Pasta with Oven Roasted Tomatoes, Broccoli & Lemon

Blimey! Well it has certainly been a while since I posted. To say the least. Usually I annoy myself by excusing myself for the laxity of my posting but on this occasion I have a really, really good excuse - I only went and had a flipping baby! Two months ago in fact but today he is blissfully napping and for once I don't have a million other things to try and cram into these infrequent moments of quiet.

So without further ado, onto the recipe. Essentially this is adapted from here but I decided to make my own oven-roasted tomatoes as I had the time to do so (obviously we're going back a while and this was pre-baby: if you choose to do the same, make them ahead of time: either a couple of hours before you cook the pasta or further in advance as they will keep for a little while, particularly if you coat them in a bit more olive oil. Otherwise you could buy some sunblush tomatoes from the shop.

Obviously if I had the time to do the tomatoes I probably should have also made pesto but we had a little in the fridge from a chicken dish I had made a few nights before (Prosciutto wrapped chicken with asparagus for dinner guests).

I should really have used feta here, as per the original recipe, but I’d already bought some ricotta for a different recipe (this one) so decided to use that. In all honesty I think feta would have worked better in both: it has a lovely salty tang that would work well. The ricotta doesn’t really add anything. Lesson learned and all that!


Wholewheat Penne with Oven Roasted Tomatoes, Broccoli & Lemon
serves 2

150-200g whole wheat penne
100g tenderstem broccoli
10-15 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 fat garlic clove, sliced plus 1 small garlic clove, crushed
few sprigs of thyme
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp basil pesto
20g ricotta (or feta)
juice of ½ lemon
small handful basil leaves, chiffonaded

To make the oven-roasted tomatoes, preheat the oven to 150C and in a bowl toss the tomatoes with the olive oil, sliced garlic, thyme and some freshly ground black pepper and sea salt together.

Leave to one side for about ten minutes.

Line an oven-proof tray with baking parchment and tip the tomatoes and seasonings out onto it, spreading out quite reasonably.

Pop in the oven and roast for about 45 minutes, turning the tray halfway through. Turn the oven down to about 100C and roast for a further 45 minutes, again turning the tray after 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Cook the penne according to package directions. Adding the broccoli for the last 1-2 minutes of cooking.

Drain and return both the pasta and broccoli to the pan over a low heat.

Add the tomatoes and garlic to the pan with the pasta and baby broccoli and sauté for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.

Add the pesto, half of the ricotta, and the lemon juice. Toss in the pan until well combined. Remove from heat and add most of the basil.

Serve immediately sprinkled with the remaining ricotta and basil.

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Beef & Broccoli Noodles

Unfortunately the beef I bought for this came pre-prepared in a soy & ginger marinade - it was all I could get, weirdly, unless I wanted to spend a fortune on fillet or get a massive sirloin steak - which I didn’t. However if yours comes unadulterated (as I’m sure it will, I think I just shopped on a bad beef day), mix the strips with some soy as well as the rice wine to marinate for 30 minutes or so.

I also bought a bag of ready-to-cook broccoli florets in a moment of laziness, hence the rather specific 240g.

Adding to our list of go-to quick, easy and tasty weeknight stirfries, this is pretty good.


Beef & Broccoli Noodles
serves 2

1½ blocks egg noodles
240g broccoli, cut into small florets
2 tsp sesame oil
300g pack soy marinated beef stir-fry strips
2 tsp rice wine
1 birds eye chilli, finely sliced
3 spring onion, sliced on the diagonal
For the sauce

2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
3 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 medium or 1 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 thumb-sized knob ginger, peeled and sliced into matchsticks
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp sesame oil
½ tsp potato flour mixed with 1 tbsp water

Mix the beef strip with the rice wine and set aside in a bowl while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Mix all the ingredients, bar the potato flour mix together in a small bowl and set aside.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add the noodles & broccoli. Cook according to pack instructions for the noodles then drain well. Separate the broccoli from the noodles, add a tsp of sesame oil to the noodles, mix well and set both aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a wok until very hot, then stir-fry the beef for a minute or so until browned.

Add the chilli and stirfry for a minute or two more.

Tip in the sauce and mix it all together well. Let simmer for a couple of minutes then add the potato flour mixture before stirring in half the spring onions and the drained noodles and broccoli.

Cook for a minute so the noodles are warmed through then serve straight away, scattered with the remaining spring onions.

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Asian-style Pork Fillet with Garlic Rice & Ginger Broccoli

I saw this pork recipe somewhere online - unfortunately I can’t remember where so I can’t credit it but I’ve more than likely made a few changes to the original. You will notice that I forgot the peanut butter in the ingredients picture below which is a bit of a major omission considering that it is probably one of the most important ingredients in this dish. I used crunchy peanut butter but you could also use smooth.

Similarly I used grapefruit jam as that was what we had but I think that any preserve or jam would be fine to use as long as it was of the non red fruit variety. A bit of tartness would be best too I think.

Pork fillet (or tenderloin) is an excellent cut to get hold of: it is cheap and doesn’t take long to cook as well as staying fairly moist and tender. The only problem with the fillet is that you may buy a cut where you have to remove the silverskin (the tough grayish/white membrane that will not get tender during cooking). However I found a pretty cool online tutorial on how to do this easily which you can find here.

