Fresh Pasta

We eat a lot of pasta dishes throughout the week in our house. They are just so easy and convienent to whip up and more importantly everyone will eat pasta.

So, a little while ago Ewan bought me a pasta machine. The machine has sat on the top of my kitchen cupboards, still boxed, since the day it came home. It's not because I didn't want it, it was just that everytime I was making a pasta dish I needed the pasta NOW not in an hour after kneading/resting/rolling the dough.

Nadine (my sister) invited us around to her place yesterday so the kids could hang out. So I took the opportunity to mess up her kitchen and make that pasta that I have been dying to try out.

The recipe I used came from Jamie Oliver's website, but on speaking with Dee it seemed that the common egg to flour ratio was 1 egg to 100gm of strong "00" flour. (here's another use for "00" flour)

It was a very easy process and the outcome was a FAR SUPERIOR product than the store bought stuff.

The main issue was where to hang all that fettucine.......the door handle of the oven certainly came in handy!

This recipe makes enough dough to feed an army. Yesterday I only used half the dough to feed the troops. So now I have the other half, which will easily feed a family of 5, in the fridge for a meal during the week.

Mac & Cheese - just a little bit fancy

I know in many households across this vast universe Mac & Cheese is a household staple, the go-to-meal.

You wouldn't dare consider changing it - to do so would be sacrilege.

Well I DID change it and in my opinion, I DID improve it.

Everyone loves a makeover and I think Mac & Cheese love what I did......let your taste buds be the judge.

Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients

60gm Butter

3tbs Plain flour

1 Leek, sliced finely

4 Rashers of bacon, cut into 3/4in pieces

40gm Pancetta, thinly sliced (about 5 slices)

80gm Pecorino cheese, grated

100gm Cheese, grated

500gm Pasta

5C Milk

Assembly

• Cook the Pasta - follow the directions on the side of the packet.
  
• Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil in frying pan. Add the leeks and gently fry until soft remove the leeks from the pan & set aside.
  
• In the same frying pan add the bacon & pancetta & fry until slightly crispy (I like mine to have a bit of crunch). Remove these from the pan & set aside.
  
• In a medium sized saucepan melt the butter & then add the flour, ensuring that all the flour is coated with butter.
  
• Then into the butter/flour mixture add a cup of milk, stirring vigorously so you get a smooth paste, then add another cup, stir until thick - repeat this until you've used all the milk.
  
• Add your cheeses to the white sauce (I left a little pecorini out to sprinkle on the dish at the end)
  
• Then in a large ovenproof dish combine the drained pasta, leeks, bacon & cheese sauce, sprinkle some pecorini over the top & bake in the oven (160 degrees C) for about 15-20mins.
  

So......what do you think?......it's still Mac & Cheese but with a little refinement.

Enjoy!

Ricotta and Spinach Cannelloni

Ingrid

Hmmmm, I think we may be Italian..... & while we ponder this, lets enjoy yet another pasta dish.


Ingredients:

Filling
375g spinach
350g ricotta
3 egg yolks
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
1/3 cup grated cheese
nutmeg

Sauce
2 tbls oil
600g canned tomatoes (pureed)
2tsp basil
salt
pepper
3/4 cup grated cheese

Method:

Combine spinach, ricotta, egg yolks, garlic, cheese, nutmeg and salt in a bowl. Mix well. Fill dry Cannelloni tubes with mixture.

In a pan, cook oil, tomatoes, basil, salt, pepper until boiling. Remove from heat.

Pour half sauce in a dish then place a layer of the filled Cannelloni tubes. Pour over the remaining sauce and sprinkle with cheese.

Bake at 200 degrees (celcius) for 30 - 35 minutes.

Serves 5 (I fed 3 adults & 1.25 children)


this dinner was an absolute hit in this household with Olivia asking for more and Xander crying because I wasnt feeding him fast enough. But next time I may add a few veggies to the sauce (zucchini or carrots) just to get some more veggies into the kids without them knowing about it.

Crushed Cherry Tomato Pasta

Dee

Before we go too far you have to know something about me to understand what a massive leap I took in my first cooking challenge. I have been traumatised by the humble tomato. Not the tomato itself but the fact that sometime before I was 8 my Mum made me sit at the dinner table until I ate the tomatoes from the salad. I sat and cried and sat some more I could not bring myself to eat that juicy, red section of antioxident giving goodness. My senses would not allow it. To this day I choose to not eat juicy, soft, mushy, fleshy fruit or veg. I like my fruit fresh, crisp and cold.

So, Crushed Cherry Tomato Pasta. If the tomato had been this awesome when I was 6 I may not have maligned the tomato all these years.

200g Spaghetti - 500g cherry tomatoes, halved - 50g butter - 4 spring onions (scallions), thinly sliced - 1 clove garlic, crushed - 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar - sea salt and cracked black pepper - 1/2 cup chopped parsley leaves - shaved parmesan to serve.

Cook pasta in salted boiling water for 10-12 mins or until aldente. Drain. Return to the saucpan and keep warm. Place tomatoes in a bowl and crush with a potato masher. Set aside.
Heat a large non-stick frying pan ocer medium hear. all the butter and cook until melted. add spring onions and garlic (at this point your mouth will be salivating) cook for 1 minute.Add red wine vinegar, tomatoes,salt and pepper and cook for a further 2-3 minutes or until warmed through. Add to the pasta with the parsley and toss to combine. Serve with shaved parmesan.

The recipe is for two but I think this is not right. I doubled the recipe and fed 6 with left overs. I was looking forward to eating those left overs but they disappeared in the middle of the night. This disappearing act is a very good sign that this meal will be seen again, soon, at our table.