Quick lunch on the go! Citrus zucchini pasta…

Oh my goodness – it has been a while since I posted. Just been through the last two weeks of school…. panic meetings before the end of term, field days, two Science fairs, a visit from a falconer for our younger students, speech day (which I took Abbie to) and a ‘Last night of the Proms’ concert at my husband’s school in which we were both singing…. so Abbie came too! All in all, there has been cooking and gardening, but no time to write about it, so I will try to catch up now!

This was a quick lunch I made for myself as I was dashing back and forth from school to home and back again last week… I call them zucchini (we Brits know them as courgettes) because my daughter professes not to like courgettes, but will eat zucchini!! So it has stuck! You fry the zucchini, which gives them a totally different flavour to when they are boiled and the lemon juice cuts through what would be the greasiness of the dish. Feta is the perfect cheese to complement as it has a citrus, sharp note to it and its chalky texture contrasts well with the soft zucchini.

Citrus zucchini pasta – Feeds 1

75-100g tagliatelle (or your choice of pasta)
1 large zucchini/courgette, sliced at an angle to create long rounds (see photo)
1 tblspn rapeseed oil (or olive)
small squeeze garlic puree/chopped clove of garlic
1/2 lemon
25g feta, chopped

• Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water, to packet instructions
• Heat the oil in a frying pan and when hot, place the zucchini slices in. Check regularly and turn over when browning, so that both sides get caramalised.
• When cooked, remove to a warm plate, squeeze in the garlic and stir around the pan for about 30 sec while you zest 1/2 the lemon into the pan, then squeeze 1/2 the lemon into the pan.
• Add the cooked pasta and stir to coat in the lemony, oily juices
• Put pasta into a bowl or onto a plate, top with the zucchini slices, chopped feta, a good pinch of sea salt and a grinding of pepper

Citrus zucchini pasta

Sundae strawberries! Named and made by Abbie…

Look what was waiting for us on Sunday morning!

I knew that we had to do something special with our handfuls of strawberries and so I constructed this layered dessert ably assisted by Abbie, who also came up with the name ‘Sundae Strawberries’!

Sundae Strawberries – makes 3 martini or wine glass portions

10-15 strawberries (depending on size)
1/2 lemon
Icing sugar (4-5 tsp in total)
2 tblspn thick double cream
2 tblspn natural yoghurt
6 sponge fingers
Lemon curd

• In a bowl, combine 2/3 of you strawberries (sliced) with the juice of half a lemon and 2 heaped tsp of the icing sugar – stir and leave to one side for later
• In another bowl, stir together the yoghurt and double cream with the other 2 tsp icing sugar
• Break the sponge fingers into halves, spread thickly with lemon curd and place 4 of the halves at the bottom of each of your glasses
• Then layer up as shown in the photos below, finishing with the remainder of the strawberries (sliced) and some curls of lemon zest
• Refrigerate for the morning (at least 2-3 hours) and eat for lunch!

Spreading the lemon curd on the fingers....

Starting to layer, sponge fingers first.....

.... then strawberries....

.... letting the lemon berry syrup soak into the sponge...

All done! One 'Sundae Strawberries' ready for the fridge

Demolished in a matter of moments!

What do you do when you have no energy, but your daughter is bouncing off the walls??

Answer – to the kitchen! I was able to sit, with the occasional move whilst we weighed, mixed, poured and baked Nigel Slater’s ‘Lemon Frosted Pistachio cake’; surely guaranteed to lift my spirits and put a smile on my face. Abbie is becoming suddenly more independent in the baking arena and now insists on trying to do everything herself…. cracking eggs has definitely improved – I only had to retrieve 3 pieces of shell (a definite improvement on previous attempts!)

Weighing and measuring...

If you could hear this photo it would say...'Ta da!'

Juicing the orange - luckily I only need 2/3 of its juice

This was a great recipe for trying new things – ‘green nuts’ went down very well, although she came a cropper later when sneaking a naughty one as my back was turned…. tried to eat the whole thing, shell and all!! That’ll teach her! Abbie also enjoyed pinches of ground almonds (so different to how whole ones taste) and smelling the rosewater which she said smelled ‘flowery’.

Thank goodness also for Jonts, who probably wished he hadn’t called to say he was coming home, as he was greeted with a ‘please could you just……’ (this happens quite a lot). Anyway, he was the cake’s hero as without him and the bottled lemon juice, there would have been no icing!

GORGEOUS!

This cake is GORGEOUS!… we ate it with berries and creme fraiche. I made 2/3 of the recipe and we were only supposed to eat a third of the cake. Confession: there is only half left and I am not sure that it will make it through the evening – I am in bed and I can almost hear Jon sliding a plate from the cupboard…. opening the fridge door….. Hero or not, there had better be a piece for Abbie and I tomorrow or he’s in big trouble!

