Almost Alliterative - Pasta with Pancetta, Peppers and Parsley

 

 

So, I am making it my business to look for meals that are quick to whip up in time for the new school term when I transform from part time to full time teacher once again. I have to say I am little concerned about how I am going to fit it all in, including the upkeep of this blog, but that is all in the future and miraculously, I may stumble upon some sort of efficient routine that allows me to do everything, domestic goddess style.

 

 

 

Talking of domestic goddesses, here is another Nigella recipe for this month's 'Cook like a Star' hosted by Zoe at Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce from Kitchen Flavours and Anuja from Simple Baking.  Normally, I wouldn't post one particular 'star' so regularly but as the rest of August will be taken up by a little trip to France (can't wait!!) I thought I would take the opportunity.

 

This recipe is from 'Kitchen'. the sharp eyed amongst you will notice that all recent Nigella offerings have been from this book. I do have others, but this just seems to be the one that is in fashion for now. But the important thing is that it tastes good, is quick, is colourful and everybody liked it!

 

Pasta with Pancetta, Peppers and Parsley, adapted from 'Kitchen' by Nigella Lawson

 

Serves 4 (quantities doubled from the recipe in the book)

 

My adaptions in red

 

1 lb (450 g) spaghetti (I used trofie pasta) 1 tablespoon olive oil
11 oz (300 g) pancetta cubes or streaky bacon
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes (optional)
zest and juice of 2 lemons
1/4 cup (60 ml) cold water
about 14 oz (400 g) (drained weight) roasted peppers from a jar, chopped into bite-sized pieces (I used a couple of handfuls of frozen roasted peppers, which were perfectly fine) 1 large bunch of parsley, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Method:

 

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions.

 

Meanwhile, heat the oil over a medium heat in a heavy-based pan, one that’s big enough to eventually add all the cooked pasta to later.

 

 

 

If you’re using regular bacon, chop it into bite-sized pieces first. Fry the pancetta or bacon until crisp, then add the garlic, dried chilli, lemon zest and juice and the water. Cook for 1 minute, then add the peppers and half the chopped parsley.

 

When the pasta has finished cooking, reserve 2 cups (480 ml) of pasta water (I didn't use or need as much water as this, probably only a few tablespoons to slacken the sauce a little), then drain. Add the pasta to the sauce in the pan.

 

 

Toss everything together well and add some of the pasta cooking water if it needs it, then season to taste and sprinkle with the remaining parsley.

 

 

It might be winter, but this reminds me of the sunshine! Fusilli con la Zucca, or Pumpkin (Squash) Pasta

 

 

I did have a plan that I would be less spontaneous when it came to shopping for food and that once I had got in the staples that I need in the weekly shop, then I would consult a cookery book, pick a recipe I would like to try, get the ingredients, and then create the dish, yadda, yadda, yadda, and then I realised whilst it might be financially savvy and reduces waste (two good things) it was also bringing out a side in me that was rather predictable and staid (very bad).

 

So, acknowledging that a little spontaneity is a good thing and that it is okay to veer 'off the list' occasionally, I spied 69p squashes at the greengrocers in Crosby village that I was not going to pass up. I never buy squash these days, since I realised that my Lola and Finn hate roasted vegetables and they are not too fond of squash soup. What I was going to do with them, I wasn't sure, but at 69p, I was buying them. They would be the staple for something. And frankly, what a good spot it was, because I would never have cooked this gorgeous dish if I hadn't have bought them.

 

So, after dumping the squash in the fridge for a couple of days and forgetting about it, I unearthed it once more looking for something else. Off to cookbook corner (more like a whole wall these days) to consult better chefs than I. After a rummage, I surfaced with 'Twelve' by Tessa Kiros (a glorious tome of Tuscan recipes) and a recipe for penne with pumpkin. I had all the ingredients, save for the pumpkin and the penne, but you know, a squash is near enough, I figured and as for the penne, well, we're fusilli people here. It was all going to be fine.

 

I did adapt a few little things here and there from the recipe. In particular, I cut my squash into quite small dice mostly, with a few slightly larger ones. Whilst I would like to say this was intentional, it was merely due to the fact that my knife skills are cack. What it did result in however was some of the smaller dice disintegrating pleasingly into the tomatoey sauce and the bigger dice retaining their shape and therefore giving texture. I also only put a cup of water in rather than the three recommended because I knew the cooking time for the squash would be less and I hoped that the sauce would reduce into something reasonably intense. Which it did.

