Monday Meal

Sorry I've been MIA for the last week, just been one of those ruff weeks. 

Last night I made a really simple, delicious meal & I figured I would share it with my readers. Because we get our grocery delivery on Tuesdays the meals I fix on Sunday & Monday nights are usually pretty simple. Plus who wants to fix a super complicated dinner on a Sunday or Monday night? I know I don't. Here is my recipe for One Pot Pasta!

One Pot Pasta

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

2/3 box of linguine (or spaghetti)

1 pack of cherry tomatoes - cut in 1/2

1 large onion - finely chopped

5 cloves of garlic - chopped
Handful of fresh basil (10-15 leaves)
3 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt & pepper
1 large lemon - cut in thick slices
4 1/4 cups of water
Parmesan cheese - freshly grated is best

This is truly a one pot meal, which doesn't just save on time, but it also saves on the washing up (Steve's job). Please note - in the photos you will see 2 different pots, I switched mid cook for better photos (judge me!). I wouldn't recommend doing this!



First I put the cup up tomatoes, onions, lemon, basil, salt & pepper, olive oil & water in the pot. I don't turn the heat on until everything is in the pot - keeps things from sticking to the bottom. 

Add your pasta. If you have a skillet I recommend using it so your pasta is submerged from the start. 

Here is all of the ingredients simmering away. I cooked this on high & I made sure I kept stirring the pot so things didn't stick to the pan. Bring the pot to a boil(no lid - we want water to evaporate), then bring the temp to med-high & let the pasta cook for another 9-12 minutes. Most of the water will evaporate & you will be left with a think creamy looking sauce. The cheese will also add to this in the next step. 

Switched pots! Again, do as I say, not as I do. This just seemed to be prettier to look at. This is after the it finished cooking so it's off the hob. While the pasta is still hot grate some fresh parmesan cheese over the top and mix it in. The heat of the pasta and pot will melt it. 

Here is the final product on the plate! I just added some more parmesan cheese (we love cheese) and of course fresh chopped basil. I mildly cheated because I used a second pan to grill the chicken (we don't have a grill) but I'm still calling this a one pot meal. 

If you have different veggies around the house feel free to use them too! Or even grill some zucchini & squash with your protein and add them to the pasta. It's a great "everything but the kitchen sink" kind of meal.

Do you have a go to "one pot meal"? Do you know a good recipe linkup I can use when I post recipes? Will you be trying this recipe? 

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

I'm the one who does the majority read all of the cooking, but since Steve sometimes reads this blog I shouldn't say that of the cooking. I don't mind, most of the time, because I really enjoy being creative in the kitchen. Now that I'm not working I tend to watch a fair amount of food network. Its one of the few decent channels we get, as 20+ of them are home shopping channels. So when I watch food network I get inspired and itchy palms to get into the kitchen and make something yummy.

Unfortunately the furnished apartment we have wasn't furnished to my medium standards in the kitchen. Crappy pots and pans, no measuring devices, just not good. Now that my stuff has arrived I feel much more at home in the kitchen & its more fun. Mind you, I was worried as my oven is about 1/2 the size of a normal US oven... hello no thanksgiving turkey this year. But my biggest pan fits inside, barely. 

So I decided I would start blogging about some of the meals I fix. Sometimes it will be a recipe I have made myself, aka I didn't google a recipe. Sometimes I will link up to another blog or website where I got the recipe. If I do make any changes to the recipe I will let you know. 

Tuesday night after watching too much food channel I decided to do a chicken bake, but I was going to upgrade it. What you're looking at is my turkey bake. I filled my pan about 1/2 an inch deep with white wine (didn't measure because it depends on the size of you pan). Then I added 2/3 of a bag of baby potatoes all cut in quarters. Then I cut up some peppers, onions, shallots & garlic. It's a little like stone soup, just sort of toss in what you have laying around the kitchen aka what I did. 

This is my new favorite thing! Piri Piri seasoning goes into pretty much everything I make theses days. Its a perfect blend of onion, garlic & peppers (aka the base of 90% of my meals). I seasoned the turkey with this, but again, you can use chicken or pork. 

Once all the veggies and turkey were in the pan I sprinkled a good spoonful of french mustard around the dish and put the lid on. This way the dish sort of steams itself in the oven while its also cooking. Leave the meat on top to begin with, somehow it makes it juicer. 

Voila! This is the same dish after being in a 300 degree oven for 30 minutes. Keep in mind, this varies depending on what meat your using and how much you cook. Never a bad idea to keep check it after 30 min or so. 

After you pull it out to check it, go ahead and mix it up. Spoon the yummy wine over everything, mix the veggies with the meat, it won't look as pretty but it helps disperse the flavors. Pop it back in the oven for another 15 min or so. Again cooking times depends on what meat you're using. 

I didn't get a photo of the next step, forgive me. Use a slotted spoon to get the turkey out of the pan as well as most of the big veggies. You want just the liquid in the bottom of the pan left. It will have bits in it, mostly shallots and garlic which is perfect. Get your cream out, either double or single, depending on what you have on hand and slowly pour into the pan and keep whisking. Feel free to add a little more mustard. This will make the cream sauce. I like to do it like this because this wine is full of all the yummy bits from the dish & it saves you using another pot. 

Not the best photo of the dish but Steve loved it. Plus it makes really yummy leftovers aka what I'm eating for lunch today. 

 For dinner I wanted to use up the pineapple I used earlier to make a special smoothie for Steve's migraine. I bought a whole pineapple instead of a can and I didn't want to leave it after I'd cut it up. I got the idea from watching Ready Steady Cook.

Here is the link to the recipe: Griddled pineapple with a yoghurt and mint syllabub

Sounds fancy? That's what I thought but I had all the stuff so I figured why not. Grilled the pineapple in our grilling pan, folded the extra cream from my mustard sauce in with the yogurt & added a little honey. They recommend serving it in a wine glass - see below - but I was too scared I'd break the glass so I dumped mine into a bowl. The fresh mint really

The fresh mint on top really made it yummy. So easy and if you're already grilling this summer its such a quick think to throw the pineapple on the BBQ after the meat has cooked. 

Did you enjoy reading about my cooking? Would you try this recipe for yourself? How can I improve these type of posts?