Pasta Alla Norma

Pasta Alla Norma (pasta with eggplant and bocconcini)

 

 

This is one of my favourite dishes to order at italian restaurants, so one day I decided to make it myself. I have made it quite a few times now, so this recipe is a sort of hyrbrid of recipes with my own spin. A little bit of Jamie Oliver is in here too- cause he's my fave! Traditionally, Pasta Alla Norma is made with ricotta, but I love bocconcini in it as it sort of half holds together and half goes all stringy... yummy! Not the VERY healthiest dish cause it does use a bit of oil, but if you only add it gradually when cooking the eggplant you're only giving the eggplant as much as it needs and the dish isn't oily. Plus, eggplant is good for you so that's a bonus!

 

Time taken?: 30 mins. Seriously I timed this one, only 30 mins from start to plate!

 

2 year old friendly?: Yep! He ate this one up. Although i kinda had to hide the eggplant from him a little.. ;-)

 

Serves 4-5

 

INGREDIENTS

1 packet of Penne Pasta

2 small eggplants or 1 large one, cut into bite sized pieces

I tub of bocconcini, chopped into smaller bite-sized morsels.

2 cups passata OR 2 tins crushed tomatoes

1 clove garlic, crushed

A handful of basil or parsely

Some dried oregano (optional)

Olive oil

 

METHOD

Put a large pot of water on to boil and cook pasta as per packet instructions.

Heat a large frypan on high heat and coat the bottom with olive oil. Fry the eggplant in 2 batches, tossing into just a pinch of dried oregano and adding extra oil when needed, until eggplant is nice and soft and browned on all sides.

Remove the eggplant from the pan. Heat a little more oil and cook the garlic for a few minutes before returning all the eggplant to the pan along with the passata. Stir well to combine and cook for about 5 minutes to help the sauce thicken, seasoning with salt and pepper. Add a handful of chopped basil or parsely towards the end of cooking.

Add the eggplant sauce to the cooked and drained pasta and then stir through the bocconcini.

Serve immediately.



Sweet and Sour Chicken Stir Fry

Sweet and Sour Chicken Stir Fry

 



 

 

Remember when I said in my introduction that sometimes I would used jarred food? Well this is one of those times, although instead of using a whole ready made simmer sauces (those usually contain the vegies in them already and I prefer using fresh vegies) I use a jarred marinade and also use it as a sauce (it's the masterfoods brand which contains nothing artificial, so I knew it was fine to serve the family). It's the first time I have tried it and it turned out pretty good. It was also super quick once the chicken is marinated. Even with mariating the chicken, it only takes about 30-40 mins.

 

Hubby loved this one, and my mother-in-law who was visiting for dinner also loved it.

 

Time taken?: Took me about 40 mins all up, but I had forgotten to buy rice and had to wait for someone to rush down to the shops for a packet!

 

2 year old friendly?: Wouldn't know- he was in a mood and even try it! It's something he would eat at daycare though so probably would be for other kids.

 

This makes 4 big serves

 

INGREDIENTS

750g chicken breast, cut into small cubes

1 medium capsicum, chopped into small batons

1 medium onion, sliced

About 1.5 cups of mushrooms

1 jar of masterfoods "Sweet Plum Marinade"

2 teaspoons soy sauce

Olive oil

Steamed or boiled white rice to serve

 

METHOD

Pour about 3/4 of the plum sauce over the diced chicken breast and put in the fridge to marinate for at least 20 mins

Once chicken is marinated, heat a small amount of oil in a large saucepan on high heat and add the chicken (without draining). Cook, stirring, until just cooked through.

Add the vegetables, the rest of the marinade and the soy sauce. Cook, stirring, until sauce well encorporated and the vegetables are tender yet still slightly crisp.

 

Serve with the rice.

