tomato

Heritage Tomato & Pesto Spaghetti

/ Amy / Leave a comment

There is nothing quite like a yummy bowl of pasta to satisfy a hunger!

Today we are keeping it light, this time with fresh heritage tomatoes and zesty lemon basil pesto this pasta is great eaten warm or cold the next day as a pasta salad.

This colourful dish is great for a midweek dinner or a quick meal after a busy weekend.

Prep time – 5 mins, Cooking time – 20 mins, Serves 6

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Heritage Tomato & Pesto Spaghetti

500g spaghetti

1tsp olive oil

100g of prosciutto – sliced

350g cherry tomatoes, halved – I used heritage tomatoes for the colour

50g semi sundried tomatoes – chopped

60g baby spinach leaves

150g basil pesto – I used my Lemon Basil Pesto

Shaved parmesan and cracked pepper to serve

  1. Preheat oven to 150 degrees C. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan following the packet instructions. Cook until al dente. Drain, but reserve about 3/4 cup of the cooking liquid.
  2. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and lay the slices of prosciutto evenly over it. Bake untill just crisp and set aside.
  3. In a frying pan add the oil, when hot add the tomatoes, string often. Cook until the tomato starts to soften, should take about 3 minutes. Add the spinach and cook until it just starts to wilt. Add the spaghetti to the pan along with the reserved liquid and pesto, tossing to combine.
  4. Break the prosciutto into shards, and add to the pasta tossing again to combine.
  5. Plate up and top with freshly shaved parmesan and pepper.
  6. Enjoy!

~A

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Butter Chicken

/ Amy / Leave a comment

Midweek is upon us yet again, and its the perfect time for an easy tasty meal that’s going to leave lots of left overs. Tonight’s midweek meal is a curry, a family friendly curry at that. It’s Butter Chicken! Yeah yeah you probably already knew that since you clicked the link but let me live a little.

The nice thing about this butter chicken is once you get past caramelising the onion (which is a must because it adds just the best flavour and depth to the meal) its really just a matter of chucking it all in the pot and walk away. There’s not a million and one spices you have to worry about, and if you have made just about any curry in the past you probably already have the spices needed.  So give it a try and let me know what you think!

Prep time – 10 mins, Cooking time – 40 mins, Serves 4

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Butter Chicken

2 chicken breasts – diced

¼ cup vegetable oil

2 medium onions – chopped

2 tbs minced garlic

1 tbs chicken stock powder

2 tbs garam masala

2 tsp paprika

¼ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp salt

410g can of chopped tomato

300ml heavy cream

2 tbs butter

  1. Heat the oil in a heavy bottom saucepan over a medium heat and add the onions. Cook slowly until golden, around 20 minutes. Reduce the heat if the onions start to get crisp or are browning too quickly.
  2. When onion is caramelised, add garlic and cook for about a minute, stir in garam masala, cinnamon, paprika, salt and sugar. Cook for a few minutes.
  3. Add tomatoes and cook for a further few minutes, then add the cream.
  4. Now, you have options here, if you’re feeling fancy you can puree the sauce. If you have an immersion blender use that, if not a regular blender will work, just mind the steam. I have an old Magic Bullet which did the trick just fine. If you’re just looking to put food on the table and get fed in a hurry then skip the puree, honestly it tastes just the same!
  5. Return the sauce to the pan and bring to a simmer. When just bubbling, add the chicken and stir through. Cover with a lid and allow to simmer for 15mins or until the chicken is no longer pink in the centre.
  6. When cooked, stir in butter. If needed add some more salt to taste.
  7. Serve with rice, pappadums or naan (or if your my husband… all three!)
  8. Enjoy!

~A

P.S. Thanks to foodess.com for the inspo on this one 🙂 As usual though I couldn’t help myself and have tweaked her recipe to make it a bit more to my tastes!

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One Pot Cottage Pie

/ Amy / Leave a comment

A great comfort food that will give loads of left overs, this cottage pie is especially great in the winter time. I however am a crazy person and have made it smack bang in the middle of summer. Thank goodness for air conditioning!

This is a great pie to make when you have lots of left over vegies that just need to be eaten. With a cheesy potato-y top, it’s a sure fire way to get kidlets to eat their vegies!

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One Pot Cottage Pie

Prep time 15 mins, Cooking time 50 mins, Serves 8 – 10

1 large onion – diced

1kg beef mince

4 cloves garlic – chopped finely

2 carrots – diced

½ head broccoli – chopped into small heads

¼ red cabbage – sliced finely

¼ green cabbage – sliced finely

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup frozen beans

5 large potatoes – mashed

810g tin crushed tomato

¾ cup grated cheese (I used a mix of parmesan and tasty)

½ cup red wine

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

3 tbs tomato paste

3 tsp sugar

4 heaped tsp beef stock powder

3 heaped tsp Gravox traditional gravy – powdered

3 sprigs fresh oregano

3 fresh bay leaves

1 tbs butter

¼ cup milk

Salt and pepper to taste

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  1. Prepare a large pot that can be used on a stove top as well as oven by heating some oil on a medium/high heat.
  2. Brown the onions and garlic
  3. Add the minced beef. When half cooked sprinkle over the powdered beef stock and mix through. Cook until beef is no longer pink.
  4. Add all the remaining ingredients (except the mashed potato, cheese, butter and milk) and combine.
  5. When bubbling reduced the heat and simmer on medium for 30 minutes or until the liquid is reduced.
  6. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
  7. Meanwhile prepare the potatoes. Dice into 3cm cubes and boil until soft. Drain and add butter and milk and mash well. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  8. When mince mixture is reduced remove from heat, spoon over mashed potato and sprinkle generously with cheese.
  9. By this time the oven should be at temperature. Move entire pot of mince and potato to the oven and cook for a further 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and gone golden.
  10. Now you’re ready to serve!

~A