Bacon with Red Pepper Pesto Pasta - done in a twinkling!

What a success this one proved to be!  Mind you, I don't know why I'm sounding surprised because it uses three of my favourite things - bacon, mushrooms and Asda's ricotta & red pepper pesto.  To my way of thinking, it was a winner before I even took my knife to the bacon.  However, sometimes what seems like the perfect combination of ingredients turns out to leave a little to be desired in one way or another - but happily, not so here.  Plus, of course, it has the added bonus of being simplicity itself to prepare.

Oh and as a little aside, have you noticed how often my food seems to turn out to be orange coloured? I don't try to make it that way, honest I don't, it seems as though my choice of ingredients has a marked lean towards the orange.  But then, the menfolk grumble if there's too much green on the plate, grumble again if I serve them "brown food" and would justifiably grumble at being served black food, so aside from white I guess that just leaves the red/yellow/orange palette as there's not too many blue foods out there!  So this one is following along in the tradition of being the seemingly man-friendly colour of orange. 

Now, let me recommend to you Asda's little pot of Ricotta & Red Pepper pesto.  This seemingly unassuming little jar contains one of the most delicious substances that I have used in everything from sandwiches to pasta.  Along with the rich ricotta and flavoursome red pepper, it also has a sneaky little bite from red chilli that just makes it glorious.  I would be very happy if you were all to rush out and buy some, love it and continue buying it, as that would mean it will stay around on the shelves for ever!

The pesto marries up with bacon perfectly, of course.  The celery adds a welcome freshness that prevents the dish from becoming too heavy on the palate and the addition of the small amount of sour cream helps to loosen the pesto into a sauce without impinging on the flavour at all.

I call this one a very definite win.  The empty bowls and enquiries as to whether there was any left, gave proof to that belief, too.  As a mid-week, easy, relatively cheap dinner, you can't go wrong.

BACON WITH RED PEPPER PESTO PASTA   (serves 3)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp olive oil
350g smoked back bacon, trimmed of fat and diced
1 large onion, diced finely
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
2 sticks of celery, diced finely
black pepper
half a tsp dried oregano
200g quartered mushrooms 
190g jar red pepper & ricotta pesto
1 tbsp sour cream
200ml water
250g dried pasta shapes - tubes are good.

Method :

Heat the olive oil in a large deep sided frying pan and add the bacon.  Fry over a high heat until all the moisture has evaporated and the bacon is cooked through.

Reduce the heat to moderate and add the onion, garlic and celery, along with a pinch of black pepper and the oregano.  Fry until the onion is transparent and the celery is beginning to soften.

Add the mushrooms and continue to fry until they are beginning to soften.

Three quarters fill a large saucepan with water and add a pinch of salt.  Bring to the boil and once boiling, add the dried pasta.  Remember to give the pasta a stir every so often to ensure it's not sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Cook for 10-12 minutes, or to manufacturer's instructions.

Add the contents of the pesto jar to the bacon mix, along with 100ml of water (you can use it to rinse out the pesto jar, so as to get every last little bit!) and stir to combine.

Once the ingredients are looking mixed, stir in the sour cream.  Simmer on a very low heat until the pasta is ready.  You may need to add a little more water from time to time to keep the mixture saucy.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain it well and return it to the hot saucepan.  Take the bacon mixture and decant it on top of the pasta and stir gently, but thoroughly, through.

Serve in warmed bowls with some garlic bread to accompany.

Printable version

Pork, aubergine & porcini ragu - natural umami!

I have a very embarrassing confession to make. I can't remember what inspired hubby to make this Italian style, porky, auberginey, mushroomy deliciousness - not because I am singularly forgetful (which I am!), but because he made it *blush* on the 26th January 2013.  Yes, it is now the 8th of March 2015.  *hangs head in shame*  I'm a bit behind with some ~koff~ of my blog posts.

Because these "forgotten" posts (which aren't really forgotten, but have just slipped on by in the rush of other things) are burning their unsung presence into my brain, I have decided that I must bring them to the forefront of existence.  Hence, I am going to do my best to remember at least something of the why's and wherefores of their creation, but the more important thing is to get them out there where they can be enjoyed by others!

I do recall that hubby was really keen to make a dish which did justice to the wonderful woody, rich flavour of the porcini mushroom and who who better to pair it with than with pork?  After all, both of them live in wooded areas (well, given the chance the piggies would!).  The aubergine, we felt, would give the ragu a smokiness and subtle creaminess - and so it proved.  My memory of this ragu is of a really intensely mushroomy, savoury, umami-filled forkful that was both satisfying from a comfort food angle and complex from a flavour angle.  It wasn't a simple combination of flavours, but one that developed on the tongue depending on how much of what was in your forkful.  Now you don't find that every day!

I have a few Cook's Tips for you with regard to this one :

Firstly, when you're char-grilling the aubergines, always oil the aubergines and not the pan.  Aubergines are total sponges and will soak up as much oil as you want to give them, so make sure to brush on just enough to help them to cook, or you'll end up with a greasy ragu.

