Un-Recipe – A bowl of pasta

I cannot remember when I last shared a un-recipe and this one couldn’t be easier.  I am starting to think I am craving so much pasta because of the running as I wasn’t that much of a pasta eater before.  I must confess to not making my own pasta for this dish, I simply opened a packet of store bought, well wouldn’t be much of an un-recipe if I had.

Un-Recipe – Bowl of Pasta

Ingredients

Pasta of choice
Olive oil
Garlic crushed
Coriander chopped
Salt and black pepper
Cheese of choice grated

Method

1. Boil pasta as per package instruction.
2. Stir in a good glug of olive oil with the garlic and coriander.
3. Season with salt and black pepper and top with cheese.

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Anchovy, Garlic, Tomato Pasta

I have been craving pasta for the past couple of weeks.  Maybe my body is lacking something or more likely I was just wanting to eat pasta.  I finally succumbed to the craving and made a scrumptious and very moreish meal, I think even my friend John would be impressed.

Anchovy, Garlic, Tomato Pasta

If you don’t want to make your own pasta, use your choice of store bought.

Pasta Ingredients

200g all purpose flour
2 large eggs
1ml salt
5ml olive oil

Method

1. Place the flour on a counter top and create a mound with a crater in the middle. Put the eggs, salt and oil into the crater.
2. Beat the eggs with a fork and gradually incorporate the flour until all the egg is incorporated into the flour.  The dough should be of a rough consistency, feel slightly sticky to the touch and moist. If it’s too sticky sprinkle a bit more flour on the mixture.
3. Using the palm of your hand push the dough down and away from you. Flip it back towards you and fold it in half. Once again push the dough down and away from you, rotating the dough so that it kneads in every direction. Continue until the dough becomes smooth.
4. Wrap the dough in cling film and rest for 20 minutes. Don’t put it into the fridge.  I sometimes even skipped this step.
5. If you don’t have a pasta machine to roll out your pasta, using a rolling pin, roll dough until flat and fairly thin.
6. Roll the entire dough up like a pancake and cut into slices. The width of the cut will determine the thickness of your pasta. Unravel the pasta into strips.
7. Cook for three to five minutes until al dente in a generous amount of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally to separate strands and prevent sticking.

Sauce Ingredients

15 ml olive oil
20 anchovies – more if you can resist eating them straight from the bottle
1 tin Italian tomatoes chopped
5ml sugar
3 garlic cloves crushed
Salt and black pepper to taste
Fresh coriander and flat leaf parsley chopped for serving

Method

1. Mash the anchovies in the oil  in a pan.
2. Add the tomatoes and sugar and reduce by half.
3. Add the garlic and salt and pepper to taste.

Add your drained pasta to the pan with the tomatoes sauce.  Once plated, top with the coriander and parsley.

A few shavings of parmesan wouldn’t go a miss here either.

Garlic, Wine & Thyme Mushroom Pasta

This is one of those meals you can have ready in 20 minutes, you know, for those evenings when you have sat behind the computer for too long AGAIN…

Ingredients

Pasta of choice
250g button mushrooms sliced
Vegetable spice
2.5ml dry thyme
250ml cream
60ml dry white wine
15ml maizena (cornstarch)
2 garlic cloves crushed
Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Cook the pasta as per the package instructions.
2. Fry the mushrooms in a little butter sprinkled with the vegetable spice and thyme until tender.
3. Pour the cream and wine into the pan and bring to a boil.
4. Mix the maizena with a little water and stir through the cream mixture to thicken.
5. Add the garlic and season with salt and black pepper.
6. Serve over the pasta.

