Pasta for a Fresh Spring Day:

Another Jamie Oliver recipe - Farfelle Carbonara with peas and mint.

This pasta is perfect for a warm Spring day - it is one that provides all the comfort of a good old pasta dish whilst being light on the stomach and fresh tasting. It's the kind of pasta dish that will give you a spring in your step, rather than weigh you down - plus mint is supposed to be great for complextion and digestion.
This dish is best served in a big bowl in the middle of a table (preferably outside) so it can be meandered through at whichever pace pleases you...


Ingredients: (Enough to serve 4)
500g Farfelle pasta
1 Egg
100ml double cream (single will also do.)
1 packet of pancetta OR sliced bacon of course.)
3 handfuls of peas (frozen or fresh, certainly NOT tinned.)
2/3 handfuls of fresh chopped mint (absolutely necassary)

To Cook:
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and add the pasta - cook for 12mins.
In the meantime, fry your pancetta/bacon until golden and crispy. Then, mix the cream and egg together - and season with salt and pepper.
When the pasta is nearly cooked, add the peas. (Cook for about 2mins if fresh, 4mins if frozen)
Drain the water from the pasta and peas the return to their pot and add the pancetta and most of the mint - stir together.
Whilst the pasta is still very hot, add the cream/egg mixture - quickly stirring.
Garnish with the remainder of the mint.

Mexican Breakfast/ Homemade Guacamole

Mexican Breakfast

Around about this time last year we started making Jamie Oliver's 'Mexican Breakfast' - an absolutely spot on hangover meal. We came to refer to 'Mexican Breakfast' fondly, almost as though it were a person that we were greatly looking forward to seeing again; needless to say it is a cracking recipe and ideal for a brunch/lunch with friends or family. The actual name for the dish is huevos rancheros, and the recipe consists of:

Olive Oil

1 onion, peeled and finely sliced

2 cloves of garlic, deseeded and finely sliced

2 fresh red/ orange chillies, deseeded and finely sliced

1 dried large chilli

3 fresh bay leaves

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes

2 large tomatoes, sliced

6 large eggs

6 tortillas

150g cheddar cheese

(picture taken from an old issue of Style magazine)

This should feed six people. All you need to do is fry the onions, garlic, peppers and chillies with a glug of olive oil, the bay leaves and some salt and pepper. Cook while stirring for 15 minutes to soften the veg, before adding your tinned tomatoes and breaking them up with a spoon or potato masher - bring to the boil and cook for another 5 minutes to reduce the sauce. You can now toss in your fresh sliced tomatoes; make small wells in the sauce using a spoon, before cracking the eggs into the sauce so that they poach in the stew. Now, I find this sort of thing stupidly difficult so I cracked the eggs into a bowl before slipping them in - less mess and no chance of egg shells. When you're done with that, simply add further seasoning (if it needs it) and cover the pan with a lid so that the eggs can cook for 3 to 4 minutes...

Heat up your tortillas in the meantime - microwaving them for 40 seconds is probably best. Your eggs should be cooked now so all that is left to do is a bit of cheese grating - and that's it! We had ours with a splodge of soured cream/ yoghurt.. so delicious.

Homemade Guacamole

Now for my homemade Guacamole! My mum's recipe, this is pretty basic, but I am such a massive fan of guacamole and can't stand the shop bought stuff - it just isn't the same. It is so fresh and healthy - and avocados, as we all know, are fantastic for your skin and hair. To make (serving four people):

1 or two spring onions

5 ripe avocados (do a feel-test on them. They should be squidgy)

1 LARGE bunch of coriander

2 LARGE tomatoes

2 LARGE limes

1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced

Splash of tobasco

Salt and pepper

Shake of cumin

Shake of paprika

Ok: first of all, skin and de-stone your avocados. Put them in a suitable serving bowl and chop or mash with a fork. Slice your chilli and spring onions; put your tomatoes in a separate bowl and cover them with freshly boiled water. After a couple of minutes remove them and take the skins off - they should fall off quite easily. Finely chop these and add to the avocados, along with the chilli and spring onions. Chop up some coriander and throw this into the mix; squeeze two limes and toss in the juice, before adding a quick douse of tobasco, salt, pepper, cumin and paprika. Garnish with extra coriander and serve with tortilla chips - or toasted pitta breads.

Comfort Eating at it's Best: Stodgy Cheesy Pasta Bake

So... I have been having a rough time at one of my (two) jobs: following an exhausting period of working with an extremely difficult boss at a shop I disliked, I built up the courage to tell her (or rather, text her) how I felt; in short, I quit. Like starting a new job, leaving an old one can be very tiring and all-consuming. And, as always, the greatest comfort comes in the form of dinner... So this pasta-bake was just the thing for me - laden with melted mozzarella but not too heavy, being interspersed with chopped olives, parsley and a light tomato sauce. Read on for the recipe, and prepare to sit down with a big bowl of it in front of a movie...

