Baked Gnocchi with Bacon & Bocconcini

Depending on what our plans are I tend to like to cook more complicated, drawn out recipes on a Sunday but on this occasion hubby (although he was only bf at the time!) was in Cambridge and I was in North London for the day so I wanted something quick yet lovely and comforting (comfort food for me is a 12 month a year thing - but was particularly so in my rather pregnant, at the time, condition).

The week before I was in Borough Market with my friend BGJ to pick up some bits and pieces and we tried some fresh gnocchi from one of the Italian stands there. Oh my god, they were so good so my plan had been to come up with a recipe (this) and go back to pick up some of the gnocchi to go in it.

Unfortunately life intervened and I couldn’t make it down there to pick up some of that incredible gnocchi but I still really wanted this so popped into a Tescburys to pick up some ready-made stuff.

I might be wrong but I wonder if that was the way to go - non-refrigerated shop bought gnocchi tends to be quite firm which I think would prove to be a good thing. I used ready-made gnocchi that was refrigerated with the fresh pastas and that was on the edge if I’m honest. I suspect that the more delicate homemade type would have collapsed into mush with the baking. But anyway - give this a go, it is pretty good.


Baked Gnocchi with Bacon, Mushrooms & Mozzarella
serves 2-4 (you may have leftovers)

1 pack shop-bought gnocchi (400-500g)
1 tsp olive oil
1 small banana shallot, finely chopped
150g bacon, chopped
100g mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp tomato purée
125ml (small wine glass) white wine
handful cherry tomatoes, halved
½ tsp sugar
2 tbsp double cream
salt & pepper to taste
100g bocconcini, halved (or mozzarella, torn into chunks)
handful basil leaves, torn

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook the gnocchi following packet directions. Drain.

Meanwhile heat the oil in a large heavy-based sauté pan over medium heat. Cook the onion, stirring, for 5 minutes until softened but not coloured.

Add bacon and cook, stirring, for a further 5 minutes or until the bacon is starting to crisp with most of the fat rendered. Add mushroom and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes or until mushroom is soft.

Add the wine. Cook, scraping any bits from the base of the pan, for 3-4 minutes or until wine reduces by half. Stir in the tomatoes and tomato purée, sugar and red pepper flakes and simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cream, basil and seasoning.

Add the drained gnocchi to the sauce and transfer to an oven-proof dish and top with the torn bocconcini.

Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until the mozzarella is melted and golden. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

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Smoky Chicken Pasta

This is a something I had pinned to my pasta board and had wanted to cook for absolute ages as it just looked so damn good (sadly this is not the case with my photos). I wasn’t able to get the marinade specified though (and I now presume that this is probably available only in the US anyway) so kept putting it off.

In the end I decided to try it anyway using any smoky BBQ marinade that I could get my hands on (as it turned out, Nando’s) mixed with a little liquid smoke and lime juice.

I also employed the slow cooker for the chicken as from my experience thus far I knew this would be a good way of marinating and getting a pulled chicken effect in one.


Smoky Chicken Pasta
serves 3

225g Farfalle pasta
250ml double cream (I used Elmlea to save on calories)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cloves garlic, crushed
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp dried basil
20g butter
½ tbsp flour
125g bacon, cooked until quite crispy and crumbled / chopped
40g Parmesan cheese, grated
170ml Nandos’ smoky Portuguese BBQ peri peri marinade
juice of ½ lime
¼ tsp Stubbs mesquite liquid smoke
100ml water

Put chicken, marinade, lime juice and liquid smoke plus 100ml of water in a slow cooker. Give it a good stir then put it on low for about 4.5 hours.

Pull the marinated chicken out of the marinade liquid, allow to cool a little bit, then shred and pop back into the marinade in the slow cooker to keep warm.

Cook the pasta according to packet instructions.

While the pasta is cooking melt the butter In a small saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute or so until the flour starts to colour a little. Add the garlic, stir in and cook for 30 seconds to a minute more.

Add the cream, basil, pepper, parmesan cheese, and crumbled bacon. Stir together on a low heat for 5-10 minutes.

Add the chicken and marinade sauce to the creamy sauce. When the pasta is cooked combine with the sauce.

Serve immediately with a little bit more shredded Parmesan cheese on top.

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Butternut Squash, Bacon & Sage Risotto

The bf is under the impression that we hardly ever have risotto. Of course he is wrong, he just never remembers what I cook (I like to tell myself that is because he eats so well at home but who knows: it can be slightly annoying) but whatever, I was feeling nice so promised that we would have risotto the following week.

