Similarly to Wendy Cope’s men, my entries for Presto Pasta Night are also like busses.

Bloody men are like bloody buses -
You wait for about a year
And as soon as one approaches your stop
Two or three others appear.

Wendy Cope – Bloody Men

Having has a good 4 months off this is my third submission to PPN in a row (and I have another one queued).  It must be something to do with the change in the season, dark cold evenings demand comfort food, and, judging from the plummeting quality of my photography, some decent lighting.

This recipe was developed for French’s Mustard, in conjunction with my current competition to win a £50 supermarket voucher.

Every autumn I become obsessed with slowly frying onions for 30 to 40 minutes to make them sweet, sticky and juicy.   They are then made into a sauce with a little cream (50ml for two people), chopped sausages and a generous dash of French’s smooth and spicy American mustard.   The mustard has just the right mix of sweetness and heat when paired with the sausage and onion, and thickens the sauce nicely.     If you have not done so before, do try adding a little pasta water to a creamy sauce.  It bulks it out and does not add the scary calories that cream contains.

I used a rather wonderful artisan pasta, from the Terracafe in London.    The Terracafe is a gem, situated in the wasteland between Victoria rail and coach stations.     They serve great Italian coffee and sell a range of delicious top notch products from Tuscany Corner.      With the price of rail travel rocketing we are travelling by coach more and more frequently, and the Terracafe will become a “must stop” for both provisions for the journey and presents when going to stay with people.

Recipe: Mustardy Sausage & Sticky Onion Pasta

Serves 2

1 tbs olive oil
1 large onion – finely sliced
2 cloves garlic – chopped
3 – 4 cooked chipolatas
150g pasta
50ml double cream
2 tbs grain mustard

Handful frozen peas and sweetcorn (optional)
Salt & Pepper to season

Gently fry the onion and garlic in the olive oil on the lowest heat on your hob, stir regularly, you may need to use a diffuser ring to stop it burning.

Meanwhile roast or fry the sausages.

When the onions are reduced (this will take about 30 mins) start cooking the pasta.

Finish the sauce by adding the chopped sausages & cream and season with salt and pepper.     Add a little pasta water to the sauce to thin and bulk it out.     Stir in the mustard to taste.

2 mins before the pasta is cooked add the peas and corn to the pan.

Drain the pasta, mix into the sauce and serve immediately.

Sending to this weeks Presto Pasta Nights hosted this week by HoneyB.

If you like sausages I am giving away 3 copies of the sausages cookbook!

Despite the, as yet, unbashed out backlog, I am determined to start to plan ahead and to actually publish some seasonal recipes.   The general Fuss Free rule is to not even to start to think about Christmas until after my birthday (the exception to this is things seen in the sales).  Birthday is done so time to think ahead.

This dish is in part inspired by the amazing Christmas produce box I received yesterday from Knorr (the majority of which has been stashed in the freezer).

In general I am a huge sprout fan, providing they are cooked properly.  Institutional over boiled mushy soggy sprouts that squirt bitter water into your mouth are an abomination, and I can quite understand why one sprouty school dinner can put people off for life.   I either shred and stir fry or roast them, both are quite delicious.

Matched with some tart cranberries, soft sweet chestnuts and creamy Stilton they make the perfect festive quartet.     You could add some leftover bacon from your turkey, or if you do not eat diary, use some pine nuts in place of the Stilton and leave out the butter.   Perfect seasonal pasta using leftovers to cater for omnivores, vegetarians or vegans.   This was quite delicious, and possibly far too good to wait to be made from Christmas (or even Thanksgiving leftovers) leftovers!

Recipe:  Chestnut, Cranberry, Stilton & Sprout Pasta

Amounts are approximate, use what you have.   Do not go mad on quantities if you over indulged on Christmas day!

