A really simple tomato sauce with pasta is a pretty wonderful thing. But as is so often the case, ‘simple’ is not necessarily ‘easy’. But in this case, you are in luck, as this sauce is both, although it does require 40 minutes on a low simmer to get the flavours working. This recipe is […]
tomatoes
Week 29 – an evening with Antonio Carluccio and Cirio
When I went out on Thursday night to celebrate the 160th birthday of the Cirio tomatoes brand with Antonio Carluccio, I didn’t expect to end the evening with him giving my bump a crafty pat. Some pregnant women have that kind of thing happen to them all the time (not necessarily courtesy of Carluccio) but I’ve only […]
How to make a 3 course meal in minutes
As I may have mentioned once or twice, I spend quite a lot of time thinking about food – either what I am going to eat next, what I am going to cook for dinner that evening, or what I am going to make next week … essentially it boils down to always thinking about […]
Homemade pasta
Two recipes for the price of one this week: homemade spaghetti with tomato and basil sauce, and homemade fusilli with squid and prawn sauce. Spaghetti and fusilli are two types of pasta which you wouldn’t normally associate with homemade pasta, but thanks to my fabulous new KitchenAid attachment, I can make those, macaroni and rigatoni […]
A store cupboard treat
This week I have felt slightly out of sorts in the kitchen. I haven’t felt particularly inspired. As I am watching my weight I tend to have the same kind of meals again and again: stir-fries with lots of veg, plainly cooked meat with vegetables, plus healthy meals I had previously made and frozen. They […]
A fishy feast
I love having friends for dinner. Some people hate the idea of spending the day cooking, but I really enjoy pottering in the kitchen, making (hopefully) tasty things for people to eat. I also like planning the menu in advance – poring over my cookery books, choosing different starters, main courses and puddings which will […]
Cooking with mother
When people ask how I first got interested in cooking, I usually say that when I went to university and had to feed my greed, I taught myself how to make food that I enjoyed eating. It also helped that I started going out with Andrew in my second year, and he was also greedy […]
Cassoulet a la Knatt
Okay, let me first say that even French people from different regions of France argue about what constitutes a cassoulet, so it is unlikely that anyone from Toulouse will mark mine out as just like grandmere used to make. But my cassoulet has most of the requisite ingredients, it’s easy to make and it tastes […]
Viva Espana
Apologies for the recent silence (which you may, in fact, be grateful for) but I have been away in beautiful Brugge and also been suffering with a nasty cold, so not really fancied being sat in front of the laptop typing about food. I am still sick with that nasty taste in your mouth you […]
Cooking up a Storm book review
One of the only good things about my long tube commute is the chance i have to read books – on the odd occasion I actually manage to get a seat on the tube, I like to switch on my kindle and escape into another world for 30 minutes, until I realise I am just […]