Cook Your Life

Chicken & Gorgonzola Pasta and Robert Mondavi Private Selection Cabernet Sauvignon

Mmmm Wine.

 

One of my favourite things ever. It's been used since ancient times to represent inspiration and life, and I like to 'use' it pretty much everyday....that means I'm getting closer to divinity right?

 

Okay, well maybe not, but something close to divine arrived at my door last week....Three bottles of red wine from the lovely folk at Discover California Wines.

 

Now, if you're a regular reader of this blog, then you'll know just how much I am a fan of all things Californian.   Having stayed there for an all too brief time last year, I long to go back and sample all the amazing food, wine and hospitality, So these emerald vessels filled with California sunshine laced vino were perfect to cheer me up and transport me to sunnier climes.

 

I'll be pairing another dish tomorrow, but for now curl up with a good movie, a glass of the fabulous Robert Mondavi Private Selection Cabernet Sauvignon with it's rich blackberry, vanilla and cocoa flavours and a bowl of this cosy and comforting pasta dish.

 

 

Roast Chicken & Gorgonzola Pasta

Serves 1-2

Preparation Time - 10m
Cooking Time - 15m
Beverage Suggestion -  Californian Cabernet Sauvignon

Ingredients

1x Breast & 1x Leg Meat (pre-cooked/leftover) Garlic Roast Chicken
100g or 1 Cup Mushrooms, chopped
1x Garlic Clove, finely chopped
1 Shallot, finely chopped
15g or 1 tbsp Unsalted Butter
4 Sage Leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp Double Cream
3 tbsp White Wine
100g or 1 Cup Gorngonzola, crumbled
1-2x Quantity dried pasta, cooked according to the pack instructions
Cracked Black Pepper to taste

 

Directions

1. Sauté the shallot, garlic and chicken in the butter and oil for 5m
2. Add the mushrooms and sage, cook for a further 5m
3. De-glaze the pan with the wine
4. Melt in the cheese
5. Add the cream, and stir through the cooked pasta
6. Serve sprinkled with some pepper

 

Walnut & Black Olive Pesto

Today's recipe was borne of necessity..As Tyler Durden might say, I had a fridge full of condiments and no food! I'm rarely short of red wine, so I based my appetite on something that would work well with a glass (or four).

So, after scouring the kitchen and garden for vaguely edible items, I was able to find a bag of wholewheat penne, some garlic, a hunk of aged Parmesan, a grody red onion (totally fine once the first few layers were removed!) a handful of walnuts and a tin of black olives.

Baring in mind that the search had taken a glass full's worth of wine time, I needed to work fast on creating a dish to go with the rest of the Rioja. This led me to The Pesto Plan.

It's pretty much a given with me that if asked what I'd choose to eat in a rush, the answer would be Pesto. Simply stirred into steaming hot olive-oiled pasta there really is no comparison. The robust and earthy taste of this version also works beautifully slathered over hot seared chunks of moist lamb.

Walnut & Black Olive Pesto

Serves 2

Preparation Time - 10m
Cooking Time - 15m
Beverage Suggestion -  Rioja

Ingredients

30g or 1 Cup x Parmesan, finely grated
10g or 1/3 Cup Flat Parsley, stalks removed
10g or 1/3 Cup Basil, stalks removed
30g or 1/3 Cup Walnuts, toasted
25g or 1/4 Cup Black Olives
1/2 Small Red Onion, finely diced
1x Garlic Clove
4 tbsp Olive Oil
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
Cracked Black Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Fry the onion in 1 tbsp of olive oil, until soft & caramelised. Allow to cool
2. Place all the ingredients in the small bowl of a food processor
3. Pulse until all ingredients are combined (Scraping down the sides where required)
4. Add additional olive oil if the mixture is too dry
5. Add Black Pepper to taste
6. Remove from bowl and serve

Fusilli with Feta & Broccoli

Image via CrunchBase

Mmmmmm.....Apples, how I love thee. No, not the fruity kind, rather the geeky kind as founded by the fabulous Steve Jobs when I was 3 in 1977.

