spaghetti amatriciana…
I set up a facebook account for La Cucina last May and have a found it an excellent marketing tool for the business. I enjoy it to be honest as it is so interactive and it enables us to communicate with our customers and enables them to get to know us a bit better. I decided to do a “facebook cookalong” last week and had a really good reaction to it. I basically give the shopping list on a Friday, the recipe and step by step photos on the Tues and then everyone cooks it that week. They take a photo of their finished dish and tag it back to my page, it’s just a bit of fun and if anything it gets people cooking from scratch or something new that they’ve never cooked before. I’m keeping it as simple as possible to involve everyone, first up was this pasta dish. I love this recipe, it really is so simple but still bursting with flavour, anyone who cooked it loved it so it seems to have been a success.
what you need:
1 280g tin chopped tomatoes
1/2 small onion
1 red chilli chopped or tsp chilli flakes
3 tbsp olive oil
160g pancetta cubes
300g spaghetti
sea salt
grated parmesan or pecorino
what to do:
bring a pot of water to the boil, heat your oil in a frying pan, add your onions and cook until soft but not coloured, add your pancetta and cook until golden:
add your chilli
add your tomatoes, season, mix and cook over a low heat for 15 mins
add salt and your pasta to your boiling water, cook until al dente
once cooked, drain your pasta and add to your sauce
mix together
serve
eat
mop up sauce
leave empty plates feeling full and satisfied:)
ciaoxx
minestrone with pasta…
I love minestrone, it’s a great way of using up whatever veg you have leftover. I normally throw everything in, you can add soup pasta too if you like to bulk it up and it becomes a meal in itself. Just wish I could convince the princess, she won’t touch it! What have I reared?:)
what you need:
1 onion chopped
2 carrots chopped
2 celery sticks chopped
2 courgettes chopped
1 litre chicken/veg stock (stock cubes here as always)
150g soup pasta(we have it in La Cucina) or spaghetti or fettucine broken up.
30g butter
3 tbsp olive oil
sea salt and black pepper
grated parmesan cheese
what to do:
heat your oil and butter in a pot and add your onions and cook over a low heat for about 10 mins until soft but not coloured. Add your carrots, celery and courgette, season and cook for another 10 mins. Add your stock, season and cook for about 15 -20 mins until the veg is tender
addyour pasta and cook until al dente and then serve with some grated parmesan on top.
buon appetito…
chicken in red wine..
One of the main problems I have when deciding what to cook for dinner is choosing between meat or chicken and meat consisting of beef or lamb. It is next to impossible to get any veal or rabbit in my area and the selection of fish in my local Supermarket consists of salmon or cod and monkfish the odd time. I know I can’t really blame them as the demand is obviously not there and if I got myself organised I could probably source it from one of the suppliers to the shop but organised doesn’t really exist in my vocabulary so it’s always a last minute decision. I did branch out last week though and cooked duck breasts with limoncello sauce compliments of Gino D’Acampo and they were delicious so I’m going to try and cook a bit more game.
Because of my lack of menu planning and selection of produce I do tend to cook chicken quite regularly. I always tend to stick to the usual white wine, lemon, herb recipes but I saw this in the Silver Spoon and thought it would be a nice change. It’s perfect for the winter as it’s a very, rich and comforting dish and most importantly easy to make.
what you need:
chicken thighs and legs( about 6 for 2 people)
30g butter
100g pancetta diced
6 baby onions(shallots) peeled
1 garlic clove peeled
100g mushrooms sliced
1 thyme sprig leaves picked
1 tbsp plain flour
250ml red wine
sea salt and black pepper
chicken stock(optional)
what to do:
melt the butter in a pan, add the pancetta, onions, garlic, mushrooms and thyme and cook over a low heat for about 10 mins.
Sprinkle with the flour, mix and remove the garlic clove.
Add the chicken, cover and cook for about 10 mins.
Pour in the wine, season with salt and pepper.
Cover and simmer over a low heat for about 30 mins until tender and cooked through. Add a little water or stock if sauce is too thick during cooking.
buon appetito…
spinach and beans with garlic and chilli….
I love this recipe, the “MIL” sent us out some arancini from the restaurant last night and I had a couple of bags of spinach which I had picked up in Lidl yesterday for spinach soup but decided on this instead. It’s really good on bruschetta too or with some crusty bread, you decide!
what you need:
1 red onion diced
1 garlic clove chopped
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
3 tbsp olive oil
baby spinach washed( I used 2 bags of spinach but never checked the weight, “blonde”)
1 400g tin cannellini beans
1 400g tin chickpeas
250ml chicken/veg stock
sea salt and black pepper
what to do:
heat the olive oil in a pan and cook the onions and garlic over a low heat for about 10 mins until soft but not coloured.
add your chilli and cook for 1 min.
add your beans and some stock, season and leave to simmer for about 10 mins.
in a dry pot cook your spinach until wilted. Squeeze out excess water.
add your spinach to your beans, season, mix together and serve.
buon appetito….
italian sausage and bean stew…
Hello *waves*, remember me? I used to write a food blog about Italian food. I used to post about twice a week but I have been very bad the last few months but I’m sticking to my new year’s resolution and I’m going to make a bigger effort this year I swear. I come begging for your forgiveness with this sausage and bean stew recipe which I know won’t make up for all the lost time and recipes I haven’t given you but it’s a step in the right direction and with time and lots of fabulous new recipes you might learn to forgive me, pretty please:)
Anyway back to business, we’ve a lot of catching up to do! This recipe is very easy, try and get your hands on Italian sausages if you can, if not I’m sure regular sausages might work fine too. We have pre-packed Italian sausages in La Cucina in our retail fridge, I also have fresh ones in the freezer which are even nicer so just ask for them if you prefer.
what you need:
1 onion finely chopped
2 carrots chopped
2 celery sticks chopped
4 Italian sausages, skin removed and cut into chunks
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tin peeled chopped tomatoes(de cecco if you can)
300g pancetta cubes
200ml beef stock
400g tin cannellini beans drained
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of rosemary leaves picked
salt and pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
1 glass of red wine for the stew and 1 glass for you…
what to do
heat the olive oil in a casserole pot and fry the onions until soft but not coloured.
add your carrots and celery, rosemary and bay leaf and cook for about 10 mins over a medium heat.
add the pancetta and sausage and cook for 5 mins stirring with a wooden spoon.
mix in the flour and cook for a few minutes, keep stirring.
add in the wine and cook for about 5 mins until the alcohol evaporates.
add the tomatoes, stock and cannellini beans, season and bring to the boil.
Cover the pot and cook for about 30-40 minsover a low heat until the sausages are cooked and the sauce has thickened.
serve with some nice crusty bread:)
buon appetito…
p.s. there was an interesting article done on us and how we use social media to promote our business, have a read here if you’re interested.
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