fresh tomato and peppered pancetta pasta

this was such a simple supper to pull together and, as long as you have decent tomatoes, it’s well worth a try on a lazy sunny evening – slices of peppered pancetta fried in a little olive oil while the pasta cooks and until it starts to crisp up, add halved cherry tomatoes and a glug of white wine, let it bubble to boil off the alcohol, stir in a handful of basil and add to the cooked pasta. super simple, super delish.

roasted asparagus with smoky bacon

natoora added a bunch of thick-stemmed green asparagus to the white which they sent me last week. i decided to use it to try out a few new ways of cooking asparagus. this was very simple – i wrapped the spears in smoky bacon (make sure you remove the rind, you can also use pancetta rashers) and placed in a lightly oiled dish. rub the exposed asparagus tips with a little more oil, season with black pepper (the bacon will provide all the salt you need) then roast at 220c for 12-15 minutes – you need to make sure the bacon has started to crisp so it may need a few minutes longer and you might want to turn it over.

i really enjoyed this – i wasn’t a big fan of roasted asparagus when i tried it last but the crispy bacon is a lovely contrast to the almost buttery soft asparagus spears. i think it worked particularly well as the asparagus spears were so fat - this made them wonderfully juicy.

ultimate macaroni cheese?

 

macaroni cheese is a favourite of mine. it’s something i eat only occasionally as david is not a fan and it can rarely be described as healthy which means it’s not on my “go to” list when i have a quiet night home alone.  

a friend coming over for supper gave me the perfect excuse to cook up a batch and pimp it up using a few ideas i’ve read about recently. 

adding pancetta is something i’ve never done and i liked the idea of a herby breadcrumb topping which jamie oliver touted on his recent 30 minutes meals tv show. i added garlic and sundried tomatoes to the topping mix as well, using a mix of oregano and rosemary.  

the result was wonderful and something i can see myself making again and again. given how good it is, i think this is a fitting contribution for the 4th anniversary edition of presto pasta nights, founded and hosted by the divine and delectable ruth at once upon a feast! happy birthday ruth, and thanks for all the inspiration.

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roasted roots with pancetta and lentils

another week, another packed lunch. this is a great combination – really flavoursome and filling which meant i was less tempted to snack as the afternoons (dragged) on (it’s been a tough week!).

it was pulled together to use up some roasted beetroot that i had in the fridge (i peel mine before roasting and then sprinkled the chunks of beetroot with chopped rosemary, some fresh oregano plus salt and pepper before drizzling with olive oil). there wasn’t enough to make a big enough batch for the week so we roasted some parsnips to bulk things out, but any roasted vegetable would be good in this – aubergines, peppers, squash etc. i want to play around with the ingredients as i think it’ll be easy to create quite different results depending what vegetables are used but using this recipe as a template.

the pancetta adds a bit of saltiness and the fresh herbs and lemon juice play their usual role of lifting the flavours and freshening everything up. 

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savoy, porcini and pancetta penne

one of my weekly treats is reading the ft weekend magazine, which includes a couple of food and drink themed articles, including a regular column by rowley leigh. his writing is always thoughtful and even if the recipe doesn’t appeal i often learn something or am sent on a foodie journey, using his writing as inspiration. 

a recent article extolled the virtues of dried mushrooms and their “dense rich flavour from the opening salvo” which means they are a wonderful store cupboard ingredient especially at this time of year when root vegetables have lost their appeal but spring vegetables are not yet in sight.  

david is not a big fan of mushrooms which means they often slip to the back of my mind or are just used in a  default and mindless way (usually to oomph up lentil dishes),  but this article combined with an evening home alone, prompted me to give rowley’s recipe – pennette with ceps*, cabbage and bacon – a try.

needless to say i adapted the recipe but the one thing i clung to was a desire to make the dried mushrooms the star of the dish. it works really well and is a good variation on my existing repertoire of cabbage-based pasta dishes – with pancetta and mozzarella or sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts. just make sure you use a flavoursome cabbage – savoy is a good default choice – which can stand up to the mushrooms and the pancetta. if you want to make a vegetarian version, use strips of sundried tomatoes instead of the pancetta. 

*ceps = porcini – they are the same thing; ceps is the french name, porcini the italian 

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