Nursery Spaghetti

Here is what you do.

Cook a packet of spaghetti til it's al dente (I say that to make this seem fancier and more foodie than it is, truth be told, but DO cook your spaghetti nicely)

Then you need

One warmed tin of condensed tomato soup (don't add water! must NOT be salt reduced! if you like a lot of sauce, get the biggest can of soup)

One block of Kraft cheddar cheese, grated (this is the one that is NOT kept in the fridge at the supermarket)

You cook the spaghetti, as we said.

You use the warm non diluted soup as the pasta sauce.

You put a LOT of cheese on top.

You eat it up.

Shame. Shame. Shame. Yum.

Pip's Mexican Style Chicken

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This is really easy to make.  I get the chillis I need from Casa Iberica.

1 kilo of chicken thigh fillets, no skin, fat trimmed

To Make The Marinade

2 dried guajillo chillis : seeds removed and snipped into pieces with scissors

1/2 chipotle chilli (I use the chipotle which are tinned in adobo sauce.... and I add a teaspoon of the sauce)

1 tablespoon of ground sweet paprika

1/2 tablespoon of ground cumin

1/2 tablespoon of dried oregano

1 tomato, chopped roughly

1 red onion, chopped roughly

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

juice of one lemon

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp white pepper

Put all these ingredients in a food processor and pulse until it's a nice red paste.  You can use a mortar and pestle for this if you like, but I shake all the crockery out of the cabinets if I do.  Don't do that, will you?!  Scoop it all out into a bowl and throw your chicken in for at least 2 or 3 hours to marinate!  

To cook the chicken, heat a slosh of olive oil in a nice, big heavy based pan.  Plonk the chicken in and arrange it neatly  in one layer.  Pop a lid on and simmer over a medium low heat for 20 minutes.  You can turn up the heat at the end if you want a bit more colour on your chicken.  Cut the chicken into pieces while it's still in the pan and toss in the pan juices. 

You can season it with black pepper, coriander and a squeeze of lime to serve!

We have this in tortillas, usually, with lots of fresh salsa, guacamole and crunchy greens!

It's good with spiced rice and corn on the cob too!

Pip's Teriyaki Chicken : uber good

Pip's Uber Famous Teriyaki Chicken

Serves 6

Ingredients

1kg skinless chicken breast fillets (free range if you can!) cut into rough 1" pieces

1/2 cup of potato starch (from Asian grocers and some supermarkets)

1/2 cup of oil (I just used canola oil)

Sauce :: Mix Together

1/4 cup of good quality soy sauce (like Kikkoman)

1/4 cup of mirin

1/4 cup of sake

1/4 cup of raw sugar

1/4 cup of water

2 teaspoons of sesame oil

To serve::

Short grain rice or sushi rice

Chilli sauce if you are into it

Chopped spring onions and any other chopped raw vegies you like 

(I like to use cherry tomatoes and I steam some broccoli to the right side of crunchy to have with it too!)

Let's Make It...

Tip the potato starch into a plastic bag and then dump the chopped up chicken in there.  Twist the bag a few times to seal it and then shake it all up to coat the chicken well.  We want the starch all over every piece.

Heat your oil in a large frying pan or wok over a medium high heat.  Fry the coated chicken in two batches, just until it's sealed and colouring a tiny bit.  We don't need to cook it right through yet.  Drain the sealed chicken on kitchen towel.  Now, tip out the oil leaving just a teensy bit in the pan.  There will be bits of fried stuff stuck to the pan too.  That is just fine.  Leave that in there.

Put the pan with teensy bit of oil and leftover fried bits back on to a medium heat.  Add all of your chicken to the pan.  It will be a bit crowded.  Stir your sauce mixture to distribute the sugar a bit, then tip it over the chicken and toss well.  It will bubble up and start to look pretty impressive and delicious.

Put a lid on for a minute or two to help cook the chicken through properly, shaking the pan every now and then to prevent things burning. Then take the lid off and toss the chicken for another minute or two, until it's lovely and glazed and caramelizing a bit. (If you don't have a lid, just cook for four minutes without the lid, tossing well to keep things cooking evenly.)  That's all you do!

Serve on top of a few spoonfuls of rice.  Top with spring onions and the raw vegies.  I always put a big dollop of chilli sauce atop mine.  

Serve with green tea and marvel at the amazing texture of the chicken!  SO so so so yummy.  Try it. You will be amazed. Honest.