Per person

4 or 5 sprouts – sliced
A glug of oil
A pat of butter
Ready cooked chestnuts -  sliced – 3 or 4 per person
A small handful of cranberries (or a spoon of leftover cranberry sauce)

2-3oz / 50 – 75g pasta

A slither of Stilton – crumbled
Salt & Pepper to taste

Finely shred the sprouts, if they have not been cooked place in a sieve and pour a kettle of boiling water over to soften them.

Heat up the oil and butter and gently fry the sprouts, chestnuts and cranberries.  Meanwhile boil the pasta.

When the pasta is done, drain, stir into the sprout, chestnut and cranberry mix.    Serve immediately topped with the crumbled Stilton.

Sending this to Ren’s Simple and in Season and Presto Pasta Nights hosted this week by Tandy at Lavender and Lime.

I hope that Lucy Cufflin, the leftover queen will be proud of me for devising this dish.

I recently received an e-mail inviting me to a bloggers’ Philly lunch where celebrity chef, Ed Baines would be cooking some recipes from the Philadelphia Local Heroes campaign.     Philadelphia is a very useful fridge staple that I use in a number of dishes, both savoury and sweet, cooked and uncooked.    I had not seen the competition or I would have certainly have submitted my Philly, pesto, chicken pasta (recipe below) which is easy to make, and very child friendly.

We assembled in the rather lovely kitchen above, and were put to work cooking our lunch, with lots of helpful tips from Ed and Natalie, the  London local food hero and creator of the Philly leek risotto pictured above.

This was followed by Philly chicken.  Pudding was a mini Pavlova, topped with a Philly and icing sugar mix, which tastes delicious, and contains few calories than cream.

For another sweet Philly idea of the perfect cream cheese frosting, check out Ruth’s post here.

My Philly pesto chicken pasta is my favourite thing to cook when looking after small children, it seems that all parents of small children always have chicken fillets, cream cheese and pesto in the fridge.    It is quick and easy and children (and most adults) love it.   Add some frozen peas and corn to the pasta water when it is nearly cooked.

Obviously, vary the amounts below according to the age of your children.  For adults and less fussy children add some garlic.  Also works well with ham or bacon.

Recipe: Philly Pesto Pasta

(serves 2 children)

2 handfuls of pasta shapes
1 small chicken breast diced
Small glug olive oil
1 heaped tbs Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 heaped tsp pesto
Handful frozen peas & corn
Sprinkling of grated cheese

Put the pasta on to boil.  Gently fry the chicken pieces in the olive oil for 5 mins, until cooked and just starting to brown.  Add the Philadelphia & pesto and stir until the cheese is melted.   Add enough of the pasta water to loosen the mix so it is at a coating consistency.

When the pasta is nearly done add the frozen peas and corn and bring back to the boil.

Drain the pasta and add to the sauce, serving with a sprinkle of cheese.

I am sending this to Presto Pasta Nights, hosted this week by Cassie the Kitchen Alchemist (together with an apology for sending a non vegetarian dish)

A tired me, and stern looking Ed Baines

Thank you to Philadelphia for a lovely lunch and for all the product samples.

Carbonara, is carbonara, is carbonara right?   Well, no actually.

This month’s theme for Sarah @ Maison Cupcake’s  Forever Nigella is Ciao Italia!, which reminded me of the carbonara off I attended last year but never got round to writing about.     With half a pot of cream in the fridge and some spare real British bacon, I decided to make Nigella’s carbonara. 

I am well aware that I can put a fair amount of food away, but I feel that with the quantities in this recipe Nigella has gone quite mad.  500g of pasta for two people?  The notes to the recipe state that she knows a whole packet is too much, but the recipe is for people in love and she wants “that whole panful lugged back to the bedroom“.   Frankly if I even attempted to eat that much spaghetti, the only action in my bedroom would be quiet groans of discomfort as I clutched my distended belly, there certainly would be no working up an appetite for leftovers as she suggests.

