Chilli and Vodka pasta

We've had a couple of days of really blustery gusts in Manchester this week, and poor Mr P has had to cycle to work in - not very nice at all. So I decided the best way to mitigate this would be by making him a nice bone-warming dinner to sort him out after his latest 14 hour day.

 

This dish has a little bit of everything you need in this situation - the pasta helps you to carb back up after a tough bike ride, the protein in the kidney beans helps to keep you full, the chilli peps you up when you're dog tired, and although the cooking process destroys the alcohol content of the vodka, it leaves behind a little bit of fiery 'je ne sais quoi' that leaves a satisfied smile on your face.

 

Plus, the whole meal can be easily prepared in under half an hour - bonus!

 

I'm entering this recipe into the monthly Pasta Please, run by Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes. This month the theme is chilli, and it's hosted by hosted by Shaheen at A2K.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chilli and Vodka Pasta

serves 2-3

 

 

Ingredients:

 

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 red chilli (with seeds), chopped

1 tablespoon tomato puree

2 measures (50ml) vodka

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 tin kidney beans, drained

 

enough pasta to feed 2/3 people

 

 

 

Method:

 

1. Start to cook the pasta on the hob, whilst you prepare your sauce.

 

2. Gently fry the onion in your oil in a saucepan until it starts to soften. Then add the chilli, garlic and tomato puree, and cook for a minute or so more. Adding the tomato puree at this early stage helps to take away any bitterness and give a slightly sweeter flavour.

 

3. At this point, add the kidney beans, vodka and chopped tomatoes and stir well. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for a further 15-20 minutes or so until the sauce has thickened somewhat.

 

4. Meanwhile, when the pasta is cooked al dente, drain well. Serve either with the sauce on top, or stir the pasta into the sauce at the last minute for full coverage.

Macaroni 1: Meltdown 0!

Ladies and Gents, I have to warn you that this post may take on the form of a bit of a rant. It's been a funny few days; an emotional rollercoaster, some may say. And not due to anything specific, either. Just the culmination of a hundred little niggling issues which combined to induce a melodramatic meltdown of epic proportions, which it turned out that only food could cure.

I'm very aware that committing any of these minor catastrophes to writing will decrease their significance to the extent that my reaction will make me feel psychologically unhinged. However, suffice it to say that after hearing (after 3 weeks of to-and-fro phonecalls; actually, mostly to- and not much fro) that the passport office have lost my marriage certificate (apparently due to posting it back normal delivery, even though I paid for courier service), then rushing to source a last-minute van after finding out that my Dad wanted his house move to take place this weekend, only to be informed by Mr P that we've got guests coming ("I told you weeks ago!"/"I'm pretty sure you didn't!"), organising the time off to do the move early next week instead, then finding that Dad had already roped in extra 'volunteers' for Saturday, but managing to put them off as nicely as possible, then finding out that next week's conference paper, whch I thought was 90% done, was actually 18 pages of vapid nonsense, I was not in the best of spirits.

But hark! What is that I hear? Is it the sound of an email notification from Schuh alerting me to their 25% off sale? And lo! Do my eyes deceive me, or are the shiny red lovelies that I have been aspirationally referring to as my "Birthday shoes" included in said sale? Could it be that my day was suddenly taking a turn for the much, much, better?

Erm, no. Because they only had three sizes left, and mine wasn't one of them. Cue: meltdown!

In a situation like this, there is only one cure: comfort food, and lots of it.

Meltdown-busting Macaroni cheese

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

2 cups dried macaroni

1 des sp butter

2 tblsp sunflower oil

1 des spoon plain flour

2 cups milk (I used soya milk)

3 des spoon nutritional yeast

1/2 dessert spoon paprika

1/2 tsp mustard powder

good shake of black pepper

grated cheese (mature cheddar) a block about 2cm x 2cm x 8cm (you can't be expected to wigh such things when you are having a meltdown)

Method:

1. Cook the macaroni in boiling water as per the instructions on the packet - don't over cook it though, as it should be a little al dente.

2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a moderate heat, then add the oil. Stir in the flour and mustard powder to form a thick roux.

3. Add in the milk, stirring continously, then stir in the paprika, pepper, and nutritional yeast.

4. When they are all blended in well, stir in the grated cheese. If the meltdown is serious, you may wish to grate some more to sprinkle over the finished dish as a protest against class and decency (I did).

5. When the macaroni is cooked, remove both pans from the heat. Drain the macaroni thoroughly and add it to the pan of cheese sauce, and mix until all of the macaroni is completely covered.

6. Serve in a large bowl, and eat with a big spoon. You will feel immediately a lot better.

7. If you're not quite up to 100% mental fitness after the macaroni cheese, then fry up a big batch of popcorn with inordinate amounts of salt, and treat yourself to a teacup of Galliano vanilla liqueur on the side.

What?! Are you looking at me funny?

No, seriously, I'm better now.

Or am I?

Yeah, honestly I am.

Vegetarian Sauce Puttanesca

Traditionally, puttanesca sauce gets a lot of the depth and richness of its flavour from the inclusion of anchovies. This vegetarian version recreates some of those flavours with the addition of gherkins and fish-free Worcester sauce. It's incredible simple to make and you can whack it on a high heat if you want to speed up the process. However, the flavours definitely come across richer and more satisfying if you have the patience to simmer for longer on a low heat, as this recipe suggests. Any unused sauce will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Ingredients
Olive oil
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 tblsp capers
3 gherkins, finely chopped
10 green olives
10 black olives
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (400g)
1-2 tblsp fish-free Worcester sauce
1 des. spoon dried oregano
1tsp ground black pepper

Method

1. Gently fry the chilli, garlic, capers, gherkin and olives for a few minutes, stirring continuously until the garlic turns translucent. I like to keep the olives whole, as I think this adds more interest to the texture of the sauce.

2. Add the chopped tomatoes and fish-free Worcester sauce and increase the heat, stirring continuosly until the sauce starts to bubble.

3. Add the oregano and black pepper and reduce the heat. Let the sauce simmer for 20-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Shortly before the end of the cooking time, test the sauce and add more fish-free Worcester sauce, pepper and oregano if necessary.