Alfredo photo-guide

 

Heat the butter and the cream

together

Add the Parmesan and heaps of

black pepper

The bowl

The bowl with petit pois

I didn't have any fettuccine in my pantry but I did have spaghetti – if you're not fond of “ribbony” types of pasta just choose your favourite.

You can adapt this to a plant based recipe using:

1 tbsp Flora Plant unsalted butter

200ml Elmlea 100% Plant Double Alternative

to cream

50g Parmesan alternative – for example

Violife Parmesan style

The simple things in life are the best.

Now for seasonal strawbs!

The ultimate treat!

I made a passing reference to Alfredo Sauce in the Galli – Hints and Tips. This is my absolute favourite – admittedly without the chicken.

I know the immortal words “keep it simple” aren't mine but it's so true.

A word of warning – this is definitely not what you'd describe as “fat-free” and so a treat!

Fettuccine Alfredo

Here are the bits of information that I always find interesting . Fettuccine Alfredo was invented by Alfredo di Lelio who had restaurants in Rome in the early to mid 20^th century. Traditionally the dish was cooked at your table. As the dish became more popular it appeared in the USA. I was in Vermont when I sampled my first bowl – it was without doubt, the finest bowl of pasta and sauce I've ever eaten and the only one I've ever finished. That was a long time ago – yikes 1997! Since that time my quest has been to find a recipe as near as I could to that bowl of magic, here it is :

1 tbsp unsalted butter

200ml double cream

50g freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for sprinkling

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Gently heat the butter and the cream together, stirring, until the butter has melted, then stir in the Parmesan. Slowly bring to a gentle boil, turn down the heat and simmer, stir continuously for a minute or so until you have a smooth, creamy sauce.

This sauce can be made ahead.

The above recipe would be sufficient for two servings – enough to coat 225g uncooked pasta. Traditionally there are no additions to Alfredo although I've had it served with petit pois. If you've never tried it you're missing out!

The sauce is so good and tasty it lends itself to other dishes and particularly leftovers.

There's a photo-guide …

Sally's favourite Homity Pie – the leftover pastry

I don't like wasting food and I never waste pastry.

In my kitchen I've got tart tins of all sizes – perfect for my leftovers.

Here's the tart tin I used :

the tin measures 10cms in diameter x 2.5cms deep

I had enough leftover pastry to line three

tart tins

bagged and ready for the freezer, for another day!

I had leftover filling too and yep, boxed and into the freezer.

A very satisfying use of all the ingredients and the best bit – Sally loved it!

Now for the next piece of kitchen kit ...

Orzotto hints and tips

Everyone knows I'm an advocate of prepping ahead - I'm always banging on about making the most of your time and if you're in the kitchen anyway try multi tasking – get organised and set your tray of ingredients ready for your Orzotto the following evening.

Fast forward to arriving home the next day. If you're planning on serving garlic bread with your Orzotto then turn on the oven as you're passing. By the time you've taken off your coat and placed your frying pan on the hob the oven will have reached temperature ready for the ten minutes it takes to bake the bread. If you don't want garlic bread try part baked sourdough – it takes the same amount of time.

Alternatively you could turn on your oven to pre-heat. Make your Orzotto base – turn it off. Hit the shower and change into slobs. All that remains for the ten minutes that your bread will take to bake is to finish off your Orzotto with whatever you're adding and don't forget to warm the bowls.

If you decide to multitask and weigh your ingredients ahead of the game I can tell you that payback is it takes, by my calculations, 15 minutes to cook. What's not to love!

Sit down and enjoy – not too much washing up either.

The same serving suggestions apply as for the risotto – Orzotto is perfect for using Quorn pieces – they only take 9 minutes or 12 minutes if cooking from frozen – so veggie or not, the choice is yours.

If you'd like to see what Orzotto looks like – there are photos on the blog - check out the Pasta label 4^th February 2017 – Revisited.

It's time for more Autumn comfort food ideas and another weekend treat!

Orzotto – it's risotto but not as you know it!

If you love the thought of a risotto during the week but want a short cut here it is – Orzotto. This is another popular recipe from the back catalogue and a very useful Autumn mid week supper dish.

If you've not come across orzo before let me enlighten you, orzo is a pasta and it looks exactly like rice. If you're a lover of risotto but haven't the time or the inclination to make it when you come home from a hard day at work, orzotto is the answer. Some of us aren't that keen on rice and prefer pasta so that's another box ticked!

