Pea, Prosciutto and Tomato Pasta...

Gigli Pasta - cone shaped flowers

This is just a simple pasta dish that is really, really delicious. I'd been craving pasta for a while so made a really quick sauce last night and just added some peas, prosciutto ham, basil and onion. I really wanted to use orecchiette pasta (also known as little ears) which would have held the sauce well but unfortunately Sainsbury's didn't have any. So instead I got 'Gigli,', the next most unusual looking shape, which is rolled into the shape of a conical flower. I think it's the prettiest pasta I've seen and was really delicious. It's hard to use exact quantities, this is more of an idea for a quick pasta dish rather than a proper recipe so just use as much as you like.


Ingredients - (for 2)
2 portions of any type of pasta
Peas
Prosciutto ham
Small white onion, finely chopped
Handful of basil
Clove of garlic, finely chopped or crushed
Can of chopped tomatoes
Tin of tomato puree 
Grated cheese, parmesan or cheddar. 
Black pepper


1. Boil the kettle for the pasta. Get the sauce going by frying the onion and garlic in a little olive oil. Once softened, add the basil and tomato puree for a minute or 2. Then add the chopped tomatoes and simmer for a good 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cook the peas in the microwave and tear the ham up. Cook the pasta according to it's instructions. 
3. Add the peas and ham to the sauce and stir in. Add some black pepper.
4. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and coat in the sauce. Divide into bowls and add some cheese, then serve.

Leon...

I've really fallen for the Leon brand with their healthy cookbooks and quirky restaurants. Their 'healthy fast food' is a great concept and their restaurants are popping up all over the place. I first went to one on the Strand about a year ago and have only just got round to going again. The problem with all of these delicious restaurant chains (I'm also a huge fan of Yo Sushi, Wahaca, Wagamama, Pizza Express etc) is finding the time to visit them! We have to choose carefully when we go out (most are in London) as to which one to eat in. So anyway, last night my boyfriend, my parents and I went to Leon in Brent Cross. It's only been open for a couple of months and looks really lovely with twinkly lights and a chandelier. Unfortunately, we'd looked at the menu online and wanted the dinner 'grazing dishes' available after 6pm but Brent Cross doesn't serve these. So instead we ordered some flatbread and houmous to start (very good) then 5 lunch hot dishes between the 4 of us, they all come in a box with rice and dressed 'slaw which wasn't ideal as we then had to split the dishes and share out all the rice. I think the concept of the grazing dishes would be better, just ordering a good selection of the meat/veg dishes so you can try the all and getting the rice and salads separately. But anyway, the food was really delicious even if it was all mixed onto one plate. We had a Pork Jambalaya (probably my favourite) -  mexican slow cooked tomatoey cajun spiced pork, Grilled chicken with garlic and aioli, chilli chicken - grilled chicken with chilli sauce on the side, sweet potato falafel and the Leon Gobi a coconut based cauliflower curry - all with so many yummy flavours. And it was a definite winner for me serving brown rice and giving free water (in retro jugs with slices of lemon). 
You're probably wondering why, in a blog filled with sweet baking and puddings, that I haven't mentioned any pudding. And that's because like the grazing dishes, they didn't serve puddings with ice cream or anything. On the counter they have brownies or pecan pies but we wanted something proper after our mostly virtuous meal so came home for it instead.
So Leon is a great healthy place to go for breakfast (yes even their breakfasts are healthy and look delicious), lunch or dinner, just try to pick a branch that serves the grazing dishes and puddings in the evenings. Also, an added bonus is that if you sign up to their 'Leon love club', you get 40% off! So all of our food came to £26. 


The boxed chicken aioli, rice and slaw. 

 Our plate with a bit of each lunchtime dish.


















P.S I've only tried one thing out of the Leon cookbook so far (pancakes) but as I go through and try the rest out, I'll be blogging them :)

Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs with Couscous

The idea for this came from a 'winter barbecue'; a summer al-fresco one seems so far away. So by making this in mid January, you can have all the flavours and ingredients you'd eat in abundance in the summer months while it's actually dark and cold outside. It's basically just some chicken and vegetables on skewers served with couscous, salad and pitta breads. The kebabs are made with a technique from Jamie Oliver, instead of cutting the chicken into pieces and then threading them onto skewers, you put 4 skewers through a chicken breast then cut down between them (see photo below, a picture tells 1000 words). These are so versatile, you can put any type of meat or vegetable and serve it with rice or 


Ingredients -
1 to 1 1/2 chicken breasts per person
Vegetables such as cherry tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, courgettes, onions, cut into sizeable chunks that can be threaded
Couscous (I use Ainsley Harriot's dried roasted vegetable couscous that you just add boiling water)
Brown Pitta Breads
Salad


2 skewers per person


1. Load up the skewers with the meat and vegetables, see photo for the easy way to thread the chicken. 
2. Then cook or grill in a griddle pan over a medium to high heat until the chicken is cooked through. 
3. Prepare the couscous to your packet's instructions and serve with your favourite salad.
4. When the chicken is cooked, remove the skewers and toast the pittas in the griddle pan for a few minutes on each side.