  

 



Jamie's Golden Chicken

Jamie's Golden Chicken- with potato gratin and greens

This is one of Jamie's 15 minute meals, and although you probably COULD do it in 15 mins if you followed his instructions to the tea, it would be a very very hectic 15 mins! Even after taking my time with the prep- I did feel like I was in a masterchef time challenge when I got to the actual cooking part! This is because Jamie doesn't really give timings, just steps, the idea being that when a step is done the cooking will be up to your next step- and it was- everything worked out- but it was just busy! 

Having said that, it's worth trying cause it was absolutely delicious! I am going to try to write it how I did it, not how Jamie writes to do it.

Time taken?: about 30 mins when you take time with prep. Can do it in less time.

2 year old friendly?: well sort of, he had the chicken but not the potato or greens. But he's been particularly difficult lately with food!

Serves 4 (unless your hubby eats a lot of chicken- then it's more like 2.5!)

INGREDIENTS

800g potatoes

3 onions

1 chicken stock cube

1 bunch fresh sage (I left this out- it was fine without)

100ml single cream

Parmesan cheese to grate over gratin

500 g chicken breast (separated/ cut into 4 x 125g pieces)

About 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary

2 rashers of smokes streaky bacon, finely sliced.

200g baby leeks (I just used 1 regular leek)

200g baby spinach

200g frozen peas

Olive oil

METHOD

Turn your oven grill onto high heat.

Very finely slice the potatoes and peel and finely slice the onions (I used a V slicer on number 1 setting. Jamie says to use a food processor with the fine slice blade).

Put a medium lidded saucepan and a large high sided roasting tray on the stove- both on high heat

Boil the kettle. Put the potatoes and the saucepan, pour over the boiling water and put the lid on.

Put the onions and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the roasting pan. Crumble in the stock cube, seain with salt and pepper and stir. Tear in the sage leaves if using. Keep an eye on it and had water if anything starts to catch (I didn't need to).

Put a large frypan on the stove onto medium/ high heat. Put the chicken on a large piece of baking paper. Toss to with salt and pepper and the leaves from the rosemary sprigs. Fold the paper over and bash the chicken to 1.5cm thick with a rolling pin. Put 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the frypan and jaded the chicken breast, turning after 3 or 4 minutes until golden and cooked through. 

Drain the potatoes well in a colander, then tip them into the roasting tray with the onions and arrange them into a flat layer. Pout over the cream, finely grate over some Parmesan. Put the tray under the grill (top shelf) until golden. 

Halve the leeks and rinse under cold water, then finely slice. Put into a medium saucepan (can use the potato pan) on high heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, stirring often. Meanwhile, add the bacon to the chicken pan (chicken should be turned over now) tossing regularly. Stir the spinach and peas into the leeks and once the spinach is wilted and the peas are tender, transfer to serving platter.

Serve with the chicken and the gratin. 

Hubby's Homemade pizza dough

Hubby's Homemade Pizza Dough

This is a recipe I let my husband make for us as I'm very messy when I work with flour, but he says it's easy and as he is not normally a cook or a baker, I am sure it is! It is a weekend dish as you do need time for the dough to rise, but it's a fun weekend dish to do especially with kids as they can join in and make their own pizza (although my little one isn't QUITE there yet). 

Time taken?: 15-20 mins to mix the dough, plus 1 hour to rise, and then about 10-15 to top and 10- 15 to cook.

2 year old friendly?: Yes, we even made him his own little pizza. Also a good way to hide veggies under the cheese or mixed into the sauce.

This dough makes about 2 individual sized pizzas and makes a 'medium' crust. We usually do 1.5 times this so we have extra for the little one and make large pizzas so we have extra for next day leftovers. 

Ingredients

2 satchels packet yeast

1 cup warm water (or more or less as needed)

2 cups bread flour plus extra for dusting etc.

1/3 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Method

Put the yeast in a small bowl and add about 1/2 cup of the warm water.

Stir gently until the yeast has dissolved. Set aside until frothy (about 10 mins).

Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture, oil and enough of the remaining warm water o obtain a fairly sticky dough (my husband likes to use a food processor to mix, but you can definitely mix it manually)

Dust a clean work surface with extra flour. Scrape all the dough out of the bowl onto the work surface. Shape into a firm, round ball. 

