tibits is a group of popular vegetarian restaurants that were launched ten years ago in Switzerland by three brothers – Reto, Christian and Daniel Frei – together with Rolf and Marielle Hitl (the owners of Hitl, the oldest vegetarian restaurant in the world according to the Guiness Book of World Records!) In 2008 they opened the first UK tibits restaurant in Heddon Street (off Regent Street) in London.
To celebrate their 10th anniversary, last year they launched their first cookbook, tibits at home, which includes fifty of their favourite recipes. Recently I was asked whether I would like to receive a copy of the cookbook to review. I was delighted to accept the invitation. While the book is vegetarian cuisine, many of the recipes are in fact vegan, which suits our family perfectly.
The book arrived the other day and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It’s one of those cookbooks that’s filled with stylish photography, making it a great pleasure to browse through. The photographs were actually taken at the homes of four patrons of tibits and, in addition to the shots of food, you also get to glimpse into the beautiful, stylish homes of these Swiss families.
Whilst the book is described as ‘stylish vegetarian cuisine’, the authors emphasise that all the recipes are easy to make at home, which I was pleased to hear. The recipes are organised by season, with an introductory paragraph that encapsulates the essence of each new season. I do love cookbooks that are arranged by season but, to be honest, I’d happily eat the recipes in this book all year round!
One of the first recipes that caught my eye – cavatappi pasta with courgettes curry sauce – was in the Autumn/Fall chapter. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know that my family are huge curry fans. However, I must admit that we’d never tried curried pasta before. I was intrigued to discover whether this combination worked.
Inspired by the tibits recipe, last week I made a curried pasta dish for the first time. The family loved it! In fact, it was such a hit that we chose to make it again this week. We rarely eat the same meal twice in the same month, so this one is definitely something special! I loved how quick and easy to make it was too.
I’ve made the recipe below mild enough for small children but, if you prefer, you can increase the spice quantities to add more heat. The tibits recipes calls for 50g freshly grated ginger (which equates to around 2 x thumb size pieces). I used this amount the first time I made the recipe and it gave the dish a distinctly ginger-spiced flavour. We love ginger but this amount could make the dish a little too spicy for some children. The second time round, I halved the amount of ginger and Lil’ L preferred it.
Here’s how I made it:
Fusilli Pasta with Lightly Curried Vegetables
Serves: 4
Ready in 20 minutes
Ingredients
250 ml / 8½ fl oz / 1 cup coconut milk
250 ml / 8½ fl oz / 1 cup fortified soya milk (or other non dairy milk)
1 x thumb size piece of fresh or frozen ginger, finely grated (or add more if you’d prefer a stronger ginger spiced sauce)
1 tsp mustard seeds
½ – 1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
1 medium courgette (zucchini), sliced into julienne sticks
2 medium carrots, sliced into julienne sticks
½ medium head of broccoli, cut into tiny florets
2 tbsp corn flour mixed with 2 tbsp water to form a paste
300g / 10½ oz wholewheat fusilli pasta (use GF pasta for those with a gluten intolerance)
Optional ingredients for a nutrient boost (we add all three):
handful cashews
handful sunflower seeds
sprinkling of nutritional yeast flakes with added B12 (we use Marigold Engevita)
Method
- Prepare a large pan of boiling water and cook the pasta until al dente (about 10-12 minutes).
- Meanwhile, combine the coconut milk and soya milk in a large pan and bring to the boil. Mix the ginger and spices to form a paste, then add it to the pan and stir to combine. Add the vegetables and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the cornflour paste and continue cooking for a couple of minutes until the sauce starts to thicken.
- When the pasta is cooked, drain it and stir it into the sauce. Add a sprinkling of cashews and sunflowers seeds, if desired. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste. (Once removed from the heat, we also like to sprinkle in some nutritional yeast with added B12 as a nutritional boost. It also adds a lovely savoury flavour).
- This dish is delicious served hot in warmed bowls for a main meal. We also like the pasta cold and pack any leftovers into lunchboxes for the following day.
There are many more recipes in the tibits cookbook that I’m looking forward to trying, including the vegetable jambalaya, red rice salad, coconut and peanut fritters, and goa curry. All sound utterly delicious!
Giveaway Time!
It didn’t seem fair that I was the only one to sample this beautiful cookbook, so tibits have kindly offered another copy that I can give away to you, my lovely blog readers 
There are three ways of entering:
- Leave me a comment below.
- Share this post on FB, by clicking on the ‘like’ button below (and leave me a comment below stating that you have done so).
- Share this post on Twitter with something like “Check out @Goodstuffsharon for tibits at home cookbook giveaway” (and leave me a comment below stating that you have done so).
If you enter all three ways, you’ll triple your chances of winning!
Sorry international readers, but this giveaway is UK only.
The closing date is Thursday, 16th May 2013 at midnight GMT. Good luck everyone!
