Orecchiette with Buffalo Mozzarella, Cherry Tomatoes and Pistachio

First time I've done this in a while...
My wife and I went to Italy earlier this year and this was one of the pastas that we ate (photo is the actual dish). The cheese used there was 'stracciatella di buffala' which is not available where I am. This very simple pasta is mostly here so that I do not forget how to make it...

1 packet orecchiette pasta
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
4 cloves garlic minced
1 chilli minced
1 handful pistachio nuts chopped
2 or 3 bay leaves
1 tub of buffalo mozzarella, shredded by hand
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Basil leaves

Cook the pasta, reserve a cup of the cooking water.
Gently fry the chilli and garlic in about 3 tbs of extra virgin olive oil with the bay leaves. Once aromatic, add the tomatoes to the pan and toss. Add the cooked pasta to the pan with some of the cheese and pistachio, season with salt and pepper, some torn basil, half of the cooking water and toss to coat. Test for seasoning and if necessary add the remaining pasta water. (At this stage add some hot smoked salmon or pan fried chicken if desired).
Garnish with some torn basil leaves, the remaining cheese and pistachio. Add a final drizzle of extra virgin.

Pork Orange Honey and Blueberry Pasta with Roasted Onion, White Wine and Cream

Sounds complicated but it isn't, quick too. My butcher is unreal and makes these mind blowing pork orange honey and blueberry sausages (you can find them here or on Facebook by searching for Aussie Smokehouse). They're like nothing I've ever eaten before, moist but not greasy at all and the fruit/honey combo works incredibly well. Although I understand that you may not be able to get your hands on them, the method would work really well with any flavoured sausage eg Italian, pork and fennel, chicken and honey etc etc. When I first made this I used 6 or 7 large mushrooms but I was out of them last night. I like to plump up the veg content when I can. As for the onion portion of this recipe, I have a thing for roasted onion wedges at the moment but you could very simply dice and saute them. Also, use whatever pasta you like but the shells catch the mince really easily.
Enjoy

1 kg pork orange honey blueberry sausages
1 onion in wedges and separated
6 mushrooms diced
1 slice bacon diced
1 stalk celery diced
3 cloves garlic minced
1 cup white wine
150ml thickened cream
1 packet large shell pasta
Salt and pepper
2 slices grilled prosciutto
1/2 bunch parsley minced
Chilli flakes or fresh
Parmesan cheese
Extra virgin olive oil



Coat onion with a little olive oil and season, roast at 180C for about 15 minutes (keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn - get some good colour though).
Put your salted pasta water on to boil.
Season and saute the garlic, celery, mushroom and bacon in 1 tbs or so of extra virgin until soft. Squeeze the sausage contents into your frying pan, break up and cook through. When cooked deglaze with the white wine. Add in the roasted onion then reduce to a simmer, reduce by half and not smelling boozie. Pour in the cream. Add half of the parsley. Check for seasoning. Cook your pasta, reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Drain and add to the mince mixture with the some of the cooking water.
Spoon into bowls and top with parsley, parmesan, grilled prosciutto, salt and pepper, chilli and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Oven Roasted Cherry Tomato and Prawn Pasta with Chilli

Wow first recipe of the year.
I have been refining this one for a while, it is basic and quick with few ingredients. I sometimes mix it up by adding some blue cheese when I am warming the sauce through. If I were cooking this for adults only I would fry the chilli when cooking the prawns with some garlic. Using green prawns will produce a better flavour in the sauce but either way it is gooood. It's a crowd pleaser, enjoy.


400gms prawns, shelled - heads reserved
1 1/2 punnets cherry tomatoes quartered
1 onion sliced and  broken up
2 tsp sugar
6 cloves garlic sliced
Handful of parsely leaves
A handful of basil leaves
One bay leaf
A splash of white wine
Lemon wedges for serving
Extra virgin olive oil
1 cup pasta water reserved for the sauce
I packet of pasta
Grilled prosciutto
Sliced chilli
Parmessan
Salt and pepper