Orzotto

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped finely

260g orzo pasta

425ml chicken stock (or vegetable)

75ml dry white wine

2 tbsps lemon juice

200g frozen petit pois

2 tbsp fresh pesto

bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped

75g parmesan cheese, grated

black pepper

extra grated parmesan to serve

Heat the oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat and fry the onion for 2/3 minutes. Add the dry white wine and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the orzo and cook for 1-2 minutes then add the stock all at once. Simmer and stir occasionally for 7/8 minutes until nearly cooked. Stir in the lemon juice and the frozen peas. Simmer for a minute and then add the Parmesan cheese and continue to simmer for a further 2 minutes until the peas are cooked then add the pesto and the parsley.

Season to taste with black pepper and serve extra grated Parmesan on the side.

If you want to omit the wine increase the stock to 500ml.

Some hints and tips for the Orzotto ...

Radio Information

As promised here are the labels to be found on the blog and recipes and the bits and pieces mentioned too during my chat with Bernie Keith, on his Radio Show, The Bernie Keith Show, BBC Radio Northampton on Thursday 2^nd April, 2020 at 11.45am

Veggie label

Dressings and home-made mayo

Halloumi

Bazzin' Beetroot relish using

Vac pack beetroot

A roast or a pie?

Jack Fruit

A raw slaw

Pasta

Fettuccine Alfredo – the ultimate

pasta and sauce

Orzotto – fast risotto – no rice involved!

Comfort Food

Rummage Pie

Champ or Colcannon?

Soup

Chowder

Cream of Chicken

Carrot, Coriander and Chickpea

Pastry

Where has all that flour gone? If you have some :

Wholemeal pastry

Fast Flaky pastry

Pasty Pastry

Bread

Beer bread

Soda bread

Cheese & Onion Muffin Loaf

Fish

Fish Mornay

Fish Pie

Fish Cakes – the best ever!

Asian Spiced Salmon

Smoked mackerel paté

Beef label

Posh Chilli – doesn't have to be steak, mince

will do!

Posh Cottage Pie

Steak pie filling – slow cooker style

Stew and dumplings

Burgers and meatballs

Desserts

Where would life be without a sweet treat?!

No-churn ice creams – check out the Ice Cream label too

Cakes

Compotes

Chocolate stuff – Bark and Rocky Road

Sticky Toffee Sauce

A Muddle or a Hodgepodge (aka a Mess)

Tiramisu – NOT coffee

Microwave Lemon Curd

There are Labels for Meal Planning and Hints and Tips too.

None of the above is exhaustive, it's just to give you ideas.

The birthday bowl photo guide

Heat the butter and the cream

together

Add the Parmesan and heaps of

black pepper

The bowl

The bowl with petit pois

I didn't have any fettuccine in my pantry but I did have spaghetti – if you're not fond of “ribbony” types of pasta just choose your favourite.

Happy Birthday to me!

The birthday bowl!

I know we've been chatting about all things sensible but I have to interrupt that train of thought since it's my birthday and I get to choose what's for supper.

The simple things in life are the best. I know the immortal words “keep it simple” aren't mine but it's true.

Here's what I cooked and a word of warning it's definitely not what you'd describe as “fat-free”!

Fettuccine Alfredo

Here are the bits of information that I always find interesting . Fettuccine Alfredo was invented by Alfredo di Lelio who had restaurants in Rome in the early to mid 20^th century. Traditionally the dish was cooked at your table. As the dish became more popular it appeared in the USA. I was in Vermont when I sampled my first bowl – it was without doubt, the finest bowl of pasta and sauce I've ever eaten and the only one I've ever finished. That was a long time ago – yikes 1997! Since that time my quest has been to find a recipe as near as I could to that bowl of magic, here it is :

1 tbsp unsalted butter

200ml double cream

50g freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for sprinkling

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Gently heat the butter and the cream together, stirring, until the butter has melted, then stir in the Parmesan. Slowly bring to a gentle boil, turn down the heat and simmer, stir continuously for a minute or so until you have a smooth, creamy sauce.

This sauce can be made ahead.

The above recipe would be sufficient for two servings – enough to coat 225g uncooked pasta. Traditionally there are no additions to Alfredo although I've had it served with petit pois. If you've never tried it I'd highly recommend this sauce.

The sauce is so good and tasty it lends itself to other dishes and particularly leftovers.

Photos up next.

It's Wednesday evening …

… veggie or not, here I come!