We had half a butternut squash in the fridge to use up so my first instinct was to have a BNS & sage risotto and then I thought of adding some bacon into the mix. Because a) what doesn’t taste better with the addition of bacon and b) it’s pork so must go well with the sage too, right?

In an effort to lighten it up slightly I added a tablespoon of light mascarpone for that end-of-risotto-cooking creaminess that stirring in a big knob of butter usually accomplishes. As ever with my efforts to lighten up it smacks slightly of bolting the stable door after the horse has legged it - after all this is risotto we’re talking about. With bacon.


Butternut Squash, Bacon & Sage Risotto
serves 2

4 rashers smoked bacon, chopped
½ medium onion, finely chopped
450ml pork (or chicken or veg) stock
1 garlic clove, crushed
150g Arborio rice
85ml vermouth (or dry white wine)
freshly grated nutmeg
freshly ground black pepper
350g butternut squash, peeled and cut into ½ in dice
3 sage leaves, finely chopped (plus extra leaves for garnish)
25g grated parmesan cheese
1½ tbsp light mascarpone

Put the stock in a small saucepan & set over very low heat.

In a large sauce pan cook the bacon over medium heat until just getting crispy, about 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to kitchen paper to drain.

Drain off all but 1½ tsp of the bacon fat and add the onions, chopped sage and BNS and gently sauté until the onions are caramelising and the squash is starting to be tender, about 10 minutes. Add in the garlic and a grind of nutmeg and sauté until fragrant, another 30 seconds.

Add the rice and stir around for 3 or so minutes so coated in the onion mixture and toasted without colouring.

Turn the heat up a little and add the the wine, add it and let bubble down until reduced. Reduce the heat again.

Then add 1 ladle of stock and stir occasionally until absorbed. Repeat with a ladleful at a time until the rice is al-dente, stirring well after each addition.

Check occasionally to see if the rice is ready (you may not use all the stock) – it should be soft with a bit of chew in the middle – and the consistency fluid. When it is done, season with pepper.

Take the pan off the heat. Add a splash of the stock to keep the risotto moist, stir in half the bacon, half the Parmesan, and the mascarpone. pop the lid on and let the risotto sit for 3-4 mins to rest.

Meanwhile, add a tsp of oil to a small frying pan over a medium heat. Add the sage leaves, then fry for a few secs until starting to colour. Transfer to kitchen paper with a slotted spoon to drain. Spoon the risotto into bowls, then scatter over the rest of the bacon, the remaining Parmesan and the crisp sage leaves.

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Smoky Bacon & Wild Garlic Udon

This is adapted from a recipe I saw on Guardian’s recipe swap feature online - as chance would have it, at the time, I actually worked with MiMi who has a secret life (well not) as a food blogger: a rather more professional one than me of course with a good-looking site and a published book.

Anyway I’ve adapted the original on the Guardian site a bit - I’ve used wild garlic instead of watercress, added some bamboo shoot strips and lightly fried oyster mushrooms and cut down the sugar a bit as well as mixing some red pepper flakes in with the paprika. Actually now that I think about it I did quite a lot different

Unfortunately my wild garlic was looking a bit sad - I’d bought it the week before at the market (convincing myself that they wouldn’t have it the next time I went) and I’d kind of messed up my weeks recipe plannage a bit somehow. But heyho - stirred into the soup it still tasted fine anyway even if it does look a bit limp.

Oh and by the way - red wine vinegar in pic - I actually used rice wine vinegar: only realised had put the wrong one out afterwards


Smoky Bacon & Wild Garlic Udon
serves 2

6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
800ml chicken or vegetable stock
½ tbsp caster sugar
200g fresh udon noodles
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
½ tbsp black vinegar
2 spring onion, finely sliced
large handful wild garlic, trimmed & roughly chopped, stems kept separate
75g bamboo shoot strips
75-100g oyster & shiitake mushrooms, sliced
pinch of sweet smoked paprika mixed with pinch red pepper flakes, to serve

In a large saucepan bring the stock, bacon and sugar to the boil then down to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.

Fish out the bacon and slice into bite sized strips.

Add the soy sauces and wine vinegar to the stock and simmer for a few minutes more before adding the bamboo shoots and noodles.

Let the noodles cook in the stock for about 5 minutes - add the garlic stems a couple of minutes in.

Meanwhile heat a little sesame or garlic oil in a non stick pan and quickly fry the bacon pieces so they start to brown just a little at the edges.

Push the bacon to one side and add the mushrooms, again frying lightly until they start to colour slightly.

By now the noodles should be ready so divide them between 2 bowls and then pour the soup over.

