Author: Gary @ BigSpud

A bit of a geek who loves food.

egg food

scotch eggs

I bloody adore a scotch egg. But only a good one, I hate some of those sweaty little supermarket ones with grainy squishy meat and fart-smelling egg. With a picnic coming up, I wanted to make some of my own.

I started with eggs (natch) simmered for nine minutes, which achieves a doneness that all are happy with. Once cooled under running water I peel them. Meanwhile I peel and mash up sausages with some sage, lemon zest and nutmeg. Then I blitz some leftover bread for breadcrumbs.

Now it’s an assembly job: egg shrouded in a flattened circle of sausagemeat, dipped in flour, then beaten egg, then breadcrumbs. Fry for five minutes or les until golden brown throughout. Drain on paper and devour with an eye-watering mustard.

The picnic never happened, but we enjoyed the eggs all the same.

raspberry meringues

An admission: I didn’t make the meringues. Sorry. Another time perhaps? I just bought a brand new Kenwood mixer and gave it an easy workout: whipping double-cream. I was a little scared at first, I was sure it was going straight into butter! It came out beautifully whipped though, light and airy. For the raspberries I put half of them in a pan with a little water and icing sugar until they started to break down. Then I pushed it through a sieve to get a lovely gloopy coulis. I drizzled some of this on the meringue in a little puddle, added some cream and then topped with fresh raspberries. Dead easy and dead fun. Dead sweet too!

food mince tomato wine

spaghetti bolognese

I’ve two versions of a spaghetti bolognese; a workaday version or this, my I’ve-got-a-whole-day-to-spare version. It’s heartily lifted from Antonio Carluccio who claims it’s the way they do it in Bologna.

It’s simple to the point of absurd and a very short ingredient list. I start by browning mince; an equal combo of pork and beef. The pork lends wonderful fat to the dish, and the beef gutsy red meat. Once it’s browned I remove it and fry a chopped onion until translucent. Then the mince goes back in the pan and I add half a bottle of white wine and let it bubble away for a minute or two, then in with tomato puree and a jar of passata.

Ingredient-wise, that’s it. I’ll then raise it to a simmer and leave it on the lowest possible heat for as long as I can – perhaps 3, 4 or 5 hours. I need to taste it at some point – you can never tell how your tomatoes are, so I may add sugar – and season as required. The flavours will be intense, rich, tomatoey and the mince will have a loose, tender mouthfeel.

I then boil spaghetti til tender, then put some of the mince mix in a hot frying pan. The pasta is then added to this with a splash of cooking water. This helps the sauce cling to the spaghetti. Serve in massive piles with freshly-grated parmesan. Even better, pass round the microplane and the block of cheese and DIY.

Tags antonio carluccio

broccoli food mozzarella pastry sausages tomato

sausage and broccoli tart

Post author By Gary @ BigSpud
Post date April 5, 2009
No Comments on sausage and broccoli tart

This wonderful little creation is a result of a supplement from olive magazine, courtesy of cathyella’s generous subscription present 🙂

There are a number of elements to it, all made separately and then brought together on the tart. Purple sprouting broccoli is blanched for 2 mins and refreshed in cold water to arrest the cooking. Good quality Italian sausages are deskinned and torn into pieces, then fried in crushed fennel seeds until browned. And then a puff pastry square, ready made. I chucked on some cherry tomatoes (Tesco do an amazingly flavourful tin of them), some of the broccoli, some sausage pieces, then a little parmesan and torn-up mozzarella. After 15 or so minutes in the oven for the pastry to brown and rise, I topped it with basil and dressed with balsamic vinegar. Really tasty, and looked the part too.