Roasted Vegetable Lasagne

I enjoy vegetarian meals, and whilst I eat meat, it's great to have meatless days too.  I am a very fussy meat eater - for instance I will only buy sausages from my trusted butcher, I'd never eat a burger unless I make it myself, likewise with bolognese sauce, who knows what's hidden in that innocent looking sauce. I would never buy a sandwich which contains meat of any description.....yes I'm a very, very fussy meat eater.

The lasagne recipe is from BBC GoodFood website, I made a few substitutions, I'm not too keen on aubergines and used a couple of courgettes, red onions, yellow and red pepper and sliced chestnut mushrooms. Everything in the recipe is made from scratch including the tomato sauce, it's best to be prepared to spend quite some time in the kitchen but the result is worth it.  I served mine with a leafy salad and sundried tomato flatbread.

The original recipe includes a white sauce but I think a cheese sauce would have worked well. Have you made a sauce which tastes of flour?  Step by step instructions from WikiHow - show how to make a white/cheese sauce and how to avoid this problem.

CHIANTI BAKED MEATBALLS

Over the next few weeks, I have decided to cook a few recipes from Jo Pratt's wonderful book -
In the Mood for Food
ISBN 9780718148584 - page 122

There are six chapters in the book: In the Mood.....for Being Healthy, Something Naughty but Nice, Some Comfort, Being Lazy, Being Extravagant and Being Romantic.

The Chianti baked meatballs are light in texture with lots of flavour. The meatballs are cooked in a rich tomato, red wine and basil sauce. This is a one pot meal, cooked in the oven from start to finish. The only alteration I made to the recipe, was to leave out the olives from the meatball mixture - olives aren't a huge hit in this family. The basil leaves are out of my garden, only small leaves are left because garden creatures have destroyed all the other leaves!

You can serve the meatballs with pasta, or potato mixed with rosemary and olive oil, this can then be cooked in the oven with the meatballs.

The recipe can be found here on Nigella's site and is a recipe recommended by Nigella's Admin! I too, would recommend this recipe and I know it won't be long before my husband requests this again.

PASTA WITH SPINACH AND CHERRY TOMATOES

I think it's a while now since I posted something that can be cooked quickly. Well I'm making up for it now with this pasta dish that can be rustled up in about 20 minutes.
If only pasta will do, time is short, you need to feed the children plus yourselves with something that is nutritious, filling and colourful then this ticks all of the boxes.
In an ideal world you would need warm sunshine, colourful garden, table and chairs and eat this outside in a large pasta bowl - but Autumn has arrived. This recipe is guaranteed to brighten up a grey day and the good thing is you haven't had to slave over a hot stove!

This is a slightly adapted recipe:

GOOD HOUSEKEEPING - THE COOK'S CLASSIC COMPANION

ISBN 009186366 - Page 291

Serves: 4

400g dried pasta, such as orecchiette or shells, salt and pepper, 45ml olive oil, 2tbsp pine nuts (obviously omit this for very small children), 450g very ripe cherry tomatoes, different coloured ones would be good(halved), 75g spinach or rocket leaves, 50g Parmesan cheese, freshly pared (to serve).

1. Cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water until al dente.
2. A few minutes before the pasta will be ready, heat 2 tbsp oil in a large saucepan. Add the pine nuts and cook for 1-2 minutes until golden. Add the tomatoes and cook for barely 1 minute until only just heated through, not disintegrated. (Although I cook mine until they start to break down a little).
3. Save a cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta thoroughly and toss with the remaining olive oil. Add the pasta to the tomatoes, then add the rocket. Carefully stir to mix and heat through. If the pan ingredients seem a little dry add some of the pasta water. Season generously with salt and pepper. Serve immediately topped with plenty of Parmesan shavings.

LEMON LINGUINE

I love eating this, but trust me, it doesn't taste the same if eaten indoors! A wonderful warm sunny day so that you can eat alfresco is a must.
Unfortunately I couldn't get any linguine, and so I had to second-best it and use spaghetti, still ok but not quite the same.
When a recipe asks for pasta, lemon, Parmesan cheese and parsley you really can't go far wrong.
Some green leaves need to be served alongside this, I opted for watercress. A piece of toasted ciabatta is good too.
How to Eat by Nigella Lawson is still one of my favourite cookery books. It's packed with recipes and just a handful of photographs.
The weather forecast is good for this coming weekend, so here is something quick, simple and very tasty.

HOW TO EAT BY NIGELLA LAWSON

ISBN 0701165766 - Page 253

Serves 6 (can easily be scaled down)

750g linguine, 2 egg yolks, 150ml double cream, 50g freshly grated Parmesan cheese, zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon, 15g butter, fresh flat-leaf parsley.

1. Fill a pot with water and bring to the boil. Add some salt. Tip in the pasta, bring back to the boil and cook for a couple minutes less than it says on the packet of pasta.
2. In a bowl, put the yolks, cream, grated Parmesan cheese, zest of the whole lemon and juice of half of it, a pinch of salt and a good grating of pepper and beat together until just combined.
3. Remove a cup of cooking liquid, drain the pasta and then, off the heat, toss it back in the pan, throw in the butter and stir and swirl about to make sure the butter's melted and pasta covered by it all over.
4. Stir in the egg, cream, cheese and lemon mix and turn the pasta well, adding some of the cooking liquid if it looks a bit dry (2 tablespoons or so should do it).
Sprinkle over some just-chopped parsley and serve straight away.