Top with the bacon, wild garlic, mushrooms and spring onion and sprinkle over some of the paprika / pepper flakes mix.

Serve immediately with chilli oil on the side for those who want it (me).

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Quiche Lorraine

When I cooked this it was late spring. Now I’ve mentioned before that I have no problem myself with cooking and eating things “out of season”, by which I mean stews in summer and salads in winter sort of thing. But I appreciate that there may be some people that think my recipe posting rotation a little, well, odd. I’m very much trying to get back on track at the moment but sometimes life intervenes and, in all honesty, it will probably only get worse. We will have a new arrival in February and I’ll be concentrating more on cleaning up poo than anything else. I should imagine.

But anyway, I love a good quiche. Who doesn’t? Real men do, as we all know. I really should have made my own pastry for this, and one day I will but for now shop-bought pastry is perfectly OK. I did have a little leakage where I had rolled the pastry a little too thin and managed to split it when trimming off the pastry overhang but the taste wasn’t affected at all. This is really, really delicious and the photos (who knew it was so hard to get a good snap of quiche?!) really don’t do it justice.

Quiche Lorraine
serves 4

ready made shortcrust pastry, chilled
4 eggs: 2 whole + 2 yolk only, beaten
250ml double cream
200ml ½ fat crème fraîche
210g pancetta, cubed
1 tsp olive oil
100g gruyère, finely grated

Roll out the pastry to the thickness of a 20p piece and line a nine inch quiche or loose bottomed tart tin. Leave the pastry overhang and chill for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 190C.

Fry the pancetta in the oil in a non-stick pan until cooked and crispy and set aside on some kitchen paper to drain.

Beat together the eggs & yolks, cream and crème fraîche and season.

Take the pastry tin out of the fridge and line with baking paper. Fill with baking beans (if you don’t have any dried chickpeas or beans will work just as well) and “bake blind” for 15 minutes. 

Remove the beans and baking paper and brush lightly with a little beaten egg (or spray with commercial egg glaze) before returning to the oven for 5 minutes. The egg glaze will help form a moisture-proof seal.

Remove from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 160C.

Carefully trim off the excess pastry from around the edge with a sharp knife.

Layer handfuls of pancetta and cheese into the pastry case, keeping back a small handful of cheese.

Pour over the egg mix. Scatter the remaining cheese over the top.

Bake for 40 minutes or until golden and the middle is just set. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to come down to room temperature.

If you have used a loose bottom tin, you can remove it from the tin by placing it in on an upturned jar, which will allow you to ease the sides away. Then, using a palette knife or a fish slice, slide it underneath and ease the tart carefully on to a plate or board, ready to serve.

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Smoky Bacon & Pea Pasta

A ridiculously simple recipe here adapted from the stable of super easy, super tasty Jamie Oliver pasta dishes. He makes it with mini pasta shells, and to be fair that would cut down the cooking time, but it’s pretty quick as it is. I used, as you can see, linguine.

For me this is pretty much a store-cupboard dinner given that I will always have pancetta or lardons in the fridge or freezer and of course peas in the freezer too.

Honestly there’s not a great deal else that can be said - it’s good and tasty and it’s quick. What’s not to love?

Smoky Bacon & Pea Pasta
serves 2 (with maybe some leftovers for a light lunch)

olive oil
200g pasta
100g smoked bacon lardons
1 fat clove garlic, crushed
85g fresh peas
1 heaped tbsp crème fraîche
50g freshly grated parmesan
½ lemon
1 egg
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook pasta according to the packet instructions.

You actually only want half the egg so whisk it up in a small bowl and pour or spoon out half of it. Mix in the crème fraîche, along with some salt and pepper and set aside.

Get a large frying pan over a medium heat and add a good lug of olive oil. Add the bacon to the pan, sprinkle a little pepper over and fry until golden and crisp. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or so more.

Add the frozen peas to the frying pan and give it a good shake. Cover the pan and leave to fry gently while the pasta finishes cooking (add a tablespoon of water from the pasta pan if necessary).

Drain the pasta in a colander over a large bowl, reserving some of the cooking water.

Add the pasta to the frying pan and squeeze over some lemon juice: stir well so that the bacon and peas are well mixed.

Now add the eggy crème fraîche mixture, take off the heat and mix everything together: the sauce should be silky & smooth. If you need to thin it out a bit add a little of the reserved cooking water. Add the grated Parmesan and give it all another few stirs.

Divide between bowls and serve.

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Pasta e Fagioli

This is based on the classic Italian dish of pasta with beans (fagioli) in a thick and flavourful vegetable soup.