Lazy Risotto A La Oven

Lazy Risotto A La Oven

2 regular size tins of diced tomatoes (or chopped up tinned whole tomatoes)

1 carrot, peeled and grated

2 cups of arborio rice

3 cups of stock or water

1 tablespoon of capers (not rinsed)

1 tablespoon of sweet paprika

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 red onion, sliced

1 tablespoon of pesto if you have it

1 tablespoon of red or white wine vinegar

1/2 cup of mozarella cheese, chopped roughly or grated

1/4 cup of other cheese : parmesan or cheddar : again chopped or grated

Fresh herbs : a half a handful of whatever you have on hand (or a teaspoon of dried herbs like basil or an Italian mix)

Fry the onion, carrot and garlic in a good glug of olive oil until soft and aromatic.  Add the tinned tomatoes, paprika, pesto, herbs, vinegar.  Cook for ten minutes, stirring often.  Season with salt and lots of pepper. (I like white pepper, but black pepper is good too)

While that's cooking, slug some olive oil into an oven proof dish/pot with a lid.  I use a cast iron one.  Heat the oil over a medium heat and throw in the rice.  Saute the rice for a minute or so, stirring all the while.  Then tip in the stock.  Excellent.  Next tip in the tomato sauce you just made.  Perfect.  Mix it all up and finally throw in the cheese.  (You can also throw in some chilli and some lemon juice/nutmeg at this point)

Cook in a medium oven for 30 minutes with a lid on. Ta-dah!  Add more salt or pepper as needed and serve with a dollop of chili or more pesto if you like!

(Based on a recipe I found via The Vine)

Pip's Lamb Rolls

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Pip's Mayo

2 egg yolks

1 tbsp of Dijon mustard

1 tbsp of Worcestershire Sauce (Lee & Perrins is good!)

1 tbsp of red wine vinegar

juice of half a lemon

a slosh of tabasco

a pinch of salt

a pinch of black pepper

1 cup of good quality oil (I used a mild olive oil, but you can use canola oil if you like!)

I use a food processor to make this, but you could use a regular mixer or do it by hand with a whisk if you are very energetic.  To make the mayo, plonk all the ingredients EXCEPT the oil in the food processor.  Blend or beat until well combined.  Now keep the motor running and slowly, slowly, slowly drizzle the oil in.  The mixture will thicken up nicely as you drizzle and spin.  You must do this slowly, or else the mayo will split and go runny!  Ick. We don't want that.  Slowly, slowly we go.  Once you've added all the oil, add a tablespoon or two of boiling water to lighten the texture and colour a bit.  Voila!  (Makes 1 cup of Pip's Mayo!)

Pip's Lamb Rolls

Serves 4

300g of lamb fillets (I used 'backstraps')

Marinate these whole for at least 15 minutes in :: two tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tsp of dried oregano, 1 diced clove of garlic, 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.

Next, sear the lamb fillets in a hot pan, first on one side and then on the other. Once they have lots of colour and smell delicious, put them in a hot oven for five minutes or so to finish them off.  They should still be a bit soft to touch when you take them out, if you are after pinkish lamb.  Cover them with foil for a few minutes so they can rest and relax.

Now we need

4 soft long rolls, split down the middle (but not all the way through!)

1 large tomato, sliced with some basil sprinkled atop it, if you like

1/2 cucumber, sliced

1 handful of baby spinach or rocket (washed and dried!)

Slice your lamb fillets as thinly as you can.  I'm not much good with a knife, but mine were a BIT thin.  Now spread your roll with lots of mayo.  Pop in the lamb next, then the tomato and cucumber.  Finally squoosh in the spinach.  Season with salt and pepper and gobble them up!

Also :: You can add feta, avocado, chili, pesto or capers

Pumpkin and Miso Curry

via

Pip's Potato Curry

serves six

Ingredients

2kg of potatoes (no need to peel, just cut into 1 inch-ish chunks!)

2 onions, peeled and sliced

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and diced

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and diced

2 tablespoons of curry powder (I use this one)

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 cup of frozen peas

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

To Serve : fresh coriander or mint and some lemon wedges

To Make It

First boil the chopped potatoes until just tender.

While they are boiling, and in a very large fry pan, fry the onion in a tablespoon of good quality oil over a medium heat.  You want the onions to cook for five or ten minutes, until they are soft and golden. Yum.

Then, add the ginger and fry for a minute.  Next add the garlic and cooked potatoes to the onions and toss well.  Let them fry together for 2 or 3 minutes, so they can get to know each other.  

Next sprinkle the curry powder over the top of the whole lot and add 1/2 cup of water and the soy sauce.

