Pasta Bellissimo!

 

This one is my “adaptation” of one of Nigella Lawson’s pasta/linguine recipes (she did a series called 'Nigellisima', it’s in one of the episodes).

I call it Pasta Bellissimo! Super simple and quick to make, uses all fresh ingredients (none of those "ready-made" pasta sauces in jars or anything) and is filling!

So let's get started!

Ingredients –

225gm Spanish chorizo sausage; cut in 0.5cm thick round slices

1-2 onion(s); finely chopped

2-3 vine tomatoes; finely chopped

1 green chilli; finely chopped (optional)

Handful of fresh basil; finely chopped

8-10 cloves of garlic; minced (or finely chopped)

2 tsp olive oil

3-4 tbsp fresh cream (optional)

130gm Spaghetti

Water (to cook the spaghetti in)

Salt; to taste

Freshly ground pepper; to taste

Serves – 3-4 people

Method –

1) Bring a pan of water to the boil; add in 1 tsp olive oil and add the spaghetti (the oil ensures that the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan).

2) Take another pan and add the remaining 1 tsp olive oil and heat well. Swirl the pan around so that the base is coated with this oil.

3) Add the chorizo slices and let them brown (the chorizo releases quite a bit of oil which we can use to fry the onions in).

 4) Once the chorizo slices brown all over, add in the chopped onion, chilli and minced garlic. Mix in well and let them fry/cook in the oil release from the chorizo.

Note – I added a chilli as I like spicy food, but the chorizo already has paprika for the heat; so chilli is optional.

5) Once the onions are cooked, add in the tomatoes and give it a good mix around. Place a lid on the pan so that the tomatoes cook and release some water.

6) Once the tomatoes have cooked, add in the salt and pepper. Mix well again. Place the lid back on.

7) The pasta should be cooked by now, so either drain it or, run the pan of pasta under cold water so that all the hot water overflows. Leave the pasta in cold water (this will stop it from sticking together also).

8) Now add cream to the “pasta sauce”. 

Note – Cream is also optional; I prefer adding it in as I don’t like the very sour taste of tomatoes. Mix well.

9) Add in half of the chopped basil and mix well.

10) Now drain the pasta and mix it into the sauce.

And there you go….it’s ready.

Serving suggestions –

Why not serve the spaghetti with fresh baguette slices, grilled/toasted and drizzled with olive oil, along with a green salad? You can mix a little olive oil with balsamic vinegar for a lovely salad dressing!

Or with some yummy garlic bread!

Tip – If you want a vegetarian option, just leave out the chorizo and add 2 tbsp of olive oil before you start frying the onions etc.

Comment below and let me know how you liked it! Also, would love to hear if you guys made some tweaks for a slightly different recipe :o)

Happy cooking!

Banoffee Pie for 4th of July!!

 

Banoffee pie (also spelt as Banoffi / Banoffy), is an English dessert made with bananas, biscuits, cream and dulce de leche (read toffee, made from condensed milk).

So without further ado, let’s get started with the recipe!

Items -

24 inch cake tin with removable base

1 Rolling pin (for crushing biscuits)

1 Freezer/sturdy plastic bag (for crushing biscuits)

1 Large bowl (for mixing)

Baking parchment - cut out the same size as the cake tin base

Ingredients -

2 tins of Condensed milk (sweetened)

1-2 tubs (small) of Whipping Cream

6 Bananas

500g of Plain Digestive Biscuits (like McVities)

2/3rd stick of unsalted butter -

1-1.5 tbsp pure Cocoa powder or some dark chocolate (chilled)

Method -

Preparing the toffee -

1) Take a deep pot and fill it with water to the level where the condensed milk tins remain submerged either upright or on their side.

2) Bring the water only to the boil.

3) Place the sealed Condensed milk tins in it and continue to boil the water for 2.5 hours (if the level of the water lessens, please keep adding more water to submerge the tins).

** Please make sure that the tins remain submerged under water at all times, otherwise you'll end up cleaning the toffee off your kitchen ceiling!

                  

4) After 2.5 hours, remove the tins and leave them aside to cool (please don't open them until cooled completely) - this takes about an hour or so...so you can prepare the toffee the night before and leave it on the kitchen counter-top.

