Good old Minestrone Soup

The winter storms are rolling and rolling across my increasingly sodden and wind lashed world.  In desperation, I turned to the Mediterranean for comfort, and to remind me that once there was a less harsh world!  By stroke of luck, I found a beautiful big bulb of fennel while I was grocery shopping which led to this lovely recipe.  As with all my recipes, this isn’t cast in stone – use what you have and leave out what you don’t!

For four good serves I used :

1 cup of chopped onion

1 bulb of fennel, diced

3 stalks of celery, chopped

1 large carrot, diced

½ medium swede (approximately one cup) (rutabaga)

2 finely chopped cloves of garlic

A good handful of chopped green beans (frozen works as well as fresh)

1 400g tin of Italian tomatoes

1 pint of vegetable stock (use Knorr stock pots if you can find them)

2tsp caraway seeds

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup soup pasta (or broken macaroni, spaghetti etc)

Preparation is simple – peel and chop the onion and sauté in a little olive oil while you prepare the rest of the vegetables.  After about 10 minutes, add the garlic, fennel, celery, carrot and swede and sweat together for 10 more minutes.  Add the tin of tomatoes and the stock and give it all a good stir.  Season to taste and add the caraway seeds.  Give the soup 20 minutes simmering – until the vegetables are tender.  Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary (you might need several tastings, I did!) then add the soup pasta and cook for 10 more minutes.

Serve with lovely crusty bread, or slices of parmesan toast (toast a few slices of crusty bread, sprinkle with grated parmesan and grill until crispy and golden).

I apologise for the quality of photographs, the real ones are stuck on my SD card as my computer won’t recognise it!  I’ll update the blog post as soon as I can with the real ones!

I’d like to dedicate this recipe to my lovely Dad, who loved a good soup.  I wish I could have shared it with him.

Zingy Salmon Pasta Bake

I made this with some hot smoked salmon fillets that I had taking up space in my freezer, it would be equally as good made with fresh salmon though.  Hubby declared this one of the best meals I have ever made him ..... I wonder about him sometimes, I really do!

For two people :

2 salmon (hot smoked or regular) fillets 

½ fennel bulb, finely chopped(leave it out if you don’t have it, it’s not essential)

2 sticks of celery, finely chopped

1 small clove of garlic, finely chopped

1tb flour

¼ cup or so white wine (leave it out if you don’t have the dregs of a bottle to hand!)

250ml fish stock (Knorr pots are my favourite)

Zest and juice of a large lemon

2tsp capers

A good bunch of flatleaf parsley chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

100g – 150g pasta cooked to the underdone side of al dente.

Firstly, if you are using regular salmon fillets they will need gentle poaching until cooked – reserve the cooking liquid to make up the stock with.

Finely chop the fennel if using, the celery and garlic and sauté in a little olive oil for 10 minutes until softened.  Meanwhile, zest and juice the lemon and set aside.

Add the flour to the vegetables and stir around to absorb all the liquid and then allow it to cook for a minute or two.  Add the stock a little at a time to make a smooth sauce – as smooth as the copped vegetables will allow – and then cook to thicken.  This is going to be a pasta bake so the sauce needs to be more soupy than thick, so add a little more water if necessary.  Add the zest and juice of the lemon, the capers and season to taste with salt and pepper.   Add the broken up fillets of fish and the chopped parsley and stir together.

Add the drained cooked pasta to the sauce and combine together, then turn out into an ovenproof dish.  Cover with a scattering of breadcrumbs and top with grated cheese – a mixture of cheddar and parmesan works best.

Cook in a hot oven for 25 minutes, until the topping and the sauce underneath are bubbling.  I cooked mine at 190^oC (375^oF / gas mark 5).

I apologise for the quality of photographs, the real ones are stuck on my SD card as my computer won’t recognise it!  I’ll update the blog post as soon as I can with the real ones!

