Category: pancetta

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courgettes food pancetta peas thyme vermicelli

vermicelli with pancetta, pea and courgette

vermicelli with pancetta, pea and courgette

I get home from work and realise I am cooking for one. This means invention time!

I know I have some vermicelli I want to use, so water goes on to boil while I rummage for goodies. I scavenge pancetta and a lonely courgette, so that’s as good a start as any. I chuck the vermicelli in salted water while I fry garlic and pancetta together in a hot pan. When that browns I throw in a diced courgette and toss well. Then I dash out to the window box to trim off some thyme leaves, which go in. I then add a splash of marsala for sweetness then add some chicken stock. The pasta’s done so that is drained and then swirled in the frying pan, and topped up with a little more stock and some frozen peas.

A lovely 8 min din.

Vermicelli with pancetta, pea and courgette:

200g vermicelli pasta

1 pack diced pancetta

1 clove garlic, sliced

1 courgette

1 teaspoon thyme leaves

2 tablespoons marsala

500ml chicken stock

2 teaspoons frozen peas

Boil vermicelli in salted water until tender and drain.

  1. Fry garlic and pancetta until meat is coloured.
  2. Add thyme leaves and courgette and continue to fry.
  3. Add marsala and allow to bubble for a minute.
  4. Add half the stock and allow to bubble for a bit.
  5. Add the pasta to the pan with the rest of the stock, seasoning as necessary.
Categories
food mushroom pancetta rice

pancetta & pea risotto


Risotto is a deeply calming dish, both to cook and especially to eat. What amazes me about risotto is that it starts the same but can end so many ways depending on what you add.

It starts with: onions fried gently, then the heat turned up as your arborio or carnaroli rice is added. A handy tip for measuring rice: two handfuls per person. The rice needs to get hot and toasted all over to prepare it for absorbing stock. Stock should be boiling the background (thank you, last week’s chicken stock). Booze is needed here, a glass of white wine is best. Allow this to bubble to nearly nothing. Then stock is added a ladelful at a time, allowing it to reduce away until sticky. You need a bit of armwork, stirring away to move the rice off the bottom of the pan. Once the rice is tender and tasty, you can eat as is (a little dull) or add what works for you.
For me, it’s grated parmesan and butter, vigorously stirred through. In this case I added pancetta fried just beforehand, kept to one side then put back into the rice at the end. Some frozen peas and it’s ready. Eat with a spoon and a lazy grin.
Categories
cheese croissant food pancetta

croissants with scrambled egg and pancetta


Pure Boxing Day indulgence – flaky, moist croissants stuffed with crispy pancetta and baveuse scrambled eggs. Slightly sickly but wonderful.

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food gnocchi pancetta spinach

an interesting gnocchi recipe

The title’s ironic, OK? I posted on Facebook that I was “looking for an interesting gnocchi recipe”, and that a couple of days later I had “found an interesting gnocchi recipe”. Three separate people asked me about – it’s easy to forget the reach that Facebook has.

Anywho, it’s dead easy. First I fry some spinach with a little sliced garlic until all straggly, then season and add nutmeg before removing to one side to cool. Once it’s cooled I squeeze the juice out and chop finely. Meanwhile I’ve some gnocchi on the boil (note: I made gnocchi myself once – it so wasn’t worth the effort, nor the washing up). Then I fry some pancetta in the same pan, and once crispy I throw the boiled gnocchi in the pan to absorb some hammy flavours. Then the spinach is back in to warm through, finally some creme fraiche, salt and pepper, a touch of parmesan (I added too much the first time) and it’s done. Creamy and extremely filling.
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an interesting gnocchi recipe

Servings 4 people
Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

  • 500 g spinach
  • 2 cloves garlic sliced
  • 1/2 nutmeg grated
  • 200 g pancetta diced
  • 500 g gnocchi
  • 150 ml creme fraiche

Instructions

  • Fry the spinach an garlic in a hot pan with a little oil until the the spinach is well-wilted. Remove to a chopping board, add the nutmeg and squeeze the excess juice out with your hands or through a sieve. Run through the spinach with a knife several times to make it bitesize.
  • In the same pan, fry the pancetta. Whilst it fries get the gnocchi on to boil. When the gnocchi is ready add it to the pancetta pan and toss well so it gets coated in the pancetta oil. Add the creme fraiche and spinach mix back into the pan, season with salt and pepper and add parmesan to taste. Serve immediately.
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