Pasta with Asparagus & Pistachio Pesto

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs sees the introduction of a new event - our monthly "featured chef" event, where each month we will be given the opportunity to celebrate the recipes of one of our previous IHCC celebrity chefs.  In keeping with this being the inaugural celebration, our featured chef this month is Nigella Lawson who was our very first IHCC chef.

Unfortunately, I didn't know about the group way back when they were cooking with Nigella until it was almost too late - I actually discovered the group just as they were saying farewell on their last week of their culinary journey with Nigella.  I came to the party with these Chocolate Caramel Crispy Cakes, which is still one of my go-to treats when I need a crowd or kiddy pleaser, and which actually consistently ranks in the top 10 of my most viewed posts of all time.

Looking for inspiration for this week's dish, I decided to break my copy of Nigellissima down from the bookshelf.  I have to admit that although I've had this one in my collection for quite a while, I actually haven't used it very much - no particular reason (it's actually a great book), but there just seems to often be other books I turned to first.

I found my inspiration in Nigella's Green Beans with Pistachio Pesto.  It's asparagus season here right now, and I just can't get enough of it, so I knew I was going to sub asparagus in for the beans.  I made a couple of other changes too, replacing basil in the pesto with some watercress and spinach (because that's what I had on hand, and because basil is not really readily available here yet), and adding pasta to turn this into a main meal instead of a side dish.

If I'm honest, much as I love the flavour of basil, I often find that as a flavour base for pesto it can seem a little overpowering.  Here I loved the more delicate flavour of the cress and spinach in this pesto, which really enabled the flavour of the pistachios to shine through.  This pesto is beautiful for dressing any green vegetable or pasta, would be a great addition to an antipasto platter, or delicious condiment in sandwiches or wraps.  I think this is bound to become a real summer staple in my house.

Note:  This will actually make more pesto than is required for the quantity of pasta and asparagus given, but some leftover pesto ready to dollop on some eggs, alongside some fish, or spread in a sandwich can never be a bad thing.  Pesto also freezes really well so you can enjoy it all year round - it's great to freeze in ice cube trays or small zip lock bag portions - great for using in soups and casseroles.

Pasta with Asparagus & Pistachio Pesto
Serves two
Inspired by recipe from Nigellissima by Nigella Lawson

250g penne pasta
8-10 fresh asparagus spears

for the pesto
large bunch watercress
2x large handfuls baby spinach leaves
1x clove garlic, roughly chopped
generous pinch flaky sea salt
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1/2 cup parmesan, freshly grated
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

to serve
freshly ground black pepper
extra parmesan

Begin by making the pesto.  Put watercress, spinach leaves, garlic and sea salt into a food processor, and pulse until finely chopped.  Add pistachios and parmesan, and pulse again until the nuts have been roughly chopped.  Now with the motor running, add olive oil one tablespoon at a time until everything is chopped to a fine paste and fully amalgamated.  Remove from food processor and set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil, salt the water liberally, and add pasta to the boiling water.  Remove the woody ends from the asparagus, and cut asparagus into pieces about the same length as the pasta.  Once the pasta is halfway through the recommended cooking time, remove and retain one cup of the pasta water, and add asparagus pieces to the boiling water.  Continue cooking until the pasta is cooked but still al dente.

Remove from heat, drain, and immediately return the pasta and asparagus to the pan.  Add a couple of generous dollops of the pesto, and stir through enough of the reserved pasta water to loosen the pesto and make a sauce.  Keep stirring until everything is well coated with the pesto, then serve immediately.  Finish with freshly ground black pepper to your liking and a sprinkling of extra grated parmesan.

If you would like to get to know Nigella Lawson a little better, and to see all the wonderful dishes my friends have come up with, then do go visit I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links.

I'm also sharing this post at Cook Your Books, hosted by the lovely Joyce at Kitchen Flavours.

Gnocchi with Chorizo, Gorgonzola & Spinach

For the first two years of writing this blog, I didn't have a proper kitchen.  I churned out all my meals using nothing more than a small toaster oven (just big enough to roast a chook, if you spatchcocked it first), a single hot plate, a Breville benchtop grill, a crockpot, and a kitchen bench the size of a postage stamp (does anyone remember those?).  Of necessity then, I became the self-proclaimed queen of the "one pan wonder", and a quick and simple one pan meal is still my benchmark of the ideal mid-week dinner.

At I Heart Cooking Clubs this week, we're all about "weeknight favourites", cooking up Nigel Slater dishes that are perfect for those nights when you have neither the time nor the inclination to come up with anything other than something simple and fuss-free.