Cheat's Mac and Cheese

I made this a few weeks ago with a large tub of cheese sauce from Tesco.  This tub is about half as big again as the regular sized tubs you get in other supermarkets so if you buy one of those you will either need to thin it out a bit more, or make three serves not four.  It was so easy to put together that I had to share it with you all!

For four sensible portions I used :

300 g dried pasta

1 large tub of Tesco cheese sauce

6 rashers of bacon

About half a cup of milk

About a cup of grated cheese (I used a mix of cheddar and parmesan)

Salt and pepper to taste

Two handfuls of cherry tomatoes sliced

About half a cup of fresh breadcrumbs

Cook the pasta according to the directions.

While the pasta is cooking add the cheese sauce to a large basin and whisk in the milk to thin out the sauce a little.  Add half of the grated cheeses and season to taste with a little salt and pepper.

Cook the bacon and cut into strips/rough dice.

Drain the pasta well and return to the pan, add the cheese sauce and bacon and combine all together.  Turn out into a baking dish, top with the tomato slices and then scatter over the breadcrumbs, finally scatter the last of the cheese over the top.

Bake in a hot oven for 25 – 30 minutes.  I cooked mine at 200^oC (400^oF/gas mark 6).  

This freezes very well (without the tomato slices) so it’s worth making a double batch for a quick after-work meal.

Tuna and Courgette (zucchini) Pasta Bake

 This is one of my 10 minute specials!!  You could either have it as a sauce with pasta, or put it together one evening ready to pop into the oven on the following evening.  To be honest, it’s worth making double the quantity and popping one in the freezer.

For two of us I used :

One large courgette (zucchini)

1 x 160g tin of tuna (in spring water by preference)

1 x 450g tin of chopped Italian tomatoes

1 small bunch of parsley

Seasoning to taste

1tsp garlic olive oil

200g of cooked pasta.  Actually, you could use fresh, as it will cook in the sauce.

Prepare the courgette by cutting slices away from the core (which can be discarded).  Cut the slices into strips, and then into smaller pieces, roughly the same size as a piece of penne.

Saute the courgette in the garlic oil for a few minutes, seasoning with a little black pepper as it cooks.  *Add the tinned tomatoes and then the drained can of tuna.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Bring to a simmer and then turn out the heat.

Add the tuna sauce to the pasta, and then add the chopped parsley.  Turn into an ovenproof dish and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Bake in a hot oven for appx 20 to 25 minutes.  I cooked mine at 200            ^oC (400 ^oF / gas mark 6) for 25 minutes.

* If you are preparing ahead of cooking the following day, allow the courgette to cool before adding the tinned tomatoes and drained tuna.  After draining the cooked pasta, rinse with cold water and combine with the sauce only when the pasta is cold.

From cold you will need to increase the cooking time to 30 to 35 minutes, until piping hot in the middle.

Slow Cooked Duck Ragu

I found this lovely recipe in Jamie Oliver’s book, Cook with Jamie, and tweaked it slightly to suit our tastes.  The original recipe uses a whole duck and serves four, but I used a duck crown and it will serve three nicely, or two more than generously! 

You need to begin the recipe the day before, by slow roasting your duck.  I roasted mine at 190^oC (375^oF / gas mark 5) for two hours, basting every half hour or so, so that the skin gets nice and crispy in the duck juices.  You can pour off the duck fat and keep in a bowl in the fridge and use it to make lovely crunchy roast potatoes!  Once your duck is cooked and has cooled enough to handle, strip the meat from it and set aside. 

For the ragu, using a duck crown and providing two generous serves, I used : 

1 medium onion

2 sticks of celery

3 cloves of garlic

3 anchovies (optional)

1 medium sized sprig of rosemary

1 x 450g tin chopped plum tomatoes

½ bottle of red wine

A handful of pine nuts (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste 

If using a whole duck you might want to use two tins of tomatoes and a whole bottle of wine 

Finely chop the onion and celery and sweat gently in 1tb of olive oil.  Finely chop the garlic and anchovies and add to the pan (the anchovies will ‘melt’ as they cook and add a meaty richness to the sauce, not a fishy flavour), cook quietly for five minutes or so. 