Secondly, with regard to soaking the Porcini mushrooms.  When it comes to adding them to the dish, take care not to disturb the bottom of the soaking liquid.  Porcini's are renowned for containing little pieces of grit which will sink to the bottom of the bowl as the dried mushroom softens.  Pour the liquid gently and leave the last little bit in the bowl and you will be as sure as you can be, that your ragu will be grit free.

Lastly, be aware that as the ragu sauce reduces, the intensity of salt and pepper will change accordingly, so be sparing with the salt to begin with.

We didn't serve ours with any Parmesan cheese for sprinkling, but if you particularly enjoy a dash of Parmesan, then by all means feel free.  The flavours can certainly cope!

I have just received notification that this recipe has been awarded "Recipe of the Day" by eRecipe.com!  ~curtseys and composes a winner's speech~



PORK, AUBERGINE & PORCINI RAGU    (serves 3)

Ingredients :

Olive oil
500g minced pork
1 large aubergine, cut into 7mm slices and chargrilled
2 banana shallots, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
a handful dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in a little boiling water
3 chestnut mushrooms
75ml red wine
500ml pork stock (or 1 pork stock cube, dissolved in 500ml water)
400g tinned tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp dried sage
half a tsp smoked paprika
half a tsp dried basil
half a tsp dried rosemary
a dash of Worcestershire sauce
sea salt and black pepper to taste.
 
Method :
 
1.  Firstly, prepare the aubergines.  Using a blisteringly hot griddle pan, barbecue or cooker grill, cook the aubergine slices until they are softened, ideally with dark griddle marks.  Once cooked, place onto a plate, cover with clingfilm and allow to cool.
 
To make the Ragu :
 
2.  Dry fry the minced pork in a large wok or deep frying pan until lightly browned, then remove from the pan and set aside.

3.  Add a little olive oil to the pan and cook the shallots, chestnut mushrooms and garlic until soft but not coloured.

4.  Return the pork to the pan and turn the heat up to high.  Once the pan is sizzling, add the red wine and stir for five minutes to allow the majority of the alcohol to cook off.

5.  Add the tomato puree and stir well to combine with the pork for a couple of minutes.

6.  Now add the paprika, herbs, tinned tomatoes and stock.  Bring the pan to a lively simmer before adding the porcini mushrooms along with their soaking liquid.

7.  Season with the Worcestershire sauce and simmer until the ragu sauce has reduced to a thick consistency.  Once at your preferred consistency, taste for seasoning and add more if necessary.

Serve with freshly cooked pasta.

Printable version

Experimenting with Trofie pasta ....

I didn't set out to experiment with Trofie pasta, but it just turned out that way.  I was planning the week's meals and wanted a pasta meal.  I'm a bit bored with all the "something and bacon" or "leek and something" or "something in tomato sauce" pastas that we've had lately (well, you'd know if you've been following along on the blog's Facebook page!  *wink*) when I remembered that useful substance that is pesto.

I hasten to explain, that I was also looking for an easy pasta dinner.  I am just so fed up with meals that take for EVER to cook and mean I spend the whole day - in instalments - in the kitchen thrashing around, washing up, getting over it, doing it all over again - you get the picture.

So having remembered pesto, I had a quick peek on the Asda's online shopping website to see what types were available to us and decided upon their Ricotta and Red Pepper pesto.  It sounded rather less aggressive than other red pesto (sundried tomato can be a bit caustic on the tummy) and I just didn't want to go for the green in this instance.  I noticed that the label made mention of the fact that it hailed originally from Liguria in Italy.

I knew we didn't have any pasta in the cupboard that would be suitable for pesto, so had a look - well, I was there already - on the website for something suitable to put on the shopping list.  Lo and behold, there was one which hailed originally from Liguria!  Well, it had to be done.  So now you know how come we wound up with Trofie pasta.

Trofie is very cute, being small pieces of pasta dough that have been rolled on a small dowelling to make an interesting shape that is tapered - a bit like a tiny, straight, croissant.  When they cook - and they take a bit longer than the normal 9-10 minutes - they wind up a little chewy, with the thicker part - in the middle - remaining al dente.  This is not the sort of pasta to throw down in a hurry because you have to be out soon!

Now, I had pasta, I had pesto - but pesto and pasta doth not a dinner make.  At least, not in our house.  I pondered on what meat to use and after quite a bit of consideration, decided on gammon.  I reckoned that a couple of gammon steaks, cooked in the slow cooker (easy peasy) and flaked into the pasta would work.

Hmmn, what about veggies?   Had to include some veggies - it's just not proper otherwise.  Mushrooms were a definite - lightly fry some mushrooms off while the pasta cooked.  Yup, that'd work.  No need for onion or garlic, as it's all in the pesto.  I had a half a jar of griddled red and yellow peppers that were in olive oil, so they could be sliced and added too.  Sounds like a plan!