Microsoft's arch nemesis Apple produces arguably the best, fastest and most definitely the sexiest computers on the planet. I am a huge fan, and remain disappointed every time I have to switch on my windows based PC at work. (Expecting as if by some technomage-magic, it will suddenly turn into the super-computer that the shameless mac-copy-cat adverts suggest it might be)

You might be wondering how this fits into my food blogging world? Well, I'm typing this entry, not from my iMac as usual, but in my bikini whilst lazing in the sunshine on my spanking shiny new iPad!

This beautiful covetous slice of Apple Inc. has worked it's way into my blog-verse with a sync-able recipe database, direct news feeds to all my favourite foodie blogs and a wonderful 21st Century excuse to get away from my ludite-ish PC during my lunch-hour. 

On a food writing note ("Finally!!", you sigh) today's recipe is all about Iron. As an exercise freak, I always need to ensure I am getting enough vitamins and minerals to help support how much energy I am expelling when I work out. Iron is used to transport oxygen from the heart to all the muscles.

It is suggested that you need between at least 18 milligrams of Iron each day. This is a lot when you consider a cup of broccoli (100g) contains about 1mg. It's therefore important to add as any sources as you can to your diet: Chickpeas, brown Rice, peanut butter and muesli can all count towards your iron intake. Vitamin C also helps your absorption of iron, so that glass of OJ in the morning will help your body in its mineral quest.

This pasta recipe contains lots of emerald and purple broccoli, black olives, chickpeas and feta cheese (high in vitamin B12) I've added a small amount of protein rich bacon, but do be sparing with the lovely smoky pig, as it's very high in saturated fat. A small glass of Wheat beer will help the iron absorption into the body....note: I said 'small'!!

 

Fusilli with Feta & Broccoli

  

Serves 2

Preparation Time - 10m
Cooking Time - 15m
Beverage Suggestion -  Wheat Beer

Ingredients

100g or 1 Cup Purple Sprouting Broccoli, roughly chopped

1 Red Onion, chopped

30g or 1/3 Cup Black Olives, chopped

50g or 1/2 Cup Pancetta, diced

240g or 1.5 Cups Chickpeas, cooked and drained

2 tbsp Olive Oil

10g or 1/3 Cup Basil, finely chopped

50g or 1/2 Cup Feta Cheese, crumbled

1 tbsp Ale

1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar to taste

2x Quantity dried wholewheat fusilli pasta, cooked according to the pack instructions

Splash Balsamic Vinegar to taste

Cracked Black Pepper to taste

1 tbsp Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions

1. Steam the broccoli for 5m and drain
2. Fry the onion and bacon in the olive oil for 5m
3. De-glaze the pan with the ale
4. Add the broccoli, olives, pasta, feta, basil, chickpeas and stir
5. Add the vinegar, pepper and drizzle with the extra virgin oil to serve

 

Ricotta Gnocchi

I've moved! If you're a regular visitor to this blog, you'll notice some big changes! 

Following my amazing adventure at the 2010 Food Blogger Connect event earlier this year, I was inspired by my fantastic fellow foodies to update my blog to make it a more friendly social place to visit.

This has been a mammoth task and I hope the changes inspire you to get in the kitchen and cook your own life!

Today's recipe is a far cry from the spongey insipid varieties available in the supermarket. My version is easy to prepare in advance and fried in herb butter until the outside is golden and the centre is full of delicate cheesy love.

