Courgette, Caper and Chilli Pasta

When we need a quick lunch, pasta is always our "go to". It was time to raid the fridge for veggie, then time for me to get creative.

Ingredients (serves 2)

1/2 pack of gluten free macaroni

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, sliced

1 courgette, cut lengthwise in half, then each piece again lengthwise. Chop across into 1 cm chunks

1 clove garlic finely chopped

2 large tomatoes roughly chopped

2 tsp capers

2 pinches ancho chilli flakes

Zest 1/2 lemon

Water

4 stems fresh basil

Salt and pepper

Method

Put a large pot of water onto boil and add salt. Add pasta when boiling and cook according to the packet. Make the sauce whilst the pasta is cooking.

In a sauté pan over a medium heat, fry the onion until soft, add the courgette and garlic, fry for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chopped tomatoes, capers, lemon zest and chilli flakes, stir and lower heat to a simmer, stir occasionally. Remove the leaves from the basil, chop the stems and add the stems to the sauté pan and stir. Season with salt and pepper. You can add a splash of water if needed, if the pan seems dry.

Carefully cut the basil leaves into a rough large chop, add to the sauce, stir and turn off heat.

Check pasta is cooked, drain, reserving some of the cooking liquor. Add the pasta to the sauce and stir the pasta into the sauce, turn back on heat to allow the pasta to absorb the flavours, add a little of the cooking liquor to help the sauce get absorbed into the pasta.

Serve with a sprig of basil.

You can also sprinkle over some fresh Parmesan to serve. I also added a couple of drops of chilli oil over mine as I like the heat.

Read More

Time to start my adventure with Fermented Foods

Why fermented foods?

There has been much talk about probiotics and gut health as a way for us to prevent infection and build a stronger immune system. I was prescribed probiotics by my doctor after a very nasty gastric bug. There are many ways to get probiotics and the most natural way is through fermented foods and drink.

How to start?

I bought a "fermenter" from Happy Kombucha, a great company where you can buy everything from sourdough starters, to Kefir granules, apple cider vinegar with the mother.

Quoted from their blog:-

Fermented Vegetables: Simple, Delicious and Rich in Probiotics!

"Fermentation can also add nutritional value to whatever you ferment. The bacteria produce B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, and digestive enzymes not present before fermentation. During fermentation, good bacteria also helps predigest all the vitamins and nutrients in the vegetables themselves, making them more bioavailable to the body. The health payoff of this nutrient boost can be huge."

Tutorials and recipes

I've also discovered a fabulous blogger/youtuber, Lisa from Farmhouse on Boone who has a magical way of sharing her cooking tips, plus much more including how to sew. Going back to traditional ways such as cooking from scratch, renovating their farmhouse, creating a "handmade home". I've been watching her YouTube videos today on fermenting, so have put some cucumbers that arrived in my Riverford box this week, in my fermenter.

I'm also intrigued by the Instant Pot that I've been seeing pop-up on my feeds whilst surfing, a safe pressure cooker that may be much easier for my mum to use, so I've watch those videos today too.

My journey has begun, I can try after day 3 to see if sour enough, perhaps leave a little longer. I'm planning on buying some jalepenos chillis to ferment them, then it's time for sauerkraut which I absolutely love.

Ingredient supplier

The next thing to make after the basics is some Kimchi, but that will need a couple more ingredients, before I can make a batch.
Last time I bought my ingredients from Sous Chef, they have an amazing variety of ingredients, they also do a Kimchi Kit, which has everything you will need including the jar. It tastes so much better when it is freshly made.

Once the fermenting is underway, I've got a bowl of plums to turn into something scrummy, some jam, chutney and maybe some plum sauce. Preserving is great fun and fills the kitchen with amazing aromas, unless its chutney, which I cook when my husband isn't around, he can't stand the strong vinegary smell.

Roll on the season of mellow fruitfulness, I love it.

Read More