Belleau Kitchen Random Recipes #21 Store Cupboard Finds

I daren't look at the back of my cupboards.  I have no idea what might be lurking there.  Once in a while I will build up the courage to get the step stool out, clamber up and peer into the deepest darkest corners of the cupboards.  I usually find something like mincemeat or condensed milk or something else bought with the best of intentions (like the tube of chestnut paste recently purchased in Paris), this time I found...Sardines.  I remember purchasing them for lunch a month or so ago and then changing my mind and having an egg or something else instead.  So there the lonely tin of Portuguese BONELESS Sardines have sat...waiting.  

Thank goodness Dom from Belleau Kitchen challenged his readers to randomly select an ingredient from the cupboard for this month's Random Recipe.   Who knows how long the poor tin would have sat there, unloved, unopened, unused. 

I didn't use a cookbook recipe this month.  I used a trusty old quick school night supper standby instead, so forgive me Dom.  

I like to think of this as my version of Pasta Puttanesca...the whole dish takes the time it takes to boil the water and cook the spaghetti.  The recipe (for 2) goes a little something like this: 

Rush in the door and before you have taken off your coat put a large pan of water onto boil.  Take off coat (hang up coat) and get down to business.  While the water is boiling heat a generous glug of oil in your largest sautee pan and add to that 1/2 red onion finely chopped, 1 clove garlic pressed, and a sprinkle of chilli flakes.  Once the onion is soft toss in 200g cherry tomatoes, quartered and softly cook until the tomatoes break up.  By now the water should be boiled.  Salt the water and add enough spaghetti for 2 greedy people.  Add a couple of Tbsp of the pasta water to the tomato sauce when it looks like it is getting a bit dry.  When the pasta is almost cooked add 1 Tbsp (minimum) capers, rinsed if too salty and the sardines (minus the oil) from one tin.  Use a spatula to break the sardines up a bit.  Before draining the pasta I reserve about 1/3 of a cup of the pasta water.  Drain the pasta, add it into the sautee pan with the sauce and toss to coat.  Add a little bit of the cooking water if you feel it is needed.  I'd normally toss in a handful of chopped parsley or basil and lots of black pepper.  

Pile high in bowls and devour.  

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Super Lemony Pasta

Lemon, Cream, Parsley, Butter, Parmesan, Pasta...it doesn't get much more simple than that.  

Last night I made this quick no-brainer pasta dish from the fantastic River Cafe Cookbook Green.  I don't actually have the cookbook...I have a number of recipes furiously scribbled on scraps of paper.  Following my copied out recipe this dish took the time it takes to cook the pasta to bring together...so it is important to make sure that your lovely hubby is actually home and ready to sit down at the table...other than that, it is so easy! 

The original recipe serves 4, so I just halved it and it worked a treat...For two lovely people...cook up 200g of dried egg tagliatelle.  While the pasta is cooking gently warm 150ml of double cream (small pot) in a saucepan, when it starts to bubble just chuck in 60g of butter and the juice and grated rind of two lemons.  Remove the cream from the heat and stir until butter is melted.  By this point the pasta should be cooked...drain it (reserve a little cooking water) and combine with creamy sauce and a huge handful of parsley, salt and pepper and a generous grating of parmesan cheese (if the sauce seems a bit thick add some of the reserved cooking water). Serve...enjoy...and lick the plate! 

My take on Pasta alla Norma

I first ordered Pasta alla Norma at a little Italian Restaurant off the Blvd. Saint-Germain in Paris and instantly fell in love with it...soft aubergines stewed in tomato sauce and topped with ricotta cheese (at least I think it was soft ricotta).  Aubergines are something that I am forever trying to make taste great at home (when I have the courage and time) but more often than not they tend to taste better (for me) when cooked in a restaurant...so when we go out for Indian, Chinese, Italian...I often order something with aubergines.  

Last week I made a salad with aubergine and last night I tried my hand at my own version of Pasta all Norma, substituting the ricotta for goats cheese.  