Knead the dough for 8-10 mins. When it is firm and no longer sticks to your hands or the work surface, lift it up and bang it down a couple of times to develop the gluten.

When ready, the dough will be smooth and elastic and show definite air bubbles beneath the surface. Place in a large oiled bowl and cover with a cloth. Set aside to rise for 1 hour.

When done rising, knead and stretch the dough into the desired shape, size and thickness for your pizza. Top with your favourite toppings and cook for 10-15 mins in a 250 degree c oven on oven trays, pizza trays or pizza stones. 

Our favourite toppings:

Hubby's- 'Four Seasons'- passata as the base (or pizza sauce), mozzarella, mushrooms, capsicum, ham and prawns.

Mine- 'Italian supreme'- passata, anchovies, mozzarella, ham, mushrooms, capsicum, olives, fresh basil (this is the one pictured above)

Little one's- 'Cheesy ham'- passata, ham and lots and lots of mozzarella (with some veggies hidden underneath if mum and dad feel it necessary!). 

Lasagne

Lasagne

 

 (pictured before cooking)

 

 

This is a pretty classic lasagne recipe, and it's the recipe I have used for years and it's always a very big hit for whoever i cook it for! My husband requests it for his birthday every year! This is NOT a quick weeknight meal- but as it's christmas I have been doing a lot of my more 'special' dishes to bring to parties. It's not quick- it is however quite easy. I find a lot of people are afraid of lasagne, this recipe will help to de-mystify it (you don't even use fresh lasagne sheets!). The picture above is before cooking, cause I made it up today and will cook it tommorrow before the party so it's cooked fresh (although it's still very good reheated for leftovers the next day!). Also, a note about the healthy-ness- it's not. And I have tried cooking this one with skim milk, nuttelex instead of butter etc and it just doesn't work as well so this is one where you just have to go with it! (it is christmas after all- and this one takes too long not to be a 'sometimes' food anyway!).

 

Time Taken: Preparation, cooking of the sauces and assembly of the pasta takes about 1 hour. Cooking time in the oven is 30- 40 mins.

 

2 year old friendly?: Yes definately! He LOVES lasagne (like garfield!)

 

INGREDIENTS

Meat sauce

3 tbs olive oil

1 large onion, thinly diced

500g minced beef or pork- OR a mixture of pork and veal (NOTE- it's traditional to use pork and veal, but I usually use beef cause I like the flavour. For this one in particular I used JUST pork as some of the people I am cooking for don't eat beef).

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 410g cans of tomato puree

1/2 cup tomato paste

1/2 cup water

A handful each of fresh basil and parsely, chopped finely (can use oregano instead of parsely)

Salt and pepper for seasoning

White (bechamel) sauce

2 cups milk (full cream)

2 tbs butter

2 tbs plain flour

For the lasagne construction

1 cup grated parmesen cheese (note- I cheat and use the packet one!)

1 packet of large instant lasange sheets (dry)

1-2 packets of mozerlla cheese, shredded (I buy 2 packets and usually need to use a little bit of the second one- but you could make 1 packet stretch if you want to)

 

METHOD

Meat sauce

Head the oil and saute the onions and garlic in a medium-large pot.

Add meat and cook until brown, stirring to break up meat, on medium heat. Add tomato puree, tomato paste, water, fresh herbs and salt and pepper.

Bring to boil on high. Cover and simmer for about 30 mins, stirring occasionally.

White sauce

While the meat sauce is cooking, melt butter on low heat in a medium saucepan. Remove form heat.

Add flour and stir well till creamy. Put back on heat, turning up to medium, and add milk a bit at a time, stirring until it boils and thickens. Sauce is done when it coats the spoon (note, it will thicken more once it cools).