Chilli con carne

Chilli is a great Mexican family dinner and tastes great served with brown rice and grated cheese, although my brother loves his in taco shells. In this recipe, you can add a small (about the size of a thumb) piece of dark chocolate instead of the sugar which adds more depth. And I often freeze chilli and defrost about a day before cooking. Just put it in a freezer bag and it will last for a couple of months for a quick midweek dinner!

Ingredients -
1 tbsp oil
1 large onion, diced
1 red pepper (optional) 
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
500g lean minced beef
1 beef stock cube
400g can chopped tomatoes
1/2tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 or 2 cans of red kidney beans


Cheese, rice, taco shells and sour cream to serve.


1. Heat some oil in a pan and fry the onions until soft. Add the garlic, red pepper, chilli, paprika and cumin. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.
2. Brown the mince on a high heat. Once fully browned, crumble a stock cube into the mix. Then add a can of chopped tomatoes and the marjoram and sugar, salt and pepper. Then squirt some tomato puree and stir.
3. Simmer gently, bring it to the boil and put a lid on the pan. Turn down the heat until bubbling and leave for around 20minutes. If it needs loosening up, add up to 1/2 pint of hot water. Then add the drained kidney beans and bubble in the sauce.  Season again if it needs it. 
4. Leave to cool and refrigerate if leaving it for the next day or leave on the hob if serving later that day. Reheat until boiling and serve with rice. 

Jamie's Sea Bass & Crispy Pancetta, Sweet Potato Mash and Asian Greens...

This is another recipe from Jamie's 30minute meals cookbook that I cooked with my boyfriend last night. I think it's a really great way to do the sweet potatoes with coriander and mango chutney. It's kind of an Asian mix with some Italian Pancetta. Unfortunately Sainsbury's had run out of Seabass so we had to do the recipe with Haddock, which was nice but Seabass would have definitely been better. I also didn't have any asparagus for the greens so used spinach with the broccoli instead. And because we didn't make the lemon and ginger drink or berry ice cream like Jamie does in the 30minute recipe, ours was ready a lot sooner. I cut down the amount of lemon, salt and olive oil that Jamie ALWAYS insists on. I think these top chefs seem to have lost their taste buds and can only eat anything coated in lemon, salt and oil -raising your blood pressure and adding unnecessary calories. 
Ingredients - (based on the recipe for 4 people)
For the Mash: 
700g sweet potatoes, 
2 limes, 
A small bunch of fresh coriander,
2 tablespoons mango chutney,
Soy Sauce.
For the Greens:
1 fresh red chilli
1 clove of garlic
Soy Sauce
1 lime
Sesame Oil
100g Asparagus or some spinach
1 head of broccoli
For the Seabass:
8 thin slices of pancetta
4 x 150g fillets of sea bass, skin on, scaled and pin-boned
1 lemon (if you feel it's necessary)
1 tsp fennel seeds (optional)