Well, it all worked very nicely.  While the pasta was cooking, I got on with the mushrooms, then added the gammon, sliced peppers and pesto to warm through.  I added a couple of ladlefuls of the pasta water (so make sure not to over salt it!) just to let the pesto down a little and once the pasta was drained, mixed the contents of the two pans together and we were ready for the off.

Son and heir really hates olives, so I plated up his portion and threw a handful of olives into the remainder for hubby and I.  Some parmesan cheese on top finished the dish.

The verdict?  It was really rather scrummy.  I think it would go nicely with gnocchi as well as the Trofie pasta - and can see the Trofie pasta being really good with a tuna/lemon combination in the summer.

As an easy to prepare, tasty, comforting dish - it absolutely hit the spot.  Can't ask for more than that!

GAMMON, MUSHROOM & PESTO PASTA   (serves 3)

Ingredients :

550g gammon steaks
sufficient stock to cover
2 bay leaves
freshly ground black pepper
300g Trofie pasta
1-2 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
5-6 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
half a jar of griddled peppers, sliced
300g red pepper & ricotta pesto
a handful of green olives, rinsed and halved (optional).

Method :

1.  Pour the stock into your slow cooker and switch to full.  Add the bay leaves and a good pinch of pepper, then lay the gammon steaks in.  Close the lid and leave to cook for 5 hours.  At the end of the cooking time, remove from the slow cooker and flake, taking care to remove all the fat.

2.  Fill a large pan with water and add a small pinch of salt.  Bring to a boil and add the pasta - cook according to packet instructions.  When cooked, drain - but retain some of the cooking water.

3.  Heat the oil in a frying pan and lightly fry the mushrooms until just softened.  Add the flaked gammon, sliced peppers and pesto.  Stir to combine - if the mixture is a bit stiff, add a ladleful of the pasta water to let it down until it becomes saucy.  Keep the mixture on a low temperature until the pasta is ready.

4.  When the pasta has been drained, return it to the saucepan and add the contents of the frying pan and the olives if you're using them.  Toss to combine and add a little more pesto if required, or a little more of the hot pasta water, depending on your preference.

5.  Serve into hot bowls and add some grated cheddar cheese or parmesan (to your preference).  Tuck in!

Printable version

Pasta Carbonara - far too lovely to be healthy!

Blame for this one, quite firmly, lies with son & heir.

You see, every week we ask him whether he has any requests for the menu plan.  Ordinarily, he immediately responds with "pizza", closely followed by "steak and chips".  However, on this one instance, he suggested Pasta Carbonara - which was so unusual, that we just had to reward his suggestion by following through and making the dish.

Well, you couldn't not!  I mean to say, we'd asked for the suggestion hadn't we?  It would have been rude to have turned it down flat (much as we do for the "steak and chips" suggestion - but we'll skip lightly over that fact).

Now it had been over a year since I'd made a Carbonara - and this was because of hubby's egg sensitivity.  The last one I'd made, he just couldn't cope with both the raw egg taste and the knowledge that what he was eating was basically, raw egg.  Albeit raw egg mixed with cream, bacon and parmesan - and thrown over hot pasta which was supposed to cook the egg.  I was always dubious about that - and hubby's reaction confirmed my suspicion that the "hot pasta" didn't do a terribly good job.  Plus the fact that the cold cream/egg mixture always took the heat out of the pasta and everything wound up a little bit cool.

So, having agreed to a Carbonara, I started to worry about hubby's reaction to it - and how I might get around the raw egg problem.

Now I'm no genius, as it took a good three or four days of worrying, before I hit on the solution.  A bain marie.

Using a bain marie would not only solve the raw egg problem, but also solve the cold pasta problem!  Aha!

What you do - and you're probably way ahead of me now - is get the shallot and bacon cooked off in a frying pan, then when a separate pan of salted water boils, dunk in the pasta.  Get a small pan going, with a little bit of water inside, simmering away.  Place a large bowl over the top - making sure the water doesn't touch the bowl.  Into the bowl, add the cream, eggs, parmesan and black pepper - and whisk gently but consistently while the gentle heat cooks the eggs without turning them into scrambled and the whole beautiful emulsion gets slowly warmed through.  The end result is a simply gorgeous, slightly foamy, warm mixture that coats the hot pasta perfectly - and it remains that way, i.e. hot!

The worth of this new (well, it's new to me) process for making Carbonara was summed up by hubby, who declared he had never - get that, "never" - had a better tasting, more unctuous, positively sinful Carbonara.  Now that, is truly high praise.

We aren't all that keen on spaghetti and, since the arrival of Mafalda Corta pasta in our local supermarket, haven't looked back.  I've used this shape of pasta in lots of other dishes recently and it was most acceptable in this Carbonara.  Because of the ruffles that each flat noodle length has along its edge, the pasta is able to pick up the coating sauce without leaving any behind - which makes for a very satisfying mouthful.

The dish was made all the better by our fabulous butcher's bacon.  The rashers are huge - and not only that, but are thick too.  Just perfectly robust for a good bacon hit in amongst the richness of the cheese, cream and egg.