Carefully toss and combine, frying for 2 or 3 minutes.

Add the peas and gently mix them through, cooking for another minute or so.

Season with salt and pepper and serve garnished with some fresh mint or coriander and lemon wedges.

The end!

Simple Mexican Potatoes

1 kg of unpeeled roughly chopped potatoes

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon of sweet paprika

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

juice of one lemon

optional : 1 tsp of chipotle powder

Toss all these ingredients together and make sure the potatoes are well coated in the oil and herbs and spices (and lemon juice!)  Tumble onto a heavy based tray and bake in a HOT oven for 35 minutes (until nice and golden and tender and crunchy!) Season with salt and pepper.

Serve with salsa or mayo or yoghurt if you would like that!

Pip's Mee Rebus : Speedy Style

Pip's Mee Rebus

serves 4

Ingredients

A slosh of oil

1 sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced

1 onion, finely diced

1 clove of garlic, finely diced

1 tablespoon of curry powder : I use this one

a slosh  of soy

1 tsp of white pepper

1 cup or so of coconut milk

1 cup of chicken stock (or vegetable stock)

1 packet of noodles : around 250g  (the fresh, thickish yellow ones) : soaked in boiling water for a few minutes

1 handful of sliced fried tofu

1 handful of baby spinach

1 handful of bean shoots

Garnish 

Fried shallots (from a packet!)

Lemon

Coriander

Optional :: sliced fish cake, sliced cooked chicken, sliced cooked potatoes

Slosh the oil into a large fry pan or wok.  When it's nice and hot, add the onions and stir fry for a minute or so.  Next add the garlic and sweet potato.  Toss well and lower the heat (to very low).  Put a lid on the pan (or some foil!) and let it simmer for 15 minutes until the sweet potato is soft. Remove the lid and mash the potato in the pan with the onions and garlic.  Add the curry powder and the soy and white pepper. Add the stock and mix and mash until you have a puree.  Now add the coconut milk and mix well. Then toss in the tofu and any of the optional ingredients.  Cook for a minute and then add the noodles.  Toss well.  Finally add the spinach and bean shoots and toss again.

Spoon into bowls and garnish with coriander, fried shallots and a squeeze of lemon.  You can add some chili too, if you like it spicy!

Tessa Kiros Tomato Lasagna

My version of Tessa Kiros' Tomato Lasagna

Tomato Sauce

1.25 kg of tinned diced tomatoes

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

a good slosh of olive oil

one cup of warm water of stock

bunch of fresh basil or a teaspoon full of dried Italian herbs

8 sheets of instant lasagna (the dried one) : I used one family sized packet : about 350g

250g Parmesan

Bechamel Sauce

1 litre of warmed milk

3/4 cup of plain flour

120g of butter

nutmeg

Make the Tomato Sauce First

Heat the oil and gently fry the garlic till it's fragrant (not browned!) Throw in the tomatoes. Cook for 15 minutes, and then add 1 cup of water (or you could use stock!) Season with salt and pepper and then simmer it on a low heat while you make the Bechamel sauce. (You are meant to puree it, but I didn't, because I am lazy and I don't like too many dishes!)

Make the Bechamel Sauce Next

First warm your milk. Then in a separate large-ish pot melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, add the flour and whisk like crazy to make a smooth butter and flour paste. Continue to stir the floury butter over the heat for a few minutes to cook the floury taste away. Now start whisking in the warm milk a slosh at a time. Don't stop whisking! Your Bechamel will end up nice and thick and smooth. Good work. It needs to be thick so that it layers nicely.

Assemble it All

Grease a lasagna suitable dish or just slosh some oil and and coat the dish well with it using a pastry brush or your fingers. My dish was around 20cm x 30cm and quite deep. Slosh a layer of Bechamel sauce in first and spread it over the base. Put two sheets of dried lasagna atop the Bechamel. Now layer tomato sauce, then Bechamel, then Parmesan, then lasagna. Do that two times. Then add a final layer of lasagna and top with Bechamel, more Parmesan and dot with any leftover tomato sauce.

Cook in a 360F/180C degree oven for 30 minutes until golden and cheesy.

Eat it all up!

Serves 6

30 Soupy Recipes

Salt N Peppa Shakers via here

Last night we put an extra blanket on the bed.  And we had the heater on at the breakfast table.  You know what that means?  It's time for soup! I really love soup!  Soup with crusty bread, soup with crackers, soup with toasted sandwiches, soup, soup, SOUP!  Here are 30 extra great soup recipes for you to peruse.  Let me know if you make anything... I think I am going to do Sophie Grigson's soup tonight!

