Spaghetti ai Frutti di Mare - Seafood Spaghetti

Pasta and seafood is one of the great combinations. A particular favourite has to be spaghetti with clams and/or mussels and a few cherry tomatoes. The drawback is that it takes time to clean those pesky molluscs what with removing their little beards, checking they're all ok, eliminating any residual sand... Frankly, it's not really how I want to spend my evenings after getting back from work. 

This then is what I turn to on those occasions when I'm completely out of time and inspiration, yet in need of real food with flavour. We call it a ragu di pesce but that isn't really accurate and makes it sound much grander than it really is - simply mixed seafood, chopped quite finely and sauteed with fresh tomatoes, a little garlic and white wine. I keep bags of the seafood mix (mussels, squid and prawns, all ready prepared) in the freezer, so that I can make this at short notice, after having picked up the fresh tomatoes and parsley on my way home. 

It goes without saying that parmesan is never served with any kind of fish. GL and I do however grind over vicious amounts of black pepper just before eating. 

This post is making its way over to one of my favourite challenges, Herbs on Saturday, created by Karen from the wonderful Lavender and Lovage and hosted this month by Anneli from Délicieux.

RECIPE - serves 3-4

350g spaghetti

350g ready prepared mixed seafood

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon dry white wine

100g cherry tomatoes
a pinch of dried chilli flakes
extra virgin olive oil

a good handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped

Cook the pasta according to instructions, making sure you've salted the water well - it really does make all the difference. 

While the pasta is cooking, finely chop the seafood and slice the tomatoes into quarters. Heat a few glugs of olive oil in a large frying pan and add the crushed garlic. After just a few seconds add the seafood, tomatoes, chilli and white wine. Cook for about 2 minutes over a medium heat - it really doesn't need any longer than this because the seafood is already cooked, it just needs to heat through. Add most of the parsley (keep a little back to sprinkle over just before serving), season with salt and pepper and give it all a good stir. 

When the pasta is al dente, drain well and mix with the seafood sauce. To serve, drizzle over a little olive oil, top with the rest of the parsley and some ground black pepper. 

Warm Asparagus Salad with Prosciutto and Parmesan

It is a surprising thing for me to write but I think it's true when people say that you can have too much of a good thing. Our long weekend in Paris last week proved this point rather well. It was wonderful. I mean, it was Paris in spring time and you can't really get much better than that. Under blue skies, we walked and ate crêpes, we walked and stopped for coffee and pâtisserie, we walked and ate Ladurée macaroons, we walked and .... well, you get the idea. There was a lot of walking, a lot of rich food and oh yes, there was wine too.

Les Jardins des Tuileries, May 2013

It was a perfect weekend but it did have the effect of  leaving me longing for some lighter meals and salads, something with crisp green vegetables and refreshing flavours. This warm asparagus dish seemed appropriate. The spears are not boiled but chargrilled on a ridged pan which gives an intense smoky flavour that I love. Combined with the sweet prosciutto and salty parmesan, it makes a delicious spring starter or the ideal lunch after a weekend of  gluttonous excess.

I'm linking this up to two blogging challenges. The first is the One Ingredient Challenge run by Laura (this month's host) from How to Cook Good Food and Nazima from Franglais Kitchen. Their theme for May is Asparagus and as I love it, I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone's ideas.



The other is Ren Behan's Simple and In Season Challenge, another blog event that encourages us all to use local, fresh, seasonal produce.




RECIPE - serves 2

250g asparagus  
4 slices prosciutto
about 30g fresh parmesan
extra virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar

Wash the asparagus and snap off the tough, woody ends - they usually break naturally. You can trim them with a knife if you prefer to have all the spears the same length. Drizzle the spears with a little olive oil and place them on a very hot ridged pan. Cook for about 3 minutes on one side so they get nice grill lines and then turn them over using tongs. Cook for about the same amount of time on the other side.

Divide the asparagus between two plates and drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar to taste. Tear the prosciutto into thin strips and drape over the asparagus. Use a potato peeler to make shavings of parmesan and let it fall naturally over the other ingredients. 