If only it wasn't so bad for you, it'd become a staple on the menu plan.  However, with the use of copious amounts of butter, cheese and cream, it can only be a "once in a blue moon" dish.  Oh, but what a dish!

I'm sure a blue moon is imminent - so stock the fridge up with bacon, cream, eggs and parmesan.  You know you want to!

PASTA CARBONARA (serves 3)

Ingredients :

375g pasta (I used Mafalda Corta)
knob of butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
9 rashers of back bacon, trimmed of fat and chopped fairly small
2 whole eggs, plus 1 yolk
220ml single cream
40g parmesan cheese, finely grated
freshly ground black pepper.

Method :

1.  Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and add the bacon pieces.  Cook until the fat has rendered out, then add the butter and shallots before the bacon can brown.

2.  Cook on a gentle to medium heat until the shallots are softened and transparent, but don't let them brown.

3.  Set aside to keep warm, but not cook any further.

4.  In a large saucepan of salted boiling water, add the pasta and cook for 9-11 minutes or until tender, with a slight bite.  Once done, drain and return to the pan.

5.  While the pasta cooks, heat a small amount of water in a small saucepan until simmering.

6.  Into a large, preferably pyrex, bowl add the eggs, cream, parmesan (leaving a small amount to sprinkle over the finished dish) and a good amount of freshly ground black pepper.

7.  Place the bowl over the simmering water in the small saucepan, making sure the water doesn't touch the underside of the bowl.  Whisk and stir, whisk and stir, until the mixture is demonstrating signs that the cheese has melted into the warmth of the liquid ingredients and the whole emulsion is becoming slightly foamy.

8.  Once the pasta is done, decant into a large serving bowl and add the sauce.  Toss the pasta in the sauce, ensuring every piece of pasta is covered - and finish with a sprinkle of the remaining parmesan cheese.

Serve.

Printable version

  

 

Chipotle meatballs in rich tomato sauce - definitely "spicy meatballs", mama!

Of all the products that Sainsbury's kindly sent me to try, the Chipotle Paste from the Speciality Ingredients range has been the one to cause the most deliberation.

I pondered for what felt like ages upon what to do with it, as I felt I should be thinking of something a little out of the ordinary.  Chipotle chillies have a particular flavour, as they are not only fairly spicy but are smoked and the drying process seems to bring out their sweetness.  So something that might make people think "oh! I didn't think of doing that!" would be good.  None of my deliberations struck me as being particularly exciting though - and I figure that if I'm not excited about it, neither will anyone else be.

I may have been smarting a little from the shock news that none of my meatballs have ever found particular favour with hubby.  Yes, he's eaten them and they've been okay on occasion, but never particularly nice.  *blink*  Well, that came as something of a surprise - until he elaborated and declared that there was always "too much garlic" in them.  Mhmnn!  Yes, I will admit, I have had some very garlicky moments (*burp* Pardon!) following on from my meatballs in the past.

So the desire to put my meatball problems to bed, was right up there on the "things I need to do" list - and meatballs kept on jumping up and down and waving at me, every time I thought about the chipotle paste.  So I gave in.

The next thing, was to decide what to do with the chipotle meatballs.  Do I go down the Mexican route and do a kind of chipotle meatball chilli con carne?  Yawn.  Dull.  Okay, so who else uses meatballs in their cuisine?  Aha!  The Italians do.  So, could smoky chipotle meatballs combine with an Italian style pasta dish?  (After all, there is the Amatriciana line of dishes).  Oh yes it can, especially if you think a little outside the box and head to America for your Italian pasta dish!

Spicy meatballs, mama!

(It'd be best if you could say that in an American/Italian accent, okay?  Good).

Chipotle Meatballs in a rich tomato sauce.  Holy macaroni, I think I'm onto something.

I decided to use a combination of pork & beef mince for the meatballs, as I felt the beef would be too strong a flavour and purely pork would be too weak a flavour.  Asda have a "cheap as chips" combination of pork & beef that is in their economy range and at £1.56 for 500g, you just can't go wrong.  Yes, the mince carries a quite high percentage of fat - but that was exactly what I was wanting for these meatballs, as I felt they needed to be juicy - and fat does that for a meatball.

When it came to making the meatballs, it couldn't get any easier.  Take a jar of Sainsbury's Speciality Ingredients Chipotle Paste and decant just over half the jar into a bowl.  Add the mince and scrunch together, then roll into small meatballs.  I made 26 from the 500g.  Now don't be tempted to put any more than half the jar into the mix - not without first dunking the tip of a teaspoon into the jar and tasting.  I guarantee you won't be overdoing the paste after that - because this stuff is dynamite!  Lovely dynamite, but pretty darned explosive all the same.

A pan full of spicy meatballs - mama mia!

I had decided to seal the meatballs in the frying pan before finishing them off in the sauce, as they would provide a great base flavour for the sauce and the majority of the fat would be rendered that way, whilst leaving them succulent and juicy.  In fact, an enormous amount of fat came from them and I spooned away all but a dessertspoonful into the dogs' bowls.  They were happy about that!

