Lemon chilli prawn spaghetti with pangrattato

The pangrattato acts as a seasoning and extra level of texture. It is great on top of pasta, risotto, soups and stews.

- First boil water for spaghetti and cook according to packet instructions.
- In the meantime finely dice a couple of banana shallots (or a white onion) and fry in olive oil until softened. Then add a finely chopped red chilli (we used a birds eye chilli), and a couple of cloves of minced garlic. Leave to cook for a minute or two whilst you prepare the pangrattato.
- In a food processor (or using a knife) blitz a slice of bread (preferably a day or two old) with a clove of garlic, a tea spoon of chilli flakes, the zest of a lemon, a handful of basil, a handful of parsley and an anchovy. Add a little olive oil to loosen.
- Add some cooked or raw prawns to the shallots, garlic, chilli mix, along with the juice of the lemon which you have left. Season with salt and plenty of pepper.
- Toast the pangrattato in a frying pan until golden but not burnt.
- Drain the spaghetti leaving a little of the cooking water and stir through the prawn mixture.
- Scatter the pangrattato on top of the prawn spaghetti and serve with extra lemon wedges and chilli oil for people to drizzle over the top if they like.

Spaghetti with squid

This is simple, quick and packed full of flavour. It relies heavily on chilli, garlic and parsley so use plenty!

We like to use squid ink spaghetti from Carluccios but use regular spaghetti if you can't get hold of any. Get your fishmonger to clean and prepare the squid for you in advance so that it is cleaned and cut into rings.

- Cook the spaghetti according to packet instructions
- In the meantime, fry a diced banana shallot (or small onion) in some olive oil. After a minute or two add a couple of chillies (we used birds eye chillies).
- Once the chillies and shallot have sizzled for a few minutes add 3 cloves of crushed garlic and the zest of one lemon (keep the lemon for later) and plenty of salt and black pepper.
- Chop the parsley stalks (retaining the leaves for later) and add these to the garlic and chillies. Also add the squid at this stage and cook on a high heat for a couple of minutes.
- Drain the cooked spaghetti retaining a little (1/3 of a cup) of the cooking water. Add the spaghetti and cooking liqour to the squid, adding the juice of the lemon and the chopped parsley. We also add a glug of extra virgin olive oil at this stage.
- Give everything a good stir, check the seasoning and eat immediately.

Duck and Chianti lasagne

We've adapted this from a book called The Complete Cookbook, written/edited (we think!) by Weldon Owen. We've made it a few times now and improved on it slightly each time.

Ingredients (serves 4):

2 duck legs

6 rashers of pancetta

pack of mushrooms, sliced

1 onion, diced

2 leeks, sliced

1 carrot, diced

3 celery sticks, diced

4 large tomatoes, diced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

tbl sp chopped fresh rosemary

tea sp chopped fresh/dried oregano (optional)

tea sp chopped fresh sage (optional)

pinch of nutmeg

pinch of allspice

tin of chopped tomatoes

1/3 bottle of chianti

bechemel sauce

mix of cheddar and parmesan, grated

fresh or dried lasagne sheets

salt and pepper

olive oil

• Cook the duck legs in a pre heated oven until cooked through. We tend to do this the night before. Remove the skin and shred the duck meat. Set the meat aside in the fridge until needed. Save the excess liquid fat for roast potatoes.
• In a little olive oil cook the pancetta, onion, leek, celery and carrot until the pancetta is starting to crisp. Then add the mushrooms and garlic and continue to cook until the mushrooms have softened.
• Now add the fresh tomatoes, herbs, and other seasonings before adding the wine. Let it bubble for a couple of minutes on a high heat and then turn the heat down low and add the chopped tomatoes.
• After another 10 minutes or so add the reserved duck meat and leave to simmer on a low heat for at least an hour. After an hour taste it and adjust the seasoning.
• Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees and start to asemble the lasagne. We find that this works best with a sprinkling of grated cheese between each duck ragu/lasagne sheet layer, but with the bechemel sauce only going on the very top, before being sprinkled with extra cheese.
• Cook for approx 35-40 minutes if you're using dried lasagne sheets and 20-25 minutes if you're using fresh lasagne sheets.

Mushroom lasagne

It looks like a bit of a dogs dinner but tasted very good.

Ingredients (serves 3-4 with salad):

1 white onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 pack of chestnut musrooms, sliced

4 portobello mushrooms, sliced

a good handful of dried mixed mushrooms

5 fresh thyme sprigs

1 bag or 4 large handfuls of spinach

1 pack of fresh lasagne sheets

1 glass of dry white wine

50ml marsala

1 small tub of double cream

parmesan

olive oil and butter

salt and pepper

• Pre heat the oven to 170 degrees
• Soak the dried mushrooms in boiling water for 20 minutes to soften
• Meanwhile, fry the onion and garlic in a little oil and butter until softened
• Slice the chestnut and portobello mushrooms and add them to the pan with the softened dried mushrooms
• Add the wine, marsala and a table spoon of the dried mushroom soaking liquid and allow to simmer for 7-8 minutes or so
• Add the cream, spinach and thyme and season well with salt and pepper, allow to simmer for another couple of minutes
• This bit is easier with two people... fill a large saucepan or bowl with very hot water and blanche the lasagne sheets in it for 1 minute each. In an over proof lasagne dish, layer the pre-soaked lasagne sheets and spoon in the mushroom filling between each layer
• Sprinkle grated parmesan between each layer as you go and add extra parmesan on the top layer
• Cover with foil and put in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for a further 10-15 minutes until the top is golden

Spaghetti carbonara

I think we make a pretty damn good carbonara - if I do say so myself! A traditional carbonara doesn't include cream but we find that a small amount helps to loosen the sauce a little.