Drizzle over some more olive oil and serve while the asparagus is still warm. 

Honey, Almond and White Chocolate Cupcakes

Last September, a colleague of mine who lives on Anglesey, gave me some of her wonderful honey. It's pale gold with a beautiful floral scent and delicate taste. Although most of it went very quickly, I managed to keep some of it back, as I have been wanting to try baking with honey for some time.

While I was at university, I was lucky enough to live for a year in the beautiful city of Dijon. As well as having fond memories of the famous mustard (I lived opposite the Amora factory and was often greeted by the overwhelming smell of vinegar whenever I opened my window), the local speciality of pain d'épice featured largely in any social visits during my time there. It's a lightly-spiced cake, heavy with honey but like so many traditional cake recipes, it has quite a dry texture. Nice though it is (and it certainly goes very well with a glass or two of something sparkling), I wanted my first foray into baking with honey to be rather more elegant, with subtle flavours, suitable perhaps for a genteel tea.

These honey, almond and white chocolate fairy cakes were what I came up with and I have to say that they did live up to my expectations. The honey gives them a delicate perfume and the almonds add a pleasing crunch. They are topped with a ganache made of white chocolate which would not be my usual choice but I felt that white chocolate would work better with the dainty, understated flavours of the cake.



As this month's letter is 'A' in the brilliant Alphabakes challenge by Ros (this month's host) from TheMoreThanOccasionalBaker and Caroline  at Caroline Makes, I'm sending this as my entry. I'm also entering it into the Tea Time Treats Challenge, with the theme of Fairy Cakes, Muffins and Cupcakes , run by Karen of Lavender and Lovage  and Kate (this month's host) from What Kate Baked. 

As this month's challenge is Honey, I'm also entering these fairy cakes into April's We Should Cocoa challenge started and hosted by Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog and Chele from Chocolate Teapot. 

RECIPE - makes 12 cupcakes

• For the cakes

120g softened butter

100g caster sugar

120g self raising flour

half a teaspoon baking powder

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon runny honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

50 g chopped, blanched almonds

• For the ganache 

100ml double cream

200g good quality white chocolate, chopped

METHOD

12-bun muffin tin lined with 12 cupcake or muffin papers

 Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla and honey. Sieve the flour and baking powder and fold in. Lastly, fold in the chopped almonds.

Spoon the mixture in to the cases, filling each case as equally as possible.

Put in the oven and bake for about 20 mins or until the cakes are cooked and golden brown on top.

Remove from the oven. Take the cakes out of the tin as soon as you can and leave to cool on a wire rack.

To make the ganache, heat the cream gently until almost but not quite boiling and pour over the chopped chocolate. Leave to stand for a minute or two and then stir until all the chocolate is melted. Leave to cool for about 10 minutes so that it thickens slightly which makes it easier to use. 

When the cakes are completely cold, spread thickly with the ganache. 

                                                 

Roasted Pepper and Ricotta Pasta

A staple of Italian cuisine, peppers are incredibly versatile. When roasted  they become sweet, soft and smoky but I love them raw too, so crunchy and refreshing, although you rarely find them in their uncooked state in Italy as they're considered highly indigestible. As an aside, the Italian word for peppers is peperoni which I thought worth mentioning here in case of any confusion when ordering a pizza in Italy; pizza con peperoni is a pizza with peppers, if you want US style 'Pepperoni Pizza', then you should  ask for pizza con salame piccante. Just thought it might be useful...

In this pasta recipe, the peppers are roasted and peeled before being blended with ricotta to form a thick creamy sauce which is then added to some softened onion, fresh tomatoes and chilli. The tomatoes provide a nice acidity which works well with the smooth, rich sauce and chilli gives a little kick.

This month's One Ingredient Challenge, started by Laura of How to Cook Good Food and Nazima from Franglais Kitchen, is Cheese so I'm sending this over to Nazima who is the host for April. I absolutely love cheese so can't wait to see the round up at the end of the month!



As the theme is Chilli, I'm also sending this to Shaheen for Allotment 2 Kitchen who is April's host of Pasta Please, a wonderful challenge started by Jac from Tinned Tomatoes.




