Economy Gastronomy's macaroni cheese sized up + a better option

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm embarking on a trawl of recipes economical and gastronomical, submitting them to an extra test of whether they're actually decent for you.

Next up: Allegra and Paul's macaroni cheese with artichokes and bacon.  Right away, I was suspicious - macaroni and cheese is widely known as being one of the most wonderfully comforting dishes in the world yet one that's remarkably bad for you. And to add bacon to it just seemed a little over the top. (But to be fair, they did say it was optional.)

Furthermore, adding artichokes - instead of say, broccoli - seemed to be an expensive and more calorific choice as well.

So I dutifully added up the calories: without bacon, you're looking at 800 calories per portion. Add bacon back in, and you're looking at closer to 875-900. And there's are nearly no vegetables to be found in that meal, which doesn't please me at all.

But I don't want to be one of those people who says what they don't like but won't say what they do.

Check out Mostly Eating's Heart Healthy Macaroni Cheese.What I liked about his recipe from the start was the way it set out to fuse a crowd favourite like macaroni cheese with some healthy ingredients just as half-fat creme fraiche and wholegrain bread. But she didn't strike off everything tasty from the list - the cheddar is still full-fat and lovely, just not overused.

Tot that one up, and it's just under 600 calories per serving... 300 less than Economy Gastronomy's. That leaves you loads of room to add some fantastic in-season veggies to the side, with room to spare.

a lighter lasagne recipe

I don’t often cook lasagnes – to be honest, they’re an awful lot of work. I also am not crazy about meaty lasagnes (similar to the way I don’t like spaghetti Bolognese). They can also be pretty awful for you when loaded with béchamel sauce and cheese.

But they serve up so beautifully with a lovely side salad – and can be frozen ahead of time. They also generally taste better the day after, making fantastic leftovers.

So this past weekend I decided to make a spring/summer lasagne with courgettes/zucchini in mind. Some recipes like this encourage you to replace the pasta with the courgettes – but I still wanted the pasta, so that was a no go.

As for the tomato sauce, I used a mixture of chopped tomatoes, fresh tomatoes and a store-bought sauce (gasp!) that was on sale at the supermarket.

For the creamy, cheesy component, I used a mixture of ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese and skimmed milk.

Courgette lasagne
(serves 4)

4 large courgettes, sliced thinly lengthwise (about 600 g)
olive oil spray
-
10 sheets lasagne
-
250 g ricotta cheese
100 ml milk
handful of basil
-
350 g mozzarella cheese, sliced thinly
-
350 g of tomato and basil pasta sauce
1 tin chopped tomatoes
2-3 medium fresh tomatoes, chopped

Preheat the grill. Spray the long thin slices of courgette with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill for about 10 minutes, turning halfway through. You may have to do this in two batches. Set the courgettes to the side to cool.

While the courgettes are cooking, prepare the two sauces. Bring the three tomato ingredients to a simmer. In another pot, mix the ricotta, milk, basil and stir before heating over medium. Season both mixtures.

When the courgettes are done you can start the layering. First, preheat the oven to 190 C/375 F. Start with a layer of tomato sauce (about 1/5), a bit of mozzarella (about 1/5), some courgettes (1/4) and a thin layer of the ricotta mixture (about ¼). Top with the lasagne sheets before repeating four times. (Make sure you reserve enough of each mixture for each layer!) Top the final lasagne sheets with the remaining tomato sauce and mozzarella before putting in the oven to cook for 40 minutes.

Calories per serving: 591.

Serve with a fresh, crunchy side salad (romaine, cucumber, tomato, basil vinaigrette) and some steamed vegetables (broccoli perhaps?)

We had this for dinner one night and lunch the next day. So much for freezing leftovers…

Broccoli pasta with cheese sauce

Broccoli-cheese combinations feel very retro to me for some reason. I can imagine, after my shrimp/prawn cocktail starter, eating broccoli-cheese soup out of an avocado-coloured bowl (which, incidentally, would match my refrigerator). I'd then turn on my lava lamp and listen to some later Bob Dylan (the horrid stuff that's full of synthesizers). Yes, that's what I'd do...