Add the tinned tomatoes and stir in, then add the half bottle of red wine and give it a good stir.  Add the cooked duck in chunks, and the pine nuts and bring to a simmer on the hob.  Cover with a tight fitting lid (or cover the pan with a square of tin foil before putting your lid on) and simmer quietly in the oven at 160^oC (300^oF / gas mark 2) for two and a half hours or so.  Stir from time to time and break up the chunks of meat towards the end of the cooking time.  If your sauce dries up too much during the cooking time (as mine did a little!) simply add either a little hot water and Worcestershire sauce, or beef/chicken stock. 

I served mine with pappardelle pasta, but any pasta shape will work.  Alternatively you could serve with chunky roasted garlic and rosemary potatoes, cooked in some of the lovely duck fat.  A green vegetable, or salad on the side will cut the richness of the sauce somewhat too.

In Jamie’s original recipe you cook the duck on the day that you are making the sauce, shred it with forks and add to the sauce towards the end of the cooking.  His cooking time is shorter than mine.

Linguine with Bacon, Parsley and Garlic Oil

I cannot claim any authenticity for this recipe, it must be in almost every cookbook ever written.  Nonetheless, I thought it was worth sharing with you all because it is simply so quick and easy to put together, and absolutely delicious! 

Hubby is off playing cricket today so I was looking for something low effort.  It is much too sunny and warm to be spending time in the kitchen! 

 

 

 

 

 

For two people you need : 

200g linguine or spaghetti

6 rashers of bacon (smoked preferably)

1 tb or so of chopped flatleaf parsley

1tsp garlic olive oil 

Cook the pasta according to packet directions. 

While the pasta is cooking, slice up the bacon into strips and brown gently in the olive oil.  Wash and chop the parsley. 

When the pasta is cooked, drain and return to the pan, then add the contents of the bacon pan.  Add another drizzle of garlic oil if needed.  Add the parsley and mix everything together. 

Season with ground black pepper and an avalanche of grated parmesan cheese.

Tuna and Pasta Salad

Almost unbelievably, I’ve managed to get my puppy addled brain into gear, stumble into the kitchen and cook up a new recipe to share with you! 

Waking to a surprisingly warm and summery morning, I wanted something nice, light and summery for lunch.  This tuna and pasta salad fit the bill perfectly. 

It’s based around a recipe from the lovely Bill Grainger, but adjusted to suit my tastes, and what I had to hand at such short notice this morning!  This is a lovely flexible dish, and you can add whatever you have to hand, or whatever you want to.  You can increase or decrease the quantities, depending on how many you are feeding.  It also makes a lovely working lunch; made the evening before, popped into a plastic box and stored in the fridge at work until lunchtime. 

For two of us, this was what I used : 

1 small tin of tuna

1 ripe tomato

3 small spring onions

Zest and juice of a lemon

Appx 1tb of chopped flatleaf parsley

Ground black pepper to taste

½ tb of extra virgin olive oil

120g of penne pasta (or whatever you have to hand).

 

First drain the tuna and tip into a bowl.  Deseed and slice up the tomato and add to the tuna, cut the spring onions into generous pieces, grate the zest of the lemon and then the chopped parsley.  Add the lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil, season to taste and give everything a good stir and set aside. 

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the packet.  Drain and add to the pasta.  Combine everything well and serve.

Turkey Tetrazzini

I have long been a huge fan of American comedies, and one of my favourites is Everybody Loves Raymond.  We first came across this television gem on our second holiday to the US, back in 2003 and I was entranced.   I loved the food that Marie Barone produced, and a lot of it was unheard of in my little world.  Hubby and I set about finding out about, and trying, as many of these new dishes as possible on our subsequent holidays and at home. 