Ingredients (to feed three generously):

2 x cans of good chopped tomatoes

drizzle of olive oil

1 garlic clove to flavour oil only

small packet of cubed pancetta

large handful of parsley

likewise kalamata olives (again!)

shake 0f dried oregano, salt and pepper

500g of Conchigilie or other pasta shape

1 LARGE packet of mozzarella

To make:

Simply throw a whole garlic clove into a pan of olive oil - once it has browned a bit remove it. Add the pancetta and let this golden before throwing in two cans of chopped tomatoes; dice some olives or add them whole, along with the oregano, salt and pepper. Divide your chopped parsley into two heaps and add half now. Meanwhile the pasta needs to be only part-boiled, and then thrown into the pan with the sauce and mixed around, before dolloping the whole lot into a big enough dish to bake it in. Lastly I roughly tore up the mozzarella into chunks and poked it into crevices, in the middle and on top of the pasta. When it has been cooking in the oven for about 3omins (on 180c) take it out and throw on the rest of the parsley: the cheese should be stringy and spread throughout the dish. Serve up and enjoy. (PS basil would also be wonderful in this sauce).

Foodie-Movie of the Week: Julie and Julia

When you are feeling hungover - or generally tired and a little the worse for wear - there is nothing like settling down with a cup of (green) tea in front of a really comforting movie... more specifically, a comforting movie that heavily features FOOD. I thought it would be fun to create a list of the top ten Foodie movies, ripe for the picking on any given drab and headachey afternoon....

Julie and Julia

First in line has to be 'Julie and Julia', the perfect Hangover-Day film. It is extremely easy on the eyes, for one thing - one of the opening scenes sees Amy Adams' character making a chocolate pie thing, while Meryl Streep (playing Julia Child) swans and bellows her way around 1950s Paris. If you're feeling hungry but lazy, this film will evoke in you a desire to cook; and the scene near the end where Julie is celebrating with her friends (see below) makes me pine for a similar party! Food, booze, friends and a view of New York...

A Light Hangover Breakfast

Poached egg with mushrooms, tomatoes and watercress.

This is a really great breakfast hangover cure which will make you feel a lot better than a greasy full English would. A serving of watercress is alleged to have more vitamin C than an orange, more calcium than a glass of milk and is packed with a large amount of anti-oxidants which keep your skin looking bright. Just the thing you need after a half a dozen more beers than necessary....

Ingredients:
Handful of watercress
Handful of sliced mushrooms
Handful of cherry tomatoes (Cherry tomatoes give the dish a lovely, lovely touch of sweetness.)
1 egg (or 2 depending on the degree of your hunger/hangover.)
Chili oil for frying and dressing the watercress (Good olive oil will suffice - though chili oil will really aid your hangover recovery.)
Salt & pepper
A splash of balsamic vinegar

To Cook:
1. Fry the mushrooms in a large pan with the tomatoes - as the tomatoes heat up you'll be able to squish the juices out of them using your wooden spoon.
2. Meanwhile, heat the water for your poached egg.
3. Dress your watercress with chili oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.
4. Once your water is simmering, poach the egg (do this by swirling the water with the end of a slotted spoon and crack the egg in, remove after 1-2mins with your slotted spoon.)
5. Arrange the watercress, mushrooms/tomatoes and egg onto a plate and eat slowly to ease your hangover.
(The addition of a good sourdough bread would be very welcome.)

Springtime Pasta

I made this when I was craving something fresh-tasting and reasonably healthy; it is incredibly straightforward - just roasted peppers, onions in a tomato sauce and topped with kalamata olives and fresh chopped parsley. I always uses fusilli but of course this would be great with spagetti or whatever really...

Ingredients:

3x fresh peppers (for colour I love the orange, red and yellow ones - green peppers tend to be bitter)

1 x red onion

1 x tin of chopped tomatoes: preferably a good brand as this is such a frugal dish anyway

500g fusilli pasta (enough for three people in this case - one must allow enough for a proper gorge!)

A generous scattering of kalamata olives

Likewise fresh parsley

A dash of dried oregano

Likewise Lea and Perrins

Salt and pepper

GOOD olive oil to grill peppers and fry onion in

To prepare and cook:

Put three or four peppers on a tray with a generous amount of olive oil and place under the grill until the skins are charred enough to remove; slice into chunky slithers and put to one side. Slowly fry an onion before adding a tin of chopped tomatoes, followed by the peppers. Season with a good shake of dried oregano, sea salt and pepper. Reduce the sauce until it has thickened - add the olives and a swish of lea and perrins worchestire sauce, and finally throw on the parsley. When the pasta has cooked, drain and throw it into the sauce pan, before mixing it together; and voila!

Languid Lentils

This dish is perfect if you're feeling under the weather or a bit melancholic. It's easily to prepare as you can stand by the stove-top languidly stirring. What makes this dish so extraordinarily soothing is the dash of red wine - your spirits can't help but be lifted at the scent of hot red wine.
mmmm.
Best served with a sympathetic friend and a good loaf of bread.

Ingredients:
Lentils (Organic green lentils have been used here, the angst-y colour seems to go well - allow two spilling handfuls per person, though there are no hard and fast rules in regards to quantities here.)
1 red onion
500ml Chicken Stock
Salt & Pepper to taste
Garlic
A generous glass of red wine
A bunch of chopped coriander (optional)
Worcestershire sauce

Method:
1. Prepare the lentils according to the packet, most require a 20min soak in cold water followed by a 20min simmer on the stove.
2. Fry the onions and garlic over a low-medium heat (Chili oil is recommended for a nice kick)
3. Add the cooked lentils and chicken stock to the pan.
4. Add the red wine and Worcestershire sauce.
5. Simmer down until the liquid has reduced, you may wish to have more of a soupy mixture, which is particularly good if you are fighting an illness of some sort.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste, add the chopped coriander and serve with bread.