Green Cheesy Pasta (or Rice)

I have been making Green Cheesy Pasta/Rice ever since my now adult kids were little.  Like many kids, they were wary of vegetables but loved pesto.

One teatime I didn't have ingredients for my usual Watercress Pesto, so had to improvise with chard.  A suspiciously toddler poked the green pasta and asked what it was. I simply said it was green, cheesy, pasta.  She loved it, and the name stuck.  You can also make Green Cheesy Pasta with chard, spinach, kale, beetroot tops

Serves 2 as a main dish

200g dried (wholemeal) pasta
200g large leaf spinach, chard, kale, beetroot tops
50g mature cheddar or parmesan, grated
1 small clove of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
Extra virgin olive oil

Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to the boil.  Add the pasta and about a teaspoon of olive oil.  Stir the pasta around, cover, and bring back to the boil.

Once the pasta is boiling again, poke in the greens.  You need large leaved greens so you can fish them out again!  Crack the lid of the pan open and boil for 5 minutes, then fish the greens out and leave to cool in a pasta bowl.  Continue cooking the pasta for the remaining cooking time.

When the pasta is cooked, reserve about half a mug of the cooking water, and drain.  Toss the hot pasta in 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. 

Place the cooled green is a blender cup, stripping out the tough stems if using kale.  Add the cheese, garlic, 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt, and liquidise to the consistency of double cream, adding a little reserved pasta water if needed. 

Scrape all the sauce onto the pasta and mix thoroughly, again adding more water if you want a looser sauce.

This sauce works well with cooked rice, sticking the rice grains together, and making it easy for toddlers to eat.

The cheese can be replaced with 30g cashew nuts (soaked in hot water before liquidising) if preferred.

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Courgette, Chickpea & Pasta Salad

Keeping on top of the courgette glut at the allotment with this Courgette, Chickpea, & Pasta Salad.

Serves 4

200g macaroni
1 can chickpeas, drained 
2 large courgettes, grated (I used green & yellow courgettes)
200g Feta, crumbled 

Zest & juice of one lemon 
30g broad leaf parsley, finely chopped

2 tbsp pumpkin or mixed seeds

Cook the macaroni according to the instructions on the packet.  Drain, toss in a little olive oil, and leave to cool.

Fry the courgette in 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil over a medium high heat, stirring regularly, until soft and lightly golden in colour. This takes about 20 minutes.

When the pasta has cooled to room temperature, mix all the ingredients together. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

I didn't have feta or parsley when I made this, so used a couple of heaped tablespoons of pesto instead.

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Pastitsio, Greek Pasta Bake

After 14 years of driving to the South of France every summer, due to my eldest daughter's access and equipment needs, last week we treated our younger two now adult children to a last minute package holiday.  My son likes history and Greek mythology, my middle daughter likes sun and sea, and we all like food, so we settled on Rhodes.  They tried their best to eat most of the popular Greek dishes, but the one of the dishes they didn't try was Pastitsio, a layered lasagne like pasta bake, so I introduced them to it.

Serves 4-6

500g long pasta tubes, pastitsio no.2 aka bucatini, or penne
2 tbsp olive or sunflower oil
1 large onion, finely diced
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 courgette grated, or a bag of baby spinach leaves (optional)
500g beef or pork mince, or a mixture of both
150ml red wine
500g passata
1 tsp dried mint

1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cinnamon

1 bay leaf
2 eggs

500g greek style yoghurt

1/4 tsp nutmeg
100g grated halloumi, cheddar, or parmesan

Gently fry the onion in 1 tbsp olive oil in a saucepan. 

When the onion starts to look translucent add the courgette if using.  Fry for 5-10 minutes until soft.  Add the garlic and mince, breaking the mince up as you cook it.  When broken up and with very few raw pink bits, add the passata, rinse the carton out with the wine and add this, and the herbs & spices, apart from the nutmeg.  Cover and bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer, stirring from time to time, whilst you cook the pasta.

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.  

Just before the pasta cooking time is up, check the pasta sauce. It should be slightly thick, like single cream. If still too watery, take the lid off and continue to simmer whilst you drain the pasta.

Drain the pasta, tip into a large high sided baking dish, and stir through 1 tbsp olive oil. 

Turn the oven on to 180C.  

Beat the eggs into the yoghurt together with a pinch of salt and nutmeg.

Pour the meat sauce evenly over the pasta (if being traditional the pasta should be lined up all the same direction in the baking dish, but I have yet to bother to do this), then evenly cover this with the yoghurt and egg mixture.  Top with the grated cheese.