 

Ricotta Gnocchi

  

Serves 4

Preparation Time - 40m
Cooking Time - 8m
Beverage Suggestion -  Sauvignon Blanc

Ingredients

 

250g or 1 Cup Ricotta

1x Egg, lightly beaten

50g or 1/2 Cup Parmesan, grated

1 tbsp Parmesan, grated (to serve)

80g or 3/4 Cup ’00’ Flour

1 tsp Cracked Black Pepper & Sea Salt

15g or 1 tbsp Unsalted Butter 

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1x Sprig Rosemary

1x Garlic Clove, peeled

 Directions

 

1. Mix the egg with the cheese

2. Add the dry ingredients

3. Gently mix and knead to create a light spongy dough

4. Place the dough on a floured surface & gently roll into sausage shapes with your (floured) hands

5. Cut into rectangles and indent the centre, so they look like little pillows

6. Chill until required (minimum 30m)

7. Fry the gnocchi in the butter and oil with the garlic and rosemary

8. When golden on one side, turn

9. Once cooked on both sides, remove from the heat

10. Serve with the butter mixture from the pan and sprinkles of parmesan

 

Pecorino Pesto

After months of intense research investigating planetary action, titanium framework, and rotations per minute, I finally settled on the biggest and most exciting piece of machinery I’ve ever owned. 

I bought a Kenwood KM010 Titanium Chef. On receiving it from the courier I heaved the five-foot box onto my kitchen table and stretched out the anticipation by leaving it cellophane wrapped for a whole day. 

Every few hours I’d read and re-read the box, heightening my excitement for the years of baking, mixing, kneading, chopping, mincing and blending to come. Delayed gratification?  borderline OCD? potay-to, potar-to (sic) but it just made the unveiling even more enjoyable. Was it worth the wait? You betcha.

This beautifully tooled, shiny instrument of waistline destruction has given my already over-cooked culinary imagination a giant dough-hooked kick up the butt. 

Every weekend is now likely to be spent conjuring up ways to utilise the Kenwood, which I've nicknamed, “Jensen” as I’m sure as well as making a mean meringue, and being achingly good-looking; its power may well stretch to vanquishing demons too.

This fresh green and garlicky pesto is a quick mid-week supper staple for when I want an excuse to drink a chilled glass of Gavi.

It literally takes as long as the pasta cooks to whizz up in a small blender (if you’re lucky, one that sits atop a “Jenson”, otherwise a hand, or normal food-processor works just fine) to serve up a mouthwateringly piquant, bright green sauce that helps to remind us it is Spring, even if the freezing, wet, grim weather thinks otherwise.

Pecorino Pesto

Serves 2

Preparation TIme - 10m
Cooking Time - 
Beverage Suggestion -  Gavi

Ingredients

1x Garlic Clove, crushed

50g or 1/2 Cup Pine Nuts, toasted

20g or 2/3 Cup Basil Leaves, stalks removed

3-4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

30g or 1/3 Cup Pecorino, finely grated

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 tsp Lemon Juice

Directions

1. Place all the ingredients in the small bowl of a food processor

2. Pulse until all ingredients are combined (Scraping down the sides where required)

3. Add additional olive oil if the mixture is too dry

4. Remove from bowl and serve

Red Pepper Pesto

One of my greatest joys in life is Italian food..Pizza, Pasta, Pesto, Pinot Grigio....and a myriad of other ingredients not beginning with the letter P.

When I’m spending the weekend enjoying nothing but good movies and my own company, I inevitably turn to Pasta. I love all sorts, but with a nod to the health freak in me, whole-wheat is currently my favourite.

This weekend, I hankered after some Pesto, Red to be precise, the only thing was, I had a pretty empty fridge, and no desire to brave weekend shopping-madness.

So, I came up with this recipe for Red Rocket Pesto using only the meagre (and on the over side of ripe) ingredients in my fridge. 

The result was Awesome!! I shall never, ever buy shop bought crap again. 

Not only was this much cheaper, but the flavour was really intense, and it made enough for another night’s dinner.

Yesterday I had it with some pancetta, red onion and a splash of red wine. 

Tonight I plan to have the same with the addition of chestnut mushrooms, I can hardly wait!

Besides which, it gives me another excuse to open some more vino!

