Tag Archives: pasta

Oct7

four easy recipes

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four easy recipes

I did a demonstration at the Say Cheese Fest yesterday. Herewith the recipes:

1. Click on this link: Chilli poppers

jalapeno poppers

chilli popper cigars = hot + easy … the way I like things

2. Click on this link: Potato salad 

 

Lemon parmesan chicken piccata

2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, flattened with meat hammer
3 T butter
1 T olive oil
juice of one lemon
1/4cup chicken stock
¼ cup capers
handful of parsley, chopped
1 garlic clove, sliced
Parmesan , shavings
cooked pasta

Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet over medium to high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 1 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add the chicken and cook for 2 minutes. When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 2 minutes. Add all the other ingredients accept the parmesan and spaghetti. Cooke for 2 minutes. Add pasta to plate and put chicken on top of the pasta. Pour the sauce over. Serve with parmesan shavings and extra chopped parsley

Banana bread in a mug with mascarpone and honey
1 coffee mug, sprayed with ‘spray and cook’
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 egg
1 Tablespoon buttermilk
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon oil
3 Tablespoons flour
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
⅛ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
2 T mascarpone
1 T honey
fresh thyme leaves
pecans

In a bowl, In a large, microwave-safe coffee mug, mash your ripe banana. Add the egg, buttermilk, vanilla extract, oil, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon (if using). Mix to combine. Pour into mug.
“Bake” it in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes.  The banana bread will be very hot, so allow it to cool for a few minutes before eating it. Mix the mascarpone, honey and thyme together. Top cake with mascarpone and pecans.

 

Nov8

tomato + chorizo pasta = perfect weekend dish

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tomato + chorizo pasta = perfect weekend dish

{extravagant treat}
This pasta is an extravagant treat yet plain + simple. It is one of those really easy recipes but it is so delicious that your family or guests might think you had been slaving away for hours … It is warm and hearty and perfect for friends popping over for dinner and is best served with a sultry smile and a good glass of red wine.

{bliss}
What I used in this recipe is my tried and tested, home styled tomato sauce recipe – it’s just olive oil, basil, garlic and tomatoes. After the tomatoes have popped open they ooze this richly irresistible, fresh cooked puree which forms this thick, lava like sauce of yumminess. I then add thin slivers of chorizo – let the tomato and chorizo pasta sauce simmer for a few minutes. And there you have it … done + dusted. Just do not forget the glass and a bottle of good red wine. Bliss!

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

chorizo pasta

 

chorizo pasta a perfect weekend dish
 
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Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 900g Rosa tomatoes
  • 200ml Olive oil – good quality (I know this sounds a lot but the tomatoes burst open to combine with the olive oil, garlic and basil to create a really amazing sauce )
  • 2 Handfuls of fresh basil
  • 8 Garlic cloves – peeled but kept in whole segments
  • 225g Chorizo sausage thinly sliced
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 150 – 200g Fresh parmesan cheese – shaved with potato peeler
  • 500g Spaghetti cooked as instructed on pack
Instructions
  1. Add the olive oil to a large pan / pot and add the garlic and about one handful of shredded or torn basil leaves. Heat the oil very slowly on low-medium. Remember, we are wanting to the olive oil to infuse with the garlic and basil. Infuse for about 5 minutes – please do not burn the garlic.
  2. Add all the tomatoes; turn up the heat to medium high and cook for +- 20 minutes without the saucepan lid.
  3. You will see the tomatoes will start to burst open and infuse with the olive oil.
  4. Add the chorizo and simmer for a further 5 minutes.
  5. Season generously with salt and freshly grounded black pepper. Please be sure to taste when you season!
  6. Just before serving, add the rest of the basil. To finish your dish take a potato peeler and shave some slices of good Parmesan cheese and sprinkle over your dish.

May20

shades of night – the alluring aubergine

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shades of night – the alluring aubergine

Although I did not quite start painting I decided I wanted to bring this mysterious aura of the aubergine into one photograph – to highlight its mysteriousness and allow the almost reclusive mood of the vegetable to translate onto the plate – anel

aubergine and tomato pasta

I always had a deep love for aubergines – something more than the usual obsession … when I see aubergines I want to design and create. I want to take out a canvas and start painting all its deep and alluring hues. The aubergine is just so mysterious and captivating, I don’t know if it is the beautiful shape with the green crown or that dark purple colour – or when you cut them they are full of these beautiful seeds and flesh – something dark, almost sinister yet enticing.

