Pasta with lemon, prosciutto and chilli

I've had some requests in this week, one for a recipe for success, one for pie and the other for my other brownie recipe....

So here's my wife's favorite "simple" dinner - thanks to our favorite Chef, Bill Granger.

Ingredients:

60ml (1/4 cup) lemon juice

60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil (or sesame oil - it tastes better)

2 fresh red chillies, seeded and finely chopped

12 slices of prosciutto, cut or torn into thin strips

1 tablespoon of grated lemon zest

250g (1 bunch) of rocket leaves, shredded

400g (14 oz) good quality dried spaghetti (or linguine, or tagliatelle)

1. Whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, chili and some salt and pepper in a bowl to blend
2. Put the prosciutto, lemon zest and the rocket leaves in a bowl and toss to combine
3. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and add immediately to the prosciutto and rocket, pour the dressing over and toss to combine
4. Transfer to a large serving dish and divide amongst four bowls.

Remember with simple recipes like this, you can throw in some of your favorite ingredients.

Instead of Prosciutto, pan fry some king prawns in a little butter and finely sliced garlic, add some fresh vine tomatoes to colour and sweeten and then add to the dish with some coarsely ripped basil leaves.

I will post the recipe for success once I find it myself..... and only after attempting to make it myself (just to be sure!)

Easy Chocolate Brownie

I have two recipes for Brownies - this is the easy one which you can bang together at very short notice (about 20 mins). This is a John Torode recipe, and I keep going back to it because it takes minimal effort and comes out good every time.

I have no photos of this as it rarely makes it out of the tin without me turning round to find huge swathes of it suddenly missing.

Ingredients:

140g Butter, plus more for greasing

50g  Cocoa

2 medium eggs

225g Caster Sugar

1 Drop of Vanilla Extract

70g Toasted Hazelnuts (optional)

70g Chocolate chunks - whatever you fancy

100g Plain Flour

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180c/350F/Gas 4.
2. Grease a square (square only if you want even squares of end product - round tins can be used if you want to do 'cake' slices - but in the Crabb house, I find half of it missing before it even cools down) cake tin or baking pan with butter and line with baking parchment.
3. Put the butter in a heavy-based pan with the cocoa and heat VERY GENTLY until the butter melts
4. In a mixing bowl, beat (cream) together the eggs and caster sugar until the mixture turns pale
5. Slowly fold in the butter and cocoa mixture. Add the vanilla extract and stir well. Fold in the chopped nuts and/or chocolate and the flour.
6. Pout the mixture into the prepared baking tin and bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until just firm to the touch.
7. Leave to cool in the tin - do not turn it out onto a wire rack, then cut it into squares, slices, stick your face in it....

Chocolate Cornflake cakes.....or rice crispies

Ingredients

50g Butter
4 tbsp golden syrup
100 g dark chocolate, 
75g cornflakes or rice crispies

Method

 

1. Gently melt the butter, syrup and chocolate in a small, heavy pan. Stir in the cornflakes. 

2. Place large spoonfuls of the mixture on a buttered baking sheet and leave to set in the refrigerator.

Banana Cake

You've got some bananas that you've left for too long, they're destined for the bin.....

Not with this recipe

Ingredients:

4oz butter

6oz Sugar

8oz self raising flour

2 eggs

2 large or 3 medium (very ripe) bananas

Method:

Heat the oven to gas mark 4, 180C

Grease a 2lb loaf tin.

Mash the bananas with a sturdy fork.

Cream the butter and sugar together, then mix in the eggs.

Mix the bananas into the sugar, butter and eggs.

Mix in the flour.

Scrape the mixture into the greased loaf tin

Bake for 40 minutes at 180c

After 40 minutes, turn the oven down to gas mark 4, 150c

Leave it in there for a further 30 mins.

Test it with a knife in the centre of the cake - if the knife comes out clean, or cleanish, then it's done.

Turn it out onto a cooking rack and try to let it cool down before you devour it.

7 Months!!!!

Well, it's been 7 months since my last posting.

Blogger shut me down with a message saying that my blog was being investigated for hosting malware and generally bad hacking reasons.....

Needless to say I was suprised that my biscuit recipe caused so much controversy

BUT I'M BACK!

And will start getting recipes back up again - we have some good ones that have become firm favorites in the Crabb house - especially the Banana cake - which will be the next posting

Hope you're all well - speak to you soon

R