Spirali al Forno (or Four cheese & bacon pasta bake)

The original inspiration for this recipe came from one which is attributed to Gino D'Acampo.  Mine isn't exactly the same as his, as his calls for thick ham and different cheeses.  However, I think the spirit of the thing was similar - and the result was really delicious.

I had booked this one in for Thursday last, when I was going to be working.  As it turned out, it got bumped along until Good Friday but it would indeed have been a very good dish to have cooked on a day when you'd been busy all day.

The usual approach I'd had with "pasta & cheese sauce" recipes in the past, has been to make a white sauce and melt the cheese into it.  Not so with this one!  Because it's a conglomeration of four cheeses, you take a pack of cream cheese and gently warm it (subsequently loosening it) through.  Mixed with a little milk, it quickly becomes a creamy cheesy sauce.  Add some gorgonzola, cheddar and ultimately, parmesan - and your dinner has become cheese-tastic without the need for any white sauce making.

The only drawback I found with this method, was that during the eating, the pasta became a little "claggy" as the cheese cooled and set.  I had served it on warmed plates - but I'm thinking that perhaps being served in a warmed bowl where it would maintain its heat better would do the trick.  Of course, then you've got the problem when serving, of keeping the crusty bit uppermost - but I'd definitely prefer that to it going claggy as it cooled!

SPIRALI AL FORNO (Four cheese & bacon pasta bake)  Serves 4

Ingredients :

500g spirali pasta (or penne)
25g butter
200g full fat cream cheese
70g gorgonzola cheese (I used closer to 100g), chopped
70g cheddar cheese (again, I used closer to 100g), grated
100ml milk
a gammon steak, diced
3 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
50g grated parmesan
salt & pepper


Method :


1.  Preheat the oven to 180deg C/gas 4.


2.  Place the gammon into a frying pan and cook until starting to brown lightly.  Reserve in a warm place.


3.  Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil.  Add the pasta and cook until al dente.  Drain the pasta and place back in the saucepan.


4.  Add the gammon to the pasta.


5.  In the gammon pan, add the butter, soft cheese and heat through gently.  Add the milk gradually and use a whisk to ensure a lump-free sauce.


6.  Add the gorgonzola and cheddar and mix well with a wooden spoon until melted and creamy.  Check the seasoning (add a good quantity of pepper), add the parsley and pour over the gammon & pasta.


7.  Mix through and place into a baking dish.  Sprinkle with the grated parmesan and put into the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the top is golden and crispy.


Serve immediately.


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Thyme & Mustard Gammon - quick and so tasty!

Photograph care of BBC Good Food,
where the original recipe came from

The son and heir had decided to go around to one of his friends' houses after school, which left hubby and I in something of a quandary as to what to do about dinner.

Fortunately, I'd planned to have Thyme & Mustard Gammon for dinner.  This is one of those "quick as a flash" sorts of dinners (well, once you've got the potatoes and carrots peeled, anyway!).

Being mid-week, we'd bought the common-as-muck munched-up-and-stuck-back-together-again Gammon steaks (£1 for 2), which would do fine for this meal as the meat is fried, then braised and any toughness would be cooked out of it.

So, as it was, it worked perfectly as a "quick, get dinner early, we need to go and collect son & heir" meal, which is also the reason why I forgot to take a photograph of it.  In fact, it even left us with some 20 minutes to fall asleep in front of the t.v. before sallying forth into the night.  However, aside from all that, this really is an extremely tasty dish.  The Gammon lends itself to sweetness in whatever form, and the orange zest and juice combined with the thyme really is a very good marriage that even goes deliciously well with mashed potato.

It proved a hit on all fronts.  Cheap, quick and tasty - can't ask for more than that!

THYME & MUSTARD GAMMON (feeds 3)

Ingredients :

4 Gammon steaks
1 tsp olive oil
knob of butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp thyme leaves
zest of 1 orange
juice of 2 oranges
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
300ml chicken stock
Ground black pepper

Method :
1.  Melt half the butter in a frying pan and add the oil.

2.  Season the bacon with pepper (no need to add extra salt). Then sizzle and brown the meat over a medium heat for 5 mins, turning once. Cook in batches, rather than overcrowd the pan, then lift onto a plate.

3.  Add the remainder of the butter to the pan. Once it looks foamy, stir in the onion and thyme, and fry very gently for 15 mins until the onion is soft and golden.

4.  Stir in the orange zest, juice, mustard and stock, return the gammon to the pan then simmer for 5 mins until it starts to thicken to a sauce.

Serve with mashed potatoes, together with peas and carrots.
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