Tag: Dinner

Garlicky anchovy pasta

Speedy Garlicky Anchovy Pasta

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Even when I don’t have much time to cook, I refuse to sacrifice deliciousness. I created this pasta for such situations. I used strong flavours to make it exciting despite its simplicity (think salty, anchovy-y, tomatoey goodness). It uses mostly store cupboard ingredients too so not only is it quick to cook, you might not even need to go to the shop. As the cooking of the pasta is finished off in the sauce, the sauce ends up feeling very luxurious and clings to the pasta. This truly is a speedy dinner as the sauce is cooked in the time it takes the pasta to cook.

Speedy Garlicky Anchovy Pasta

Serves 2

15 mins prep + cooking

Ingredients

150g linguine or spaghetti (or any pasta really, but it works well with a long pasta)

1.5 tbsp olive oil

6 anchovy fillets in oil, roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves thinly sliced (or 2 large cloves)

Juice 1/2 lemon

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 tbsp butter (or more to taste)

4 tbsp grated parmesan (or more to taste, plus extra for serving)

Handful of parsley chopped

Panko breadcrumbs to serve (if you can get your hands on lemon & black pepper breadcrumbs, get those!) see the note for how to make the breadcrumbs a little fancier

Method

  1. Add your pasta to salted boiling water and cook for a few minutes less than the packet says.
  2. Meanwhile, add your oil and anchovies to a frying pan on medium high heat and cook until the achovies dissolve.
  3. Add the sliced garlic and cook until lightly golden
  4. Add the lemon juice to the pan and cook until mostly evaporated.
  5. Add the tomato puree and cook for a few minutes, stirring regularly until the colour darkens slightly. Take off the heat until the pasta is ready.
  6. Once the pasta is cooked, put the frying pan back onto medium high heat and transfer the pasta over being sure to reserve the pasta water. Add 100-200ml of pasta water to the frying pan and bring to a boil, stirring often, until reduced to almost nothing. Repeat this process until the pasta is cooked to your liking.
  7. Take the pan off the heat and add the butter & Parmesan. Stir through and add more butter/Parmesan to your taste. Add the chopped parsley.
  8. Serve with more parm and the breadcrumbs sprinkled over

Note: If you have time, I definitely recommend sprucing up your bread crumbs a little. In a frying pan heat up 1 tbsp oil + 1/2 tbsp butter with 2 minced cloves of garlic. Fry until golden, then add breadcrumbs (NOT panko) and fry those until evenly golden.

Christmas pasta bake

Christmas Leftovers Pasta Bake

bakesbymeguk2 Comments

Christmas dinner is the meal that keeps on giving. I don’t know if your family do the same but we will make a meal big enough to feed at least double the number of people actually coming for Christmas day (there was over half a Turkey left this year). So the fun challenge over the next few days is finding ways to transform the leftovers into something completely different so it doesn’t feel like we’re eating the same meal over and over. This year I had the craving for pasta (what’s new?) so I though of a leftovers pasta bake which uses the turkey/stuffing and some cheese board leftovers. A pasta bake/mac and cheese/Christmas roast crossover. The most ambitious crossover event in history.

Christmas Leftovers Pasta Bake

Serves 6 | 30 mins

Ingredients

450g short pasta (fusilli, penne, rigatoni – I used some Christmas Pasta like this one)

50g butter

2 cloves garlic, crushed

50g plain flour

700ml milk

6 tbsp grated parmesan

500g turkey & stuffing (or other meats) leftovers, roughly chopped – I used turkey, chestnut & sausage stuffing

~100-200g leftover hard cheese grated (cheddar, Gouda or Gruyere would work well – something with flavour that will melt)

Juice 1/2 lemon

150ml 1/2 fat creme fraiche

1-2 slices day old sourdough (or whatever bread you have), processed into breadcrumbs

1 tsp olive oil

Method:

  1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add your pasta & cook until al dente (you may want to do this after you’ve started on the sauce, depending on the cooking time for the pasta)
  2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the crushed garlic & cook until lightly golden.
  3. Add the flour & cook stirring continuously for 1-2 mins
  4. Add the milk gradually, whisking until smooth between each addition. If you have any leftover gravy, you could also add this to the sauce as this point for some extra flavour.
  5. Cook this, mixing continuously, for a few minutes until thickened. Stir in some pepper, 4tbsp of grated parmesan & a few handfuls of your grated hard cheese of choice (make sure there is enough leftover to sprinkle over the bake at the end).
  6. Add the pasta, turkey meat/stuffing & creme fraiche to the sauce. The creme fraiche is needed to cut through what is otherwise a very rich dish.
  7. Season this to taste with salt, pepper & lemon juice.
  8. Turn your grill onto high heat.
  9. Pour the pasta into an 30cm x 20cm baking dish. Sprinkle the grated hard cheese over the top. In a separate bowl stir together the breadcrumbs, remaining 2tbsp of parmesan and 1tsp olive oil. Spread this mix over to the top of the pasta.
  10. Grill for a few minutes until the cheese is melted & the breadcrumbs have browned. Keep an eye on this as it can burn very quickly.
Miso Peanut Butter Noodles

Miso & Peanut Butter Ramen Noodles

bakesbymeguk1 Comment

This is one of my all time favourite recipes that I’ve created. When I finally got this recipe spot-on, I knew I’d created something great. So great that I made another bowl of if for breakfast the next day… And then again for dinner later that week… This dish combines miso, peanut butter & mushrooms for a rich, thick sauce that really packs an umami punch. My favourite way to have this is with sausage & a jammy boiled egg, but this can easily be made veggie by swapping the sausage for a different protein & the beef stock for veg stock, and vegan by removing the egg! The ultimate upgrade for your packet ramen. Speaking of packet ramen, you can use whichever brand you like for this dish. I use Chapaghetti because I love the thickness of the noodle (slightly thicker than your average packet ramen). I cannot stress enough how much you need to try this recipe – you will not be disappointed.

Miso & Peanut Butter Ramen Noodles

Serves 1 | 20 Mins Prep + Cooking

Ingredients

1 packet instant ramen noodles (I use Chapaghetti)

1.5tbsp chunky peanut butter (my fave is Manilife Deep Roast)

1.5tbsp white miso paste

2tsp soy sauce

1/2tsp beef stock concentrate

150g Chestnut mushrooms, sliced ~0.5cm thick

1 large garlic clove, minced

A handful of parsley, finely chopped

1 egg

Optional: 1 sausage, removed from casing

Method

  1. Boil the egg for 7 mins, once cooked set aside in a bowl of iced water until ready to use.
  2. Heat a small frying pan medium high heat adding ~1tsp olive oil. Break the sausage meat into chunks and flatten slightly. Fry for a minute or two (depending on how hot the pan is) on each side until caramelised and cooked through. Set aside until ready to use.
  3. Add the mushrooms to the same frying pan, add a little more oil if it’s too dry, and fry until all the water has been released, has evaporated and the mushrooms are starting to brown.
  4. Add your crushed garlic and fry, stirring often, until fragrant.
  5. Next add the miso, peanut butter, soy sauce, stock & enough water so that once the noodles are added, they will be submerged. Stir this until well combined & smooth apart from the mushrooms.
  6. Bring this mix to the boil & add the noodles. Cook this, stirring frequently, until the noodles are cooked through and the sauce has reduced and thickened to the texture of thick double cream.
  7. While this is cooking, roughly chop the sausage into mouth-sized chunks. Peel and half the egg.
  8. Once the noodles are cooked, stir through the parsley. Serve in a bowl with the egg & sausage on top.

Note: If you don’t have stock concentrate, swap the water for stock of your choice

Veggies/Vegans: Make this dish veggie by swapping the sausage for a protein of your choice & swapping the beef stock for veg stock. Omit the egg to make it vegan