I then removed the meatballs to one side and started the sauce in the remaining meatball fat.  I didn't do anything particularly special with the sauce, except for adding some sliced mushrooms and all the usual flavour builders like tomato ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, fresh Basil and a Knorr Chicken Stock Pot.

The meatballs went back into the sauce for the last 10 minutes or so to finish cooking while the pasta was doing.

Serving the meatballs was easy enough - a bed of pasta with lovely juicy meatballs in rich tomato sauce on top - and a handful of grated cheddar cheese to finish.  I felt that the cheddar went so much better than parmesan would have - and it added a little nod towards the Mexican, as we love cheddar with our chilli con carne.

A really simple, easy to produce and cheap but delicious mid week pasta dinner.  Oh - and hubby declared that they were the best meatballs I'd ever made.  I think - no, I hope - that means he liked them!

CHIPOTLE MEATBALLS IN RICH TOMATO SAUCE   (serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

500g minced pork & beef (500g in total)
45g chipotle chilli paste
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and grated or minced
3-4 chestnut mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 tin chopped tomatoes (Tarantella, if you can get them)
1 Knorr chicken Stock Pot, made up in 200ml hot water (or just throw them in together and stir!)
1 tbsp tomato puree (Tarantella again, if you can find it)
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
half a tsp of paprika
sugar to taste (I used Jaggery, which is unrefined cane sugar)
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
4-6 sprigs of fresh Basil, leaves removed and torn into small pieces.

Method :

1.  In a large bowl, combine the mince (taken directly from the fridge to ensure it is as cold as possible) and the chipotle paste.  Smoosh with your fingers until the paste is evenly distributed.  You might want to use latex gloves for this bit, as chipotle will find every little scratch you've got - and set fire to it!

2.  Form the combination into small meatballs - about walnut size, or smaller, and set aside.  You can chill them now if you want to, but if the mince was cold to begin with, this shouldn't be necessary.

3.  Heat the rapeseed oil in a large frying pan and fry the meatballs on a medium to hot heat.  Make sure they don't burn, by continually moving them around.  Once they are all sealed and a good quantity of fat has rendered from them, remove them onto a plate and reserve.

4.  Spoon as much of the fat from the pan as possible, leaving around a tablespoonful with which to start your sauce.

5.  Add the onion and cook on a medium heat until soft, golden and just beginning to take on a caramelised colour.

6.  Reduce the heat slightly and add the garlic and mushrooms and cook, stirring, for another couple of minutes.

7.  Add the chopped tomatoes, stock, tomato puree, tomato ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and paprika and stir to combine.  Bring to a simmer and allow to cook for some 10 minutes or until the sauce has reduced slightly and thickened.  Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary, including adding sugar if required.  (The amount of sugar will depend on the quality of the tinned tomatoes.  Better quality tomatoes won't need as much sugar).

8.  Return the meatballs to the pan and simmer for 10 minutes or so, while the pasta cooks in another pan.  You may need to add a tiny bit of water, if the sauce begins to thicken too much.

9.  Finally, add the fresh basil and stir through.

10.  Serve on spaghetti or Mafalda Corta pasta, with a sprinkling of grated cheddar cheese and a sprig of fresh basil as garnish.

Printable version


 

Roasted Vegetable & Bacon Pasta

I am one of those people who believes that everything can be made better by including bacon with it.  Got to wait in the car for hours?  Have a bacon sandwich - makes it better straight away.  Got a boring old chicken recipe on the list for dinner?  Put some bacon with it - that'll cheer it up no end.  Got to stand on the touchline watching your son put his best foot forward for the local footie team?  A bacon roll can save the day.  So I wasn't wrong when I chose bacon for the meat aspect of this pasta dish.

From hubby's point of view, it could have been made better by losing the garlic and adding some oregano.  I thoroughly agree with him where the oregano is concerned - and have reflected that in the recipe set out below.  I'm not so sure about the garlic, however, as I feel it lent a lovely savoury depth to the entire dish which helped to make it a cohesive whole as opposed to a number of different ingredients on the same plate.

Son & heir had a friend over for tea that day and I felt I was taking something of a risk presenting said friend with a) courgette & aubergine, b) cooked tomatoes and c) goat's cheese.  However, I had confidence in the ability of the bacon to carry us through.  I was using some of Spring Fields Butchers' beautiful smoked back bacon which is always fabulous in that the rashers are huge, thickly cut and tasty as anything.  I would definitely go for some substantially sized rashers if you're going to be cooking this one - as limp thin bacon could wind up being too chewy when accompanying the soft vegetables and pasta.

We got a "thumbs up" from both boys, as they both cleared their plate and declared it to be "lovely" (and without a hint of sarcasm, too!).  Amazing.  Made me wish I'd included mushrooms in the mix!  (Which is a very good idea, if you like mushrooms, by the way).

