Linguini with Coriander Pesto and Chilli Calamari

If you know anything about me at this stage, it’s that I get super uber excited about delicious quick-fixes, and that I could live on linguini for the rest of my days and be as happy as a pig in, well, a pen (?!). Anyway, when the fab foodies over at Mediterranean Delicacies sent a little hamper my way this weekend, I couldn’t wait to get started on sharing my new ideas with you. This linguini with the fresh Thai-style zing of the coriander pesto, and the juicy, spicy calamari is, well, epic.

Pasta Shells with Roasted Beetroot, Goats Cheese & Fennel

Yes, I do rather love beetroot. Sorry if you are feeling somewhat un-enamoured by that fact (it’s a word on this blog it is), and sorry too if you think I should change my blog’s name to ‘afoodieliveshere, and she only eats beetroot’. You see, I keep buying these bulk bags of it, and well there’s just always MORE. But this, well this dish is just beautifully simple and the earthiness of the beetroot lends a whole new dimension to the end result.
Also, with it being meat-free Monday and all, that means that I can once again point a surreptitious finger in the general direction of my soap box, and my MFMonday ramblings…

Fettuccine with Peas, Ricotta & Mint

Mushroom and Truffle Oil Risotto

For no particular reason the well-loved Italian fungo  has been featuring on our home menu quite a lot lately. Actually, for no particular reason is probably rather inadequate. There are many reasons, starting with if you make mushrooms the hero of your dish it means big bang for your buck because they were made to ooze flavor, and are best friends with good old staples such as pasta, risotto and ciabatta. And also, Italian food is made for feeding people you love, and that’s just what we needed when we had a merry rabble of in-laws and friends round for dinner on Wednesday night.

Baked Lamb Meatballs in Tomato & Red Wine Sauce

Spaghetti and meatballs are a true Italian classic, the antithesis to intimidating food and utterly charming in their simplicity. I recently decided to take things one step further and quietly, so as not to offend all Italian forefathers before me, swop in lamb for beef. Well, as the meatballs quietly bubbled away in their tomato and red wine sauce, the whispers soon built up into a din and left us with a plateful of something that tasted like a kind of miracle. Gorgeous rich red-wine and tomato sauce coating plump herb-filled lamb meatballs over wholewheat spaghetti. Rob even ventured to give this a (very rare) whopping 9/10. ‘Nuf said.

Classic Carbonara You Have To Try

No one seems to know the exact origin of Spaghetti Alla Carbonara – spaghetti, coal miners style. There are lots of anecdotal options, such as that it was literally the favoured fare of coal miners; or that the black pepper bits resemble coal flakes; or even that after WWII allied troops in the war-ravaged Italian countryside used powdered egg and bacon rations to season their pasta.

Whatever its origin, I have always thought Carbonara was exquisite in its simplicity. Demure, humble, and just quietly going about its business of being one of the most iconic Italian dishes known to man. It really has no reason to brag, because its reputation precedes it. So much so that I think many people don’t try it at home very often, because the risk of the eggs scrambling puts a lot of people off. But it shouldn’t. And here’s why and how…

Lamb Bolognese

I don’t know what it is, but I often find myself turning up the snob factor when it comes to thinking about minced meat… It could stem from getting home from school STARVING and my hunger being humbly greeted by cottage pie or meat balls. Nothing glam about either of those as far as I could see. (I think about this stuff, I really do). Until lately that is, when I’ve been giving the not an Italian staple for nothing old mince a second chance. It just didn’t seem right to leave it unattended and unloved in my books forever. Though if you know me at all by now, you’ll know that if I can try and swop in lamb for anything, I’ll do it. So here’s to a very simple but very bella Lamb Bolognaise… it tastes like the sum of its simple parts but about 100% better.

Spring Fettucini, with love from Kenya

Golly, really have been slacking with new posts lately. Not because I’ve been stuck in a cave somewhere living on bread and water with nothing yummy to report (could live on bread though, don’t get me wrong) but rather because I’ve been too busy living LIFE thank-you-very-much.

I’m posting this from Kenya where I’ve been for the last week without much internet access, but with lots of wildebeest. Lots and lots of wildebeest. It’s migration season  – ‘The Greatest Wildlife Show on Earth’ and I’ve just been in the Masai Mara, on a work trip. I do love my day job.

Tuesday’s Ten Minute Thai Noodles with Chicken

Time has been a hungry monster lately. No idea where it’s gone. Instead of lamenting about this fact however, I shall skip straight to the good stuff… And how can I be so sure it’s ‘good’? Rob gave this his first ever 9.5 / 10

This was also on our menu at our Silwood and Le Creuset evening a couple of weeks ago, and please forgive me for not having shared it with you sooner!

French-Bistro Style Mussels in Creamy White Wine Sauce

This is based on the traditional French way of cooking mussels, though I have added the coconut milk for a little bit of Eastern flair. Rob urges you to gratefully accept this recommendation. He gave this one an 8.5/10