What’s Your Guilty Pleasure

Regardless of our refined our tastes may be, we all have a few guilty pleasures. Foods that we just love even though we know we shouldn't. I am very much against processed food, but there are some to which I just can't seem to shake my addiction! I have to admit that a lot of these were introduced to me on my trips to the US, like Twinkies, peppermint patties and potato bread. Even now back in Zambia I crave potato bread hot dogs. I also love canned pasta, especially Heinz Macaroni Cheese. When I was in Italy I fell in love with Kinder Brioche, a type of oblong cake that Italians like to eat for breakfast. Again I still pine after these tasty sponge cakes that are just wonderful dipped in coffee and I wonder why they have never been for sale in the UK. Then of course the ultimate sin – pork fat (crispy) and roast chicken skin. Most of my guilty pleasures are comfort foods or foods that remind me of a particular time in my life. Sometimes it's just reverting back to my childhood, who doesn't want to do that every now and then?

So, share with me, what's your list of guilty pleasures?

Mood Enhancing Foods

Obviously being a foodie means I believe eating can cure most things ( a dangerous notion I know!). For years now whenever I am a bit fed up I make the same thing – pasta with tomato sauce. I don't know what it is about this dish that cheers me up so much, I think it's the reminders of sunny days in Italy with friends. Tomato sauce can be so delicious smell so great it immediately lifts my mood and pasta is something I could not live without. Oh and there has to be basil to in the sauce.

Leave your comment on the food you like to eat when you are in a low mood.

Key Lime Pie

I'd hear of key lime pie but had always thought key was for kiwi and the pie was a kiwi, lime pie. Why I thought this would be a traditional southern delicacy, as kiwis are not at all native to the US, I can't say. But then, another speciality is banana pudding and bananas don't come from the US either! I've since discovered that key limes are a type of lime found in Florida, highly prized for their sharp, fragrant taste.

Basically, key lime pie is a lot like lemon meringue pie without the meringue. There's a biscuit crumb base – Graham Cracker usually which you can buy already crumbed, gotta love the States! This buttery base is topped with a thick, tart topping very much like lemon curd only with lime, obviously. While in the North Carolina I tried 3 different versions of this pie, the first topped with whipped cream, the second two simply garnished with a slice of lime. I am in love with this pie, I have never been one for sweet heavy desserts so after a nice serving of rich southern food, the key lime pie is a welcome full stop. Fragrant, quite light and the acidic lime is something of a palette cleanser. Perfection in a pie.

North Carolina travel guide - Wikitravel

For more on the bakcground of North Carolina including its food, go her
North Carolina travel guide - Wikitravel

Eating the Country - Seafood at Southport

This place is great for atmosphere and good honest seafood, shrimp were a little overcooked but still pretty good and the crabcake was really tasty. Loved the fact they gave us salad instead of tons of fries. They have a great system where you just go and get beers as and when, then tell them at the end how many you had. View of bay stunning, clientele and staff friendly and fun. If you ever come by Southport, check it out.

Eating the Country - Asheville

It's amazing when you visit somewhere and never have a bad meal - anywhere. If you want to eat some incredible food Asheville is a foodie's paradise. We were there for 3 day and had everything from nouveau local food, latin inspired, organic and traditional a la carte. Above is a picture of the Sisters McMullen bakery full of incredible cupcakes and great sandwiches, and cheap too.

Locally Sourced

Our first night we ate at Table on College Street. They change their menu everyday and pride themselves on using locally sourced ingredients wherever possible. I ordered rabbit and was impressed with how tender it was. The peas and ricotta gnochi were good accompaniments, however I found the sauce a little overpowering for the subtle taste f the meat.

Staff in the restaurant were friendly and knowledgeable concerning the menu and I had the biggest martini I have ever seen. Great atmosphere, recommended.

Rockin' Pizza

Second night we went to the Mellow Mushroom on Broadway Street. The pizza is more deep pan, but the toppings and sauce are delicious, I went for the Kosmic Karma pizza which had spinach, feta and pesto - really wonderful. Unfortunately it was raining when we went so couldn't sit out on the terrace, this would've been preferable as we found it a bit too loud inside.

Food with a View

For a dinner with oodles of atmosphere you can't beat the Grove Park Inn. Nestled in the mountains just outside of Asheville the views are truly spectacular. We ate on the Sunset Terrace which has an a la carte menu of steaks, duck, seafood and more. We opted for their 3 course for $30 with mussels to start followed by steak diane and cheesecake for dessert. Everything was perfectly cooked and with perfect seasoning, and considering the views, this is an excellent bargain.

Breakfast

We ate breakfast at 3 different places, all great.

Over Easy Cafe on Walnut Street

West End Bakery on Haywood, West Asheville

Chorizo on Page Avenue - by far our favourite, service was a little 'relaxed' but food well worth the wait. Tortillas with eggs, thick pieces of bacon, chutney, guacamole, cilantro-fragrant salsa. Heaven.

Pear and goats cheese salad

THIS IS A GREEN RECIPE

This is a great salad as a starter.