 

Brown Bread Pizza Dough, Sauce and my very boring toppings

As I have mentioned before, I don’t make pizza very often but when the craving hits, I am obliged to satisfy it.  On this occasion, to keep with my theme of brown bread, I thought it apt to make a brown bread base – result: equally as scrumity and just a teensy bit healthier – bargain. 🙂

Brown Bread Pizza Dough, Sauce and Toppings

Ingredients

Dough

1 cup brown bread flour
1tsp instant yeast
½ tsp salt
1tsp sugar
5ml olive oil
½ cup warm water

Tomato Sauce

30ml tomato paste
10ml olive oil
2.5ml dried oregano
2.5ml sugar

Toppings

1½ cups cheddar cheese or mozzarella cheese grated
2 garlic cloves crushed
4 big white button mushrooms thinly sliced
4 rashers bacon diced
3 pieces spring onion chopped
Dried oregano

Method 

1. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Add the oil and water and mix to combine.  The mixture will still be quite sticky.
3. Place the dough on a floured surface and gently knead for 5 minutes.  You may need to add a little more flour over the top of the dough to prevent it sticking to your fingers.
4. Place the dough in a clean bowl and cover with a cloth and set aside in a warm spot until the dough is double in size.
5. Lightly punch down the dough and roll it out as thinly as desired directly onto a piece of tin foil which has been sprayed with non stick spray and transfer to a baking tray.
6. Preheat the oven to 220°C.
7. Spread the tomato sauce over the base followed by the cheese, garlic, mushrooms, bacon and spring onion.
8. Sprinkle over the oregano and bake for 10 -12 minutes.

Stir fried Mushroom and Red Pepper Pasta

It was one of those evenings AGAIN where my butt was glued to my chair (Pete was away on business) and I needed a satisfying meal fairly quickly with as little fuss as possible.  On opening the fridge, the mushrooms and red pepper jumped at me so no need to look any further – vegetarian pasta is was going to be.  This meal came together in the amount of time it took the pasta t cook and was very scrumity!  Must say the left overs were equally as delicious for lunch. 🙂  This isn’t a recipe per se more of a guideline of ingredients.

Ingredients

Pasta of choice – I used linguine
Olive oil
Mushrooms sliced
Red pepper (capsicum) sliced
Vegetable spice
Garlic crushed
Lemon Juice

Method

1. Cook the pasta as per the package instructions.
2. Stir fry the mushrooms and red pepper in olive oil and season with the vegetable spice.
3. Stir through the raw garlic and lemon juice when serving with a drizzle of olive oil over the top.

Pizza – Dough, Sauce and Toppings

Pizza is not something I make very often but on occasion the craving will kick in and being the obedient person that I am, I satisfy it.  Below is the recipe I use every time I make pizza, even the toppings – quite boring I guess but delicious all the same.  Here is a reminder for you.  Think I will branch out next time and add sliced avocado when it comes out of the oven.

Ingredients

Dough

10g sachet instant yeast
10ml brown sugar
1ml salt
125ml luke warm water
160-210g all purpose flour *

Tomato Sauce

30ml tomato paste
10ml olive oil
1.2ml dried oregano
1.2 dried sweet basil
2.5ml sugar

Toppings

1½ cups white cheddar cheese or mozzarella cheese grated
1 garlic cloves crushed
4 big white button mushrooms thinly sliced
4 rashers bacon diced
Dried oregano

Method

1. Mix the yeast, sugar, salt and water in a bowl.
2. Add half of the flour so that when you stir it in, the dough comes together.
3. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, gradually adding more flour until the dough feels smooth and elastic.
4. Roll the dough into a ball and lightly oil the surface, place in a bowl and cover with cling film and place it in a warm spot until the dough has doubled in size.
5. Preheat the oven to 220°C.
6. Lightly punch down the dough and roll it out as thinly as desired directly onto a piece of tin foil which has been sprayed with non stick spray and transfer to a baking tray.
7. Spread the tomato sauce over the base followed by the cheese, garlic, mushrooms and bacon.
8. Sprinkle over the oregano and bake for 10 -12 minutes.

* I weighed out 210g flour and used from it to flour the counter.

Anchovie, Garlic and Basil Linguine

This supper which comes together in the length of time it takes your pasta to cook, is a satisfying tasty meal for when you really don’t feel like standing in the kitchen cooking, or like me, your husband is away on business and you sat behind the computer the whole day until way passed your normal dinner time.  When I make it again, I think I shall add a splash of white wine and or possibly some chopped black olives.  I may just add that to the leftovers for lunch.