Hubby wasn't too keen on the fact that the dish didn't have a sauce with it - just relying on the juiciness of the roasted vegetables and goat's cheese wasn't enough for him.  I suspect it's pure and simply a preference thing, as I was quite happy with the "sauceless" state and - to be honest - it made a pleasant change to not have an overwhelming cheese or tomato sauce.  I felt it gave the vegetables a chance to shine on their own, without being overshadowed by a sauce.  The rapeseed oil that I'd used to roast the vegetables was a lovely nutty flavoured one and the cherry tomatoes lent their juice to the overall picture.

The only thing missing was a lovely glass of wine, a patio and a warm evening!

ROASTED VEGETABLE AND BACON PASTA   (feeds 4)

Ingredients :

1 courgette , cut into one inch dice

half an aubergine, cut into one inch dice

a handful of cherry tomatoes, split across the stem end

1 red onion, halved and each half cut into four wedges

two cloves of garlic

sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

1-2 tsp dried or fresh oregano

2 tbsp rapeseed oil or olive oil

500g back bacon

400g spirali pasta

50-100g Parmesan cheese (to taste)

a handful of fresh basil leaves, shredded

130g soft goat's cheese.

Method :

1.  Pre-heat your oven to 180degC/350degF/Gas4 and prepare a baking tray large enough to carry all the vegetables.  I usually cover the tray with non-stick silver foil, just because it makes the washing up easier!

2.   Place all the vegetables, including the garlic, onto the roasting tray and sprinkle with seasoning, oregano and the oil.  Using your fingers, toss the vegetables until they are well coated with the oil.

3.  Place the tray into the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and just beginning to caramelise.

4.  In the meantime, get a big pan of salted water on to boil for the pasta and grill the bacon, cutting each rasher into largeish pieces with some scissors and retain, somewhere warm.

5.  Once the pasta water boils, get the pasta in and cooking according to the packet instructions - usually 9-11 minutes.

6.  Once the vegetables are tender, take them out of the oven and squash the two cloves of garlic into a paste.

7.  When the pasta is cooked to your satisfaction, drain well and add the vegetables, bacon, parmesan, basil and some seasoning and mix gently to combine.

8.  Spoon the pasta mixture onto warmed plates and break pieces of goats cheese over the top.

Serve.

Printable version

.

 

 

Sausage & Mustard Spirali

Difficult to make sausage lumps look appetising - but it was sublime!

Now gather around, everyone, for this is a real, honest-to-goodness little gem of a recipe I'm about to share with you.

You know how, some days (usually middle of the week), you are looking for an easy yet completely scrumptious main course to serve to your family and you're thinking "pasta" but are fed up with tomato sauces?  Well, this is your recipe of choice.  No, honest, it absolutely is!

I was having a little click through the latest recipes that had been added to BBC Good Food's website and there was "Pasta with sausage, mustard and tarragon".  I was attracted to the idea but a little bit dubious about how the tarragon would suit the pork sausage.  However, having read through the ingredients list, everything was exactly the sort of thing we like - and I do enjoy being challenged with new combinations, so decided to give it a go.

Now I don't know about you, but I've been seriously disappointed by sausages just lately.  It seems to me that sausages have gone too far the other way now.  At one time they were disgusting in that they contained more cereal and fat than meat - they were little more than tubes of stuffing.  My old friend Mick Ford used to call them "tubes of plastic stuffed with horrid surprises".  These days, although you can still get those horrid pappy sausages, we opt for a more "Butcher's" type of sausage with a 85% or more meat content.  At one time, these were gorgeous and would burst in your mouth with a delicious juiciness that spoke of just enough fat to keep the meat content moist.  These days, however, it seems as though the fat content of a sausage has been demonised to such an extent that a supposedly "good" sausage is now a bag of meat-flavoured dry sawdust with no "juiciness" at all.  Where did the good juicy sausages that the Perishers' dog, Boot, used to pine over go?  What happened to a lovely tasty sausage that would go so well with fluffy mashed potato, onion gravy and peas?  I can't remember the last time I experienced such a sausage.  (No laughing at the back, please!).

Look at that mustardy sauce, tarragon shreds, sausage - where's my fork?

The sausages we used for this pasta dish were Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Pork & Fresh Herb - which I hadn't much enjoyed in their straight sausage incarnation.

However, when it came to using the other half of the pack as sausage meat (i.e. out of their skins and formed into sausage balls), they were perfect.

I can only put this transformation down to the fact that the sausage balls are cooked in a frying pan with olive oil - thus injecting the longed-for "juiciness" factor.  Maybe I should strip all my sausages of their skins and cook them in the frying pan!

Now dear ole hubby has a firmly held belief (and I think he has a point) that if a recipe contains something, then that thing should be able to be tasted in the end result.  Bearing this in mind, I was conscious that I needed to make sure that the tarragon could be tasted.  As such, I included half the chopped tarragon at the "adding the mustard/cream/stock" stage - and added the remainder at the last minute, as per instructions.  This allowed the tarragon to really become part of the sauce, as opposed to being almost an afterthought.

