Pasta with sun-dried tomatoes and kale

This is one of the most delicious meals I have made in a very long time.

I crushed garlic in my pestle with some salt.

Added the garlic and sun dried tomatoes to a pan of olive oil.

I used the pasta I had to hand- conchiglioni. Lovely large pasta shells that just look so inviting.

I was going to make a kale saad. But then H-G suggested I cook it into the sauce and that definitely worked well. I also added chopped fresh tomato because I had some. Cook down, adding a ladlefull of the pasta cooking water every now and then and then add 2 tablespoons of double cream.

Then I cooked this down.

At this point I realised that no matter how amazing this sauce was going to be, Baby-G was never going to touch it. So for him I heated cream and grated cheddar cheese into it.

When the pasta was cooked I mixed it with the sauce, then plated up.

Baby-G’s plate

Then we enjoyed what is perhaps the last gasp of summer and ate outside on the terrace.

Happy days.

Lockdown Day 7 – Shakshuka

I love shakshuka and really hardly ever make it.

It is super easy and tatsy and can be made using pretty much any veg you have.

I sliced and cooked onions, yellow peppers and garlic in olive oil

I saved the yellow pepper seeds and will try and grow them.

Then added a tin of chopped tomatoes and lots of dried chilli flakes

After this is all cooked I crack an egg into the mixture (one egg per person… Baby-G was having pasta) and then cook slowly until the egg is poached.

I usually serve with fresh coriander and a bit of natural yoghurt but both these things were lacking Chez Gusto. served with couscous today.

This was very good indeed. No frills and very very comforting.

 

End of Week Easy-Spinach pasta

Easy healthy pasta that hits all the right notes for the Gusto household….. pasta for B-G, vegetarian for H-G and fast for me as I am both tired AND going to the cinema later in the evening.

I wilt 2 bags of fresh spinach in a pot filled with a little water. Then stir in light cream cheese. Add grated nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Mix in cooked pasta of choice, then top with halved cherry tomatoes and walnuts.

 

Greek meals

We had a routine of sorting breakfasts and lunches ourselves then enjoying wonderful tavernas in the evening.

These views can’t be beaten!

Greek salad featured very heavily every single evening! The local olives were glorious, and indeed we could not resist bringing great jars back.

Baby-Gusto really enjoyed calamari…. and local Greek sausage and chips….

Vegetarian Husband-G would make a hearty meal of Greek salad and side dishes such as these delicious casseroled beans and tomatoes

This was my stand-out meal of the week…… cod baked with tomatos, marinated grapes, raisons, pinenuts and figs.

Occasionally we would share a mezze platter which invariably featured fried cheese

Mainly we just relaxed in small cafes by the sea!

 

Snacks – or The One Where Egusta Tries to Eat More Healthily

bagel with honey, apple and pumpkin seeds.

Toast with tomatoes, olive oil, green olive, pumpkin seeds and fresh basil from my garden.

Baba Ganoush and corn chips. I cannot tolerate aubergine in any other form, but baba ghanoush for some reason- must be the added sesame, lemony, garlicky goodness!

The Baba Ganoush was from the Sabra brand, bought on a rare trip to Sainsbury’s. (I am a committed Aldi woman). However I can see a return trip, purely to stock up on these delicious dips.Just too good.

https://www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Sabra-Baba-Ganoush-Aubergine–Tahini-Dip/250780011?dnr=y

 

Easter Monday eats

Quick and easy breakfast burritos.

Just wholemeal tortilla wrap,lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes and scrambled eggs with dried chilli flakes. This kept us so full that we ended up skipping lunch.

Mushroom open tart with rosemary garlic sauteed potatos, cucumbers and tomato and buffalo mozzarella salad. The mushroom tart was made by gently frying sliced mushrooms in butter. When they were cooked down I added a splash of red wine and a crumbled vegetable stock. I rolled out ready-bought puff pastry topped with the mushroom mix and baked in a hot oven for 20 minutes.

Baby-Gusto and I had a busy day. First we raided all our local charity shops for clothes and costume jewellery for his dressing up and play chests. Then we finished planting our tomato plants and pepper plants. It was a sunny lovely day.

Tomato tart

We have had a rather trying week, and I felt in need of food that was super easy and quick to cook but which was tasty and oh-so-good to eat.  It may be the way I was brought up, where my parents would hold wonderful dinner parties that always seemed to feature beef wellington and vol-au-vents (It was the 80s after all!) but pastry to me always has a sense of something special about it. I rarely use pastry in my everyday cooking, but after tonight’s ridculously easy supper I think I have to make ready made jus roll a more regular addition to the shopping list.

I spread out the puff pastry and cut into squares. This I smeared with a good dollop of basil pesto and sliced tomatos. Baked in a hot oven (220 degrees celsius) until it looked cooked- about 18 minutes. The leftover pastry was used to make B-G jam tarts for breakfast the next day. Served with broccoli and corn and my favourite beetroot salad which is just diced cooked beetroot mixed with crushed garlic, spring onions and sour cream.

Good, easy and an excellent way to get more vegetables into a recalcitrant 6 year old. What’s not to love?

 

Red lentil pasta

I was interested in this pasta made from red lentil flour. It is gluten free and I thought it might be a good way to get new sources of nutrients into B-G. I simply made up a pasta sauce with onions, celery, chopped tomatoes and courgette. The pasta had a different texture to wheat pasta -slightly more robust and with more bite.  I would most likely pair it with spicy rather than subtle sauces, like a good punchy puttanesca.

 

Mid-week study break lunch

How can something so good for you taste so decadent!

Spinach, cucumber, radishes, avocado,pumpkin seeds, buffalo mozzarella, mango and smoked tofu cubes with a drizzle of lemon and sesame oil.

 

 

 

 

Frugal February – Shakshuka

Every time I make this I wonder why I do not make it more often. Shakshuka makes the perfect quick and easy supper dish. In it’s simplest form it is just eggs poached in a spicy tomato and pepper sauce. I serve it with chopped coriander sprinkled over the top, crusty bread and butter.

Ingredients (serves two).

1 tablespoon vegetable oil- I used sunflower oil

1 brown onion diced very small

2 cloves garlic crushed

1 red pepper diced

1 tin chopped tomatoes

2 teaspoons sugar

1 cup red wine

1 bunch parsley

1 large bunch chopped coriander

vegetable stock cube

1 tbs chilli powder

1 teaspoon cumin

4 free range eggs

Sautee onion and garlic in oil. Add cumin and chilli powder and cook lightly, don’t let it burn. Add diced red pepper and cook until soft. Add tinned tomatoes, chopped parsley, sugar, vegetable stock and wine and simmer until cooked through. At this point I turned off the heat and let the mixture sit for several hours so the flavours all came together. Just before you want to eat, turn the heat on again and simmer. Make 4 wells into the mixture and crack the eggs into the tomatoes. Cover with a lid and gently poach. When eggs lightly cooked, scatter with fresh coriander.

Tonight my choice was to make Shakshuka or omelettes. Shakshuka takes a little bit of chopping and simmering, but is somehow easier than watching over an omelette pan.Much more satisfying to eat too.