Ingredients

250g linguine or pasta of choice
8 anchovies
4 garlic cloves crushed
Black pepper to taste
6 basil leaves chiffonade

Method

1. Cook the linguine according to packet instructions.
2. Mash the anchovies including some of the oil from the bottle or tin in a pan over a medium heat.
3. Add the garlic and pasta and stir to combine.
4. Add the black pepper, basil and a drizzle of olive oil.

Garlic Vinaigrette Potato Salad

Food, as it always is in our family, was the main topic of conversation.  Years ago, my mom came across the easiest recipe for a potato salad – potatoes and a bottle of what I have always remembered being French salad dressing and which mom has tried to reassure me is Italian salad dressing.  Be that as it may and our ever changing palette away from most things preserved and processed (except for Aromat of course) we thought it a much nicer idea to make the dressing ourselves.  What a hit!  We enjoyed it so much, mom made if for us three times in one week!  A must make this absolutely is, especially with the holidays coming up and lots braai’s (barbecues) and alfresco dining with family and friends.

Ingredients

4 medium potatoes – peeled chopped and boiled until tender
40ml white vinegar
1 large clove garlic crushed
15ml sugar
80ml olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste
20ml moss curled or flat leaf parsley chopped

Method

1. Place the potatoes in a dish.
2. Combine all the remaining ingredients and pour over the potatoes and stir through to coat the potatoes.

Stir Fried Baby Marrow (Courgette/Zucchini) Ribbons

It is incredible how different food can taste depending on how you cut it.  I never cut carrots into rings, they taste so much nicer in little segments – almost diamond shaped and depending on what the accompaniments are, will depend on how I cut my potatoes for roasting.  So no different then with baby marrows – rings or julienne of marrow just would not be right for this fabulous stir fry, ribbons it had to be.

Stir Fried Baby Marrow Ribbons

Ingredients

1 onion sliced
125g button mushrooms sliced
200g baby marrow ribbons (I used a vegetable peeler)
Butter
Vegetable spice
1 large clove garlic crushed
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

1. Fry the onion and mushrooms in butter until the onion is translucent and the mushrooms are cooked.
2. Add the baby marrow and vegetable spice and wilt down for one to two minutes.
3. Stir through the garlic and add salt and pepper to taste.

I was thinking post the fact that a drizzle of soy sauce would have been a nice addition or possibly a couple of anchovies.

Roast Vegetables

This is a repost for Tandy’s Regional and Seasonal Challenge this week using Bell Pepper (Capsicum).

What can I say about roast vegetables other than they are scrumptious!  They definitely fall into the comfort food category for me and the leftovers reheat perfectly for a delicious lunch, either on their own or with crusty bread.  You can also add or substitute any of the vegetables with sweet potato, aubergine, baby marrows or patty pans – the list is endless.

Ingredients

1 small butternut, peeled, de-seeded and cut into chunks
1 punnet brown mushrooms halved
1 red pepper (capsicum)seeded and cut into small chunks
1 large onion peeled and cut into chunks
3 garlic cloves peeled and halved
Vegetable seasoning to taste
Oil for drizzling

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C.
2. Place all the vegetables on a baking sheet and sprinkle with the vegetable spice and drizzle with oil.
3. Bake for approximately 45 minutes stirring halfway through to re-coat the vegetables.

Stir Fried Thai Garlic Prawns

These prawns are one of those “taste-explosion” dishes that leaves you wanting more!  It is incredibly quick and easy and makes for a fabulous starter for a decadent dinner party.

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves
30ml oil
24 prawns (heads off)
15ml chopped fresh coriander

Dipping Sauce

1 garlic clove
2 sprigs fresh coriander
60ml lime juice
3ml sugar
3ml green curry paste
2ml minced chilli

Method

1. Peel and finely chop the garlic.
2. Heat the oil in a wok and fry the prawns and garlic for 1 to 2 minutes until just cooked.
3. Stir through the coriander.

Dipping Sauce

1. Peel and finely chop the garlic.
2. Finely chop the coriander and add to the garlic.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

 

Submitted by:  Mandy Frielinghaus, Mauritius