Ingredients (serves 2 greedy people):

spaghetti

a handful of mushrooms, sliced (optional)

6 rashers of Italian smoked pancetta, diced

1 small white onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 egg yolks

grated parmesan (about 3 table spoons)

1-2 tbl sp of double cream (optional)

black pepper and salt

olive oil

• Cook the spaghetti according to pack instructions in plenty of boiling salted water
• Saute the onion, garlic and pancetta in a little oil until the onion is soft and the pancetta is starting to crisp
• Add the mushrooms if using and continue to cook for 5 minutes
• Meanwhile, in a bowl mix together the parmesan, egg yolks and cream, if using. Season with black pepper.
• When the spaghetti is cooked, drain it and set aside.
• Take the pan that the mushrooms/pancetta etc is in off the heat and stir in the sauce. Place the pan back on a low heat and add the drained spaghetti.
• Stir well for a couple of minutes so that the sauce coats the spaghetti completely, and then serve. Add more black pepper and grated parmesan to taste.

Chicken and pesto tortelloni soup

This was a really fresh tasting soup and was very quick to make.

Ingredients:

1 pack of tortelloni (we used walnut and gorgonzola)

1 sml courgette, diced

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/2 bunch parsley, chopped

a handful of chopped mixed greens

a handful of cooked chicken, shredded

800ml chicken or veg stock

1 tea spoon of pesto

shaved parmesan, to serve

• Fry the diced courgette in a little olive oil in a deep pan
• Once the courgette is soft, add the stock and allow to simmer
• After 5 minutes or so, add the peas and mixed greens, allow to simmer for 1 minute
• Add the filled pasta, pesto, chicken and parsley and simmer for 3-5 minutes or so, until the tortelloni floats to the surface
• Serve in deep bowls and scatter with shaved parmesan

Smoked salmon, courgette and vodka pasta

Ingredients:

1 courgette

3 shallots

1 clove of garlic

farfalle pasta

3 slices of smoked salmon, cut into strips

100g creme fraiche

25g grated parmesan

25g grated gruyere (optional)

tbl spoon cream cheese

handful of fresh parsley, chopped

50ml vodka

salt and pepper

olive oil

• Cook pasta according to pack instructions.
• In a bowl, mix the creme fraiche, cream cheese, parmesan, gruyere and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.
• Whilst the pasta is cooking dice the shallots, garlic and courgette and fry in a little olive oil until soft.
• Add the vodka to the courgette and shallots and allow to bubble away for 5 minutes or so. Then add the soft cheese mixture and stir everything thoroughly. Then add the smoked salmon strips and stir again.
• Drain the cooked pasta and add to the sauce. You may want to add a spoonful of the pasta cooking water to the sauce to loosen it a little.

Creole smoky sausage pasta

We recently bought a selection of meat and sausages from the Alternative Meats company http://www.alternativemeats.co.uk/. This was the first thing we made. It was very easy and had loads of flavour.

Ingredients:

4 creole smoky sausages (skins removed)

1 red onion, diced

1 clove of garlic, diced

a handful of mushrooms, sliced

1/2 bag of spinach

5 tomatoes, diced

olive oil

salt and pepper

pasta, we used tagliatelli

• Mould the sausage meat into meatballs before browing them in a non-stick frying pan in a little olive oil
• Once browned remove the sausage meatballs from the frying pan and set aside
• Fry the onion, garlic and mushrooms in the same frying pan until soft, and then add the diced tomatoes and put the sausage meatballs back into the pan
• Cook the pasta according to packet instructions
• Leave the sausage meatballs to cook in the tomato sauce for 10 minutes or so, then add the spinach and season with salt and pepper
• Serve the meatballs and sauce over cooked pasta

Spaghetti with crab, chilli and watercress

Ingredients (serves 2):

spaghetti
fresh cooked crab (As much as you like/can afford! We used white meat only)
1 chilli, chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1/2 a bag of watercress
olive oil
1 lemon
salt and pepper

• Cook spaghetti in boiling salted water
• Meanwhile fry the chilli and garlic in olive oil, add the crab and watercress for the last 3-4 minutes to warm them through and to wilt the watercress
• Add the drained spaghetti to the crab and watercress mixture, season with salt and pepper and dress with extra olive oil and lemon juice to taste