But in the "real" world (ie. March 2009 in east London), I'd whip up a broccoli pasta with wholemeal fusilli pasta and add a slightly cheese sauce. I'd be pleased because it's oh-so-easy to do in my lovely built-in kitchen with fake-birch cupboard doors. We'd eat the pasta in our crisp-white-because-it-matches-everything bowls, while watching the latest drivel on our widescreen tv. I would do my best to subvert the carb-guilt hammered at us by Atkins and South Beach by reminding myself that this will fuel me on my Friday afternoon run. Yes, that's what I'd do.

Broccoli pasta with cheese sauce
(serves 2 - 1 normal, 1 large portion)

300 g wholemeal fusilli pasta
250 g raw broccoli, chopped
1.5 tbsp of olive oil or olive spread
1 medium red onion, sliced thinly
45 g plain flour
150 ml skimmed milk
120 g cheddar cheese, grated
1 tsp of dried red chilli flakes
A few sprays of olive oil
Salt and pepper

Bring a large pot of water to boil and add the fusilli. It will take about 8-10 minutes to boil. Put the broccoli in with the pasta with about 3 minutes left to boil.

Start the sauce by sautéing the onion over medium heat in the olive oil/spread. Once they have gone translucent, add in the flour slowly and stir until you get a lovely roux. Mix for a further minute or two, and then slowly whisk in the milk, little by little. You don’t want it to burn, but you want the sauce to begin thickening slowly. Then whisk in the cheddar slowly, ensuring the sauce doesn’t go clumpy.

Drain the pasta/broccoli and return to the pot, which should now be over a low heat. Add a spray or two of olive oil. When the sauce is ready, add it to the broccoli and pasta and remove from heat. Season with salt, pepper and chilli flakes and serve (in any colour bowl of your choice of course).

For the 'normal' serving, dish out 1/3 of the overall pasta. The remaining pasta will make for a 'hungry' portion...

Calories per 'normal' serving: 682. Perfect for fueling my exercise session tomorrow.

spicy sardine pasta

I've blogged about a recipe similar to this (sans sardines) before, but I love this recipe because it's the ultimate storecupboard one. The initial idea came from Delia, though I've twisted it a bit.

It's a bit more filling than my normal pasta recipes because I've been trying to eat a bit more on the nights before my run-days (Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays). Hope you like it...

Spicy sardine pasta
(serves 2)

1 tin skinless and boneless sardines in olive oil, broken into pieces, oil reserved
1 chilli, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
30 g capers
100 g black olives in brine, halved
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
200 g pappardelle pasta
salt and pepper

Put the pasta on to boil.

Then heat the oil from the sardines in a frying pan. Add the chilli and garlic and cook for a few minutes, making sure not to burn it. Then add the capers, olives and sardines and stir until coated. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and stir. Allow to simmer for 4-5 minutes.

When the pasta's ready, drain it immediately and return to the pot. Pour the sauce over and add the tbsp of tomato puree. Stir through and serve immediately.

Calories: 700 per serving. (As I said, this is more than I normally have for dinner. But given that I'm exercising the following day, I'll need every one of those 700...)

pasta!

In chilly times like these, pasta is a perfect cheap option for dinner. Thus my little concoction last night:

Bucatini with red onions, garlic, chilli and breadcrumbs
(serves 2)

250 g bucatini (thick spaghetti)
3 tbsp olive oil
50 g breadcrumbs
1 medium red onion, sliced thinly
4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1 large red chilli, deseeded and chopped


Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat; add the onions and allow to cook slowly for about 10 minutes.

While the onions cook, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the bucatini, which takes about 8-10 minutes to cook.

Toast the breadcrumbs over medium heat with 1 tbsp of olive oil.

When the bucatini's done, drain (reserving about 100 ml of pasta water). Leave to the side for a moment.

Bring the heat up on the onions to high and throw in the chilli, garlic and half the breadcrumbs. Saute for about 2 minutes, ensuring the garlic doesn't brown.

Add the pasta and the pasta water and toss. Add the last tbsp of olive oil and toss a little more.

