An open confession: I arrived home to this hearty treat as a dish prepared by Mrs Roast Potato and eldest New Potato (is that metaphor too tortured?). Regardless, I present it here on their behalf. A real punchy mediterranean pasta blowout.
Roasted squash rigatoni:
1 butternut squash, skinned and diced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
250g rigatoni
Handful of mixed olives
Handful of basil leaves
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Pop the squash, tomatoes and garlic in a baking dish in the oven for 30 mins.
Meanwhile cook the pasta according to packet instructions.
Combine the pasta with the vegetables, toss with olive oil and seasoning.
One of the joys of modern life, where unfortunately the pressures of today allows no time for proper food shopping, is the home delivery. I’ve only recently tried Sainsbury’s home delivery, which has wonderful customer service, though leaves a number of t’s uncrossed. After a recent drop-off we realised we had been left two packs of sausages we’d not ordered. Not a problem in itself but I had meals planned out for the rest of the week, and as the Best Before date loomed I felt I had to do something with the poor porkers. I opted for a multi-pupose ragu.
I started by squeezing the sausages out of their skins into meatbally lumps. I then browned them all over in a hot pan with crushed fennel seeds and black pepper, for tone and bite. Then I removed them to one side while I adding sliced garlic and two tins of tomatoes. After warming up the meat went back in and I allowed to bubble away for a while before seasoning with salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar.
I ate a small bowl of it for a quick supper, while the rest went into the freezer for a future emergnecy meal.
Sausage ragu:
16 sausages
1 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
1 teaspoon crushed black pepper
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tins tomatoes
balsamic vinegar, as desired
Halve the sausages, then squeeze them out of their skins to make thumb-dized meatballs.
Roll the meatballs in the fennel and pepper, and fry in a hot pan until browned all over.
Remove from the pan and add the garlic. Fry a minute and then add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer.
I saw Oliver’s Twist the other day, a TV programme of Jamie Oliver’s created for syndication all over the world. It’s little seen in the UK until recently, when the Good Food Channel started running them. In this one, he was making food for his then-14 month old daughter Poppy. The minestrone soup he made really caught my eye, and my tongue!
I found his recipe for minestrone on his site. ‘Minestrone’ loosely means “the big soup” and has no set recipe; it’s an Italian staple designed to use whatever vegetables are in season and stretch them out for soup. I had some cauliflower and courgette leftover from yesterday’s curry so they were definitely going in, along with some tomatoes and asparagus tips I had.
I started by sweating down a diced onion and some crushed garlic, along with some finely chopped basil stalks. I find the stalks of basil plants infuse your soffritto with such perfume, it’s really delicious backnote. I wasn’t impressed with the quality of my tomatoes so I added a squirt of tomato puree here too. I then added the diced veg as above, spaghetti snapped into 2 inch pieces and vegetable stock. I let it simmer until the pasta was al dente, then scooped into deep bowls topped with shredded basil. The final genius touch by Jamie was a generous dollop of pesto; it sounds a bit odd but the powerful ingredients seep gently into the broth and infuse it with sunny flavours. Very tasty, and one that will stay with me all year depending on what’s in the cupboard!
Curry is a mythical, hybrid beast in England. Born of curious Raj influences, the modern Indian food apparently bears little resemblance to food eaten in India today. Most of us experience the odd names of the menu and play roulette with what we get, as they appear different from restaurant to restaurant.
After making garam masala and forming it into a tikka paste, I can now make a curry with it. I started by frying a sliced onion, and when softened I added a dessert spoon of paste and allowed to sizzle a little. Then I chucked in some sliced courgette and cauliflower and stirred it round to allow the paste to soak in. Then a litre of stock and tin tomatoes and allowed to simmer until tender and thickened, about 20 minutes. I served with pilau rice, yoghurt raita and piles of fluffy naan.
The best part about dishes like this is despite all the preparation you’re never entirely sure of the exact flavour until it’s in a curry. It had a pleasing spice, the paprika stamping it’s authority at first amped up by the smoky sea salt, then the coriander and cumin tickle and tingle. Then the gentle fire of the chilli remains. Very nice, though I think it would very good with lamb.
Best of all, I have another serving of tikka paste to use up. Yum.
