They call aubergine the poor mans meat, or is it the vegetarians gold? I love this recipe, it’s velvety, creamy, economical and beautifully simple. Heat oven to 180C. Slice 2 aubergines lengthways and use a knife to score through the flesh in a criss-cross pattern close to the skin. Drizzle with oil and bake for…
Category: Pasta
Crab Linguine
It’s a great shame that 95% of our crab is exported to Europe. It seems we are depriving ourselves of exceptional national produce (possibly seeing it as special occasion/holiday fodder), rather than relishing it as island dwellers with all sorts of seafood on our doorstep. Now is the perfect season for eating crab, this recipe…
Summer Broad Bean Mint and Pancetta Pasta
(Serves 2) This recipe is a picnic to make, it’s worth taking the time to remove the beans from their skins (unless you can get them super-fresh). Refreshingly seasonal and nutritional and having made it once, I’m sure you’ll make it again. Choose crisp-looking un-withered pods at your local farmers market this month, or better still, pick…
Sprouting broccoli and Pea Pesto Orecchiette
It may not sound hugely exciting but blending broccoli is one of the most simple and tasty ways of eating it. I have been sneaking it into classics like carbonara and pesto, roasting it with spices and frying it with Asian flavours Put 200g of sprouting broccoli (green or purple) and 100g frozen peas into…
Pici with a Rich and Unctuous Tomato Sauce
I discovered the wonders of pici in Tucany, where it is served commonly with wild boar (the poor old stuffed heads are everywhere, usually sporting spectacles funnily enough). The best I had was in a tiny village high up in Montepescali, in Osteria Sotto Le Logge and one of the best food experiences in my…
Simple Roast Chicken with Garlic, Lemon, Thyme and Honey
There is something so satisfying about a roast chicken, it is a great example of simple yet sophisticated cooking, it can feel old-fashioned (the process of preparing, carving and gobbling) there is something medieval, almost gluttonous about it. Sometimes I like to make a herb or tomato butter and carefully stuff this under the chickens…
Roasted Cauliflower Olive and Sundried Tomato Cavatelli
If you’ve not yet hopped on the roasted cauliflower bandwagon, please do soon for you will not be disappointed. Charring and caramelising the edges brings out a nutty, buttery flavour and when lightly oiled, salted and roasted for 20-30 minutes in a high temp oven it is tempting to pop it in like popcorn. I…
Sandra’s Prawn and Pancetta Spaghetti
Another recipe taken from Sandra’s kitchen (La Cucina di sandra). Ben found it on her new blog, subtly emailed it to me and since then we’ve already made it 3 or 4 times. In the blog she shares travel adventures and recipes that would normally be kept for the pleasure of her guests in her…
Simple Spring Celebration Pasta
Having left Australia mid summer, travelled and returned to the UK at the beginning of spring, we have sneakily missed out on a winter. Even though in my opinion there can never be ‘too much summer’ I am really appreciating the UK spring and how the season effects earth and nature. We ventured to our…
Sausage, Mustard and Basil Seashells
After all the extravagances of Christmas, this dish is a welcome relief to all the hearty, farty, complicated foods – perfect to whip up weeknights and still momentous enough to reward yourself or special people for a hard day’s work. Recipe is thanks to but slightly adapted from Nigel Slater. True to his fashion, a…
Spelt Spaghetti, Red Onion, Basil Oil and Roasted Vine Tomatoes – with Chilli!
This pasta is so simple, it’s not even really a recipe and I didn’t intend to blog it – but it tasted so good, I thought I’d whip out the camera and write the mix so not to forget it. The tomatoes will take a good hour or 2 to slow roast, but speed this…
Nduja with Silky Tomato Butter Pasta
Nduja is something I’ve been hunting down for years and I finally got to cook with it this week. It is Calabria’s clever variation on salami, which is spreadable and melts into an unctuous delight when heated, making this buttery sauce perfectly rich and wicked (even though the ingredients are so humble). Nduja is composed…
Roasted Pumpkin Cappellacci with Crispy Sage Butter and Pancetta
Considering we eat pasta so often, it seems strange that we have never made it but I think part of the reason why is due to fear. Fear that it may be too hard or that I’ll just be plain rubbish at it. The other reason is because I think dried pasta can be so…
Decadent Pork Ragu
I’ve made this ragu so many times since I first tried it, about 2 years ago. Its simplicity always deems it a pleasure to make and it’s perfect for a dinner party, as it can feed 6-8. If you have fiddly starters or desserts, this can just be left either in the oven or on…
Sweet Pepper, Cherry Tomato and Basil Oil Orecchiette
I am really happy to be posting this, as it’s really delicious and I feel safe having the recipe here as I will never lose it or forget about it. It’s one of the simplest pasta dishes there could possibly be and meat lovers – add pancetta or some other meaty morsel, it will also…
Sweet Roasted Pepper, Leek, Thyme and Pancetta Rigatoni