- First, caramelise some pecans. Whip up some egg whites (about 2 large ones) until foamy and drop raw pecans into them

- Remove the nuts and drop them into a zip lock bag containing sugar , toss to coat

- Bake in a low oven for about 20 minutes on a greased baking tray

- leave to cool

- Meanwhile cute a log of goats' cheese like chevre, into wheels and coat in panko

- Grill until crispy

- While the cheese is grilling put salad leaves and slices of crisp pear on each plate

- Dress with balsamic vinegar and olive oil

- Finishe with the cheese and pecans

Chicken Soup

THIS IS A BLUE RECIPE

This is my mother-in-law's wonderful chicken soup. It is simple and hearty with huge noodles.

She makes her soup by cooking chicken breasts in broth then removing and cutting up the breasts while the noodles cook. She then adds sweetcorn and the shredded chicken back to soup. Wonderful.

Eating The Country - Part 2

I make it a rule when visiting somewhere that I try the local specialities first and in North Carolina this means seafood and good 'low country' cooking. The first two pictures show lunch we had at the Raleigh farmer's market. Broiled scallops with home fries, hush puppies and 'slaw. My father-in-law tells me that hush puppies come from years back when cooks would throw a little to the family dog to hush it up. These scallops were just wonderful, tender and flavoursome and ridiculously cheap.

On to the charming and quirky city of Wilmington and a lunch of catfish, grits and collard greens. I love all green vegetables and so collards are a great find. I was surprised at how much I loved the grits too which were creamy and mellow and soaked up the sauce of the fish beautifully.

Food Tourism

Being a foodie means that I love to find a good market but it's not just because I love to eat. Markets are a great opportunity to learn about the landscape and history of a place. This market in Raleigh was full of fresh produce as well as wonderful preserves, pickles and gourmet foods. It was an eye opener and I made some discoveries - apple butter for example, never heard of it and though we bought some, I haven't tried it yet. And the muscadine grape which is used for wine making in the region.

Eating the Country

One of the best things about travelling for me is discovering new food. People are often dismissive about food in the US, claiming it's all about the portions. I have always found my trips to America to be real culinary adventures. The supermarkets alone are an experience, even overwhelming after the simple markets of Zambia. I was amazed at the freezer sections in supermarkets here, easily 4 times the size of the ones in Zambian supermarkets.

To be honest, the awe is short-lived when you realise that a lot of the processed foods sold in the US are rather awful. The one exception I make is for Twinkies! I have a real passion for these terrifyingly bright yellow cakes with cream so sweet your teeth ache just looking at them. Bad for you they may be but I love them. I also love peppermint patties; they are one of the few candies I can stand.

Supermarkets aside, we are in North Carolina where there is a strong food culture of seafood and southern cooking and I am looking forward to sampling all the 'low country' has to offer.

To be continued...

Variation on a Theme: Lentil and Potato Bake

Anyone who follows my recipes will know I am a bit of a bake fanatic. So comforting and yummy and I usually incorporate my favourite béchamel sauce in it somewhere. This recipe got more elaborate the more I got involved, it's sort of a bastardised shepherd's pie. I didn't have any mince so went for brown lentils instead and dreaded the idea of mashing potatoes with a fork so decided on potato slices instead, then I decided to make it moussaka-like with my béchamel.

Like my other bakes I made more than enough for two otherwise it is a bit of hassle for less reward. Freeze the rest.

• 250 grams of dry lentils – brown or green
  


• 3 – 4 large potatoes
  


• 2 carrots
  


• 1 medium sized onion sliced
  


• 2 large tomatoes finely chopped
  


• 1 garlic clove
  


• 1 glasss of dry white wine
  


• Dried oregano
  


• Worcestershire sauce
  


• Salt and pepper
  


• Bechamel sauce
  

Cook you lentils until soft, about 45 minutes to 1 hour

Parboil large potatoes halved, for about 10-15 minutes and then drain and leave to cool.

Fry the onion and carrots then add garlic and the tomatoes

Add your cooked lentils and a glass of dry white wine, reduce the wine

Add a tablespoon of tomato puree and half a mug of vegetable stock

Add some dried oregano and salt and pepper and a dash of Worcestershire sauce, simmer until thick

Make your béchamel, go here for the recipe.

Spread the lentils onto a baking tin, add half the béchamel then the potato slices. Add the rest of the béchamel, some sprigs of time and some salt and pepper

Cover and bake at 200°c for about 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender all the way through, then remove the foil and crisp up under a hot grill

Serve with a green salad

*If you don't want to bother with béchamel you could use cream instead

* If you pan is wide and shallow there will be one layer each of lentils and potato, but if you have a deeper tin you might need a more lasagna-like layered effect. If this is the case you might need to bake it a bit longer

Best Brownies

THIS IS A YELLOW RECIPE

I have a good friend to thank for this recipe for brownies. A decent brownie is a very special thing and so often I find when I buy brownies they are either far too sweet of dry and spongy (basically like a chocolate cake). These brownies are dense, dark and chocolatey as any brownie should be. I use walnuts for these because I think the slightly bitter taste goes so well with the chocolate, but also because the brownies my mum used to make had walnuts in too.