Abbie has seconds and then asked to share my second piece! Cheeky monkey! Of course I let her - weak!

Have to say, I am a Slater convert at the moment as I have not had any kitchen disasters with any of his recipes and they have all been simply delicious. In fact I am at present thinking up a name for all Slater followers…. maybe I am a ‘Slaterite’, ‘Slatertater’ or a ‘Slaterplater’? All lame I know! I’m sure you can do better……

LEMON-FROSTED PISTACHIO CAKE (from Nigel Slater’s ‘The Kitchen Diaries’)
serves 10-12

250g of butter
250g of caster sugar
3 large eggs
100g of shelled pistachio nuts
100g of ground almonds
An orange
1 tsp of rosewater
60g of plain flour

Icing:
100g of icing sugar
2 tbsp of lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 160° C. Line the bottom of a non-stick 22cm cake tin with baking parchment.
Cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between adding each egg. Blitz the pistachios in a food processor to turn them into fine crumbs and then add them, along with the almonds, to the butter, sugar and eggs. Add the zest and the juice of the orange and then stir in the orange blossom water and, finally, fold in the flour.
Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 50 minutes, covering the top lightly with foil for the final ten minutes. Check that the cake is done by inserting a skewer, it should come out quite clean with no wet mixture stuck to it. Leave it to cool in the tin before turning out.

Make the icing by mixing the icing sugar and lemon juice together until smooth and then pour it over the cake. If you have any leftover pistachios use a few to decorate the top of the cake. Leave the icing to set and then serve and enjoy.

Mmmm Sunday lunch and a lemoniscious trifle from Nigel Slater ….

Roast chicken, new potatoes, kale, carrots and yummy homemade gravy today. Did my chicken the Jamie way – boiling a lemon for 5 mins, stabbing it and shoving it in the chicken with some salt, pepper, garlic and herbs before roasting – keeps it really moist.

Abbie and I got up early this morning and made the lemon trifle – another wonderful dish from Nigel Slater’s ‘Kitchen Diaries’. It was a really easy trifle, couldn’t believe I could make something that resembled a custard from just double cream, sugar and lemon juice – no egg and therefore no curdling!!

After our main meal, which Abbie polished off in record time…. she asked to get down… I was surprised as Abbie usually loves her puddings! The following conversation then took place…
Me: Don’t you want pudding?
Abbie: Mmmm…. no I don’t think so…………… what’s for pudding?
Me: Lemon trifle…. it’s in the fridge….
Abbie: Maybe I’ll just go and have a look……. (goes to the fridge) …… Hmmmm…. Mummy…. I think I will just have a bit of pudding!

As you can see from the photos, Abbie was very reluctant to lose possession of said trifle! I adapted Nigel Slater’s recipe only slightly, replacing crystallized violets with white chocolate chips as I had them in the cupboard. It was enjoyed so much that we will be making it again when my mother-in-law comes for lunch next Sunday!

Link to the recipe: http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/533841

very protective of the trifle!

can you see Abbie's hand creeping in to get her portion??

a happy girl....

Lemon linguine… yum yum! A family favourite!

A busy morning today.. swimming and gardening! Abbie is still very confident in the water since our holiday and spent her time jumping in and swimming between us, on our backs and practising swimming on her back! Jon and also managed to get a few lengths in ourselves and consequently we all worked up a healthy appetite! So I didn’t feel guilty about our calorie laden lunch….

This recipe is taken and adapted from ‘How to Eat’ by Nigella Lawson and is a great one to make with children as you can make the sauce up whilst the pasta is cooking and there is no cooking involved in this stage…

Lemon linguine – fed 2 adults and 1 child – our quantities

200g linguine
1 egg yolk,   1/2 lemon
Good splash cream
Good handful grated pecorino/parmesan
Big knob butter (25g)
Chopped fresh corriander

• Basically – cook the linguine for how long it says on the packet…
• Meanwhile mix up egg yolk, cream, 1/2 a lemon zest and juice and the pecorino
• When the pasta is drained, add the butter to the pasta pan until melted and chuck the linguine back in to coat it
• Add in the creamy sauce and stir until all the pasta is coated and you can’t see any bits of cheese
• Serve with a sprinkle of the corriander on top
• If you would like the Nigella recipe and method for a larger quantity, you can find it here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/lemon-linguine-recipe/index.html

mixing the creamy sauce...

chopping the corriander with a mezaluna

'such fun' to eat.... clearly I have been watching Miranda too much lately!

Alongside our creamy, moreish pasta dish, we had broccoli and some baby salad leaves foraged whilst thinning out my lettuces…. delicious!