Spaghetti carbonara

https://fb.watch/piBwGxSgC7/?

Love the classic way of cooking this – no cream. Just eggs and cheese. Lots of good videos online on this.

Tiramisu

From bbc good food
Ingredients

568ml pot double cream
250g tub mascarpone
75ml marsala
5 tbsp golden caster sugar
300ml strong coffee, made with 2 tbsp coffee granules and 300ml boiling water
175g pack sponge fingers
25g chunk dark chocolate
2 tsp cocoa powder

Put the cream, mascarpone, Marsala and sugar in a large bowl. Whisk until the cream and mascarpone have completely combined and have the consistency of thickly whipped cream.

Get your serving dish ready. Put the coffee into a shallow dish and dip in a few sponge fingers at a time, turning for a few secs until they are nicely soaked, but not soggy. Layer these into your dish until you have used half the biscuits, then spread over half of the creamy mixture. Using the coarse side of the grater, grate over most of the chocolate. Then repeat the layers (you should use up all the coffee), finishing with the creamy layer.

Cover and chill for a few hrs or overnight. This can now be kept in the fridge for up to 2 days. To serve, dust with cocoa powder and grate over the remainder of the chocolate.

I am quite happy with the outcome for this; previously, I used a recipe with no alcohol and it simply didn’t taste like tiramisu. This time with alcohol and specifically coffee flavoured liquor, it worked perfectly!

As an update, I used leftover pannetone instead of the sponge fingers – adds a extra layer of flavour with the dried fruit

Italian baked meatballs with garlic baguettes

From Delicious Magazine
Serves 4

Ingredients

For the tomato sauce
35ml extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
Pinch sugar

For the meatballs
1 red onion, grated
1½ tsp dried oregano
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
6-10 anchovy fillets, finely chopped (see tips)
Finely grated zest ½ lemon
500g British beef mince (15-20 per cent fat)
Splash olive oil
125g ball fresh mozzarella, torn

For the baguettes
75g salted butter
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Small handful fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped
2 medium baguettes

To make the tomato sauce, heat the oil in a large frying pan, then add the onion and garlic and fry over a gentle heat for 5-6 minutes, stirring often, until softened but not coloured. Add the chopped tomatoes with the sugar, season well and turn the heat up so the sauce is bubbling gently. Cook for 40 minutes, stirring often.

Meanwhile, make the meatballs. Put all the ingredients apart from the oil and cheese in a bowl. Season. Mix with your hands, then roll into 20-24 balls the size of walnuts.

Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/ gas 7. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a high heat. When hot, add the meatballs, frying on all sides for 5-6 minutes until golden. Drop them into the sauce for the last 5 minutes of cooking. Transfer to an ovenproof dish and top with the cheese. Season, then bake for 8-10 minutes until the cheese has melted.

 

Mix the butter with the garlic and parsley. Slice the baguettes at an angle into thirds, split them open and pull out most of the insides (see tips). Spread the baguette shells with the garlic butter and set aside.

Let the meatballs stand for 2-3 minutes, then serve with the garlicky baguettes. Use the baguettes to scoop up the meatballs and sauce, which will melt the butter.

Pasta with broccoli and capers

From Let’s Cook Italian and Pasta

Ingredients

Serves 4
400g / 14oz conchiglie (shells)
450g / 1lb broccoli florets, cut into small pieces
5 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 tbsp capers in brine, rinsed and drained
½ tsp dried chili flakes (optional)
75g / 3oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra to serve
25g / 1oz pecorino cheese, grated
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley, to garnish
Healthy Easy Cancer-Fighting Recipe – Pasta Shells with Broccoli & Capers
Method :

Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to a rolling boil. Add the pasta shells, return to the boil and cook for 2 minutes. Add the broccoli to the pan. Return to the boil and continue cooking for 8-10 minutes, or until the conchiglie is ‘al dente’.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, or until softened, stirring frequently. Stir in the capers and chili flakes, if using, and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Drain the pasta and broccoli and add to the frying pan. Toss the ingredients to mix thoroughly. Sprinkle over the cheeses, then stir until the cheeses have just melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then tip into a warmed serving dish. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately with extra Parmesan cheese.

