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Posts Tagged ‘pasta’
Monday, January 26th, 2009 by urban foodie
 Mr UF made a very tasty roast chicken on Sunday, sage and lemon, simple and delicious.
As usual we didn’t finish all of it (even a small chicken is to much for two, even when the two are such hearty eaters as us!). This means that a chicken on Sunday is really a wonderfully giving dish, the carcass is whistling away in the stock pot as I write with a couple of bay leaves, an onion and some whole peppercorns for stock, that just leaves the leftover chicken meat…
If you are more numerous in your house I’d always get a slightly bigger chicken than you need to ensure leftovers, highly economical and full of flavour.
Usually the leftover chicken meat would go in a risotto but this time I have knocked up a very easy pasta sauce using one of it’s favourite friends, the mushroom.
Ingredients
250g mushrooms (about 6 large white mushrooms or equivalent fancy ones)
100g leftover chicken (a decent couple of handfuls)
100ml creme fraiche (or cream if that’s your preference, but I love the sourside)
100ml white wine
250g penne
1 teaspoon thyme (dried is fine)
olive oil
S&P
Serves 2
1 Put on the pasta to boil
2 Chop the mushrooms and saute in a little olive oil
3 Once they are cooked, after about 3 minutes, sprinkle in the thyme, add the white wine and reduce by about half
4 Stir in the shredded chicken and heat through (you could also use diced fresh, in which case start with the chicken and then add the mushrooms etc once it is done)
5 Drain the pasta and add the mushroom and chicken mixture to it, stir in the creme fraiche/cream and serve immediately with either a green salad or a bit of baguette if you are after a real carb rush
Tags: Chicken, easy supper, leftover chicken, mushroom, pasta, penne, Quick Supper
Posted in Kid Friendly, Recipes | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 by urban foodie
 Between my euro city jaunts I did manage to whip up a lovely little recipe that I’d like to share with you. It is very simple, takes half an hour to cook and, so long as you don’t try to pack whilst you do it (and burn the leeks a bit), is a real cinch. The result is a simple but tasty bowl of pasta, the sweet buttery leeks beautifully complimented by the sherry and parmesan.
Ingredients
2/3 medium leeks
Knob butter
Parmesan
Farfalle pasta
Olive oil
Capful of dry sherry
S&P
1 Wash leeks and chop from base to pale green bit in 1cm rounds
2 Heat a biggish knob of butter and a splash of olive oil in a pan with a lid, add the leeks, S&P, cover and cook very gently for 25 minutes
3 After 15 minutes add a capful of sherry to the leeks and put pasta on to boil (I used farfalle but you can use any shape), when it’s done drain and add to leek pan
4 Serve in bowls, grate a good amount of parmesan on top, et voila! Done, supper the easy way.
Tags: easy supper, Kid Friendly, leek, pasta, Quick Supper
Posted in Kid Friendly, Recipes | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 by urban foodie
 Well, here it is - the review I promised of the best local restaurant in Stoke Newington.
It is a friend’s birthday, she’s been away for a while, where else to go for a celebration with close friends but the place that always puts a smile on your face and the tastiest pizza and pasta in your belly?
As there were 12 of us we needed to book a table so didn’t go to our usual Il Bacio Express (no booking, no cards) but to the slightly more formal Il Bacio up the road and I can safely say that we weren’t disappointed.
Il Bacio Express has pizza and aubergine parmigiano served on plain wooden tables with clay carafes of table wine. It is a bustling little place bursting with Sardinian welcome and warmth, even the MTV above the serving hatch just adds to its holiday appeal.
Il Bacio (normal) has the same pizzas but more extensive and sophisticated pasta and wine menus, served on crisp white table cloths and the wine in proper glasses. It is a little more expensive (we paid £22 a head, Express is nearer to £15) and the service is a bit more reserved but it is still a gorgeous intimate restaurant.
The pizzas are out of this world, thin, bubbly bases covered in the best of ingredients - zesty tomato sauce, freshest buffalo mozarella and wonderful Sardinian charcuteries, mmmm. And, as I have mentioned before, Melanzane Parmigiano is another dish I’d walk 500 miles for. But this time it was the pastas that really stood out - you know a restaurant means business when there are 6 different seafood pasta/risotto dishes on the menu, we had almost all of them, and all were d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s.