I see from the comments on the original recipe that folk have omitted the fennel seeds.  Now, to me, this is omitting a quite fundamental part of the flavour base.  Fennel has such a particular flavour, that with the two inclusions of tarragon, it completes a flavour triangle.  You have the earthy fennel seeds, the rich aniseed of the early included tarragon and the fresh greenness of the later tarragon.  I am sure the recipe would be quite different without them.

Another point that's worth mentioning, is to use the best Dijon mustard you can afford.  We have recently discovered Maille Dijon Mustard and its fabulous flavour just has to have helped in making the overall dish so gorgeous.  For gorgeous it was - and we all gave it a resounding thumbs up and resolved to have it again - soon!

16 April 2013 : Well, it wasn't soon, but I have got around to cooking this recipe again - and it turned out to be just as successful the second time around.  I currently have a nasty cold and, to be able to cook something so simple yet so satisfying and something that the family all enjoy, is fantastic.  Son and heir declared that it was "giving him a happy", eating it.  Can't argue with that.

I had forgotten how frisky the sauce got - very mustardy and definitely the sort of thing that warms the cockles of your heart.  The tarragon worked very well and was very definitely part of the sauce, this time around.

I also thought of a neat little trick for dividing up the sausages - poultry shears.  What you do is whip the skin off the sausage, then run your poultry shears under the cold tap and snip, snip, snip - cut each sausage into five equal sections.  Works perfectly - and with no mess.  If the shears start to get gummed up with sausagemeat, just run them under the tap again.  This makes serving easy, too - as two sausages equals ten meatballs.  Just keep count as you serve it up!

SAUSAGE & MUSTARD SPIRALI    (feeds 3)

Ingredients :

6 herby sausages
olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced finely
1 tsp fennel seeds
a pinch of chilli flakes
1.5 tbsp Dijon mustard
200ml single cream
200ml chicken stock
250gm spirali pasta (or penne)
35g parmesan, grated
2 big tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped.


Method :


1.  Take each sausage and with a sharp knife, slit the skin along the length of the sausage, then remove the skin.  I find this so much easier than squeezing the sausagemeat out, as that always seems to leave so much in the skin - and the price sausages are, I want to use every little bit!


2.  Once you've skinned all the sausages, break each into three (or less) pieces and roll each piece into a ball (or just tidy the ends up!).


3.  Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan, then cook the sausage on a medium heat until they are crisp on the outside, golden and cooked through.


4.  Add the fennel seeds, chilli flakes and garlic and cook for 2 minutes.  Take care and reduce the temperature if necessary, so as not to let the garlic burn.


5.  Stir in the stock, cream, mustard, half the tarragon and season really well.  Simmer for as long as it takes to reduce the sauce to a double cream consistency, that will coat the back of a spoon.


6.  Cook the pasta following pack instructions (in a big pan, lots of salted boiling water, for around 9 minutes or so, usually).  Once cooked, drain well and return to the pan.  Add the sausage mixture, parmesan and the remainder of the tarragon (keeping some back to sprinkle over as you serve, if you like).  Gently stir to ensure the pasta is coated in the sauce.


7.  Serve in warmed bowls.


Printable version
 

Petuba Canneloni - delicate and delicious

See the Peppadew Piquante Pepper in the foreground

So - you get sent some Turkey products to play with, plus a jar of Peppadew Piquante Peppers to mix it up a little bit.  Now if you're my hubby, the first thing you think of is "stuffing for canneloni".  Wouldn't have been my first thought (which was "pie", using the pieces of turkey leg), but I was willing to go with it and see where we wound up.

Where we wound up, was with a simply scrummy pasta dish of canneloni tubes filled with a delicate mousse-like mixture of turkey, bacon and peppers, all covered in a delicious creamy white sauce with melted cheddar cheese.  Oh - and a bit of salad, which fades into obscurity in the face of such deliciousness.

A quick word about the Peppadew Piquante Peppers - which I hadn't sampled before and which are almost addictive in their tongue tinglingly sweet tanginess!  Not expecting them to be chilli peppers, I popped one into my mouth whole to try.  Wow!  What an explosion of flavour from such an innocuous looking little round pepper!  First they're incredibly sweet, then the piquancy breaks through, closely followed by a steam train of warmth which is all rounded off by an overall fruitiness.  They are absolutely brilliant and we included some in the salad, which was a masterstroke where inclusion of flavours was concerned.

Pepper, Turkey & Bacon mousse filling - filled!

Now I didn't do the cooking for this one - hubby did the lot.  As you will see, this isn't a recipe to attempt if you've only got an hour or so.  In fact, I believe that the way hubby approached it - in stages and throughout the day - is probably the best way to go (even if you do feel as though you've been cooking the darned dinner all day long).


His first move was to cook the bacon & turkey and leave them to cool completely.

The next move was to assemble the mousse and fill the canelloni tubes, then make the white sauce.