Red Pepper Pesto

Serves 6

Preparation Time - 10m
Cooking Time - 10m
Beverage Suggestion -  Rioja

Ingredients

30g or 1 Cup x Parmesan, finely grated

30g or 1 Cup Wild Rocket

10g or 1/3 Cup Basil, stalks removed

30g or 1/3 Cup Sun-dried Tomatoes

60g or 2/3 Cup x Roast Red Peppers

30g or 1/3 Cup Walnuts

1x Garlic Clove

3 tbsp Olive Oil (use from Sun-dried Tomatoes if possible)

1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar

Cracked Black Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place all the ingredients in the small bowl of a food processor

2. Pulse until all ingredients are combined (Scraping down the sides where required)

3. Add additional olive oil if the mixture is too dry

4. Add Black Pepper to taste

5. Remove from bowl and serve

 

Gorgonzola & Butternut Squash Risotto

It's well known that sex sells. 

Coupled with close ups of shiny, oil brushed morsels and a lilting soft Irish brogue breathing.. "This isn't just food...this is M&S food" You have the makings of a giant food porn industry. 

Well, I was suckered into the advertising and purchased a beautifully packaged portion of M&S Butternut Squash & Gorgonzola Risotto...Big....Horrid...Mistake. 

It was truly unpleasant; stodgy, over-cooked, over-salted, over-sweetened...well, just over.Yuck.

Here is my version, and a little food porn introduction into a recipe that is guaranteed to make you go "mmmmm"

Rich, salty, gooey cheese bursts on the tongue to reveal sweet coral pieces of spiced and roasted squash, all nestled in nutty grains of wine brushed arborio rice......................Bring it M&S!!!

 

Gorgonzola & Butternut Squash Risotto

Serves 2
Preparation TIme - 5m
Cooking Time - 30m
Beverage Suggestion -  Chardonnay

Ingredients

1x Red Onion, finely chopped

1x Garlic Clove, finely chopped

1 tbsp Double Cream

200g or 1 Cup Risotto Rice

2 tbsp White Wine

1 tbsp Olive Oil

15g or 1 tbsp Unsalted Butter

1 litre or 4 Cups Chicken Stock, keep hot on the stove

50g or 1/2 Cup Gorgonzola, crumbled

50g or 1/2 Cup Butternut Squash, peeled and diced

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

Cracked Black Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Sauté the onion and garlic in half of the oil and butter for 5m

2. Add the rice and continue cooking for 2m until a 'nutty' smell arises

3. De-glaze with the wine

4. Add ladlefuls of hot stock one by one, for 15-20m until the rice is cooked al dente

5. Meanwhile cook the squash and nutmeg in the remaining oil and butter for 15m, until soft and lightly coloured

6. Mix the squash into the rice, add the cheese and cream

7. Add black pepper to taste

 

Eggs+Flour+Love=Pasta

This entry is dedicated to my favourite food..Pasta. Fusilli, Farfalle, Rigatoni, Casarecce, Spaghetti, Ziti, Flavoured, Egg, Whole-wheat, Dry, Fresh or filled. ....you name it, I love it.
Pasta in the form we consider has been eaten since around the thirteenth century, and with little wonder, It can be sexy, substantial or comforting. 
If the gods are hanging out planning our lives at the top of Mount Olympus, you can be sure they’re doing it whilst scarfing down some Alfredo laced with Tartufo Nero.
This recipe will enable you to make your own basic pasta dough, it's really fun to make and can be either be eaten in strips like pappardelle , or filled with whatever takes your fancy; Garlic Mushrooms, leftover Ragu, Gorgonzola, Parma Ham & Fig…the list is endless.

