Insultingly Easy Pasta Knock Up

Really Easy and Pretty Cheap Pasta

I did this after coming back from the gym and left it to simmer whilst finishing washing the pots (a rare occurrence).  Sometimes a pasta dish just hits the spot a one that involves minimal messing around is even better. So here is my fool proof(ish) tomato and basil pasta dish.

Ingredients

Serves: 4

1 bag of fresh spinach and ricotta pasta
1 bag of pre chopped Mediterranean vegetables
1 carton of passata
4 cloves of garlic (smoked if you can get it)
1 bunch of basil
1 tablespoon of Bouillon
1/2 pint of boiled water
salt
pepper
olive oil

Method

First chop the garlic up pretty fine and cook in the oil for a minute or two.  Then throw in the veg.  Sweat that down for 5 minutes on a low to medium heat on the hob.  Add the passata, bouillon and water then stir in and simmer down for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Once the veg is cooked through and the sauce is thickened up, tear the basil and throw in.  If you want grate a bit of cheese on top, then finish off with a pinch of salt and black pepper.  Remember fresh pasta only takes a couple of minutes to boil, but it's always best to check it before serving up.

And you're done

Sunday Roast Meat

Pork Loin with Apricot, Ginger and Chestnut Stuffing

Sunday's equals roasts.  Nothing beats tearing around the kitchen with a slight hangover and cotton mouth from the night previous.  There are no short cut's these meals take time to prepare, but the effort, blood sweat and tears all pay off in the end.

This stuffing is a great way to impress the folks, both my and Nik's mum and dad really like this one and praise does not come much higher than that!  What's more if you make enough you can make a sauce to go with your dinner (makes a change from gravy, not that there is anything wrong with gravy).

Ingredients

Serves 6-8 (Depends on the size of pork loin you get)

Pork Loin (I asked for £6 worth from the butcher and that was loads)
Packet dried apricots
2 Inches of Root Ginger
200g of chestnuts
Squirt or Two of Honey
1 Red Onion Diced
1 Small Pot of Creme Fraiche
Salt
Pepper

Method

Chop the ginger, onions and chestnuts into smallish cubes first.  If you've bought the whole apricots rather than pre-chopped you'll need to chop them up too. Pop the onions in a pan first, browning them off in a bit of either butter or olive oil.  Add the apricots, ginger, chestnuts and honey; cook down on a low heat.  If it gets a bit too dry, add a spot of water.  Once the mixture is nice soft and well cooked through, allow to cool.

While the mixture is cooling preheat the oven to gas mark six and make a pocket in the loin of pork I found this picture which kinda sums it up.

Next stuff as much of the stuffing as you can in the pocket.  Once you've done that tie the meat up to secure it in a neat roll.  Don't worry about butchers knots etc, a quick double knot is fine, a bit like this little example or reuse the string the loin came with.

After you've done all that, wrap it all up in a layer of tin foil and just to make sure wrap that in a layer of grease proof paper.  Pop in a casserole dish with a cup or two of water in the bottom and cook for around 2 -2 and a half hours at gas mark six.  

If you want to be fancy and brown off the joint uncover the meat and cook for a further 20 mins.

To make the sauce and your pot of creme fraiche to the leftover stuffing and cook through for 10 minutes, I recommend blitzing the sauce with a hand blender.

Easy Curry - Part 1: Morroco

Curry 1 - Morocco Style Curry

I dearly love my slow cooker purchased from the local Asda for a poultry £9 (it was on offer at the time) it's 14 quid now but still a bit of a bargain! It's just a really easy way to knock up some very tasty dishes, curries in particular work well, especially tomato based dishes where the extended cooking brings out all the flavour. So long as you can chop you're pretty much there, just mix and match ingredients and away you go.  I find that cooking a vegetable curry as a base works as you can freeze in batches and add meat/fish as and when you want.
One such curry which I think really works well is my Morrocan type effort.  There's quite a few ingredients but it feeds a medium sized army for a week and if you freeze in meal sized pots you have one amazing back up meal.

Ingredients

Serves: Alot

Vegetable Base

1 Courgette
1 Aubergine
4 Cloves of Garlic
Tin of Chickpeas
Tin of Tomatoes
2 Carrots
150g Flaked Almonds
1 Red Pepper
Couple of Celery Sticks
1 Lemon
Stick of Cinnamon
2 Chillies
2 Tablespoons of Morrocan Seasoning
150g of Chopped Apricots
150g of Chopped Dates
1 Small Butternut Squash
Tablespoon of Bouillon 
Pepper
Salt
Turmeric
1 Bunch of Coriander
3 Bay Leaves
1-2 inches of Ginger Root
Teaspoon of Tomato Paste
Celery Salt
Olive Oil
Half a pint of boiled water

Meat Part

Add onions, garlic and a pinch of Cumin to appropriate meat (You're not going to use pork in this one obvs), lamb works really well (stewing lamb or lamb neck) brown meat, add a small pot of sour cream before covering in curry sauce and popping in the oven.

Method

Chop up all the curry ingredients and pop in the slow cooker, the smaller the pieces the more you can cram in there.  Turn the cooker to "Low" setting and forget about it for around 8-10 hours.  The cooker uses the same electricity as a small light bulb, so you won't break the bank cooking it!

Once you cook the curry base blitz it with a hand blender and allow to cool.  While the sauce is cooling brown meat of your choice in garlic, onions and cumin in a pan.  If you're brave add a few chilli flakes. Stir in a small pot of creme fraiche or sour cream and then add the cooled sauce, pop in an oven dish with the oven preheated to about gas mark 5-6 and leave for about an hour.  

Serve with Nik's flatbread and some rice, boom your done.  Btw you'll make a lot of sauce as this picture demonstrates. 

Enjoy!

Flatbreads

......(No Yeast) Easy Flat Breads......

We enjoy a good dip (see Nathans guacamole and salsa post!) a firm favourite for a weekend feast.......with tortilla chips, carrot sticks, peppers, celery, bread - a selection of all....we're not fussy!

Inspired by bbcgoodfood.com I have found the perfect quick flatbread recipe. It can be scaled up or down easily so no need for waste, and any herbs /spices can be incorporated to suit.

Ingredients

Serves: 4

For the basic dough:

200g flour (I use whatever type comes to hand)

150ml plain/natural yoghurt

50ml water

For the flavouring:

They are pretty tasty as they are but feel free to throw in a bit of whatever you fancy......dried rosemary, cumin, ground black pepper etc

Method

1. Put flour (and optional flavouring) in a large bowl, add liquids.
2. Mix with spatula until ingredients form a ball. (If dough is too dry add a teeny bit of water - gradually, you can keep adding but you cant take it back out!)
3. Roll ball onto a floured surface, knead for a minute or two.
4. Divide ball into four equal parts. Roughly pull dough into desired shape, using finger tips to flatten out - think rustic!
5. Place breads onto a floured baking tray, bake for 6mins each side or until golden brown on each side.
6. Serve warm with dips or as a side to a delicious homemade curry

To scale recipe up or down work on 50g flour/50ml liquid per person.  We've also used this dough as a pizza base, using 400g/400ml quantities.

Enjoy!