Pasta Bolognese

I am not a Bolognese snob. I do not hold with their being one way to make it and all others being a sin. A great many ways are rubbish, there's no denying it. I've seen some horrible Bologneses in my time, as well as one in California which was actually a tomato sauce with meatballs and sausages like in The Godfather.

For myself, I like a Bolognese to be thick, rich and meaty, without carrots or celery.

Ingredients
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic (oh yes, I went there), finely chopped
250g lean minced beef (not extra lean)
400g chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
1/2 glass red wine
1/2 tsp oregano*
1 tsp basil*
1 beef stock pot

75-100g pasta per person

Heat the oil in a large saucepan on a medium-high heat.

Add the onion and garlic, stir well, reduce the heat to medium and then cover and sweat until the onion starts to soften.

Add the beef, making sure to break up any large chunks early. Stir periodically as the meat browns.

Add the herbs, a twist of black pepper, the puree and the wine. Stir well, add the tomatoes and the stock pot and mix well until the stock is dissolved.

Reduce to a simmer and cook for 10-20 minutes.

Serve with almost any kind of pasta and freshly grated Parmesan. You can also mix with the pasta and layer into an overproof dish with mozzarella to make an excellent pasta bake.

* While living things wither in my presence, if you can keep a basil or oregano plant alive, this is a meal that really benefits from fresh herbs.

Spaghetti Carbonara

This is a good standby, both because it's quick to make and because my daughter reliably eats it. I have added peas to the standard recipe because Arya eats them and it puts at least some vitamins in what is otherwise a carb-and-protein dish.

Ingredients (per person)
100g spaghetti
1/2 cup peas

2 eggs
2 rashers bacon
2 tsp grated Parmesan
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tbsp olive oil

Bring a pan of water to the boil. Add the spaghetti and peas, bring back to the boil and then simmer until the spaghetti is cooked.

Once the spaghetti goes in, heat the oil in a large saucepan.

Fry the bacon until cooked to preference.

Beat together the eggs, cheese and pepper.

Drain the pasta, add to the saucepan and toss together with the bacon and oil.

Remove from the heat, add the egg and stir though.

Tomato, mushroom and aubergine pasta

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
250g mushrooms, sliced
1/2 an aubergine, quartered and sliced
500g tomatoes, quartered
Oregano, basil and black pepper
1/2 glass red wine

Heat the oil in a large saucepan on a medium heat.

Add the onion and garlic and saute until softened.

Add the mushrooms and stir in; saute until beginning to soften, then add the aubergine and tomatoes and stir well.

Add the herbs and pepper and the wine and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Serve with penne or other short pasta.

Creamy mushroom pasta

This is a really good, simple recipe. It's also very flexible, if you fancy something more substantial.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
600g mushrooms, sliced
4-5 tbsp creme fraiche
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
Black pepper

Optionally
3 rashers bacon, chopped and fried with the onion and garlic
150g chicken thighs, replacing 300g of mushrooms

Heat the oil in a saute pan on a medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic, lower to medium heat and fry until soft.

Add half the mushrooms and stir. After about a minute, add the other half. I usually use half plain white mushrooms and half portobello or chestnut.

Add the herbs and spices, cover the pan and allow the mushrooms to saute in their own juices, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the creme fraiche and simmer while stirring.

Serve with tube or thick ribbon pasta.

Pasta with tomato sauce - Veggie lasagna - Chicken soup

Pasta with tomato sauce
A bit of a family speciality, this one.

Olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, chopped
300g mushrooms
1 tin plum tomatoes
1/2 glass red wine
Black pepper
Basil
Oregano

Heat the oil in a large saucepan.

Fry the onion and garlic until soft, then add the mushrooms.

When the mushrooms are softening, add the wine and the tomato. You can add a tablespoon of tomato puree to thicken.

Add fresh ground pepper, basil and oregano to taste.

For a meat sauce, you can add minced beef, meatballs or chopped sausage at the same time as the mushrooms, adding the tomato once the meat is browning.

This serves 3-4 with 75-90g of pasta per person and salad, 2-3 on its own.

You can also leave the mushrooms out, in which case a dash of mushroom ketchup adds a good flavour, although it isn't gluten free, unfortunately. This makes a less substantial sauce, but one which works very well mixed in with a large quantity of pasta to serve a lot of people.

Vegetarian lasagna
An experiment. The first iteration also used celery, but we figure it would be better without.

Olive oil
1 leek
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 beetroots, chopped
1 courgette, chopped
250g mushrooms, chopped
Black pepper
Oregano
Basil
1 tin plum tomatoes
1/2 pint milk
3 tsp cornflour
250g ricotta
50g grated cheddar

Split the leek to the core and simmer in almost-boiling water to soften.

Grease an oven dish and heat the oven to roughly 180-200 degrees.

Heat the oil and fry the onion and garlic until softened. Add the carrot and beetroot and fry for c.3-5 minutes.

Add the courgette and mushroom and fry briefly, then add herbs and pepper to taste, followed by the tomatoes. Simmer for c.10 minutes.

Warm the milk. Mix the cornflour with 3 tsp milk, then add to the milk pan. Heat and add the ricotta to melt.

Spoon half the vegetable mix into the dish.

Separate the layers of leek and lay across the dish. Spoon in the remaining vegetables, then cover with a layer of the ricotta sauce. Cover with another layer of leeks, the remaining cheese sauce and top with grated cheddar.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Chicken soup
Oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
3 chicken thighs, trimmed and chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
250g mushrooms, chopped
500ml chicken stock
1 glass white wine
Black pepper
Oregano
1/2 cup frozen sweetcorn
1 portion bean noodles

Heat the oil and fry the onion and garlic until softened.

Add the chicken and brown, then add the carrots and celery, frying for c.3-5 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and 1/2 a cup of wine, cover and simmer for 3-5 minutes.

Add the remaining wine, stock and herbs to taste.

Simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the sweetcorn and noodles and simmer until the noodles are soft.

On the first attempt, I blitzed this before adding the corn and noodles, and the result was somewhat heavy. With the bean noodles to add body, I do not think the soup requires blending.