 

So, why am I banging on about sunshine in the title of my blog post? Well, it struck me whilst chopping up squash how beautifully vibrant a squash is. In a season which is more likely to be associated with the more insipid, lifeless colours as nature almost lies dormant, the squash just glows and resonates warmth. Though a winter vegetable, its sunny colour makes me think of those golden days of summer. Why didn't my ancestors stay in the Med? I was made to be where the sun shines!!

 

Lola liked this. Finn, well, ate some. He is a very tough customer but don't let his lukewarm reaction put you off. Please make this. It's pretty economical, light but substantial (if that is possible) and tastes really wonderful. And, I still have half a squash left...

 

Fusilli con la Zucca, or Pumpkin spiral pasta, adapted from Penne con la Zucca, from 'Twelve' by Tessa Kiros.

 

My adaptations in red.

 

Serves Lola, Finn, Mum and Dad plus 2.

 

Ingredients:

 

3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped finely (actually, I used some shallots, about 4)

1 Italian sausage, about 80 g (3 oz), skin removed and crumbled or 80 g (3 oz) of unsmoked pancetta, chopped finely.(I used ready diced unsmoked pancetta and a couple of bits of streaky bacon cut up with kitchen scissors to make up the shortfall)

300 g (10.5 oz) skinned, cleaned pumpkin, peeled and sliced finely (as already mentioned several times I used a butternut squash)

400 g (14 oz) tin  tomatoes with juice
1/2 small dried red chilli (I used half a deseeded red chilli which gave a latent 'nudge')500 g (1 lb 2 oz) penne or other short pasta (Fusilli!)about 120 g (1 1/4 cups) grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

A little parsley, for sprinkling and garnish

 

Method:

 

 

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and sauté the onion until it has softened. add the sausage or pancetta and sauté until it has browned lightly.

 

Cut the pumpkin slices into small pieces of about 2 cm (3/4 in) (I cut mine half the size of this, see preamble above) and add them to the pan.

 

 

Add the tomato and chilli, and season with salt and pepper.

 

Add about 750 ml (3 cups) (I used one cup of water) and simmer for 30-40 minutes. (I simmered for about 20 minutes before inserting the tip of a knife into the bigger dice) The pumpkin should melt into the sauce a little and there should be enough liquid to coast the pasta. Add a little more water, if necessary, to prevent the sauce from sticking.

 

 

When the sauce is of a desired consistency and the squash has cooked through. Check again for seasoning.

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Cook the penne according to the packet instructions. Drain and mix into the sauce, tossing quickly to coat evenly, and serve. Or, serve the pasta with the sauce on top with some Parmesan cheese and a sprinkling of parsley.

 

Ultimate Meatballs? A bold claim, but they are quite good!

(With apologies for a distinct lack of step by step photos; I was busy being birthday mum and host whilst all this was going on!)

So, recently for Lola's birthday tea we had meatballs and tagliatelle, along with the aforementioned angel cake, and regular readers of this blog will know that my children have never met a meatball they didn't like. I was looking for something completely different when I happened across this recipe, but I was, like, goaded into cooking these because of the extraordinary claim: Ultimate meatballs? Seriously? Will I ever want another meatball recipe after this one? Well, actually they really are rather nice and whilst I will seek out other meatball recipes, it does not mean that I don't rate these. It just means that I am a curiously annoying and inquisitive cook.

This is a recipe adapted from the one by Tyler Florence who I know little about, save for him being an American chef. The success of this dish has encouraged me to seek out some of his others. My tweak was to put a little mozzarella into the centre of the meatball.

Ultimate Meatballs with Pomodoro Sauce and Tagliatelle, adapted from Ultimate Spaghetti and Meatballs by Tyler Florence

Serves Mum, Dad, Lola and Finn and four others.

Ingredients
(Measured in cups, as it is an American recipe)

For the Pomodoro Sauce:

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

4 tins chopped tomatoes

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces

salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the meatballs:

Extra-virgin olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, smashed

2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh parsley leaves

1 cup milk

4 thick slices firm white bread, crust removed

1 1/2 pounds ground beef (mince)

1 1/2 pounds ground pork (mince)

1 large egg (I used two medium ones)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

A ball of mozzarella cheese, cut into chunks

Leaves from 3 sprigs fresh basil or parsley

To serve:

1 pound spaghetti, or pasta of your choice.