1. Wash the sweet potatoes, trim off any gnarly bits then stab them a few times with a knife. Put in a large microwave safe bowl, halve one of the limes and add to the bowl then cover with a double layer of clingfilm and microwave on full power for 12 minutes, or until cooked through.
2. Deseed and finely chop the chilli adding half to a large serving bowl and set the rest aside. Crush the unpeeled clove of garlic into the bowl and add 2 tbsp of soy sauce. Squeeze in the juice of 1 lime and add a splash of sesame oil. Mix. Trim the asparagus stalks, if using, quarter the broccoli. 
3. Put the pancetta into a frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Turn when crispy. When golden, remove to a plate and leave the fat in the pan. Add the fish to the pan, skin side down. Shake the pan and press the fish flat for a couple of seconds. Then put the fennel seeds in if using with some pepper.
4. Finely chop coriander on a large wooden chopping board, setting a few leaves aside for the garnish. Add the mango chutney, a good splash of soy and the reserved chopped chilli. Chop the mix everything together on the board.
5. Fill a large saucepan with boiling water and add the broccoli and asparagus, completely submerging them. Put the lid on and turn the heat up high.
6. Check the fish, once the skin is golden and crispy, turn the heat down to low but have confidence to let the skin become good and crispy before reducing the heat.
7. Get the sweet potatoes out of the micrwoave and check they are cooked through, then use tongs to squeeze the juice from the lime. Then carefully tip the sweet potatoes on top of the mango chutney mixture and use a knife or masher to chop and mash everything together (inc skins). Season to taste.
8. Take the pan of fish off the heat and flip the fillets over so they gently finish cooking on the flesh side. Return the pancetta to warm through and serve the fish and pancetta on top of the board of mash and take to the table.
9. Drain the broccoli and asparagus in a colander then tip into the serving bowl with the dressing, quickly toss and take to the table. 

Lasagne

Lasagne is such a great dish to make for a crowd. It's one of those things that tastes better as it matures so it's good (and handy) to make a couple of days in advance. I make it using my Dad's famous Bolognese sauce, taught to him by my Grandma when he left home. But I must admit that for the white sauce...  I shamefully used Dolmio.... (only because I was pushed for time and we had some in the cupboard)... If you want to be better and more virtuous than I was, Delia has a good basic recipe for a white sauce. I always use green pasta sheets in lasagne, I think it adds another dimension along with the mushrooms. I serve it with a balsamic dressed green salad. If you drain all the fat off the mince (see recipe), it makes for a healthy dinner.


Ingredients - (makes 1 big lasagne to feed about 6 depending on the size of your dish, you'll probably have some sauce left which you could freeze or serve with some pasta the next day)


2 x 600g lean mince
1 pack closed cup mushrooms, chopped
1 large white onion, diced
3 tins tomato purée
3 tins chopped tomatoes
Good glug of red white
Salt, pepper to season
Garlic flavoured olive oil
2 garlic cloves
Sprinkling of italian mixed herbs
A few gratings of parmesan cheese
Quantity of white sauce (see Delia's recipe or if you're lazy like me, a jar of dolmio)
Lasagne dried pasta sheets  - green is good

1. Fry off the onion in some garlic oil and then brown the mince. Once browned, drain away as much liquid/fat as you can down the sink. Then add the garlic and mushrooms.


2. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée and wine and stir to coat all of the mince.


3. Add some herbs, lots of black pepper and a little salt then grate some parmesan cheese into the sauce.


4. Leave to simmer while stirring occasionally and leave it cooking for about 15-20mins on a low heat to thicken slightly.

5. Once all cooked and cooled (if the sauce is still warm, it will make the pasta curl) you can start to assemble the lasagne. Get a large ovenproof dish and spoon a good layer of sauce to cover the bottom, spreading out evenly. Then cover with a layer of the pasta sheets, cover with a layer of the white sauce, then put more meat sauce before topping again with pasta and the white sauce to finish. Grate some parmesan cheese over the top to crisp it up while it cooks.


6. You can now cover it with clingfilm and leave in the fridge for a couple of days. When cooking the lasagne, let it come up to temperate out of the fridge a couple of hours before and then cook for about 50 minutes in a preheated oven at 180c. It's best when the top has browned and the sauce is just bubbling up at the edges. Serve with a salad.

Squash and Sweet Potato Soup... Adapted from Nigella

With so much snow and ice everywhere, I decided to walk rather than drive to Sainsbury's this morning with my Mum and puppy. While I was there, I got a butternut squash and some sweet potatoes to make a warming soup for the next couple of days before Christmas.

Riley, my pup, in the snow

I got the idea from watching one of Nigella's Christmas episodes which seems to be repeated again and again on the Good Food channel. Roasting the vegetables before turning them into soup is really delicious as they go much sweeter, especially the squash which isn't as good when it's boiled. She finishes hers off with buttermilk and blue cheese which I didn't fancy, but mine is just as delicious and of course much healthier. She also uses cinnamon, nutmeg and marsala wine in hers to make it more festive but I used spiced mine up with some cumin, mild chilli powder and some black pepper. I guess you can use this basic soup recipe with roasting the veg for any other vegetables that need using up and soup in this weather is ideal!
Ingredients - makes a big pot of soup -
About 4 small red onions, take the outer layer off and chop them in half
1 butternut squash, unpeeled, chop into about 1 inch cubes
500g sweet potatoes, unpeeled, chop into cubes
Garlic Oil to coat
A good shake of cumin 
and a good shake of chilli powder
Black pepper to season
1.5 litres of vegetable stock (I used 2 pots of vegetable stock reduction made up with water)