Bake for 45-60 minutes at 180C in the middle of the oven or until golden brown and bubbling. You may wish to turn the grill of for a couple of minutes to brown the top, but keep a close eye on it - the cheese burns quickly! 

Serve with a big green salad.

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Romesco (Red Pepper & Almond) Sauce

A Spanish red pepper and almond sauce from Catalonia. I first had this a few weeks with hake at Rockfish in Poole several weeks ago.  When I made my own, it makes quite a lot for one person, and I've ended up eating it a variety of ways - as a pasta sauce, on sourdough toast, stirred into a salad, and as a dip - all equally good.

Serves 4, as a pasta sauce

200g roasted red peppers
100g almonds

1 garlic clove

1 tbsp sherry or apple cider vinegar

1 tsp smoked paprika

50ml olive oil

Simply blitz everything together in a food processor to a hummus like consistency,  I didn't add any vinegar as the jar of roasted red peppers I used was quite vinegary. Season to taste.

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Cauliflower Alfredo Pasta Sauce

Fettuccine Alfredo is a pasta dish (fettuccine) coated in a rich Parmesan sauce originating in Rome in 1907/8.  Many additions/adulterations have come about over the last century, notably in the US - cream, chicken, salmon, mushrooms.  And now cauliflower.

In our house the cauliflower florets usually get air fried or used in Piccalilli, with the stalk and leaves used in Cauliflower Cheese Soup or Cauliflower Masala Soup.  But the weather is warming up in the UK so I'd thought I'd use the leaves in a pasta sauce.

I added anchovies, reminded of a Bagna Cauda Dip/Sauce, but you can omit these adding more Parmesan, or nuts if preferred 

Serves 4

350g cauliflower stalk & leaves, roughly chopped

1 large garlic clove

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tin anchovies in olive oil, or 100g parmesan, or 40g walnuts or cashews

Parmesan/Grana Padano for serving (optional)

Chopped parsley for serving (optional)

Chilli oil or flakes for serving (optional)

Cover the cauliflower with water in a small pan.  Bring to the boil then cover and simmer for 10 minutes until really tender.  If using nuts, add these to the pan to soften with the cauliflower.

When tender, drain the cauliflower and nuts, keeping the cooking water.  Liquidise the cauliflower and nuts together with the rest of the ingredients in a heatproof container, adding enough cooking water to make a thick hummus consistency sauce.

Serve over pasta, with freshly grated parmesan, parsley, and chilli to taste.

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Greek Style Spinach & Feta Pasta Salad

This pasta salad was inspired by the flavours of Spanakopita, the less well known pasta bake Makaronopita, a big bag of freshly picked rainbow chard (which use like spinach), and the need to make a pasta salad in half an hour for a neighbourhood barbecue.

Fried courgette or roasted squash can be used instead of spinach.

Serves 10 as an accompaniment 

500g spinach or chard

500g pasta

200g feta

4 heaped dessertspoons plain yoghurt

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp dried mint

1/2 tsp chilli flakes (optional) 

Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.  Drain when cooked, and rinse with cold water to cool and prevent sticking.

Wash the spinach and steam in the pasta pan. The water on the leaves from washing should sufficient to steam it in.  Cook over a medium high heat with the lid on for about 5 minutes until the spinach has wilted.

Whilst the spinach is cooking mash the feta with a fork in a small bowl to the consistency of cottage cheese.  Stir in the yoghurt, garlic, mint, and chilli if using.

Drain the spinach and squeeze the water out.  Spread it out on a chopping board and chop in it fairly finely.

Tip the pasta back into the pasta pan, stir through the olive oil, then mix in the feta mixture and chopped spinach.

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Ajvar, Balkan Roasted Aubergine & Red Pepper Dip

Googling a dip to make with aubergine and red peppers, I came across Ajvar. It is a simple but full flavoured dip made with roasted aubergine and peppers.

Serves 4

1 aubergine

3 red peppers

1 clove of garlic

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp hot chilli flakes

Salt and pepper

Prick the aubergine and roast in an oven together with the peppers for 45 minutes at 200C.  These can also be roasted in an air fryer for a similar length of time.  The peppers may need removing after abut 30 minutes if getting too blackened.  When charred place the peppers in a sealed plastic bag to to help loosen the skins when cooled.

Scrape the flesh of the cooked aubergine into a food processor.  Discard the skin, seeds, and stalk of the peppers and add the flesh of the pepper to the food processor with the other ingredients.