However, with a more measured amount of spaghetti, 75g per person, it was a pretty good carbonara.     I know that authentically there is no cream or wine, but Nigella’s version is delicious and perfect for a Friday night (to comfort after a long week at work) or Sunday (to commiserate for the long week ahead).    I left out the nutmeg, and used bacon in place of the pancetta.

On to the other carbonaras; way back in the mists of time (last November) I was asked to a Carbonara off between Jane Hornby and Marco Torri (Head Chef at Ristorante Semplice) to celebrate the publication of What to Cook and How to Cook it.  Both would cook their carbonara, (Jane’s recipe from the book) and a group of us would taste them blind and give our opinion.   Tough stuff and a real palate test!  The event has been sitting in my to be blogged queue waiting for the perfect time to write about it.

Both were very different, and Nigella’s is different again!

Firstly appearance.

Marco's Carbonara

Jane's Carbonara

Both tasted very different too:

Jane’s Carbonara – Far more al dente in texture, less salty and more porky, less sauce, sweeter.

Marco’s Carbonara -  Softer, cheesy sauce, sharp, peppery, smokey.

And the method of making them:

Jane’s Carbonara – used whole eggs, dry cured bacon, garlic (explains sweetness), all the bacon fat.

Marco’s Carbonara – egg yolks, pork cheeks, pecorino (explained peppery flavour), lots of finely ground pepper,  and added some pasta water for the sauce.

I was amazed at the difference!

Nigella also uses whole eggs – unless you are going to make something with the whites I think that this is sensible, otherwise it is just wasteful I can see lots of people sticking the egg whites in the fridge and then chucking them away a week later.

I think that here there is no winning dish, they are all perfect for different occasions.  Despite its simplicity, Marco’s pasta is a far more complex dish, as you would expect from a Michelin starred chef, that you need to think about the flavours whilst eating, one for an informal dinner party perhaps?  I am not going to be buying pig cheeks for a week night supper.    Jane and Nigella’s versions are both perfect for a simple supper, which recipe I use will depend if I have some white wine open or any cream.

I am also sending this to Presto Pasta Nights #207, hosted by the event’s founder, Ruth, at Once Upon a Feast.

Would you believe that it is Presto Pasta Night 200?   That is nearly 4 years of a pasta round up every friday night!  I wonder how many dishes that is in total?

I feel this post should be accompanied by a fanfare and fireworks!  Lots of entries this week, and I am posting a very quick run through!  I am sorry it is such a whizz through, it is late thursday evening in the UK, and I have mismanaged my diary and PPN co-incides with my having to hand in course work for my photography course tomorrow.  I had hoped to write abut two different carbonara recipes, but it will have to keep for next week’s PPN.

First up is Abby from Eat the Right Stuff and a PPN regular with a tagliatelle carbonara.

Kasha Varniskes, from  Claire at Chez Cayenne.  Kasha is buckwheat and this looks very healthy and tasty.

Tigerfish at teczcape – an escape to food, made Fresh Tomato and Mushrooms Vegetarian Linguine.

Orecchiette “Paella” with Sausage and Clams, from Maria at Kali Orexi

Pasta with marinated tempeh and goat’s cheese, from Lisa’s Kitchen

Good old spaghetti bolognaise from Kevin at Closet Kitchen.

Home made shrimp ravioli with pesto from PPN first timer Kankana’s Sunshine & Smile

Spelt Penne with mixed vegetable ragu from Claudia at Honey from Rock.

Squid ink pasta negra from One Dish at a Time

Jen at Tastes of Home made Udon in a Chicken Broth

Prawn Pad Thai from Daphne at More than words

Pappardelle with Pancetta and lentils, from Haalo at cook almost anything.