My mom used to sprinkle it with salt, then just roll it into some flour and fry then in a pan of oil. She then gave it a little sprinkle of Worcestershire sauce – and I was in heaven. Soft, delicious and packed with flavour.

pasta 2 800

So with this all said, I decided to keep this recipe simple using only tomatoes and some red peppers however, my creativity got the better of me after I took the pics. Although I did not quite start painting I decided I wanted to bring this mysterious aura of the aubergine into one photograph – to highlight its mysteriousness and allow the almost reclusive mood of the vegetable to translate onto the plate. Enjoy.

aubergine and tomato pasta

 

aubergine + tomato pasta
 
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Serves: 5-6
Ingredients
  • 500g Aubergines – cut into 1 cm circles - leave the skin on
  • 500g Rosa tomatoes
  • One whole garlic bulb – cut in half (do not peel or break into smaller cloves)
  • 1 Red pepper sliced thinly
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Olive oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Fresh parsley
  • Fresh basil
  • 500g Pasta – cooked as per packet instructions
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 190 C°. Sprinkle the tomatoes, red pepper, garlic generously with olive oil and paint both sides of the aubergine with the olive oil. Place everything on a baking tray sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and bake for 40 minutes.
  2. In the mean time cook your pasta until al dente.
  3. When done squeeze some of the roasted tomatoes with your hands into a pulp over the pasta – mix into the pasta. It forms a tomato sauce for the pasta.
  4. Tear the aubergines and add the red peppers. Squeeze the garlic out of the shells and add to the dish.
  5. Season liberally with Maldon salt and some pepper and a good sprinkle with olive oil.
  6. Finish the dish off by adding parmesan shavings and freshly chopped parsley and some basil leaves.

 

 

Nov3

poppy’s roasted chicken + herby tomato orzo

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poppy’s roasted chicken + herby tomato orzo

poppy’s roasted chicken + herby tomato orzo

We’re fortunate enough to live in a real suburban neigbourhood – picket fences, children in the streets, we don’t ever lock our doors and then we had this most amazing relationship with our neighbours.  Poppy (fromGreece) and Giuseppe (from Malta) were our neighbours for the past 8 years and they have  really become like a  second set of parents.  Poppy and I have always shared an incredible  love for food while the men shared the same love for their gardens.   When  I woke up in the mornings I would hear Poppy working in her kitchen – cooking and baking away on one of her many Greek creations.  There is no-one  in my eyes that  can cook like Poppy – or better than Poppy for that matter.  She is someone who can  take the simplest of ingredients and transform them  into these most amazing dishes.

At times when I was sad or  lonely when hubby was away I used  to sit in her kitchen in my pajamas, having a cup of coffee and waiting for a fresh bread or croissant coming out of her oven – she nurtured my body and soul. In the evenings I will hear a holler from over the wall….Aaa-néééél – then I rushed to the wall and there Poppy would be with a sample (enough for  Rick and I and another two people) of what she cooked during the day.

One of the dishes that she sent over the wall on several occasions was roasted chicken with orzo. Poppy taught me how to make this dish – yes, I have I added my own twist to it – but it’s still my Poppy’s dish.

Poppy and Giuseppe have since moved and our life is not quite the same without them but they are not too far away and never out of my thoughts.

I love you and miss you, Poppy. I made this specially for you on Dinner Divas.

roasted chicken + herby tomato orzo
 
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Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • Chicken
  • 6 Chicken thighs
  • 1t Dry oreganum
  • Olive oil
  • Salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper

  • Tomato Mix
  • ½ Tin (205g) Rhodes Oreganum and Basil Tomato Mix
  • 1 Tin (410g) Rhodes Whole Peeled Tomatoes – chopped
  • 1t Rhodes Tomato Paste
  • 3 Cloves of garlic finely grated
  • 60ml Olive oil
  • 200g Cherry tomatoes
  • 125ml Dry white wine
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1t Ground black pepper
  • 1t Sugar