Combine the prawns heads with the sliced onion, 4 cloves worth of sliced garlic, cherry tomatoes, salt and pepper, the sugar, half of the parsely, the bay leaf and enough extra virgin to coat. Roast at 180C for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Roast it until some of the onions and tomatoes have a little char. Discard the prawn heads and bay leaf and blend tomato mixture in a food processor with half of the basil, a squeeze of lemon and a good hit of extra virgin. Refrigerate until ready.
Cook the pasta.
While the pasta is cooking, fry the remaining garlic in some more extra virgin until fragrant then toss through the prawns. Remove the prawns and set aside, deglaze the pan with the white wine then pour in your prepared tomato sauce to the frying pan. While warming, thinly slice the remaining basil then incorporate into the sauce. When ready, reduce the heat to low and wait for the pasta to finish cooking. When the pasta is done pour a cup of pasta water into your tomato sauce and stir to combine.
Toss the pasta through the sauce, bung into bowls, place prawns on top, sprinkle over some freshly grated Parmessan, crispy prosciutto, parsley, a little lemon, salt and pepper, chilli and a little more extra virgin.
Serve with crusty bread.

Spaghetti Bolognaise with Mushroom and Kale

I think I have an addiction to kale. This is one of my go to recipes, I love, the kids smash it, its mostly veg. Win - win. One of the most beautiful things about this dish is, you can make it on the go. Once the onion and celery are minced and have begun sauteing, you can bgein chopping the next bit. If you have never used pork and veal mince for spag bol, you should. Two tips, 1) generally it is how you finish a dish that makes it rule - some great parmesan and great extra virgin can lift any dish from good to wow; 2) learn to love chilli - it is the business.

1 onion in small dice
1 stick celery in small dice
2 tsp minced rosemary
2 tsp minced thyme
1 handful minced parsley
1 handful basil leaves
3 cloves garlic minced
2 rashers bacon in small dice
2 handfuls mushroom minced
A few porcini mushrooms ripped (optional)
500 gms pork and veal mince
3 leaves kale, finely chopped
1 bottle of passata
1 packet of pasta
1 or 2 tbs sugar
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese
Chilli - fresh or dried

Get your pasta water hot. Sauté the onion and celery over a medium high temperature in some extra virgin with the 1/2 of the garlic, rosemary and thyme. When soft throw in the bacon and fry for a few minutes. When fragrant add in the mushrooms - you may need more extra virgin. When the mushrooms are cooked add in the minced pork and veal. Cook the concoction until the moisture has mostly evaporated then mix through the kale, salt and pepper. When fragrant and beginning to soften, stir through 3/4 of the tomato passata. Add in the sugar, balsamic and remaining garlic and 1/2 of the parsley. Start cooking the pasta in salted water. Reduce the heat and simmer the sauce until the pasta cooks. If your sauce is too dry add some of the pasta cooking water into the sauce. Chop the basil and stir through, check for seasoning, adding more salt/pepper/sugar/balsamic as necessary. Combine the sauce and pasta. Spoon into bowls. Top with a sprinkling of parsley, salt, a grind of pepper, parmesan and chilli. Some crispy prosciutto is wicked too.

Chicken Mushroom and Kale Pasta with Lemon Herbed Bread Crumbs

This is the first time I have used fried bread crumbs with a pasta and it made feel silly I'd never done it before. So much flavour and crunch for so little effort. Quick and easy and another excuse for me to bung some kale into something else - I love that stuff.

500 gms chicken thighs fillets
2 handfuls mushroom roughly chopped
3 big kale leaves chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
2 cloves garlic finely minced
2 rashers of bacon in dice
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil (may need more)
1/2 cup white wine or bubbles
1/2 cup chicken stock
Juice of half a lemon
Rind of half a lemon
2 thick slices of nice bread (I used sour dough)
1 tbs of basil leaves minced
1 handful of minced parsley
1 knob of butter
Parmessan cheese
Chilli flakes
1 packet of spaghetti
Salt and pepper

Blitz the bread, mix with the minced basil, lemon rind and minced garlic. Pour in a little extra virgin olive oil and combine well. Roast spread out on a tray at 180C for about 10 minutes, keep your eye on it. Remove from the heat when done.
Have your pasta water boiling and ready.
Season the chicken with salt and fry in most of the extra virgin olive oil over a medium high heat, remove to a clean plate when you have great colour. Fry the bacon until you have great colour then add in the chopped garlic, throw in the mushroom and some salt and pepper, get some nice colour.
Cook the pasta.
Add the kale to the mushroom/bacon mixture and toss through the flavoured concoction. Chop the chicken then add back to the pan along with any juices. Deglaze the pan with the wine and reduce for a minute or two. Pour in the stock, lemon juice, half a cup of the pasta water and half of the parsley and continue reducing. Add in the knob of butter and toss/shake about to emulsify the sauce. Drain the pasta and combine with the sauce.
Spoon into bowls, top with parsley, a little salt and pepper, a good helping of bread crumbs and chilli flakes and a little extra virgin olive oil.

