Penne Bolognese

Firstly, I'd like to apologise for neglecting my blog for such a long time, but I've been so incredibly busy over my Christmas holidays that I even haven't had time to catch up with sleep. And secondly, before turning to the first post of the year, I'd like to wish all of you my dear readers a happy new year!

As bolognese is one of my favourite pasta sauces I decided to kickstart the new year with that. It is one of those recipes that at first might seem like a bit too much work, but actually it is so easy to make. The only thing with bolognese (and with most other stews) is that the longer you cook them the tastier they are. This sauce can be easily made ready in 50 minutes, but I usually try to cook mine for around 3 hours. What I tend to do is that I put it on around lunchtime and then leave it to simmer while I either tidy the flat or study or do something at home and then eat it for dinner. And whenever I make it at home I make a huge batch and then divide it up and freeze it so I could have it whenever I get my pasta cravings. Another thing to note is that the sauce will be as good as the ingredients are that you put in it - make sure it is quality beef as it makes a huge difference in taste.

I really love that the sauce itself is so incredibly simple, but at the same time it tastes so delicious. Serve it with al dente pasta and freshly shaven parmesan for a delicious meal.


Ingredients
(Serves 4)
- 400g Penne (or other pasta)
- 2 tsp oil
- 100g bacon
- 1 onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 400g good quality minced beef
- 500g tomato puree (passata)
- 500ml beef stock
- 1 tsp oregano
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 tsp sugar

- Parmesan, to serve

Directions
Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add chopped bacon, onion and garlic and fry for few minutes. Then add minced beef and fry for another 5 minutes. Lastly add the passata, oregano and beef stock. Bring to boil and then turn down the heat and simmer covered for 50 minutes (I usually cook mine for 3 hours) and stir it every once in a while. Before serving, season with salt, sugar and pepper.

To serve, boil the penne, place on deep plates, pour over the sauce and add a generous sprinkle of parmesan. Serve immediately

Recipe from book "Pasta"

Chicken & pesto penne

I know I promised to be healthy with my posts, but in all honesty pasta can be considered relatively healthy if you have wholegrain pasta and don't serve it with loads of cream. And as this tastes really good I just had to share it - especially as I improvised all the way. I came up with this dish one day after coming home late after lectures and as all the shops had already closed I could not pick up anything. To add to that, I honestly had no idea what I had in the fridge. My choice was either go home and make something up as I go along or have a take away. Thankfully I decided to give it a go at home.

To my luck I had some pasta, chicken and pesto at home. Surprisingly, the result of my improvised dinner was so good that I decided to share it. It's quick to make and has everything you want in your pasta dish without the unhealthiness - lean chicken, tomatoes to count towards your 5-a-day, crème fraîche instead of the cream for the creaminess and pesto to top it all off. And as always, no pasta dish is perfect without some, or in my case a generous sprinkle, cheese on top. It is quick, really nice and filling, but at the same time not too heavy - it could be nicely served for a dinner during the summer. For a more sophisticated take on the dish add some pine nuts to the pasta and serve with a nice glass of chilled white wine.


Ingredients
(Serves 1)
- 100g wholewheat penne
- 110g chicken fillets
- 50g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 tsp crème fraîche
- 1 tbsp pesto
- Parmesan to serve

Directions
Put the pasta to boil. In the meantime chop up the chicken fillets to small cubes. Fry them in some olive oil until nearly done, then add the cherry tomatoes to the pan and fry stirring until the chicken is ready. Then put the crème fraîche and pesto on top and mix well to cover the tomatoes and the chicken. When the pasta is done, drain it and place back into the pot. Add the chicken and pesto and mix well over some heat. Place the pasta in a bowl and serve with a generous sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Parma ham & melon

Every now and then I feel like eating something simple and tasty. Something that does not take hours to prepare and does not need a long list of ingredients. Sure, sophisticated or a bit more special food is great - I am a big fan of trying new things and experimenting with ingredients which I have to google to find out what they are and how do they look like. However, sometimes simplicity is the key to food. And this brings me to todays recipe. I even don't know whether it is correct to call it a recipe as it basically involves eating two ingredients together... Nevertheless it is undoubtedly one of my all time favourites. It is one of those universal recipes that you can have any time of the day just by yourself or serve it as canapés or a starter at a dinner party - just organise the melon and ham in a fancy way and voila! It has always been a big crowd pleaser so you can't go wrong with serving this. Also, there are endless ways of serving this dish - melon wedges, cubes, slices and the bit lazy ones amongst us (or ones under time constraints) can even buy ready-to-eat melon pieces and serve it up with the ham.

