Chicken and Green Bean Minestrone

 The contents of the fridge needed to be reorganised. I rescued what could still be used to construct a dish, and I ended up with a minestrone. The onion and the chicken were cooked first in some olive oil, The rest of the vegetables were prepared and added to the flat pot at a medium heat, along with about half a pint of water. Cooked for ninety minutes under glass, stirring frequently. Delicious!

Spaghetti in Chilli Sauce

It is what it is. Spaghetti in a chilli sauce. You can make the sauce yourself if you like. Obviously this could be the basis of a hundred different dishes. I used wheat-free spaghetti because I gave up on wheat about twenty years ago. 

 

Minced beef, with Spaghetti

 A jar of Polish preserved red peppers had been sitting at the back of a cupboard for a while, and I decided to open it. I diced the peppers and cooked them with the leek and the carrots and the chickpeas for about 25 minutes. Then I added the minced beef, and cooked the whole assemblage for another forty-five minutes under glass at a low to medium heat (stir frequently!). I added water a couple of times, plus half a dozen bay leaves. 

Served with Italian made wheat free spaghetti (Sainsbury's) and black pepper (remove the bay leaves). 

King Prawns with Spaghetti, Garlic, Chilli and Ginger

Some nice pre-cooked Nicaraguan King Prawns sourced from Sainsbury's today. I looked through a number of relevant recipes first, and then came up with this one. 

I filled a large flat pan with water, and brought the water to the boil, adding a drizzle of olive oil. I added a handful of wheat-free spaghetti.  Cooked for ten minutes, stirring frequently. Cooked for a further ten minutes with a couple of spoonfuls of chopped tomatoes and about 100g of diced green beans (under glass). White pepper and dried Basil were added shortly before serving. 

three cloves of garlic (diced) were fried in another pan containing a little olive oil, along with diced fresh ginger and two green chillies. I allowed the contents of the pan to brown just a little, and then added the king prawns (140g). Stirred frequently, but largely cooked under glass at a medium heat for five minutes. 

Served together in a pasta bowl. Will feed two, but I polished off all of it by myself :-). 

 

Spaghetti Bolognese with Cheese

Fabulous dish, though not authentically Italian, as I've mentioned before.The ground beef was browned in sunflower oil, and then simmered under glass for an hour or so, with the addition of some boiling water and tomato puree. During which time the vegetables were added (diced). Plus diced garlic, and some dried chilli peppers.  

The spaghetti (wheat free) was cooked separately, with some salt for fifteen minutes, stirred frequently. 

Once the dish was served, the cheese was added as a garnish. I used cheddar. Use your favourite. Add white pepper. Delicious!

 

Minestrone Soup

Always a favourite, and a great way to use up surplus ingredients from another dish. In this case, some yellow pepper, batonned carrot, chickpeas, white onion, chilli, mustard seed, and basmati rice. I added tomato puree (three squirts), two spring onions, diced, a drizzle of olive oil, plus black pepper, and vegetable and chicken stock. And a handful of broken spaghetti. I added the herbs basil and oregano. Cooked for an hour before serving. 

 

Thick Minestrone Soup

Made with diced apple, carrot and potato. Plus diced brussels sprouts, one green finger chilli, and broken spaghetti. I also added some grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

I added a pinch of oregano and coriander leaf, plus some pork stock and two squirts of tomato puree.

Allowed to simmer under glass for two hours.

Spaghetti with Chilli (Vegetarian)

A simple and delicious vegetable chilli made with carrot, red onion, red pepper, diced green finger chillies (2), tinned tomatoes, vegetable stock, olive oil, coriander leaf. Allowed to simmer together under glass for forty minutes at a low heat.

Served in a pasta bowl with wheat free spaghetti (cooked for fifteen minutes at a medium heat, stirring frequently). Judge readiness by eye. Dressed in a pinch of coriander leaf.

Ground Beef, Spinach and Onion, with Spaghetti

The wonderful Italian dish, spaghetti bolognese, which isn't Italian at all (look up Ragu alla Bolognese instead).

Made with Irish ground beef, browned for twenty minutes or so in a little olive oil. After that, I added chopped spinach, diced carrot and onions, and a little later some diced mushrooms. Ten minutes later I added boiling water to the pan, and allowed the dish to simmer for an hour or so.

Added the beef stock and the tomato puree, and stirred through. Cooked for another twenty minutes, and then added the herbs oregano and basil, also stirred through..

Ready to serve in five minutes. Served with wheat free spaghetti, cooked in salted water with a little olive oil to prevent sticking. Stirred constantly for the first five minutes (takes ten minutes altogether).

Dress with freshly ground black pepper.