  • Pasta Rice
  • 300g Cooked pasta rice
  • 1T Olive oil
  • 250g Grated Halloumni cheese (if you don’t have Halloumni cheese you can replace this with hard grated feta cheese)
  • 1t Dry mint
  • 2T Fresh parsley – finely chopped
  • 2 T Fresh basil – finely chopped
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 200 °C.
  2. Rub some olive oil onto the chicken pieces.
  3. Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides, sprinkle with the oreganum and then set aside.
  4. Add all the ingredients of the tomato mix into an oven roasting pan and stir well.
  5. Then place the chicken pieces on top of the tomato mix.
  6. Put in the oven and bake for 35 minutes.
  7. In the meanwhile cook your pasta rice.
  8. Drain the pasta rice with a sieve (not a colander as the rice drops through) and wash under hot water.
  9. Add the olive oil and mix.
  10. Then add the rest of the pasta rice ingredients and mix well.
  11. After 35 minutes take the chicken dish out of the oven.
  12. Remove the chicken pieces and set these aside for the moment.
  13. Also remove the whole baby tomatoes as we are going to use these for the salad later.
  14. Add the pasta rice to the tomato mixture – mix well then add the chicken and thereafter put the whole dish back in the oven for 10 minutes and bake.
  15. Take out of the oven and taste whether further seasoning if necessary.
  16. Serve hot in individual bowls with the pasta rice serving as a bed on which to rest the roasted chicken breasts.

 

Sep11

herby chicken + stem broccoli + parmesan and lemon pasta = healthy springtime surprise

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herby chicken + stem broccoli + parmesan and lemon pasta = healthy springtime surprise

herby chicken + stem broccoli + parmesan and lemon pasta

My mom, Babs, is in her eighties, extremely healthy and has been a size 10 her whole life. She is one of those “odd” people who does not like butter, cream, fatty foods, deep fried foods, chips and crisps or anything unhealthy and then she also does’nt like too much spices either – not like her not-so-small-foodie-wine-drinking-spice-loving-daughter! Lean proteins, huge salads, vegetables, different kinds of fruit and whole grains are part of her daily regimen – washed down with a cuppa tea or two or ten – and then … always a healthy strong whiskey every single night. I have to admit though that she has been prone to a bit of strong cheese and a dash of olive oil here and there just to keep the body parts in good working order.

So when Babs comes to visit I have to cook something healthy and therefore for our Sunday lunch recently I prepared a chicken breast covered in fresh herbs, some stem broccoli and I served it on parmesan + lemon flavoured pasta. It was delicious, fresh with a light and dreamy springtime flavour… but most importantly … mom approved. Enjoy!



herby chicken + stem broccoli + parmesan and lemon pasta = healthy springtime surprise
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • For the chicken
  • 4 Skinless deboned chicken breasts
  • 1T Olive oil
  • 1 Clove garlic – peeled and sliced in 4 slices length ways
  • 2 T Fresh coriander – chopped
  • 2T Fresh parsley – chopped
  • 1T Fresh basil – chopped
  • 1 Lemon
  • Salt
  • Black pepper
  • For the spaghetti
  • Cook enough spaghetti for 4 people
  • 2T Olive oil
  • 75g Grated parmesan cheese
  • 2T Fresh parsley – chopped
  • 1 Lemon
  • Salt
  • Black pepper
  • For the stem broccoli
  • 4 or more stem broccoli
  • Salt
  • Black Pepper
  • Drizzle of olive oil
  • Squeeze of lemon juice
Instructions
  1. Chicken: Make small incisions into the chicken breasts and insert a sliver of garlic into each breast.
  2. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
  3. Mix all chopped herbs together – parsley, coriander and basil.
  4. Then press the breasts in the fresh herbs – so that the herbs coat both sides of the chicken breasts.
  5. Using a non-stick pan fry the breasts till done – while frying squeeze a bit of lemon over the chicken.
  6. When done put aside.
  7. Pasta: Add the parmesan, olive oil and lemon in a bowl – mix well and add to the cooked pasta.
  8. Then mix the parsley through.
  9. Taste the pasta for seasoning – add some more salt and add the black pepper.
  10. Stem broccoli: Cook as per packet instructions – normally only 3-4 minutes.
  11. Immediately put in a bath of ice water.
  12. After a while, warm the broccoli up again in the same pot you have cooked them – add a drizzle of olive oil, lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
  13. To assemble: Place the cooked pasta the bottom of the bowl. Add the stem broccoli and then the chicken breast. To serve, add another drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon and parmesan shavings.