Sicilian style salmon with garlic mushrooms

From BBC
Serves 1
Ingredients

For the Sicilian-style salmon

100g/3½oz salmon fillet, skin removed
1 lime, juice only
olive oil, for drizzling
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp ground paprika
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the mushrooms and broccoli

1 tbsp olive oil
100g/3½oz button mushrooms, sliced
100g/3½oz broccoli, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, optional

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.

Put the salmon fillet on a lightly oiled baking tray. Drizzle over the lime juice and a little olive oil. Sprinkle with the chilli flakes and paprika and season with salt and pepper. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until cooked through.

Meanwhile, heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Add the broccoli and stir-fry until cooked to your liking. Add the garlic and fry for 1 minute, then stir in the parsley. Serve immediately with the salmon.

Fisherman’s eggs en cocotte

From The Silver Spoon
Serves 4

Ingredients

25g butter, plus extra for greasing
80g canned sardines in oil, drained
4 eggs
1 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprig, chopped
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees if you wish to bake the eggs. Grease four ramekins with butter. Remove the bones from the sardines and chop the flesh. Divide the flesh among the ramekins, break an egg into each dish, season with salt and pepper to taste and dot with the butter

Place the ramekins in a roasting tin, add boiling water to come about halfway up the sides and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the egg whites are lightly set.

Having a pretty horrendous week and needed to go back to the office. Had a couple of tins of sardine and decided to google for a recipe for them so that I can at least do some cooking. Found this very simple recipe and decided to go with it. Love how the egg smoothens the taste of the sardine. Very good combination!

Grilled pork chops with creamy mushrooms

From BBC Food

Ingredients
4 large pork chops
10 tbsp Italian olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion, finely chopped
100g/3½oz fresh porcini mushrooms, sliced
100g/3½oz oyster mushrooms, sliced
150g/5oz round shiitake mushrooms, sliced
4 tbsp double cream
300g/10½oz taleggio cheese or French or English Brie

Dip the pork in olive oil, season with salt and pepper and then cook on a preheated griddle pan for about two minutes on each side.

In the meantime shallow fry the onion in 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil until they turn golden.

Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook for about three minutes. Pour in the cream and leave to thicken for a minute or two.

Remove the chops from the griddle and place on a baking tray. Spoon a couple of tablespoons of the mushrooms on top of the chops then cover with two slices of taleggio cheese.

Season and drizzle with olive oil then cook under a hot grill for 1-2 minutes, until the cheese starts to melt.

Jamie Oliver’s Spaghetti con Gamberetti e Rucola (Spaghetti with Prawns & Rocket)

From Jamie’s Italy
Serves 4

Ingredients
455g dried spaghetti
sea salt & freshly ground black peper
extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, peeled & finely chopped
1-2 dried red chillies, crumbled
400g peeled raw prawns
1 small wineglass of white wine
2 heaped tablespoons of sun dried tomato puree or 6 sun dried tomatoes blitzed in a blender
zest & juice of 1 lemon
2 handfuls of rocket, roughly chopped

Method
Cook your spaghetti in a large pan of salted boiling water according to packet instructions. Meanwhile, heat 3 good glugs of olive oil in a large frying pan & toss in the garlic & chilli. As the garlic begins to colour, add the prawns & sauté them for a minute. Add the white wine & tomato puree & simmer for a couple of minutes. When the pasta is ready, drain & reserve a little of the cooking water. Toss the spaghetti with the sauce, squeeze in the lemon juice, add half the chopped rocket, adding a little of the reserved water if the sauce needs loosening a bit. Correct the seasoning & serve sprinkled with lemon zest & remaining rocket.