Flaked Salmon Pasta with a Mushroom and Asparagus Sauce

Wow, two recipes in a month, things are getting hectic. This was delicious, I made my own pasta here but store bought would be fine, if possible buy some freshly made pasta from a deli if you have the opportunity perhaps. The salmon was just as simple as shallow frying and really all the sauce was was some sautéed mushroom, asparagus pieces, pasta water and cream. One of the things I did do here actually (I cooked this a few days ago...) was make some basil chips. Basil what? Heaps simple, get half a bunch of basil and pick the leaves, lightly salt and toss in a little oil. Roast for 5-10 minutes, just don't let them burn. Very interesting flavour - initial beautiful basil hit then an after taste of green tea. I plan on doing more with this concept, very interesting.

3 salmon fillets, skin on
Two big handfuls and mushrooms sliced
1 bunch asparagus cut into bite sized pieces
2 tbs cream (or more if you're keen)
2 tbs butter
2 cloves garlic chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
Enough fresh pasta for 4
Handful of sage leaves
Parsley for garnish
Basil chips
Cherry tomatoes quartered
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
Salt and pepper

Have all of your ingredients ready to go as was you start it all happens quite quickly. Have your water simmering and ready to cook the pasta. Season the fillets with salt and pepper. Heat some extra virgin olive oil over a medium high heat, fry the sage leaves in the oil until crisp - remove and reserve. Place the salmon fillets in skin side down and cook until the fillet is cook about 1/3 to 1/2 the way up the side - do not allow the skin to burn, this becomes part of the garnish. Turn when ready and when the fillet feels about medium rare to medium, remove to a clean plate. Cook your pasta.
Add the butter to the pan and when melted add in the mushrooms and some salt and pepper giving them some great colour. When mostly cooked add in the asparagus pieces and cook for a further minute. Squeeze in the lemon juice and give it a mix. Pour in the cream and a few tablespoons of the pasta water. Give the pan a good shake to emulsify the sauce, when combined turn off the heat. If the pasta is cooked, drain and toss through a little extra virgin olive oil.
Carefully remove the skin from each fillet and slice on the diagonal. Flake the flesh. Add a portion of pasta to each serving bowl, spoon over some sauce, some flaked salmon, garnish with some basil chips, fried sage leaves, parsley, cherry tomatoes, some freshly cracked pepper and a little drizzle of extra virgin.

Prawn and Passatta Pasta with Crab and Sopressa

Quick and awesome.

300 gms green prawns, shelled
200 gms picked crab meat
4 slices sopressa torn
1 onion finely diced
2 cloves garlic minced
Splash of white wine
1/2 bottle passata
Salt and pepper
Small handful of basil
Cooked pasta
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

Start cooking the pasta as you begin this. Saute the onion, sopressa and garlic in the extra virgin over medium high until fragrant and soft. Add in the prawn, toss about for a minute or so, add in the crab and move through the flavoured oil for about 30 seconds. Deglaze with a splash of white wine. When the alcohol smell is gone (about 30 seconds), pour in the passata. Bring to a simmer, turn down the heat to low, season with salt and pepper and tear in the basil leaves. Drain the pasta and stir through the tomato awesomeness.
Serve with crusty bread.

Mussell and Chorizo Pasta

Mmmmmmmm, mussels. I have been meaning to cook some of these bad boys for a while. You should do it.

1 kg clean green mussels

3 tbs cream

1 cup white wine

2 cloves garlic

1/3 of a chorizo diced

2 shallots finely minced

1 handful parsley chopped

Salt and pepper

Sliced chilli

Freshly cooked pasta

Good bread

1 tbs butter

Have your pasta water ready to rock and roll, this doesn't take long. As soon as you add the mussels to the pot, start cooking the pasta.