Method:

Make your Pomodoro (tomato) sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the vegetables are soft, 4 to 5 minutes.

Carefully add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the sauce is thick, about 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring for a few minutes with a wooden spoon to further break up any tomatoes. Reduce the heat and let simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Stir in the fresh basil and season again. Set aside until required.

Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil for the spaghetti.

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a frying pan over a medium heat.

Add the onion, and cook until it is soft but still translucent, about 10 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and let cool.

Pour enough milk over the bread in a bowl to moisten and let it soak while the onions are cooling. 

Combine the meats in a large bowl. Add the egg and Parmesan and season generously with salt and pepper. Use your hands to squeeze the excess milk out of the bread and add that to the bowl along with the cooled onion mixture. 

Gently combine all the ingredients with your hands or with a spoon until just mixed together. Don't overwork or the meatballs will be tough. Test for seasoning. I fry off a little of the mixture to check for seasoning before I begin to roll the meat into balls.

When you're happy with the seasoning, roll the meat into balls, placing a little piece of mozzarella into the centre of each ball.

Heat some olive oil in the frying pan over medium heat and brown the meatballs on all sides, until cooked through. This will depend on the size of your balls, as it were, but my walnut sized ones took about 10 - 15 mninutes.

When the meatballs are cooked, combine the meatballs and the sauce together. Keep warm.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti or whatever pasta you are using in the boiling water until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain and put it onto a large serving platter. Spoon the meatballs on top of the spaghetti and garnish with basil leaves if you like, or parsley. 

Serve immediately along with extra cheese and any sauce you have left over.

Cooking like a Star: Roasted Shrimp (Prawn) and Orzo Salad with Feta

I was so excited to see when I went over to Zoe's blog Bake for Happy Kids that she had set up a blog hop with rules as fluid as I like to be(!) and that her focus for Cook Like A Star this month was to be Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, who really galvanised my love of cooking and entertaining in the early days, and so it was a complete no brainer that I wished to take part.

However, my first offering from Barefoot Contessa is not really that technical, indeed, there is very little 'cooking' that takes place, though the result is still utterly delicious and worth the (lack of) effort. Though this is made with prawn, I am going to trial it with roast chicken, as Phill said it looked lovely but prawns are nowhere near the top of his list of favourite foods. He has plans to take it to work for lunch, as I have been taking this to work to refuel after a taxing morning of crowd control and the odd bit of Shakespeare.

I tweaked this to omit the dill. I find it quite a pervasive herb and I am not massively keen on it so I doubled the amount of parsley, which I love. Otherwise what I created is the recipe that you see below, though the beauty is that you can up or reduce the ingredients to your own liking.

A word on Orzo. For the uninitiated, it is a pasta that looks like a grain and is a great pasta for a salad. When I have cooked pasta in the past and used the usual shapes for a salad, I always find it a bit too much; cold, sometimes claggy pasta shapes... Ugh! However, this pasta is big enough to add bulk but small enough to not take over and thin out the rest of the ingredients, so it is well worth looking out for. You might find it in the Greek section if your supermarket has one, which is where I found mine.

Anyway, I hope very much you make it over to Bake for Happy Kids and are tempted to take part in Cook Like A Star and I hope very much that you are tempted to try this recipe, which I should probably get round to showing you.

Roasted Shrimp (Prawn) and Orzo, adapted from Barefoot Contessa At Home, by Ina Garten

Serves 6 - measurements in cups for it is an American recipe.

Ingredients:

Kosher salt
Good olive oil
¾ pound orzo pasta (rice-shaped pasta)
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)
Freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds (16 to 18 count) shrimp (prawns), peeled and deveined
1 cup minced scallions (spring onions), white and green parts
1 cup chopped fresh dill (which I omitted, but doubled that amount of parsley below to two cups)
1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and medium-diced
½ cup small-diced red onion
¾ pound good feta cheese, large-diced

Method:

Firstly, preheat the oven to 400 degrees, or about 200 C

Now prepare the pasta. Fill a large pot with water, add 1 tablespoon of salt and a splash of oil, and bring the water to a boil.

Add the orzo and simmer for 9 to 11 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it’s cooked al dente.

