Sgombro al cartoccio con padellata di piselli e asparagi- Baked mackerel with stewed peas and asparagus

This is a super easy dish, what can I do I am only now learning to cook!

Ingredients:
-a mackerel or similar dish
-one lemon
-one small onion
-frozen pease
-asparagus chopped
-salt,pepper,parsley,oil

Method:
1)fill the fish with lemon slices and parsley and season. Wrap it in foil and bake in the oven at 180 for 20 mins or until cooked
2)add oil in a small frying pan, add chopped onion, when soft add the asparagus then the peas, season cover with lead znd let it cook until soft.
3)serve with the fish and boiled potatoes or rigatoni pasta

 

Snack #3: Pasta Omelette – Frittatina di pasta

This frittata is great for lunch boxes. In Southern Italy you can be sure it’s packed away for picnics or “scampagnate”, or why not even school trips. It just needs to be wrapped in foil to keep it warm. Kids usually like spaghetti frittata because the loose spaghetti will become crunchy when fried. Soo simple and quick to make,  budget friendly AND a great way to use leftover pasta. Perfect combo, so without further ado, let me leave you with this beautiful recipe.

Ingredients, serve 1
- about 50g of leftover boiled pasta any shape
- 2 eggs
- 1 big tbsp of grated parmesan or more if you like it cheesy
- salt and pepper
- oil to fry

Method:
1) scramble the eggs with the cheese and the seasoning

2) add the boiled pasta

3) heat some oil in a small frying pan 

4) add the frittata mix: all of it for a big omelette or in little batches for smaller ones


4) cook until golden on both sides and serve warm or cold. I like to eat it with a fresh tomato salad

Continue reading Snack #3: Pasta Omelette – Frittatina di pasta

Quick Pasta with Aubergine and Ham

After making fried aubergines the other day, I still had one left in the fridge and I also kept the peeled skin from the 3 aubergines for the fried recipe, they are an excellent source of fibre. With some prosciutto in the fridge I needed to finish, I came up with this dish, we could call it pasta with leftovers really. It’s budget friendly as well, certainly under 5 euros, but most important it’s very tasty AND so quick and easy. I don’t have enough time to be able to spend hours in the kitchen, so my recipes need to be easy and simple but still be healthy, tasty and filling. If you are short of time but have a hungry crowd to feed then this  is the right recipe for you: an added bonus is that you don’t really recognize the vegetables, so with a little luck even the children will enjoy it. I leave you now to this easy pasta let me know if you’ll make it.

INGREDIENTS for 4 people:
- 500gr bow pasta (farfalle)
- 1 large aubergine cut in cubes (or use leftovers from other recipes)
- 200 gr of ham or prosciutto, chopped
- salt
- olive oil
- parsley washed and chopped

METHOD:
1) bring to the boil a pot of water, add the pasta and salt, and cook according to the instructions

2) while the pasta cooks, in a frying pan heat some oil, when it's hot add the aubergine and ham and season with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid.


3) when the aubergine is soft turn off the heat

4) once the pasta is al dente reserve some of the cooking water and drain the pasta. Add it to the frying pan together with some of the reserved water but not too much you don't want it "wet"

5) finally add parsley and some more olive oil, stir well and serve

Enjoy!

Quick Pasta with beans (Pasta e fagioli)

Pasta with beans is a very old and traditional Italian recipe. It’s a rustic, peasant dish, poor but incredibly tasty. There are many variations of this dish, depending on the geographic area: the recipe I am sharing now is originally from Campania, in the South of Italy.

The traditional recipe requires the use of dry beans, left to soak overnight, and then cooked on the stove for an hour and a half. Unfortunately, I find it very hard to be so organized as to actually prepare the beans the night before, so this is my shortcut for those times in which I feel like eating a rustic, fulfilling, healthy pasta, but I am short on time: I use tinned beans, and I cut out the veggies!

This pasta makes also a great soup, especially if you use smaller pasta shape, it’s very budget friendly, AND it only uses one pot, a win/win really!

I will soon post also the traditional recipe of this dish, but for the moment I leave you to this super quick pasta with beans. If you try it let me know if you like it.

Enjoy!

Tip: if you use rosemary, it’s worth buying fresh, better even if you have it in your garden. You can always freeze what you don’t’ use. I find dry rosemary doesn’t have much flavour, you end up using more of it.

Ingredients for 4 people:

350 gr Pasta Shell

1 tin cooked beans

Salt

A good dash of olive oil

A sprig of rosemary (optional)

chilli or pepper (optional)

Method . Cooking time 10 mins.

1) Empty the content of the tin of beans in a large pot, add some boiling water, salt, chilli and rosemary if using.

2)  When the water is back to the boil add the pasta, make sure the water covers all the pasta

3) When the pasta is cooked, drain excess water if you prefer it more “dry”, or leave it as it is for a soup version.

4) Add a very generous dash of olive oil, better if extra virgin

Pasta with beans soup

5) Dish out and enjoy.