By Katie Caldesi

This is a way of steaming foods but unlike the conventional steamer basket over boiling water method it traps in the flavours and juices.

In Italian it is called cooking al cartoccio I think it is a lovely way to cook; it’s clean, simple and saves washing up so what is not to like? I used to get our boys, when they were small, to make their own parcels of food to cook so that they took part in cooking. They would write their names on the outside so they knew whose ‘present’ was whose.

Here are some examples of Steamed Vegetable Parcels, you can see most are a combination of vegetables, a little fat and flavourings:

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/gas mark 4.

To make a cartoccio, cut a piece of baking parchment at least 10 cm (4 in) larger that the food you are about to cook. Lay the food in the centre of the paper. Season the vegetables with a pinch of salt and plenty of pepper.

• Courgettes, thinly sliced, with extra virgin olive oil: 7–10 minutes
• Leeks, cut into 1-cm discs, cherry tomatoes and a knob of butter: 8 minutes
• Shredded savoy cabbage with ghee, salt, cumin seeds and garam masala: 8–10 minutes
• Cauliflower florets with black pepper, black onion seeds, salt, garlic and butter: 15 minutes
• Thinly sliced fennel with a few fennel seeds: 12 minutes
• Carrot batons and chopped leeks with butter and tarragon: 20–35 minutes
• 200g (7oz) courgettes and carrots, thinly sliced, with a knob of butter and zest of half a lemon – 7–10 minutes. Per serving of courgettes and carrots: 2.6g total carbs,0.8 g fibre, 1.8g protein, 4.4g fat, 61kcal

 

Fold the long ends up to meet each other above the food. Make a fold of both pieces together of around 2 cm (¾ in) then fold again. Do this several times until the fold is around 4 cm (1½ in) above the food. Now twist the ends like a sweet to trap any juices.

Place the parcels on a baking tray to cook. I find this is enough to cook and hold the juices when steaming vegetables or cooking fish. However, do place them onto a roasting tray or ovenproof dish in case any juices leak out.

 

Dr Unwin’s Steamed Vegetables

Another way to steam the vegetables shown to me by Dr Unwin is to fill a small microwave-proof container with bite-size pieces of vegetables, such as peppers, courgette and beans. If he has leftover meat, he adds that too. Season and add 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. The container can then be microwaved at work for a filling and healthy lunch.