Serve immediately, topped with the other half of the breadcrumbs.

I must confess, I was tired and didn't count the calories in this one. But I estimate it's about 750. Winter comfort food and all that.

easy peasy: pea, feta and basil pasta salad

This is perfect for an easy Friday night dinner. It's even better, since I made it on Thursday evening. Boil the pasta, boil the peas, blanch them, then add olive oil, feta and basil. It's so simple!

Pea, feta and basil pasta salad
(serves 4)

500g wholemeal pasta shells
250g frozen peas
100g reduced fat feta
a large handful of basil leaves
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Boil the pasta shells and rinse with cold water. Put to the side. Then boil the peas for about 4 minutes. Blanch the peas in ice-cold water so that they don't keep cooking.

In a large bowl, mix together the pasta, peas and oil. Season well. Crumble the feta and mix through. Chop the basil leaves right before serving, and mix through. (If you want to make this ahead of time, I'd recommend adding the basil at the last minute - otherwise it will turn black.)

Calories per serving: about 550.

This calls for quite a lot of pasta - and if you're trying to watch your own calorie intake then adding more peas and less pasta is a good idea. Or, keep the amounts the same, but prepare them in two bowls - one with more pasta, one with less. That will keep other diners happy as well as you. (I keep the feta amounts even - it's a treat I don't like to go without).

love your cupboard

Not all great meals have to be made with fresh produce. A wealth of tasty, healthy options can be found behind the cabinet door.

Take for example this Delia recipe, which I cooked last night. Sardines? Check. Chopped tomatoes? Check. Linguine (or other long pasta)? Check. Capers? Chilli? Garlic? Well, in the fridge, but check.

Sardines may not be the most exciting ingredient ever, but they’re great and really flexible. Sardines on toast, or in salads, are easy (and cheap) ways to add some protein to your meal. A tin is usually less than 40p (and given the current economic climate, that’s real value). If you choose the ones in olive oil, too, then you can use some of that oil in the cooking rather than your own olive oil. Extra flavour at no extra cost.

The only ingredient that really has to be fresh here is the basil, I think. Chillis and garlic, while usually on hand in their fresh versions anyway, can be used in their jarred forms (or even in their dried spice forms). But if you don’t have basil, a spoon of pesto wouldn’t hurt here, I should think…

One suggestion: use a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes rather than a 200g tin. You’ll get a saucier consistency, ensuring the pasta doesn’t dry up or get sticky.

Calories for a serving with 100g linguine: 428. Not too shabby, really. Should you want to bulk out the meal with some fresh ingredients, a fresh spinach salad would be lovely.

who knew?

Apparently angel hair pasta, or capellini, is more filling ounce-per-ounce than any other pasta. It's all down to surface area, according to this month's Gourmet, which conducted a rather scientific experiment of weighing equal amounts of all types of pasta after boiling them. Capellini weighed the most.

I've always loved the texture of angel hair pasta, but I thought I was making a healthier choice by choosing whole wheat pasta. But the calories are the same, so it might be better to go for capellini, actually. Too often the 'standard' portion of pasta just isn't filling enough.

Capellini isn't readily available in the UK, though you can get it at Sainsbury's. In the US it's much more common, and you can even combine the best of both worlds and pick up whole wheat angel hair pasta.

let it snow

Just when I thought spring was on my doorstep, it snows. In April. The night after I bought lots of beautiful plants for my balcony (including a lovely bay tree).

But I remain undeterred. I am not heading back to root vegetable land. I will simply think of today as winter's grand finale.

The new issue of Gourmet arrived in my postbox yesterday. The Italian issue. I worried it might have heavy mom-and-pop fare, that of the New York Italian persuasion.

I needn't have worried. The recipes were fresh - and most importantly - properly Italian. Little known areas like Puglia and Umbria were scoured, and recipes like baby octopus salad and stuffed mussels dominated the pages.

There were two that particularly took my fancy, and I simply couldn't decide which to cook first: pasta with spicy anchovy sauce and dill bread crumbs OR umbrian fish soup.

So I'm doing both.