Process until a smooth paste. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

Serve as a dip, sauce, or sandwich filling 

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Caramelised Onion Pasta

Social media keeps on pushing caramelised onion spaghetti/linguine recipes my way.  So I gave one a go.

The recipe I roughly followed was a little greasy, not a surprise with all the butter, oil, cream, and cheese, so I added anchovies, chilli flakes, and lemon zest to cut through the richness.  If you don't mind having pasta without much sauce you can omit the cream and add the parmesan and zest after tossing through the cooked onion mixture.

Serves 4

400g spaghetti

4 brown onions, peeled and finely sliced

4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced

15g butter

1 tbsp olive oil, including anchovy oil using

1 tin anchovies in olive oil, chopped

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

300ml double cream

100g grated parmesan or grana padano

Zest of 1 lemon

Fresh parsley

Fry the sliced onions in the melted butter and olive oil over a medium heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring from time to time, until brown and meltingly soft. 

Stir in the chop anchovies, garlic, and chilli. Fry until the anchovies start to break up.

Pour in the cream, cheese, lemon zest and heat gently whilst you cook the pasta.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain and mix into the creamy sauce.  

Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving if using.

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Cheats Nduja (Spicy Italian Pork Paté)

Unusually, I came across a recipe for a vegan nduja and made a meat version, as quite often I find myself making vegan versions of meat recipes.  We're not vegans, but meat has become a weekend treat. So as today is Saturday I made this Nduja pasta sauce.

Nduja is a fiery spreadable salami made with Calabrian chilli peppers.  There weren't any Calabria chills in Asda in Eastleigh in Hampshire, so I used the remnants of some Chipotle paste I had plus some hot chilli flakes.  I think I will stick to hot chilli flakes in future as they are easier to find.

Serves 6 with 500g dried pasta

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

500g higher welfare pork mince

2 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 large garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped

1 tsp red wine vinegar

100g roasted red peppers, keeping the liquid

1-2 tsp chilli powder or flakes, to taste (it is supposed to be fiery!)

In a frying pan, fry the pork mince in the olive oil over a medium high heat until browned.

Stir in the paprika, fennel seeds, and garlic and cook for another couple of minutes.

Add the red wine vinegar, stir around and then the peppers.  Stir then turn off the heat to cool for a 10+ minutes.

When cool enough run through a food processor, adding the reserved roasted pepper liquid if required, to make a spreadable paste.

Serve over pasta (a mug of pasta water helps make the 'nduja into more of a sauce), on toast or canapés.

Keep in the fridge for 3 days, or freeze in portions.

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Creamy Tomato & Walnut Pasta Sauce

My teenage son is carb loading for the gym (it's either that or revise for his GCSEs) so I thought I'd make him some high calorie pasta sauce and freeze it in portions for a quick calorific pasta snack.

I tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 large garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes

100g walnuts 

200g soft cheese (vegan or dairy) or 50g cashews + 100ml water

Gently fry the chopped onion and garlic in olive oil in a sauce pan until just starting to brown.

Add the chopped tomatoes, half a can of recently boiled water, walnuts, and cashew nuts if using. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.

When the onion is tender liquidise with the soft cheese or additional hot water if using cashew nuts to the consistency of a thick pourable pasta sauce.  This made more than enough sauce for 500g of pasta.

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Makaronopita, Greek Macaroni Cheese

Quite simply, Makaronopita is Greek macaroni cheese made with feta, to which I added some chard.

Serves 4

250g macaroni

250g chard or spinach

1 clove of garlic

600ml milk

50g plain flour 

1/4 tsp nutmeg

300g feta

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 free range eggs, beaten 

100g cheddar cheese, grated 

Cook the macaroni according to the instructions on the packet.  Drain, return to the pan and toss in 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil.

Clean and roughly chop the chard or spinach. Heat 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan and wilt the chard, adding the crushed garlic just before turning off the heat.  Stir the wilted chard into the cooked pasta.

Whisk milk, flour, extra virgin olive oil, and nutmeg together in a saucepan.  Heat gently, stirring with a spatula until it starts to thicken.  Once it starts to thicken, turn the heat down to the lowest and continue stirring until it starts to bubble.  Stir in the beaten egg, then pour over the pasta, chard & feta, and mix thoroughly.

Pour into an oiled high sided baking dish, sprinkle over the grated cheddar, and bake for 40-45 minutes at 180C until golden brown.

