Tag: pasta

Schinkenflekerl

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A childhood favourite and traditional family recipe for a sort of Austrian answer to macaroni cheese. This is eggy, hammy and pasta-y. Carb heaven! Some recipes add cheese, cream or onions – go ahead if you fancy any or all of them, or keep it simple as below. Feeds 2 generously.

  • 225g pasta shapes (traditionally little square flekerl)
  • Salt & pepper
  • 100g ham, diced
  • 50g salted butter, softened
  • 80g sour cream
  • 2 eggs
  1. Cook and drain the pasta. Run cold water over to cool it and drain again
  2. In a big bowl, beat together butter, sour cream, eggs and seasoning
  3. Add ham and cooked pasta and mix well
  4. Tip into flat ovenproof casserole dish
  5. Bake at 180C fan (200C) for 35 mins until the top is light brown and crisp

Gnocchi

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

I made gnocchi for the first time this evening! So very impressed with myself, although it was actually pretty straightforward. (Although made infinitely more straightforward if you have a potato ricer).

Just 4 ingredients, a bit of mixing and then there were these beautiful, pillowy, soft gnocchi! So tasty with pesto and green beans. As usual, I forgot to take pics so you’ll have to take my word for it. Feeds 2 with quite a lot of leftovers.

  • 700g potatoes (I used red-skinned floury ones)
  • 210g strong white flour or pasta flour (plus extra for dusting)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp salt
  1. Put the whole potatoes in a saucepan and cover with cold water
  2. Stick the lid on and turn the heat to high. Bring to the boil, cook for 15-30 mins (depending how big your potatoes are) until soft, and then drain
  3. Directly onto the counter, tip the flour into a pile, add the salt and sort of swirl toegther with your fingertips. Make a gap in the middle of the pile so it looks a bit like a christmas wreath
  4. Peel the potatoes (this bit can be slightly burny on your fingertips!) While they’re still hot, use the ricer to rice the whole potatoes roughly into the gap in the middle of the flour. This is not an exact science and that is fine. Don’t worry
  5. Make a well in the middle of the potato and crack the egg in
  6. Use a fork to beat the egg, then mix it gradually into the potato and flour, drawing them into the middle and combining the ingredients thoroughly
  7. Once it comes together, get your hands in and knead briefly to form a soft dough. Don’t give it too much time or energy, or you’ll get tough gnocchis
  8. Cut the dough ball into 4 roughly even pieces and work on each piece separately just to make life a bit easier
  9. Dust the counter with flour and gently roll one of the pieces into a long snake-piece, about 2cm in diameter. I used the palms of both hands to make my snakes
  10. Cut into 2cm pieces with a sharp knife. Either leave as they are or roll over the back of a floury fork with your thumb to make a pretty (sauce-trapping) pattern of ridges
  11. Drop the the finished gnocchi onto a floured tray and dust with a bit more flour to stop them sticking together
  12. When you’re ready to eat, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, keep the heat high and drop your gnocchi in
  13. As they cook, they will rise to the top and you can just scoop them out with a slotted spoon

Eat immediately with lashings of fresh, homemade pesto or any other sauce you might use on pasta – tomato sauce, melted butter and sage leaves, cheese sauce or any one of a number of others.

Spaghetti with sausage, bacon and mustard

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Decadent, rich and creamy, with a tangy hit from the mustard, lemon and parsley. Feeds 2.

  • 250g spaghetti
  • 3-4 pork sausages
  • 160g pancetta, diced
  • 150ml double cream
  • 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
  • Small bunch parsley, finely chopped
  • Squeeze of lemon
  1. Cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water
  2. Cut or pinch the sausages into small pieces
  3. In a deep frying pan, add a dab of veg oil just to start things off. Cook the pancetta until it starts to release its oil, then add the sausage
  4. Cook both until golden and caught around the edges
  5. Pour in the cream and about 50ml of the pasta cooking water
  6. Add the mustard and stir everything together, adding more water if needed
  7. Simmer for a couple of minutes, then throw in and gently mix through the cooked pasta, parsley and lemon juice

Eat immediately, trying not to make appreciative hums and grunting noises!

Green minestrone soup

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A wholesome, springtime, green version of the traditional tomato-based soup. Feeds 4.