Please forgive the splatters on the side of the bowl...I barley had time to snap this pic...I was starving! 

My Norma sauce is made by sautéing half a chopped onion in olive oil until soft, ( I've started adding a Tbsp or two of boiling water from the pasta pot to the onions at this point...it is supposed to help break them down...I've been watching Lidia Bastianich on Food Network and she always adds some water to the onions) then in with half an aubergine cut into little cubes (spongey middle bit cut off) and a pinch of chili flakes, and fry that (stirring, stirring) for about 5 mins until soft and just starting to turn golden.  Then in with half a tin of chopped tomatoes and a pinch of sugar, and simmer until the aubergine is nice and soft (I usually add a few Tbsp of pasta water now and a again as the sauce cooks down).  While the sauce is simmering I cook the pasta, and just before it is ready to come together I stir in about 50g of soft goats cheese and a handful of basil leaves.  The goats cheese makes the sauce really creamy and gives the sauce that little zing....you know....that zing that goats cheese has.  

More fresh green food!

Looking back on the last few dishes I have posted I am met with a gallery of beautiful and bold green veggies looking back at me.  Broad beans, courgettes and spring cabbages to name a few...and...do not fear...I will not fail you today!  Green is on the menu, it seems.

Last night I made yet another fabulous pasta dish from Denis Cotter's For the Love of Food.  Sauteed thinly sliced fennel, courgettes, spring onions and capers tossed in a little olive oil, added to rigatoni and topped with heaps of grated parmesan cheese.  Absolutely perfect for a stormy summer night!

Nigella's Small pasta with salami

Good Lordy! Nigella is back in true domestic goddess form and looking like one yummy mummy! One episode into Nigella Kitchen and I am totally under her spell.  As soon as she started creating this comforting meal I knew it was perfect for a quick mid-week fix for me and David.  In the time it takes to boil the pasta- the sauce has come together and bish bash bosh....dinner is served. 

Ok, so at first look this totally looks like KD with some chickpeas and salami...but I promise...I swear it is just a simple tomato sauce made from chopped tomatoes with some herbs.  I've used macaroni because it was the smallest pasta I could find....but I'm on the hunt for all those great Italian shapes I know are out there!You'll find the recipe on the bbc food website and please please please try it!

Pasta alla genovese

I love pasta with pesto.  I love pesto full stop.  Last night I whipped up a simple and delicious summer supper using JUST ONE POT (a total miracle for me!)...This recipe comes together really quickly.  The new potatoes are cut into thin disks and I've used fresh broad beans instead of french beans (that's what I had).  Boil up the pasta, chuck in the potatoes and beans after about 6 minutes and cook until everything is al dente (how posh), then drain and toss with some pesto, a touch more olive oil, salt and pepper, chopped basil and loads of parmesean cheese! YUM YUM YUM. 

This photo doesn't do the vibrance of the pesto and beans justice.  It was so sunny out last night during dinner I had no clue what I was looking at!

WIld Garlic take 2

I've received many nice comments about my post from Friday night's dinner...and the introduction of new vegetables... so I thought I would share another way to use wild garlic.  Last night I used the last handful of wild garlic (before it wilted by its own accord) and made Penne with Crispy Pancetta, Portobello Mushrooms and Wild Garlic.

This was one of those simple suppers that I really should have saved for a work night but I couldn't risk leaving the wild garlic too long.  It is only in season for such a short period I didn't want to waste it!  By the time it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta the sauce is done, it is all tossed together and voila!

Ingredients

(SERVES 2)

250g penne or other pasta shape (orecchiette works well too)

6 or 7 slices of thin smoked pancetta sliced into matchsticks

2 portobello mushrooms, cubed

handful of wild garlic

olive oil (i used chili infused olive oil)

Method

1.Put water onto boil, add pasta when ready to start sauce (reserve a mug of cooking water)

2.While pasta is cooking sautee mushrooms in some butter.

3.When mushrooms are cooked, remove from pan and wipe the pan out to clean out any mushroom juices.

