Simply Spaghetti - Using New Season Asparagus

 The Asparagus season is here and it is beautiful.  Time for lunch
 I felt like a simple Pasta dish what a great way to hero the Spaghetti with Asparagus and some Tomatoes and Garlic

You will need

100 gms dried Spaghetti per person

Olive oil 1 tbs

Butter 1 tsp

2 cloves Garlic peeled and crushed

8-10 Cherry Tomatoes, chopped

2 Asparagus spears (tough ends removed then sliced )

Sea Salt and freshly Ground Black Pepper

Parmesan Cheese - finely grated 

Bring a well salted big pot of water to the boil

when it comes to the boil add the Pasta

after 7 Minutes, add the Asparagus

Cook for another 3 minutes 

Drain

In a pan add the Olive oil and Butter on medium heat

Add the Garlic 

Let it  cook gently till it becomes soft and fragrant - don't brown

Add the Tomatoes and let simmer for a few minutes till they are just soft

Meanwhile grate the Cheese

Toss the Spaghetti and Asparagus into the Tomatoes

Season well with freshly ground Black pepper

Into serving bowl and top with the grated Parmesan Cheese

Voila

Lunch is served

Croutons - What do to with leftover bread

This is a bit like... as the saying goes "teaching  your Mother how to suck eggs" 

But just another way to use up your leftover baguette.

Yesterday I forgot I had bought a baguette to have with our lunch...silly me... so there it was sitting on the stairs. Shame to waste, so this morning I made croutons 

So so simple, just slice the baguette,  lay them on a tray, spray with olive oil and 

sprinkle sea salt flakes over them 

As easy as that

Bake in 160 degree C oven for about 15 minutes

turn the tray around for even baking

and back in for about another 5 mins

They should be golden and crunchy 

Pop them on a rack to cool

Great with soup

or with your favourite dip, in this case Hummus dressed with Lemon Olive Oil

And a couple of leaves of Coriander and few littles of Fresh Chili

Just to pretty it up

Yum

Fettucine Cabonara with a Green Twist

What to do in Lockdown

Why not make your own Pasta.  

It's easier that you think. You can either make it totally by hand 

or

More of a "cheats" way, use the food processor

you still have to do some hard work kneading but it's all worth it in the long run

Go to this link https://sososimple.blogspot.com/2010/02/simple-ravioli-anyone-can-do-this.htm

I had a helper, Granddaughter Cleo was a dab hand at making the pasta

Both methods are shown here, on this occasion...we did the Food processor method 

Once you have made your Pasta, roll it into a ball

Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour

Take it out and start the roll process

We have a Pasta Roller, that I purchased in another life

Not only does it roll it out as thin as you would like it then cuts it into the required style

Cleo and I decided that Fettucine was what we wanted

Thought a form of Cabonara was just the ticket 

When looking for the perfect recipe... I found Ina Garten's Spring Green Spaghetti

So we adapted it to our taste and it was very tasty indeed 

Cabonara is quite rich so the addition of the greens made it feel just a bit more healthy

So once you have made the pasta, Grab a broom, wipe the handle and dust it with flour and hang the noodles over it, to dry out

So its time to cook and assemble

You will need

Approx 400 gms pasta

8-10 snow peas julienned lengthwise

1 cup shelled fresh peas (1 pound in the pod), or frozen peas

12 to 14 thin asparagus, bottom third discarded and tips sliced in 2-inch pieces

2 tablespoons good olive oil

5 rashers of Pancetta. (I used streaky bacon) 

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 extra-large eggs

2 extra-large egg yolks

3/4 cup freshly grated Italian Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving

5 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced diagonally

1/4 cup minced fresh chives, plus extra for serving

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Zest and juice of 1 lemon 

Bring a large pot of well salted water to the boil

Add the pasta and cook for about 6 minutes

Take out a cup of the water and set aside

Add the snow peas, asparagus and the peas (I used frozen)

Cook for another 2 minutes longer 

Drain the pasta and vegetables together

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium (10- to 11-inch) sauté pan over medium heat,

Add the bacon and cook for 7 to 9 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned.

Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels and set aside

While the bacon cooks, fill a large bowl with the hottest tap water and set aside to heat the bowl. Just before you drain the pasta, pour the water out of the bowl.

Put the cream, eggs, egg yolks, freshly ground black pepper and some sea salt and 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water into the bowl and whisk to combine.

Immediately, add the hot pasta and vegetables and toss with tongs for a full minute or two, until the pasta absorbs the sauce.

If necessary add enough reserved hot pasta water, to keep the sauce creamy 

Add the 3/4 cup Parmesan, the scallions, chives, lemon zest and juice and toss well.

Add the bacon and serve hot sprinkled with extra chives and Parmesan.