Leafing through "Tender, Vol I, A cook and his vegetable patch", a simple dish of gnocchi with spinach, cheese and cream looked promising.  It didn't hurt either that the recipe was titled "A filling, carb-rich supper for a winter's evening".  Seriously, how inviting does that sound, and let's face it, who of us doesn't like to load up on a few carbs on a chilly autumn evening?!  And, although I rarely go in for creamy pasta sauces, once in a while a serving of those aforementioned carbs smothered in cream and cheese is a delightful thing.

As is my usual bent, I did make a few minor changes to the recipe.  Firstly, I added some chorizo because, well ... if you're going to have all that pasta and cream and cheese, you might as well throw all calorie-counting caution to the wind and throw a bit of sausage into the mix.  I also simplified the cooking process a bit.  Nigel firstly has you pre-boil vacuum-packed gnocchi in one pan of water, and steam the spinach in another pan, then assemble all the ingredients and cook them in another dish.  I say "fiddle-dee-dee" to all of that - I was pretty confident I could do all of this in one pan, and I think I pulled it off.  Fear not, between a bit of time hanging out in a saute pan and then half an hour baking in the oven, with plenty of liquid, the gnocchi will cook perfectly well without needing to be boiled first.  I didn't have as much cream on hand as was called for in the recipe, but I did have some creme fraiche, so I changed things up a bit there.  Lastly, I used quite a bit less blue cheese than called for and found the amount that I used to be more than enough.  Nigel says, that this makes two servings.  Personally, I found that this was pretty rich and satisfying and with a bit of salad on the side this made three decent sized portions - and, honestly, I have a pretty voracious appetite, so if I say you can feed three out of this you can believe it.  I really do recommend a simple but fresh salad to go with this, as it will help to cut through the richness of all that cheese and cream.

This is definitely not the kind of dish I would eat on a regular basis, but, like an itch that needs to be scratched, every once in a while nothing less than something so decadent and deeply satisfying will do.

Gnocchi with Chorizo, Gorgonzola & Spinach recipe
Adapted from recipe by Nigel Slater
from Tender, Vol I
Serves 3
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil
1x chorizo sausage - about 110g (4oz), thinly sliced
500g (1 lb) vacuum packed gnocchi (I use De Cecco)
200g (7 oz) creme fraiche
1/2 cup cream
150g (5 oz) baby spinach leaves
flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
100g (3-1/2 oz) Gorgonzola (or blue cheese of your choice), crumbled
freshly grated Parmesan, plenty of

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (390 degrees F).

Heat olive oil in a large ovenproof saute pan over medium heat.  Add chorizo to the pan and saute until golden and beginning to crisp.  Add gnocchi to the pan, and saute until the gnocchi are coated in the oils released from the chorizo (there's loads of spices and flavour in that oil), and beginning to brown a little.  Add cream and creme fraiche to the pan, and stir until the creme fraiche is melted and bubbling.  Remove from heat, season with flaky sea salt (not too much as the blue cheese will be salty) and freshly black pepper, add spinach and stir until the spinach is evenly distributed and wilted.  Add Gorgonzola to the pan, and poke it into the crevices around the gnocchi.  Grate Parmesan cheese liberally over the top.

Place pan in the preheated oven and bake until bubbling and golden - about 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and serve immediately.

If you would like to get to know Nigel Slater a little better, and to see what everyone else has cooked up this week, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links ...

... or check out Tender, Vol. 1 and Nigel's many other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, or Fishpond NZ.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the delightful Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads, at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollum, and at Cook Your Books hosted by the lovely Joyce at Kitchen Flavours.

                                 

Pasta with Sardines

This week is Pot Luck week at I Heart Cooking Clubs, and this means that we get carte blanche to choose any recipe we like either from our current chef, who as I'm sure you know by now, happens to be the incredibly inspiring Yotam Ottolenghi, or any one of the seven other chefs we have previously featured at IHCC.

I actually had an Ottolenghi dish picked out weeks ago that I was going to make for this week's challenge, but somehow that didn't come to pass and I decided that today was the day to get this post out of draft.  This dish is ever so slightly adapted from a Mark Bitman recipe, and is one of my favourite pasta dishes.  Mark Bitman was actually the featured chef when I first joined the IHCC community, and I loved cooking his dishes.  This recipe was one that I made way back then, with all good intentions for publishing it as my "Farewell to Bitman" post.  Somehow, that didn't happen, and although I've made this dish several times since, the post has continued to languish in draft.  Time for that to change.

This is one of those great "pantry raid" dishes, perfect for using up a few of those store cupboard ingredients - pasta, raisins (original recipe uses currants, but I prefer raisins), pine nuts and tinned sardines.  On the subject of sardines, I actually prefer to use fresh, and I have included a video from YouTube here which shows just how easy they are to clean - I promise that it is totally worth the little bit of effort if you are able to get them fresh.  However, the original recipe calls for tinned sardines, and they will work perfectly well if you either can't lay your hands on fresh ones or can't be bothered to clean them.