Drain and pour into a large bowl. Whisk together the lemon juice, ½ cup olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Pour over the hot pasta and stir well. It is important that you do this whilst hot because the pasta absorbs the flavours better.

Meanwhile, place the shrimp (prawn) on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and spread out in a single layer. Roast for 5 to 6 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through.  Don't leave them too long or the prawns will become rubbery.

Add the prawns to the orzo mixture and then add the spring onions, parsley, cucumber, onion, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Toss well. Add the feta and stir carefully so as not to break the feta up too much.

Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour to allow the flavours to blend if you are serving it on the same day, otherwise refrigerate overnight.

If refrigerated, taste again for seasonings and bring back to room temperature before serving.

This salad, covered with clingfilm, kept happily in my fridge for three days.

Enjoy!

Mamma Mia! Chicken Cacciatore, or Hunter's Chicken if you prefer...

...though I prefer Chicken Cacciatore. Sounds far more exciting if you ask me, and more suiting to this really lovely dish which was appreciated by all chez Lola and Finn recently.

I think this dish would not shame your best dinner party, it's that good. I suppose it depends on your usual dinner party shenanigans and if you're a black tie and tiara type of person who likes to get the best crockery out for such occasions then you might think that this perhaps lacks the finesse of your usual dinner party fare. That would be a shame. However, if you're a bit of a slapdash type of person like me who likes the sound of the clatter of forks and spoons at the table and the chatter of voices whilst digging into some glorious food, then this could be for you. And even if I were trying, I would don a little black dress and some sparkly earrings to sit down to eat this. Hell, I might even dig out my porcelain to eat it off.

This recipe is a bit of a fusion of various recipes for chicken cacciatore I have read over the years so I am going to sort of claim it as my own, with a nod to various influences along the way. I know that you can enrich the sauce with piquancy by adding capers or anchovy, which isn't really an option here as I have to think of the children (on a personal note, I would love it). I would use the sauce to hide alsorts of vegetables from the kids (on this occasion, mushrooms) and I definitely think it benefits from the pancetta that I fried off with the onions and the garlic. Lola and Finn both have a thing for tomato and mascarpone pasta sauce. I had no mascarpone but Philly cream cheese solved that problem most pleasingly.

I served this with pasta - weird wiggly stuff that I have forgotten the name of but was on offer in the supermarket. It's the length of spaghetti but thicker with a lovely little frilled edge. After I took the money shot, I slipped a piece of garlic bread on the plate to mop up all that lovely sauce. Well. it would have been rude not to.

Chicken Cacciatore - adapted from a hybrid of many many influences.

Serves Mum, Dad, Lola and Finn, with leftovers for Dad's "baggin'" the next day.

Ingredients

olive oil

a large onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

a large cap mushroom, roughly chopped into smallish pieces

100g pancetta, diced (or you could use bacon bits, lardons, etc.)

3 chicken breasts, sliced into bitesize pieces

a glug of white wine. (I always have some open. What does that tell you?)

2 x tins of tomatoes

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp of cream cheese

a handful of parsley and/or basil, plus extra for garnish

Parmesan shavings, or grated Parmesan if you prefer

Serve with pasta of your choice, and garlic bread if you believe you can never have too much carbohydrate.

Method:

In a suitable pot, or pan, saute off the onion in some olive oil until translucent but not coloured. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the mushrooms and cook for a minute or so before adding the pancetta.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, fry off the chicken breast pieces until nicely coloured but not cooked all the way through. Remember to season the chicken whilst cooking. Set aside.

Once the onion mixture is nicely cooked, pour in a little white wine to loosen the mixture. Allow it to boil down a little before adding the chopped tomatoes. Season at this point and then allow it to cook down for about 15 minutes or so. You're looking for something that is glossy and slightly reduced.

Preheat the oven to 180c /Gas 5

At this point, add the cream cheese. Stir the cream cheese in until it has melted and the sauce takes on a more creamy look. Taste and season appropriately. You are looking for something quite highly flavoured to accommodate both the chicken and the pasta.

Add the chicken plus any juices. Then add the herbs. Put a lid on the pot and place in the oven for about 25 - 30 minutes. Within this time prepare your pasta.

To serve, pile up a serving past on the plate, spoon the chicken and sauce over and top with chopped parsley or basil and some shavings of Parmesan.  Bellissimo!

