Minestrone - or something akin to it

 

It's butter bean soup with an italian accent - I'm not sure it counts as real minestrone - but it is delicious..

Olive oil

Onion

Garlic

Carrot

Green beans

Mushroom

Roasted red pepper

Tin of butter beans

Yeast flakes

Italian seasoning

Chilli flakes

Tinned tomatoes

Pasta

Black olives

1.  Sweat chopped onion in olive oil.

2.  Add other chopped vegetables - I used carrots, green beans and mushrooms - but whatever you have really.

3.  Add crushed garlic and italian herbs, and a pinch of chilli flakes.  Fry off gently for a couple of minutes.

4.  Add chopped roasted red pepper (in this case from a jar).

5. Pour in a cup of water and simmer gently for a few minutes.

6. Tip in a drained tin of butter beans and a tin of chopped tomatoes, and another cup of water, keep simmering.

7.  Add soup pasta, and sliced black olives.  Season to taste.

8.  Simmer until pasta is cooked.

9.  Serve, scoff, smile.

Cheap, nutritious and tasty - beat that!

Mushroom and kale stroganoff

 All the seasonal vegetables are flooding the shelves and veg boxes now - so I combined mushrooms and kale and came up with this lovely autumnal stroganoff.

Olive oil

Onion

Garlic

Mushrooms

Kale

Green beans

Cream cheese

paprika

Tagliatelle

1.  Sweat chopped onion in olive oil, then add in crushed garlic.

2.  Add chopped mushrooms, shredded kale and green beans chopped into pea sized peices, fry off for a minute or so.

3.  Add a cup of water to boil up until the veg are softened.

4.  Cook pasta.

5.  Add cream cheese and a good pinch of paprika to the veg.  

6.  When the pasta is nearly cooked, lift it from its cooking water, transfer to veg and stir in - add a little pasta water if it's too dry.

7.  Serve, scoff.

Smoked salmon linguine

 

It might seem a bit summery for an autumnal Sunday tea - but I added a bit of zing with chilli, and it was fresh and tasty, but also filling and satisfying - and very quick to make.  If you started with water boiled in the kettle I think it could be on the table in 15 minutes.

I made it with linguine - but it would also be good with shorter pasta - which would be ideal packed into a tub for work lunches.

Linguine (or pasta shapes)

Olive oil

Onion

Red pepper

Mushrooms

Frozen peas

Chillli flakes

Cherry tomatoes/baby plum tomatoes

Smoked salmon 

1.  Put salted water on the boil for the pasta - bung it in when it's a a rolling boil (follow instructions for timings on the packet).

2.  Sautee chopped onion in olive oil until translucent.

3.  Add the other vegetables to the softened onion, with a pinch of chilli flakes, and sautee gently for a few minutes.

4.  When the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the vegetables, add chopped up smoked salmon, and toss around to mix thoroughly.

5.  Serve, scoff ... it was really delicious.

Pork and beans with pasta

 An exercise in using up the veg and pasta oddments.

• Onion
• Olive oil
• Garlic
• Fajita spice mix
• Mushrooms
• Green beans
• Yellow pepper
• Pork chops
• Tomatoes
• Wholegrain mustard
• BBQ sauce
• Sweetcorn
• Flour
• Cannellini beans
• Pasta
• Grated cheese

1.  Sautee chopped onion in olive oil.

2.  When onion is softening, add garlic, spices and other chopped vegetables.  After a few minutes move them to the edge of the pan.

3.  Chop pork into bite sized pieces and add to the pan, stirring so that they get the heat from the bottom of the pan.

4.  Keep cooking for 10 minutes or so, then add chopped tomatoes, mustard, BBQ sauce and sweetcorn.  Stir in.

5.  Add a spoonful of flour to thicken the sauce, stir in until you can't see it any more, then add water or stock.

6.  Simmer for about 30 minutes, adding more water if necessary.

7.  Cook pasta.

8.  Add tinned beans, stir in and heat through.

9.  When it's ready mix pasta into sauce, serve, with grated cheese an dscoff.

Pork, chorizo and mushroom pasta, with peas

I'm trying not to run out of inspiration in these very dark days - though I admit we have had more than a few comfort dinners eg. sausage, mash and beans, in the past weeks.  Today there were pork chops in the fridge - and I was heading towards another tray bake (nothing wrong with that) ... but then, I remembered there was a chorizo sausage to use up and some proper decent pasta ... so, a little bit more effort in chopping the meat later - I enjoyed this much more than I would have done big lumps of pork.

