Capellini with Lumpfish Caviar: Lazy Posh Nosh

We had the pleasure of hosting dinner on Saturday for some awesome people who'd played a significant role in my life as I matured professionally.  It was all pretty relaxed, and we had a really nice evening with them.  But since I'd been cooking and baking for a good part of Friday afternoon, and cooking and eating again on Saturday evening, I didn't feel like fussing over dinner on Sunday.

So with some lumpfish caviar we had in the fridge, some fresh basil and chopped garlic, I put together an easy 15-minute pasta for Sunday dinner which still made us feel rather spoilt.

Ingredients
(Note: quantities are estimates only)

130g Capellini (Angel Hair Pasta)
5-6 tbs olive oil
2 tbs chopped garlic
6 fresh basil leaves, sliced/shredded
1 small jar (about 1.5-2 tbs) lumpfish caviar
Salt to taste


Method

Boil pasta in big pot of water with 1 tsp salt until al dente, then drain.
In the meantime, heat up olive oil in a skillet, then saute chopped garlic till cooked.
Toss hot pasta in a large bowl with the cooked olive oil, garlic, caviar, and basil leaves.
If too dry when tossing, add a little of the water which the pasta had been cooked in.

Add salt to taste.

Serves 2.




  

Tiger Prawn Pasta with Sun-dried Tomato and Black Olives

Pasta is one of those things we can whip up with very little preparation time and with just some basic ingredients which we're likely to already have in our fridge.  And dried pasta stores well.  So I always stock up at least 3 different kinds. Certain shapes go better with certain sauces because of the way that the ingredients in the pasta sauce adheres to or gets picked up by the pasta, or because of their texture. But then it does boil down to personal preference.  At the moment, there's some Spaghettini, Squid Ink Spaghettini, Tagliatelle, Parppadelle, Macaroni and Penne in my larder. The egg tagliatelle would go with cream sauces or egg sauces, whereas for aglio olio or white wine sauces, we'd use spaghettini. The kids prefer the shorter pastas, which I assume is because it's just easier to eat.  Those tend to go well with tomato-based sauces.

We had some friends over for dinner last Saturday.  It was an impromptu thing we arranged on the day itself. After our morning picnic at Botanic Gardens (which was adjourned to Hort Park after it began to rain), we dropped by at my favourite supermarket. I'd already planned on making breaded chicken breasts seasoned in herbs and stuffed with bacon and cheese (my take on Chicken Cordon Bleu), with some salad and sweet mango on the side.  But the Tiger Prawns looked really compelling that day - so fresh, large and plump - so I decided we'd have them as well, in spaghettini with a sun-dried tomato and black olive sauce.

This pasta dish is easy enough to prepare on a week night. At the same time, it's lush enough to have with a glass of wine when you feel like spoiling yourself or when you're entertaining. Especially if you have fresh large Tiger Prawns like we did.

Ingredients

500g spaghettini
12-18 large tiger prawns (approx 800g)
2 whole garlic, chopped
4 large shallots, sliced
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes (steeped in oil), sliced
3/4 cup sliced pitted black olives
2 cans chopped/diced tomatoes (approx 550g in total), drained
2 handfuls of chopped basil leaves
4 sprigs Italian parsley, chopped
Grated Parmigiano Reggiano (Pecorino or Parmesan is fine too)
2-4 chili padis, seeds removed (2 if you want it mild, more if you want it more spicy) (optional)
1.5 cups olive oil (add a little more as you go, if necessary)
4 tbs butter
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

Heat 2-3 tbs olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat.
Pat prawns dry, then place on skillet to cook, one side at a time, turning when they are cooked halfway through. Allow prawns to be seared, but reduce heat before they start to burn. Remove prawns with slotted spoon when they are just cooked through, and set aside.
Turn down heat.
Add remaining olive oil, butter, garlic and shallots to the skillet and saute till softened.
Add sun-dried tomatoes and saute till softened.
Add chopped/diced tomatoes, chili and black olives, and cook until sauce thickens.
Stir in chopped basil leaves.
Stir in prawns (including any drippings/juice) and season with salt and black pepper.
Meanwhile, bring large pot of water to a boil, with 3 tsp salt added.  Cook pasta until al dente (tender but firm), then drain.
Add cooked pasta to the skillet and combine with the sauce.
Dish onto plates, arranging prawns on top of pasta, and sprinkle with cheese and chopped Italian parsley.

Serves 6.

Salmon and Leek with Fusilli: Tasty, Quick and Healthy

During weekends, we usually spend the day out with the kids, and if there are no dinner plans, I usually prefer to cook something simple at home, rather than da bao (takeout).  We used to think nothing of it before the kids came along, but this has become somewhat of an exception now as I've become more conscious of what goes into our diets.

Today, after a morning of go-karting at West Coast Park, we had a fast food lunch as a treat to the kids. So all the more I thought we ought to balance things out a little with a relatively healthy dinner.  Feeling tired and a little lazy, an easy one-dish pasta meal seemed an appealing option. There is usually some Salmon fillet in the freezer, and there is always dried pasta in the larder.

Salmon and Leek with Fusilli is one of the current quick and easy staples from my kitchen.  It's easy to prepare, tasty, convenient to eat if you're in a hurry, and best of all, makes for a healthy meal.  It's not anything special, but I just thought I'd share this as an easy meal you could prepare on a week night.  Takes about 30 minutes.

Ingredients

Approx 600-700g salmon fillet, skin removed

350g dried fusilli (pasta spirals)

1 whole garlic

1 stalk leek

1 cup olive oil

Chopped Dill leaves (either fresh or dried)

Chopped Italian Parsley (either fresh or dried)

Pot of water for cooking pasta

Salt to taste

Method

Put a large pot of water to boil.  Add 2 tsp salt.
Cut salmon into 1 inch cubes.  Season with salt.
Cook pasta in the pot of boiling water. Remove and drain once cooked.
In the meantime, heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Cook salmon, first on one till browned, then turning over (adjust heat if necessary), until just cooked through. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside.
Turn heat to low. Saute chopped garlic until cooked but not brown. Add leek and saute till just softened.
Return salmon to skillet and toss gently for a couple of seconds.
Turn off heat, add drained pasta to the skillet and toss gently with the other ingredients, adding chopped dill, parsley, and salt to taste. Be careful not to break up the salmon cubes.
If you like, top with freshly grated cheese (I like Pecorino).

Serves 4.