]]> http://fussfreeflavours.com/2011/02/presto-pasta-night-200/feed/ 10 http://fussfreeflavours.com/2010/12/pea-smoked-mackerel-and-horseradish-penne/ http://fussfreeflavours.com/2010/12/pea-smoked-mackerel-and-horseradish-penne/#comments Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:43:25 +0000 Helen http://fussfreeflavours.com/?p=2198

Have I mentioned my love of smoked fish before? I am sure I have.  It’s delicious, relatively cheap, long lasting in the fridge which makes it a staple in the Fuss Free kitchen.

This pretty cream, pink and green dish was simple to put together and used up an open packet of smoked mackerel fillets, the remains of a bag frozen peas and the scrapings of a jar of horseradish sauce.   I find a very satisfactory delight in finishing up multiple ingredients in one dish, I am not entirely sure what this says about my character?  This is a very approximate dish – use what you have – I think a few handfuls of spinach stirred in at the end in place of the peas would work well.

Sending this to Presto Pasta Night #195 hosted by Ruth; the event’s founder at Once Upon a Feast!

Pea, Smoked Mackerel and Horseradish Penne (serves 2)

½ red onion – finely chopped
2 cloves garlic – crushed
Glug olive oil
Handful frozen peas
Pinch chilli flakes
Gug white wine or vermouth
zest of half a lemon
2 heaped teaspoons horseradish sauce
2 smoked mackerel fillets – skinned and flaked
Pepper and salt

As much pasta as you normally eat

Fry the onion and garlic in the olive oil.    Meanwhile cook the pasta.   When the onion is softened, add the peas, chilli, wine, lemon zest and horseradish and gentle simmer for a few minutes to defrost the peas.   When the pasta is cooked drain and add it and the mackerel to the onion sauce.   Stir through and season to taste.

Pasta with Silken Tofu Sauce

Similarly to marmite, when it comes to tofu people generally fall into 2 camps.   Those that love it and those that do not.    I am firmly in the first group and am constantly on a mission to convert the tofu haters.   I fully understand why people might think that they do not love tofu; badly cooked tofu is an aberration to any right thinking taste-buds.   As I have said before, there is a simple mantra for deliciousness when dealing with tofu; “press and marinade”.

There are two types of tofu; what I think of as regular tofu which is basically soy cheese, where the milk is curdled, the curds strained from the whey and then pressed.  Silken tofu is totally different, softer with the soy milk curdled into a custard like consistency with very little separation.    Regular tofu is more usually served in solid pieces whereas silken tofu is blended, whizzed and mixed into a creamy sauce and generally used in puddings, cakes and dips.

Clearspring have just launched an organic silken tofu* (the only organic ambient storage long life tofu in the world, fantastic if your fridge is always as full as mine) and gave me some samples to experiment with.  The tofu is made and presented in Tetra pack style boxes,and tastes just as fresh as my homemade tofu does.   It is as delicious straight from the box, with a drizzle of oil or tamari, as it is made into all manner of dishes.

I have briefly written about Clearspring before; along with Steenbergs they are one of my favourite food producers.   Clearspring are a 100% vegan company, committed to producing ethical foods and supporting local communities.  They are organic as far as they can be (because of their production methods sea vegetables cannot be certified as organic), and they are serious about quality, their statement that they make premium quality products is spot on.  I have a serious and growing addiction to the brand.

Here in the UK is it freezing cold and snowing, comfort food is called for.  I was craving creamy pasta; but mindful of the spate of Christmas parties that have already started and the resultant calorie load, I wanted something a little lighter.  So  I whizzed up a mock cream sauce using the silken tofu and some other Clearspring goodies.     Miso and tamari are rich in umami; the 5th human taste, which almost defies description.   Umami has long been recognised in Japan where the word means deliciousness.

Silken Tofu Miso Dressing

This multi purpose sauce is excellent with crudities, thinned as a salad dressing, and warmed over pasta it makes a fantastic creamy sauce, fantastic as it is or as a base for other flavours.  It is very creamy;  I think most people would think it contained dairy, unless told otherwise.