Onion

Garlic

Olive oil

Pork chops

Chorizo

Mushrooms

Flour

(Soya) milk

pasta

peas

black pepper

1.  Gently sautee chopped onion and garlic in olive oil.

2.  Chop pork into small pieces, and add to the onion mixture.

3.  Chop chorizo into small pieces and add to the pan.  Keep stirring and cook out for a while.

4.  Chop mushrooms and add to the pork mix.

5.  Cooks the pasta.

6.  Add a couple of spoonsful of flour to the pork mixture, stir in, then add a cup of soya milk.  Stir it in to make a sauce.  Simmer.

7.  Add a handful of frozen peas to the sauce, then add pasta.

8.  Toss together, serve, scoff ... it was delish!

Sausage pasta ... lockdown inventions

The veg box lands tomorrow, and we're trying to use stuff up from the cupboard.  The fresh stuff was tomatoes, spinach and salad leaves.  The fridge/cupboard stuff was some sweety peppers and half a jar of Polish salad.  What to do with sausages which is tasty, but not too faffy?

Sausage pasta!  It was very, very tasty.

Red onion
Olive oil
Chipolata sausages
Sweety red peppers in a jar
Tomatoes
Spinach
Pasta (fusilli in this case)
Sweetcorn
Spinach

Polish salad in a jar
Mayonnaise

Salad leaves

1.  Sautee chopped red pepper in olive oil, add sausages, and cook them through.
2.  When sausages are nearly cooked - chop the into bite sized pieces.
3.  Dice sweet peppers and tomatoes.
4.  Drain and rinse the polish salad, stir in mayonnaise and put in the fridge until ready to serve.
5.  Cook pasta.
6.  Chuck peppers and tomatoes into sausages, simmer gently.  Add sweetcorn after a few minutes.
7.  Drain pasta, chuck into sausage mixture and handfuls of spinach.  Stir until spinach is wilted.
8.  Serve, with salad leaves, scoff.  (veg dodger had thirds!)

Roast chicken thighs, mediterranean veg pasta bake

The veg box arrives in two days, so we're using up what's in the fridge.

Chicken thighs
Olive oil
Chicken run

Onion
Garlic
Aubergine
Courgettes
Tomatoes
Red pepper
Passata

Pasta
Pecorino

Mixed leaves

1.  Drizzle chicken thighs with olive oil and rub in chicken rubs, roast at 180 for about an hour.
2.  Sautee finely chopped onion, crushed garlic in olive oil.
3.  Chop all other veg into small cubes and add into the onions and garlic, fry until a bit soft.
4.  Add passata and water, simmer until veg is soft - about 40 minutes.
5.  Meanwhile, make pasta according to packet instructions.
6.  Drain pasta, add to sauce, transfer to oven dish.
7.  Top with grated pecorino, and pop in the oven to melt.
8.  Serve, with a green salad, scoff.

Tuna pasta bake

It may not be an elegant dish - but it's quick, easy and tasty ... what more could you want?

Ingredients from Todmorden market - pasta (gluten free and regular), tuna and garlic from The Mediterranean Pantry, veg from Kevin outside and cheese from The Crumbly Cheese.

Pasta
Olive oil
Red onion
Garlic
Red pepper
Mushrooms
Courgette
Cherry tomatoes
Frozen peas
Tuna
Cheddar

1.  Boil the pasta according to packet instructions, until al dente.
2.  Sautee veg, chopped into smallish pieces, in olive oil, for about 10 minutes.
3.  Drain the pasta and the tuna, mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Add a handful of frozen peas.  Splosh in a little olive oil if it looks too dry.
4.  Chop cheese into chunks and stir into the pasta mixture.
5.  Heap into an oven dish and bake for about 20 minutes.
6.  Serve, scoff

Pasta with cauliflower, peas, feta and hazelnuts

I couldn't get the lighting right for the picture, and I wanted to eat my dinner … so, very substandard picture of a delicious dinner.

Pasta - I used pea fusilli to keep it GF, but could be any short pasta
Cauliflower
Baby spinach
Red onion
Frozen peas
Feta
Hazelnuts
Mint
Olive oil




1.  Break cauliflower into small florets.
2.  Boil pasta in salted water, steam the cauliflower over it.
3.  Mix a couple of big handfuls of baby spinach with a small, finely diced, red onion.
4.  Add some frozen peas to the steaming cauliflower and continue cooking.
5.  Roughly chop half a cup of hazelnuts.
6.  When the pasta is done drain it and chuck it on top of the spinach to wilt it.  Stir it around a little to help it, then add the cauliflower and peas, stir it again.
7.  Break on the feta, add the nuts - turn over gently.
8.  Add a little finely shredded mint and a drizzle of olive oil.
9.  Serve, scoff …

Done in 10 minutes flat (if the water is boiling already).  The veg dodger had some salami, but otherwise very quick very tasty veggie dinner.