Current re-runs of the show have reminded me that there are still some we haven’t tried yet.  I had some leftover Christmas turkey in the freezer so Turkey Tettrazini is on the menu!

From what I can see, the original dish is heavy with cream.  My little digestive system won’t cope with that so I’ve given the recipe my own twist and lightened it.  Apologies to my American friends for this! 

For two of us I used : 

100g of linguini, cooked for half of its cooking time and set aside 

1 stick of celery

1 shallot

1 clove of garlic

3 small mushrooms

2oz butter

2tb of flour

1 pint of chicken stock

1 small pot of single cream (150ml)

1oz grated parmesan

Salt and pepper to taste 

About 1 cup of leftover cooked turkey, or chicken

2 or 3 medium mushrooms 

* this sauce will make enough for two dishes, one for now and one for the freezer.  If you prefer not to freeze the sauce, use half of the quantity. 

Finely chop the cleaned celery, garlic, shallot and small mushrooms.  Melt the butter in your pan and sweat the vegetables for 10 minutes. 

Add the flour and stir in until it has all been absorbed in the buttery juices.  Slowly add the chicken stock, a little at a time and stir in well until it is all absorbed and there are no lumps.  Season to taste and cook the sauce over a low heat for 5 minutes, until the rawness of the flour is cooked out.  Add the single cream and the grated parmesan. 

While the sauce is cooking, assemble in a buttered dish the cooked linguini, sliced mushrooms and torn cooked chicken.  When the sauce is cooked ladle half of it over the contents of your dish and set the rest aside to freezer for another time. 

Add a grating of parmesan cheese to the dish and pop into a heated oven (200^oC / 400^oF / gas mark 6) for 30 minutes or so, until piping hot through. 

Moose Pasta Bake

I found Moose steaks at my local Lidl just before Christmas and I was very keen to try them out.  I already had dried moose shaped pasta (from Ikea) and so this dish was born!  You could, of course, replace the moose steaks with venison or beef, and any pasta shape would do for the bake.  Penne would probably be best. 

In keeping with my belief that life is too short to make pasta bakes on the day, and especially life with a dog (!), I made the meat sauce the day before I wanted the pasta bake.  Meat sauces are always so much better for a day or two sitting around.  I cooked the pasta in the morning and assembled the pasta bake ready to be cooked in the evening. 

To serve two, with another two for the freezer (or four!) I used : 

500g Moose steaks (or diced casserole beef, or venison)

1 large onion

1 stick of celery

2 cloves garlic

2 anchovies

1 sprig rosemary

1 450g  tin of chopped plum tomatoes

750ml bottle of red wine

Salt and pepper to taste 

1 bunch of basil 

200g of dried pasta 

 

1 or 2 oz of grated cheese

Wash the basil and separate the leaves from the stalks.  Keep the leaves in a bowl of water until later and finely chop the stalks.  Peel and coarsely chop the onion, finely chop the celery and garlic and sweat in 1tb of olive oil for 10 minutes or so, with the chopped basil stalks..  Add the anchovies and push them around the pan until they melt.  Then add the diced meat and brown in the pan.  Finely chop the sprig of rosemary and add that to the pan too. 

Add the tin of tomatoes to the pan and stir, then gently pour in the bottle of red wine and season to taste.  Bring to a simmer on the hob and then pop the lid on the pan and pop it into the oven.  Because you want to keep the lovely rich sauce, I covered the pan with a sheet of foil before putting the lid on. 

Cook in a low oven (140^oC / 275^oF / gas mark 1) for three and a to four half hours.  You want the meat to be meltingly tender, but not over cooked and a dry sauce so adjust the cooking time accordingly. 

Cook the pasta for half of its cooking time and then set aside.  If you are making the sauce the day before, and pre-cooking the pasta, ensure that the pasta is cold before you add it to the meat sauce. 