  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 leek, washed and finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 800ml veg stock
  • 200g mini soup pasta shapes
  • 150g green beans, cut into 1 cm pieces
  • 100g frozen peas, defrosted (just pour some hot water over them)
  • 100g spinach, chopped
  • 1 tin haricot beans, drained and rinsed
  • Salt and pepper
  • Squeeze of lemon
  • 4 heaped tsp pesto
  • Handful pinenuts, toasted
  • Parmesan, grated
  1. Melt the butter in a large pan
  2. Add the leek and garlic, and cook over a low heat until soft and translucent
  3. Pour in the stock, bring to the boil, season and add the pasta and green beans
  4. Bring back to the boil and cook at a bubble for 5 mins
  5. Add the peas, spinach and haricot beans. Cook for another 2 mins. Add a bit of boiling water if all the liquid has disappeared
  6. Once piping hot, add a squeeze of lemon, taste and adjust the seasoning
  7. Serve in deep bowls topped with a tsp of pesto, a sprinkle of pine nuts and a small cloud of parmesan

Use other greens if you have them – diced courgette, broad beans, baby kale. Bring your steaming soup to the table with a loaf of fresh bread for dunking. This will make everyone happy.

Macaroni cheese

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

The ultimate comfort food. Categorically not mac n’ cheese.

This dish was a staple of my childhood Friday evenings, playing raucously with friends while our mums got quietly drunk in the kitchen. Always eaten with lashings of ketchup and gherkins, occasionally with the added treat of sliced hotdogs stirred in. And with an inevitable battle over who got more of the crunchy top. Now I like to think I’m slightly more sophisticated (sometimes), but I still love the contrast with the creamy pasta, so I eat it drizzled with chilli sauce or topped with pickled jalapenos. And accompanied by a nice crispy salad on the side.

  • 2 tbsp salted butter
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 400-500ml milk
  • 200g grated cheddar (or to taste)
  • 400g pasta shapes
  • Salt and pepper
  1. In a thick-based saucepan over a low-medium heat, melt the butter then sprinkle over the flour
  2. Stir together until they form a light brown paste (a roux! Tres sophistique) and keeping stirring for a couple of mins
  3. Add the mustard and stir in
  4. Then pour over the milk and either whisk (which gets rid of lumps) or stir constantly right down into the corners until the sauce is thickened and voluptuous
  5. Turn off the heat, add the grated cheese and stir until it has melted in. Taste and season

You can eat this sauce simply mixed into cooked pasta, but to make this into a proper baked macaroni cheese …

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C fan (200C)
  2. Cook the pasta in plenty of salted boiling water for 6-7 mins – around 3-4 mins less than usual
  3. Drain it and tip into a ceramic oven dish
  4. Mix through the cheese sauce, top with a bit more grated cheese and bake for 30 mins until bubbling and golden

Spaghetti carbonara

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Rich, luscious and seductively tasty. It’s the easiest and quickest way to make something that feels like a lovely treat. For some reason it absolutely has to be spaghetti.

  • 2 eggs
  • 250g spaghetti
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled and left whole
  • 20g butter
  • 100g pancetta, cut into cubes
  • 40g parmesan, finely grated
  • Black pepper
  1. Put a large saucepan of water on to boil, add salt and, once boiling, add the spaghetti. Cook for 10 mins
  2. In the meantime, beat the eggs and season with plenty of black pepper. Stir in the wafts of grated parmesan
  3. Squash the garlic clove, keeping it whole
  4. Melt the butter and fry the pancetta and the garlic until golden
  5. When the pasta is ready, drain it but keep a cupful of the cooking water
  6. Off the heat, put the cooked pasta back in the saucepan and tip in the butter and pancetta, mixing well with tongs. You can discard the garlic or just eat it secretly
  7. Get ready for stirring action! Pour in the egg and cheese mixture and a splash of pasta water and mix through. Don’t stop moving until it’s made a lovely, glossy sauce. No scrambled egg here! I find the easiest way to do this is to use tongs to swoop the spaghetti through the egg
  8. Check the seasoning, add a bit more pasta water if it’s dry. Serve straight away – maybe with a tomato and basil salad

Leek and pancetta orzotto

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A speedy, carby delight for a lazy Sunday supper or a midweek dinner. A risotto for a night when you don’t feel like standing there stirring for 20 mins