Silken Tofu Miso Sauce (Serves 3 as a pasta sauce)

1 pack silken tofu (300g)
50g raw cashew nuts
1 tbs tamari
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs sweet miso (I used sweet white)
1 tsp roasted sesame oil
Sprinkling of chilli flakes
Salt & Pepper to taste

Whizz all the ingredients thoroughly, either in the food processor or with a stick blender.

I am sending this to Ruth at Once Upon a Feast for this week’s Presto Pasta Night.

*Clearspring Organic Silken Tofu

RSP; £1.85 for 300g (Prices accurate as of October 2010)

Price comparison with fresh tofu

Cauldron Organic Tofu 250g RSP £1.67

Taifun Organic Tofu 225g RSP £1.89

Please see Clearspring for more information.   The tofu is avaiable nationwide from the 1st January 2011 and will be in selected health food shops in London the week before Christmas.

Thank you to Clearspring for the free samples of the tofu.

My week kicked off with some Mushroom Mascarpone Cream Sauce over Rainbow Linguine, from Andrea at the Nummy Kitchen.    Simple and delicious and very pretty rainbow pasta.

Next up was Great Northern Beans in a Tomato Olive Sauce over Linguine, I love beans and pasta and the mix of tomatos and lives in the sauce sounds very interesting,  so I will be making my version of this one soon.  Thanks to Nicole at Cocoa and Coriander.

Janet at Taste Space made a African Pineapple Kale Peanut Stew served with cous cous.   Super healthy with all that kale, and as usual Janet has taken beautiful photos of a tricky dish to shoot.

Pam, From Apples to Zucchini wombined her current fall obsession for squashes with her craving for Chinese food with a Roasted Butternut Lo Mein.   It looks great.    I love pasta with asian flavours so also want to try this one.

Back to more traditional comforting winter pasta dishes with a Creamy Chorizo Pasta from Corina at Searching for Spices.    Lovely mix of creme fraiche, chorizo and mushrooms.   Perfect.

Deb from Kahakai Kitchen, reviewed “A Geometry of Pasta” last week.   The premise of the book is “The Perfect Shape + The Perfect Sauce = The Geometry of Pasta“, it sounds intriguing and I have ordered the book from the library.   Deb made Ditali Con Ceci E Vongole (Chickpeas and Clams), pureeing the chickpeas to make the sauce.

The next entry was from Sarah at Maison Cupcake, who made a Cobnut Pesto Pasta Salad.   I was delighted to get her entry as we had been twittering about cobnuts the week before and I have also met Sarah (the London food blog community is fairly close knit and the two of us both took part in the mini Masterchef bloggers’ cook-off earlier in the year).

Naturally the dish from Claire at Chez Cayenne was spicey!  Chilli, chilli and more chilli in a spicey rice noodle stir fry!  It looks and sounds lovely and is beautifully photographed.

I am always impressed by homemade pasta, and Rachel the Crispy Cook made spaetzle that was also gluten free which I think makes it twice as hard.    I love comfort food and spaetzle is a perfect winter warmer.

I am a bit of a tofu addict and I was hugely excited by the shredded tofu noodle salad sent by Lime Cake.  To say that I need shredded tofu now is a little bit of an understatement, I had never heard of it before and will be going to look for some very very soon.

The second batch of homemade pasta of the week was from Libby at the Allergic Kid.   She made pumpkin pasta with turkey sausage using pumpkin puree to bind the pasta.  A fantastic idea that I want to try, I am wondering what other purees I could use too?

Next was Koay Teow Th’ng aka Flat Noodle Soup from Eating Pleasure, they look lovely, healthy and warming, perfect for the damp evening here in London.

November is also Vegan Month of Food and Joanne at the ever entertaining Eats Well with Others, told us of her nut butter addiction and made a vegan Asian Noodle Salad with Cashew Dressing.

More Asian noodles with some Rice Noodles in Broth topped with Chinese Roast Duck and Shimeji Mushrooms from Jen’s Tastes of Home.  A new blog for me and one I’ll be bookmarking for both the Asian food and the beautiful photos.