Heat the butter over a medium high heat. When bubbling add in the chorizo, shallots and garlic. When fragrant pour in the wine and bring to the boil, add in the cream and heat. Add in half of the parsley, salt and pepper and pour in the mussels. Bring to a simmer and cover with a lid. Continue cooking for 5 minutes or until the shells open up, stirring occasionally. When ready, stir in the remaining parsley, sliced chilli and cooked pasta. Serve with some really good bread.

Tarragon Chilli Prawn Linguine

Good gear and simple. The most annoying part is shelling the prawns but that's the price you need to pay I guess for a decent prawn pasta. I used 750 grams of prawn here for 4 adults and left overs for kids. It was overkill but damn it was good. Nom nom nom nom....

750 gms green prawns, shelled

3 cloves garlic sliced

2 cheeks capsicum in small dice

1/4 Spanish onion thinly sliced

1 chilli finely sliced

4 tbs roughly chopped tarragon

1 handful minced parsley

Juice 1 lemon
1 good slug of white wine
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
Salt and cracked pepper
3 or 4 slices grilled prosciutto, chopped
1 packet linguine or similar

Combine the prawns and garlic with 1 tbs extra virgin with some salt and cracked pepper. Cook the pasta. When the pasta is about 5 minutes from being cooked complete the remaining steps. Heat the remaining oil to medium high, add in the prawns and toss about for a minute or 2. Add in the tarragon, capsicum, and chilli and toss about for 2 minutes. Add in the wine and 3/4 of the lemon juice and toss about. Toss in the onion and parsley. Try a prawn to check for seasoning. Drain the pasta and add to the prawn gear, add in half the chopped prosciutto and toss about. Spoon into bowls, top with more chopped prosciutto, a few prawns and a little lemon juice. I served this with some really nice toasted bread. Nom nom nom nom...

Salmon and Persian Feta Pasta with Mushroom

My favourite kind of pasta, cheap and easy. I have enjoyed flavouring stocks with prawn heads or bones or herbs for years and realised I could do the same here with the salmon skin for the pasta water. As it turns out it was effective and a very simple means of injecting flavour with zero effort. I will definitely use this idea again in future.

1/2 portion of hot smoked salmon (reserve skin)

4 or 5 mushrooms sliced

3 cloves garlic sliced and roughly chopped

 3 tbs marinated Persian feta
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Parsley roughly chopped
1/2 a Spanish onion, thinly sliced
1 packet of pasta
Salt and pepper


Place the skin from salmon into a large pot of salted water and bring to the boil. Cook the pasta until al dente. Heat the oil to medium high in a large frying pan and add the mushrooms, toss until they have nice colour. Add in the garlic and fry with the mushrooms until fragrant. Add in 3 tbs of the pasta water, the feta and lemon juice, bring to the boil and simmer for a minute or two to melt the incorporate the cheese, stir lots. Reduce the heat to very low while the pasta cooks. Shred the salmon with 2 forks. Drain the pasta and add to the mushroom feta mixture along with 3/4 of the salmon and 3/4 of the parsley. Mix through the pasta, check for seasoning and then spoon into bowls. Add some shredded salmon to the top along with some parsley. Top with sliced chilli if desired or some Parmesan. Nice.

Chicken Carbonara with Feta, Mushroom and Silverbeet

Having not made a carbonara before (have eaten plenty) I was quite please with this effort. The use of lemon rind kept it nice and light-ish and feta gave this more depth. The silverbeet may not be a traditional ingredient but it does taste good.

4 chicken thigh fillets

1 handful fresh thyme

2 rashers bacon chopped

2 cloves garlic sliced

5 mushrooms roughly chopped

1 tbs porcini chopped (optional)

1 splash of white wine

5 silverbeet deveined and thinly sliced

100 ml cream

2 tbs marinated feta

2 eggs

1 decent handful of grated Parmesan

Rind of half a lemon

Juice of half a lemon

Salt and pepper

1 packet of pasta

Olive oil

Parsley and chilli to serve

Oil, salt and pepper and rub the thyme into the chicken thighs. Saute the bacon with a little olive oil over a medium high heat until it has nice colour. Add in the garlic and stir, simmering until it is fragrant. Add a little more oil, stir to flavour with the garlic and bacon then toss in the mushrooms (both kinds) and saute until just cooked. Remove to a clean bowl, deglaze the pan with the wine, quickly scrapping up any bits and pour back over the mushroom mixture. Add a little oil to the pan and cook the chicken until almost cooked, remove to a clean bowl and cover (it will continue to cook in the covered bowl).