Finally, he reheated the sauce and brought the dish together before baking it in the oven.  So it very definitely isn't what you'd call a "simple" dish to make, although none of the stages are particularly difficult to achieve (except, maybe, for piping the filling into the canneloni tubes, when it is helpful if your piping bag doesn't split asunder!).

Baked and ready to serve

The only changes to the dish that he would make if he were to create it again, would be firstly to have a greater difference in size of the turkey pieces in the mousse.  He felt that it would have been more interesting to have found slightly larger pieces rather than an amalgous whole, and secondly, to have included more bacon (both of these points have been included in the recipe below).  For all that the bacon was there, it wasn't as obvious a flavour as he would have liked.

For me, it was just divine how it was - but then it wasn't my creation!

Oh, and the origin of the name?  Well, it's PEpper, TUrkey and BAcon .... :)

A closeup of the mousse filling - yum!

PETUBA CANNELONI  (feeds 4)


Ingredients :

250g smoked streaky bacon
2 turkey breast steaks (approx. 350g)
250g Ricotta cheese
75g double cream
30g greek yoghurt
1 pack cannelloni
5 Peppadew piquante peppers, finely sliced

125g grated cheddar cheese.
 
For the white sauce :
85g plain flour
85g butter
1 - 1.5 pints semi skimmed milk
pinch of nutmeg
pinch dried mustard powder
salt & pepper.

Method :

For the Cannelloni Stuffing

1.  Place all but three of the bacon rashers under the grill and cook until crispy.  Set these aside to cool.

2.  In a large frying pan, cook the remaining three rashers to the point that the fat has rendered out into the pan.  Add the rashers to the plate to cool.

3.  Add the turkey steaks to the pan and cook completely through.  Finally, stack the cooked turkey steaks on top of the bacon rashers, cover in clingfilm, before leaving to cool completely.

4.  Once cooled, chop the turkey and the bacon into smallish chunks and place into a food processor.  Turn on the processor to reduce the meat to your desired texture, be that finer or chunkier but bear in mind that the final mixture must be able to pass through a piping bag.

5.  Tip the meat into a large bowl and add the ricotta, cream, and yoghurt, plus the peppers.  Stir until mixture resembles a light mousse.  You may need to add more cream or yoghurt to achieve this.  Season with ground black pepper and salt but be sparing with the salt as the bacon is very salty to begin with.  Keep tasting and seasoning until you are happy with the mixture.

6.  With the nozzle holder in place but without the nozzle itself, fill a piping bag with the mixture and then fill the cannelloni.  If you have made a coarser mixture, you may find that you need to pipe the cannelloni from both ends.  The ingredients listed here should fill roughly 20 normal sized cannelloni or between 8-10 large ones.

Once filled set the Cannelloni aside onto a plate.

For the White Sauce
 
I used to be quite scared of the idea of making white sauce but it really is very straightforward so long as you can give it your undivided attention for 15 minutes or so.

1.  Melt the butter in a small saucepan and then add in the flour.  Stir vigorously until the flour and butter combine into a thick paste called the roux.  Keep stirring to make sure that the roux does not stick to the bottom of the pan.  Cook for three to five minutes. 

2.  Take the pan off the heat and stir in enough milk to loosen the roux.  Once this has happened, return the pan to the heat, and keep stirring.  The mixture will thicken very quickly and whenever it does this, add more milk to loosen it.  Don't be alarmed if the sauce looks lumpy at this stage...it'll all be fine in the end.....honest!

3.  Swap your spoon for a balloon whisk and keep whisking vigorously, adding more milk whenever needed.  Season the sauce with salt, pepper and a pinch each of ground nutmeg and mustard powder.

4.  After about 15 - 20 minutes your white sauce should be silky smooth and the consistency of good double cream.  Any thicker than this and you'll need to add more milk.
 
5.  Either progress immediately to the next stage, or cover your saucepan with cling film and set aside.

This white sauce can be made ahead of time and can even be kept in the fridge for a couple of weeks.  From this basic sauce, all manner of other sauces can be made by adding things like cheese, or herbs or whatever takes your fancy.  In addition, it makes a good base for savoury pie fillings....handy stuff this!

For the Assembly

1.  Preheat an oven to 180c or 170c for a fan oven.  Take a large oblong oven dish (a lasagne dish is perfect) and put a thin layer of the sauce on the bottom.  Arrange the filled cannelloni on top of this layer and then pour over the rest of the sauce, making sure that all of the pasta is covered.

2.  Place your dish into the oven for 15 minutes.  At the end of the 15 minutes, remove the dish from the oven and sprinkle liberally with the grated cheddar.  Please feel free to use more cheddar than I've recommended if you're feeling naughty, or mix it with 50g of grated parmesan if you like it extra cheesy.

3.  Return the dish to the oven for 20 minutes, rotating it after 10 minutes if, like me, you have an oven that's hotter at the front than at the back.

4.  When ready, the cheese will have turned golden and the cannelloni can now be served with a light salad.


.