Other changes I like to make to this dish, are replacing onion with fennel - I think the "aniseed" flavour is a great complement to the fish and the raisins, and I also like to add in some chopped preserved lemon for its intensely lemony-salty hit.

This dish is incredibly quick to make - once you've prepared the fish (which is itself the work of moments), the rest of the dish pretty much comes together in the amount of time it takes to boil pasta, making it perfect for a quick, mid-week dinner.

Add to this the fact that, from both an ethical point of view and a healthy one, sardines are a great choice, and you have a win:win dish.  Hope you'll try it.

Pasta with Sardines Recipe

Adapted from a recipe by Mark Bitman from

How to Cook Everything iPhone App

Makes 2 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

6x fresh sardines

1/4 cup flour

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

olive oil

250g pasta ( I used De Cecco casareccia)

salt

handful of raisins, soaked in warm water while you prepare the sardines

handful of pine nuts, lightly toasted

olive oil

1x fennel bulb, thinly sliced

1/2 a preserved lemon (discard the flesh, and slice the skin thinly)

grated zest of 1x lemon

large handful fresh parsley leaves, coarsely chopped

freshly ground black pepper

Put a large pot of water over high heat and bring to the boil.

Meanwhile, prepare the sardines as per the video above.  Wash thoroughly and use a paper towel to pat completely dry.

Spread flour, seasoned with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, on a plate.  Dredge the sardines in the flour, shaking off any excess, and set aside.

Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a shallow frying pan over medium heat.  As soon as the oil is hot, add the sardines to the pan, and continue to cook until the fish is golden brown and almost cooked through.  Remove from pan to a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb any surplus oil.  Break into slightly bigger than bite-sized pieces.

Now liberally salt the boiling water, and add the pasta to the water.  Cook according to the packet instructions until al dente.

Meanwhile, heat another tablespoon or two of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  When hot, add the sliced fennel and saute until the fennel has softened - about 6 to 8 minutes.  Add the drained raisins, most of the pine nuts, preserved lemon skin, sardines, and a generous grind of black pepper.  (Because the preserved lemon is salty, you may find that you don't need any additional salt.)  Stirring gently, combine everything well, and cook until everything is heated through and fish is cooked through.

Drain the pasta, reserving a cup of the cooking water.  Add the pasta to the pan containing the fish, and add most of the chopped parsely.  Toss carefully to combine and add a little of the reserved pasta water if necessary.  Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking

Transfer to a warm serving bowl, and sprinkle over the remaining pine nuts and parsley, and the grated lemon zest.

Delicious served immediately or at room temperature. 

If you would like to get to know Mark Bitman a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

or check out some of these great Mark Bitman cookbooks:

     

Available from Amazon, Book Depository UK, and Fishpond NZ

I'm also sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo, hosted by the very lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace.

Lemon & Goat Cheese Ravioli

The conversation at our place the other morning went something like this.

He (wandering into the kitchen):  "What are you doing?"

Me:  "Making pasta."

He:  "How come?"

Me:  "It's for this week's blog post."

He:  "What are you going to make it into?"

Me:  "Lemon & Goat Cheese Ravioli"

He:  "Ohhhh!" (This was not a delighted or excited kind of "ohhhh", you understand, but almost verging on an "eeewwww" kind of "ohhhh".  Which was not an altogether unexpected reaction - he is after all a person who is not that fussed on lemon - doesn't mind a bit of it, but not enough for it to be the hero of the dish.)  Actually this was exactly the kind of reaction I was hoping for, because this is the kind of thing I like to make a big batch of, and then stash in the freezer to whip out for what I think of as my "solitary pleasures" dinners when I'm eating alone.

He (knowing that there was already something else planned for dinner):  "When is that going to be for?"

Me:  "It's for my lunch.  Would you like some?"  I wasn't really keen on sharing, but it's the decent thing to offer, isn't it, even if you're secretly hoping the other person will say no.

He:  "Hmmm, I don't think so.  I was thinking about maybe barbequing a bit of fish for my lunch."

I breathed a quiet sigh of relief, and offered up a silent prayer of thanks to the gods of solitary pleasures diners.  And then ... next minute ...

He:  "No, actually, I'll give it a try."  How did I not see that coming??!  Clearly there was some shortcoming in aforementioned prayer.

Fast forward a couple of hours, and lunch is served.

He (taking a big mouthful):  "Ohhhhhh!"  This time, however, that "ohhhhh" was more a deep sigh of satisfaction than an "eeewwww" kind of "ohhhhh".

Need I say more?  Give this a try.  If you're a lemon lover you will adore it.  Even if you're not, chances are you'll still get quite a lot of satisfaction out of it.