The greek recipe website I based this on said to let the dish rest for 30 minutes before serving, but we are all too impatient/hungry so served it immediately!

19/10/24 I made a cheats version of this, using a pot of cottage cheese instead of the white sauce, and omitted the egg as I thought there was enough protein. It worked really well.

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Pastina, Simple Italian Vegetable & Pasta Soup

Maybe because I've been under the weather, but a lot of Pastina recipes have popped up on social media over the last week.

Pastina literally means 'tiny pasta', but seems to have come to mean a simple restorative soup of liquidised vegetables with soup pasta. I'm guessing Italian nonnas would have grated or finely diced the vegetables rather than reached for the liquidiser?

Serves 4

1.5L good quality chicken or vegetable stock

1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped or finely diced

1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped or finely diced

1 large stick of celery, roughly chopped or finely diced

100g orzo or soup pasta

Simmer the vegetables in the stock in a covered saucepan for 20 minutes.  

Liquidise the soup and vegetables if this is your preference.  Add the soup pasta and simmer for the cooking time on the packet, until tender.  Stir from time to time to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan.

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Cacio e Pepe Pasta

Cacio e Pepe is apparently one of the basic pasta dishes taught to Italian young adults should they dare to leave home.

Serves 2

200g spaghetti

25g butter

2 tsp whole black peppercorns, ground, or 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

50g pecorino or parmesan, finely grated

Boil the pasta according to the instructions on the packet for al dente pasta.  

While the pasta is cooking melt the butter in small pan, then add the ground black pepper and gently sizzle  in the hot butter for a few minutes.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it, reserving a mug of hot water.  Return the pasta to the pan with the melted butter and half a mug of the reserved water. Toss the pasta in the buttery water then evenly sprinkle over parmesan and toss again quickly to stop the cheese clumping.  Add a little more reserved water if required to loosen the sauce and coat the pasta.  Serve immediately.

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Plant Based Creamy Mushrooms on Toast

Such a quick, tasty dish! 

I’m not a vegan, but using cashew cream is arguably better for me than dairy cream.

Serves 2

200g mushrooms
1 tsp olive oil
Few sprigs of thyme (optional)

Small garlic clove, peeled & crushed
40g cashew nuts
100ml boiling water

Pour 100ml of boiling water over 40g of cashews in a mug and leave to soften.

Clean and slice the mushrooms. Fry gently in the olive oil in a small saucepan until the liquid starts coming out of the mushrooms. Stir in the thyme and garlic and cover.

Pour the cashews and their soaking water into a liquidiser and blitz until smooth like single cream. 

Pour over the mushrooms and heat over a low heat till hot.  Pour onto toast, ideally sourdough.

Could also be used as a pasta sauce.

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Christmas Minestrone

Hope it's not too late to save the cooking liquid from your Boxing Day ham? My Christmas Minestrone is made with ham stock (cooking liquid), leftover ham (or turkey, or pigs in blankets), Brussel sprouts (or cabbage).

Makes 4 hearty servings

1 large onion, peeled and diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced 
1 large stick of celery, diced

1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed 
100g leftover chopped ham, turkey, or pigs in blankets
1 can of tomatoes
1 can of beans (haricot, cannellini, kidney, whatever)
1 litre ham stock or chicken stock
2 heaped handfuls of finely sliced Brussels sprouts, cabbage, spring greens, kale, or spring greens
1 handful small pasta or macaroni
1 tbsp olive oil for frying
2 bay leaves (optional)

Parmesan or extra mature cheddar for serving

Fry the onion, carrot, and celery in the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. When slightly coloured add the chopped meat.  Stir and put the lid on for a few minutes to let the vegetables sweat. 

Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 minutes with the lid on.  Stir from time to time to ensure the pasta is not sticking to the bottom of the pan

My mum always used to say that this soup was better the day after, as the flavours seemed to develop more, but I am never organised enough to do this nor have enough space in the fridge to keep it cool overnight. 

Serve with a grating of parmesan or extra mature cheddar.

