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Posts Tagged ‘Pasta’

Spaghetti with Scallop, Garlic & Hot Pepper Sauce

Posted in Food, Gruner Veltliner, Italian, Pasta, Shellfish, Wine, tagged , , , , on 10 June 2012| Leave a Comment »

This is a delicious recipe from Marcella Hazan’s The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Marcella recommends using canestrelli which are tiny little sweet scallops which are also know as Queen Scallops or Queenies. We didn’t have canestrelli to hand when we made this but achieved a similar effect by chopping up larger scallops so there are lots of little pieces through the dish. Serve the sauce with spaghettini if you can get it, but thicker spaghetti will work too.

Scallop Sauce with Olive Oil Garlic and Hot Pepper – to serve 6

  • 450g fresh queen or deep-sea scallops
  • 8 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp very finely chopped garlic
  • 2 tbsp chopped parsley
  • chopped hot red chilli pepper, to taste
  • salt
  • 450-675g pasta
  • 45g dry breadcrumbs, lightly toasted in the oven or a dry pan

Wash the scallops in cold water, pat dry with a tea towel and cut into little pieces about 9mm thick.

Put the olive oil and garlic in a saucepan, turn the heat to medium and cook until the garlic becomes pale gold, add the parsley and chilli. Stir and add the scallops and a couple of large pinches of salt. Turn the heat to high, and cook for about 90 seconds, stirring often, until the scallops become opaque and loose their shine. Careful not to overcook them or they will be tough. Taste and adjust the seasoning. If there is a lot of liquid in the pan, remove the scallops with a slotted spoon, and boil down the watery juices. Return the scallops to the pan, turn quickly, then take off the heat.

Toss well with the cooked spaghettini, add the breadcrumbs and toss again.

Drink with: An easy, simple and fruity Grüner Veltliner (GV) works well by not overwhelming this delicate sauce and the spicy white pepper spices in GV complement the spices and chilli in the dish. Don’t spoil the balance by getting a powerful and complex GV.

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Linguine with tuna sauce

Posted in Fish, Food, Healthy, Italian, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , on 28 April 2012| 2 Comments »

This is so delicious!!! Make sure you use top quality tuna in olive oil (we like Ortiz). It’s really healthy too. What more can we say?

Note to Cara – Jono reckons Cian will like this one 😉

Linguine with tuna sauce – to serve 4

  • 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 1 cm fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
  • 450g creamed tomatoes (passata)
  • 2 x 200g cans tuna in olive oil, drained and flaked
  • 375g linguine

Heat the oil in a medium pan. Toss in 2 tbsp of the parsley, the garlic, chilli and ginger and fry for a few minutes until starting to soften. Add the tomatoes and cook for another few minutes. Fold in the tuna and season generously. Leave the sauce to simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta, then drain and return to the pan. Pour the tuna sauce into the pasta and toss well. Sprinkle over the rest of the parsley and serve.

Wine Suggestions: We think a light Italian red would be good here. Try a Langhe Nebbiolo or something from Basilicata if you fancy going south.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food.)

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Pecorino, Potato & Mint Ravioli

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , on 18 April 2012| 4 Comments »

Jono hasn’t made fresh pasta since he broke his hand and we’ve missed the lightness and texture it has. Now he’s better we had to make this minty Spring Ravioli. Needless to say we made masses, but despite the quantity they just slipped down so easily and disappeared in a flash. Fresh pasta is a bit of a labour of love but if you give yourself plenty of time it’s not that difficult and you feel very smug and clever afterwards.

Ravioli of pecorino, potato and mint – serves 6

  • pasta dough (see below)
  • 500g floury potatoes
  • 100g butter, plus a bit more
  • 1-2 handfuls of grated pecorino, plus a bit extra
  • nutmeg for grating
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • a bunch of fresh mint

For the pasta dough

  • 600g tipo 00 flour
  • 6 large eggs

First make the pasta:

Throw the flour and eggs into a food processor and whiz until it looks like breadcrumbs, then tip out and bring together with your hands.

Knead the pasta dough until it feels smooth and silky (your hands should be aching!). Wrap it in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for at least half an hour.

For the filling:

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6. Prick the potatoes with a fork, then roll them in some sea salt and bake for about an hour. Cool, cut them in half, and scoop the potato into a bowl, discarding the skins.

Pick your mint leaves and finely chop half. Add the butter, pecorino, nutmeg, lemon zest and the chopped mint and mash well with the potato. Taste and add more  seasoning if it doesn’t taste absolutely delicious.