Combine the cream, feta, eggs, Parmesan, lemon rind and some pepper with a whisk and set aside.

Cook the pasta in salted water, reserve 1 cup of the water. Drain the pasta and return to the pan, stir through the silverbeet. Chop the chicken into chunks and add to the pasta pan with the mushrooms and the chicken juice. Stir through the feta and egg mixture along with the reserved pasta water and the lemon juice. Allow to sit for a minute or so. Check for seasoning then into bowls, top with chopped parsley and sliced chilli or perhaps some lemon extra juice.

Chicken, Roasted Cherry Tomato, Basil and Blue Cheese Ravioli

Sounds hard but it took me minutes to make the filling. I had some left over Balsamic Thyme Chicken from pizza the night before that I used here but I think that even store bought chicken or diced bacon would work well in its place. As far as the ravioli part is concerned, if you don't have a pasta machine or ravioli maker I have seen lots of recipes that use gow gee wrappers -  you can buy them frozen from Asian goods stores. Alternatively buy fresh pasta sheets and form them yourself or, be even more simplistic (as it will taste exactly the same) just warm it and mix it through cooked pasta. If you are making the pasta, I work on 100gms flour and 1 egg per person. This made enough for three.

150gms Balsamic Thyme Chicken (approx)

1 tbs blue cheese (or more)

3 tbs cottage cheese (or ricotta or sour cream)

1 clove garlic minced

1 handful basil leaves minced
2 tbs oven roasted cherry tomatoes
3 or button mushrooms minced
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Porcini salt (alternate optional)

1 clove garlic thinly sliced

1/2 handful parsley minced

3 sheets fresh pasta

Squeeze of lemon to serve

Saute the mushroom with the minced garlic in enough extra virgin olive oil. Season the mushroom with pepper and porcini salt and mix through half of the minced basil while still warm. Chop/mince the chicken until relatively fine. Combine the chicken, remaining basil, blue cheese, cottage cheese, cherry tomatoes and mushroom mixture. Cover and allow to cool. Boil some salted water.

Lay half of one sheet over the ravioli tray and push down gently with the dimpled device. Spoon 1 tsp of filling into each pocket, cover with the other half of the pasta sheet and thoroughly roll with a rolling pin. Carefully remove the excess pasta and push out each pillow of ravioli onto a flour dusted tray. Repeat until you run out of pasta of mixture. When the water is boiling drop in the ravioli and cook for 4 or 5 minutes. While the ravioli is cooking heat 2 tbs extra virgin in a small saucepan over a medium heat and saute the sliced garlic until it has a little colour or the ravioli is ready. Remove from the heat and add in the minced parsley. Drain the ravioli, divide amongst bowls and pour over some garlic/parsley oil. Finish with a small squeeze of lemon.

  

Crab, Blue Cheese and Ricotta Ravioli

Man this was good. If you don't have a pasta machine and want to try this see if you can buy fresh pasta sheets from a deli. As you will see from the pictures, I fortunately have a ravioli press thing, it makes life much easier. If you can't get or make pasta sheets just mix the filling through some freshly cooked pasta and top each bowl of pasta with some of the butter gear. The amount of butter I used in this seems excessive but really, how regularly do you cook crab ravioli? The filling itself including chopping only took about 10 minutes to make and required no cooking. The order I completed this all in was to make the pasta and rest in plastic in the fridge - make the filling - roll out 1/3 of the pasta at a time and turn into ravioli - allow the ravioli to dry on a rack until ready (up to an hour) - boil water, cook ravioli and make butter sauce - eat. To make this go further, serve this with some salad or some nice crusty bread. Enough for 2 adults and 2 kids plus some left over crab gear.

