Green Veggies Pasta and Blue Cheese

This is another recipe, where the original was made with ricotta, sometimes though as I have already mentioned, it’s just not for us and this was one of those occasions, so I bought a cheap brand of cream cheese and used that instead and I also didn’t include the coriander, also not a fan of that soapy taste. My added extras to this recipe were the runner beans, asparagus and mushrooms. A perfectly simple but tasty, busy week night meal!

Green Veggies Pasta and Blue Cheese

I added extra green vegetables, runner beans, asparagus, and mushrooms which I sautéed with the scallions/spring onions

4-6 scallions

100 grams mushrooms
400 grams spinach tagliatelle (or other mixed green vegetables, totalling 400 grams)
150 grams cream cheese
150 grams blue cheese
150 grams crème fraîche
1 tbsp coriander
coarse sea salt and pepper
few sprigs of corriander/cilantro (optional, I don't add it because we don't like it)

1. Trim the spring onions/scallions and finely chop them.

2. Cook the tagliatelle in a large pan of boiling salted water, until al dente. Whilst at the same time cooking the other veggies until al dente.

3. While the pasta and veggies are cooking, in a bowl mix together the cream cheese, blue cheese and the crème fraîche.

4. Drain the pasta thoroughly and turn into a heated serving dish. Immediately add the cheese mixture, spring onion/scallions and other veggies, toss to coat. Garnish with coriander sprigs (if you wish to).

Servings: 4

Pasta & Veggies With Garlic Cream

I like this recipe, it’s quite light tasting yet filling. All the added vegetables make me feel less guilty about the ‘bad’ bits. It takes about 20 minutes to make – provided you don’t dilly dally in the kitchen, like I do, I still manage to drag a 20 minute recipe out into about an hours work…. But to be honest I enjoy being in the kitchen singing along to my iPod, not entirely sure my husband enjoys my ‘kitchen antics’ as much as I do though, or the windows for that matter. Anyway that’s what I love about this recipe, minimum time and effort to make un-yet you emerge from the kitchen with restaurant quality pasta.

 Pasta & Veggies With Garlic Cream

115 grams cream cheese

150 ml heavy cream
115 grams peas
1 handful baby spinach
2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
450 grams penne pasta
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

TOPPING

6 Tbsp evoo
175 grams back bacon lardons
100g mushrooms
2 spring onions, finely chopped
2 leeks thinly sliced
½ tsp thyme chopped
1 tsp Rosemary, finely chopped
1 tsp garlic, finely chopped
85 grams breadcrumbs
grated lemon zest

1. First, bring a deep pot of salted water to the boil.

2. Next make the topping, heat one tbsp evoo in a skillet, and dry fry the bacon until crispy, then add the spring onions and the mushrooms cook until they are soft. Lastly add the leeks and thyme, and cook for 2 minutes. Heat the rest of the oil in a separate skillet, add the rosemary, garlic and breadcrumbs, and toast them until they are golden brown and crispy, constantly turning them over, so they don’t burn. Once the breadcrumbs are toasted, stir in the lemon zest and bacon mixture.

3. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in the boiling water until al dente - for fresh pasta it will only take a few minutes. Whilst the pasta is cooking, in a saucepan, melt the cream cheese and add the heavy cream, stirring continuously until the mixture is smooth, then add the peas and spinach leaves, and cook for 3 minutes. Gently stir in tomatoes and season to taste. Drain then add to the sauce. Serve into four warm bowls and top with the bacon crumbs.

Another Pasta Dish To Add To The Mix

As I have probably already made quite clear, we love quick pasta dishes. This one covers all the basic, bases, creamy, cheesy, it has mushrooms and vegetables – has enough for leftovers, so great for a week night and next day lunch at work – or even better a “Vodka Friday” dish and hangover Saturday leftovers. Of course I am assuming you are cooking for two here, but it’s excellent as a family meal too. I have tried it on all four of our children and it went down a treat!

Tortellini Primavera

1 package of cheese tortellini

½ lb sliced mushrooms
1 small onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp butter
150ml fat-free milk
200g cream cheese, cubed
200g frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dried
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 large tomato, chopped
20g grated parmesan

1. Cook tortellini according to the pack instructions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet with a little olive oil and the butter, gently fry the mushrooms, onion and garlic until nicely tender. Then add the milk and heat through, stir in the cream cheese until melted, add the spinach and Italian seasonings.
2. Next drain the pasta, gently mix with the sauce and tomato and top with the parmesan cheese.

Chicken pinwheels

Totally and utterly worth the effort, and genuinely a recipe I am proud of – it took me quite a bit of time, but I don’t mind I enjoy being “at one” with my cooking – The most complicated bit in this recipe is getting the chicken wrapped up tight enough without, squishing all the filling out. Once you have managed that, you’re away.