Smoked mackerel, courgette and green bean pasta

Cheap, quick and healthy - can't beat it.  All ingredients (except frozen peas) available at Tod market.  Mackerel from Paul outside, veg from Kev outside and everything else from The Mediterranean Pantry inside.

Olive oil
Onion
Garlic
Courgette
Italian seasoning
Green beans
Frozen peas
Pasta (GF, or otherwise)
Smoked mackerel

1.  Gently fry chopped onion in olive oil until soft, then add courgette and garlic and continue to cook until courgette is soft, stirring occasionally.
2.  Cut green beans into bite sized pieces and place in a steamer pan.
3.  Boil the kettle, pour boiling water into a pan, bring back to the boil and add pasta and a pinch of salt.
4.  Steam the beans over the pasta, after 5 minutes add frozen peas.
5.  Break the mackerel into bite sized flakes, discarding the skin.
6.  When the pasta is done, drain and then throw in all the other ingredients and stir.
7.  Serve, scoff

Under 20 minutes and under £1 per portion.

One pot pasta "bake"

Alright, it doesn't look amazing - but it was tasty, and rich and comforting.  I made it with GF pasta (red lentil fusilli), but obviously you don't have to.  I also think I put too much cheese in (particularly since I am lactose intolerant) but that just made it more luscious and gooey.

Onion
Olive oil
tuscan seasoning
red pepper
mushrooms
flagolet beans
pasta
water
passata
smoked german cheese (it gives a gentle smoky flavour and a silky richness)
emmental
grated cheddar
black pepper

1.  Sautee chopped onion and crushed garlic in olive oil.
2.  Add chopped pepper and mushrooms, sautee again for a couple of minutes.
3.  Add a tin of flagolet beans and a layer of pasta.  Pour in a carton of passata, and about a carton and a half of water.  Lid on, simmer.
4.  After about 10 minutes stir and then add chopped cheese, and allow to melt into the mmix.
5.  Serve, scoff ... blimey it was rich.

Spaghetti with cauliflower, kale and hazelnut "pesto"

Make the most of our lovely autumnal vegetables by chucking together this fabulous "pesto" and pasta.  I'm calling it "pesto" because it's a hand cut chunky sauce, not a finely blended herby sauce.  this means that you can really taste the chunks of roasted cauliflower and hazelnuts in their separate loveliness as well as the mixture.

Cauliflower
Olive oil
Garlic - quite a lot
cavolo nero
parmesan
hazelnuts
lemon zest
spaghetti (gluten free in our case - but could be standard, or some other long pasta)

1.  Break the cauliflower into smallish florets, and roast in olive oil for about 30 minutes.
2.  Meanwhile mix together finely sliced garlic, shredded cavolo nero, grated parmesan and roughly chopped hazelnuts with a good splosh of olive oil.
3.  Boil the water for the pasta.
4.  Sprinkle the cavo nero, hazelnut and parmesan mixture over the cauliflower and return to the oven to roast for a further 10 minutes.
5.  Cook the pasta, drain, reserve a ladleful of the cooking water.
6.  Mix the vegetable sauce with the pasta and the spoonful of water and toss.  Grate over a little lemon zest and a good grind of black pepper.
7. Serve, scoff, be amazed at how well it all goes together.

National vegetarian week: Day 2: Quorn linguine

National vegetarian week is not the veg dodger's idea of fun - but we shall plough on regardless.  Well, I did think that if I tried a meat substitute ... so that there was some mince texture about it, it might be a softer blow!  The linguine is GF, for our requirements, but it could obviously be standard linguine, spaghetti of tagliatelle.  The mix of veg is more about what was in the fridge than a particular plan.