1. Chicken and Rice Soup via Martha //// here
2. Baked Potato Soup via Smitten Kitchen //// here
3. Happiness Soup via Nigella //// here
4. Spicy Parsnip Soup via Jamie Oliver //// here
5. Feel Good Chicken Broth via Jamie Oliver //// here
6. Cream of Cauliflower Soup via Pip! //// here
7. Stefano De Pieri's Minestrone via Pip! //// here
8. Chickpea and Celery Soup via Gourmet Traveller //// here
9. Corn, Bacon and Potato Soup via Pip! //// here
10. Lovely Mushroom Soup via Pip! //// here
11. Creamy Tomato Soup via The Splendid Table //// here
12. Vintage Vogue Soup Paysanne via Pip! //// here
13. Chicken Noodle Soup via Gourmet Traveller //// here
14. Kylie Kwong's Sweetcorn and Crab Soup via Lifestyle //// here
15. Madame E Saint-Ange's Pumpkin Soup via Recipes For Two //// here
16. Tyler Florence's Roasted Tomato Soup via Lifestyle //// here
17. Broccoli Soup via Chocolate and Zucchini //// here
18. French Onion Soup via Girl Cook In Paris //// here
19. Pumpkin, Barley and Miso Soup via Gourmet Traveller //// here
20. Coconut Red Lentil Soup via 101 Cookbooks //// here
21. Julia Child's Leek and Potato Soup via Food Network //// here
22. Simple Carrot Soup via Stone Soup Blog //// here
23. Sophie Grigson's Vegetable Soup via BBC Food //// here
24. Nigel Slater's Bubble and Squeak Soup via BBC Food //// here
25. Rachel Allen's Chicken and Udon Soup via Lifestyle //// here
26. Simple Tom Yum Soup via ABC Sydney //// here
27. Pea and Ham Soup via Gourmet Traveller //// here
28. Bill Granger's White Bean and Chorizo Soup via Lifestyle //// here
29. Rice Noodle Soup with Beef and Fresh Herbs via The Splendid Table //// here
30. Julia Child's Leek and Pepper Soup via Smell My Kitchen //// here

Pip's Kimchi Salad

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My Kimchi Salad

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Basic Ingredients
One tub of Kimchi from your local Asian grocer (I buy the Chinese Cabbage style one!)
One packet of ramen or soba noodles
2 diced cucumbers
1 diced avocado
1/2 tub of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 handful of diced beancurd
(you can also add some blanched peas, green beans, snow pea sprouts... whatever YOU love!)


Dressing
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon of sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon of mirin
1/2 tablespoon of nice vinegar (white wine, red wine or sherry are all good!)


Garnish
a handful of fried shallots (the kind you buy in a packet!)
a sprinkling of chopped peanuts if you like
a lemon or a lime squeezed over the top
Optional :: Coriander

How To:
Cook the noodles in a big pot of boiling water as per the instructions on the packet. Be careful not to over cook them. That would be yuck. No one likes mooshy noodles. Test them often until they are done. Now, cool the noodles under cold running water and drain them thoroughly.

Mix all the other ingredients together in a BIG BOWL. You can just slosh it all together and mix it up nicely with a pair of tongs or a spoon.Try not to mush it to much if you have added the avocado, or better still, put it on last. Add the cold, drained noodles and toss well again. If you are hands on, use your hands, but keep your chili fingers away from your face etc!

Plate it up and garnish with the shallots, peanuts and lemon or lime! You can add fresh herbs, too, if you like. Coriander would be lovely!

:: Crockpot Concussion Beef

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Crockpot Concussion Beef 

(to have in tortillas or tacos)

based on this recipe

500g of gravy beef

1 tin of tomatoes, juice and all

1 jar of nice quality salsa

1 cup of chicken stock

1 diced onion

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

a tablespoon of cumin
a teaspoon of paprika : smoked or not

a teaspoon of dried mixed herbs

1 teaspoon of brown sugar

a slosh of sherry vinegar or other nice vinegar

Lots of ground black pepper (or lovely white pepper!)

Some salt

Some olive oil

NB : I add chilli to my own, because my kids are not super spicy, but you can add chilli when you cook it if you like... and some beans would be nice too!

Mix all these things together, drizzle with some olive oil and put in a heavy based pan in a low oven for 4 hours.

