I had this in a restaurant a couple of months ago and couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I had to make my own. I originally had this made with tagliatelle, but I only had spaghetti at home, so use what you have.
Serves 2
100 Grams Spaghetti (dry weight, cook according to the instructions on the packet)
100 Grams Smoked salmon(roughly chopped, or many supermarkets sell smoked salmon trimmings, which is ideal for this and mucu cheaper)
1 Tbsp Tomato puree
1 Clove of garlic (finely chopped)
Knob of butter or 1 tbsp of oil
100mil Double cream
Black pepper
Method
Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet
In a large pan, heat the butter/oil and add the garlic, cook for 20-30 seconds (do not allow to brown)
Add the tomato puree to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes before adding a ladleful of the starchy water the pasta is cooking in to the pan and stirring well.
Pour the cream into the pan and stir well, cook for another 2-3 minutes until the cream starts to thicken.
Stir in the smoked salmon to warm through, before adding the drained pasta and stir into the sauce
Serve immediately topped with a couple of grinds black pepper
Quick, cheap and easy weeknight dinners are the best.
I had forgotten to go food shopping and whisked this up with some sausages that needed to be eaten before their use by date and a big courgette that was hanging about the fridge.
Serves 2
100 Grams Dried pasta (or more or less depending on how hungry you are)
4 Pork sausages (skins removed)
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 Large courgette (grated and as much water as possible squeezed out of the grated courgettes)
2 Cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1/2 Tbsp Rosemary (finely chopped)
Salt and pepper
Grated parmasan to serve
Method
Cook the pasta as directed on the packet until al dente
Heat the oil in a large pan before adding the sausages. Break the sausages up with a spatula into small pieces and cook until it starts to brown
Add the grated courgette to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The courgette will start to breakdown becoming creamy, and when this starts to happen add the rosemary, garlic and a ladle full of the starchy water the pasta is cooking in to the frying pan and cook for another 1-2 minutes, the courgettes will have soften into sauce like consistency
Drain the cooked pasta, and to the pan, stir into the courgettes and sausages
Check the seasoning and add salt and black pepper if you think it needs it.
Everyone needs a couple of different quick and easy pasta recipes.
This is great for lunch, or if you want it for dinner you can add some prawns or cooked chicken to make it more substantial
Serves 2
200 Grams Dried Spaghetti or other pasta (you can increase/decrease depending on how hungry you are)
1 Lemon (zest and juice)
1 Clove of garlic (finely chopped)
Salt and pepper
50 Mil Double/heavy cream
Knob of butter or tablespoon of olive oil
1 Tbsp Chopped herbs (I used basil, but parsley or tarragon also works well)
Grated parmasan to serve (optional)
Method
Fill a large pot with boiling salted water and cook your pasta according to the instructions on the packet
In a large pan, heat the butter/oil and gently fry the garlic making sure not to let it brown
Add the lemon juice and zest to the pan and cook over a gentle heat for 1 minute, add the cream and increase the heat until the cream starts to reduce
Take a ladle full of the water the pasta is cooking in and add it to the sauce (the starchiness in the water will help the sauce stick to the pasta), continue cooking until you are happy with the thickness of the sauce
Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce along with the chopped herbs and stir well. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper if you think it needs it
Transfer to plates and sprinkle with grated cheese
About 30 minutes by train from Florence you’ll find Bologna (arguably the food capital of northern Italy).
Most of us have eaten spaghetti bolognese, and the locals are slightly aghast at our version. Firstly they use tagliatelle (never spaghetti), the sauce is more meat heavy, sometimes using a mix of pork and beef and only a small bit of tomato is used to make the sauce a more appealing colour.
What the locals are really obsessed with is tortolini in broth (compulsory at Christmas, with people putting their orders in to local pasta shops months in advance) and the larger tortoloni served with butter and sage and usually filled with the region’s famous cured meats like mortadella or salami.
The city offers various food tours and if you’re a foodie I’d highly recommend going on one. You’ll be able to taste some outstanding food and wine, visit great places and meet cool and interesting people. I’d recommend going hungry, as the samples are generous and I needed to go lie down after mine and was in a food coma for several hours.
The city’s history dates back to before the Romans, with the oldest university in Europe, in existence since the 11th century. It still has a huge student population and there’s no shortage of good affordable places to eat catering to them.
The city is definitely a bit rougher around the edges than other Italian cities I’ve visited but is probably more authentic and less touristy. Bologna’s nickname amongst Italians is il Rosso (the red one). Due to the colour of the buildings and the city’s history of left wing politics. In reality the city’s buildings are various shades of red, orange and deep yellow making it especially pretty in the evenings as the light begins to fall.