I came across this recipe on the blog ‘Fig and Quince’, a great blog about Persian food and culture. http://figandquince.com/2014/07/21/italy-pasta-no-basta/ Since I found it, I have been making it weekly, so it’s been about 4 weeks, 4 times I’ve made it and only on the last could I bring myself to photograph it as it’s…
Pasta with Roast Pumpkin, Rosemary, Smoky Bacon and Spinach
I came across this recipe in my diary, it’s slightly embarrassingly called ‘The Foodies Diary’ maybe you have one too? The thing is, it’s great for listing seasonal produce, festivals and farmers markets and me being from the UK – everything’s back to front over here and good to know what’s in season – even…
Sun-dried Tomato and Green Olive Garganelli
A quick one here, great for weeknights and again – a pantry pasta. Garganelli is one of my favourite egg pasta shapes and I believe the names derives from the dialectal word garganel, chicken’s gullet (which the ridged garganello resembles). This was inspired by a well-known brand, the only pasta sauce I have ever really…
Croxetti with Walnuts and Lemon
For those who aren’t familiar with this odd looking pasta shape, it’s name is Croxetti and it is circular and stamped usually with an intricate pattern. It’s something I’ve only become familiar with recently and can’t resist an unexplored pasta variety! This is really very simple and absolutely delicious, I would recommend using a thick…
Pantry Harissa Wholegrain Linguine
I love to find a new pasta dish that is created (I wanted to say spawned but it sounds a bit alien) from pantry staples. This is it! It has flavour, it’s healthy and it really works! Substitute ingredients for others you have, such as swapping kale for spinach or changing the type of pasta…
Farro Spaghetti with Asparagus, Cherry Tomatoes, Pine Nuts, Lemon, Chives and Parmesan
The oldest cultivated grain in the world……. Even though this title sounds long, the actual dish is really simple, fresh and delightful – quite frankly. Farro had intrigued me for some time but I didn’t hold out too much hope as even though I like spelt pasta, I haven’t yet tried a wholemeal pasta that…
Spiced Cauliflower Torchietti with Chilli, Tomato and Bacon
Mark Twain described the cauliflower as ‘cabbage with a college education’. Now I am starting to educate myself about this mysterious white vegetable. I started to sauté cauliflower about a year ago, which went down very well with my partner who normally detests the stuff. I llike to fry the florets in a little oil…
Zucchini Flowers with Peas, Tomato, Basil and Saffron Parpadelle
A Ridiculously simple pasta dish, celebrating the zucchini flowers with the invigorating sharpness of saffron, the sweet tomato flesh and earthy fresh peas…. I found the flowers at my local market and was inspired by the enthusiasm of the stall holder, whose love for his produce shone clear through his recipe concoctions. I have stuffed…
Creamy Bacon, Boursin and Courgette Pasta – My best kept secret
I know we’ve all added various cream cheeses to pastas before but this particular combination is something that pains me slightly to divulge as it has been a personal love affair since my mum first made this for us. A dish that pleases all, and can be made vegetarian easily with the exclusion of bacon….
Crab, mint and lemon spelt pasta
Joker/Comedian – ‘What did the crab pull at the disco?’ Receiver – ‘I don’t know’ (yawn) Joker/Comedian – ‘A mussel/muscle’…. This is the only joke I have remembered since being about 5 years old. I don’t think I even got it at first but for some reason, it has stayed with me. It’s not exactly…
Fettuccine with Spiced Butter
I came across this recipe on the blog ‘101 Cookbooks’ – the healthy recipe journal, who I think was inspired by a version from Yotam Ottolenghi. I believe he uses fresh saffron tagliatelle – the recipe is in his book. http://www.101cookbooks.com/ I haven’t actually changed a thing apart from using fettuccine and adding more chilli…
Broccoli Orecchiette
Easter had left us feeling like beached whales and so I wanted to make something really simple, tasty and cheap for Easter Monday. Looking through books, I found this recipe crop up again and again and as it met all my specifications I decided to give it a whirl. You’ll probably have most of the…
Pasta Jumble Bake
I came across this pasta at the weekend and bought it along with Sicilian and Kalamata olives, mozzarella, lots of large pomodoro tomatoes and basil with the intention of making a pasta bake. I’m always a bit dubious about pasta bakes as I don’t like overcooked pasta or too much sauce but this particular purchase…
Market Spaghetti
After a productive week, a bottle of well-deserved Prosecco turned into 2 less justified bottles, which lead onto my first experience at ‘Revolver’. Great fries, electronic music (not really our thing but good music anyway), vodka tonics and to top it all off – a burger I had prepared earlier from Ben’s ‘Hamburger Gourmet’ book….
Spaghetti Bolognese
My choice for death row, without a doubt. Hearty, homely and ‘a cuddle in the mouth’. I did try this in Bologna and it was very good (almost as good as this little number) – not too saucy, caressing the spaghetti, rather than drowning it. It was also mixed in, which my partner was happy…
The Travelling Pantry 