Tonight it's orzotto with miso roasted mushrooms.

If you've not come across orzo before let me enlighten you, orzo is a pasta and it looks exactly like rice. If you're a lover of risotto but haven't the time or the inclination to make it when you come home from a hard day at work, orzotto is the answer.

Orzotto

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped finely

260g orzo pasta

425ml chicken stock (or vegetable)

75ml dry white wine

2 tbsps lemon juice

200g frozen petit pois

2 tbsp fresh pesto

bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped

75g parmesan cheese, grated

black pepper

extra grated parmesan to serve

Heat the oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat and fry the onion for 2/3 minutes. Add the dry white wine and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in orzo and cook for 1-2 minutes and then add the stock all at once. Simmer and stir occasionally for 7/8 minutes until nearly cooked. Stir in the lemon juice and the frozen peas. Simmer for a minute and then add the parmesan cheese and continue to simmer for 2 minutes until the peas are cooked then add the pesto and the parsley.

Season to taste with black pepper and serve with an extra sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

If you want to omit the wine increase the stock to 500ml.

It's up to you what you do

If you want to weigh your ingredients ahead I can only tell you that it doesn't take long at all and the pleasure you'll get when it takes you 15 minutes to cook and you're ready to serve is not to be sniffed at. The choice – as they say – is yours!

Photo-guide up next.

Summer Holiday scoff - Mac n Cheese …

... my way

Everyone has their own version of this classic dish. Here's mine - designed as always, to be quick, easy but above all tasty.

Mac n Cheese

Serves 4

Alfredo Sauce

125g diced chorizo

50g Parmesan, finely grated

16 Cannelloni tubes

2tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

Make an Alfredo Sauce – there's a surprise – and ahead of the game is even better. Remember though - it only has one downside and that is it cannot be microwaved – it will split, so cover - let it cool in the saucepan and then fridge. Here's a quick reminder :

Alfredo Sauce

2 tbsp unsalted butter (50g)

400ml double cream

100g freshly grated Parmesan

freshly ground black pepper

Gently heat the butter and the cream together, stirring, until the butter has melted, then stir in the Parmesan. Slowly bring to a gentle boil, turn down the heat and simmer, stir continuously for a minute or so until you have a smooth, creamy sauce.

The sauce can be made ahead and fridged or you can freeze it too.

For the diced chorizo

125g diced chorizo

Using a frying pan, heat the pan and fry the chorizo until it's just beginning to crisp and releasng its delicious oil. Remove the chorizo, cool fridge and box. Leave the oil in the pan. Cover and set aside in a cool place. Again, can be made ahead.

For the Parmesan Tuile

Pre-heat oven 160fan/180c/Gas 4.

Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Place a 5cm circular cutter onto one corner of the tray. Using it as a template fill the ring with ¼ of the parmesan to create a disc shape. Repeat with the remaining cheese until you have 4 discs on the tray. Place the tray of discs in the oven and bake until golden brown – 8-10 minutes. Set timer for 8 and check. Remove from the oven and set aside until you're ready to serve.

Last minute :

The cannelloni

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil over high heat. Add the tubes and cook until al dente, about 9 minutes – drain and set aside. Set your timer for 6 minutes – reset it for 3. Warm your Alfredo Sauce and the chorizo oil during the 3 minute interval.

Assembly :

Divide half of the Alfredo between 4 shallow serving bowls. Arrange 4 of the cannelloni tubes on top of the sauce, dress with the remaining Alfredo and sprinkle with chopped flat leaf parsley followed by the diced chorizo – again divided between the 4 bowls and drizzle with the warmed chorizo oil. Garnish each bowl with a parmesan tuile.

This seems like an awfully long winded recipe but I promise you it's not. Another bonus – you can feed the veggies too – omit the chorizo and oil. The veggies might like a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce instead!

Loads of photos on their way.

P.s. Use the end of a wooden spoon to lift out the cannelloni and drain on kitchen roll – you won't damage the cannelloni or scald yourself - check out the photos.

Pasta Salad – how boring!

Insalata Fregola sounds so much more exciting – you'd be curious wouldn't you? Ever heard of Fregola? It looks like my most unfavourite foodstuff – couscous. In fact Fregola is a pasta from Sardinia – a semolina dough formed into tiny balls.

