Double comfort, double happiness - Fetta Pasta

I am still tweaking that recipe that I keep rabbiting on about! It better be good, right? Gee, I hope so!

Anyway, for now this is a recipe that I grew up with. This was my ultimate fast food. Piping hot spiral pasta mixed with grated fetta cheese that had been left out at room temperature while the pasta was cooking. HEAVEN. Yep, That was it. These days I drizzle a small amount of extra virgin olive oil over my bowl and add a dash of pepper - but the flavours remain the same.....see what you think.

ingredients

for 4 people

about 250g greek fetta

about 500g spiral pasta

extra virgin olive oil and pepper to serve, if preferred

How to make your Fetta Pasta

Pop large pot on to boil. When boiling add salt and pasta. Grate fetta cheese and set aside. When pasta is ready. Drain quickly, trying to retain heat and throw it back into the pot. Throw in the fetta cheese, reserving some. Mix through and pop into bowls. Drizzle with oil and pepper if using and top with reserved fetta cheese. Serve immediately.

handmade - pasta and chocolate - b/day

I was planning on posting a new recipe today but alas I am still tweaking it so hopefully next time.....it has been flat out here!

You know the beggining of Glee where they go over what happened in last weeks episode really quickly. well, here goes.

The fox and the spoon is having a sale and everyone loves a bargain! Maria is thinking about Father's day; she bought a sterling silver guitar pick...will it be enough? She also thought yesterday was Monday so she's lost a day and that's why the new recipe isn't ready to post. And no poisons this week but the kids raided the fridge and ate chocolate for breakfast.......and that's what you missed on maria's life!

A couple of months ago Caroline from FoxDrinkWater and her family came over for her birthday lunch - we made Jamie Oliver's Pumpkin, Spinach and Ricotta Rotolo from his Italian cookbook and an incredibly rich chocolate tart, or Torta Nera as it was called in the magazine (Gourmet Traveller - The Italian Cookbook).....here are the pics.

drool, drool, drool.......

heaven!

Caroline and her husband made their own pasta and the dish tasted and looked spectacular. The chocolate tart.....was a killer! It was so rich! I'm sure you could feed at least 20 people with tiny slivers (it's all you can eat it is that rich) enjoy it with some delicious whipped cream. And if you do make it - pop it in the fridge and eat it completely cold. After it has settled a bit the flavours don't seem as intense as when the tart is at room temperature.

It was a lot of work but as always, so much fun!

High School Lasagne

For me one of the weirdest things about getting older is not the sudden crows feet that appeared after the birth of my first child; not the crazy, sleep deprived look that came with my second child and not even the fact that some things on my body now hang a little lower - no - for me it's saying things like, "I have this lasagne recipe from high school.....it's 22 years old! YIKES!". now that completely freaks me out. High school feels like yesterday to me. it's me listening to Eric Clapton, it's me doing drama, it's me thinking a boy a year above me named Adrian Ross is the bees knees and it's crazy 14year old me buying a bottle of wine, getting away with it and then realising I didn't have a cork screw!

In my first year in high school I took Home Science and loved it so much I took it for the next 5 years. From that 1st year I kept 4 recipes, typed by a typewriter no doubt, and have lovingly used them over the years. They are browned, torn and splattered here and there which made me think about how old they are and yes, they are 22 years old. That is so weird!

ingredients

1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
500g mince
good dash of dried rosemary
good dash of dried oregano
dash of sugar
good dash of salt
2 x 400g tin tomatoes

cheese sauce

25g butter
25g plain flour
1 cup milk
100g mozzarella or tasty cheese
salt, pepper, nutmeg

dried pasta sheets

how to make my high school lasagne

Pre heat your oven to 160C.
Pop your saucepan over a mid to low heat. Add some oil. when hot enough, add the onion and garlic. Sweat it down. When ready turn up the heat and add the mince. Cooked until browned. Add the herbs, salt and sugar to taste. After about 30 seconds add the tinned tomatoes. Simmer for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the butter to a saucepan. Melt gently. Take off the heat and add the plain flour until combined. Put back on the heat and add the milk gradually, incorporating everything as you go. When the milk is all added, keep stirring over a low heat until the mix thickens. The whole process whould take about 10 - 15 minutes depending on your stove. When it is thick, turn off the heat and add your mozzarella. Stir and add your salt, pepper and a dash of nutmeg.

grab your square, 5cm height dish. Place a little of the meat sauce to cover the base. Add some dried pasta sheets. Cover these with some more meat sauce. Add half the cheese sauce. Layer over some more pasta sheets then again with the reast of the meat and the rest of the cheese sauce.