220 gms crab meat (Phillips Bay)

3 cloves garlic minced

1 tbs shredded basil leaves

Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 shallot in fine dice (1/2 a small onion)
3 tbs ricotta

2 tbs blue cheese

Salt and pepper
40 gms butter

Extra virgin olive oil

1/2 and handful of parsley minced

Basil leaves for tearing

Pasta sheets (enough pasta for 3)
A ravioli tray or similar

Combine the ricotta, 1/2 of the blue cheese, shredded basil leaves, shallot, salt and pepper, 2 cloves of freshly minced garlic and 1/2 of the lemon juice. Taste and add the remaining blue cheese (if you want), more lemon juice or salt and pepper as necessary. Add in the crab meat and combine breaking up the crab as you go. Add more ricotta if necessary.

Lightly flour the ravioli tray and lay over half of a long sheet of pasta, press in the pasta using the mould. Spoon in 1 tsp of filling into each mould, lay the other half of the pasta sheet over the top and roll with a rolling pin to cut. Turn each out carefully onto a biscuit rack. Alternatively form the ravioli by hand.

Boil enough salted water. When the water is boiling add in the ravioli and cook for 4 to 5 minutes after the water returns to the boil. While the ravioli is cooking melt the butter over a medium high heat with 1 tbs olive oil. When melted add in the garlic, remaining lemon juice, some salt and freshly cracked pepper and cook. By the time the garlic is fragrant the ravioli should be cooked. Drain the ravioli into a colander using a slotted spoon. Add half of the parsley into the butter and toss, add in the ravioli and toss to coat. Pour the ravioli into bowls, sprinkle over the remaining parsley and some torn basil. Eat straight away.

Crab Lasagna with Blue and Ricotta Cheeses

I haven't cooked crab lasagna for a couple of years now and I am glad that I have here again. I think that there is room for manipulation in this recipe as long as the crab still has the opportunity to shine through. For example, I think next time I may try to make the tomato sauce a little lighter and sweeter by using blanched and skinned fresh tomato. In any case the component of this that has worked the best was the ricotta with lemon rind and blue cheese. The blue worked well as a background flavour and the lemon really refreshed the whole dish. Finally, if you can, try and make the lasagna sheets yourself, you end up with a much lighter result. I also think that some baby spinach or rocket added into the cooked tomato gear would be great. If you want this to taste better still, use twice the amount of crab - it will be expensive though...

V 2.0 Update
I basically followed this recipe however I made the tomato sauce the day before using a full bottle of passata. I used fresh crab and infused some of the shell and two fish frames into it and didn't add any sugar. I had some sauce left over after making the lasagne so I reduced the remaining tomato sauce, added 1 tbs sugar and some quartered cherry tomatoes and poured this over the top at the end. For the white sauce I also made 1 cup of bechamel to mix with the cheeses. Nice.

220 gms crab meat (I use Phillips Crab Meat)
1 handful chopped parsley
2 tsp garlic oil
Salt and pepper
1 tbs chopped fresh herbs (I used sage and thyme)
Olive oil
5 or 6 mushroom in small dice
2 shallots in fine dice (or 1 small onion)
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup white wine (I used Riesling)
1/2 bottle tomato passata
2 tsp sugar
500 gms ricotta
1 handful of basil leaves
Rind from 1/2 a lemon (more if necessary)
1 tbs chopped blue cheese (more if necessary)
1 bunch asparagus finely sliced, tips reserved
3 tbs oven roasted cherry tomatoes
Lasagna sheets
Grated cheese

Preheat an oven to 180C. Saute the onion, minced garlic and chopped herbs over a medium heat in some olive oil until translucent. When soft add the mushroom and saute until soft and with some colour. Add the wine and allow to absorb. When the wine is almost gone add the passata and reduce until quite thick. Mix in the sugar and check for seasoning.
Combine the crab, chopped parsley, salt and pepper and garlic oil.
Roll the basil leaves together and thinly slice. Combine the ricotta, lemon rind, some pepper, the sliced basil and chopped blue cheese.
Build your lasagna. Layer in some crab and top with sliced asparagus. Spoon over a generous amount of tomato sauce. Add a layer of lasagna sheets and top with a healthy amount of ricotta mixture. Repeat the layering process until you run out of gear finishing with a lasagna sheet and ricotta mixture. On the top layer scatter about the oven roasted cherry tomatoes and place the asparagus tips down the centre in a line. Top with the grated cheese of your choice (I use mozzarella and Parmesan). Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. Check to see if it is cooked with a skewer (there should be no resistance) and serve with some nice bread and a garden salad.