Dark Minestrone Soup (with Black Rice)

A great dish for using up odds and ends in the fridge. This one was made with broken spaghetti, diced onion, carrot, potato, spring onion, diced garlic, some red lentils, chopped celery, a quarter of a red bell pepper, a handful of Thai black rice, plus a little spelt grain, three squirts of tomato puree, and chicken stock.

Prepare the vegetables and the spaghetti, and add to a pot of boiling water. Add the rice and the spelt, the tomato puree and the chicken stock. Simmer under glass at a low heat for an hour and a half.

Serve with a toasted garlic and coriander naan bread. Delicious!

Spaghetti and Bacon, with a Blue Stilton Napoletana

I diced two rashers of smoked bacon, then fried the pieces in a large saute pan in a little olive oil. I then added a julienned onion, and half a diced pepper. The ingredients were stir-fried for twenty minutes at a medium heat, until the onions began to brown, and the bacon became crispy.

I mashed a tin of peeled plum Italian tomatoes in a bowl and added them to the saute pan, along with about 400mls of boiling water. Stirred through the dish thoroughly, and add vegetable stock. Then I added about 40g of pieces of Blue Stilton cheese. Stirred for about seven minutes at a medium heat, until the cheese had entirely dissolved in the salsa.

The hob was turned down to a low heat, and was allowed to simmer for half an hour, with occasional stirring. Add black pepper, oregano, and some basil.

Served in this case with a wheat-free spaghetti from Sainsbury's, which behaves in the pot just like  durum wheat spaghetti. The pasta was cooked at a fairly low heat for twelve minutes, in salted water with a pinch of turmeric. Stir frequently!

Spaghetti Parmigiana, with Bell Pepper and Spanish Onion

A simple and tasty vegetarian dish (at least before the grated cheese was added). I stir-fried diced carrot, Spanish onion and half a green pepper, together with four green finger chillies (topped) and four crushed cloves of garlic.

Once the onion being to turn golden brown, I added boiling water to the mix, plus some tomato puree, in order to create spicy salsa.

The mix was simmered at a low heat under glass for around forty-five minutes.

While the salsa was simmering, I cut a piece off a wedge of Parmagiano Reggiano cheese and grated it finely. Ten minutes before serving, I put the spaghetti into a pot of boiling water, turned down the heat, and cooked it under glass.

I drained the spaghetti, and decanted it to.a serving plate. After adding a pinch of oregano, I added four wooden spoonfuls of the vegetable salsa on top, and then spread the grated cheese across it. Hot and delicious!

Spaghetti Chicken Parmigiana

This is a version of the Chicken Parmigiana recipe posted recently, so this is something of a recap.

Made with the meat from two chicken drumsticks, an onion, tomato passata, two cloves of garlic, and 75 grams of finely grated parmigiano reggiano cheese.  The one difference from the earlier recipe is the addition of four topped green finger chillies.

The chicken drumsticks were preroasted, and still with their skins, into which some sea salt had been rubbed. Both the skins and the flesh were decanted into a small saucepan, together with one diced onion, and a little sunflower oil. Stirfried for four minutes at a medium heat, after which 150g of tomato passata was added, along with the finger chillies.

Simmer for fifteen minutes under glass, with a little black pepper. After that, allow to cool a little for five minutes, and then decant into a tray suitable for grilling.

Grate the cheese into a bowl. Then shake the grated cheese over the surface of the grilling tray, ensuring an even spread (I used a dessert spoon for this). Leave to stand for five minutes while you fire up the grill.

Toast the cheese under the grill for seven to nine minutes (check the progress by eye). When the cheese has melted and browned, remove from the grill rack. Allow to cool for five minutes, then decant into a serving bowl.

Served with spaghetti, boiled with a little turmeric. Delicious!

Spaghetti with Green Pesto

Delicious semi-dried spaghetti, with shredded salad tomato, diced spring onion, garlic, and yellow pepper.

The vegetables were first cooked in a little sunflower oil, and then allowed to cool.

The spaghetti was boiled in water for six minutes, stirring more or less continuously. It was then drained through a sieve, and then added back to the original saute pan.

 I added the vegetables, and stirred them together. Then I added two teaspoonfuls of Sacla green pesto sauce, and stirred the pesto through the spaghetti and the vegetables.

Decanted to a pasta bowl, and served with freshly ground black pepper.

Chicken (Pollo) Parmigiana

A simple and tasty dish made with the meat from two chicken drumsticks, an onion, tomato passata, two cloves of garlic, and 75 grams of finely grated parmigiano reggiano cheese.