I think this will actually work quite nicely. The Italians often eat a very small portion of pasta as a first course - and we could learn from them. Although a standard serving size is about 90 g (or 3 oz) officially, we more often than not eat about three times that.

So my goal is to have my pasta and eat it too.

Check out the recipes here. and here.

the long, slow march to spring

Is it just me, or is everyone feeling the February fug?

Nothing seems particularly exciting, or inspirational, when it comes to food right now. The dishes I'm serving up are the same ones I served up last month, and the month before that. Other than forced rhubarb (which has scary Gothic overtones for me, sorry), no "new" ingredients can be found in my fridge or my cupboard. It's sad. I'm sad, and a little bored.

So what's on the menu this week? We gotta eat, after all...

Monday: sausages and mash. swede mash. Pretty tasty, especially with a bit of wholegrain mustard stirred in.

Tuesday: twas to be a Thai curry, with frozen fish, carrots and bok choy. But the cinema sounded much more exciting (as did the local Chinese restaurant). Alas, no to our friend the Thai curry.

Wednesday: Spanish-style butter beans and prawns with tomato and chilli. Yum, actually. I'm quite looking forward to that.

Thursday: ratatouille pasta. There are still some decent courgettes coming from Spain, though God knows where that aubergine came from. I imagine it huddling together with all the other shivering aubergines in the crate on the way here, dreaming of its warm cozy home. I envision a lovely, chunky rustic pasta, with loads of sauce.

Friday: burgers and sweet potato chips. A stalwart.

Here's the issue, I think: all of these dishes are nice, right? tasty. belly-filling. But I'm getting no sense of urgency to eat them. The tins and frozen produce, and possibly even that swede languishing in the refrigerator, aren't going anywhere.

The feeling (like in in May, when you gotta, you must, you have to do nothing but eat asparagus) eludes me completely right now. I miss it. Terribly.

Possibly one of the biggest roadblocks to healthy eating, the mundane hovers over us like the wretched two-degree fog. Come, spring, come!

a GOOD bottled pasta sauce

I’m normally not one for bottled sauces, but I’m always on the lookout for new healthy ones “just in case.” I tend towards choosing organic versions, because their ingredients are more in line with the ingredients I use. Seeds of Change does a whole range of sauces that have gone down a treat.

For a quick Saturday lunch, add the roasted garlic, tomato and chilli sauce to freshly-boiled wholewheat linguine. No need to add anything else. (Except a glass of Chianti perhaps.)

I think it’s good to keep one of these jars in the cupboard for emergencies – it’s a slightly upmarket option to a tin of herby chopped tomatoes.

figgy Friday

Perusing the fresh pasta section at the stops, I spied one I had not seen before. Usually it’s spinach and ricotta, or bacon and tomato… I could go on. But this time was different – fig and goats cheese. I’m not one for fresh pasta, but I felt I must try it.

Tonight’s the night. I picked up a sauce to go with it – but I’m not sure about it now. It was tomato and goats cheese and at least the cheeses match. But tomatoes and figs? I can’t decide. There were creamy sauces on offer – but I didn’t want to overdo the cream, and therefore fat, content. After all, half of a package of the pasta is about 475 calories all on its own.

I think instead what I will do is let the pasta filling speak for itself. Once cooked, I’ll mix with wilted spinach, a healthy dose of black pepper and a few sprays of olive oil. What do you think?

pumpkin, mascarpone, spinach and leek cannelloni

My first foray into cannelloni – and I wasn’t really properly prepared. I don’t know how I thought I would get the mixture inside the tubes, but luckily a pair of scissors and a Ziploc bag made for a wonderfully useful pastry bag.

I didn’t work from a set recipe on this – most of them are for spinach and ricotta, but I figured I would just roast up some pumpkin and add that to the mix. The instructions on the back of the cannelloni tubes box was helpful for timings.

Pumpkin, mascarpone, spinach and leek cannelloni
(serves 2)

Stuffing:
2 large leeks, chopped
100 g spinach
250-300 g pumpkin, chopped into 1cm cubes (or roasted in slices and then chopped)
1 tub of reduced-fat mascarpone, a quarter of it reserved for the passata sauce
50 g parmesan
Olive oil spray

12-15 cannelloni tubes
½ jar of passata
Reserved mascarpone
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Set the oven to 200 C and roast the pumpkin for about 30 minutes. Remove and chop up into small pieces if necessary.

