Old Mother Hubbard's Cupboard

So, what do you cook when you get home from holiday in the early hours of Sunday morning and it's Easter, which means no shops open until Tuesday?  We had a bit of a situation here, because shops and supermarkets (unlike the UK) don't open on Sunday, or Monday either if it happens to be a public holiday.  Actually, Sunday wasn't a problem because we ate out, but today some inspiration was called for.

I looked in the fridge and found some lemons, a dried chilli and a block of Parmesan.  In the (almost) empty cupboard I found some spaghetti and olive oil.  Not much in the garden just yet, but we do have herbs and young garlic.  No problem - Lemon Pasta with Fresh Baby Garlic and Oregano - we won't starve quite yet.

If you're interested in the recipe, here it is.

This amount served two of us :-

Spaghetti
Olive Oil
2-3 fresh, young garlic, sliced
Finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
Small red chilli (optional)
Small handful fresh oregano (or whatever you have in the garden)
Salt and black pepper
Parmesan to serve

First, put the water on to heat and add the spaghetti when it boils.  Cook for as long as it says on the packet.

Meanwhile, cook the young garlic, gently, in the oil.  I usually pull the young garlic which hasn't grown as big as the others - probably destined to produce only one or two cloves if left to mature.  At this point I crumbled a dried red chilli into the pan, but you can leave that out if preferred.

When the garlic starts to soften, add the lemon rind and chopped oregano.  Cook only until the leaves start to wilt, you don't want it crisp and brown.

Season with salt and pepper and, when the spaghetti is ready, strain and discard the liquid, and add pasta to the oil mix.  Stir in the lemon juice and cook lightly until some of the juices are soaked up by the spaghetti.

Serve topped with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan.

Lemon Pasta with Fresh Baby Garlic and Oregano

Friday's Feast!

Recently, I've been looking at this website (you can also visit by clicking on The Italian Dish in my blog list on the sidebar.  It's a really special website if you're interested in Italian cooking, or any cooking for that matter.

Anyway, it reminded me just how easy it is to make your own fresh pasta.  It's quite a long time since I made any, I don't know why, but she inspired me to make some for our lunch today.

Her recipe is very simple, just one egg to three quarters of a cup of flour, but because I used a bit more flour (one full cup), I added a bit of olive oil as well.

You just mix the flour into the egg with a fork until it comes together, then knead it into a ball which is placed in the fridge for 20 minutes or so (a good time to make the sauce!)

Then you just cut it into sections and put each one through the rollers of a pasta maker (mine's an Imperia bought for me by a friend - he bought me a motor for it too, so it's very easy to make by myself, two hands instead of three)

until it's thin enough to feed into one of the two cutters.  I used the spaghetti sized one today, except that it's square-sectioned rather than round.  I'm sure the Italians have a name for this pasta but, not knowing what it is, I'll just call it spaghetti.

Finished!

If you don't have a pasta maker, it is possible to make it using a rolling pin, but it's difficult (though not impossible) to get it really thin as the dough is quite elastic and springs back.  It can then be cut with a knife.

At this point, the water was boiling, and it just takes two minutes to cook - brilliant.

I would have posted a photo of the dish on the table, but my camera ran out of battery at that point - next time maybe.

Another Recipe

This one's for Pam and Andrew, friends in the UK.  Another pasta recipe I'm afraid.  This is not one of mine, we call it Jane's Chilli Pasta because the recipe was given to me by my sister in law in Switzerland - think it's originally a Delia Smith though (although she uses parsley where I use coriander).

The nice thing about this is that you can make a batch of it and keep it in a jar in the fridge until you need it, and it should do 2 or 3 meals.

JANE'S CHILLI PASTA

1 red or green chilli, chopped
Coriander, chopped
Extra-virgin olive oil
Capers and black olives - chopped
Zest and juice of half a lemon
Clove garlic, crushed
Salt and black Pepper
Spaghetti
Fresh Parmesan


Cook spaghetti, grate Parmesan.
Meanwhile, mix all remaining ingredients in a jar, shaking well.
Serve cold (I just put the jar on the dining table) stirred through pasta and topped with Parmesan.




Sorry there are no quantities, it really is a question of taste.  I probably use about a tablespoon of capers and maybe 2 of olives, a handful of coriander and then, when all other ingredients are in the jar, I approximately double the amount with olive oil.  You only need about 2 dessertspoons for each person as it's quite a strong flavour.

New Pasta Recipe

Developed yet another new pasta recipe today.  Whenever I ask Eric what he would like for lunch/dinner, I can almost guarantee he'll say "pasta".  Since I get a bit fed up with his usual favourites of pesto or tomato, I occasionally dream up something a bit different.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Today, I really wanted something tasty and fresh, not cheesy or stodgy.  I consulted my pasta bible, but all the recipes I might have made needed at least 2 ingredients that I didn't have.  So, I visited the fridge and found asparagus and fresh rocket, then visited the food cupboard and took out a small jar of tomato puree (bottled last year from our own tomatoes), then visited the herb garden and came back with a handful of fresh, green, flavourful leaves.  This is what emerged:-

 SPAGHETTI WITH HERBS AND ASPARAGUS


Ingredients :


Spaghetti
Olive Oil
Whole garlic cloves (halved if large) - I used a whole bulb as we have so much
Handful of fresh chopped herbs (i.e. thyme, marjoram, sage, rosemary)
Fresh aparagus tips (about 6 per person)
Small jar tomato puree
Salt and black pepper
Fresh rocket, roughly chopped
Fresh Parmesan, finely grated


Method :


Saute garlic in oil over a medium heat.  Meanwhile, cook asparagus in pasta water for about 8-10 mins, then remove with a slotted spoon.  Bring water back to the boil and add spaghetti.  Cook for recommended time.

When garlic is soft and just taking on a bit of colour, add herbs and asparagus and stir well over a low heat.  Pour in tomato puree and heat through.  Season with salt and black pepper.

When pasta is ready, stir rocket into the sauce.  Serve on top of the spaghetti and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan.


The flavours were actually very complimentary - think this is one of my more successful recipes.  Sorry no photos . . . we ate it!