For the ravioli:

Dust the work surface with flour. Take a quarter of the pasta dough (keep the rest wrapped well in the fridge) and press out flat with your fingers. Set your pasta machine to the widest setting – and roll the pasta dough through. Lightly dust with flour if it sticks.  Click the machine down a setting and roll through again. Fold the pasta in half, click the machine back to the widest setting and roll through again. Repeat this process 5 or 6 times. The pasta will eventually become smooth and silky.

Now roll the dough through all the settings on the machine, from the widest to the narrowest. Keep lightly dusting both sides with flour as you go. When you’ve got down to the narrowest setting, fold the pasta in half lengthways and then in half again, then in half once more until you have a kind of square. Turn it 90 degrees and feed through the machine again at the widest setting. Roll the pasta through each setting for the last time. For ravioli you need to keep going until you can clearly see your hand through the pasta.

Now you need to work quickly to make your ravioli before your pasta dries out. You can cover with a damp tea towel to protect it if necessary.

Cut the pasta into a 5 x 15 cm strips.

Place 4 tsp of filling along the strip and lightly brush the pasta with water.

Put another strip over and mould carefully around the filling on the bottom sheet, pushing out any air bubbles.

Cut into squares with a crinkle cutter or into circles with a pastry cutter.

To cook the ravioli: 

Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and cook the ravioli for about 3½ minutes.

While it is cooking, put a couple of knobs of butter in a frying pan and heat gently. Drain the ravioli with a slotted spoon, reserving a little bit of pasta water. Add the ravioli to the melted butter with a little of the cooking water and lightly simmer until you have a sauce that coats the pasta lightly. Serve on a platter and sprinkle with mint, some pepper and shavings of pecorino.

Aren’t you clever!

Wine Suggestion: We went with the suggestion in the recipe book which was the Italian white, Arneis. Ours was by a producer called Ascheri from Alba and was very nice indeed.

(Original recipe from Jamie Oliver’s Cook with Jamie, Penguin Books, 2006.)

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Sausage Pasta

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, Pork, tagged , , , , , , , on 9 April 2012| 1 Comment »

Good Friday night stuff this. We always have a stash of good quality sausages from Sienna in the freezer. This is a Jamie recipe called “Proper blokes’ sausage fusilli”. We assure you that proper ladies like it too!

Sausage Pasta – to serve 4

  • 2 heaped tsp fennel seeds
  • 2 dried red chillies, crumbled (or use chilli flakes)
  • olive oil
  • 600g good-quality coarse Italian sausages (or Cumberland)
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • a wineglass of white wine
  • zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 500g good-quality fusilli or penne
  • a couple of knobs of butter
  • a handful of freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra to serve
  • a small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped

Crush the fennel seeds and chillies in a pestle and mortar until coarsely ground. Heat a splash of olive oil in a heavy frying pan. Skin the sausages and add the meat to the pan, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Fry for a few minutes until it starts to colour and the fat has started to render, keep crushing it until it looks like coarse mince. Add the crushed fennel and chillies and cook on a medium heat for about 10 minutes until the meat looks crispy and golden brown.

Stir in the oregano, then pour in the wine and reduce it by half. Add the lemon zest and juice. Turn the heat to low while you cook your pasta according to the pack. Drain the pasta but reserve a little cooking water. Toss the pasta well with the sausagemeat, then add the butter, Parmesan, chopped parsley and a few spoons of the reserved water. You should have a loose, shiny sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then serve with some extra Parmesan.

Wine Suggestion: The recipe book suggests a Valpolicella Classico which would be good but we reckon the bit of extra acidity from a Chianti would work better. Or if you like your wines fruitier and softer try something from the Tuscan coast, the Maremma.

(Original recipe from Cook with Jamie by Jamie Oliver, Penguin, 2006.)

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Easy pasta dish to use up leftover mascarpone

Posted in Food, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , on 29 March 2012| Leave a Comment »

Mascarpone is a great ingredient but its one we use rarely as most recipes only require a few spoons and we inevitably end up throwing the rest out. Well not any more! This is not really a recipe but more of an idea which you can adapt depending on what else you have lying around to complement your mascarpone.

Pea, mint & mascarpone pasta – to serve 2

  • 200g pasta
  • 140g frozen peas
  • 100g mascarpone
  • handful of chopped mint

Cook the pasta according to the pack and add the peas for the last 3 minutes of cooking time. Scoop out and reserve a bit of the cooking water before you drain the pasta and peas. Return to the pan and add the mascarpone, mint, plenty of seasoning and a couple of spoons of the cooking liquid to make a nice saucy consistency.