Meanwhile, sauté the leeks in olive oil spray; after about five minutes, add the spinach and allow to wilt. Remove from heat and mix through the mascarpone and parmesan. Add the pumpkin and mix through too. Season with salt and pepper

Load the mixture into a pastry bag or a sealed bag and snip the corner. Use to fill the cannelloni tubes one by one. Place each one next to the other in a ovenproof dish.

Mix the rest of the mascarpone and the passata sauce (or chopped tomatoes) and pour over cannelloni tubes. Cook for 40 minutes and serve.

The sweetness of pumpkin and mascarpone delights the tongue, while the homey flavours of tomato and leek cut through the flavour. Not too decadent, but not requiring many sacrifices either. I was particularly impressed by the flavour of the reduced-fat mascarpone. It completely held its own in the heady mixture.

halloween pasta

For a Halloween treat, try pumpkin-mushroom-spinach penne with a few dollops of reduced fat creme fraiche.

Basically, just peel and dice the pumpkin into 1-cm cubes. Season and steam for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil the pasta and chop the mushrooms. Saute the mushrooms with a few sprays of olive oil and black pepper.

Once the pumpkin is done, mix it with the mushrooms and saute further. Add half of the spinach and allow to wilt.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the creme fraiche.

When the pasta is ready, divide them into individual bowls (if you're watching calories, allow 100 g of dry weight pasta) and spoon the pumpkin mixture over the pasta (split it evenly between the bowls. Mix through, season and serve. For an extra treat, add a little parmesan.

the wonders of fennel pesto

I saw this little jar on the shelf at the shops this weekend, waiting patiently for me to espy it, I presume. I actually shrieked a little when I saw it, to be honest. I had heard the concept bandied about recently, and kept meaning to make it, but the time or the meal wasn’t right.

But this little jar, despite the fact that it was not a part of the plans I had for this week’s meal, simply had to be purchased.

An Italian chicken salad was originally on the menu for last night, using the leftover chicken breast from the roast, shredded and combined with pomodorino tomatoes and red and yellow peppers roasted in red wine vinegar.

But my prized fennel pesto led me to tweak this dinner by making Italian chicken pasta instead. The outcome was quite nice, if I do say so myself – full of strong flavours which compliment each other well.

My favourite thing about this dish is that it can be served either hot or cold, depending on one’s mood. Just be sure to use the right type of pasta (linguine works well for hot; fusilli or macaroni is a better choice for cold).

This dish is also speedy, too, and most parts can be made ahead of time: the chicken taken from leftovers, and the tomatoes and peppers roasted a day earlier. And it’s healthy too. (Beat that, Nigella)

Italian chicken pasta
(serves 2)

200 g wholemeal linguine
250-300 g shredded cooked chicken breast
200 g pomodorino tomatoes – or any other type available, as long as they are ripe
2 bell peppers (I used one red and one yellow for colour), deseeded and sliced
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
15-20 sprays of olive oil (3-4 ml)
2 tbsp fennel pesto
2 small handfuls of baby spinach leaves
A handful of black olives (15 or so), sliced
10 g of basil leaves, chopped
A sprinkle of grated parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Note: the tomatoes and peppers can be made ahead by roasting them with red wine vinegar, salt and pepper, and a couple sprays of olive oil for 30 minutes in a 200 C oven. If roasting the tomatoes at the same time, begin with this step, and proceed to the next step after 20 minutes of roasting.

Bring a large pot of water to boil – when bubbling, add the linguine and cook for about 10 minutes, until fairly soft.

Meanwhile, heat a pan with a few sprays of olive oil and add the shredded chicken over medium/medium-high heat. Allow to cook through. When the tomatoes and peppers are done roasting, add the entire contents of the tin to the chicken. Stir and cover.

When the pasta has finished boiling, drain and return to the pan, but remove from the heat. Mix through the baby spinach and half of the pesto and stir. Cover for a minute or two to allow the spinach to wilt.