Onion
Garlic
Olive oil
Celery
Yellow pepper
Mushrooms
Courgette
Butternut squash
Quorn mince
Italian herbs
Tin tomatoes
Oegano
Linguine (or other long pasta)
Grated cheese

1.  Sautee onion and garlic in olive oil.
2.  Prep and chop all other veg into similar sized pieces and add to the onion mixture, stirring farily frequently.
3.  In 5-10 minutes the veg will have started to soften, so chuck in the quorn mince and a good pinch of italian herbs.
4.  Turn the mixture over, the quorn will start to brown slightly - then add a tin of tomatoes and at least a tin of water ... simmer.
5.  Chuck in some finely chopped fresh oregano (optional)
6.  Cook pasta, grate cheese.
7.  Serve, scoff

Veg dodger wasn't exactly effusive in praise - but finished the lot off for supper - so it can't have been so bad!

Red pepper pasta

Occasionally I look in the fridge to see that I have built up a glut of something - this time it was red pepper (which is unusual because I can bung it in nearly anything) - so, I decided to make it the main veg of this easy pasta dish.  The pasta is gluten free, but obviously it doesn't have to be.  The only non vegan ingredient is the cheddar, so miss that out, or replace with tofu, and it could be vegan too.

There are lots of varieties of gluten free pasta available now - we stock 9 varieties at The Mediterranean Pantry at the moment, all of them delicious. I also have olive oil, veg stock, tomato puree, olives and herbs. Cheddar is available from The Crumbly Cheese, and vegetables from Garry outside - so once again, can be fully sourced from Todmorden Market.


Onion
Celery
Olive oil
Garlic
Red pepper
Italian herbs
Mushrooms
Tomato puree
Vegetable stock
Olives
Pasta
Baby spinach
Cheddar

1.  Make the sauce - sautee chopped onion and celery in olive oil, add crushed garlic and a sprinkle of italian herbs.
2. Add chopped pepper and soften a little, add chopped mushrooms.
3.  When veg is a little bit soft add tomato puree and veg stock and simmer until it forms a glossy sauce, the add a few sliced olives.
4.  Put the pasta on.
5.  When the pasta is done drain it.  Turn the heat off the sauce.
6.  Chuck the pasta, a huge handful of baby spinach and cubed cheddar into the sauce and stir until it's all mixed.
7.  Serve, scoff ...

The cheese mixed into the pasta is a change from melting it on the top - as you eat your way through the nice comforting bowl of tasty sauce you come across half melted little cubes of salty sweetness - it's great.

Pasta shells with tomato, broad bean, celariac and olive sauce, with cheese

Using up the veg at the end of the week pasta.

Onion
Garlic
Olive oil
Pasta shells (gluten free for us)
Courgette
Celeriac
Broad beans
Tin of tomatoes
Olives
Cheddar

1.  Gently fry chopped onion in olive oil, add crushed garlic and a pinch of italian herbs.
2.  Boil pasta.
3.  Add chopped courgette, chopped celeriac and broad beans to the onion.  (well, use whatever veg is lying abandoned in the fridge).
4.  Add a tin of tomatoes and squish the tomatoes into the sauce.
5.  Chop a few olives and stir them in too (optional - I liked them, but unfortunately not everyone did - as they bring a slight bitterness to the finished dish)
6.  Drain pasta, stir into the sauce, serve with lots of grated cheese.

Soya mince spag bog

This is a dish you have to start in advance.  The soya mince needs soaking, then boiling, then simmering... and then you start the spaghetti sauce!  To get a depth of flavour into the sauce you need to simmer it all for a good 40 minutes plus.  The 3 stage process is tasty, but if you want a quicker fix - I would go with lentil spaghetti.



Soya mince

Olive oil
Onions
Garlic
mixed herbs
Carrots
Celery
Courgette
Black pepper
Tinned tomatoes
Tomato ketchup
Red wine
Bouillon
American mustard

Gluten free spaghetti

1.  Follow the instructions on the packet for the soya mince - rinsing, soaking and simmering in my case ... or buy some frozen stuff and start at 2.
2.  Sweat chopped onions in olive oil, add other chopped veg (could have used peppers, aubergine, mushrooms, green beans etc) and herbs ... contine to sweat for a little.
3.  Add drained soya mince, turn over and fry a little.
4.  Add tomatoes, wine, stock and mustard ... simmer for a good while (30 mins?)
5.  Boil pasta according to packet instructions.
6.  Drain pasta, stir in a tiny smidge of sauce to stop it sticking ,,, then serve and scoff

So far it's all GF and vegan ,.. but a really good parmesan adds flavour ... and there is no need for pasta to be GF unless your diet requires it!

Parsnip, mushroom and kale pasta

Don't knock it 'til you've tried it, this was surprisingly delicious.