Wine Suggestion: Something simple and food friendly is all that’s needed here. An easy Pinot Grigio (not a variety that we often recommend) went really well.

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Linguine with Smoked Salmon & Tomato Sauce

Posted in Food, Italian, tagged , , , , on 19 February 2012| Leave a Comment »

We love it when you come across great recipes by pure chance. We only made this as we had some smoked salmon leftover in the fridge and weren’t able to find filo pastry for the recipe we had originally planned. It was also late and we were grumpy and hungry. This definitely is a mood enhancer!

Linguine al Salmone e Salsa di Pomodoro – to serve 4

  • 40g butter
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 120 ml brandy
  • 500g fresh tomatoes, peeled and diced, or tinned chopped tomatoes (if it’s February!)
  • 120g smoked salmon, cut into strips
  • 100ml double cream
  • 350g linguine

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the onion and cook over a low heat for about 5 minutes. Pour in the brandy and cook until the alcohol has evaporated. Add the tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes until thickened. Add the salmon, season with pepper, stir in the cream and heat gently. Meanwhile, cook the linguine. Drain, tip into the pan with the sauce and toss.

Wine Suggestion: You don’t want to overwhelm the flavours and yet still need something to stand up to the cream and rich, smokey Salmon. We would choose a good Albariño from Rias Baixas in Spain, or a dry, Provençal Rosé.

(Original recipe from Silver Spoon, Phaidon, 2009.)

 

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Linguine alle vongole (clams with linguine, garlic, parsley and white wine)

Posted in Food, Shellfish, tagged , , , , , on 13 January 2012| 10 Comments »

It’s shellfish season so grab some clams and make some vongole! Obey the chilli quantities – we didn’t and burnt the lips off ourselves!

Linguine alle vongole (clams with linguine, garlic, parsley and white wine) – to serve 4

  • 350g dried linguine
  • 50ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 a medium-hot red Dutch chilli, seeded and finely chopped
  • 3 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 900g small clams, washed
  • 2 tbsp dry white wine

Cook the linguine in a large pan of well-salted boiling water for just 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil, garlic and chilli in a small pan until the garlic starts to sizzle. Reduce the heat and cook gently for a couple of minutes to soften the garlic. Add the parsley and take off the heat.

Drain the pasta. Put the empty pan back onto a high heat and add the clams, the white wine and the par-cooked linguine. Cover and cook over a high heat, shaking occasionally, for about 3 minutes or until the clams have opened.

Take the lid off the pan and add the olive oil mixture. Simmer for another couple of minutes, if necessary, until the linguine is tender.

Wine Suggestion: Because it is Italian, we’ll stick to form and suggest either a herbally Inzolia from Sicily, or a more nutty Verdicchio. You need something light and fresh with a little minerality. Muscadet would also work a treat.

(Original recipe from Rick Stein’s Seafood, BBC Books, 2001.)

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Ham & Mushroom Penne

Posted in Food, Italian, tagged , , , , on 31 December 2011| Leave a Comment »

Another great pasta dish from The Silver Spoon: Pasta, Italy’s pasta bible. This has lovely earthy flavours.

Penne Al Prosciutto E Funghi – to serve 4

  • 50g dried mushrooms
  • 25g butter
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion
  • 50g cooked ham, diced
  • 100ml dry white wine
  • 350g penne
  • 4-5 tbsp vegetable stock
  • 3 tbsp double cream
  • 40g Parmesan cheese, grated

Put the mushrooms in a bowl and cover with lukewarm water. Leave to soak for about 20 minutes then drain, squeeze out the excess liquid and slice. Melt the butter with the oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and cook over a low heat, stirring now and then, for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Add the mushrooms and ham and cook for a few minutes, then pour in the wine and cook until the alcohol has evaporated. Season and leave to simmer for 20 minutes, adding stock when necessary to prevent it from sticking. Stir in the cream and heat for another few minutes. Meanwhile, cook the penne according to the pack instructions. Combine the sauce and pasta and serve with the Parmesan sprinkled over the top.

Wine Suggestion: A nice rich Chardonnay is a good match for the cream and suitably savoury to complement the ham and mushrooms.

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Pasta with Blue Cheese Cream

Posted in Food, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , on 21 December 2011| 2 Comments »

When stuck with too much leftover blue cheese (Stilton in this case) we whipped up a quick mid-week pasta dish.

