Gnocchi

If I cook for you or want to cook for you, (like, ask you over for dinner), then I care about you. It's how I show affection and I really do think that cooking for someone is the greatest way of showing love. When I am having someone over for a meal, I put true thought into what I am going to make and what ingredients I'll use to make it - I even have planned on my head what I would cook for several people I haven't even asked yet!

It can go a step further. If you are very very close to M or I, I will spend hours preparing something from scratch. In this case, it was gnocchi for M's parents & sister, and it was the first time I've made gnocchi in our home.

Don't ask me for a recipe because I use the traditional Italian recipe (boil potato, mash it or put it through a sieve if you can be bothered, add a touch of self raising flour then knead with plain flour until it feels right. Some people put egg in it, I don't).

This gnocchi was served with a basic tomato sauce (cooked for 3 hours, of course), but I didn't get a photo. Some was also frozen as I, of course, made too much. The remainder fed girlfriends the following night.

Do you make your own pasta?

I want a pasta machine to make insanely thick fettucine - my favourite!

Stay well,
Nat x

Vegie Pasta

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here, but the past two weeks I've been unwell with an ongoing infection, it's also resulted in a complete loss of my appetite (yes, really!).

Last night I decided to make my vegie pasta, one of my favourite things ever to eat, in an attempt to get my appetite back.

Nat's Vegie Pasta

Sautee garlic (2 large cloves/3 small-medium), in a little olive oil. Add a can of cubed tomatoes, a can of water and 2 tablespoons of tomato paste.

Then add;

1/2 a zucchini, diced

1/3 of a large eggplant, diced

1/4 of a red capsicum, diced

1-2 button mushrooms, sliced

12 stuffed green olives, halved

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

pepper to taste

Cook for 1-2 hours, or until reduced by 1/4-1/3 of it's original volume.

Top with parmesan, will serve 2.

You can add chilli or capers - anything you like really. Basil or marjoram works as well. Sometimes when avoiding pasta for whatever reason, I just put some chickpeas through it and eat it like a stew. I had it with thick, white pasta last night as I wanted some thick pasta and had none in wholemeal. This infection has really ruined my carb at night avoidance.

If you want to give it to kids, try grating the vegetables and sauteeing them with the garlic, leaving out the olives. You could puree the sauce as well, or cook the vegies separately, puree and add to the sauce.

Unfortunately, it did not work to induce an appetite, but I ate a giant plate anyway.

And what did M eat?

I made him sticky pork ribs.

What did you eat this Saturday?
And have you ever had a kidney infection? Ouch!

Stay well,
Nat x

Roasted Roma & Tomato Pasta

Last week I stopped by Mum & Dad's on the way home from work to say hello and drop off some of the first crop of chilli's from our herb garden. Mum was flicking through old magazines before throwing them out and so I joined her when I spotted a feature on tomatoes in an old Woman's Day mag. I scanned over with my eyes and saw a recipe that included mint, which M has been nagging me to use as our herb garden is going crazy, (I will show you soon), and took it home to cook for dinner that night. I was a bit apprehensive, and worried M wouldn't eat it, (raisins in pasta! Non!), but I was very surprised at how tasty it turned out to be. I highly recommend, and I highly recommend adding the garlic as specified at the end.

Roasted Roma & Ricotta Pasta

Serves 4

(the recipe was written exactly as follows)

Preheat oven to hot, 200c.

Place 8 halved roma tomatoes on an oven tray. Season to taste.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until skin begins to blister.

Meanwhile, cook 375g of spaghetti in a pot of salted boiling water following packet instructions.

Drain well and return to pot.

Add tomatoes, 1/2 cup crumbled fresh ricotta, 1/2 bunch picked mint leaves and 1/4 cup raisins.

Season to taste.

Serve drizzled with extra olive oil and extra mint leaves.

Roast a few cloves of garlic with tomatoes. Remove skins, mash and add to pasta for extra flavour.

I used the low-fat tub ricotta that I had and stirred it through, and it still tasted great. I also found that with the addition of raisins, it didn't leave me wanting something sweet after dinner.

We enjoyed it with a glass of Chardonnay.

Stay well,

Nat x