Food and recipes

SPAGHETTI CARBONARA (Stolen for BBC good food site)

Ingredients

Prep 15-20mins

Cook 15 mins (need to be eaten fresh)

Serves 2 large portions

66g pancetta (cubes in aldi would also work)
33g pecorino cheese (I found this a little hard to find. Can be got in Tesco)
33g parmesan (grated will save so some effort but you have to grate the pecorino anyways)
2 large eggs
230g spaghetti
2 plump garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
33g real butter
salt and freshly grated black pepper

Steps

Put a large saucepan of water on to boil. Finely chop the pancetta, having first removed any rind. Finely grate both cheeses and mix them together. Beat the eggs in a medium bowl, season with a little freshly grated black pepper and set everything aside.

Add 1 tsp salt to the boiling water, add the spaghetti and when the water comes back to the boil, cook at a constant simmer, covered, for 10 minutes or until al dente (just cooked).

Squash the garlic with the blade of a knife, just to bruise it. While the spaghetti is cooking, fry the pancetta with the garlic. Drop the butter into a large wide frying pan or wok and, as soon as the butter has melted, tip in the pancetta and garlic. Leave these to cook on a medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the pancetta is golden and crisp. The garlic has now imparted its flavour, so take it out with a slotted spoon and discard.

Keep the heat under the pancetta on low.When the pasta is ready lift it from the water with a pasta fork or tongs and put it in the frying pan with the pancetta . Don’t worry if a little water drops in the pan as well (you want this to happen) and don’t throw the rest of the pasta water away yet.

Mix most of the cheese in with the eggs, keeping a small handful back for sprinkling over later. Take the pan of spaghetti and pancetta off the heat. Now quickly pour in the eggs and cheese and, using the tongs or a long fork, lift up the spaghetti so it mixes easily with the egg mixture, which thickens but doesn’t scramble, and everything is coated. Add extra pasta cooking water to keep it saucy (several tablespoons should do it). You don’t want it wet, just moist. Season with a little salt, if needed.

Use a long-pronged fork to twist the pasta on to the serving plate or bowl. Serve immediately with a little sprinkling of the remaining cheese and a grating of black pepper. If the dish does get a little dry before serving, splash in some more hot pasta water and the glossy sauciness will be revived.


I find this one great on evenings that I am cooking as it means I can prep everything pre run and boil the kettle for the pasta. Then come back and dinner is on the table in 10 mins.

I make this chilli fairly regularly and it's really really tasty. Sub black beans in for the red kidney.

Freezes really well, actually tastes better on day 2. I have it with nachos, sour cream, homemade guac and jalapenos. Guacamole won't last more than day 2 though.

RayCun wrote: »

Dead thread lives again...

I'm looking for ideas for lunches - make in a batch at the weekend, keep in fridge or freezer, can be reheated in microwave, more bite than a salad...

Dahl / Lentils are great and taste even better on day 2, 3 and even 4.

This is one I picked up in India, make it as spicy as you like and use whatever lentils you have handy.

Take a medium sized pot and add:
1.5 cups of black urad dahl and a handful of channa dahl.
1.5 tsp of garlic paste.
2.5 tsp of ginger paste.
Salt and chilli power as you like.
Add lots of boiling water, bring to the boil and simmer for about an hour or until it's a consistency that you like, stir regularly.

Heat some oil in a pan and add 1 tsp of cumin seeds, once they start to pop add 1 large finely chopped onion.
Fry until the onions begin to darken, then add 2 large finely chopped tomatoes (or a tin).
Fry for another 3-4 minutes and add 1 tsp of garam masala and fresh coriander.

Mix well with the dahl.

As a side, you can take some natural yoghurt and add finely chopped cucumber and tomato and season with salt and black pepper or even a scoop of sour cream.

This should give you 4 decent sized portions and once you have the core ingredients costs about 1€ per serving.

RayCun wrote: »

Age is catching up with you, BeepBeep, you posted that one before :pac:

2015! - I can't remember what happened last week!

I will have to try my hand at a few of these.

AuldManKing wrote: »

you ran a poxy 2.51 marathon on a treadmill. :P

I'm trying to erase that one from my memory in case I consider it again!