Pasta Dough

Serves 2
Preparation TIme - 1h 15m
Cooking Time - 3m
Beverage Suggestion - Depends on the filling

Ingredients

250g or 2.5 Cups 00 Flour

2x Eggs

1x Egg Yolk

Bowl of Water

1/2 tsp Sea Salt

Directions

1. Place the flour in a mound on a clean counter top

2. Make a well in the centre

3. Add the salt

4. Add the eggs and yolk

5. Break the egg yolks with your finger tips, and slowly start bringing the flour into the eggs

6. Bring the mixture together to form a dough

7. Wet your hands as needed to keep the dough soft

8. Knead with the fingertips and palm for 10m, until the dough is firm and springy

9. Break into two balls and place inside a damp tea towel

10. Leave to rest for 1h

11. Feed through the pasta roller, adjusting the dial down each turn

12. Repeat until the pasta is almost thin enough to see your hand through

13. Shape however your recipe requires, the pasta is cooked once it rises to the surface of the cooking water (approx. 3m)

 

Gorgonzola & Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

I have a confession to make; I've not always been the card-carrying carnivore I am today. 

For ten years I was a Vegetarian.

Not, like a Level 5 Vegan or anything, (someone who won't eat anything that casts a shadow - as hilariously featured in 'The Simpsons') but someone who didn't eat any animal/fish products at all.

There; it's out in the open now. I feel cleansed.

Until I started dipping my toes in the world of fish, fowl and fur, I had no cooking mojo.

Meeting my husband helped to change that, and he gave me my first taste of a recipe that is a wonderful example of how meat-free food can be just as decadent, tasty, luxurious and artery-clogging as anything containing dead-animal. 

A great 'first-date' dish which will enchant your guest, vegetarian or otherwise.

Gorgonzola & Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

Serves 2
Preparation TIme - 5m
Cooking Time - 15m
Beverage Suggestion -  Barolo

Ingredients

1x Red Onion, finely chopped

1x Garlic Clove, finely chopped

2x Quantity dried wholewheat pasta, cooked according to the pack instructions

2 tbsp White wine

1 tbsp Olive Oil

75g or 2/3 Cup Gorgonzola, crumbled

30g or 1/3 Cup Walnuts, chopped

2 tbsp Creme Fraiche

50g or 1/2 Cup Sun-Dried Tomatoes

100g or 1 Cup Mushrooms, chopped

Cracked Black Pepper to taste

10g or 1/3 Cup Flat Leaf Parsley, chopped

Directions

1. Sauté the onion, garlic & mushrooms for 5m

2. Add the tomatoes

3. De-glaze the pan with the wine

4. Add the cooked pasta, cheese and creme fraiche

5. Stir, until creamy and warmed throughout

6. Season with pepper to taste

 

Winter Minestrone

On a cold, miserable Winters day, this comforting soup is guaranteed to warm toes, mend hearts and feed hungry souls. You can substitute most of the vegetables, apart from the Soffritto -the base of celery, onions and carrots.

Feel free to add leftover meat or poultry, and always use the broken, leftover, sad looking bits of pasta at the bottom of the pack. That's what this soup was invented for!

Winter Minestrone

Serves 4
Preparation TIme - 10m
Cooking Time - 40m
Beverage Suggestion - Sangiovese

Ingredients

10g or 1/3 Cup Flat Leaf Parsley, chopped 

10g or 1/3 Cup Basil, chopped

2x Garlic Cloves, finely chopped

100g or 1/2 Cup Pancetta, diced 

1x Onion,  finely chopped

½ Sweet potato, finely chopped

½ Fennel bulb, finely chopped

1x Celery Stick, finely chopped

1x Carrot, finely chopped

1x Red Bell Pepper, finely chopped

1x Courgette, finely chopped

3x Savoy Cabbage Leaves, finely chopped

Cracked Black Pepper & Sea Salt to taste

2 tbsp Olive Oil

125ml or 1/2 Cup White Wine

500ml or 2 Cups Chicken Stock

250ml or 1 Cup Water

50g or 1/2 Cup Pasta, dried, pieces 

Directions

1. Fry the pancetta, garlic and onions until the pancetta for 5m

2. Add the sweet potato, celery, carrot, pepper and fennel, cook for 10m

3. Add the remaining vegetables

4. De-glaze the pan with the wine

5. Add the water and stock, bring to the boil

6. Add the pasta, cook for a further 15m

7. Add the herbs and season to taste