and dot with the onion marmalade.
13. Top the capsicum with the final wrap and spread over the tomato paste.
14. Warm the feta mixture in a pan or the microwave and pour over the top.
15. Bake the stack in the oven for about 20 minutes until the top is lightly browned.
16. Chill the wrap before cutting so that it will be easier to manage.
17. Cut into wedges and reheat in the microwave for 2-3 mins as required, or leave in the tin you baked it in, and reheat in the oven.