Spiralizer Week: Day One: Puttanesca Sauce

My middle sister gave me a Spiralizer for Christmas, so I decided that this week would be Spiralizer Week, and every day I would do a different recipe from a beginner's Spiralizer recipe blog: a nice way to ease back from all-salads into slightly more filling food, while hopefully still shedding a few Christmas pounds. We started off well with this "spaghetti" alla puttanesca. You could, of course, make it with normal pasta, and it might fill you up for a little longer.

Ingredients

• 1 clove of garlic
• 2-3 anchovy fillets
• 400g can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp capers, chopped if they are large
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2-3 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup sliced olives
• 1 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
• 2 zucchini, spiralized into thin noodles

Method

Crush the garlic into a frying pan with a little oil (use olive, or if you prefer, anchovy oil from the jar) and snip in the anchovy fillets, then fry over a low heat until the anchovy has dissolved and the garlic has softened. Pour in the tin of tomatoes and add the parsley, capers and olives; season with chilli flakes, if using, or black pepper. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until liquid from the sauce has completely evaporated.

Once the sauce is dry, add the zucchini noodles, and cook until they have *just* softened and enough water has come out to make the sauce a little liquid. Stop cooking immediately and serve the noodles with the sauce.

Kangaroo Bolognese

Continuing my theme of using kangaroo mince in everything, I tried out a kangaroo bolognese. Like the mousakka, it was actually an improvement on the original, because of the leaner, tastier quality of the meat. Without all the fat from typical beef mince, the sauce no longer has that thick layer of red oil which coats and stains everything. Instead it's pure bolognese heaven -- fantastic on pasta or as a component of classic lasagne. I seem to be the only one in the universe who insists on mushrooms in bolognese, but whatever. It's not a real Italian sauce anyway, so I can put whatever I like in it!

Ingredients

• 1kg kangaroo mince
• 2 brown onions
• 2 carrots
• 1-2 sticks celery
• 500g button or smallish mushrooms
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 6 rashers bacon (back or streaky, either is fine)
• 680g tomato passata or 2x325g tinned tomatoes
• 150g tomato puree
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried red chilli flakes (optional, but I strongly recommend them)
• glass of red or white wine
• 1 cup milk or half a cup of cream (optional)

Finely dice the onions and fry with the kangaroo mince, breaking it up and stirring until the mince is brown and the onions are soft. Meanwhile, dice the carrots, finely dice the celery, and cut the small mushrooms in half, or slice them if they are larger. Crush the garlic and snip or cut the bacon into 2cm-long strips. Add the carrots, celery, mushrooms, garlic and bacon to the onion and mince, stir well, and cook until the mushrooms have softened.

Add the tomato ingredients, herbs, wine, and chilli flakes if using. Rinse out the tomato jar or cans with a cup of water and pour into the sauce. Stir until combined, then partly cover and simmer for 2-4 hours, until thickened and delicious. If the sauce starts to dry out, add a little water and completely cover, but don't reduce the cooking time.

Five minutes before serving, add the milk or cream. If you want to keep the bolognese in the fridge and reheat it later, or use it in a lasagne, I suggest not adding the milk or cream until you do come to serve it or use it, as it will keep better.

Pasta e fagioli

We've been enduring a spot of cold weather recently; I even had to wear trousers when cycling to work for a couple of days! Actually I think I'm just a wimp after getting back from a nice week in Brisbane where it was 21C every day. I felt like something really homely and gorgeous, but not too meaty, after a week eating out. I googled around and found this lovely Italian 'peasant' dish which seemed perfect! There are many different versions around, but I started improvising from one that mostly included ingredients I had. (Sensible.) One thing that the recipes emphasised was that this varies massively region-to-region in Italy and it's ok to be more of a soup, or more of a sauce, or anywhere in between. So here's my take - and I will definitely be making this again as it was superb!

Ingredients:

• a medium onion
• a carrot
• 3 garlic cloves
• 425g tin of tomatoes
• 1 litre of vegetable stock
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 150g tubetti, macaroni or other small soup pasta
• 400g tin of borlotti beans
• grated Parmesan (omit if vegan, obviously!)
• fresh parsley

Finely chop the onion and fry it over a medium heat until translucent (about five minutes). Peel and dice the carrot and add to the pan; peel and crush in the garlic cloves. Toss around and fry for a further minute, until the garlic is fragrant and softened. Pour in the tin of tomatoes, half of the stock, and add the bay leaves and rosemary sprig. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

Remove a ladleful of the soup and blend with half of the beans (be careful to cool for a minute or so or use a large blender so as not to explode soup everywhere!). Return the paste to the pan along with the pasta and cook for another 10 minutes, until the pasta is soft. Add the last half of the beans to the pan, turn off the heat and allow to warm through. Divide into bowls and top with grated Parmesan and finely chopped parsley.