1.Put the veg into a roasting tin and coat with olive oil before sprinkling on the spices. 
2. Cook in a hot oven (about 180-200c) for about an hour (until all tender and just starting to blacken)
3. Then let them cool while making up the stock. Then put the vegetables in a big saucepan and add the stock a little at a time while whizzing up with a blender (I stupidly poured it all in at once and it could have done with being a tiny bit thicker).
4. Then either serve straight away or it will keep in the fridge for a while!
I'm going to serve mine with some brown bread, I might even make some if I'm feeling virtuous ;)

Pizza - Healthy, Easy and Delicious!

Mmn, Pizza! I absolutely adore Pizza, even more since travelling in Italy in July. The kind of pizzas that I like are the Italian, thin kind with lots of tomato sauce and not smothered in cheese like American styles. I make mine out of wholemeal flour and use really good mozzarella cheese and quality ingredients. 
Here's the simple recipe, you can add whatever toppings you like:
Ingredients - (makes 2 good sized pizzas)
For the base - About 300g of wholemeal plain flour (not that sure on the quantity, I just chuck it in the bowl and add more if needed)
1/2 sachet of yeast
About a tablespoon of olive oil
Pinch of Salt
Tepid Water
Chopped fresh basil
For the sauce - Olive oil
1 tin tomato purée
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1/2 red onion, chopped
Clove of garlic, crushed
Fresh basil
Splash of Balsamic Vinegar
Toppings - Mozzarella (I like either Sainsbury's taste the difference or Sainsbury's organic or if I'm feeling extravagant, M&S have some great options or the local deli), Red Onion, Mushrooms, Prosciutto/Parma Ham, Asparagus, Courgette etc...
Preheat oven to about 200c.
To make the dough: Mix the flour and yeast in a bowl, then pour in some olive oil and a tiny bit of salt and chopped basil if using. Then very gradually add the tepid water and keep stirring until all combined. Hard to say how much water, if you put too much and it's too sticky then add more flour and vice versa. No need to prove. Then roll it out to your chosen thickness, I usually do about 1 1/2 cm thick and put on a tray (I find the pizza trays with holes in best as they don't stick, also don't worry if the dough is rough, it's supposed to be rustic) and pop into the preheated oven about 5minutes before topping to help them rise a bit and shrink away from the tray.
For the sauce: Fry off the onion and garlic in a pan and add the basil, then add the purée and stir until it starts to blacken. Then pour in the chopped tomatoes and reduce the heat, add a splash of balsamic. 
Then assemble the pizzas with half the sauce on each of the bases, add the cheese and toppings and cook for about 12minutes until the cheese is bubbling and toppings just crisp.

The Pizzas are also really good if you have a group to feed. You can make them in batches and serve with lots of salad. We built a pizza oven so it's great fun in the summer but to be honest, they taste just as good in the normal oven!

Nigella's Chicken... one to warm you up in this big freeze!

Another Nigella recipe... Can you tell I'm a huge fan yet?
I made this Chicken last Sunday as it started to snow and I felt under the weather, it's a real hearty nutritious dinner and is perfect in this chill! I know that in a couple of weeks, everyone will be thinking about Turkey or Goose for their Christmas lunch so this is a recipe to cook in the weekends before or after. If you're looking for a new stock pot (to cook this in), try Costco, they have a hugee one for about £30! A real bargain. If you have some left over, it turns into a good soup!

Ingredients - (Serves 6)
1 large chicken
2tsp garlic oil
100ml white wine 
4 leeks, cleaned, trimmed and cut into 7cm logs
4 carrots, peeled and cut into logs
1-2 sticks celery, sliced
2 litres cold water
1 bouquet garni
A few sprigs of parsley (Optional - I hate parsley so left it out)
2 tsps Salt
A few really good grindings of pepper or add pink peppercorns
To serve - mustard


Get out a large, flame-safe cooking pot (with a lid) so the chicken can fit snugly.
On a washable board, un-truss the chicken and put it breast-side down and press until the breastbone cracks (trust me, it's not as bad as it sounds) and then press down again to flatten it. Then cut off the ankle joints with kitchen scissors (keep them).
Put the oil in the pan to heat, then brown the chicken breast-side down and turn up the heat and turn over the chicken, tossing the feet in. Still over a high heat, add the wine to the pan and let it bubble before adding leeks, celery and carrots.
Pour in enough cold water to cover the chicken but leave the very top poking out, put the bouquet garni in and the parsley if using. The chicken should be almost completely submerged by now, if not add some more cold water until it is just about covered.