1 red onion
olive oil
garlic
2 parsnips
mustard powder
mushrooms
kale
white wine
stock
parmesan (optional)
pasta (gluten free in our case)

1.  Peel parsnip and cut into bite sized peices, fry gently in olive oil for about 10 minutes, add dried mustard powder and keep cooking gently.
2.  In another pan sautee chopped onion and crushed garlic.
3.  Cook pasta according to packet instructions.
4.  When the onion is soft add chopped mushrooms and fry a little longer.
5.  When the mushrooms are about cooked, add in shredded kale, white wine a little stock - allow to steam/fry for a few minutes.
6.  Drain the pasta, add the parsnips and pasta to the other veg, mix together.

Serve with plenty of black pepper and optional parmesan.

Asparagus and green bean pasta salad with pine nuts

Yay!  Asparagus in the veg box! Yay!   oh, were you watching? How very embarassing!  But, frankly, I don't care - I was very very pleased to see the new season asparagus in the organic veg box - it's a late spring, and it's been a while coming.  I wondered whether to showcase the asparagus, as often happens, as a starter and then have our main dish - but I decided to go with our usual one dish dinner and to have asparagus as a delicious ingredient amongst others.

So, ...

Rape seed oil
Lemon
Chinese leaf
Lettuce
Watercress
Green beans
asparagus
Farfalle pasta
Pine nuts
basil
Parmesan (to serve)

1. Put water on to boil in a pan big enough to take the pasta, and hold steamers for the vegetables.
2. Remove the woody ends from the asparagus, chop the stems into 1 inch pieces, reserving the delicate spears.
3. Top and tail the beans and cut into bite sized pieces.
4.  Boil the pasta in water, after a minute or so put the veg pieces on to steam (not the spears, put them in 5 minutes later.
5.  Drizzle oil onto a serving plate, squirt on lemon juice and add some seasoning.  Chuck on the salad leaves .. whichever you are using.
6.  Lightly fry the pine nuts until golden brown - watch them, they WILL burn if you take your eyes off them.
7. Drain the pasta and veg, drizzle on oil and squirt with lemon, toss and add to presentation plate.
8. Liberally sprinkle on toasted pine nuts, shave on parmesan to date.

Scoff.  Bring on summer.

Broccoli, bean and anchovy pasta

It's quick, it used the veg from the veg box ... yum.

Olive oil
Leek
Garlic
Anchovies
Broccoli
Green beans
Spinach
Black pepper

Pasta

1. Put your pasta water on to boil.  When it's ready put in your pasta.
2.  Chop and rinse your leek, soften in olive oil.
3.  When a bit soft add garlic, anchovy fillets and stir in.
4.  Add chopped beans and broccoli spears, broken into bite sized pieces.  Cook through, adding water to boil and steam to cooked.
5.  Drain pasta, add to sauce, add a handful of spinach and grind on black pepper.  Turn over and spinach will "melt" into the pasta.

Serve, scoff.  Really healthy and very tasty.

Chicory, celery and kholrabi pasta bake

Interesting selection of veg in the veg box this week - but they don't lend themselves immediately to hearty winter warmers.  I could've made several delicious salads ... but, what with snow and everything ... just didn't fancy that.  So, a bit of a think, a few staples and condiments from the cupboard - and dah-dah

It would have been lasagne, but I had no gluten free lasagna, so I used what I had which was gf fusilli - mixed it with the veg sauce - topped with tomatoes and grated cheese.

Olive oil
Onion, diced
Celery, about a cupful, diced
Kholrabi,  (half) peeled and diced
Mushrooms, diced
Chicory (endive), chopped
Garlic
Oregano
Mustard
stock
soya milk

Pasta shapes (GF fusilli today... but you knwo, whatever... )

Tomatoes, sliced

Cheddar, grated

1.  Gently sautee diced onion and celery in olive oil.
2.  When a bit soft add kholrabi and mushrooms, keep softening for a bit, add garlic and oregano.
3.  Cook pasta in boiling water.
4.  When veg are softenning a bit, add some stock (and/or white wine) and a teaspoon of mustard, simmer for a bit.
5.  Add chopped chicory, simmer.  I let the sauce down with a little soya milk because it was looking a bit dry, and I thought it would add a little "creaminess" - it worked.
6.  When the pasta is nearly done, drain it and mix it with the veg mix and put into an oven dish.
7.  Top the pasta mix with sliced tomatoes, and a drizzle of olive oil.  Bung in the oven at 180 C.
8.  Grate cheese and sprinkle on top of bake after 10 minutes.  Bake for a further 20 minutes until bubbling and lovely.

Serve, scoff.