Pasta with Blue Cheese Cream – serves 4

  • 350g short pasta (we used penne)
  • approx. 175g Stilton or other blue cheese, cut up small
  • 150ml double cream
  • pinch of sugar
  • chopped parsley or sage

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the pack. Drain the cooked pasta and put it back in the pot it was cooked in. Add the cheese, cream, sugar, lots of black pepper and parsley. Stir gently over a medium heat until the pasta is coated with the sauce. Taste for seasoning and add salt if needed.

Wine Suggestion: This is quite a rich dish and so needs an equal pairing like Pinot Gris, the slight sweetness of which will also work with the salty blue cheese (similar to the effect of adding a pinch of sugar to the sauce).


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Penne Pasta in Vodka!

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, tagged , , , , , on 16 December 2011| 2 Comments »

We thought this was unusual until we found out you can get sugo from Italy with vodka already added! The pasta doesn’t taste like vodka but it gives a kind of glycerous texture. We’re going to cook another pasta with vodka to try and understand the effect better. This recipe is kind of old fashioned – my Granny never cooked pasta but if she did she probably would have done a sauce like this (only without the vodka). That’s not a criticism – it’s the pasta version of a good stew!

Penne Rigate Alla Vodka – to serve 4

  • 50g butter
  • 1 thick slice cooked ham, diced
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 5 tbsp double cream
  • 3 tbsp vodka
  • 350g penne rigate

Melt the butter in a pan, add ham, tomato purée and parsley, season and cook, stirring now and then, for about 10 minutes. Stir in the cream and vodka and cook until the vodka has evaporated and it doesn’t smell so alcoholic. Cook the penne in salted boiling water according to the pack, then drain. Tip it back into the pan and stir through the sauce.

(Original recipe from Silver Spoon Pasta, Phaidon, 2009).

Wine Suggestion: Try a white from Southern Italy like a Greco di Tufo which is minerally, fresh and relatively full-bodied.

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Easy Friday Night Pasta

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , on 31 October 2011| 3 Comments »

We’ve picked up a habit of paying for pasta dishes in Italian restaurants in town. There’s nothing wrong with the pasta dishes but there’s something wrong with paying €10 (or more!) for something you can make a vat of for far less than that. So we’ve resolved to cook our own pasta dishes from now on – starting with this Penne Arrabbiata from Silver Spoon Pasta. You will probably have most if not all the ingredients already which makes this practically free!

Penne Arrabbiata – to serve 4

  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 a fresh chilli, seeded and chopped
  • 500g tinned chopped tomatoes, drained (we used a 400g tin but might use 2 x 400g tins next time)
  • 350g penne lisce (the smooth sort)
  • 1 tbsp flat-leaf parsley
Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the garlic and chilli and cook until the garlic turns brown. Remove the garlic cloves at this stage and throw them away.

Add the tomatoes to the pan, season with salt and cook for about 15 minutes.

Cook the penne in a large pan of salted boiling water until al dente, then drain and tip into the frying pan.

Toss over a high heat for a few minutes, then transfer to a warm serving dish. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

(Original recipe from The Silver Spoon Pasta, Phaidon, 2009).

Wine Suggestion: Italian wines tend to go with Italian foods as they are naturally high in acidity which makes them a perfect complement to tomato-based sauces. You don’t need to splash out for this dish. We had our favourite every-day wine Il Casolare, an IGT from Marche, which combines Sangiovese and Montepulciano. Interesting and food friendly but smooth and easy at the same time. On offer now in Mitchell & Son for €9.50 – bargain!

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Party Lasagne

Posted in Beef, Food, Italian, Party Food, Pork, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 18 October 2011| 3 Comments »

This is our classic party dish – so popular that we have to fight to get a taste when we serve it in a buffet! We’ve just made it this weekend for our friends Nicola and Dave’s housewarming. Just to make sure we got some ourselves we made a little extra for the next day. So for all our friends that have asked … here’s the recipe 🙂

Simple Baked Lasagne – serves 6 but easily doubled (which can easily serve 20 or more strangely enough …)

  • 4 rashers pancetta or smoked bacon, finely sliced
  • pinch cinnamon
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 carrot, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 generous handfuls of whole, fresh herbs (use your own mix of sage, oregano, rosemary and thyme)
  • 400g shin of beef, or skirt, coarsely minced
  • 200g pork belly, skin removed & coarsely minced
  • 2 x 400g tins good-quality plum tomatoes
  • 250ml red wine
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 butternut squash, halved, deseeded and roughly sliced
  • 1 tbsp coriander seeds, bashed in a mortar & pestle
  • 1 dried red chilli, also bashed
  • 400g dried, ready to cook lasagne sheets
  • 400g mozzarella

For the white sauce:

  • 1 x 250ml tubs of crème fraîche
  • 3 anchovies, finely chopped
  • 2 handfuls freshly grated parmesan
  • a little milk

Preheat oven to 180C / 350F / Gas 4

If you are making a double quantity you may want to cook the meat sauce in two quantities as it will be easier to manage unless you have a very large casserole pot. You can also make the meat sauce in advance which makes entertaining easy –  a simple assembly and cook on the night!

