Category: pork

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bacon courgettes cream egg food pancetta pasta

courgette carbonara

courgette carbonara

I am utterly aghast that I have not blogged this before. I must’ve made it half a dozen times and it never fails to delight, yet somehow it fell through the cracks. I was chatting with a colleague that I was having this for dinner and she asked if it was on my blog. “Of course,” I said, “I’ve cooked it loads of times.” And yet there it wasn’t.

This is a great twist on carbonara. It always nags at me that these delicious pasta dishes don’t have a veg component which means cooking something else on the side. You can’t fault the Italians; it’s the way they eat but I prefer to have everything together. I find peas a little too harsh against the creaminess but the addition of courgette is a great one. It’s an idea I’ve lifted from Jamie at Home and it’s really worth trying. I’m also a big fan of dishes where the sauce is cooked in the same time as the pasta so can be up and on the table in under 15 minutes. Brill.

Courgette carbonara (serves 2):

1 large courgette

6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, cut into small pieces

Leaves from a sprig of thyme

150ml double cream

A large handful of grated parmesan

250g penne

2 egg yolks

  1. Get a large pan of salted water on the boil and a big frying pan on a high heat.
  2. Slice your courgette in half, then use a spoon to scoop out the fluffy seeds and discard. Slice the courgette on an angle so you end up with pieces about the same size as the pasta.
  3. Chuck the pasta in to boil and keep checking for when it’s al dente. In your frying pan add a splash of oil and toss in the bacon. Keep frying until crisp on once side, then add the courgette and thyme and give everything a good toss to coat in bacony goodness. Meanwhile in a jug stir together the cream, parmesan and egg yolks and grind over loads of black pepper – it really helps cut through the cream. Toss your courgettes every now and then.
  4. Get a mug and scoop out some of the pasta cooking water to slacken your sauce in a minute. When the pasta is cooked drain, and when the courgettes are starting to go tender turn the heat off of the pan (this is important to avoid scrambling the eggs) and add your creamy mix. Keep stirring it to stop the egg clumping and add a dash of the reserved water. Toss with the pasta, check for seasoning and add a little more water if you need a bit more liquid in your sauce. Serve immediately with a dash more parmesan, this dish doesn’t hang around!
Categories
bacon food leeks potatoes soup

leek and potato soup

It’s June and I’m writing about leek and potato soup. Bloody June. The weather has been truly atrocious this year in England and so instead of craving salads and light meals I want soup. So I have some, and to cheer myself up gild it with all manner of little touches to try and make it my ultimate leek and potato soup. I keep the stiff green tops and simmer them in the stock, I keep the potato peelings and bake them into a crispy garnish, and use the logic that everybody knows: bacon makes everything better.

Except the weather.

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Leek and potato soup

A creamy and comforting treat.
Course Starter
Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

  • 20 g butter
  • 4 rashers streaky bacon diced
  • 2 fat leeks sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic peeled
  • 650 g floury potatoes peeled and diced (keep the peelings to one side for now)
  • 1 litre chicken stock

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C. In one saucepan get the stock to simmering point and add the green tops and the garlic while you get on with the rest. In a large casserole dish melt the butter, then fry the bacon over a medium heat until crisp and then remove. Make sure the leeks are washed and add to the pan, then pop the lid on and turn the heat down to low.
  • Meanwhile, bake the potato peelings. Toss the peelings in a little oil, salt and pepper and put on a baking tray in one layer. Pop in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes until crisp and then put aside to cool.
  • After 10 minutes the leeks should be softened so add the potato, crank up the heat and fry for a couple more minutes to warm up the potato. Fish the garlic out of the stock (it should be bobbing on top anyway) and add to the leeks and potatoes. Discard the green leek tops and add the stock to the pan. Bring to the boil then simmer for 15 minutes or until the potato is tender. Blitz a bit with a food processor until it's the texture you like (I like thick but not pureed, but hey-ho).
  • Ladle out the soup into bowls and top with the bacon and crispy potato skin.
Categories
chorizo coriander cumin food nigella seeds tomato

spiced chorizo and chickpea stew

I’ve made variations on this before, but the one killer ingredient I’ve added here that I wanted to shine a spotlight on is nigella seeds. I saw a Tweet from the excellent @pearcafe, and thought the addition of nigella seeds to their soup of the day was inspired. So I threw some into this stew and it was ace. Thanks ‘E’! I’ve never been to Bristol but if I do The Pear Café will be first on my list of places to visit 🙂

Spiced chorizo and chickpea stew (serves 4):

1 teaspoon nigella seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 onion, diced

200g chorizo, in chunks

1 tin of chickpeas

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 tin tomatoes (I’ve got a bit of a thing for tinned cherry tomatoes at the moment)

250ml chicken stock

2 slices of brown bread

1 clove of garlic, peeled

  1. Get a large casserole on a high heat and add a splash of olive oil. When hot, throw in the seeds and allow to pop and sizzle for a minute. Add the onion and chorizo and stir often until the chorizo starts to bleed.
  2. Add the chickpeas (don’t bother to drain), tomatoes, paprika and stock. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 15 minutes.
  3. While that simmers throw the brown bread and garlic in a food processor and whizz to a powder with a pinch of salt.
  4. In a separate pan melt some butter and when foaming add the breadcrumbs. Toss often until browned all over, then drain on kitchen paper until the stew is ready.
  5. Check the seasoning on the stew. You may find in addition to salt and pepper you may need some red wine vinegar to balance it all out. Ladle into serving dishes and top with the breadcrumbs. If you have any, a drizzle of pumpkin seed oil would be brill.
Categories
chickpeas chorizo food soup spinach

chorizo and chickpea soup

I read this post on the Word Magazine website. It was a Jamie recipe for a really corking-sounding soup which I was surprised I hadn’t come across before. I was even more surprised to discover it was in a book I’ve owned for years, Jamie’s Dinners!

It was as gutsy as it promised – nice, meaty chorizo with hearty chickpeas. If I did it again I’d add a little less liquid to make it a bit thicker, and perhaps add a dash of paprika to amp up the chorizo flavours. I have to say I’m not convinced by the grated egg either, did nothing for me at all. That aside it’s warming and frugal* – perfect for this time of year!

*if you ignore Jamie’s addition of pata negra – PATA NEGRA! – and use boring old sandwich ham like me. His version is here.

Chorizo and chickpea soup (serves 4 – 6):

200g chorizo sausage

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

8 fresh tomatoes, deseeded and roughly chopped

1 x 410g tin chickpeas, drained

1.3 litres chicken stock

6 chunks frozen spinach

2 slices ham, shredded

1 hard-boiled egg

  1. Finely chop 150g of the chorizo and fry in a large casserole dish until the orangey oil leaks out, then add the onion. Cook gently for a five minutes then add the garlic.
  2. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas and stock and bring to the boil. Add the spinach and simmer for 30 minutes until everything is tender and adjust the seasoning.
  3. As the 30 minutes comes to the end get another frying pan very hot. Slice the remaining chorizo and fry for a couple of minutes on each side until crispy. Drain on kitchen paper while you finish the soup.
  4. Whizz the soup up a bit with a hand blender (not too much!), and stir through the ham. Serve, garnishing with egg and sliced chorizo. Make sure there’s bread to hand!
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