Tag: Eggs

Meg's Perfect Spaghetti Carbonara

Meg’s Perfect Carbonara

bakesbymeguk1 Comment

I would like to say as a disclaimer I am not Italian, and I apologise if this recipe does not represent a traditional carbonara. I am merely a super-fan of the Italian cuisine who happens to have made a delicious carbonara recipe. As a word of warning, this is probably the richest carbonara you will have, owing to the use of an egg and an egg yolk per person, so be prepared to be very full if you make this. This is not your everyday carbonara – you have been warned.

You may find it odd I only use parmesan and no pecorino, but I actually prefer an all parmesan carbonara (again, sorry) – so feel free to half & half pecorino & parmesan if you so wish. The thing I will definitely stick to tradition for is the guanciale. If you can get your hands on it I reaaaally recommend using guanciale. It adds a much deeper flavour than pancetta and really elevates this dish. I get mine from Eataly usually, but I’ve also ordered it from Lina Stores who ship nationwide! This is the product of endless carbonara trial & errors, until I found the perfect egg/egg yolk/cheese etc. balance. I am finally here sharing with you my perfect, foolproof carbonara: the dinner to wow anyone made in under 30 mins.

Meg’s Perfect Carbonara

Serves 2 (hungry people) | 20 mins prep & cooking

Ingredients

200g pasta of your choice (my personal faves include paccheri, rigatoni & linguine)

150g Guanciale chopped into chunks (or pancetta if you can’t get your hands on guanciale, but the guanciale really adds the ‘wow’)

2 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

75g grated parmesan (or half pecorino, half parmesan)

Freshly ground black pepper (you won’t need much if you’re using guanciale)

Method

  1. Cook your pasta in a pot of water salted like the sea for 2-3 mins less than instructed on the packet.
  2. In the meantime, add your guanciale to a cold frying pan and bring up to medium/high heat. This renders out he fat giving you extra crisp and completely not flabby fat (ew). Drain any excess oil and set aside off the heat until the pasta is ready.
  3. Beat your eggs, egg yolks, parmesan and freshly ground pepper until combined. Add 3-6 spoon fulls of pasta water (this depends how loose your like your sauce, 3 spoons will be a drier sauce) to your egg mix one by one, beating the whole time to temper your eggs and help prevent scrambled egg pasta
  4. When the pasta is done, transfer it to your guanciale pan and return to medium heat being sure to reserve the pasta water.
  5. Add a ladle of pasta water to the pan and cook until almost disappeared. Check if your pasta is cooked to your liking, if still a little too firm repeat this stage.
  6. Once the pasta is cooked, take the pan off the heat and add your egg mix to the pan while constantly moving the pasta. Keep tossing the pasta while moving between off the heat & on low heat (this helps you keep more control of the cooking, and stop the eggs scrambling)
  7. Continue this process until the sauce has thickened and clings to the pasta. Exactly when the sauce is done depends on how you like your carbonara, but you need to cook long enough for the eggs to be cooked thoroughly. You can add some extra pasta water here if you want your sauce a little looser.
  8. Serve with extra parm and some freshly cracked black pepper
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

Turkish Eggs With Spicy Sausage

bakesbymeguk1 Comment

Have you been searching for a breakfast that takes less than 30 mins but will have anyone who eats it thinking you’re a professional chef who got up at 5am to cook their breakfast? Well, I have some great news for you – I’ve created this recipe for the non-morning people who want sleep AND a tasty breakfast.

The best thing about this recipe is that the yoghurt is white so its hides how badly done my poached eggs are… Not really, the best part is how unbelievably TASTY this thing is. Turkish eggs have been a firm brunch fave of mine since I had them in a deli once when I was 17 but I haven’t found them in many restaurants since. We have creamy garlicky yoghurt, sweet & spicy sausage, spicy oil and runny eggs, all scooped up with some good quality bread. Can it get any better than that at breakfast time?!

Turkish Eggs With Spicy Sausage

Serves 2 | 30 mins prep + cooking

Ingredients

Sausage Mix:

4 pork sausages, casings removed OR ~250g sausage meat

1tsp smoked paprika

1/2tsp cayenne pepper (more if you like spicy, less if you don’t)

1/4tsp cinnamon

1 large clove garlic, minced

2tsp honey

Salt, to taste

Turkish Eggs:

250g full fat Greek yoghurt

1 large clove garlic, minced

30g butter

1-2tbsp olive oil

1/4-1/2 tsp chilli flakes

4 eggs

A few sprigs of parsley to garnish

Good bread to serve, e.g. focaccia, sourdough

Method

  1. Add all ingredients for the sausage into a bowl and mix with your hands until all the spices are fully incorporated. Taste for seasoning by frying up a small amount of the mix, adjust as needed.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Add gold ball sizes of sausage meat, flattened (this doesn’t need to be neat as you’ll chop them up later), into the pan. Don’t overcrowd the pan, do in batches if necessary. Cook for 2-3 mis on each side until cooked through, cooking time will depend on you pan, hob and thickness of the patties (test a patty by cutting into it and checking for any pink). Set the sausage aside and chop roughly into chunks.
  3. To the sausage pan, add the butter and cook on medium heat until the foaming subsides. At this point, remove the pan from the heat and stir in your chilli flakes. It should froth slightly.
  4. Heat some water in a wide deep pan over medium heat.
  5. In a heatproof bowl, combine the yoghurt, garlic and salt to taste. Warm this mix in the hot water to body temperature.
  6. Next step is to poach your eggs (see note)
  7. To assemble, spoon the yoghurt into a wide bowl. Place 2 eggs on top and arrange the sausage around the eggs. Spoon over some of the chilli/oil/butter mix. Serve with some chopped parsley and good bread.

Note: I am by no stretch of the imagination an eggs-pert at this so please use whatever method you prefer. But if you want to try method, here it is:

  1. Add 1-2tsp of white wine vinegar to the wide pan of water. Heat the water to 180 degrees C.
  2. Crack your fridge cold eggs into a small bowl or ramekin.When the water is to temperature, scrape away any bubbles that form in the pan. slightly submerge the bowl so some water from the pan enters, the tip the egg out.
  3. Scoop around and over the egg to try and form its into a ball
  4. Cook for 2-4 mins, until to your desired runnniness.