I think the rice and broccoli are pretty perfect accompaniments for this but feel free to have whatever you like with it.


Asian-style pork fillet
serves 2

300g piece pork fillet
3 tbsp grapefruit marmalade
2 cloves garlic, crushed
½ tsp (scant) ground coriander
3 tbsp soy sauce
¾ tbsp sesame oil
¾ tbsp rice wine vinegar
1½ tbsp peanut butter
½ lime, juiced
3 tbsp orange juice
½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
¼ tsp ground black pepper
½ tbsp groundnut oil
½ tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

In a small bowl mix together the marmalade, garlic, coriander, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, peanut butter, lime juice, orange juice, crushed red pepper and black pepper.

Whisk well to combine, ensuring that the peanut butter has broken up.

Place the pork tenderloin in a freezer / sandwich bag and pour the marinade on top, making sure the fillet is totally covered.

Squeeze out the air, and seal the bag then place in the fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes, or overnight if you can.

Preheat oven to 220C.

Heat the groundnut oil in an oven-proof pan or tin over a medium heat until shimmering. Add the pork tenderloin, and sear on all sides, until it’s nicely browned – about 7 minutes or so.

Place the tin into the preheated oven, and cook for about 15 minutes or until the juices run clear if the fillet is pierced with a sharp knife. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before slicing.

While the pork is in the oven, pour the marinade into a small saucepan. If it seems too thick, add a splash or orange juice or water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute, then turn off heat. Pour the sauce over the sliced fillet and sprinkle with a little chopped coriander.

Garlic Rice
serves 2
5g butter
1 tsp olive oil
2 clove garlic, crushed
100g jasmine rice
236ml chicken stock (twice the volume of the rice)
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp white pepper
squeeze of lime juice
½ tbsp coriander

Heat the butter and olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the rice and cook, stirring often so the rice doesn't stick to the pan, for 3-4 minutes.

Add the chicken broth and season with sea salt and white pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium low. Cover and let cook 20 minutes.

Remove the rice from the heat without removing the lid and let it sit for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and fluff rice with a fork, stir through the coriander and serve.


Ginger Broccoli
serves 2
½ tbsp oil
2 tsp ginger + garlic paste
250g broccoli florets
1 tbsp water (plus extra if needed)
½ tsp sesame oil
½ tsp fish sauce
salt
crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Heat the oil over high heat in a wok or sauté pan and add the ginger and garlic. Stir constantly, until very aromatic, about 20-30 seconds. Add the broccoli florets and toss to combine. Cook, stirring frequently, for about a minute.

Add the water, sesame oil and fish sauce and cook, stirring occasionally, until the broccoli has some charring and is tender but still with a little bite. If the sauce dries out before the broccoli is done, add occasional splashes of additional water as needed.

Taste and add salt if necessary. Remove to a serving plate and top with crushed red pepper flakes, if desired.

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Cheesy Chicken, Bacon & Broccoli with Orzo

Basically what we have here is a “there are chicken thighs & chopped tomatoes in the fridge to use up and I fancy something cheesy.. oh and how about orzo - haven’t had that in a while” recipe. No word of lie, that was pretty much the thought process. I popped into the supermarket on the way home and came out with bacon and broccoli so in they went too. And the bf was away for the night which meant I could be somewhat experimental (after this effort the words “I’m being experimental” strike fear into his heart. And it wasn’t that bad. And I’m pretty sure my experimenting actually made it better than it would otherwise have been).

But I digress. This is a pretty quick, simple supper - for one or two and makes for a very good tv dinner (The Walking Dead, I thank you). In fairness this may be even better with a cheese sauce stirred through rather than just bunging in grated cheese but frankly I always have enough to wash up after cooking as it is without a cheesy sauce saucepan to deal with too. And I couldn’t be bothered, truthfully. I’d give it a go though as I suspect it would make this really great.


Cheesy Chicken, Bacon & Broccoli with Orzo
serves 2

4 slices smoked bacon, chopped
4 spring onions, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
200ml chicken stock
⅓ tin chopped tomatoes (as that was what I had - ½ a tin would be better)
125g grated cheddar
1-2 tbsp chopped poblano chilli (or to taste but they’re very mild)
200g chicken thighs, chopped into 1-2cm pieces & seasoned with S&P
75-100g broccoli, cut into small florets
150g orzo

Cook the orzo in a large pan of salted boiling water for about ten minutes then drain and set aside.

Meanwhile fry the bacon in a large sauté pan for about 10 minutes until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside in a small bowl.

Add the chicken bits to the bacon fat in the pan and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until browned on all sides. Again, set aside, in the bowl with the bacon.

Turn the heat down fairly low and add the spring onion, garlic and broccoli to the pan. Cook for a further 5 minutes or so until the broccoli is tender.

Add the chopped tomatoes & chilli and cook for a few minutes more.

Add the orzo, chicken stock, bacon & chicken (along with any juices from the bowl they were in) and give it all a good stir. Leave to simmer for a few minutes before stirring in ⅔ of the grated cheese.

Leave to simmer for a few more minutes. Then top with the rest of the cheese and pop under the grill for a couple of minutes until bubbling and golden. Serve immediately.

A green salad on the side is probably a good idea at this point but I scoffed it as it.

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