I love to cook this slowly for about an hour on 160C. I like lasagne really well done (as you can see in the photo) and I don't like a huge amount of cheese sauce in my lasagne. If you do, just double the cheese sauce quantities. I've adapted this recipe over the years. The original had tomato paste which I'm not really a fan of and it also had dried basil but I didn't think this was really necessary. I hope you enjoy it!

Yummy Casserole with no name

I've been trying to think of a name for this casserole for the last 2 weeks! My husband suggested, "Earthy Casserole".....and then I told him to shush. Actually, my ideas weren't any better........Beef Casserole with risoni, chickpeas, tomatoes, spinach and lemon.......Rustic Casserole with lemon........then I told myself to shush.......so here's my Yummy Casserole with no name.

Just a heads up....Our kids weren't a huge fan of the spinach in this dish but they loved everything else....but our kids are weird.....they like sucking on lemons....**

ingredients

500g beef chuck steak, cubed (approx 2 - 3cm)
approx 6 eschallots. peeled and kept whole
1-2 whole cloves (optional)
5 peppercorns
1 litre beef stock
1 tin of chick peas, drained
about 10 cherry tomatoes, whole, preferably ones on the vine, vine removed
1 cup risoni pasta
1 - 2 bunches spinach (after the stems and the middle membrane have been removed and you are just left with the green bits you should have approx 130 - 180g
1 lemon

how to make your Yummy Casserole with no name

Pre- heat oven to 180C. Grab a large roasting pan and line with baking paper if necessary.

Drop some oil into a high sided pot and bring to a mid heat. When the oil has heated up enough add pieces of meat. Brown the meat in 3 batches otherwise you will crowd it and the meat will stew and not brown. I use my BBQ tongs here so I don't get spat at by the oil. If the meat is burning turn the heat down otherwise you will get a horrible vegemite flavour in your end result. Brown each side and set aside on a plate when done. When you have browned off all your meat add the eshallots and garlic if using and keep moving over a low flame. When they have softened a little add the meat again and throw in all your stock. Bring to the boil. Once boiling take off the heat and pour carefully into your roasting pan. Cover with 3 layers of foil tightly and pop in the oven.

Now you can cook this for 1.5 hours or up to 2 hours. It's up to you. I've done both and the only difference is: the meat is a little more tender with the 2 hour time and there are less juices.

If doing the 1.5: Take out of the oven (Don't discard the foil) Add the risoni first, then the chickpeas and the tomatoes. Pop the foil back on and cook for another 35 mins.

If doing the 2: Take out of the oven (Don't discard the foil) Add the risoni first and a half cup of boiling water, then the chickpeas and the tomatoes. Pop the foil back on and cook for another 35 mins.

After 35: Take out of the oven (Don't discard the foil) Add the spinach over the top of the whole dish. No need to mix it with the juices. Pop the foil back on and cook for another 5-8mins until the spinach is cooked.

Pop the spinach on the plates first then pile over the top the remainder of the casserole. Serve with Lemon wedges. (The lemon juice goes perfectly with everything on the plate and just adds that little extra something) Enjoy!


**Ok, you are not weird if you like sucking on lemons.

Baskets Filled With Summer...

I could feel a challenge coming. I'd ran out of time to go to the shops to grab some meat for dinner. I'd promised Hubby we'd have a BBQ. Didn't happen. Looking in the fridge and the cupboards I found: fancy pasta that was given to me for my birthday; a half block of tasty cheese; 2 cobs of corn; 1 zucchini; 1/2 cauliflower; some leftover ricotta and 3 slices of bread.... Can one make a meal out of this? Most definitely!


ingredients

2 cobs of corn, (260g of corn kernels)
1 zucchini, chopped into similar size as kernels (about 160g)
1/2 cauliflower
400g pasta (something like shells or baskets so you can stuff them)
50g bread crumbs
100g ricotta (I used fresh ricotta from the deli)
20g butter
1 tablespoon plain flour
3/4 cup milk
1 cup grated cheese

how to make your baskets filled with Summer

Get a large pot of salted water on a high heat. Pre-heat oven to 200C. Make breadcrumbs and set aside.
Cut kernels off cob and finely chop zucchini. Pop into a microwave proof dish, add 1/2 cup of water and microwave for 3 minutes. Drain and set aside. Chop cauliflower into florets and place in a microwave proof dish with 1/2 cup water and microwave for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
When water is boiling, throw in pasta and cook to manufacturers instructions.
Add 20g butter to a smallish pot and melt over low heat. Add 1 tablespoon of plain flour. Cook stirring until mix thickens. Gradually add the milk until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and stir through cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Drain pasta. Mix ricotta through zucchini and corn kernels with salt to taste.
Stuff pasta with zucchini, corn, ricotta mix.Place in base of dish. Top with Cauliflower, cheese sauce and finish with bread crumbs. Pop in your oven until crumbs are lovely and brown and everything has heated through, about 12-15mins.

Serves 4. enjoy!