This is another recipe from the inspirational Yotam Ottolenghi, from his book Plenty, which I'm sharing at I Heart Cooking Clubs where our theme this week is "Use Your Noodle".

I used my own basic pasta recipe for the dough, because that's the one I've worked with for so long now, and I know it really works.  I did add in the lemon zest and turmeric that Ottolenghi suggests.  While I'm on that subject - I know that there are at least a couple of you who don't like turmeric.  Let me assure you that it is such a tiny amount that you really don't taste it at all, but it does give a lovely colour to your pasta, so I highly recommend that you take the leap of faith and leave it in if you're making this recipe.

I also found that the amount of filling in this recipe only filled half of my pasta, which was fine with me as I just rolled out the rest of the pasta, cut it into tagliatelle, and popped it into the freezer for another day.  By all means cut back the pasta quantity to suit if you feel so inclined, but in all honesty if you're going to go to the trouble of making pasta, you might as well go all out and make a decent batch of it to use at a later date.

Lemon & Goat Cheese Ravioli Recipe

Adapted from a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi

from Plenty

Serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a light meal

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

Pasta:

basic pasta dough (see below)

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

grated zest of 3 lemons

Filling:

300g (11oz) soft goat cheese

flaky sea salt

pinch of chilli flakes

freshly ground black pepper

To serve:

2 teaspoons pink peppercorns, lightly crushed

fresh tarragon, roughly chopped

grated zest & juice of 1x lemon

extra virgin olive oil

Make pasta dough as recipe below, adding the turmeric and lemon zest to the flour before adding the eggs.

While the pasta dough is resting, prepare the ravioli filling.  Place the goat cheese and seasonings in a small bowl, and mash with a fork to combine.  Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.

After resting the pasta dough, divide into six equal sized pieces.  Working with the first piece of dough (keeping the remaining dough covered with plastic wrap while you work), roll it out according to the instructions below to the thinnest setting on your pasta machine.

Once rolled out, lay the strip of pasta flat, then place teaspoons of filling (about 2 to 3 cm apart) down one side of the strip.  Brush one long edge of the pasta strip, and in between each spoonful of filling, with water.  Fold other side of the pasta over the filling, and cut in between each one.  Make sure all air is pushed out around the filling and each square is well sealed.

Now repeat with the remaining pieces of dough until all the filling has been used.  Leave the filled ravioli on a cloth, lightly dusted with flour, to dry for about 10-15 minutes.  (At this stage you could freeze your ravioli if you like - cook from frozen when you want to use them.) 

While the pasta is drying, bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil.  Salt the water liberally, and add ravioli to the pan.  Cook until al dente - about 3 minutes.

Drain and arrange ravioli on serving plates.  Sprinkle with the grated lemon zest, chopped tarragon and crushed pink peppercorns.  Drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil, and finish with a squeeze of lemon juice.  Serve immediately.

Basic Pasta Dough Recipe

3-1/2 cups high grade flour, plus extra for kneading & rolling

5x large, free-range eggs

Sift flour into food processor.

Break eggs into a jug and lightly whisk together.

Set the food processor running, and pour the eggs in through the feed tube.  Mix until it clumps together into a ball.

Remove from food processor to a lightly floured bench, and knead for a full 10 minutes, dusting with extra flour as necessary.  Final dough should be elastic and silky.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow it to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

After resting the pasta dough, unwrap the dough ball and cut it into six pieces.  Work with one piece at a time, keeping the other pieces wrapped in plastic or covered with a damp tea towel while you work.

Take the first piece of dough, and using your hands flatten it out into a disc, then run the disc through the pasta machine on its widest setting.  Fold the dough into thirds, flatten it slightly with your hands, then roll through the machine again.  Repeat a further 5 times.

Now, set the rollers to the next thinnest setting, and repeat the rolling and folding process 6 times.

Set the rollers to the next setting, and this time repeat the rolling and folding just 3 times.

Then roll the dough through progressively thinner settings, without further folding, until you reach the thinnest or second to thinnest setting, depending on your intended use - for this ravioli recipe, roll it to its thinnest setting.

As you roll, dust the pasta lightly with flour from time to time if it seems to be sticking.

If making a filled pasta such as ravioli, tortellini, etc, work with each piece of dough as it is rolled.  If making noodles such as fettucine or spaghetti, roll out all the dough strips, lay them flat, side by side on kitchen towels or a sheet, and allow them to dry for 10-30 minutes before cutting.

If you would like to get to know Yotam Ottolenghi a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Plenty and Ottolenghi's other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK or Fishpond NZ.

         

I will also be sharing this post at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace.

Looking for other great Ottolenghi "noodle" dishes, check out this Roasted Aubergine, Mango & Soba Noodle Salad I've shared before - it's a winner.