4.Drizzle some olive oil in pan, add pancetta and fry until crispy. **There is enough fat in the pancetta to cook without the oil, but you will find you need a bit more oil to hold the sauce together and flavour the pasta***

5.By this point the pasta should be cooked. If it isn't then remove the pan with the pancetta from the heat and return it to the heat when ready to drain the pasta and finish the sauce.

6.Add the mushrooms back to the pan with pancetta and place the wild garlic on top.

7.Drain the pasta and add to pan with the sauce, toss to combine.  **The heat from the pasta and pancetta oil will wilt the wild garlic**

8.There should be enough oil to coat and flavour the pasta, if not add a bit more or a splash of the reserved cooking water. 

Serve in big bowls with lots of grated parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper. 

You could always used spinach instead of wild garlic and just sautee some chopped garlic wihen you cook the mushrooms!

Enjoy! x

Meatless Monday Returns with Homemade Pasta!

Over the weekend I tried my hand at making my own pasta.  This has been something that I have been waiting to try for a while, but it was only recently that I received that tool through which to make it...My amazing cousins, Miles and Curtis, gifted me (and David) a pasta making attachment for my (our) Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer as our wedding gift!!! WOOOOOOWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEE!!!! 

It is totally gorgeous! Three different rollers to make lasagna, fettuccine or spaghetti...and the best bit...your arm doesn't get sore/tired from turning the crank on a manual machine!!!!  Together they weigh a heck of a lot so a BIG thank you to Auntie Sandi who, again, dragged some ridiculously heavy kitchenware across the Atlantic to me!!!  

I've helped my mum make fresh pasta before.  She makes it often enough at home...especially in the run up to Christams.  She makes a bunch of fettuccine batches then bags them up and gives them as gifts...classy, homemade and totally unique! Anyway, from her I learnt the basics of making fresh pasta by hand but I've never really done it solo (and especially without her nearby to step in and save the day). 

I think I bit off a little bit more than I could chew. I thought that I would be able to do this no problem.  I had seen my mum and grandparents make pasta with their eyes closed, it is in my blood...so no problem at all! However...that is not quite how it played out. 

My mum makes her pasta dough in her Cuisinart, my grandparents make it by hand...I wanted to use the dough hook in the Kitchen Aid...I flipped through some of my cook books for recipes for the dough as I was a little nervous using my mum's since her's is specifically for the food processor, and settled on Jamie Oliver's simple pasta recipe (Jamie Oliver...reliable and satisfactory results the majority of the time).  In the end, after the ordeal I think the dough was a bit too wet...it stuck every so often in the rollers etc. etc. etc. 

I wont bore you with the tears and thumps and Julie Powell-esque moments...Needless to say the yummy roasted eggplant and ricotta ravioli filling I made ended up as a sort of open ravioli dish with yummy tomato and white wine cream sauce (the proper ravioli I made all stuck to the FLOURED board and couldn't be saved to cook)...I was so disappointed with my failed homemade ravioli that I couldn't bring myself to take a picture of what turned out to be an innovative and surprisingly tastey supper. 

Having since spoken to my mum about the pasta disaster we have come up with a number of things that might have contributed to the ruined supper...mostly though my mum thinks that I need to practice making the pasta BEFORE I attempt anything crazy like ravioli....Well, I don't mind practicing!!

I had only used a quarter of the dough to make the ravioli so I decided to turn the rest into fettuccine

The fettuccini worked pretty well (except for a few bits that got folded over and squished)...and we enjoyed it last night for our Meatless Monday Meal..Homemade Fettuccine with Tomato White Wine Cream Sauce topped with soft ricotta cheese!

Originally, I had wanted to make a tomato vodka cream sauce, but we didn't have any vodka in the house and I didn't really want to buy a bottle seeing as we don't drink it anyway, so instead I used white wine and it was pretty tasty. 

Meatless Monday Mushroom Spinach and Feta Pasta Bake

I love me a ooey gooey steaming pasta casserole.  One of the first meals David ever cooked for me was a tuna pasta casserole with crushed up potato chips on top and I thought "wow this is the man for me!"