Heather the Girlichef made Gnocchi w/ Mizithra in Brown Butter & Sage, they certainly sound great and Heather’s love of them is apparent.    Heather also made her mizithra (Greek solid sweet milky cheese – and I did have to google it!)

PPN founder Ruth, shared her Chilli Mac for Rememberance Day, a favourite of her Dad who was a WWII bomber pilot, and is her salute to all our Armed Forces keeping us safe.

Beth at the Seventh Level of Boredom made a simple but perfectly delicious dish of Giada’s Sciue Sciue pasta, with tomato, basil & mozzarella.

Lastly Ruth sent two garlicy shrimp recipes, Lemony Orzo with Shrimp and Asparagus,

and farfalle with butter shrimp and pancetta.

And that is the round up, I am so sorry it is two days late, I was struck down by a tummy bug and all thoughts of food were distinctly off the menu.   I did hae some pasta this week – plain with a smidge of olive oil yesterday – too boring for wods, but soothing for my poor tummy.

And one last entry that is linked to my blog, but I missed the e-mail!   Claudia from Honey from Rock, made a Black and White Orzo Cheesey Bean Bake.    I have often used orzo, but black orzo is a new one on me.  It looks great!

Next week’s host is  Debbi of Debbi does Dinner. Do e-mail Ruth is you would like to host, it is great fun, my top tip is to start drafting the round up as you get each entry, it really does avoid a last minute rush, and is advice I should have taken this week!

I lasted hosted Presto Pasta Nights in July and I am delighted to be hosting PPN #189 next Friday 12th November.  If you have not had your friday supper yet, this friday’s round up, hosted by the event’s founder Ruth at Once Upon a Feast should give you lots of ideas.

Just cook some pasta (or noodles), write a post, mention Presto Pasta Nights and Fuss Free Flavours (with links), and e-mail the link to your post to me (helen (at) fussfreeflavours (dot) com) and copy (ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com).

I know Ruth is looking for some hosts for early next year, so do get in touch with her if you are interested.   I look forward to seeing your pasta recipes this week.

Usually I cook everything from scratch, but in the last few months I have been lucky enough to be invited to attend several tastings for quite astonishingly good ready made products (namely Bertolli Sauces and Tilda Stir Fry Rices) that I am more than happy to keep in the cupboard and use on the occasions when I am tired or would otherwise call for a takeaway.    I think that anyone can cook with products of this quality – using them as a base to embellish according to their taste, and the contents of fridge and cupboard.

Here is my take on one of the recipes that Gennaro Contaldo made for a group of bloggers at the Bertolli tasting.   I used spaghetti, Bertolli Arrabiata from the store cupboard, capers from the fridge and two haddock fillets* from the freezer.    Absolutely delicious and very easy to put together simply poach the fish in the  sauce whilst the pasta cooks.  I am a caper lover, if you are not, black olives would work well here too.

* Waitrose sell boxes of individually frozen fish fillets which are perfect to keep in the freezer, the individual fillets defrost rapidly ready for use.  All Waitrose fish is sustainable and Marine Stewardship Council approved. 

Speedy Tomato Spaghetti with Haddock and Capers (Serves 2)

Two fish fillets – I used Haddock
Spaghetti for 2
1/2 jar Bertolli Arrabiata Sauce (or homemade)
1 tbs capers

If using frozen fish allow to defrost for as long as you can, I regularly poach half frozen fish and have never come to any harm, just cook it for a little longer.

Put the pasta on to cook.  Pour the pasta sauce into a shallow pan, add a little water and bring to a gentle simmer, add the capers (or olives) and lie the fish in the sauce.   Cook for about 5 minutes until done.     Serve on top of a bed of pasta.

Delicious and so so fast.

I am sending this to this week’s Presto Pasta Nights hosted this week by More Than Burnt Toast.