You’ll also find covered portico walkways all over the old city (40 km worth). These were built from the medieval age onwards as a way of resolving the issue of accommodating all the students in the city. The streets were already small and narrow and the town council didn’t want to use up any more valuable space. So building owners could build up from the first floor and the street level was unaffected, as people could still pass below. (Quick traveller tip, if visiting, research where you are staying. I stayed on a street with 3 bars close by, all of which had outdoor seating. The bars here close at 3am, and the street scene afterwards can be “lively”. My host left me a set of ear plugs which should have been my first clue).
There are plenty of different tours if you want to find out more about city’s history but if you’re a petrol head you can also book visits to the Ducatti and Lamborgini factories close by. I got talking to a Dutch biker who had visited the Ducatti factory and he was quite misty eyed and super impressed by it. There is even a police car Lamborgini donated by the factory.
Bologna is well worth a visit and has something for everyone.
Some evenings after work you just want something quick and tasty, and this is fairly healthy too.
Any leftovers are good to take to work for lunch the next day.
Serves 4
Ingredients
Feta cheese
350 Grams Cherry tomatoes (cut in half)
1 Courgette/zucchini
1 Red onion (cut into 1/2 cm slices)
2-3 Cloves of garlic (roughly chopped)
3-4 Sprigs of thyme, 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
2-3 Tbsp Olive oil
Black pepper
Enough pasta for 4 people
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (Celsius)
Put the block of feta in a large baking dish and surround with the chopped vegetables, garlic and herbs
Drizzle the cheese and vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle with black pepper.
Bake for 30 minutes
10 minutes before the baking dish is due to come out of the oven, put your pasta on to cook (cook according to instructions on the packet)
After 30 minutes remove the dish from the oven, a mash the feta cheese with back of large spoon. Take 1/2 a cup of the starchy water the pasta was cooking in and add this to the cheese and vegetables and stir well until until this creates a creamy sauce (add more water if you think it needs it.
Drain the pasta and stir through the sauce before serving
Quick tasty one pot meals are the holy grail for busy cooks. If you haven’t used orzo before, it’s a type of pasta that looks like fat grains of rice, if you don’t have this you can use any other types of pasta you have in the cupboard.
This a really tasty and cheap meal that’s great for a quick midweek dinner or I often makes it and use it for work lunches.
I’ve used fresh spinach because I had some that needed to be used up, but frozen spinach works just as well. You can also bulk this out with other frozen vegetables like sweetcorn.
Serves 4
Ingredients
200 Grams Orzo pasta (dry weight)
100 Grams Chorizo (cut into half centimetres slices)
200 Grams Spinach
1 Vegetable stock cube (crumbled)
1 Onion (finely sliced)
1 Red pepper (cut into fine strips)
2 Cloves of garlic (finely sliced)
1 Chilli pepper (finely sliced) or else a teaspoon of chilli powder)
1 Tbsp Tomato puree
1 x 400ml Tin of chopped tomatoes
Method
1. Add the chorizo to a large flat bottom pan and fry on both sides until starts to release its oil
2. Lift the chorizo out of the pan and set to one side. Add the onion and pepper to the pan to cook in oil from the chorizo for 5 minutes or until the onion becomes translucent
3. Add all the ingredients except the spinach to the pan. Top up with enough water cover the contents of the pan and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid before reducing the heat to a simmer
4. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, add more water if you think t needs it. Add the spinach to the pan and cook for a future 5 minutes. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper if you think it needs it.
Do you hate washing dishes? me too. What I do love are simple one pot recipes that you can throw in the oven and forget about.
Orzo before it’s cooked
If you haven’t come across orzo before, its a type of pasta that looks like big fat grain of rice. I discovered it by accident ages ago when I wasn’t concentrating in the supermarket and thought it was rice. It’s fantastic in soups and stews because it’s smaller than other pastas, but you can treat it like normal pasta.
Topped with lemon slices and herbs before going in the oven.
You can tweak this dish to suit what you have in the fridge. I used thyme and dill because I had some in my window box, but use what herbs you like. The thyme, dill and lemon gives it a really nice flavour that reminds me of Greek dishes.
Ingredients
1 large, or 2 small chicken thighs per person (I use ones with skins on and on the bone but boneless ones are fine too)
2 Carrots
1 Leek
2 Stalks of celery
350 Grams Orzo (dry weight)
800 ml Chicken or vegetable stock
2 Lemons (juice of one lemon, and the other sliced)
2 Tbsp Herbs (I used dill and thyme)
Method
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees, and heat an oven proof dish on your stove top before adding the chicken thighs
Seal the chicken on each side, and then remove the thighs and set to one side.
Add the vegetables (chopped into 2cm chunks) to the pan (if using skinless thighs, add a tablespoon of oil to the pan) and fry gently for 5 minutes. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed
Add the orzo, lemon juice and stock to the pan and stir well to make sure any delicious chicken brown bits from the bottom of the pan are stirred into the stock
Place the chicken back into the dish and top with the slices of lemon and herbs.
Cover the dish and place in the oven for 30-40 minutes
Seaneen's Sunnyside Kitchen 