Pasta Salad

 
 

I had a hankering for a salad – not as a side dish but as the main element for lunch. So here it is.

 

Ingredients:

 

Elbow pasta

Smoked salmon

Eggs

Crispy shallots

Red onion

Baby zucchini

½ red capsicum (bell pepper)

 

Dressing – capers, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, pepper and fish sauce.

 

Method:

 

I had cooked extra eggs at breakfast time so they just had to be shelled (always a chore) and quartered.

 

I cooked the pasta for about 8 minutes – I wanted it to be just done and not soggy.  As with all pasta I cooked it in salty water (like the Mediterranean don't they say?)

 

So while the pasta was cooking a flaked the salmon, sliced a bit of red onion and the zucchini (a darling little baby one) and the bell pepper.

 

Mix all that up together and pour over the dressing and there you have it.  I use little jars to shake dressings together.

 

It was simple in flavour but very welcome.

Buddha's Hand

 
 

There I was in the local food store, and I spotted a very unusual looking yellow thing.  It was called Buddha's Hand which is intriguing enough.  I bought a small one and then started looking up what to do with it.

 

Buddha's hand is a citrus – like a lemon – but it doesn't have juice or pulp like a lemon.  It has peel with a citrusy tang that can be zested and used where you would otherwise use lemon – although it has a slightly smoother and less acidic flavour.

 

In China the Buddha's Hand fruit is a symbol of happiness, longevity and good fortune – all pretty important things!

 

So I concocted a dish based on other ingredients I had on hand:

 

Ingredients

 

Buddha's Hand

Four Cheese Tortellini (store bought)

Alfredo Sauce (also store bought)

Baby Spinach leaves

Finely grated parmesan cheese

Salt

Pepper

 

Method

 

I put a large pot of salted water on to boil.  While that was happening I zested one of the fingers of the Buddha's hand.

 

Once the tortellini were cooked (only takes a minute or two) I drained them and then added them back to the pot with the Alfredo Sauce, Buddha's Hand, Spinach and Parmesan and warmed it until hot.

 

That's it! Quick, easy and with a subtle lemony flavour.

Need Some Inspiration? Try Pasta!

 
 

Penne alla Vodka

Food on Friday: June was another small but quality collection. Thank you to everyone who participated.

 

Big Bear's Wife brought over her delicious Penne alla Vodka

 

And thanks to Poinsettia Drive we have Lemon Basil Shrimp & Pasta

 

MJ's Kitchen contributed her colourful Pasta With Fresh Tomatoes And Basil

 

Last but certainly not least here's Dorothy of Shockingly Delicious with her Green Pasta Puttanesca

 

For other inspiration head over to this Pinboard

 

Food on Friday: June 2021

 

It's the second Friday of the month so here is Food on Friday. 

 

As you can see, there are 2 new themes – Curries and Pasta.  I hope you'll find some great stuff in your archives to share. 

 

Feel free to add a number of things under each category and come back later in the month to add more if you would like to.   

 

To add your dishes, just put the name of the dish together with your blog name/name into the first Mr Linky box you will find below.  Then paste the url for your post about it into the second box. Mr Linky now makes you tick a compliance box which I always forget first time!

 

I'll be pinning your creations to the relevant Pinboards – Curries and Pasta.

 

Have fun! And stay safe!

 

Mac n Cheese with Smoked Fish and Bacon

 

 

I like my Mac n Cheese but am not a true connoisseur like many of you.  This time I wanted to use up some smoked fish and bacon pieces so a dish was born.  The flavours worked well together.

 

Ingredients:

Oil

Macaroni

Bacon pieces

Smoked fish (ruby fish)

Store bought Mac n Cheese sauce

Cauliflower

Lemon juice

Salt & pepper

Mustard (Dijon)

Breadcrumbs

Butter

Parsley

 

Method:

Heat up your oven to moderate

Pre-cook the Macaroni (about 10 mins)

Pre-cook the bacon

Flake the smoked fish

Oil your baking dish

Fill it with the pasta, bacon, fish and cauliflower (in florets)

Mix together the sauce, mustard, lemon juice and pour it over – mixing it with a spoon.

 

Cover with a layer of breadcrumbs and then add some knobs of butter on top.

 

Bake for about 45 minutes.  Garnish with chopped parsley to serve.

Spinach & Cheese stuffed Cannelloni

This was tasty even though no meat was involved.

Ingredients:

Box of cannelloni shells (no pre-cooking required)

Cheese

For the filling:

Frozen spinach

Sour cream

Parmesan

Nutmeg

For the sauce:

Oil/garlic oil

Passata

Tomato puree

Fresh parsley

Dried oregano

Dried basil

½ cup of red wine

Salt & Pepper

Method:

Heat your oven to moderate.  Make the sauce by simmering the ingredients together.

Mix the filling ingredients after thawing the spinach and squeezing as much water out of it as you can.  Stuff each cannelloni – I didn't have a piping bag so did the best I could with a teaspoon.

Put ½ of your sauce into the lasagne dish.  Put your layer of stuffed cannelloni on top and top off with the remainder of the sauce.  Top off with a layer of grated cheese.

Bake for 30-40 minutes.  Enjoy!

Tuna & courgette pasta bake

I haven't used canned tuna for a while so when I found myself with only a courgette as fresh food, I decided to make a Tuna & Courgette Pasta Bake.  

 As a note to my American friends courgette is what we call zucchini.

Ingredients:

1 tin tuna

1 courgette, chopped

Handful of frozen peas

Grated cheese

Store bought hollandaise sauce

Snack sized cream cheese

½ small can of reduced cream

Splash of white wine (obviously optional)

Lightly cooked macaroni

Salt & Pepper

Touch of cayenne pepper

Flaked almonds and grated cheese for topping

Method:

This was easy to do.  Just cook your macaroni for 5 minutes or so, then mix it in your baking dish with all the other ingredients (except the topping ones)

Put on your almonds and cheese and bake in the oven til nice and golden – say for 20 minutes or so.