Voila, dinner is served 

 

We Love Pasta

Well I love Pasta and I love to try it in so many ways. I was planning on roasting some prawns but "quelle domag...not in our freezer today, so I had a good look in the fridge and look what I found

In the fridge was a piece of carrot, a piece of courgette, 1/3 green pepper, half a leek, 1 lonely mushroom and and some bacon...in the freezer some frozen corn, and some breadcrumbs

Perfect

You can use what ever you like but this was such a good and colourful selection

Plus in the pantry I found some some spaghetti

So put on a pot of well salted water to boil for the pasta

Then prep your vegetable

Grate the carrot and courgette

Remove all the outside leaves of the leek, wash it and slice 

Slice the mushroom and the green pepper and you are ready to go 

Put a pan on the stove and bring up to medium heat

Chop the bacon and sauté 

When the water has come to the boil add the spaghetti and cook till just al dente around 6-8 minutes

Meanwhile

Remove the bacon and place in a bowl, add the mushroom

It does look a little lonely but it was worth it

Remove and place with the bacon  

Then add the chopped leeks

Saute them gently till soft 

Add the rest of the ingredients including the bacon and mushroom

Saute till soft

Throw in a good slurp of wine and turn heat up so that it evaporates

Meanwhile while this is happening

In a another pan add some oil... about 2 tbs, 

Heat till just about smoking and then add the breadcrumbs

Toss well and cook till they are just nice and toasty

When the pasta is cooked

Using your tongs, add it to the vegetables and toss well

Place on your plate

Sprinkle the toasted breadcrumbs over the top and enjoy

Lunch is served and very good it was too

 We have a bucket full of onions. Well it was full but we have been using them

Have to be used...French Onion Soup methinks 

There a nice lamb bone from last nights roast and after stripping the meat off...(nothing better than cold meat sandwiches)

I popped the bone into a large pot add some aromatics and

Voila Lamb stock

So I peeled...with a few tears...some onions 

Sliced them and popped into a pot with some butter

Nice slow cook about 30 minutes and they are soft, sweet and delicious 

Don’t forget to stir them regularly 

Don’t want any burnt bits

Caramelised but not burnt

Add a dash of white wine and leave to simmer for about 10 mins

And Voila 

Lunch is served 

The traditional way to serve French Onion soup is with a cheese toasted crouton on top but I’m happy with a little chopped parsley 

And a cold lamb sandwich on plastic white bread

Perfect  

Making The Best Of Leftovers

 I have always been The Leftover Queen, I can't abide throwing good food out. This is not a recipe, just a good tasty idea for Waste Not Want Not... I am also a believer that soup is not just a Winter Dish. It's an AnyTime Dish

In the fridge were 2 containers of food, leftover from yesterday. Some mushroom soup, incidentally which was store bought. Plus cold boiled potatoes, corn cobs and a little broccoli for that touch of green, all leftover from last night's dinner

Instead of making croutons to sprinkle on the soup, I decided to chop up the Vege and sprinkle them on top...as simple as that

The soup needed a little extra zing, so I heated it up with some cream, just enough to thin it down a bit and make it extra creamy.

Meanwhile I chopped up the potatoes, stripped the corn off the cob, broke up the broccoli, popped them into a pan, on medium heat, which contained some butter

Turned the heat up...so that the potatoes would get some colour, seasoned them with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

About 4-5 minutes was enough

I grabbed a pretty serving bowl, filled it up with the hot soup, scattered the Vege on top and                        

Voila... Lunch and Delicious it was too 

New Way To Use Bagged Salads

There was a chicken carcass in the fridge, so immediately popped into the pot and I made some beautiful chicken stock
There was enough to put in the freezer for later and another litre or so to make soup for lunch.
Except for an onion and 2 sad looking carrots, I was a little low on soup vege
BUT  also in the fridge was a bag of an Asian Chopped Salad, why don't I use that, after all a 

really nice mix of vege plus... there is a sesame ginger dressing and some croutony crunchy things...perfect for lunch I thought

Ingredients:

2 tbs olive oil

1 med onion finely chopped

2 small carrots grated

1 bag Asian Vege with little bag croutony things

1 litre chicken stock

Sesame and ginger dressing

In a pot heat the olive oil and add the chopped onions

Cook till soft then add grated carrot

Stir and season with some salt and freshly ground black pepper

Add the Asian Vege and stir plus a little more seasoning 

when soft add the chicken stock

Bring to the boil and simmer for about 20-30 minutes

Before serving add the Sesame and Ginger dressing

Into your soup bowl, and maybe a few crunchy "croutony" things on the top 

Plus some chopped chives for colour 

Yum

Perfect lunch

Will do that again