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Jamie Oliver's Sweet Leek Carbonara

This Sweet Leek Carbonara is as simple as it sounds. I have copied and pasted the recipe from Jamie Oliver's website below, plus my own notes. It can be easily veganised (see the end of the recipe)

“My veggie twist on a classic carbonara champions incredibly sweet leeks, thyme and plenty of cracked black pepper. It’s well worth slow-cooking the leeks here – leave them to gently tick away while you get on with other things. ”

Serves 4 

Cooks in 50 minutes

Not too tricky

2 large leeks

4 cloves of garlic (I added this grated finely to the egg as we like it strong)

4 sprigs of fresh thyme (optional)

1 knob of unsalted butter (optional)

olive oil

300 g dried spaghetti (i used 400g wholemeal pasta)

50 g Parmesan or pecorino cheese, plus extra to serve (I used 75g of parmesan & mature cheddar)

1 large egg

Trim, wash and finely slice the leeks. Peel and finely slice the garlic and pick the thyme leaves, then place in a large casserole pan on a medium heat with the butter and 1 tablespoon of oil.

Once sizzling, stir in the leeks and 400ml of water, then cover and simmer gently over a low heat for 40 minutes, or until sweet and soft, stirring occasionally. Season with sea salt and black pepper.

When the leeks are almost done, cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions, then drain, reserving a mugful of starchy cooking water.

Toss the drained pasta into the leek pan, then remove from the heat and wait 2 minutes for the pan to cool slightly while you finely grate the cheese and beat it with the egg (if the pan’s too hot, it’ll scramble; get it right and it’ll be smooth, silky and deliciously elegant).

Loosen the egg mixture with a splash of reserved cooking water, then pour over the pasta, tossing vigorously (the egg will cook in the residual heat).

Season to absolute perfection, going a little OTT on the pepper. Adjust the consistency with extra cooking water, if needed, and finish with a little stroke of cheese. Fantastic served with a glass of cold Italian white wine.

FREEZER STASH

Often I triple the leek base and freeze it for quick cooking another day.

GO VEGGIE

Swap Parmesan for vegetarian hard cheese.

GO VEGAN (Leesa's notes)

Swap the cheese and egg for cashew cream, and nutritional yeast if you have it

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Bagna Cauda, Creamy Garlic & Anchovy Dip or Pasta Sauce

Bagna Cauda is a rich, creamy, salty, garlicky dip for raw vegetables (think hummus) that works well as a pasta sauce.

Traditional Piedmont recipes use a lot of butter, and olive oil, and I thought the suggestion in one online recipe of using a litre of milk and discarding half after cooking ridiculous.  So I combined the best frugal bits of several recipes, coming up with a sauce that will serve 4.

Serves 4

300ml whole milk

6 garlic cloves, peeled 

1 tin of anchovies in oil

40g walnuts

120ml olive oil

Simmer the garlic and walnuts in the milk for 10 minutes, taking care it does not boil over.

Ideally, leave the milk to cool for 10 minutes, but this is not necessary (I think it emulsifies better when cooler, but none of the recipes I looked at recommended this).

Pour into the beaker that comes with a stick blender (mine is plastic, which is another reason to wait for the milk to cool a little otherwise it might crack).  Add the anchovies and their oil, the vinegar, and whizz until smooth.

Placing the beaker on a damp cloth to stop it sliding around, whizz the sauce with one hand and dribble in the olive oil with the other hand until incorporated.

Serve with raw vegetables (carrots, celery, beetroot, cauliflower, fennel, endive) as a dipping sauce, pour over roasted vegetables (we had ours over roasted cauliflower and leek, with extra sunflower seeds), or as a pasta sauce.

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Pasta e Fagioli, Veg Rich Pasta & Beans

Once a poor man’s meal, padding out a meagre bean harvest with pasta, Pasta e Fagioli is now an Italian comfort food with lots of regional and household variations.

At its simplest it is just pasta and beans, with meat and/or vegetables if available. I make it like I make Minestrone, but with more pasta and less tomato.  I use ham or bacon in my Minestrone, but ingredients can simply be left out or swapped to make a vegetarian or vegan meal.

Serves 4

1 onion, peeled and finely diced

1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed

1/2 tsp chill flakes

1 tbsp olive oil

500g diced vegetables, including 1 stick of celery and 1 carrot. I topped up with homegrown courgette as I like to add something green. You could add cabbage, kale, leek, peas, green beans, fennel, sweet potato, potato... There are no set ingredients!

100g smoked ham/bacon (optional)

400g tin borlotti, pinto, or cannellini beans

200g macaroni 

1 litre chicken or vegetable stock 

1 medium tomato, finely diced

50g parmesan, or extra mature cheddar in our house

Fry the onion, garlic and chilli gently in a pan big enough to take a litre of stock + veg.

When the onion is translucent and soft, add the diced vegetables, cover and fry/soften for 5-10 minutes checking from time to time that they are not catching on the bottom of the pan.