A Liebster Blog Award and mum's impromptu chicken, bacon and mozzarella pasta bake.

A couple of weeks ago I was nominated by a dear fellow food blogger for a Liebster Blog award, and I was really quite flattered, because it never occurred to me that people would think that this blog is any good. indeed, it made me think about why I was blogging in the first place and part of it was because I was told I should, and I must say I enjoy doing it enormously. It allows me to indulge creatively whether cooking the dish or writing about it, but it is first and foremost a quite personal thing so for others to like it makes me smile.

Accepting the award means that I follow these five rules:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award.

2. Link back to their blog.

3. Copy and paste the Liebster award to your profile

4. Pick 5 blogs that you feel deserve to be in the spotlight (they must have 200 followers or under)

5. Blog about it and leave a comment for your nominations to let them know that you have chosen their blog.

So, without further ado, I will fulfil the rules of my award, which are thoroughly sensible in that they allow me to thank Becki over at  Becki's Whole Life for nominating me. I encourage you strongly to visit her blog which includes some excellent musings and fabulous recipes. Thank you Becki.

I also get to nominate five blogs that I would like to award a Liebster blog award to. Hmm, tricky. I link to other blogs in my blog because I have enjoyed and enjoy reading them, so to narrow it to five is difficult. But, here are my five:

Jam Tarts and Gingerbread Men - Written by Samantha. I love reading about her food adventures and she writes from the perspective of being a mum, which I really 'get'. Please visit!

How to cook a wolf - Written by Linda, whose photography is beautiful and whose cooking repetoire is really wideranging. A great foodie friend.

Warm and Snug and Fat - A brilliant blog written by Amee. Beautifully photographed with some stunning recipes. A great blog to visit.

It all tastes Greek to me - How I love this blog. I adore Greek food anyway and I just love the way that Eri's selection of mouthwatering recipes.

From the Bookshelf - written by Andrea, her blog contains lots of gorgeous recipes and interesting musings.

So, I figured that the spontaneity with which I received the award should be matched by a kind of spontaneous recipe that happened in my kitchen earlier this week. Regular readers will know of Lola and Finn's love affair with pasta, and to be honest I like it too. So, I decided to concoct a pasta dish from some sorry looking objects in the fridge that were perilously close to their use by date.

I remembered reading about baking pasta with breadcrumbs on top and I liked that idea and I thought Lola and Finn would too, so I googled and initially came up with Giada di Laurentiis' Baked chicken and Pastina. I also know that chicken and bacon go well together so added bacon plus extra garlic, onion, a red pepper and more breadcrumbs and Parmesan. Giada's recipe planted the seed, and then I kind of went my own way with it.

Baked chicken, bacon and mozzarella pasta, also known as 'Mum's made up pasta' inspired by Giada di Laurentiis' Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina.

Serves 4, plus Lola and Finn.

 

Ingredients:

About 250g pasta (I used fusilli)

A little olive oil

5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into small pieces

150g bacon lardons, or pancetta

1 onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 Romano red pepper, diced

1 ball of mozzarella, torn into shreds

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, plus extra to garnish

salt and pepper

Half a small stale baguette, blitzed into breadcrumbs (probably made about six tablespoons of breadcrumbs)

A piece of Parmesan, probably about 40g finely grated (or blitzed)

A little butter, for dotting the top of the assembled dish.

Method:

Cook the pasta in salted water until just cooked. Drain and set aside.

Preheat the oven, 180c/Gas 5

In a large cast iron pot or something similar and big enough to take the finished mixture, cook the chicken over a high heat until browned and starting to leave chicken-y residue on the bottom of the pan. Add the bacon and fry until crispy.

Add the onion, sweat for a couple of minutes until turning translucent, then add the garlic. Fry until fragrant and then add the diced pepper.

At this point add the pasta to the chicken mixture. Stir until thoroughly combined.

Add the tinned tomatoes, mozzarella, parsley and then season and stir well.

Press the mixture down slightly in readiness for the breadcrumbs.

Combine the breadcrumbs and the Parmesan together and then scatter it over the pasta mixture. Dot the breadcrumbs with butter.

Place in the oven for about 25 - 30 minutes until the top is brown. Take out of the oven and leave to rest for a few minutes.

Serve, maybe with salad... It is a dry pasta dish, so you might not want garlic bread with it, but we did!