You can use any kind of beans - I’ve gone with a tin of 3-bean salad - as well as pretty much any veg you have laying around and you fancy. And in fact pretty much any pasta goes too: small is probably best so I’ve used some macaroni that was lying at the back of the cupboard in wait for me to finally getting around to making macaroni cheese but you could also use spaghetti. Just make sure you break into smaller (say, 3cm) lengths.

Ideally you would use homemade stock but a good, preferably organic, stock cube or powder is still good.

The classic pasta e fagioli topping is a swirl of extra virgin oil and Parmesan - the latter present here in the additional form of Parmesan croutons. Simplicity in itself, simply cut some oldish bread into 2cm cubes and place them in a roasting tin. Drizzle over some olive oil then some grated Parmesan and gently toss to coat the bread then cook in preheated oven for 5 minutes or so or until golden.

By the way, this was amazing for lunch next day but if you're going to do that only add the pasta the next day else it may be a bit too mushy.

Pasta e Fagioli
Serves 3-4

4 rashers or medallions of smoked bacon, chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 small or 1 fat clove of garlic, finely chopped
½ tsp chilli flakes
sprig or 2 of sage, leaves picked and finely chopped
1 bay leaf
1 fat leek, halved and sliced thinly
3 carrots, halved lengthways and sliced thinly (I used 4 small ones)
Parmesan rind (optional)
400g tin mixed beans, drained and rinsed
1 litre stock (I used pork but chicken or veg is fine)
200g tin plum tomatoes
1 ½ tbsp tomato purée
60g small pasta shapes
small handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
grated Parmesan, to serve

day old bread, cubed
olive oil, to serve

Fry the bacon in a large non-stick pan (it will cook in its own fat) until golden, then add the shallot, garlic leeks, celery and carrots along with the chilli flakes, herbs and a piece of Parmesan rind and cook for about 15 minutes until softened.

Tip in the beans, chicken stock, chopped tomatoes and tomato purée and pasta and simmer until the pasta is cooked.

Take off the heat, remove the bay leaf and Parmesan rind and stir through the parsley. Cover and leave to stand for 10 minutes then taste and carefully adjust the seasoning.

Serve in bowls topped with a swirl of olive oil, Parmesan croutons and a good grind of black pepper.

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Baked Bacon & Mushroom Risotto

For years I’ve had it in mind to try out one of Delia’s baked risotto recipes and had a look at one of them recently but just didn’t fancy it at that moment in time in the end (it was a risotto carbonara if you are interested). 

I decided to go with the concept however and just devise something: fairly comforting yet at the same time not too calorific. As I’ve mentioned before, I had, at the time of cooking this, been doing the 5:2 diet thing for a few months (cooking and eating out so much can take its toll) but recently what with one thing and another I haven’t been very good. The week I made this I was back on it and on my “non-fast” days I wanted to be reasonably careful (I should point out I’ve not been very good since…!)

And for that, this recipe is great - surprising low calorie for days when you’re being “good” but still want yumminess. Not to mention good for days when you have better things to do than stand by the stove stirring..to be honest, that kind of is my “better thing to do” but I appreciate that for others it isn’t!


Baked Bacon & Mushroom Risotto
serves 2

2 medium rashers of unsmoked back bacon, chopped
100g mushrooms, sliced
5g dried porcini (soaked in 150ml boiling water for 15-20 minutes)
10 puffs low-fat cooking spray
1 medium banana shallot, finely chopped
175g risotto rice
150ml dry white wine
300ml vegetable stock
small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
25g parmesan, freshly grated
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Fry the bacon in a small pan, in it’s own fat until it is crispy. Remove and set aside on a piece of kitchen towel.

Meanwhile heat a heavy casserole (that has a lid) on the hob and spray with the low-fat cooking spray. Add the chopped onions and cook quite gently for about 10 minutes until softened.

Add the sliced mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and fry for 5 minutes more.

Drain the porcini mushrooms, reserving the soaking liquor, chop them up finely and add to the pan with the fried fresh mushrooms.

Cook for a couple of minutes more then add the rice.

Stir well for a few minutes then turn up the heat and add wine. 

Let it simmer hard until reduced by about half before adding the porcini soaking liquid and stock.

Lower the heat and stir in the bacon. Give it a good stir, pop a lid on and then transfer the casserole to the preheated oven.

Cook for 20 minutes then gently stir in most of the parmesan.

Return to the oven and cook for a further 10 minutes, or until the risotto is soft and creamy.

Stir through the chopped parsley then place a clean tea towel over the pot and let rest for 5 minutes.

Serve with the remaining parmesan sprinkled over and crispy salad leaves and quartered baby plum tomatoes on the side.

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