Midnight Pasta

Last night, as I got in around midnight, feeling starving hungry, I raided the cupboards looking for something that I could quickly throw in the microwave. My attempt at locating anything instantly edible failed, so instead I reverted to an old favourite, pasta with tomato sauce. In reality it is not much more time-consuming than a microwavable meal, but I think it’s infinitely more tasty and nutritious. The recipe below feeds two hungry people.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 small red onion

1 teaspoon ground sea salt

½ teaspoon mixed dried herbs

1 clove garlic

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 ½ tablespoons tomato puree

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 pinch of sugar

1 teaspoon dried oregano

freshly ground pepper

150g pasta

2 medium sized carrots

75g butternut squash

½ red pepper

75g broccoli

grated cheese

Finely chop the onion, and add to a saucepan with some gently heated oil in it. Add the salt and herbs now, as the onion soaks up a lot of flavour during the first few minutes of cooking. Chop the garlic, and add to the onion. Leave to sauté on low heat for a few minutes until the onion is soft. Now add the tomatoes, and bring to the boil. After simmering for a couple of minutes, add the tomato puree, vinegar and sugar. These last three ingredients bring a depth of flavour to the sauce.

Leave the sauce to simmer, stir occasionally to make sure it doesn’t stick. Just before it’s ready to serve, add oregano and ground pepper.

While the sauce simmers, prepare the pasta and vegetables; Fill a saucepan with water, add the pasta, and turn the heat on. Chop the carrots, squash, pepper and broccoli as finely as you can, and add these to the pasta. Add a drop of oil. Leave to boil until soft.

Drain the pasta & vegetables, and serve with the sauce and grated cheese.

Nettle Soup

This is a brilliant soup to make in spring when the nettles start springing up everywhere. Not only does it taste great, but it is also very cheap to make.

Make sure the nettles you pick are clean and found away from the busiest roads. Wash them thoroughly before use.

When picking the nettles, wear leather or plastic gloves to stop them from stinging you (I often just use a plastic bag over my hand). Only use the top leaves, as these have the least sting, and they also taste best.

If you don’t have access to nettles, you can use spinach instead.

Serves 4

600 g nettles

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons plain flour OR gluten free flour

1 pinch salt

900 ml vegetable stock

100 ml whipping cream

a handful of fresh sage leaves

freshly ground pepper

Bring a pan of water to the boil, and add your nettles. Cook for 2 minutes, and plunge the nettles into cold water to cool them. The rapid heating and cooling process mean that the sting is removed from the nettles while the taste and structure remain.

While your nettles are cooling, make the soup base; Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour, and mix well. Add the salt, and then carefully mix in the stock, adding a little bit at a time to avoid it clumping. When you have a smooth liquid, add the cream.

Chop your nettles and add to the soup base.

Heat the soup for a couple of minutes while adding ground pepper and sage to taste, but be careful not to let it boil, as this can make the cream split.

This soup is delicious served with boiled eggs and fresh bread.

Food Writing Workshop at Ballymaloe Cookery School

Was it worth it? As I crawled bleary-eyed out of bed and staggered in the general direction of the shower, my eyelids so heavy I could hardly see and my head thumping from lack of sleep, I wished I’d had the good sense to stay at home this weekend. Instead I had attended a writing workshop at Ballymaloe Cookery School in Cork, Ireland.

The workshop took place on Saturday 19 February 2011, and was run by Ross Golden-Bannon, the editor of the Irish Food & Wine magazine. And it was brilliant. Not only did we talk about writing-techniques, but we workshopped examples of writing submitted by course participants. There was some enlightening and useful advice, and for the people who had submitted writing (I was one of them) it was fantastic to receive feedback from such a generous but discerning group of foodies.

A delicious lunch was provided by the cookery school, with care taken for people with special dietary requirements. The food was made by the students on the 12-week cookery course currently taking place (they are almost half-way through the course). Looking around, there were a lot of happy faces in the restaurant. And not only people from the writing course, but also local people enjoying their Saturday lunch.

In the afternoon we looked at more texts by famous and renowned chefs and food-writers, and through discussions we identified why these masters of food are also masters of writing. Very interesting indeed. And I am sure I’m not the only one coming away from the weekend feeling enthused and inspired.

Unfortunately County Cork did not show itself in the best possible way. There was more or less constant rain, fog, and an unpleasant cold breeze coming in from the sea. I had arrived early on the Friday before the course, and was leaving on the Sunday evening, to do some sightseeing while I was in the area. In principle this had been a good idea, but next time I will definitely bring more warm clothes, and maybe a hot water bottle. But as the lovely owners of the B&B where I stayed pointed out, February is not really the best time to visit any place in northern Europe – it is likely to be wet and cold.

The only thing to bring a damper to my weekend was the flight home. Not only was the flight delayed by over four hours, but the ground staff were not particularly helpful or friendly. Apart form the guards at the security check, that is. Never have I met airport security guards more sympathetic and friendly. They were the sort of people that nothing is too much trouble for. For passengers to go in and out of the checked area to get refreshments was fine, and instead of confiscating liquid they suggested where we could sit down to finish our drinks before going through.

In the end I eventually made it back to the UK, but sadly too late to catch the last train of the day. So what followed were some cold and rather uncomfortable hours trying to doze on a bench at the station before finally getting home. And OMG was I happy to see my bed. I just wished I could have stayed there longer than the two hours I got; when the alarm clock went off I was still very much asleep and not at all ready to go to work.

But even though I am somewhat sleep deprived, and today has been a hard day at work, it was definitely worth it. Just spending the day in the company of likeminded foodies, getting the quality of feedback and inspiration that we did, and visiting the beautiful cookery school more than makes up for my temporary tiredness. And who needs sleep anyway?.