When the vegetables are beginning to look soft and slightly brown, add the meat if using. Stir the meat around for a minute or so then add the stock, pasta, and beans including any liquid from the can. 

Bring the stock to the boil then turn down to a simmer, cover, and cook for 20-25 minutes until the pasta is  soft (it takes longer in stock than it says on the packet). Whilst waiting, finely chop the tomato and mix in the grated cheese. I blitzed the tomato in a mini food processor as I have a child who does not like discernible bits of tomato.

When the pasta is soft, turn off the heat, stir though the tomato and cheese mixture, cover and leave standing for 5 minutes for the pasta to absorb a little more of the stock and cool a little. 

Serve, with extra cheese and chilli oil if desired.

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Courgette & Feta Lasagne

Great vegetarian lasagne recipe for using up a courgette glut.

This recipe is based on BBC Good Food's Creamy Courgette Lasagne, but I decided I had the time a fuller flavoured tomato sauce, not pre cook the lasagne first, and used whipped feta rather than ricotta. 

Serves 4

800g courgette, grated

3 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

8 dried lasagne sheets

200g feta

4 tbsp greek yoghurt

50g cheddar

500g passata

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a sauté pan over a medium heat, adding each courgette to the pan as you grate it. The more courgette you add, they will begin to sweat and release water rather than fry. Don't worry.  Stir from time to time as you get on with the tomato sauce and whipped feta, and the liquid will evaporate.

In a separate sauce pan, fry the onion and 1 clove of garlic over a medium heat 1 tbsp of olive oil until they start to brown. Add the passata, and about 100ml of water to rinse the carton out. Simmer gently whilst you make the whipped feta.

Blend the feta, yoghurt, 1 garlic clove, and 1 tbsp of olive oil in a food processor. If you haven't got a food processor you could mash the feta and whisk in the rest of the ingredients.

Add 2/3rds of the whipped feta to the softened courgette and turn off the heat under the courgettes and tomato sauce.

Turn the oven on to the temperature specified on the lasagne packet. Mine was 200C (Fan 180C).

In a lasagne/baking dish large enough to fit 4 lasagne sheets side by side, start to layer up the lasagne, starting with half the cheesy courgette, then a layer of pasta, then half the tomato sauce. Repeat, adding the remaining whipped feta in blobs in the top layer of tomato sauce, and finish with an even layer of grated cheddar cheese.

Bake according to the instructions on the lasagne packet.  My packet said 30 minutes, but I found it took 40 minutes.  45 minutes is pretty standard.

Serve with a chilli oil, and a green salad.

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Fideua, a kind of Pasta Paella

Fideuà is a simple pasta paella that has been on my ‘To Do’ list for a few years since I came across it on a menu in South West France, a region (and cuisine) heavily influenced by Catalunya and Spain.

I picked up a packet of Fideuà pasta in the  supermarket in the small, very French, beach resort we are staying in just south of Beziers, and thought I’d give it a try. But it would work well with vermicelli or orzo pasta.

Serves 4

500g Fideuà pasta, soup vermicelli, or orzo
500g chopped prepared squid or mixed seafood
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 large beef tomato, finely chopped or 2 tbsp tomato paste 

1 red pepper, deseeded and finely chopped 

1 large garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 pinch saffron (optional) 

1 litre dish stock (I used mussel broth from Moules Mariniere cooked a few day earlier)

In a large saucepan, fry the onion gently in the olive oil until translucent. In the recipe I had partly copied out it said fry the pasta in olive oil first and set aside. But I couldn’t be bothered with this step. 

When the onion is soft, add the garlic and red pepper and fry for a few minutes. 

Next, if you’re using vermicelli pasta or any pasta that takes 10 minutes or less, add the squid or seafood before the tomato and give it a quick fry. The Fideuà pasta looked the same thickness as spaghetti  and the packet said 20 minutes cooking time, so I see decided to add the squid 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time. So I added the chopped tomato after the red pepper. 

Whenever you are adding the squid, add the pasta after you’ve added the tomato. Stir round then add 1 litre of fish stock, the paprika, and saffron if using. 

Cover and bring to the boil. Once boiling, turn down to the lowest simmer and cook for the cooking time on the packet of pasta. Stir from time to time. 

If the cooking time is more than 10 minutes, stir the squid in 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time. 

When the pasta’s cooking time is up, turn the heat off but leave the lid on. Leave for a gutter 10 minutes before serving.

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