RECIPE
2 red peppers
100g ricotta
half a fresh chilli, finely chopped
half an onion
100g cherry tomatoes
4-5 tablespoons olive oil

300-400g pasta, any shape you want

Start by roasting the peppers. Preheat the oven to its maximum temperature and put the peppers in whole, on a greased baking tray. Leave for about 25 mins, turning occasionally. The skins should be blackened and starting to peel away. Remove from the oven and put them in a plastic bag to cool before peeling them and eliminating the seeds and core.

Place the peppers in a food processor with some salt, the ricotta and 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Blend until smooth, adding more olive oil if necessary and adjust the seasoning.

Cook the pasta in a boiling salted water.

In the meantime, finely chop the onion and cook gently in a frying pan in a  little olive oil until softened. Add the chilli and cook for a further few minutes. Halve the cherry tomatoes and add them to the onion and chilli, tossing them briefly together for a minute or so.

Add the pepper and ricotta sauce, mix everything gently together and leave on the heat for a few minutes to warm through. If it's all looking a bit thick, add some of the pasta water to thin it slightly. When the pasta is al dente, drain and mix everything together well.

Serve with some freshly grated parmesan.

Cod with Tomatoes, Olives and Capers - Merluzzo alla Livornese

While I think that traditional fish and chips has its place, I certainly don't think that deep-frying cod in this way shows off the firm, flaky texture to its best advantage. In this recipe for Livorno-style cod, the fish is simmered gently in white wine with fresh tomatoes, black olives and capers. The addition of garlic and oregano gives added depth of flavour. Like so many fish dishes, this is simple to prepare, healthy and full of flavour. The end result is a real taste of the Mediterranean with beautifully cooked cod, firm yet moist, and a wonderful, rich sauce from the wine, olive oil and herbs that develops while cooking. I tend to serve this with just a simple green salad and some crusty bread to mop up the delicious juices. 

This post is making its way over to one of my favourite challenges, Herbs on Saturday, created by Karen from the wonderful Lavender and Lovage.

I'm also sending it to Javelin Warrior's wonderful weekly challenge which encourages everyone to cook from scratch, Made with Love Mondays.

RECIPE - serves 2 

400-500g cod loin or fillet, as thick as possible

plain flour

2 teaspoons dried oregano 

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 onion

8 black olives, halved

1 tablespoon capers

250g cherry tomatoes, halved

2 tablespoons olive oil

250 ml dry white wine

1 teaspoon fresh oregano, roughly chopped

Finely chop the onion and sweat gently in a large frying pan (one with a lid) for about 7 minutes in a tablespoon of the olive oil until translucent but not coloured. 

While the onion is cooking, you can prepare the fish. Cut the cod so that you have about 4 smaller fillets. Sprinkle the dried oregano over the cod, pressing it in slightly. Repeat on the other side. Put some flour onto a plate, season with salt and pepper, then flour the cod on both sides, knocking off the excess. 

When the onion is soft, remove from the frying pan with a slotted spoon. Add a little more olive oil to the pan and turn up the heat to medium. Add the cod and brown on both sides until a nice, golden colour. 

Put the softened onion back in the pan with the cod and add the wine, olives, tomatoes and capers. Put the lid on and cook over a low-medium heat for about 20 minutes or until the cod is cooked but still moist.

Add the fresh oregano and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with crusty bread. 

Ina Garten's German Chocolate Cupcakes

There are so many different recipes for chocolate cake out there that it's difficult to choose a favourite. I suppose it depends on the occasion and what you fancy at the time of baking. Of the intense, rich recipes that use real chocolate in the batter, I love Nigel Slater's Chocolate Espresso Cake from quite an old book of his, Real Food. The cake is moist inside with a slightly crisp exterior which is simply heavenly. And I was really pleased with the chocolate and pumpkin cake I made last year. The recipe I use most often though is just a classic sponge recipe with cocoa replacing some of the flour, you can find the recipe for a mini version filled with a nutella cream here.