This is what it looks like :

What follows is a warm pasta salad :

Fregola Salad

Serves 6

750ml stock – vegetable or chicken

250g Fregola pasta

1 tbsp olive oil

1 shallot, finely sliced

125g chorizo, finely diced

1 Romano pepper – colour of your

choice, finely sliced

120g fine beans, topped and tailed

and cut into 3cm pieces

Little Gem lettuce – separate into

12 “cups”

Add chilled water to a medium bowl and add an ice cube or six. Fill a medium sized saucepan half full of salted water and bring to the boil. When the water boils add the beans and leave for a minute. Drain the beans and plunge straight into the iced water. When they've cooled drain them and wrap them in kitchen roll. Set aside until required. This is known as “blanch and refresh”.

Bring the stock to the boil, add the Fregola – bring back to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain and toss with the olive oil. Set the Fregola aside on a tray. This element can be made ahead.

Fry the chorizo so that it releases its oil, just as it begins to crisp add the shallot and fry for 2 mins then add the pepper and fry for another 2 minutes. Add the Fregola and then the drained beans and stir gently to mix for 3 minutes.

Serve in the Little Gem “cups” and garnish with a drizzle of Balsamic Glaze.

By blanching and refreshing your veggies you're saving yourself time and pressure. Apart from the cooking method mentioned above i.e. adding the beans to your Fregola Salad you can drop them back into boiling water for a minute or melt a knob of butter in a frying pan and flash fry them for a minute or two to heat.

The added benefits with blanching are that it can be done ahead and your veggies don't finish up overcooked and looking decidedly grey when family/friends/guests are delayed.

If you've a large microwave - big enough to take a platter you can have blanched all your veggies and arrange them on a plate – brush them with melted butter and cover with microwaveable cling film and set aside – microwave for a couple of minutes when you want to serve.

I know that my dislike of couscous comes from compulsory eating of pudding at school – in my defence I have tried to like it. What has couscous got to do with school puddings – every time I see it I actually see sago and tapioca – not that either was ever called by its correct name ….

Revisited …

… the orzotto which I mentioned in July last year.

You may remember that orzo is actually pasta - despite it looking exactly like arborio rice. The difference though, is that orzotto does not involve masses of time and effort to produce, so is perfect for a mid week supper. The original version did not include white wine or parmesan cheese so here's the revised, richer version.

Orzotto - revisited

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped finely

260g orzo pasta

425ml chicken stock (or vegetable)

75ml dry white wine

2 tbsps lemon juice

200g frozen petit pois

2 tbsp fresh pesto

bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped

75g parmesan cheese, grated

salt and black pepper

extra pesto and slices of lemon to serve

extra grated parmesan to serve

Heat the oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat and fry the onion for 2/3 minutes. Add the dry white wine and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in orzo and cook for 1-2 minutes and then add the stock all at once. Simmer and stir occasionally for 7/8 minutes until nearly cooked. Stir in the lemon juice and the frozen peas. Simmer for a minute and then add the parmesan cheese and continue to summer for 2 minutes until the peas are cooked then add the pesto and the parsley.

Season to taste and serve with extra pesto, a squeeze of lemon and parmesan cheese to sprinkle.

Here are a couple of additions – add prawns, obviously defrosted.

You know how I'm always banging on about slow cooking a whole chicken – here's where it comes into its own. I slow cook and freeze a chicken, divided into portions as required - breasts, legs, wings etc., and the stock too. I cannot tell you how useful this is.

On class night I served the orzotto topped with slices of slow cooked chicken breast. How difficult is it to pull a chicken breast (or two) out of the freezer mid week?

It's just the job any time but is particularly comforting at this miserable time of year.

I'm sure a risotto purist wouldn't be terribly complimentary and be able to tell the difference but mid week - with little or not time to cook - who cares.

Back to work – Main

Orzo

Anyone out there heard of orzo?  No, it's not some fancy swordsman, that's Zorro, nor is it a spirit drunk in Greece – that's ouzo!  Orzo is in fact a type of pasta.  It looks just like large grains of rice.

Do we like risotto – yep, I think we do.  There's only one major problem with risotto – to cook it properly you need time to give it tender loving care.  Not a quick supper dish.  Well, recently reading a copy of delicious. I came across a recipe called Summer minestrone and pancetta orzotto.  Give a recipe a fancy schmancy title and I automatically think complicated – in this case not at all!