In a large casserole pan slowly fry the pancetta or bacon and the cinnamon until golden, add the onion, carrot, garlic and herbs and about 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Once mixed together add the beef and pork and brown for about 5 minutes. Add the tinned tomatoes, wine and bay leaves and then bring to the boil. Wet some grease-proof paper and place it on top of the pan and then place a lid on top of this as well to complete the seal. Cook in the preheated oven for 2 hours.

While this is cooking rub the butternut squash with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and the bashed coriander seeds and chilli. Place on a baking tray and roast in the oven for the last 45 minutes of cooking the sauce. When you remove the sauce check that the squash is cooked and slightly caramelising; if not leave in oven until done.

When sauce is done season and put to one side. Mix together crème fraîche, anchovies, a handful of parmesan and season with salt and pepper. Slowly add enough milk while mixing until the sauce becomes loose and smooth. Don’t make it too runny!

Turn oven up to 200C / 400F / Gas 6. To assemble lasagne rub a large dish, or deep tray with olive oil, lay some sheets of lasagne over the bottom (and drape over the sides too if you are using fresh lasagne). Add a layer of meat, a little white sauce, a sprinkle of parmesan and then top with another layer of lasagne sheets. Make a complete layer with the butternut, topping it again with lasagne sheets. Repeat the meat, white sauce and parmesan layers. Finish with a layer of pasta covered in white sauce. Tear over the mozzarella and sprinkle with parmesan.

Cook for 30-35 minutes and until golden. Watch the hordes descend.

[Inspired by Jamie Oliver: Jamie’s dinners, Penguin 2006]

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Anna Del Conte’s Pasticcio di Penne con Formaggi e Funghi

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 17 October 2011| 1 Comment »

We’ve been looking out for Anna Del Conte’s Gastronomy of Italy for some time now. This is a book in serious need of reprinting – a true Italian bible. The recipe’s are straightforward and authentic and there is an excellent section on the regions of Italy. We snapped this up when at last a second-hand copy became available on Amazon and suggest you do the same if you get the chance.

This is a really nice dish for autumm – a bit like macaroni cheese but with mushrooms. There is no place for calorie counting here!

Baked Penne with Cheese and Mushrooms – to serve 4

  • 20g dried porcini, soaked, drained and chopped
  • 500g fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 50g unsalted butter
  • 300g penne
  • butter for the dish
  • 150g Bel Paese cheese, thinly sliced (we couldn’t find Bel Paese so substituted Taleggio)
  • 150g fontina cheese, thinly sliced
  • 75g freshly grated Parmesan
  • 200ml double cream

Heat the oven to 200ºC/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Sauté the porcini and fresh mushrooms with the whole garlic clove in 25g of the butter over a high heat. Add salt and pepper, lower the heat and cook for 3 minutes. Throw away the garlic.

Cook the pasta according to the pack. Drain and dress with the remaining butter.

Butter an ovenproof dish and cover the bottom with layer of pasta. Spread about a quarter of the mushrooms and sliced cheese over the pasta and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan. Add another layer of pasta and cover with mushrooms and cheese. Repeat this until all the ingredients are used, finishing with a cheese layer. Pour over the cream and season with salt and pepper.

Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes, or until a light crust has formed on the top. Settle for 5 minutes before serving with a green salad.

Wine Suggestion: We drank a Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley  in California that our friend Jen kindly brought back from her holidays. There are some great wines being made here that we rarely see outside the US so it was a treat and a really good match for the dish. If you haven’t been travelling we’d suggest finding a pinot noir with juicy, ripe fruit balanced by a lightness of touch – avoid anything too alcoholic or jammy which will overwhelm the food. If you find a nice “earthy” pinot from Hawkes Bay in New Zealand or Burgundy then you’re on the right track.