Tear the set aside basil leaves and add to the meat sauce, and then add the pasta. Turn into an oven proof dish.  Add a generous grating of cheese and then cook at 200^oC / 400^oF / gas mark 6 for 30 to 40 minutes, until the dish is piping hot (depending on the dish and your oven).

Slimmers Creamy Pea and Ham Pasta

This is a lovely comforting dish for those rainy days, pasta is always a real comfort food!  It’s very quick and simple to put together and well worth making double the quantity and freezing the surplus as a pasta bake for another time.  Made with light, or extra light Philladelphia cheese this is quite low on the calorie front for such a creamy dish. 

For two people : 

1 cup of peas

2 or 3 slices of ham

200g dry weight of pasta

Half of an 8oz (200g) pack of Philladelphia

½ pint of chicken stock 

Boil the pasta according to packet directions. 

While the pasta is cooking, simmer the peas in the chicken stock and roughly dice the ham.  When the peas and pasta are cooked, add the Philladelphia to the stock and stir well in to make a smooth creamy sauce, add the ham and heat through. 

Drain the pasta and return to the pan, adding the sauce and stirring through to combine.

Courgette, Bacon and Tomato Pasta Bake

This is really little more than a play on the bacon and tomato pasta bake I made earlier this year.  It’s not quite as frugal, but the cost of a courgette is never going to break the bank!   

Pasta bakes are always a bit of a faff if you are making them for immediate consumption. However, they are a really handy standby for making ahead of time, either for later in the day or the evening before you want them. 

For the sake of 15 minutes work of an evening, you have a really tasty dinner waiting for you when you come home from work the following day. Just pop it in the oven and go away until it’s ready!

For two people I used : 

3 thick rashers of bacon, cut into strips

1 courgette (zucchini) quartered lengthways and cut into small pieces similar in size to the penne

1 450g tin of tomatoes

Salt and pepper to taste

180g penne pasta

Freshly grated cheddar or parmesan cheese 

Dry-fry the bacon in a small frying pan until it starts to brown, season with a little black pepper and stir around.  Add the courgette pieces and then add the tinned tomatoes, stir and leave to simmer gently for 10 to 12 minutes. 

At the same time, cook the pasta according to packet directions, drain, return to the pan and add the sauce and combine the two together. 

Decant into an oven-proof dish and add a grating of parmesan cheese.  

Bake at 190^oC / 375^oF / Gas mark for 25 minutes, until the cheese and top pasta is browned.

This just needs a little bread to mop up the delicious tomato juices and a nice salad on the side.   

Creamy Courgette Pasta with Sausage Meatballs

My husband absolutely loves sausages so I am always looking for different ways to cook them for him.  Pasta is one of my favourite meals, in any form, so sausages with pasta makes an appearance in our house frequently.  This is a very quick and simple meal to make for workdays, especially if you make and cook the meatballs the night before you want them. 

 

Sausage meatballs are an absolute doddle to make and well worth making in bulk to keep in the freezer for future use.   

To serve two people generously you want : 

1lb good quality sausages (or sausagemeat) 

½ pint chicken stock

1 courgette (zucchini)

Half of an 8oz (200g) pack of garlic and herb Philladelphia

6 to 8oz (180 to 200g) dry weight of penne/rigatoni.

Generous handful of rocket (arugula) 

To make the sausage meatballs simply skin the sausages and pinch each into about three pieces, rolling the pieces into balls as you go.  You could fry them on the hob, but I can’t bear frying so I pop them into the oven to cook.  They will only want 20 to 30 minutes in a hot oven – but keep an eye on them.  (If you don’t want to use all the meatballs (and I never do), pop the unused cooked ones into the freezer for another time.) 

Prepare the courgette by cutting it into pieces roughly the same size as the penne/rigatoni.  Cook the pasta according to packet directions.  While the pasta is cooking you can get on with the sauce. 