Best Tomato Pasta Sauce Ever

I say it so often here that I should not have been surprised by this.  The best food of all is that which hasn't been messed with too much, but which is a simple combining of good quality, great tasting ingredients.  Yet, I was still shocked at how blindlingly good this simple tomato pasta sauce tasted.

In my effort to keep up with my massive tomato crop I've been telling you about, making some tomato ketchup seemed like an option.  "But why?" inquired the other mouth that I feed.  He is of the opinion that nobody could do a better job of it than Watties, and a sauce that actually tastes of ... well, tomatoes ... instead of preservatives and other things you can't pronounce, would just be too much of a shock to his tastebuds.  In fairness, he's come a long way and appreciates great food when it's given to him.  But there are some things he will always consider to be vaguely inferior when made at home - namely, tomato sauce, ice cream, and bread.  Still, I'm convinced that if I can come up with a good tomato sauce, and sneak it into the Watties bottle when he's not looking, then I have a pretty fair chance of passing it off as the "real deal".  Keep watching this space!

In the meantime, I decided a batch of tomato pasta sauce would take care of a few tomatoes, and would never go astray around our house.  Of course, when looking for a good sauce recipe, the first place I turned to was the Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan.  Marcella is the high priestess of Italian cooking, as far as I'm concerned, and this book is like my bible when it comes to Italian food.  Trust me when I tell you that, if you have no other Italian cookbook in your collection it should be this one.

When I found Marcella's recipe for Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter, my initial reaction was that I could "trick it up a little" by adding in some garlic, maybe some roasted red peppers, maybe some chilli flakes for a bit of kick, a bit of freshly ground black pepper even.  And then I decided to just allow Marcella's wisdom to prevail and stick with the recipe (a rare thing for me), and am I ever glad that I did just that.

This sauce consists of nothing more than tomatoes, an onion, a little butter, and a sprinkling of salt - that's it, nothing more.  The onion is simply cut in half and then discarded at the end of the cooking time, rather than diced into the sauce, so it serves to ever so delicately "fragrance" the sauce rather than overpowering it.  The flavour is wonderfully sweet and so intensely "tomatoe-y" that it's almost shocking.  This sauce is as intensely flavoured as any I've ever tasted, and yet it maintains a freshness and purity of flavour that is a sheer delight.  Think of the flavour of a freshly picked tomato, still warm from the sun, sliced thickly and set on top of freshly buttered toast, and you have pretty much exactly that in sauce form.

We enjoyed this tossed through some pappardelle with a sprinkling of freshly grated parmesan.  Marcella also recommends it as being a great accompaniment to gnocchi.  I hope you'll give it a try.  For best results use sun-grown fresh tomatoes, picked at the perfect stage of ripeness - out of season, hot-house grown tomatoes, picked early and ripened in the supermarket chiller, just won't cut it.  Marcella says you can also used tinned tomatoes.

Best Tomato Pasta Sauce Ever Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Marcella Hazan

from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking

Makes enough for four servings of pasta

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1 kg (2x pounds) tomatoes

1x onion

100g (3.5 oz) butter

flaky sea salt

Peel tomatoes and discard the skins.

Remove and discard any woody cores from the tomatoes and roughly chop the flesh.  Cut the onion in half.  Put tomatoes, onion, butter, and a generous pinch of sea salt into a large saucepan.

Simmer uncovered very gently, stirring from time to time, and mashing the tomatoes with a wooden spoon, until the tomatoes have completely broken down and the sauce is reduced and thick - about 45 minutes.

Discard the onion, and immediately toss through pasta, or cool completely and freeze for later use.

I'm sharing this post at See Ya In the Gumbo, hosted by the lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace;  at Foodie Friday, hosted by Designs by Gollum; and at My Meatless Mondays hosted by Chaya at My Sweet and Savory.

                    

Pasta with Prawns, Broccoli & Mascarpone and Cookbook Sundays # 24

"Heaven ... I'm in heaven,

And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak.

And I seem to find the happiness I seek, ..."

with a mouthful of this between my cheeks!!

Ok, so I've taken a few liberties with the lyrics of Irving Berlin's "Cheek to Cheek", and admittedly my lyrical lattitude might have Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire missing a step or two, but trust me when I tell you that you are going to want to trip the light fantastic straight to the kitchen and make this dish ... straight away ... today ... without further delay - are you getting the picture?

This is another dish from the Karen Martini book, "Where the Heart is", which I introduced you to last week, and so is my submission this week for Cookbook Sundays - I told you, you were going to be seeing a lot from this book.

This recipe, I think, really typifies so much from this book - it is a thoroughly easy dish to bring together and takes no more time to make than that involved in boiling pasta;  it uses a great combination of ingredients - one which might not seem immediately obvious, but once you take that first mouthful makes you wonder why you've never tried it before;  it is simple, comforting, family food, and yet would certainly not disappoint if served for company.