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Pastitsio – a Cypriot pasta dish

Posted in Beef, Food, Pasta, Pork, tagged , , , , , , on 13 September 2011| 1 Comment »

Cypriot PastitsioThe warmth of the cinnamon and the dried mint turns this pasta bake into something distinctively Cypriot rather than Italian. Serve it with a big Greek salad on the side for a stress-free dinner party. The Pastitsio takes a while to make but you can have all assembled in advance, ready to stick in the oven when your guests arrive. It is also best served warm, or even at room temperature, so you don’t need to worry if you get behind making your salad!

Tessa recommends a dish of dimensions very similar (and no bigger) than this: 35cm long, 24cm wide and 6cm deep. We used a big roasting tin.

Pastitsio – to serve 10

  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 tbsp chopped parsley
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 850g minced pork and beef
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 125 ml white wine
  • 400g tinned tomatoes, chopped
  • 450g short pasta (we used penne)
  • about 30g butter
  • 1/2 tsp dried mint
  • 1 tbsp breadcrumbs
Bechamel sauce
  • 120g butter
  • 125g plain flour
  • 1 litre warm milk
  • a little freshly grated nutmeg
Heat the oil in a large non-stick saucepan and fry the onion until soft and golden. Add the parsley and garlic and cook for a few second before adding the meat. Fry for a few minutes until all the moisture has gone and the mince is starting to brown. Season and add the bay leaf and cinnamon. When it starts to fry and brown, add the wine and cook until evaporated. Add the tomatoes and a cup of water and cook over a medium to low heat for 10-15 minutes. The meat shouldn’t be too dry. Take off the heat.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4). Cook the pasta in boiling salted water for 2 minutes less than what it says on the packet. Drain and put in a bowl. Mix in the butter and crumble in the dried mint. Stir well and spoon half over the base of a large ovenproof dish. Pour the meat mixture over the top to evenly cover the pasta, then add the rest of the pasta over the top. Press down with a wooden spoon to make it quite compact. Set aside while you make the béchamel sauce.

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook for a few minutes, stirring all the time, then start adding the warm milk. Work quickly, stirring while adding ladlefuls of milk as each one is absorbed. When the sauce is smooth and not too stiff, add salt, pepper and a grating of nutmeg. Keep cooking even after it comes to the boil, for about 5 minutes, stirring all the time. You should have a very thick and smooth sauce. Pour this over the pasta and meat in the dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top and bake for 30-40 minutes until the top is golden. Let it cool for a bit before you serve or it will run everywhere.

(Original recipe from Falling Cloudberries by Tessa Kiros, published by Murdoch Books, 2004.)

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Pasta al forno con pomodori e mozzarella

Posted in Food, Italian, Italy, Pasta, Vegetarian, Wine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 29 August 2011| 2 Comments »

Otherwise known as “Jamie’s Pasta Bake”; a simple, tasty dish that can be easily doubled for parties. Delicious hot for dinner with some garlic toasts and also cold the next day for lunch.

The recipe suggests using orecchiette but any pasta shapes will do so it’s a great way to use up all the packets lying around the cupboard.

Baked pasta with tomatoes and mozzarella (serves 4 generously)

  • 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped (white onions are suggested but any other onion lying to hand will do)
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
  • 1 to 2 dried chillies, crumbled
  • 3 x 400g tins of good quality plum tomatoes
  • large handful of basil, torn
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 400g short, any shaped dried pasta, preferably orecchiette
  • 4 very big handfuls of freshly grated parmesan
  • 3 x 150g balls of mozzarella, sliced
Preheat oven to 200C / 400F / Gas 6.

Heat a saucepan on Medium-low heat and a couple of glugs of olive oil, onion, garlic and chill. Slowly fry for 10 minutes until softened but not coloured.

Add tinned tomatoes and a small glass of water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Wizz sauce until smooth add basil leaves, red wine vinegar and season.

Boil a large pot of salted water and cook the pasta shapes according to packet instructions. Drain and then toss with half the tomato sauce and a handful of parmesan.

Rub a little olive oil in a baking tray and layer a third of the pasta in the bottom. Follow by a layer of tomato sauce a handful of parmesan and 1 mozzarella ball. Repeat two more times and until ingredients are used up. Make sure that there is a good layer of cheese on the top.

Cook in oven for 15 minutes or until golden and bubbling.

Original recipe: Jamie’s Italy

Wine suggestions: This will work equally well with a nutty, dry white like a Verdicchio or Greco di Tufo or  a mid-weight red like Barbera, Montepulciano d’Abbruzzo or a fruity Chianti. You don’t need to get too complex as this is a very social dish so it suits a social and easy style of wine.

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Time for something a little lighter…

Posted in Food, Healthy, Shellfish, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on 11 August 2011| 1 Comment »

Easy-peasy and used up some prawns that had been in the freezer for nearly too long.