Add the chicken, peppers and tomatoes to the pasta and again stir through.

Split evenly between two large bowls – top with equal proportions of the chopped basil leaves, olives and the remaining pesto. Sprinkle a bit of parmesan over, and season with a few grindings of salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Of course, fennel pesto is not a requirement for this dish – though it certainly adds a different, softer perspective than say, basil pesto or red pepper pesto.

Other uses for fennel pesto:
-Atop a butternut squash soup
-On bruschetta with a bit of goats cheese
-Mixed into mayonnaise as a dip for sweet potato chips
-A marinade for grilled white fish – or even a darker fish such as mackerel
-spread onto courgettes and grilled for a couple of minutes

But don't just take my word for it:
-The BBC recommends it in a pan-fried sea bass with fennel pesto and tomato salsa
-Sacla, makers of fennel pesto, offer up a pumpkin ravioli with fennel pesto recipe
-use it on fresh spaghetti with hot pepper flecks

when time is of the essence

Turkey breasts in the freezer, and cauliflower in the fridge. Originally I was planning to bake the breasts rolled with cheese and spinach, steam the cauliflower, and perhaps serve with brown rice. Very wholesome indeed.

After a long day deluged with rain and a quick trip to the gym, the thought of waiting for the turkey to bake and the rice to boil for at least thirty minutes seemed unbearable. Instead, I quickly decided to combine the turkey and the cauliflower instead into a new – but albeit slightly unusual – pasta concoction.

Broccoli goes well on pasta, so why not cauliflower? Add the turkey, some thyme (fresh or dried), a bit of olive oil and parmesan for an Italian twist.

Though it won’t go on my all-time favourites, it has potential. Should I make it again, I would shred the turkey and perhaps add a bit more thyme.

Turkey and cauliflower pasta with parmesan and thyme
(serves 2)

200 g tricolore fusilli (or other short pasta)
2 turkey breasts, chopped into about 10 bite size pieces
2 tbsp dried thyme.
A few sprays of olive oil (10 sprays = 2 ml)
1 head of cauliflower, chopped
3 tbsp (about 40-45 g) parmesan, grated
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat a small pan with a few sprays of olive oil. Coat the chopped turkey pieces with thyme, and once the oil is heated, add them to the pan. Saute for 10 minutes, until golden brown on the outside.

Bring a pot of water to boil and add the fusilli. Boil for about 8 minutes.

Place the cauliflower in a steamer on the hob and steam for 5-6 minutes, until quite tender.

When the cauliflower and pasta are done, drain them and add both back into the pasta pot. Add the tablespoon of oil, and season well with salt and pepper. Mix together well.

When the turkey is ready, add the pieces to the pasta pot, mixing to ensure the turkey pieces are evenly distributed. Add in one of the tablespoons of parmesan and a little more pepper and mix through.

Divide evenly into two bowls, topping each one with a tablespoon of parmesan.

comparing carbohydrates

Since diets such as Atkins and the South Beach became popular, a widespread anti-carbohydrate movement has been brewing. I think some of this unfounded.

Sure, toss out crisps and cakes. But many starches and grains are quite good for you and help to fill your stomach. Comparing calories is a useful exercise.

carbohydrate	Average serving size	Calories*	Calories per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Potatoes, uncooked	150	112.5	75
Sweet potatoes, uncooked	150	139.5	93
White pasta, uncooked	100 g	352	352
Wheat pasta, uncooked	100 g	315	315
Brown rice, uncooked	50 g	176	352
Bulgur wheat, uncooked	50 g (1.75 oz)	179.5	359
Couscous, uncooked	50 g	182.5	365
Quinoa, uncooked	50 g	270	360
Chickpeas, dry weight, uncooked	50 g	167.5	335
Butter beans, dry weight, uncooked	50 g	145	290
Chickpeas, canned, cooked	¼ can (60 g)	71.5	119
Butter beans, canned, cooked	¼ can (60 g)	59	98

*calories are estimated based on varieties available at a local supermarket and should be used only as a general guideline

Many find it surprising that potatoes are actually LOW in calories. But consider the fact that most people, when eating potatoes, consume much more than one serving, sometimes wolfing down two or three.