  • 1 tsp veg oil
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 small leek, cleaned and sliced
  • 150g pancetta, cubed
  • ½ chicken stock cube
  • 250g orzo
  • 650ml boiling water
  • 150g frozen peas
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • Handful grated parmesan
  • Black pepper
  1. Pour boiling water over the peas to take the cold off them
  2. Over a medium heat, warm the oil and cook the pancetta until crisp
  3. Add the garlic and stir in until it starts to turn gold
  4. Tip in the leeks and sweat until soft
  5. Crumble in the stock cube and stir in. It should almost dissolve in the oil
  6. Add the orzo and stir until coated with the bacony, garlicky oil
  7. Pour in the boiling water, turn down the heat and stick the lid on
  8. Simmer for 10 mins, stirring a couple of times while it cooks to make sure it’s not catching on the bottom. You can add a bit more of the recently boiled water if needed
  9. Beat the butter and parmesan into the pan, check the seasoning and serve straight away

Pastitsio

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

The Greek answer to lasagne. I’m genuinely not sure which I like best. Maybe both…

Top 3 pastitsio facts : 1) it uses lamb rather than beef 2) it features the most unwieldy pasta in the known universe and 3) you beat eggs into the white sauce so it sets gently in a layer on top of the savoury concoction below. The pasta is like 30cm-long tubes of macaroni, apparently used for nothing except this dish. If you can’t find it, just substitute with regular macaroni. Feeds 6-8 and takes a couple of hours, from start to finished dish

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 500g lamb mince
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of allspice
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 250ml red wine
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • 1 lamb stock cube
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 400ml milk
  • 200g halloumi, grated
  • 200g cheddar, grated
  • 2 eggs
  • Nutmeg
  • 300g pastitsio macaroni
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Heat the oil in a large thick-bottomed saucepan over a high heat
  2. Brown the lamb mince, breaking it up with the spoon, then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, leaving the oil behind
  3. Drop in the onion and garlic and saute for around 8 mins until soft
  4. Add tomato puree, crumbled lamb stock cube and wine. Cook, stirring, for 5 mins
  5. Add chopped tomatoes, herbs, spices, half a tin of water, sugar, salt and pepper
  6. Simmer over a low heat for 45 mins, stirring every now and again to make sure it doesn’t stick. Add a bit more liquid if needed as it cooks
  7. In the meantime, make a roux with butter and flour (melt the butter and whisk in the flour, cooking for a couple of mins)
  8. Pour in the milk, whisking it as it warms to make smooth white sauce
  9. Over a low heat, add the grated cheddar and halloumi
  10. Grate over a few grates of nutmeg and season well
  11. Take off the heat and beat in the 2 eggs
  12. Preheat oven to 180C fan (200C)
  13. Cook the pasta for 8 mins in salted boiling water
  14. In a deep ceramic oven dish (rectangular will be simplest because the pasta wants to lie in straight lines), layer the meat sauce and pasta – keeping the pasta tubes all lying in the same direction
  15. Pour the cheese sauce over the top, sprinkling with a bit more grated cheddar
  16. Bake for 30 mins until golden and bubbling on top

To serve, cut slices across the pasta so the cross-section shows all the hollow tubes like a honeycomb. Serve a crispy, lemony salad alongside

Bolognaise

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

My go-to for tasty, warming dinner. Straightforward, delicious. Feeds 4

  • 500g beef mince
  • 1 onion
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 stick celery
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 tin tomatoes (400g)
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • ½ beef stock cube
  • shake of worcestershire sauce
  • pinch of sugar
  • salt and pepper
  • vegetable oil
  1. Finely chop the onion, carrot and celery, and mince the garlic (if you are cooking for people who are fussy about lumps, you can whizz these in a food processor instead)
  2. Warm the oil in a large pot, add the veg and cook for a couple of minutes
  3. When soft, turn the heat up and add the minced beef
  4. Stir and break up the meat as it browns
  5. Add tomato puree and stock and stir together, cooking over medium heat for a couple of minutes
  6. Add tinned tomatoes, half a tin of water, sugar, worcestershire sauce, seasoning
  7. Bring to the boil and then cook on a low simmer for 45 mins, stirring occasionally
  8. Serve with piles of steaming, slippery spaghetti and drifts of grated parmesan on top