Lemony prawn pasta with broccoli – to serve 4

  • 300g farfalle pasta
  • 1 head of broccoli, cut into small florets
  • 200g large cooked prawns
  • 3 tbsp double cream
  • juice of 1/2 a lemon

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the pack and scoop out and keep a bit of the cooking water near the end. Add the broccoli to the pasta pan 3 minutes before the end of the cooking time and cook for another 3 minutes. Drain and tip back into the pan.

Turn the heat down very low and add the prawns, cream, lemon juice and some seasoning. Add a bit of your pasta water if you need to thin the sauce a bit.

Healthy and low-fat dinner is served (the 3 tbsp of cream is divided between 4 people!!)

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Silver Spoon Penne with Saffron

Posted in Food, Pasta, Uncategorized, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , on 7 August 2011| 12 Comments »

This is made just like a risotto, except you use penne pasta instead of rice. Sounds strange but apparently it’s quite common in the south of Italy, according to our Italian friend. The pasta ends up really soft instead of al dente like we’re all used to but it melts in the mouth and is not at all like over-cooked pasta. We served this as a dinner party starter and it was really simple to stir up while we all had an aperitif.

Penne Gialle (Penne with Saffron) – to serve 4 (or 6 as a starter)

  • about a litre of vegetable or meat stock
  • 40g butter
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 350g penne lisce (this is the smooth type but if you have ridged penne that will do)
  • pinch of saffron threads
  • 40g Parmesan cheese, grated
Bring the stock to the boil. Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan, add the onion and cook over a low heat for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add the penne and stir until shiny and coated with fat. Add a ladleful of hot stock and stir until it has been absorbed. Continue adding stock, a ladle at a time, until the pasta  is completely cooked. Stir the saffron into the last ladleful of stock before adding it to the pan. Mix well until everything turns an even yellow colour. Remove from the heat and sprinkle with the Parmesan.
(Original recipe from The Silver Spoon Pasta published by Phaidon – we highly recommend it!)

Wine Suggestion: We had a Friulano from the north-east of Italy but any fresh Italian white with good roundness and medium body will do. Stay clear of Pinot Grigio as it doesn’t tend to taste of much.

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Italian tuna balls (hee hee)

Posted in Fish, Food, Healthy, Italian, Pasta, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on 14 July 2011| 5 Comments »

Well this was a pleasant surprise! We only made it cause it was super cheap and low fat but we will definitely be doing it again. This costs less than €2 a head and it is gorgeous! We don’t buy tomato pasta sauce because this one is so fabulous, super cheap, easy and freezes. We usually have some pasta dough in the freezer that needs used too so the picture has fresh tagliarini – so for us it cost the price of a tin of tuna.  Still  we don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you use shop bought sauce and dried spaghetti either.

Italian Tuna Balls – to serve 4  (easy to double or halve)

  • 2 x 160g cans tuna in oil, drained (reserve a bit of the oil)
  • small handful pine nuts
  • finely grated zest 1 lemon
  • small handful parsley, roughly chopped
  • 50g fresh breadcrumbs
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 400g spaghetti
  • 500g jar tomato pasta sauce

Flake the tuna into a bowl, then add the pine nuts, lemon zest, parsley, breadcrumbs and egg. Season and mix with your hands until really well combined. Roll the mix into 12 walnut-size balls. Put a large saucepan of water on to boil, then cook the spaghetti according to the pack.

Heat a little of the tuna oil in a large non-stick frying pan, then fry the tuna balls for 5 minutes or until completely golden all over. Drain on kitchen paper. Heat the tomato sauce, then toss with the pasta and tuna balls.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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We like people who grow their own veg …

Posted in Food, Uncategorized, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 12 July 2011| 2 Comments »

… they always need help eating them. According to Johnny and Vivienne Mitchell, this courgette season is so good in Dublin that they can’t keep up. We were the lucky recipients of this courgette and another one so far – yay!

Courgette, basil & almond pasta – to serve 2 

  • 175g/6oz orecchiette pasta
  • 2 tbsp toasted blanched almonds (we only had flaked almonds so we toasted these and they did the job)
  • 2 small or 1 medium courgette (or a chunk off a massive one)
  • 1 garlic clove
  • large bunch basil
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 rounded tbsp grated parmesan
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
Cook the pasta in salted water according to the instructions on the pack.

Meanwhile, finely chop the almonds, chop the courgette into small chunks, crush the garlic and pick the basil leaves from the stalks.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the courgette for a few minutes until it starts to soften, then add the garlic and half the basil and cook for another minute.