Now pasta bakes (as they call them here) have become an easy and tasty fall-back meal.  In this version I just used up the end bits of the vegetables lurking in the fridge..a quarter of a leek, a couple of handfuls of spinach, 4 or 5 sad looking mushrooms, and a clove of garlic all sauteed until soft, mixed with a quarter of a block of crumbled feta cheese along with a jar of store bought tomato and basil pasta sauce, some cooked farfalle and topped with grated white cheddar cheese (no potato chips) and baked in the oven till golden and crispy (in reality as long as I can cope with it baking....being starving and all!)

Quick freezer fix...meat is served

A Wedding EXPLOSION happened yesterday...I seemed to have about a million and one things to do, including picking up our wedding notices (wedding license) in Colchester...30 min drive, park, walk, wait, walk, pay for parking, drive...

I had thought ahead before I left the house in the morning...busy day = quick dinner...but with no food in the fridge and the irregularity of my veggie deliveries on Thursdays due to weather I was in a fix...

I broke...well not entirely, but sorta....I defrosted a container of Bolognaise Sauce that I made at the beginning of the month....for Pasta Bolognaise last night.  I say I broke because we have gone 2 whole weeks without buying/cooking meat in this house....David managed KFC and BURGER KING when he was in London last weekend...but needs must eh?

Anyway, after a busy day and no desire to stock up on anything at the grocery store I was happy to return home to my defrosted sauce.  All I had to do was boil some water and cook the tagliatelle...oh and heat up the sauce...easy peasy!

To make the meal less like an out of the freezer and on to the table kind of deal I served it in some of my bowls that were shipped from Canada.  And you know what? That in itself made my quick meal that much more special!!

Did you know that Bolognaise suce is apparently traditionally paired with Tagliatelle? I just learnt that recently...

Feels like home to me

The post-Christmas weather has been rainy and gray and totally miserable here in Chelmsford...which has made my recovery from overeating and the cold of the decade difficult.  Yesterday I was breathing clearer and feeling up to actually getting out of the house (plus the cupboards and fridge was literally BARE) and so off to the shops I went!

I've promised myself (and David) that I will be better with the grocery budget now that Christmas is over. And so...with that in  mind, and feeling like I needed a little something to take the chill of the rain away and make the home feel homely I bought a gigantic pack of ground beef to make my mum's spaghetti sauce....to freeze...to save money...to be a good housewife....to make my belly and cold happy...all those things. 

My mum's spaghetti sauce recipe is a family recipe that my Nonna was taught in Italy...all Italian families have their own version...and all families think that their's is the best....well MINE IS! ha ha

The ground beef is braised with onion, garlic, carrots and spices, until tender, then tomato paste is added and boiled off, and finally jarred sauce is added (like I have the time, desire, or skill to jar my own tomato sauce) and voila.....yum yum yum.  I am sure that initially the recipe called for traditional and good home canned tomato sauce, but time and convenience....and the proper spice ratio has lead to the use of ready made sauce in this recipe. 

I made a HUGE pot using just 750g of ground beef and one 750 ml jar of tomato sauce.  The whole house smelt of braised beef goodness and totally returned me to my mum's kitchen.  It is so wonderful to be able to make these family favourites in my new house...

I used about a third of the sauce to make a gorgeous, tasty and hit-the-spot lasagna for last night's dinner, and then put the remaning 2/3rds in containers for the freezer...enough for two big pasta dinners!!! 

When my mum makes lasagna with this sauce she layers the pasta with her homemade meat sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese.  It is difficult to find hard mozzarella here in Chelmsford and the buffalo style mozzarella has too high a water content to be used as a filling...so I opted to make a simple bechemel sauce in replacement of the mozzarella cheese.  I admit to using store bought noodles (I am holding out for an attachment to my kitchen aid) but I can take credit for all the rest!

Once again, the beautiful and gorgeously green Emile Henry dish came in handy...with just enough left over for dinner tonight!!

4 meals!! How budget friendly is that??