Lasagne

Mmmm, hearty food. We made this on Tuesday night, ready to be baked on Wednesday, after we got home from swimming. Worked out well, although I wish I had an oven with a timer so that in future it could be waiting for us as we arrive! It's always worth making a big quantity of lasagne; we're limited by the fact that our kitchenware hasn't yet arrived so we only have the one Le Creuset tray. But we certainly made enough for two meals - so this serves four.

Ingredients:

• 500g good quality beef mince
• 1 white onion
• 1 red onion
• 1 carrot
• 2 sticks of celery
• 250g of white mushrooms
• 4 small cloves of garlic
• 2 340g tins of diced tomatoes
• 4 bay leaves
• a handful of fresh oregano, or 1 tsp of dried
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tbsp butter
• 500ml milk
• 10-12 sheets of lasagne; enough for three layers in your tray (you can lay them down and test it out beforehand)
• grated cheese, to top
• salt and pepper

Dice the onions, carrots and celery, and cut the mushrooms into 1/2-cm wide slices. Fry with the beef mince for 10 minutes, until the beef has browned and the onions have softened. (For years I fried everything separately, as I was taught, and I've found that for a sauce that then goes on to cook for ages, it makes absolutely NO difference.) Crush the garlic into the mixture, then add the tomatoes and herbs. Stir well to combine, then cover and simmer for an hour and a half, stirring occasionally so as not to let it stick to the bottom.

Meanwhile, prepare a white sauce - I prefer to melt the butter in a pyrex jug in the microwave, stir in the flour, slowly add the milk, then microwave for four minutes, stopping every minute to stir well. Season the white sauce and tomato sauce to taste. Soak the lasagne sheets if they are the kind that need it.

When you're ready to assemble the lasagne, add the ingredients in layers; my favourite is: tomato, lasagne, tomato, white sauce, lasagne, tomato, lasagne, white sauce, cheese. At this point it keeps perfectly well in the fridge for a couple of days. When you're ready, bake it for 45 minutes at 200C; if adding straight from the fridge, put it in while the oven is cool and start timing from when it reaches 200C; this will allow your tray time to heat up without cracking. Serve with a green salad or some steamed veggies.

Meatballs and Tomato Sauce

Yesterday's meal still needs a bit of refinement before I post it. I got it from the Observer Food Monthly and it was ok... just a bit bland. I did everything I could to jazz it up but, meh. By contrast the meal I cooked for my fiancée was good, maybe a bit fiddly, but I think my execution of it was poor. So a couple to work on again another time.

In the meantime, here's a classic that simply works. The meatball recipe is foolproof and makes loads of lovely tasty meatballs that freeze well, and you can vary the flavourings with whatever you have to hand or feel like. My suggestions would be:

• pork, ginger and chilli
• lamb and mint
• beef and mustard
• lamb, beef and rosemary
• chicken and lemongrass

The recipe below is a simple generic Italian style that works with any pasta sauce; I actually made a big batch a few days ago and just took 10 out of the freezer this morning. My family loves to layer them in a deep casserole dish with cooked pasta, tomato sauce, ricotta cheese and wilted spinach, then top with cheese and bake for half an hour. As a fast weekday meal after walking out to vote, tonight we served them simply with tomato sauce and pasta - and I felt like peas, so I made peas!

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:

Meatballs and tomato sauce

• 3-4 slices stale bread
• a good chunk of parmesan
• a small bunch of parsley
• 500g beef mince
• 500g pork mince
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• milk

For the tomato sauce:

• 1 red onion
• 1 large clove of garlic
• a splash of red wine
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp mixed herbs
• 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

Meatballs fresh from
the oven

Whiz the bread in a food processor in batches until it forms medium-coarse breadcrumbs, removing each batch to a very large mixing bowl as it is done. To one or two of the batches, add the leaves of the parsley and grate in the chunk of parmesan. Put the pork and beef mince directly into the mixing bowl - blending them would give you a very finely minced, bland meatball. Add the egg and season well with black pepper.

Using your hands, combine the ingredients; you're aiming for a texture where the mixture sticks well to itself but not to the sides of the bowl. If your bread is very stale, you may need to add a tablespoon or so of milk, but be careful not to make the mixture sloppy. When the mixture is well-combined, but not completely homogeneous, form meatballs of your desired size. I like them large, rather than bite-sized; if you like them small, make sure to reduce the cooking time later.

From here you can either fry the meatballs in batches, which can take awhile if you're making a large batch, or you can roast them in a 220 C oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown on all sides. Allow them to cool if freezing, or use straight away with, for example, the tomato sauce:

Finely chop the red onion and gently fry it in a deep-sided frying pan until translucent and beginning to colour. Crush in the clove of garlic and cook for a further minute, stirring halfway to make sure it doesn't stick. Pour in a splash of red wine and deglaze the pan, then add the rest of the ingredients and stir well. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, checking that the mixture doesn't stick to the bottom. If it appears watery, remove the lid and allow the steam to escape; if it is very dry then add a splash of hot water. For the last two minutes, add the meatballs and allow them to heat through in the sauce (or five minutes if cooking from chilled). Serve with a long pasta like tagliatelle or spaghetti, torn basil, and plenty of parmesan cheese at the table.