To make the creamy sauce simply simmer the courgette and cooked meatballs in the chicken stock, in a wide frying pan until the stock has reduced a little.  Add half a tub of garlic and herb cream cheese (low fat is just as good) and stir into the stock until it is smooth. 

Drain the pasta and add to the creamy meatballs and stir well to combine.  Add a handful of fresh rocket and stir again. 

If you are making this with meatballs that haven’t been frozen then it is well worth doubling up on the quantity and stashing the extra in the freezer to make a pasta bake on another evening.

To cut down on cost and time, it is worth making the sausage meatballs when you have the oven on for something else and stashing them in the freezer to use at a later date.  When you want to use them you simply need to defrost overnight. 

Creamy Chicken & Courgette Pasta Bake

Yes, slimmers and creamy in one sentence, thanks to low-fat creamed cheese!  I whipped this up quickly to use up some leftover cooked chicken that I had hanging around.  I thought a courgette would be a nice addition and make a change from the standard mushrooms, ham or asparagus. 

As always with pasta bakes I would put this together well ahead of cooking time, and even plan ahead by cooking surplus pasta the day before. 

For two of us I used : 

6oz dry weight of penne pasta

6 oz leftover cooked chicken

1 medium courgette (zucchini)

½ pint of chicken stock

Half of an 8oz (200g) pack of garlic and herb Philladelphia creamed cheese 

Put the pasta on to boil and cook as per packet directions. 

Prepare the courgette (zucchini) by halving across the middle and cutting slices off the central core (which can be discarded).  Cut the slices into strips and chop into pieces approximately the same size as the penne. 

Cook the courgette (zucchini) in the chicken stock while the pasta is cooking, so that the stock reduces.  Add the creamed cheese and mix well, making sure that all the cheese is blended with the stock and there are no lumps. 

Drain the pasta and return to the pan, add the courgette and cream cheese mixture and leave to cool.  Once it is completely cold add the chicken to the pan and stir it in and then spoon the mixture into a baking dish.  Top with some grated cheese, a mixture of cheddar and parmesan is always nice. 

From cold, in one of these enamel dishes the pasta bake will want approximately 25 – 30 minutes (depending on the size of the dish) at 190^oC / 375^oF / Gas mark 5.  In a stoneware dish it will take a little longer. 

Chicken & Asparagus Pasta Bake

The weather has cooled somewhat considerably today so a pasta bake is just the ticket!  This is really no more than a tweak of my standard chicken pie recipe, but very tasty and a perfect way to use up leftover chicken. 

As always a pasta bake is a real faff to make and only really worth making if you are doing it in advance.  If you can plan ahead and cook surplus pasta a day or so before you want to make this you can cut down quite considerably on the work.  On working days I would always double up on the pasta for dinner and make the sauce the night before I wanted it.  So long as you let everything cool before you add the cooked chicken there won’t be a problem. 

For two of us I used : 

6oz penne pasta

6oz asparagus

6oz cold cooked chicken (leftovers is fine)

½ pint of chicken stock (about half a cup)

1oz butter

1dsp flour

1 stick of celery

Salt and pepper to taste 

Optional : approximately 1oz cheddar cheese grated to top the dish before baking. 

Simply clean and dice the stick of celery and sweat gently in the butter for about 10 minutes or so.  Add the flour and stir until it is all combined in the buttery juices.  Slowly add the chicken stock, a little at a time and beat well after each addition until all the stock is added and you have a smooth lump-free sauce.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and cook gently for 5 to 10 minutes so that the flour cooks. 

Cook the penne for 10 minutes in boiling salted water, Prepare the asparagus by snapping off the wooden ends and then cutting the spears into three, roughly the same size as the penne.  Add the asparagus to the pasta for the last two minutes of the cooking time. 

Drain the pasta and asparagus and rinse under cold running water before returning to the pan. 

As soon as the pasta and the sauce are cold add the chicken and combine with the sauce.  Turn into an ovenproof dish.  You could add a grating of cheese to the top if you wish – I invariably do! 