Bring to the boil and then clamp on the lid, turn the heat right down and leave to cook for 1 1/2- 2hours. I gave it 1 hour 40 mins then left it to stand with the heat off but lid still on for the last 20mins.
Then carve the chicken, it should be so tender that it falls straight off the bone and serve the chicken with the vegetables and brown basmati rice, adding a ladleful or two of liquid over each shallow bowl, as you go.
Then serve with more black pepper and the mustard. 






N.B My parents wanted theirs with potatoes and this works well too, I also cooked up some cabbage to have on the side and added peas into the broth.
Also, if you have some left over (we seemed to have loads), you can make some soup out of it in the following days.


< A good meal for the cold weather, this is a photo from a snowy walk I had with my puppy in the week.

Simple Grilled Chicken, Jamie's Sweet Potato Mash and Asparagus

Some of my favourite dinners are the healthiest and simplest, perfect for mid-week like grilled chicken or fish with some vegetables. I adore sweet potatoes and saw Jamie's mash (on his 30minute meals again) which seemed like a good way to zap it up a little. This is more like an idea than a recipe to be honest -

So for the chicken I just grilled it on the 'Baby George', or if you're lucky enough to have nice summery weather, bbq it! Then just steam some veggies, I love asparagus and spinach.

But the sweet potatoes are the really special bit -

It depends on how many you're serving or how hungry you are as to how many you use. But I just quartered and peeled (although you don't have to peel it for added fibre) and put in a microwavable bowl. Add a quarter of a lemon to the bowl to steam in with it if you like. Cover with clingfilm and cook on full power for about 9 minutes - obviously more depending on the quantities. Push a fork in when cooked to see if they are soft enough to mash, if not cook for a bit longer. Then mash it up and drizzle in some garlic oil while the potatoes are still hot, then you can add whatever you like depending on your meal! Sometimes coriander or chilli (like Jamie does). I just simply added some peas and served with lots of black pepper!

Prawn Tomato and Spinach curry

Haven't blogged in a while but have done lots of cooking so time to catch up...

This curry is so quick, healthy and delicious! Good for a Friday or Saturday night. I like it with brown basmati rice with butternut squash (I think it's Tilda microwave pack from most supermarkets), but my boyfriend has his with plain white.

Ingredients -

- Makes 2 large bowlfuls

White onion, diced

Prawns

Peas - cooked in the microwave

Spinach (a huge bag) - wilted down in the microwave

Tin of chopped tomatoes - one per 2 people

Tin of tomato purée - again one per 2 people

Patak's Masala Paste - a tablespoon

Rice to serve

Fry the onion and add the masala paste and puree, then add the prawns and coat them until just cooked through.

Add the chopped tomatoes and then add the spinach and peas, cook down for a good 5 minutes (while the rice is being microwaved)

Then serve with the rice.

Healthy Vegetable Dhansak Curry

I found this recipe in a magazine about a month ago but only got round to cooking it last night! I love healthy, low-fat dinners like these. If anyone's tried an Innocent Veg Pot then it's along those kind of lines. It counts as all 5 of your 5-a-day as not only do the vegetables count, but also the red lentils! It's really easy to make and is so healthy and delicious :) Also I was going to add some prawns to this but forgot to get them out the freezer, but to be honest you don't really need any fish or meat and the lentils have lots of protein anyway!


Makes 2 generous portions (You don't any need rice because of the filling lentils)
Ingredients - 
100g red lentils
Vegetable oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 green chillies finally chopped (I used 1 red chilli from my garden and kept the seeds in for extra zing!)
1 tsp peeled and grated root ginger (I forgot to buy this so used a spoonful of ground ginger)
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 medium sweet potato peeled and diced into 2cm cubes (I used squash but either works)
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
Large handful sultanas (Optional, I hate raisins in savoury so left them out)
1/4tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
500ml hot vegetable stock
1tbsp tomato purée
2 large tomatoes, cut into 8
100g green beans, halved
1tsp garam masala
Small bunch coriander, torn up

Method -
Soak the lentils in cold water for about 3mins then drain.
Heat the oil in a large pan. Fry the onion, garlic, chillies, ginger until the onion softens
Add the carrots, sweet potato/squash and pepper and fry for 5mins
Add the sultanas (if using), turmeric, cumin and coriander and cook for 1min
Stir in the lentils, stock, puree and tomatoes.


