Tagliatelle with Olive Oil Poached Tomatoes

The aroma and flavor you get from poaching the tomatoes with some olive oil and a bit of garlic until you have a silky, slightly sweet, rich sauce is truly amazing.

You wouldn’t want to eat this every day as it is quite a bit of oil.. well, that is if you eat it like we do which is to mix the pasta in with the oil, serve that up and then dollop the tomatoes on top. I suppose you could just drain off most of the oil (reserving it for later use of course) and serve with the tomatoes and just a smidge of oil for lubrication.

I can guarantee though that once you smell this, and taste that oil you’ll be wanting to slurp it all up.


Olive Oil Poached Cherry Tomatoes with Tagliatelle
serves 2

150g tagliatelle (250g if it is fresh)
olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, thinly sliced
20-24 cherry tomatoes (mixed colours if possible), halved
6-8 basil leaves, torn
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
7.5g butter
Parmesan, freshly grated, to serve

Add a decent amount of olive oil (you want to cover the base of the pan by about ⅛") to a large heavy bottomed frying or sauté pan over a medium heat. When the oil starts to shimmer add the shallots and a big pinch of salt. Sauté for a minute or two and then add the garlic and sauté for another minute or so until very fragrant.

Add the tomatoes and another bit of salt, reducing the heat to low. Stir around gently to coat the tomatoes with the oil.

Cover, and cook for 20-30 minutes. The tomatoes will have released some of their juices to mix with the oil creating a flavourful sauce.

Meanwhile bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the tagliatelle according to package directions. Drain.

Remove the sauté pan from the heat and gently stir in the torn basil and butter.

Season carefully with more salt and some black pepper as necessary.

Add the tagliatelle to the pan and gently move around so that the pasta strands get coated in the sauce then divide the pasta between two plates and spoon the rest of the sauce and tomatoes over.

Serve immediately with a bowl of freshly grated Parmesan to help yourselves to.

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No Churn Black Fig Ice Cream

This no churn ice cream really is as simple as it sound. There’s no need for an ice cream maker first off which is genius. Plus no egg to deal with, nothing to heat or fiddle around with, no straining. Just two ingredients: cream and sweetened condensed milk and whatever flavourings you like. 

And in that it is also as adaptable as you like. I used black figs as the step-boy’s mum had a harvest of deliciously plump ones from the tree in their back garden (being as this was early Autumn). I added vanilla extract and cinnamon for an added depth of complexity in flavour but otherwise you could just make this with 3 ingredients: cream, condensed milk, and figs.

But as I say, use whatever you fancy: coffee; alcohol-soaked dried fruits, mint choc-chip; crystallised ginger. The list really is endless but I’ve a mind, going with condensed milk as one of the main ingredients, to experiment with a tin once I’ve procured a pressure cooker and make a dulce de leche ice cream which I think would be amazing.


No Churn Black Fig Ice Cream
makes about 1500ml

600 ml double cream
405ml tin condensed milk
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp good quality vanilla extract
12 figs

Halve the figs and scoop out the pulp into a bowl, breaking up with a fork.

Stir in the condensed milk, vanilla extract and cinnamon and mix well.

Whip the cream until you have soft peaks.

Whisk in the fig mixture until the whisk leaves trails in the bowl.

Fill an airtight container and freeze for 6 hours or overnight.

Let soften slightly before serving!

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