I adjusted quantities and ingredients a little to suit what I had on hand and number of mouths I had to feed, but like many such recipes quantities are not critical so feel free to adjust this to suit your own tastes.  As far as pasta goes, I used strozzapreti (priest chokers), because I love the name and they also happen to be my favourite shape for all kinds of things, but feel free to use whatever takes your fancy - penne would be good, and farfalle would also be great.

Pasta with Prawns, Broccoli & Mascarpone

Adapted from recipe by Karen Martini from

"Where the Heart is"

Makes 2 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

250g (9 oz) dried pasta shapes of your choice

1/2 head of broccoli, cut into small florets

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

300g raw prawns

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

2x garlic cloves, finely chopped

1x large red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

handful flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped

1/4 cup white wine

1x lemon, zest & juice

100g (3.5 oz) mascarpone (creme fraiche would also be good)

Bring a large pan of water to the boil.  Salt the water liberally, add the pasta to the water and cook for about 3 minutes.  Add the broccoli to the water, and continue boiling until the pasta is cooked.  Note:  you want the broccoli to be well-cooked here - it should end up with a similar "bite" to the pasta - this is not the home for crispy, crunchy broccoli.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the prawns to the pan, season with the flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and cook, stirring from time to time, until the prawns are beginning to turn pink (2-3 minutes).  Add the chilli and garlic and cook for another couple of minutes.  Add the parsley, cook for a further minute;  then add the wine, lemon juice and zest.  As it bubbles up, stir to deglaze the pan.  Remove from the heat.

Once the pasta is cooked, reserve a cup of the pasta water, then remove from heat, and drain.  Return prawn mixture to the heat, add the pasta to the prawns, and toss to coat everything well.  Add the mascarpone, mix through thoroughly, and add some of the reserved pasta water if necessary.  Taste and adjust seasoning.

Serve immediately, and enjoy the accolades.

I'm sharing this dish this week at Cookbook Sundays, where my friends are delving into their cookbook collections and sharing some of their recipes.  Do keep reading to see what they're cooking - you might even feel inspired to link up a recipe from one of your own cookbooks.

I'm also sharing this post at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by Michelle at Ms. enPlace, and at Gallery of Favourites hosted by April at 21st Century Housewife and Alea at Premediated Leftovers.

 

If you're anything like me you have dozens of cookbooks gathering dust on your bookshelves, some of which have never even been cooked from.  Sure I spent hours browsing through them when I first bought them, marking all the recipes I was going to make with little post-it notes, and yet still those books languish in the bookcase and never make it to the kitchen.  There are others from which I have made but one recipe which was such a resounding success that I've made it over and over again, and yet somehow I've never made anything else from that book.  Sound a bit familiar?!

Take comfort - you are not alone, and now Cookbook Sundays is your opportunity to change that.  Every Sunday I'm going to share with you a recipe that I haven't made before from one of my ever expanding collection of cookbooks.  And, because I know that if you have read this far then you are guilty of this too, I'm inviting you to join in with me.  Each week my Cookbook Sundays post will have a linky for you to share something you've cooked from one of your cookbooks.

The rules for joining in are simple:

1. Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
2. Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post.  Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
3. You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like.  Old posts are also welcome.
4. Lastly,  remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants - you can even "Like" your favourites. 

Now, go and dust off those cookbooks and get cooking!  Use the linky tool at the end of this post to submit your entry/entries - simply scroll down to where it says "You are next ... Click here to enter", and then follow the instructions.  The linky will be open for one week.

Lastly, if you would like to use the Cookbook Sundays badge in your post, simply copy the code in the box beside the badge below and paste it into your post.  Feel free to also use it in your sidebar if you wish.

<a href="http://couscous-consciousness.blogspot.com/p/cookbook-sundays.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa476/Susan_Busch/CookbookSundaysBadge.jpg" border="0" alt="CookbookSundays"></a>

Fregola Soup with Shrimps & Chorizo and Cookbook Sundays # 5

The thing I love about cooking, as opposed to baking, is the way that you can take just about any recipe and adapt it to suit your tastes or the ingredients you have on hand without necessarily sacrificing anything in the way of the quality of the dish.  Baking on the other hand is a precise science, and disaster lurks in the wings for those novices who dare to tinker with the recipe.

Today's recipe is a great example of being able to adapt and still come up with a great dish.  I would not for a moment suggest that my adaptation is an improvement.  After all, the original came from the book Molto Italiano by Mario Batali, the orange-clogged "God" of all things Italian, and I'm pretty sure his word cannot be bettered.  Still, I like to think that my interpretation of his Fregola Soup with Clams turned out to be a pretty good dish.