The chicken drumsticks were preroasted, and still with their skins, into which some sea salt had been rubbed. Both the skins and the flesh were decanted into a small saucepan, together with one diced onion, and a little sunflower oil. Stirfried for four minutes at a medium heat, after which 150g of tomato passata was added.

Simmer for fifteen minutes under glass, with a little black pepper. After that, allow to cool a little for five minutes, and then decant into a tray suitable for grilling.

Grate the cheese into a bowl. Then shake the grated cheese over the surface of the grilling tray, ensuring an even spread (I used a dessert spoon for this). Leave to stand for five minutes while you fire up the grill.

Toast the cheese under the grill for seven to nine minutes (check the progress by eye). When the cheese has melted and browned, remove from the grill rack. Allow to cool for five minutes, then decant into a serving bowl. Serve with a four leaf salad (in this case). Add a dusting of oregano if desired. The dish can also be served with spaghetti, penne pasta, or with potatoes. Utterly delicious!

Chunky Minestrone

A simple but satisfying soup made with fridge leftovers, plus some broken spaghetti, herbs, and paprika.

First I diced a courgette, cut a carrot into small chunks, diced a whole red pepper, and sliced a white onion. There was some leftover Cavolo Nero cabbage in the fridge. I cut the leaves off the stems, diced them, and added them to the pot. Then I added a handful of broken spaghetti, and brought the pot to the boil. Also added about 200 mls of tomato passata, and some vegetable stock. Simmered under glass for about one hour.

After that I added a pinch of basil and oregano, a pinch of paprika, four red dried chillies, and two finely diced cloves of garlic. Simmer for another thirty minutes before serving.

Spaghetti Chicken with Chilli and Garlic

Made with the last remaining parts (two drumsticks and a wing) of a whole chicken.

I'd kept the jelly from the roasted chicken, The chicken meat (including the skin) was added to the pot, followed by the chicken jelly, half a cup of water, two large squirts of tomato puree, a pinch of turmeric, some onion gravy granules, and a teaspoonful of dried basil.

I also added 100g of diced green beans. Plus three diced garlic cloves, half a teaspoonful of chilli powder and four dried red chillies. All stirred together. The dish was simmered under glass for thirty minutes.

The spaghetti came from the local co-op. It was in an airtight bag and semi dried. It took six minutes to be ready, after being placed in a pot of water already brought to the boil.

Serve with freshly ground black pepper. Can also be served with cheddar or parmagiano regiano cheese. 

Minestrone with German Salami

A minestrone soup made with carrot, onion, courgette, green beans, potato, garlic, paprika, turmeric, tomato puree, plus the herbs oregano, basil and marjoram. Plus some diced German salami, chicken stock, and broken wheat-free spaghetti.

The vegetables were diced first, along with the garlic, then added to a pot of boiling water. They were boiled for thirty minutes before being mashed.

Add the turmeric and paprika, the chicken stock (vegetable stock will do instead),  two squirts of tomato puree, the salami sausage (four thin slices is enough), and finally the broken spaghetti pieces. Cook for another forty five minutes under glass, and add the herbs fifteen minutes before the dish is ready to serve. Stir occasionally to prevent the spaghetti sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Serve with garlic bread, or another bread, according to choice.

Pork Chilli with Spaghetti

A one pan dish, made with a pork chilli and spaghetti.

Dice a couple of pork steaks into small chunks, and stir fry in a little sunflower oil, until they brown. Once they do, add finely chopped leek (cut lengthways first, and then crosswise). Add diced red and yellow pepper, spring onion, a clove of garlic, and some drained sweetcorn.

Continue to stir-fry the dish for another ten to fifteen minutes, and then add boiling water and a little tomato puree. Add dried red chillies according to taste. Simmer under glass for twenty minutes.

Break a handful of spaghetti in two, and scatter round the pan. Add more boiling water and stir the spaghetti in to the pork chilli sauce. Bring to the boil, and stir the spaghetti until it is soft. Cover the pan and simmer slowly for fifteen to twenty minutes, stirring the mix occasionally.

Serve with black pepper. 

Minestroni Soup, with Brussels Sprouts

Minestroni soup, served with minimal wheat brown bread.

The soup ingredients were: Spanish onion, Brussels sprouts (diced), and carrot. Plus some diced yellow pepper and garlic. Stir-fried in olive oil, before boiling water was added.

After simmering for a while, I added about 200g of tomato passata, and some vegetable stock.Plus a portion of broken spaghetti.  Cooked for about an hour.

Add herbs according to your choice (Basil and Oregano in this case). Plus half a teaspoonful of smoked paprika.

The bread used was from the loaf recently baked (scroll back). Keeps for a fortnight in the fridge. Quick and easy!