Drain the pasta and add it to to the courgettes, along with the almonds, the rest of the basil, the parmesan, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Toss everything together and serve with extra parmesan.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

 

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A very impressive pasta dish

Posted in Food, Italian, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 20 June 2011| 3 Comments »

Jamie Oliver recommends you practice this recipe before serving for a crowd and we agree. We cooked this about a year ago for our friends Rob and Megan and while the flavours and presentation were great we made the pasta just a bit too thick. Second time around we slimmed down the pasta, with the help of our new pasta machine and it improved dramatically, but we miscalculated the width so had to trim the rotolo after rolling. So Jono’s tips for success:

  • You need a fish kettle;
  • make the pasta very thin, but not quite as thin as usual (we used setting 6 instead of 8). Jamie says the thickness of a beer mat, but make it a fraction thinner than this;
  • measure the width of your rotolo against the fish kettle before constructing it – allow a little of pasta at the edge to keep it sealed nicely; and
  • this takes ages, but it’s really worth it, tastes great and looks super impressive.

First you need to make some fresh pasta so here’s a recipe for that:

  • 600g type 00 flour
  • 6 eggs or 12 yolks (the 12 yolks makes a richer, more yellow pasta)
Put the flour on a board, make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into the well. Use a fork to beat the eggs until smooth. Mix the eggs with the flour as much as possible so it’s not too sticky and start to knead. It’s actually quite hard to knead pasta dough but keep at it for about 10 minutes and it will come together and form a smooth, silky and elastic dough. Cover with cling film and rest for an hour.
Rotolo di zucca e ricota (Rotolo of spinach and ricotta)
  • 455g fresh egg pasta dough (see above)
  • half a butternut squash, deseeded
  • olive oil
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • half a dried red chilli or half a tsp of chilli flakes
  • a handful of fresh marjoram or oregano
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
  • 800g spinach, washed
  • 250g unsalted butter
  • a third of a nutmeg, grated
  • 150g ricotta cheese, crumbled
  • 55g freshly grated Parmesan
  • 20 fresh sage leaves
  1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/gas 7. Chop the squash into big chunks and rub them with a little olive oil. Bash coriander seeds, fennel seeds and chilli in a mortar and pestle with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Dust this over the squash and put into a snug fitting roasting dish or tray. Cover with a piece of damp greaseproof paper and roast for 30 minutes. Take off the paper and continue to roast for another 15-20 minutes or until golden.
  2. Heat a large pan and add a little olive oil, the marjoram or oregano and the garlic. Toss around for 20 seconds before adding the spinach. Keep moving the spinach and add a couple of knobs of butter and the nutmeg after a minute or two. Cook until the moisture has cooked away, then season to taste and leave to cool.
  3. Roll the pasta using a pasta machine into long thin strips (see tip above). Stick the strips together using a little water. Keep it in a rectangular shape but trim off as you need. Lay onto a  clean tea towel (remember to measure the long side against your kettle).
  4. Spoon a line of squash along the long edge of the sheet. Sprinkle the spinach over the rest of the sheet leaving the top 5cm clear. Crumble the ricotta over the spinach and sprinkle over the Parmesan. Brush the clear edge of the pasta with a little water then use the near edge of the tea towel to roll the pasta up and away from you. Roll up in the tea towel and tie firmly at the end with kitchen string. Tie a few bits of string round the middle too to keep the shape and tie an extra bit of string at one end so it can hang out of the kettle and act as a handle.
  5. Fill the fish kettle with boiling salted water. Lower the rotolo in and use the fish kettle rack on top to keep it submerged. Simmer for at least 25 minutes.
  6. While the rotolo is cooking you need to clarify some butter. Put the remainder of the butter into an ovenproof dish and put in a low oven (about 80C/170F) for about 10 minutes or until clear and melted. The milky whey will have sunk to the bottom, discard any white bits from the top and spoon out the clear butter. Discard the whey. You’ll have too much but the leftovers can be used for roast potatoes another day.
  7. Put 3 tbsp of clarified butter into a small pan and heat it up. Add a sage leaf and if it fries nicely add the rest of the leaves and fry until they start to crisp. Keep to one side.
  8. Carefully remove the rotolo from the pan, remove the string, unroll the tea towel and slice it up. A couple of slices per portion. Scatter sage leaves and drizzle with the sage flavoured butter and grate some Parmesan over. Serve with a leafy salad.
(Original recipe from Jamie’s Italy)

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