Or in a slow cooker for 6 hours on high : if you use a slow cooker you will need to remove the meat and reduce the sauce down at the end.

Pull the beef apart with two forks and serve in tortillas with some of its sauce and lots of avocado, tomato, lettuce, jalapenos and extra salsa!  Cheese is nice for some people too, so add cheese if you like!

Cauliflower Soup

Here is what we had for lunch today. I like to go to the market on Saturdays before dawn and shop for the whole week as the sun comes up. Then I like to have a big breakfast at home. Maybe bagels, maybe a fry up, maybe a breakfast pizza.... and lots of cups of tea and coffee.  Then I mess about and do a few jobs.  Then I put some soup on.  This week it's Cream of Cauliflower soup.  We had it with a sprinkle of paprika and some Garlic and Cheese bread thrown in for good measure.  Probably that is uncouth.  But I like to throw bread into my soup. I do.  Do  you?  Or am I freaking you out?

xx Pip

Messy Recipe from last time : Minestrone Con Bruschetta

Minestrone

This very delicious recipe is taken from Stefano de Pieri's 'Modern Italian Food'.  Ari had two bowls and commented that it was 'So good and vegetables don't taste like anything, do they?'  Do not ask me why it is called Minestrone con Bruschetta. I do not know. (But if YOU do then DO tell us.)

Also, as an aside, Stefano says to cook little pasta shapes or beans separately and add them in at the end for best results, if you like those in there. In my experience this sounds good as it will keep your soup from being too cloudy and starchy. Enjoy soup. Soup is ace.

xx Pip

Fish and Chips

Fabulous Fish Dishes
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Fish and Chips


So, last night I was out at a Trade Show and the boys took the reins with the old Yellow Box. They decided on Fish and Chips, shopped, cooked and even took some stylish photos to prove it!   Apparently the Fish and Chips were delicious and the batter was lovely and light and crispy. They made the Tartare Sauce and thought that was good too.  My people are big fans of the golden delight that is Fish and Chips and much prefer the home-made version to the shop bought.

How about you? Do you make your own? Do you buy it in?  Are you a fan?  Potato Cakes? Tartare Sauce? Chiko Rolls?  What's your fancy?!

xx Pip

Chicken Pie

Great Ways With Chicken and Duck
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Chicken Pie

I will tell you straight up that we LOVED this recipe.  It was delicious.  We ate it all, as you can see, and Max especially liked it.  You can also see that there is a pond of butter left in the dish.  It has 60g of butter in it. Yikes.  I reckon you could easily use half that amount and still get a great result.

I made this while Gemma and Ari were playing Monopoly the other night.  Then Gem headed off to dinner with a friend and we tucked in to this golden deliciousness.

What I like about this recipe is that you get to make a big pot of stock to use later.  You boil a whole chicken 'in the usual way' to make stock and then you pull the meat from the chicken and add it to your pie filling.  Be sure you add lots of pepper and salt as there is no seasoning mentioned in this recipe.  We put enough water into just cover the chicken : about 3 litres.  We added carrots and parsley and onion and garlic and celery to the stock pot too.

Also worth noting is that you might want to do the stock/chicken part ahead of time as it's not nice trying to pull a hot chicken apart.  So maybe prepare that earlier like I didn't. I burnt my fingers a titch. Not good.

I made pastry leaves for the top of my pie, I think my Nan did that and I like to do that too.  You could put chicken shapes or other cute shapes atop yours.  That would be nice.  Later you can use the stock to make something else great, like wonton soup or chicken and vegetable soup.

Do you like chicken pie? If you do this one is really yummy.  The best one I have ever made.  Did your Mum cook this?

xx Pip

Tuna Casserole

Money Saving Meals
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Tuna Casserole

Hi!  Hi!  Okay.  Here's the thing.  Max hates tuna.  He loathes it, in fact.  He really loves anything else fishy, but tuna is a no-go.  On Friday Max stayed at Leon's house, which meant we could try this recipe out (again) without Max getting antsy or going hungry.

Let me just put it out there that I LOVE TUNA CASSEROLE.  I have not eaten it for years, but my Mum used to make it when we were kids and it was one of my very favourite meals.  She used to make a different one to this.  It had Cream of Celery Soup in it.  I wish I had THAT recipe. If you have it, can you send it to me?!