Chicken Pinwheels

4 skinless chicken breast halves

Melted butter for greasing

Basil sprigs to garnish

Filling

125g Garlic and herb cheese spread

2 tbsp sundried tomatoes in oil, chopped and drained

30g shredded basil

Salt and pepper to taste

Tomato and herb sauce

1 tbsp butter

1 small onion finely diced

1 clove garlic, minced

400g canned tomatoes

1 tbsp chopped fresh herbs

1-2 tbsp single cream

Pasta to serve

1. First make the filling. Combine all the filling ingredients and mix well.
2. Place the chicken breasts between cling wrap and beat with a rolling pin until about ½ cm (5mm) thick, divide the filling between the four breasts and then tightly roll up.
3. Cut four squares of baking paper (waxed paper) just big enough to wrap around each chicken roll, you’ll need a centimetre or so, over lap, then wrap that in tinfoil, twisting each end to seal. Put each of the rolls into a skillet of simmering water, cover and simmer for about 20-25 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to directions on the packet, and make the sauce, melt the butter in a pan, add the onion and cook for a minute or two then add the garlic, stirring often, cook until soft, stir in the tomatoes and half of the juice, boil and then simmer for 3 minutes, stir in the herbs and the cream, add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Unwrap the chicken and cut into slices, serve the pinwheels over a bed of pasta with the sauce and garnish with basil.

Moooohahahahaha....... She tries to bake...

I am a self professed rubbish baker, I mean like all out really, really, hit or miss, super rubbish, crazy bad. I choose baking recipes depending on ingredients, the fewer the better, this was an all out, hit, hit, hit. Oh my goodness calorific, my, oh my, brilliant – no exaggeration – cheesecake factory fantastic. Thankfully it tastes so good that the few minor mishaps, and I always have some minor mishap or other, don't matter too much. With my cheesecakes they tend to split – the first time because I didn’t use a water bath, then I did use a water bath but not very well – my baking pan didn’t fit in the receptacle that I was using very well. The other time I got it spot on, other than the fact that I was really, really drunk, so it was perfect right up until the point, I forgot to peel the edges of the cheesecake off the side of the baking pan, as it cooled and retracted, the edges pulled and it in turn split the cheesecake anyway, I was really upset about it, mostly because my alcohol consumption caused a really silly mistake on what should have been a perfect cheesecake!........ Like I said though thankfully taste negates from the fact I ruined it.

 Chocolate Brownie Caramel Cheesecake

 9oz Brownie Mix

3 eggs
1 tbsp cold water
1 can sweetened condensed milk (nestle stuff super thick and sweet)
16 oz whipped cream cheese
½ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate sauce for drizzling

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F and grease a 9” spring form pan.
2. In a small bowl mix together the brownie mix, 1 egg and water, spread into your spring form pan and bake for 15-20 minutes.
3. Open your condensed milk and pour the contents into a pan, over a low heat and stirring continuously, cook for 10 – 15 minutes or until,  you can turn a cooled tablespoon of it upside down without it falling off.  The other way to do this is slightly more time consuming, but may give better results. Place the can of sweetened condensed milk in a pan of simmering water, for 2 – 2 ½ hours, you need to remember to keep toping up the water level, if it dries out the can could explode. When it’s done, let it cool before you open it, it should be very thick and caramel coloured.
4. Keep some of the caramel to one side, you are going to need it to drizzle over the top of the cheesecake, use the rest over your warm brownie crust.
5. Next you need to beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl until smooth. Then in a separate bowl, beat 1 egg and then mix it in with the cream cheese, making sure that it is well combined and then do the same again with the 2^nd egg. Pour your cream cheese mixture over the caramel and brownie crust.
6. Using a water bath bake the cheesecake for about 40 minutes, chill in the pan, don’t forget to run a knife around the outside edge to peel the cheesecake off the sides… Heat the saved caramel and drizzle over the cheesecake along with chocolate sauce.

Stuffed Chicken Wrapped In Bacon

Slightly disappointed, this is another recipe I made before it occurred to me to photograph what I make.

I was looking for a chicken recipe, a little more luxurious, than the ones I had already made. The chicken curry I made inspired me, I wanted something creamy - but also cordon bleu-ish, never having made cordon bleu from scratch, I had no idea how to make it.... I loved the creaminess of the cheese and the smokiness from the bacon/ham. I found this recipe and thought it would be perfect for what I had in mind.

It didn't disappoint, herby cream cheese and the smoky saltiness of the bacon complimented the chicken in exactly the way I intended, not to mention the fact I had moved onto a far more fiddly recipe. Several months before I would never have attempted to cut pockets into chicken breasts and here I am with a filleting knife doing exactly that.


Stuffed Chicken Wrapped In Bacon

4oz cream cheese
2 Chicken Breasts
1 tsp mixed dried herbs
4 rashers/slices of bacon
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a bowl, mix the cream cheese, salt and pepper and dried herbs.

2. Carefully cut a pocket in each of the chicken breasts. Then stuff the cream cheese into each.

3. Using a spoon, flatten and stretch the bacon, then wrap it tightly around the chicken breast, to seal in the cream cheese.

4. Wrap each one in foil and cook in the oven at about 425°F  for 30-40 minutes.