Preparing the base -

1) Place the biscuits in the freezer/plastic bag and crush them to an almost fine powder with the rolling pin (or anything else you can get your hands on!)

2) Melt the butter.

3) Place the biscuit crumbs in the bowl and add the melted butter.

4) Mix well so that the biscuit base become moist.

5) Line the cake tin with baking parchment and pour the biscuit/butter mixture into the cake tin evenly; press well to form a base.

6) Chill in the fridge for about 20 min.

Preparing the toppings -

1) Pour the cooled toffee over the chilled biscuit base and spread it evenly across the base (you may have to stir through the toffee before pouring it onto the base to avoid clumps).

2) Chill in the fridge for about 15 min.

3) Whip the cream in a blender/by whisk until firm (make sure you don’t whip the cream too much; it shouldn’t separate!)

4) Chop bananas into 1/4 inch round slices.

5) Remove the cake base from the fridge and arrange the bananas on top.

6) Spread the whipped cream on top and spread it evenly across the base and cover all of the banana slices (else the bananas will become black).

Garnishing -

1) Either place the cocoa powder into a sieve and garnish the cake or using a knife or vegetable peeler, make some chocolate shavings and garnish the cake with that.

2) Place the cake in the fridge until ready to eat!

           

I made this pie and took it to work and believe me half of it was gone within 10 minutes!

Let me know how your Banoffee pie has turned out…

Bon appétit and Happy 4th of July to all who celebrate!!

** Images courtesy google and carnation website

Lamb Curry

This is recipe is finger licking good.

Ingredients:
1. Lamb - 1 kg
2. Onions - 3-4 (medium to large)
3. Red chilli powder - 3/4 tsp
4. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
5. Ginger Garlic (GG) paste - 2 Tblsp
6. Gram masala powder - 2 Tblsp
7. Coriander powder - 3/4 tsp
8. Oil (any cooking oil would do, you can even use olive oil) - 4-5 Tblsp
9. Tomatoes - 1 can of chopped tomatoes

Recipe:
1. Slice the onions. Simultaneously heat the oil in a pan or a stock pot.
2. Fry the onion till they are light brown, they must not be brown, neither should it be translucent.
3. Add the meat and cook for8-10 minutes (gently stir till the meat gets a light coating)
4. Add GG paste, stir and cook for 2 minutes
5. Add chillo powder, turmeric, garam masala and coriander powder and cook on medium to high heat occasionally stirring the meat. Continue till the meat is cooked and tender.
6. Add tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes dissolve and make a nice thick gravy, for the lamb to cook tender it should take about 30-35 minutes.
7. (This is completely optional) Add water if you want the curry to be a bit thin. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer for a bit (7-10 minutes). I personally like it nice and thick, without the water. 
8. Garnish with coriander and serve with naan or roti

Happy Cooking !!

Chilly Prawns

Fish Curry

Spaghetti with pancetta

Celebration Chocolate Cake

This light and scrumptious cake is simply a joy to eat. The most amazing thing is it does not have any flour in it. I found the recipe in my Good Housekeeping book

Ingredients
Butter to grease 
200g plain chocolate
5 eggs
125g caster sugar
100g ground almonds
1 tbsp coffee liquueur such as Baileys
fresh raspberries to decorate and some icing sugar to dust

1. Grease a 12.5cm deep round cake tin
2. Melt the chocolate in a heat proof bowl set gently simmering water, making sure he base of bowl does not touch water. Remove the bowl from pan and leave to cool slightly. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170 degrees C
3. Separate all but one of the eggs, putting the white to one side. Put the yolks, the whole egg and sugar into bowl of a freestanding mixer or handheld whisk. Whisk at high speed for 5min or until mixture is pale and leaves a ribbon of trail when whisk is lifted
4. Set the mixer to a very low speed, add the chocolate and then ground almonds and mix until evenly combined
5.  Put egg whites into a clean and grease proof bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. beat one quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to loosen, then fold in the rest.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake for 30 sec comes out hot. Make several holes in the cake and pour the liqueur and let it cool for 30 minutes.
7.Transfer the cake to a plate and spoon raspberries on top. Dust with some icing sugar and you can also tie a ribbon around the cake to get it ready for celebration.

Happy cooking !