So this is the way it went down.  Having half a bag of fregola languishing in my pantry, I had decided a couple of days ago that I was going to make this dish today for my contribution to this week's Cookbook Sundays.  Trouble is, I forgot to check the recipe before I went out this morning to do my shopping.  I knew I had to get clams, but not finding any available today, I opted for some shrimp which I thought would make a good substitute.  Since I keep a fairly well stocked pantry, I thought that I would have pretty much everything else necessary on hand.  Turns out I was wrong.  For starters, I didn't have a red onion, but there were a few spring onions in my vege crisper and I knew that I could get away with finely slicing just the white part of them - of course, a shallot or two would also make a reasonable substitute.  The recipe also called for some prosciutto, which was conspicuously absent from my fridge, but I did have some chorizo sausage, which was a great alternative and paired really well with the shrimp.  I was also missing some basic tomato marinara sauce, but I had some really good hot, roasted pepper sauce that I have been loving lately, so subbed that in instead.  Also, as I am only one person, I halved the original recipe (intended to serve 4 people) to create two very generous servings, which means that tomorrow night's dinner is already sorted!

All things considered, all though I changed the dish quite significantly, I was really pleased with the end result.  The earthy flavour of the saffron which comes through in the broth is both comforting and a great foil to the brininess of the shrimp - I can imagine that this would be amplified if you used clams here as they have even more of that briny quality than the shrimp.  This definitely works as comfort food, but it also has an elegance about it, and I would not hesitate to serve it to company.

Fregola Soup with Shrimps & Chorizo

Adapted from recipe by Mario Batali from

Molto Italiano

Makes 2 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

250g (1/2 lb) fregula (see note below)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 spring onions, white part only, finely sliced

2 cloves garlic, finely sliced

125g (4.5 oz) chorizo sausage

250g (1/2 lb) peeled shrimp

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup chicken stock

pinch saffron threads

1/4 cup basic marinara sauce*

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes*

(*I used a hot, roasted red pepper sauce as a substitute for both of these ingredients)

large handful flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

Note:  Fregola is the Sardegna version of couscous.  It is not that easy to find here in New Zealand, but you will come across it in gourmet specialty stores such as Mercato, Zarbo, Farro, Sabato or Nosh.  It does have a fairly hefty price tag, so if that's not in your budget you could substitute Israeli couscous (mograbieh).  Mind you, that too can be pricey, so if that is still not in your budget go and check out this post from Mika at milliemirepoix for a more budget friendly Palestinian couscous.

Set a large pan of water over high heat and bring to a rapid boil.  Salt the water very liberally, then add the fregola and cook according to the package directions - could take anywhere from 12 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, set a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add the olive oil, and once the oil is hot add the chorizo sausage.  Saute until the chorizo is just starting to brown, then add the spring onions and garlic.  Continue to saute until the onion has softened and the garlic is fragrant.

Add the shrimps, wine, stock, saffron and roasted red pepper sauce.  Bring to the boil.

Drain the cooked fregola, add it to the pan, and cook until the shrimp is pink and you have reached the consistency of a soupy risotto.

Stir in the parsley and serve in warm bowls.

 

Earlier I mentioned Cookbook Sundays.  What is that all about, you are perhaps wondering.  Well, if you're anything like me you have dozens of cookbooks gathering dust on your bookshelves, some of which have never even been cooked from.  Sure I spent hours browsing through them when I first bought them, marking all the recipes I was going to make with little post-it notes, and yet still those books languish in the bookcase and never make it to the kitchen.  There are others from which I have made but one recipe which was such a resounding success that I've made it over and over again, and yet somehow I've never made anything else from that book.  Sound a bit familiar?!

Take comfort - you are not alone, and now Cookbook Sundays is your opportunity to change that.  Every Sunday I'm going to share with you a recipe that I haven't made before from one of my ever expanding collection of cookbooks.  And, because I know that if you have read this far then you are guilty of this too, I'm inviting you to join in with me.  Each week my Cookbook Sundays post will have a linky for you to share something you've cooked from one of your cookbooks.

The rules for joining in are simple:

1. Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
2. Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post.  Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
3. You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like.  Old posts are also welcome.
4. Lastly,  remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants. 

Now, go and dust off those cookbooks and get cooking!  Use the linky tool at the end of this post to submit your entry/entries - simply scroll down to where it says "You are next ... Click here to enter", and then follow the instructions.  The linky will be open for one week.

Lastly, if you would like to use the Cookbook Sundays badge in your post, simply copy the code in the box beside the badge below and paste it into your post.  Feel free to also use it in your sidebar if you wish.