Considering this wealth of recipes, I wasn't particularly tempted to try these cupcakes from Ina Garten when I came across them in her book Barefoot Contessa Foolproof. I was also put off by the long list of ingredients. However, when I peered into the fridge and realised that I had a carton of buttermilk and half a tub of sour cream that desperately needed using up, I thought I'd give them a try.

Reader, I loved them.

The cupcakes are intensely chocolatey and so moist as to defy belief. They immediately became my absolute favourite recipe for individual chocolate cakes although I don't know if the mixture would work as a whole, large cake, I suspect it would sink in the middle. That's by the bye though - these are perfect as they are. I didn't however top the cupcakes with the coconut frosting that Ina suggests, delicious though it sounds. I preferred to use a classic cream cheese icing and it worked perfectly, the smooth sweet icing providing a perfect foil to the rich, dark centre.

As I followed the recipe for the cakes exactly, I'm not going to reproduce it in this post but you can find it here. Below, I've included the recipe for the cream cheese icing I used.

As this month's Tea Time Treats theme is Fairy Cakes, Muffins and Cupcakes, I'm happily sending this along to Kate from What Kate Baked (congratulations on turning 2!) who hosts this fabulous challenge along with Karen from the always inspirational Lavender and Lovage.




RECIPE

• For the cake, click here

For the icing

100g cream cheese, at room temperature
200g sifted icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Beat the cream cheese and vanilla essence together with an electric whisk until smooth. Add the icing sugar in three batches, whisking in each batch before adding the next. Put aside in the fridge to set a little otherwise it will be too runny to ice the cakes.

Courgette Pesto (with Gorgonzola Ravioli)

I feel I have to come clean about one thing before I start - the ravioli in the picture are not homemade. We do make our own pasta but it's definitely a weekend activity and as this was a mid-week meal, I'm afraid the ravioli came from a deli.

Having cleared that up, I can announce with great joy that this is a random recipe.The Random Recipes challenge is the brainchild of Dom from Belleau Kitchen. Its aim (in his words), is 'to encourage us to use our recipe books more whilst also being more adventurous with our cooking... to shake up the 'everyday' chef and bring out a few little ideas we may have never tried before...'. It's a great concept and I'm delighted that I got organised enough to actually enter this month, albeit rather late.

The theme for March is Cuttings and Clippings. Like most of us, I have a couple of files bulging with recipes ripped out of magazines, hand written scraps of paper and photocopies of photocopies, origin unknown. My cookery books also occasionally yield up forgotten treasures from within, the scrawled sheets fluttering to the floor as I flick through their pages. Not wishing to flout the rules of the challenge, I closed my eyes and took my chance. My random selection was this 'Pesto di Zucchine', a clipping from an Italian food magazine called 'Sale e Pepe'. Although I probably cut it out about four years ago, I had never actually made it so the Random Recipe challenge ethos certainly worked this time.

My favourite pesto still has to be the classic genovese recipe, that magical mix of basil, pine nuts and pecorino, tossed simply with some al dente linguine. This pesto had a very delicate flavour which I don't think would work on its own with normal pasta but when paired with filled pasta like tortellini or these ravioli, it compliments the taste without overpowering.

This post is making its way over to Dom at Belleau Kitchen for Random Recipes and I'm hoping I'm still in time for Pasta Please, from Jac at Tinned Tomatoes, hosted this month by Jen over at Blue Kitchen Bakes.


       


RECIPE, from Sale & Pepe magazine, Dec 2008

300g courgettes
50g fresh basil leaves
30g pine nuts
a clove garlic
50g fresh parmesan, grated
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Slice the courgettes and fry gently in a tablespoon of olive oil. After a few minutes, add the crushed clove of garlic and continue cooking for about 15 mins until the courgettes are soft and golden.

Put the courgette mixture in a blender or food processor together with the basil, pine nuts and enough olive oil to make a thick paste, probably about 5 or 6 tablespoons.  Blend until smooth and stir through the grated parmesan at the end.

Cook whatever pasta you're using until al dente and toss everything together gently.  Serve with a few basil leaves scattered over and a shaving or two of parmesan.