Prawn, Asparagus and Feta Linguine

Pretty straight forward. Apart from the fact that cooked prawns are easier to peel, we don't get fresh, green, Australian prawns here. Fresh, green prawns if you can get them will give a more tender result but the flavour will be the same. After you have prepped all of the ingredients, this should only take as long to cook as it does to fill the pot and boil the pasta.

500g cooked prawns, shelled and deveined
2 cloves garlic sliced
1 bunch asparagus, woody ends trimmed
1 shallot in fine dice
1/2 a leek in fine dice
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
2 tbs marinated Persian feta and some of its oil
Pepper
1 chilli, halved length ways and finely sliced
1/2 a handful chopped parsley
3 slices prosciutto grilled
Lemon wedges
1 packet linguine

Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions until al dente. Once the prosciutto is grilled, leave it sit to firm up and become more crunchy, when hard, chop. Chop the asparagus into bite sized pieces. Saute the shallot, leek and garlic in the olive oil. When onion mixture is soft and fragrant, add the prawns, pepper, some feta oil and asparagus, toss in the flavoured oil for about 2 minutes. Add the wine and feta and mix in until the cheese has melted, check for seasoning. Turn the heat down to very low until the pasta is cooked. When the pasta is ready, drain and toss through the sauce adding in half of the parsley and chopped prosciutto. Spoon into bowls, scoop up any left over chunks and add them to the top. Top with more parsley and prosciutto, the chilli slices and serve with lemon wedges.

Corn, Roasted Pumpkin and Balsamic Chicken Pasta

Tasty. Could have added pine nuts. The pumpkin by itself was really tasty.

1/4 of a pumpkin diced
1 tbs garlic oil
Balsamic vinegar
4 pieces barbecued balsamic thyme chicken, barbecued
1 onion in small dice
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 cup white wine
3 tbs cream
2 cobs of corn, kernels sliced off
1/2 a handful each of basil and parsley2 tbs grated Parmesan
Chilli flakes
Salt and pepper

Coat the pumpkin pieces in balsamic, garlic oil, salt and pepper and roast in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes, until tender with a little colour. Remove to a clean bowl. Saute the onion and garlic over a medium heat, when translucent add the white wine and simmer for 5 minutes. Boil the pasta. Add the corn, pumpkin and cream and simmer for 5 more minutes. Drain the pasta and pour straight back into the pasta saucepan to catch a little of the cooking water. Pour the pasta and left over pasta water into the pumpkin mix, season with salt and pepper. Roughly chop the parsley and tear the basil, add the Parmesan, toss through the pasta, add a lid and leave for 5 minutes. Serve in warmed bowls and sprinkle with chilli flakes.

Bacon, Tomato and Persian Feta Pasta

Nothing ground breaking here but it was very tasty. Literally only took as long as filling the water and boiling the pasta. The feta I used I bought from a local deli and it was fantastic, Yarra Valley Persian Fetta. If you get a chance, try it.

2 slices bacon diced
1 clove garlic sliced
5 or so medium shrooms in slices
5 cherry tomatoes quartered
2 tsp chopped thyme
2 tsp chopped rosemary
1/2 a cup of white wine
3 heaped tsp Persian feta
Cracked pepper
1/3 cup grated parmessan
1 handful of basil leaves
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 packet of pasta
Lemon
Chilli flakes

Fill a large saucepan with water, add some salt and put on the boil. Add the extra virgin to a large frying pan and heat to medium high. When hot add the thyme leaves, allow to crackle then add the mushroom slices. Cook for about five minutes then remove to a clean plate. Add the bacon to the same pan and fry for a couple of minutes, when it has some colour add the mushroom, rosemary and garlic. When aromatic add the wine and reduce the temperature to medium. Put the pasta in the salted water and cook. When the wine has reduced by half, add the feta, tomato and pepper to the mushroom and fold in, reducing the heat to low. When the pasta is cooked tip it into a colander then quickly back into the saucepan to keep a little of the cooking water. Toss the pasta through the sauce with the parmessan and torn basil leaves. Serve with a squeeze of lemon and top with chilli flakes.