Orzotto

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped finely

260g orzo pasta

500ml vegetable stock (or chicken)

juice of 1 lemon

200g frozen petit pois

2 tbsp fresh pesto

bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped

extra pesto and slices of lemon to serve

salt and black pepper

Heat the oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat and fry the onion for 2/3 minutes.  Stir in orzo and cook for 1-2 minutes and then add the stock all at once.  Simmer and stir occasionally for 7/8 minutes until nearly cooked.  Stir in the lemon juice and the frozen peas.  Simmer for 2/3 minutes until the peas are cooked then add the pesto and the parsley.  Season to taste and serve with extra pesto and a squeeze of lemon.

This dish lends itself – serve as above as a vegetarian dish topped with grated parmesan.

Add 80g of diced chorizo or cubed pancetta with the onion at the beginning of the recipe for meat eaters.  The original recipe contains pancetta and uses chicken stock.

  

Sprinkle with bacon bits and parmesan – if you serve the bacon bits in a separate bowl then everyone can help themselves - you can serve vegetarians and meat eaters too.

I made the vegetarian version but served it with a chicken breast on the side – it vanished.  You can't say it isn't versatile!

If I've ever had risotto leftovers I've turned it into arancini (aka rice balls stuffed with cheese) but whichever way you look at it it's a lot of work especially for a quick supper.

Anyway, waffling over, I divided the orzotto leftovers into foil trays with lids and “fridged”.  I ate my portion two days later, warming it through in a 160fan/180c/Gas 4 oven for 15 minutes (only because I was warming something else) and tipped it into a warmed bowl – the orzotto was as good as the night I made it, sprinkled liberally with parmesan of course – it would be rude not to!

Note to self – next time I'm going to add chestnut mushrooms with the onion.

Orzo pasta is on my permanent pantry staple list – make it your own, whatever you fancy, you will not regret it – in addition it makes a great lunch box – cold or hot.

If by any chance you do have leftovers you can't use it will freeze, boxed or bagged for up to a month.

I make no apology to the risotto purists out there – there's plenty of room orzotto too!

P.s. You can buy gluten free orzo.

Decisions, decisions : Frittata or Pasta?

Tuesday's Supper -Two choices :

Frittata – to serve 4

Use your leftover chicken, roast potatoes and any cooked vegetables from Sunday – dice and set aside. Raid the fridge for any raw vegetables Using a large frying pan, saute a diced onion in a little rapeseed oil, add any raw vegetables i.e. peppers, courgettes, carrots, sliced and diced - cook until soft, then add the cooked chicken, potatoes and cooked vegetables.

Whisk four eggs in a mixing bowl, add a couple of handfuls of cheese from your grated stash, add black pepper.

Pre-heat your grill – Before you turn it on ensure that the frying pan you're using will slide easily into the space – leaving at least two inches gap between the pan and the grill itself, otherwise you'll burn the top and the middle won't be cooked.

Add your egg and cheese mixture to the chicken and vegetables and cook on a medium heat on the hob for 2/3 minutes. Then transfer the pan under the grill – grill for 2/3 minutes remove using oven gloves. Using a fish slice gently flatten down the frittata so that you break the top - you'll find that the egg mixture underneath is still not quite cooked. Place back under the grill for another 2/3 minutes and check – it should be golden brown but if your preference is for a darker colour carry on to your desired taste.

A complete meal in itself but you could serve a slice with a salad or, if you are a fan, baked beans go well.

Pasta : Serve 4

Use your leftover chicken and any cooked vegetables from Sunday – dice and set aside. Peel and dice an onion. Raid the fridge for any raw vegetables – slice and dice. Using a large frying pan, saute the onion in a little rapeseed oil, add any raw vegetables and cook until soft, then add the cooked chicken and vegetables.

Quick onion sauce – see recipe attached – is a really useful pasta sauce and can be made ahead and kept in the fridge.

Cook pasta of your choice - for penne, 90g dry pasta gives 180g cooked serving that's 7oz approximately in old money. Check the packet - pastas vary in quality and in cooking times too. A shorter cooking time will give you a firmer pasta “al dente” texture (firm to the bite). It's personal taste and size of appetites. Drain the pasta, fold in the chicken and vegetables.

Serving pasta and sauce is a personal matter. Serve your pasta in bowls and add the sauce to the pasta – fold together gently so that the pasta is covered and serve with a little grated parmesan - you can control the balance and achieve your personal preference – if you've sauce left over you can always mop up with bread.

Remember the box of bacon bits from Sunday MTM – you could sprinkle a handful on top of either of the above dishes before serving.

With both of the above suggestions any leftovers can be boxed and you've lunch for the following day – either are great served cold.