Pasta peperonata - Recommended Recipe!

Pasta peperonata - serves 4.

Ingredients
2 red peppers, seeded and sliced
2 yellow peppers, seeded and sliced
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 red onions, peeled and finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and grated
2 handfuls of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves finely chopped, stalks reserved
2 tsbp red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar
2 handfuls of grated parmesan cheese
2 heaped tbsp mascarpone cheese or creme fraiche (optional)
455g/1lb rigatoni, penne or spaghetti

Method

1. Put all the peppers in a large frying pan over a medium heat with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Place a lid on, and cook slowly for 15 mins until softened.  Don't rush this too much, as cooking the peppers slowly like this really helps to bring out the flavour.
2. Add the onions and cook for a further 20 mins.  Then add the garlic and parsley stalks and toss around, keeping everything moving in the pan.  Cook for about 3 mins more.  Have a little taste, and season with a bit more salt and pepper.
3. Add the vinegar - it will sizzle away, so give everything a good toss.  Then add one handful of the grated parmesan and the mascarpone or creme fraiche (if using) and turn the heat down to minimum while you cook the pasta.
4. Meanwhile, put a large pot of salted water on to boil.  Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to the pack instructions.  When cooked, drain in a colander, reserving some of the cooking water.
5. Put the peppers, pasta and parsley leaves into a warmed bowl.  Give them a good toss together, then add a little of the pasta cooking water and a few good glugs of extra virgin olive oil to coat the pasta nicely.  Serve straight away, sprinkled with the rest of the parmesan.

Source - unknown.

Quick and Easy "hidden veg" Spaghetti Bolognese

Sometimes it's quite difficult to get your little (and big!) ones to eat the recommended 5 portions of vegetables and fruit per day.  I've never really struggled with my son as he will eat basically anything - except for chips, but that's no hardship!

My daughter, however, can be very fussy - apparently she takes after me but I can't see it really.... !  So anyway, this is how we sneak extra vegetables into our spaghetti Bolognese.

Ingredients
500g minced beef (or lamb) as lean as possible
1 onion, very finely chopped or grated
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 carrots, very finely chopped or grated
50g ish of mushrooms, wiped and chopped as small as possible
1 red pepper, deseeded and finely diced
2 tins of chopped plum tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chilli powder
 Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
approx 300g pasta - spaghetti or penne is best (but my daughter does like "butterflies!)
Grated cheese to sprinkle on top if required

1. Fry the mince until browned in a large frying pan - I don't use oil, just start on a lower heat to allow some of the fat to escape from the meat, then there's enough to fry in.  Add the onion and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes more.
2. Add the carrots, mushrooms, red pepper, tomatoes, tomato puree, paprika and chilli powder and mix well.
3. Simmer for 25-30 minutes until all the veg is soft and "disappeared"!  Add salt and black pepper to taste.
4. While the sauce is simmering, cook the pasta and grate the cheese.
5. Serve and enjoy with a green side salad!

There are 5 different vegetables in this recipe, excluding the salad, so a great boost for your vegetable intake.  Grating the veg is the best way to make them disappear - just mind your fingers though!

For the fruit side of things, in order to get my children to try different fruits, we like to experiment by making fruit kebabs.  Just buy a variety of fruits (most supermarkets stock a good and ever-changing reasonably priced exotic fruits) and let them choose, try and make fruit kebabs on cocktail sticks (make sure you supervise little ones with the cocktail sticks).  As a treat, you can drizzle with chocolate sauce and serve with ice cream!  Enjoy!

I am entering this recipe into Mummys Little Peeps healthy eating competition in attempt to win a £50 Sainsbury's voucher.

Green pasta - Recommended Recipe!

Green pasta - serves 4, preparation 5 minutes, cooking 10 minutes

Ingredients
300g penne rigate
150g mangetout
200g broccoli
4 tbsp The Co-operative Italian green pesto
Large handful (about 15g) Parmesan cheese or other hard cheese, grated

Method

1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the pasta following the pack instructions.  Drain.
2. Meanwhile, chop the mangetout and broccoli into small even-sized pieces and steam until just tender.  Add to the drained pasta.  Finally add the pesto and stir gently until everything is mixed together.  Serve with Parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top.

Per serving - 390 kcal, 10.7g fat, 3.7g saturated fat, 4.9g sugar, 0.8g salt.

Source - The Co-operative instore magazine.

Favourite Italian dish - Spag Carb!

Whenever I eat out at an Italian restaurant, I always choose the same meal for my main couse - Spaghetti Carbonara.  This is my all-time favourite Italian dish; even second to a good tiramisu!

The abbreviated form of Spaghetti Carbonara comes from a past job working for a blue-chip company who produced a large range of ready meals for the supermarket sector.  Hence, Spaghetti Carbonara becomes Spag Carb, Ham & Mushroom Tagliatelle become Ham Mush Tag and Beef Lasagne becomes Meat Las.  And of course, the old favourite which everyone knows Spag Bol!

Living where I do, there's not much choice for eating out - but whenever we go to a "big town" we can never decide where or what to eat becuase there's too much choice!

Whilst doing my weekly shop, I spotted a Colman's Carbonara Pasta Recipe Mix.  I have used Colman's sauce mixes before but never tried this one - so tonight I did!  I have tried to make a carbonara at home before with various other sauce mixes and also from scratch but I have never got it quite right.  This one however, was very easy to follow and is the best tasting that I have tried from the sauce mix ranges that are out there in the consumer world.  The fresh ingredients are all things that most of us would have in our cupboards anyway and so this really is a quick and easy tea.

My son loved it and asked for seconds; which the pack generously allowed.  It serves 4 and quite rightly it served 2 adults and 2 children with a bit left over for anyone who is extra hungry!

To add a cake to the menu today, I made some banana muffins - super simple to make and quick to cook.  They are best eaten warm as a breakfast muffin but I think they fit into any part of your day when you need a quick energy boost with a healthy(ish) cake!

You can find the recipe here - it's a recipe from "BBC Saturday Kitchen" which I love to watch whenever I have a spare Saturday morning!  It's a really simple recipe - mix all the wet ingredients together in one bowl, sift all the dry ingredients into another bowl; add the wet ingredients to a well in the centre of the "dry" bowl.  Mix gently and bake in muffin cases for about 20-25 mins at Gas Mark 5.  Job done!  The only comment to add is that I got 12 muffins instead of the stated 10 muffins - but this can only be a good thing!  My neighbour thought so anyway as she had the spare 2 to sample!

Anyway, here's a picture for you - they don't look very spectacular but taste lovely!