So if you’re ever in Stokey check them out.
5/5
Starters £5-6 (but I’ve never had one for fear of running out of room)
Main £7.50-9
House wine £7.50 (1/2L carafe)
IL BACIO EXPRESS
90 Church Street
Stoke Newington N16
London
020 7249 2344
www.ilbacioexpress.com/
4.5/5
Starters £7
Main £9-14
House wine £19
Il Bacio
61 Stoke Newington N16
www.ilbaciohighbury.co.uk/firststoke.htm
Tags: italian, London Restaurant, North London, pasta, Pizza, seafood, Stoke Newington
Posted in London Eating | No Comments »
Saturday, August 16th, 2008 by urban foodie
 Smoked Mackerel is a great fish, really good for you (ok maybe a bit too much salt but think of all those fish oils), cheap as chips and sustainable to boot. I really love it and enjoy it in many forms, from a home made mackerel pate on toast (just mix with creme fraiche and a tiny bit of butter) to a simple baked potato topping or a buttery, fishy foundation to a spinach salad. Last night C invented another great addition to the smoked mackerel repertoire.
Really simple and really quite delicious, make extra and you can have it for lunch the next day (or even the one after that) just add a few drops of balsamic before you eat to make it more lunchy salady.
Ingredients
1 small onion
2 cloves of garlic
Really big handful of parsley
250g farfalle pasta
3 smoked mackerel fillets
1 yellow pepper
1 tablespoon horseradish
1/2 tub (100g) creme fraiche
Pinch each dried thyme & dried basil
Olive oil, Pepper (no need for salt - mackerel is plenty salty)
Serves 2 with a portion left over for lunch
1 Chop onion then put pasta on to boil
2 Put onion and crush garlic into pan, fry gently in olive oil
3 Chop yellow pepper and add after 4 minutes
4 Chop parsley, flake mackerel
5 When pasta is done drain (but not too well) and mix all ingredients - pop a lid on and let it sit for a minute or two whilst you prepare the plates/set the table
6 Serve with a green salad and lots of ground black pepper on top - goes well with beer (apparently, although I hate the stuff myself…)
Tags: easy supper, horseradish, pasta, peppers, smoked mackerel
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Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 by urban foodie
Lunch is always a tricky one, sandwiches can get boring and come with an inbuilt afternoon carb crash, eating out gets very expensive and all that packaging is just unsustainable. Below are a few examples of easy recipes that I find tasty and satisfying - just mix up whichever ingeredients you have handy or particularly like, you don’t need to add them all, sometimes I just pick 3 or 4 for elegance and simplicity.
Basic Vinaigrette
1 fork full of wholegrain or dijon mustard
2 big glugs balsamic
3 big glugs extra virgin olive oil
S&P
This is my essential vinaigrette, it was taught to me by my French mum, and her by her grandmother, passed down through the generations from rural France to Paris and now London, it is a simple recipe that never fails to bring ot the best in any salad - and actually I have poshed it up, you can even make it with malt vinegar and english mustard if you are desperate!
Mix ingredients in an empty mustard (or similar) jar in the order above, close jar and shake to mix, mixture should be unctuous (add more oil if too thin).
Lentil salad
Basic salad
Puy lentils, sundried toms, basil, handful red onion, fresh goats cheese (no rind), vinagrette
Variations - parsley/basil, real toms/sundried, feta/goat’s cheese, pepper/red onion
Also add - brown rice, chilli flakes, salami/chorizo, rocket
1 Cook lentils for 30 mins
2 Once cooled a little, add chopped up cold ingredients
3 Fridge until morning when you can add a good glug of vinaigrette, mix well and take to work to enjoy in the park at lunchtime (or at your desk if it is one of those days…)
Pasta Salad
Basic salad
Bow/fusili/penne pasta, basil, toms, black/green olives, sweetcorn/chopped peppers
Also add - tuna/feta/ham, capers, parsley, small tablespoon of mayonnaise
1 Cook pasta for 10-11 mins
2 Once cooled a little, add chopped up cold ingredients
3 Fridge until morning when you can add a good glug of vinaigrette, mix well
Other tasty lunches:
Hummus and crudites, cottage cheese and cucumber in wholmeal pittas (add some chopped olives, basil and sundried toms for extra taste - assemble as you eat) or LEFTOVERS, never underestimate how too much dinner can turn into next day lunch, tom dishes in particular taste fabulous left overnight, add a hunk of bread or a side of salad to complete the feast.
