Cheddar & Vegetable Penne

Cheddar and Vegetable Penne

Wholegrain penne for 4
1 tablespoon butter
3 eggs, whisked
1 cup grated cheddar
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons sugar
1 red onion
2 red capsicums/bell peppers
1 courgette/zucchini
1 head of broccoli

Bring a pot of salted water to the boil for the pasta, and when it is ready cook the pasta according to the package directions. While you wait, slice the onion up into thin rings, slice the peppers into thin strips, slice the courgette into thin rings and chop the broccoli into small florets.

In a large frying pan heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil with a couple of tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Saute the garlic for just a couple of minutes, then add the onion, peppers and courgette, along with the sugar. Turn the heat down to medium and cook, stirring every now an then, until the pasta is done.

When the pasta is done, first add the broccoli to the pan of vegetables so that it can quickly steam on top of everything else, and turn the heat under the vegetables down to low just so that they don't burn. Then drain the pasta and tip it back into its pot. Add the eggs, the cheese and a good sprinkling of salt and pepper, then stir it quickly until the pasta is entirely coated with the egg and cheese mixture. It should be the right amount, but if it looks a bit gooey and you are worried that the egg isn't cooked, place a lid on the pot and just let it sit for a few minutes and the heat of the pasta should cook the egg sufficiently.

Meanwhile, give the vegetables a last stir and have a taste, then season with salt and pepper as needed. The final step is to combine the two, so either add the pasta to the veges or the veges to the pasta. Stir about until everything is well mixed and then serve.

Homemade Paella

Paella

300 grams prawn tails
300 grams chicken breast
100 grams lean pork
2 cups rice
Olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 large tomato
Lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Saffron (I used a good shake of paprika and a pinch of turmeric)
4 cups hot stock (prawn was recommended but I only had vegetable and chicken)
3 eggs
1 chargrilled/roasted pepper (the type that comes in a tin or jar)

First, dice the chicken and pork into bite sized pieces and crush the garlic. Dice the tomato as well and set it aside.

In a very large frying pan or wok (because I assume that most people don't have a paellera - I used a big square electric frying pan with a lid and it was perfect) heat a few tablespoons of olive oil and saute the garlic, chicken and pork until the meat is just turning opaque on the outside. Add the rice and stir for 5 minutes.

Add the chopped tomato, a splash of lemon juice, a good shake of salt and pepper and the saffron (or substitutes if you don't have saffron). Pour in the hot stock and bring to the boil, stirring.

If you have a frying pan that can go in the oven, then at this point you should place the entire dish in the oven at 180 degrees for 20 minutes. However, I did not have this type of pan but my electric one has a lid and many heat settings, so I simply set it to 180 degrees and placed the lid on, then left it to simmer. You don't want to stir it because the bottom is supposed to get dark and crust-like.

While the rice is cooking, heat some more oil in a frying pan and fry the prawns until the are opaque and smell really good - that should mean that they are cooked through. Set the prawns aside. Then boil a pot of water and hard-boil the eggs.

Remove the paella pan from the heat (or turn the heat off if you are doing this on the stove or something) and leave the dish covered for 15 minutes. After this the rice should be tender (if it is not, sprinkle over some more water, cover and place back over the heat for a little while).

Now go back to the eggs, peel them and chop them into quarters. Take the pepper and dice that up into small pieces. Then scatter the pepper, eggs and prawns over the top of the paella and serve.