<a href="http://couscous-consciousness.blogspot.com/p/cookbook-sundays.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa476/Susan_Busch/CookbookSundaysBadge.jpg" border="0" alt="CookbookSundays"></a>

I'm also sharing this post at Souper (and Sammies & Salads) Sundays hosted by my lovely friend Deb, at Kahakai Kitchen, and at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the equally lovely Michelle, at Ms enPlace.

    

Pasta e Ceci

Sadly the sun has definitely set on my Greek island holiday where, as you know, I have been doing a 5-week yoga retreat with my teachers, Graeme and Leonie Northfield.

From past experience, I have found Graeme and Leonie's workshops to be deeply profound on many levels, and this year was no exception.  For me this was a much needed time of letting go, after all the stresses of the Christchurch earthquakes and their aftermath, and I am enormously grateful to Graeme and Leonie for having allowed the space and the support for me to find a way in my practice to both honour and overcome what I have been through.  I have come home with the inspiration to take a more joyful and compassionate approach to my practice, letting go of much of the judgement that has always "dogged" my practice up until now;  a new-found gratitude for what I can do, rather than harsh judgement of what I can't.  It was wonderful to come together again with special friends made at previous workshops, and to make some new friends too.  The bond which seems to develop between people practising together in this intense way is unlike any other.  Off the mat also, the retreat did not disappoint. We enjoyed glorious, sun-filled days (not a single drop of rain in six weeks), mornings at the beach after practice, leisurely breakfasts, mid-day trips to town for coffee and a bit of shopping (which may or may not have included pastries), afternoon siestas, and long dinners at the local tavernas.  We even managed to take in a cooking class, which was one of the real highlights of the trip for me, and which I will tell you more about in another post.

And now I have returned to wet and wild here on the Auckland west coast.  Day after day the coast has been lashed by fierce winds, bringing with it huge surf.  Even in normal conditions the sea here can be treacherous, but right now we are witnessing mother nature at full force.  Then at night come the electrical storms.

It is of course all very spectacular, and although it has its own dramatic beauty which I love, there is no doubt that being thrust into the midst of wintery storms after weeks of endless 30 degree C days is a bit of a shock to the system.  Crisp, fresh salads and summer fruit have had to move over in favour of more warming food such as soups and pasta dishes, and yet I still want to cling to some of that lightness of summer foods - my body is not quite ready to plunge into heavy stews and casseroles just yet.  In a recent issue of Jamie Magazine, The Italian Issue I came across this recipe for Pasta e Ceci, which seemed to fit the bill perfectly.  The pasta and chickpeas provide just enough substance to provide comfort and warmth;  spinach, herbs and lemon add lightness and brightness to the dish;  and the accompanying mixture of creme fraiche, garlic and paprika adds some extra warmth and creaminess without a trace of heaviness.  Actually in the original recipe Jamie uses a mixture of yoghurt and harissa, but since I didn't happen to have either of those on hand I used a little creative license.

I'm sharing this recipe with my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs, where we continue to cook with Jamie Oliver.  This weeks theme is Pot Luck, and I think such a dish would be a great contribution to a pot luck dinner anytime of year.

Pasta e Ceci Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Jamie Oliver

Jamie Magazine, The Italian Issue (March/April 2011)

Vegetarian

Makes 3 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

250g pasta shapes (I used strozzapreti)

400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 tbsp fresh mint, coarsely chopped

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 lemon, grated zest and juice

4 generous handfuls of baby spinach leaves

200g creme fraiche

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon smoky paprika

Bring a large pan of water to the boil over high heat, salt the water liberally, then add the pasta to the water and cook until almost al dente.

Meanwhile, put the chickpeas into a bowl.  Add the chopped mint, salt, pepper, olive oil, grated zest and juice of the lemon.  Toss well to combine.

Add the spinach to the bowl of chickpeas and toss together.

When the pasta is almost, but not quite al dente, remove it from the heat, and reserve about one cup of the pasta water.  Drain the pasta and then return it to the pan, adding in the mixture of spinach and chickpeas.

Place the pan over medium heat, add the reserved cooking water, and cook until the pasta is fully cooked through and the spinach has wilted.

Remove from the heat, add a little more olive oil, and taste, adding more lemon juice, salt or pepper as necessary.

In a separate bowl mix together the creme fraiche, garlic and paprika and serve alongside the pasta.

I really enjoyed this dish, in fact I ate it three nights in a row - it is certainly not a heavy dish, so could easily be enjoyed anytime of year, and if you're after quick and easy it doesn't get much better than this.

Interested in getting to know Jamie a bit better?  Then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all been cooking up ....

.... or check out Jamie's Italy and many of his other great titles, available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

         

I am also sharing this post at Magazine Mondays (hosted by Cream Puffs in Venice) and at Presto Pasta Nights (which will this week be hosted by Tandy of Lavender and Lime).