Tags: lentils, Lunch ideas, pasta
Posted in Kid Friendly, Recipes | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 by urban foodie
 This one is a real corker, summery pasta in a bowl as the tomatoes and goat’s cheese are zingy and the spinach keeps the green taste fresh.
I found this by pure chance when searching for something to do with the spinach in my veg box, you know when you are just bored of the old favourites and fancy something new - well I think this one is a keeper, a pretty quick supper (35 mins) and certainly a really easy one!
Ingredients
From Jamie Oliver’s jamiesdinners.com website
2 cloves garlic
1 tin toms
Basil stalks/dried oregano
1 red chilli
Dash red wine vinegar (I used balsamic)
Couple of handfuls of spinach
100g fresh goat’s cheese (the kind without a rind)
Tagliatelle (6-7 nests)
Olive oil
S&P
Serves 2 well
1 Heat some olive oil and gently fry the garlic (crushed), chilli (pierced) and basil stalks (chopped) or oregano (sprinkled) for a minute
2 Add the tin of toms (leave them whole, you’ll squash them at the end, Jamie says this stops the seeds becoming bitter), S&P and simmer gently, half covered for 30 mins
3 After 25 mins put the tagliatelle on to boil
4 Back to the sauce, take out the chilli, add the dash of red wine vinegar and squash the tomatoes, turn off the heat and cover
5 Just before the pasta is ready add the spinach to the tom sauce and cover
6 Drain the pasta, mix in with the sauce and crumble the goat’s cheese on top - serve with a green salad and maybe a hunk of bread to mop up the sauce.
Tags: goats cheese, pasta, Quick Supper, spinach, tagliatelle, tomato
Posted in Recipes | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 by urban foodie
 This is a delicious store cupboard favourite for when the fridge is bare. The only fresh bits you need are a lemon, garlic parsley and some chilli - even that can be subsituted for chili flakes. I keep a spare tin of white crabmeat in the cupboard so that I can make this tasty, quick, Omega rich supper at a moment’s notice. The texture is quite dry, the flavours zesty and spring-like.
Ingredients
200g Spaghetti
2 cloves of garlic
1 lemon
olive oil
big bunch parsley (a whole supermarket packet is about right)
1 red or green chili (whichever you have at the bottom of the veg drawer, a good pinch of chili flakes will do as a substitute)
3 shallots (a small onion will do if you don’t have)
S&P
1 Chop the onion and fry gently in a pan. Pop the spaghetti on to boil
2 Pick and chop the parsley, zest and juice the lemon, chop the chili (if using), crush the garlic, open and drain the crab
3 Add the chili and garlic to the onion pan for the last minute or two
4 Drain the pasta, but not too well and mix all the ingredients well, adding a glug of olive oil to keep it moist. Serve immediately, ideally with a green salad, a little bit of bread and a fresh white wine (or dry french cider) on the side.
Tags: Chili, crab, lemon, pasta, Quick Supper, Spaghetti
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Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 by urban foodie
All there is left over in the fridge is some broccoli and salad ingredients that will soon be past their best. The answer, this lovely quick pasta dish adapted from one on the BBCs Good Eating website with a big salad to up the veg quotient (already high) and aid digestion (it’s the vinegar in the dressing you see).
Oh and the garlic is good for you too, although you want to watch who you talk to afterwards!
Ingredients
 Big handful parmesan
Big handful basil
2 medium garlic cloves
Small packet pine nuts
Big splash olive oil
Head of broccoli
Penne pasta
Couple of big squeezes lemon juice
S&P
Big pinch chilli flakes
Serves 2
1 Make pesto by toasting pine nuts and then grinding them with the basil, half the parmesan, the garlic cloves, the chilli flakes, a squeeze of lemon, S&P, big splash olive oil
2 Put pasta in boiling salted water, cook until done
3 In the mean time, steam broccoli (7 mins)
4 Chop broccoli (I have been known to just use scissors in the steamer/pan to save burnt fingers and washing up)
5 Mix broccoli, pesto, pasta, the last of the parmesan and a squeeze of lemon. Enjoy with a nice big salad to finish.
Tags: broccoli, pasta, penne, pesto, Quick Supper
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