I am still amazed how good this combination of sweet melon and salty Parma tastes like. It's perfect combination for a refreshing summer dish and adds a nice dose of sun into my day whenever I have it. For a more sophisticated take on the recipe, drizzle with some good quality balsamic vinegar and for a more filling dish, serve rocket on the side and increase the quantities.

Ingredients
(Serves 1)
- 200g melon, sliced
- 90g Parma ham
- Fresh black pepper to serve
- Balsamic vinegar, to serve (optional)
- Olive oil, to serve (optional)

Directions
Peel the melon and slice into pieces. Place the melon slices onto a plate and top them off with Parma ham. Drizzle some balsamic vinegar and olive oil on top if you wish and serve with freshly ground pepper.

Penne carbonara

Firstly, I would like to apologise for having such a big gap between this post and the last one. I had a minor technical problem, which, thankfully, has been sorted out.

Carbonara sauce was the second pasta sauce I ever tried (Bolognese was obviously the first) and I fell in love with the moment I tasted it! I wasn't very good at cooking savoury dishes few years back and as I loved the sauce so much I resorted into using a ready made powder (shame on me!). As my skills in the kitchen developed I decided to try out the sauce from scratch. When I found out how easy it actually was to make the sauce I actually felt ashamed that I didn't try making it before -  I was so sure that something so delicious definitely required hours of complicated cooking, but I obviously was proven wrong.

I consider pasta carbonara a real treat as it manages to combine loads of good things into one dish - pasta, cream, bacon and Parmesan cheese, but it obviously isn't the healthiest of the options. This dish might have a 'treat' status for me, but regardless of that fact it is so simple and fast to make - it all takes basically as long as it takes for the pasta to cook. I really needed something to lift my mood a bit after spending a long day at university and since my sister is staying over there was no better excuse not to treat us to a nice home cooked pasta. This has undoubtedly been one of my favourite recipes for quite a few years now and I'm sure that once you've tried it you realise why :)

Ingredients
(Serves 2)
- 200g Penne (or any other pasta; I used wholegrain)
- 4 bacon rashers
- 2 eggs
- 25g Parmesan cheese (plus more for serving)
- 160ml cream

Directions
Bring a pot of water to boil and add salt. Then add the pasta and cook it until al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, cut the bacon into small cubes and fry it. Then place the bacon pieces on a kitchen paper to dry off the excessive fat. In a medium saucepan, whisk together eggs, cream and the parmesan. Place the mixture on the hob and heat up, whisking constantly to avoid clumps. When the sauce starts to thicken add the bacon and mix until nicely combined.

When the pasta is ready, drain it and add into the sauce. Mix well, divide between two bowls and serve immediately with some freshly ground pepper and a generous sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Recipe from a book "Pastaraamat"

Butternut squash risotto

I have wanted to try out this recipe for a while now, but never got around doing it. So today, when I had to decide what to have for dinner on a grey Saturday evening I decided to finally give it a go as I wanted something quite light, which this risotto is, but at the same time something warming and comforting. I could not have made a better choice as it was absolutely divine - creamy, warming and so easy to make!

Ingredients
(Serves 1 - 250cal)
- 1/4 onion, chopped
- olive oil
- 1/2 spring of thyme, chopped
- 65g butternut squash, peeled and diced
- 50g risotto rice
- 150ml hot vegetable stock (fresh or cube)
- butter
- grated parmesan


Directions
Fry the onions in oil until soft, but not browned. Add the thyme, squash and rice and stir for few seconds to coat with oil. Add a couple of tablespoons of stock and bring to a simmer.

Cook, stirring until almost all the stock is absorbed and then add rest of the stock. Cook until the squash is soft and rice is al dente and creamy. Season and add a bit of butter and stir until it has melted and risotto has a creamy consistency.

Serve with grated parmesan cheese and decorate with a spring of thyme.

Recipe from BBC Good Food