Recipe | Weekday Pasta

 Hi lovelies! I haven't talked about it much on the blog, but I have a very active job. What with running up and down stairs and long shifts I've been finding I need quite a bit of fuel to get me through the day. I've been experimenting with pasta recipes that are quick to make on a weeknight and then take the leftovers to work the next day. 

Recipe | Chicken Meatballs

I'm not sure if either Erin or I have mentioned it but we are off to the Woodford Folk Festival next week and we are more than a little excited. This recipe is somewhat of a clearing out of my fridge in preparation for my week away. If you decide to make this meal yourself feel free to substitute any of the vegetables or meat with whatever you have to hand. 

Recipe | Mac and Cheese Dreams

Like I said in my last recipe, I've been in a cheesy world the last week or two. I threw a classic macaroni and cheese recipe together which turned out pretty well and thought I'd hone it down a little more before I presented it to you. This is my second attempt at the classic dish and I'm pretty impressed with myself. I've had a look at other simple recipes online and this seems fairly on par with them too. You'll notice a little greenery mixed in as well which is my attempt to make this semi-nutritious. 

Serves 4

Ingredients

350g small elbow pasta/macaroni/liscio piccolo, uncooked

1/3 cup unsalted butter

1/3 cup plain flour

450ml milk

1 egg, whisked

1 1/4 cup strong vintage cheddar, grated

1 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated 

1/2 zucchini, grated

Preheat oven to 180°C. Place a large pot of water onto boil with a pinch of salt. Once boiling add pasta and cook until when tested, is slightly too chewy to serve. Drain and drizzle with a small amount of olive oil (if you like) and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a smaller pot melt butter over a low heat. While continually stirring, slowly add flour. A gooey paste should form. In a similar method to the flour, slowly pour in milk and stir until it starts to thicken. The gooey paste formed by the flour and butter should be dissolving into the milk and a beautiful white sauce should be appearing. Momentarily remove pan from the heat and slowly add the whisked egg. Once thickened, add 1 cup of grated strong vintage cheddar and 1 cup of parmesan. Continue to stir until it almost becomes too thick to stir and quickly remove from the heat. 

This next step is entirely up to you in the way in which you do it but this is my method. Slowly, adding a large spoonful at a time, add the cooked pasta into the cheese sauce until it is all combined. If the sauce looks to be running a bit low, you've added enough pasta and the rest can be used for another dish. I find this quantity of pasta to work fine though. 

Add in the zucchini and combine. Decant into a baking dish and cover with the remaining cheese for a beautiful crispy finish. Place in the preheated oven for 15-20minutes or until golden brown on top.

Serve up and enjoy the cheesy goodness!

Happy Holidays! 

Erin xx

Vegetable Tempura Lovin'

I've been pretty bored of late, being unemployed and in a city without my friends, and so have been taking to cooking a lot more than usual. I love Japanese food and have never made Tempura before, or deep-fried anything for that matter. So, I gave this a go and thought you'd all like to see how I went. It's a really tasty, grease-crave-fulfilling, yet healthy option. Don't be frightened by deep-frying if you've never done it but definitely proceed with caution. Good luck!

Ingredients

Various chopped vegetables eg. carrot, zucchini, mushrooms, sweet potato, capsicum (see image for ideas and desirable size of mentioned vegetables)

Vegetable oil, for deep-frying

Tempura Batter

1/2 cup (75g) cornflour (cornstarch), sifted

1/2 cup (75g) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted

1 tsp sea salt falkes

1 cup (250ml) cold soda water or beer

1 egg white

Tempura Dipping Sauce

1 cup (250ml) dashi 

1/4 cup (60ml) soy sauce

1/4 cup (60ml) mirin

To get it out of the way, and to ensure time between pan, plate and eating is as quick as possible, its best to make the dipping sauce first. Combine all the dipping sauce ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Once boiling, remove it from the heat, let it cool and set aside for use later when serving.

To make the batter combine the flours (cornflour and plain), salt and soda water/beer in a bowl and whisk until just combined. Whisk your egg white in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form (just like when making a pavlova) and fold gently through the batter. 

In a large deep saucepan (I used a wok), heat the oil until you can see it just starting to smoke (approx. 180°C/350°F if you have a cooking thermometer). Dip the vegetables in the batter, shaking to remove any excess, and deep-fry, in batches, for 3-4 minutes or until light golden and the vegetable is at your preferred eating consistency. Drain on absorbent paper and serve immediately with the dipping sauce. 

I served mine with some chicken thighs I had baking in the oven after marinating in honey, soy and sesame - but thats another recipe for another Sunday afternoon. 

Please let me know if you try any of these recipes or if I could write them in a more helpful way. So far I feel they're alright but I would love some feedback.

Erin xx