Cover with a lid and simmer for 15-20mins, stirring twice.
Add the beans and garam masala and then simmer uncovered for 10mins
Serve with the coriander.

The best ever risotto (If I do say so myself)...

This risotto used to be (and probably to an extent still is) my signature dish, it's complicated enough to seem like you've put some effort in yet simple enough to make and still taste delicious. It can be adapted to any season, the photo shows a summery version with peas and asparagus but I also use roasted squash in the autumn/winter. I've even made a bright pink beetroot version which was a bit strange albeit yummy!


There are 3 main rules to follow with this risotto - lots of stirring, lots of black pepper and lots of parmesan!


The basic recipe (before any adaptations) -

100g-150g risotto rice per person

Tiny piece of butter

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 White Onion, chopped

Closed cup mushrooms

1 and a half breasts of chicken per person

White Wine (about 1 glass full)

Chicken stock (probably made up with 1-1/2 litres of boiling water but check the packets instructions depending on how much rice you're using)

Peas

Parmesan 

Black Pepper

Then you can add any or a mix of the following - 

Asparagus (Steam in the microwave with a tiny bit of water until just soft)

Roasted butternut squash, cubed into small pieces (   Roast the butternut squash – 200 degrees c, roasting tin, cube squash, sprinkle with garlic oil, roast until soft and starting to blacken)

Peas (Cook in the microwave)

Beetroot (Roast whole in the oven first and then remove the skin, grate into the risotto)

Pink beetroot risotto! Looks strange, tastes yummy!

More mushrooms/wild mushrooms

Or anything else you can think of!

Fry the butter, onions and chicken in a pan until chicken is almost cooked.

     Add mushrooms when chicken almost cooked

-       Add risotto rice to cook until translucent then add wine, stirring until absorbed

-       Add chicken stock a ladleful at a time, stirring all the time and only adding when all has been absorbed.

-       Add parmesan and black pepper in regular intervals

-       Then when all the stock is nearly absorbed, add the squash or asparagus/peas etc.

-       Add to risotto when stock is almost finished

     And then serve with lots of black pepper and parmesan!

Simple but delicious green tagliatelle with ham, peas, asparagus and red onion...

This pasta is so quick and easy but really delicious. I guess it's more of your student type food.
Basically -
Cut up some Wiltshire ham, asparagus and red onion and fry in a pan with fry-light spray for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile cook some fresh green tagliatelle (my favourite type of pasta) with some frozen peas for 4 minutes. Mix in with the mix in the pan and add a tiny bit of the pasta water to loosen...Et voila! Serve with some grated parmesan cheese.
-If you don't care about the fat content, some people might want to add some cream to this to make it like a carbonara. But I like to keep it healthy.

Delicious Salmon... Jamie Oliver style!

Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the delicious dinner! So mine looked basically the same as this picture from the 'besuperlicious blog'.

On Saturday night I recreated a Jamie recipe that I first had in Scotland, when staying with my boyfriend's aunt and uncle for a weekend. 

I'm not sure which book of his it is from but it's not on his website either. Anyway, it's the easiest, most delicious way to eat salmon! 

The recipe (for 4) - 

4 x salmon fillets (I used Sainsburys Taste the Difference)

800g green beans

400g cherry tomatoes

A good few handfuls of chopped, stoned black olives

A tin of anchovies (and their oil) 

A handful of basil

Lots of lemon juice

Turn your oven to the hottest heat it will go and leave it to heat up

Meanwhile, blanch the green beans for about 6 minutes until they've just lost their crunch

Mix the beans, tomatoes, basil and olives in a bowl and squeeze some lemon juice and black pepper

Then put the salmon in a roasting tin on one side and squeeze lots of lemon and black pepper on both sides

Then add the tomato/bean mix around it (don't actually cover the salmon though) and then tear up the anchovies into small pieces over the beans and mix in.

Finally pour most of the oil from the anchovies over the whole thing, add a bit more lemon and black pepper and cook! 

It takes only about 10minutes in the hot oven so check the salmon is cooked, and it will be ready!

I served mine with new potatoes but pasta, rice or couscous would all be perfect with it!

- N.B my mum hates anchovies so you can leave them off certain sections if you don't want them but they really do add such a delicious flavour!