Also, whereas brown rice, couscous, and bulgur wheat are often eaten without any extra additives, potatoes – and pasta – often receive a buttery treatment. The calorie amounts listed above refer to the plain carbohydrate in question that is boiled and served.

The overall message in my opinion is clear: carbohydrates are not bad, in fact they are very good. But eat the recommended portion size and refrain from loading the carbohydrates full of fats – instead complement them with vegetables. (They'll be flattered.)

thursday night dinner

Before I begin, sorry for the post five days after the fact. The bank holiday weekend - and the sun - has kept me outside. But I will endeavour to catch up quickly.

Thursday night's dinner was a prawn, goats cheese and pea pasta. Now, I know it sounds a bit strange, so give it a chance. I had prawns in the refrigerator and a lovely lump of organic goats cheese beckoning from the top shelf. I used Cooking Light magazine's search engine, typing in shrimp and goats cheese and came up with what I thought was trumps:

Shrimp with Lemon, Mint and Goats Cheese
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=689943

After all, I had all the ingredients I needed - leftover mint in the fridge from tabbouleh earlier in the week, frozen peas in the freezer, and the ubiqitous tomatoes on the vine.

I didn't have any mirin, so just deleted it from the recipe, though perhaps a dry white wine would have worked. I served it with wholemeal spaghetti - 75 g for me, and 150 g for Pete. I don't think the pasta was necessary, but the meal needed to be bulked up a bit for Pete.

Looking back, I don't think the goats cheese was a good addition to this recipe. And that's hard for me to say, being a lover of goats cheese. But if I were in the same position again, I would serve pieces of a wholemeal baguette with a bit of a goats cheese shmear on top. I don't think putting the goats cheese in the wet situation with the prawns, tomatoes and lemon really complimented any of the flavours.

I wouldn't use mint again either. As much as I love the herb, the lemon, garlic, peas, spring onion (scallion) and tomatoes tasted great without the mint. I accept that the peas-lemon-mint combo is a good one (actually, the dish inspired me to make a pea soup the next night with those very ingredients) but it wasn't right for this dish. Definitely a 1-star dish in my mind.

penne puttanesca

Six days in the new flat and the place is really shaping up. But we're tired - and after a long day at a conference and then a quick outing at our block's gym, we need something quick, easy, and tasty.

I've only had puttanesca once before, when my friend Sarah cooked it for me. I believe she said it was a Nigella recipe. As I have a tin of olives and a jar of capers in the pantry, I'm inspired again. I look up a few recipes and although I don't have any anchovies, I decide to proceed regardless - with olives and capers the dish is sure to be salty enough.

This dish doesn't require any oil. Savoury and satisfying, the puttanesca was on the table within 20 minutes. And I didn't need the parmesan, though sometimes I can't go without.

I've had this call for three standard small servings, though I only needed one. My husband had the other two (plus some bread to mop up the sauce).

penne puttanesca
(serves 3 - 1 small, 1 large; serves 2 medium-sized portions)

225 g wholemeal penne
1 tin cherry tomatoes, pureed roughly + 1/4 tin water to loosen sauce
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
150 g black olives, pitted and chopped
50 g capers
fresh parsley, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
parmesan to taste (optional)

Boil a pot of water and drop in the penne - boil for about 8 minutes. In a saucepan, pour in a bit of the pureed cherry tomato mixture, some salt and the chopped garlic. Heat the pan and allow the garlic to saute in the juices for a bit. Then pour in the rest of the tomato mixture and bring to the boil, then down to a simmer. Toss in cherry tomatoes, black olives and capers. Allow to simmer uncovered.

When the penne is ready, drain and then pour into the saucepan. Mix together with the parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and turn to low for a few minutes. Serve in shallow bowls with parmesan if desired and possibly a baby spinach salad.


calories (without parmesan): one small serving - 381 calories; one large - 762 calories.

One note of caution: make sure to chop the parsley very finely - otherwise it can go stringy.