This AWW Yellow Box recipe was pretty delicious.  This really is comfort food.  I added HEAPS of lemon and pepper and salt at the end and piled it on to grainy toast. Yum.  Ari, who is a fan of rice, tuna and corn did not much like this.  Go figure.  I am not sure why.  I think it was the sort of non-cheesy-mornay-esque base that weirded him out.  He's not genetically programmed to like that kind of thing.  We live on very clean, simple flavours... creamy saucy things are not on our menu very often.  But he TRIED to eat this because he recognized the key ingredients were friends of his.  Cam liked it... not a lot... but a bit.

I think Tuna Casserole is the kind of thing you have to have nostalgic ties to, to like.  I like it.  I grew up with it.  Those that have not grown up with it were not huge fans. Do you like it?  

xx Pip

Chicken In Nectar

Great Ways With Chicken and Duck
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Chicken in Nectar
(and also Honeyed Chicken)

Hi!

I do not really like Apricot Chicken.  I don't know why... I think it might be the whole fruit and meat thing that freaks me out. I do, however, applaud those who DO like it. Good for them.  Max and Cam and Ari like it.  I prefer something less fruity for my dinner.  In fact,  I made a big bowl of miso soup with vegetables the night that we had this.

Fruit aside, the thing I do like about this is the soup base... You know a lot of those seventies recipes start with a packet or a tin of some kind of soup.  French Onion seems to be a favourite flavour base for this era... and Cream of Celery or Cream of Mushroom Soup. I was at the supermarket this morning turning over the soup cans, and they really do still have some good basic recipes on them.  If you had just moved out of home, or you did not have a clue about cooking, a can of soup can totally help  you out on the comforting, hearty dinner front.

The other cool thing about this card is that it has a 'hidden' recipe.   A lot of the AWW Yellow Box cards have two recipes on the back of them.  You can find the 'hidden' recipe in the Index Book that comes with the box, but it's not listed on the top of the card nor pictured on the front of the card. Sneaky and cool, methinks.  Kind of a bonus recipe.

Do you make things with tinned or packet soup as the base?  Do you like this recipe?  Is this something you cook now, or something that someone in your family used to cook?

xx Pip

Baked Rigatoni

Rice and Pasta - The World's Best Dishes
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Baked Rigatoni


Hmm. Well. Let me just say this straight up. Good concept but bad recipe.  Sorry AWW.  I do love you a lot, but this recipe was completely annoying.  You are meant to COOK the rigatoni. And THEN stuff them.  Hmm. Nope. No. Nada.  Cooked rigatoni are very prone to splitting.  They don't like to be stuffed.  But don't let that stop you : just use cannelloni and it will be fine.

I knew my kids would love this recipe if I could get it to work.  So I bought some super huge rigatoni from Simon Johnson (which is in my neighbourhood).  You may not be able to find super huge rigatoni.  And it is expensive.    So as I said, just use cannelloni and everything will be alright.   Mr Simon did not have cannelloni.  Probably cannelloni is a bit retro from him.  (I don't think he had vol au vents either.)  We had to buy the super huge... and that worked okay too.

It took a  while to stuff all the pasta tubes, but it was kind of fun and sort of therapeutic.  I got to think about Lou and Frankie in Love My Way.... and wonder what the heck Lewis is all about.... sip wine... listen to Neil Diamond.... that kind of thing.  Tubes (uncooked) stuffed, sauce made, into oven.  There followed lots of topping up with water (you could use stock) to ensure the pasta was kept moist and cooked through.

I put the cheese on once the pasta was cooked and let it brown a bit more.   And then it was all done. And very super hot as it cooked for just over an hour at a pretty high temperature.

The kids DID love this, especially Max.  But yes, forget the rigatoni unless you are a masochist like me.  Go for cannelloni and you will be grinning from ear to here.

I think this would be even nicer with ricotta and spinach, but I am not allowed to divert from the recipe without good reason (says me) so I stuck with the meaty filling.

I saw Julie in an op-shop in Blackburn on Friday. Hi Julie!  I have been working on the zig-zag blanket.  I have been making lamb shanks a la Jamie Oliver (with raisins and apples - quite sweet!), I have been going to see James and The Giant Peach at ACMI with Ari. I have been mulling over books for Book Club.  I have been watching the final eps of Love My Way Season 3.  I have been visiting Camberwell Market with Cam and Ari : I saw Chris and Kitty there and they are rad.  I have been eating smoked trout dip on rye bread... and tomato and cheese on french stick (with salami).  I have been working on project ideas for Book 3.

How was you weekend?  Do you like Baked Pasta?  Do you have a favourite recipe?  Do you like Love My Way?  (I have stopped watching Offspring... sigh. I just can't do it. Sigh.)

xx Pip