Pulled Pork, Beetroot and Mushroom Pasta

Slow cooked meat is awesome. I used the meat and braising liquid as the sauce for a pasta but this could just as easily be served with mash or polenta. Because there was so much pork after it was shredded, it spread the amount of pasta a lot further also. If possible serve this with some good quality crusty bread.

Olive oil
1.2 kg pork shoulder roast
1/2 sprig rosemary stripped
Salt and pepper
1 beetroot in small dice
500gms mushroom in small dice
4 shallots (or 1 small onion) thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic chopped
2 cup red wine
1 cup chicken stock
2 tsp garlic oil
1/2 cup cream
Parsley chopped
1 packet of linguine
Parmesan cheese
Extra virgin olive oil

Preheat an oven to 140C. Season the pork with salt and pepper and rosemary then coat in some olive oil. Sear the pork on all sides in a large saucepan and remove to a clean plate. Add some more oil, the shallots, garlic and mushrooms, sauteing until the translucent and fragrant. Deglaze the pan with the wine. Return the wine/mushroom mixture to the boil, add the beetroot and stock and stir to combine. Place the pork on top with resting juices, baste with some of the mixture, cover with a lid and place in the oven for 2 .5 hours. Remove saucepan from the oven, remove the pork to a clean plate, place the pan on a medium low heat, add the cream and if necessary a little more stock. Cook the pasta. Shred the pork with two forks, it should fall apart easily, discard the fat and bone, add the pork to the sauce with a little parsley and garlic oil . Check for seasoning and mix through the pasta. Serve topped with a little extra virgin and Parmesan.

Barbecued Vegetable Ravioli (Filling)

I bought a ravioli making device and test drove it last night. Heaps easier than trying to form them yourself. Sadly, unless you have a pasta machine or can buy freshly made pasta, rolling it out by hand is not worth the effort. Try as you might, you cannot roll it out thin enough. Regardless, the filling  for the ravioli would make either an excellent pasta sauce of its own (thinned a little) or would be fantastic as a dip. Very simple and tasty.

1 smallish eggplant
1 field mushroom
1 zucchini
1 small beetroot peeled
Thyme
Sage
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 shallot
3 tbs sour cream
1/2 grated Parmesan
1 small handful of basil leaves
1 tbs white balsamic vinegar

Slice all vegetables (except the shallot) into 1 to 2 cm slices. Chop the sage and thyme. Combine the sliced vegetables and herbs and some olive oil in a bowl with some salt. Barbecue the vegetables until cooked. Combine all ingredients in a food processor checking for seasoning.

Pumpkin, Sage and Chicken Pasta

This started out as ravioli filling and then I realised that I suck at making ravioli. It was however delicious and simple. Here I have used cottage cheese instead of ricotta which I believe tasted better. If you can be bothered making your own pasta it is definitely worth the effort.

1 packet of pasta of your choice (or 300gms homemade)
2 chicken thighs
1 tbs garlic oil
300gms pumpkin
1 1/2 tbs butter
1 good handful of sage
100gms cottage cheese
1 clove garlic minced
3 slices prosciutto

Dice the chicken with a sharp knife then with one hand on the handle and the other a bit back from the pointy end with fingers pushing down, rock the knife over the chicken and mince it. This will give larger chunks than minced chicken, alternatively, buy minced gear. Heat the garlic oil over a medium high heat and before it colours add the chicken. As this begins to fry add 1 tbs of chopped sage. When cooked, check for seasoning then set aside to cool.
Boil the pumpkin and when cooked mash with the butter and 1/2 a tbs of chopped sage and check for seasoning. Set aside to cool. Grill the prosciutto until crispy then set aside to cool slightly before crumbling. Boil the pasta in salted water. While the pasta is cooking combine the chicken, pumpkin, crumbled prosciutto and cottage cheese. Once the pasta is cooked, drain leaving 1 - 2 tbs of cooking water then stir through 2/3 of the pumpkin mixture.
Add the remaining butter to a small saucepan and when melted add the garlic, adding 10-ish sage leaves 30 seconds later. When the leaves are crisp remove from the heat. Put the pasta in bowls and add some of the remaining mixture to the top of each bowl. Pour some of the sage butter over each bowl.