To construct lasagne

Add some meat sauce to a large baking dish to coat the bottom in a thin layer. Cover with a layer of the pasta sheets (you can break them to get the right coverage). Add another layer of sauce over the pasta sheet and then spoon on some bechamel sauce and sprinke over an even covering of mozerella cheese and parmesen cheese.

Repeat layers (pasta sheets, meat sauce, white sauce and cheese) twice, but on top layer leave off the bechamel sauce and use slightly more cheese for a nice golden cheesy finish (you end up with 3 layers of pasta sheets).

Cook lasagne in a 180 degree oven for 30- 40 mins.

Can be frozen before or after cooking (as long as the meat was not frozen before cooking).

 

Pasta with Prawns in a Tomato and Basil Sauce

Pasta with Prawns in a Tomato and Basil Sauce

 

This one is so simple and easy I didn't need a recipe! It's one of my favourite things to order in restaurants in the summer, and when trying to decide what to cook one night I thought I'd give it a go. Tip: you can buy fresh prawns, but I discovered frozen raw prawns recently and they're so good and convienient that I just always keep a packet in the freezer. They defrost really quickly if you put them in a plastic bag and put them in warm (not hot) water, so they're a great thing to have around. And they taste no different to the fresh ones.

Time taken: No more than 20 minutes. Super quick!

2 year old friendly?: The pasta bit yes, he didn't like the prawns. But that's okay, you can just leave them off the plate if your young ones aren't into them. More prawns for you!

Makes 4 BIG servings or 6 smaller ones.

INGREDIENTS
About 350-400g of raw peeled prawns
1 packet of spaghetti
2 cans of good quality tinned crushed tomatoes.
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Olive oil
A handful of basil leaves, torn into shreds.
Some freshly grated parmesan cheese, to serve

METHOD
Put a large saucepan of water on to boil and once boling, salt the water and add the spaghetti. Cook till al-dente.
Meanwhile, heat some olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add the garlic and onion and cook until soft.
Add the tins of tomatoes, some salt and pepper and just over half of the basil. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, simmering for about 5-10 minutes, until sauce reduces and thickens slightly.
While the sauce is simmering, heat a very small amount of oil in a medium fry pan. Add the prawns and cook until JUST opaque (transfer them to a bowl if sauce still cooking).
Add the prawns to the finished sauce and then immediately add the sauce to the cooked and drained pasta. Add remaining basil and stir though well.
Served sprinkled with grated parmesan.

 

Mac and Cheese with Peas

Mac and Cheese with Peas

 

This is another recipe from my friend Tina, a very big supporter of my blog! Thanks Tina! I slightly altered Tina's recipe when I made it to make it lower fat, and i also added the peas. Because I lowered the fat content it made it a little on the bland side, so I have offered below both versions, the lower fat version (which is still nice- but perhaps ensure to season it lots and perhaps add some trim bacon for more flavour), and the totally yummy original version (when you just need flavour and to hell with it!).

Time taken?: About 30 mins all up. Pretty quick!

2 year old friendly?: I would imagine so- although mine refused to try it! I know that Tina's little 1 year old loves it- so it's at least 1 year old friendly!

INGREDIENTS
250g elbow macaroni
60g butter (low fat version-  60g Nuttelex)
1/3 cup plan flour
3 cups milk (low fat version- 2.5 cups skim milk. You add less if it's skim as skim is more watery and the sauce doesn't thicken otherwise)
2 cups coarsely grated pizza cheese (low fat version- lite tasty cheese or lite mozzarella)
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed (optional)
(Reminder- add some salt and pepper and maybe trim bacon if doing low fat version)

METHOD
1. Pre heat the grill setting on your oven on high.
2. Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente and drain. As pasta is cooking, melt butter in saucepan, add flour, cook and stir for about 2 mins or until mixture thickens and bubbles. Gradually stir in milk, cook and stir until sauce boils and thickens.
3. Stir pasta, half of the cheese and the peas (if adding) into the sauce. Pour mixture into shallow (2litre, 8 cup) baking dish. sprinkle remaining cheese on top and place under hot grill until cheese melts and is browned lightly.