I am a believer in using leftover pasta and not buy a new pack of spaghetti just for a dish; that’s why I am using fuscili for this. One of my favourite dishes at Jamie’s Italian although the standards appear to have deteriorated over the years. I don’t think my cooking matches the restaurant’s at its best; probably halfway between the standards now and then.

Calabrian lasagne

From Nigellanissima
Serves 4

Ingredients
4 eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil (plus more for greasing)
1 small onion (peeled and chopped)
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes (or 1/2 teaspoon pouring salt, or to taste)
500 grams minced beef
60 ml red wine or vermouth
1 litre tomato passata (plus 1 litre / 1 quart water)
2 balls mozzarella (not buffalo) (each 125g / 4 oz drained weight)
500 grams lasagne sheets (dried not fresh)
350 grams cooked ham (thinly sliced)
4 tablespoons grated parmesan

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/gas mark 6/400ºF. Put the eggs into a pan of water, bring to the boil and let it boil for 7 minutes, then pour off the water and sit the pan under an abundantly flowing cold tap; turn it off and leave the pan filled with cold water in the sink until the eggs are cool enough to peel.
Warm the oil in a large, heavy-based pan (that comes with a lid), then add the onion, sprinkle with salt, and let it cook for a few minutes until it begins to soften.
Add the meat and turn it in the pan just long enough for the raw red colour to turn brown.

Add the wine or vermouth, then the passata, pouring the water into the empty passata bottle or carton and swilling it out into the pan. Bring to a bubble, then put the lid on the pan and cook at a robust simmer for 5 minutes.

Peel and finely slice the eggs (which will crumble into a mess), and finely slice the mozzarella; then put a deep, greased lasagne dish, measuring approx 34 x 23 x 6cm / 9 x 13 x 2 inches, onto a baking sheet and get ready for the grand assembly.

First, put a ladleful or so of very runny meat sauce into the bottom of the lasagne dish, to line the base, then arrange a layer of lasagne sheets – using about a quarter of them – on top, to cover the sauce – don’t worry about a bit of overlapping.

Add another ladleful of sauce, just to wet the sheets, then add a layer of ham slices, using up a third of them, before dotting with a third of the egg and of the mozzarella slices.

Now add a second layer of lasagne sheets, then a couple of ladlefuls of sauce, followed again by a third of the ham, then egg, then mozzarella slices.

Repeat with a further layer of lasagne sheets, another 2 ladlefuls of meat sauce, then the remaining ham, egg and mozzarella slices, before topping with a final layer of lasagne sheets.

Pour the remaining sauce over the top, sprinkle with the Parmesan and cover with foil – making sure the edges are sealed – and put in the oven still on the baking sheet, for 1 hour.

When the hour is up, remove the foil, to reveal the top layer runkled like a Shar Pei made of pasta, and push a knife point through the lasagne to check it is soft – if not, re-cover it and return to the oven for about 10 minutes – then let it stand uncovered, out of the oven, for 15-20 minutes (although I love this barely above room temperature if I can bear the wait)

Tuscan chicken

Chicken – the best ever recipe collection
Ingredients
Serves 4

8 chicken thighs, skinned
1 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 red peppers, seeded and sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
300ml passata
150 ml white wine
1 large fresh oregano sprig
400g cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
3 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Fry the chicken in the oil in a large non-stick or heavy-based frying pan until golden brown. Remove from the pan, set aside and keep hot.

Add the onion and peppers to the pan, and gently sauté until softened but not brown. Stir in the garlic

Return the chicken to the pan, and add the passata, wine and oregano. Season well, bring to the boil, then cover the pan tightly. Lower the heat and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for 30-35 minutes or until the chicken is tender and the juice run clear, not pint, when the thickest part is pierced with the point of a knife or skewer.

Stir in the cannelloni beans and simmer for a further 5 minutes until heated through. Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs and cook under a hot grill until golden brown.