From cold, in one of these enamel dishes the pasta bake will want approximately 25 – 30 minutes (depending on the size of the dish) at 190^oC / 375^oF / Gas mark 5.  In a stoneware dish it will take a little longer. 

Valentine's Dinner

Valentine’s Day.  The day that comes once a year to let us show our loved ones how much they mean to us.  Yeah right! 

I show my love with every meal, and for his part, hubby shows his love with the countless little thoughtful things he does for me.  The cups of tea he brings me in bed after a particularly sleepless night; the middle of the winter trips to the beach when I need to top-up my mermaid blood being just two.

For Valentine’s Day though I want to make us something special, something that we’ll really enjoy.  We both really like Italian food, especially antipasto platters so I thought I’d start us off with that.  I’ll put together a pasta bake that can sit quietly in the oven while we’re making our way through the antipasto and then we can finish off with a raspberry pannacotta.  The red of the raspberries will be perfect for Valentine’s Day!  I know I ought to make the pannacotta, but I’m going to buy them this time – it’s my day too after all!

So to start with we’re going to have an assortment of antipasto – our favourite bits and pieces!

Two types of salami, Milano and Napoli

Parma ham

Olives

Artichokes

Sun dried tomatoes

A generous handful of rocket (arugula) scattered over my lovely olivewood board.*

For our main course, I made ahead of time the lovely beef cacciatore that we enjoyed so much recently ( http://thehappyhousewife12.blogspot.com/2012/01/beef-cacciatore.html ) thinking that it would be perfect as a pasta bake.  For convenience I cooked the pasta ahead of time and assembled the dish so that it could be popped into the oven when we were ready for it.  

To go with the pasta bake I thought I’d make my hubby’s favourite starter/side – asparagus wrapped in Parma ham.  I know asparagus is out of season now, that it’s been flown in from goodness knows where – but it’s Valentine’s Day and if my Valentine wants asparagus, then that’s what he’s going to get!

This is a really lovely starter or side dish and a simple assembly job.  Just wrap 3 or 4 asparagus spears in Parma ham and lay on a baking sheet.  I allow 2 bundles per person.  Once they are all on the baking sheet, drizzle with a little olive oil (garlic olive oil is nice too), especially over the tips, and then grind a little black pepper over the bundles.  Cook at 200^oC for approximately 10 – 15 minutes – keep your eye on them as they will go from done to ruined in a short space of time!

For the pasta bake, that will need 30 – 35 minutes (or a little longer depending on how cold it was going into the oven) at 200^oC.

*The olivewood board was something that we’d both fancied having for a while and spotted it in an Italian delicatessen when we were on our travels in Windsor last summer.  Saw it, wanted it, had to have it ...... had to carry it around with us all day too!

Linguine with Parma Ham, Rocket and Chilli

I had rocket and parma ham in the fridge leftover from when I ‘customised’ our pizzas on Thursday night.  I knew without a doubt that this was how I would use them up!! 

This is a really delicious pasta dish, and unbelievably quick to prepare as it takes only as long as the pasta takes to cook! 

When I worked this was one of my most repeated dishes! 

For two people: 

200g linquine or spaghetti

1tsp or so garlic olive oil

6 slices of Italian prosciutto or Parma ham

1 red chilli

2 big handfuls of fresh rocket (arugula) 

Parmesan cheese to  taste, at the table. 

Cook the pasta according to packet directions. 

While it is cooking; wash, de-seed and chop the red chilli and cut the prosciutto or Parma ham into strips.  Wash the rocket thoroughly. 

Drain the cooked pasta and return to the hot pan.  Add the garlic olive oil, the chilli, the ham and finally the rocket.  Toss everything together and then dish up into heated pasta bowls, seasoning to taste with black pepper and an avalanche of parmesan cheese. 

Finally, and most importantly ...... apply to face!!