8 tablespoons of butter

A 100 gram pack of chocolate – 70% cocoa solids

¼ cup of cocoa

1 cup of sugar

2 eggs

1 tspn vanilla (optional, I suggest substituting for espresso for extra depth)

Pinch of salt

½ cup flour

Handful of nuts

Pre-heat the oven to 160 °c

Melt the butter with the chocolate and cocoa

Add the sugar, leave to cool (if you're impatient, plunge saucepan into cold water)

Add the rest of the ingredients and beat well

Pour into a lined tin (I use a loaf tin)

Bake for about 40 minutes, until the batter is set and starts to smell cooked

Don't do the skewer test because you want the mixture to be a little undercooked

Stir-fried aubergine (eggplant) with tomato and chili

THIS IS A BLUE RECIPE

I went for lunch at a Chinese restaurant and had this more-ish dish so decided to try and make it at home. It goes very well with the my adobo recipe from a few days ago.
For 2

2 tablespoons of oil

1 large aubergine cut lengthwise into sticks of about 1 inch thickness

1 large tomato finely chopped

1 dessertspoon of sweet chili sauce

A dash of hot chili sauce

½ dessertspoon of rice vinegar

1 couple of dashes of light soy sauce

Heat the oil and add the aubergines, add some salt

When softish, add the tomato and soften

Add the rest of the ingredients and turn the heat down, cook until the aubergine is soft and transparent

Chicken or Pork Adobo

THIS IS A BLUE RECIPE

I love adobo and this one is so fragrant and lovely. You can use chicken or pork or a mixture of both. Choose chicken thighs not breasts which are dry and bland. For pork, pick pieces with some bone and a little bit of fat, this adds to the flavor and keeps the meat tender. I like to eat this with brown rice and my stir fried aubergines with tomato and chili, the recipe for which will be coming in a few days.

For 2

2 garlic cloves finely chopped

1 large stalk of lemongrass bashed but still whole

4 small chicken thighs or two pork chops

½ dessertspoon of fish sauce

2 tablespoons of rice vinegar

1 mug of chicken stock

Fry the garlic in oil until brown

Add the lemongrass and meat and brown off the mear

Add the other ingredients, cover and simmer for 20 minutes

Remove the lid and reduce the liquid for 10 minutes

Chocolate Almond and Fig Clusters

THIS IS A GREEN RECIPE

This is the perfect snack, the chocolate is the 70% cocoa kind, so less calories and the almonds and dried figs are sweet, crunchy and very good for you.

Melt your chocolate 100 gram chocolate bar in a bowl over hot water

When melted add enough almonds and chopped up figs so that they are covered in chocolate and there is no excess chocolate in the bowl (like when you make rice crispy cakes) – ½ cup of each or more

Use a teaspoon to spoon the clusters onto a greaseproof paper lined tray or plate

Put them in the fridge to set

When cold and hard store in a rigid container in the fridge, they can last for ages if they are not eaten up in a few days!

*you can use half dark and half milk chocolate if you find the chocolate too rich but this will increase the fat content*

Pork with Sage and Beans

THIS IS A BLUE RECIPE

The hardest part of this dish was cooking the beans – they took hours and hours! But it was worth it to get the creamy texture I wanted, and I did a big enough batch to freeze for another time.

I used white beans that are commonly sold here in Zambia, they look a bit like cannellini beans. I simmered them unsalted for about 3 hours, keeping an eye on the water level, eventually they will soften and then after a while longer the starches will turn the consistency creamy. Then I added salt.

Serves 3 – 4

4 large pork chops or steaks

1 large onion finely chopped

3 large cloves of garlic finely chopped

2 large carrots

4 large slices of salami finely chopped

½ pint of vegetable stock

1 large handful of fresh sage roughly chopped

2 cups of cooked beans with the liquor

Salt and pepper

Fry the onions until soft

Add the garlic and carrots and fry for a little longer

Add the pork chops and brown

Then add the rest of the ingredients

Check for seasoning.

Cook for about 1 hour – the longer you cook the more tender the pork should be

Finish off with a few fresh sage leaves.

Serve with boiled new potatoes and cabbage sautéed with butter and lemon juice.

Aubergine/Eggplant Baked Pasta

I know, I know, yet another pasta al forno dish! I can’t help it, I find baked pasta so comforting and easy for larger numbers. Make sure you make enough sauce otherwise it gets really dry when baked.

Serves 3-4

- One 500 gram packet of short pasta (rigatoni, macaroni, gomiti, penne etc)
- 1 tablespoon of light olive oil
- 800 gram tin of plum tomatoes
- ½ pint of yoghurt
- Tablespoon of pesto (the best you can get or homemade is ideal)
- 1 large aubergine (eggplant) finely sliced into rounds
- Salt and pepper
- 1 cup of hard Italian cheese – a mixture of pecorino and parmesan would be great

- Heat the oil and add the tomatoes

- Cook down to make a thick sauce (this takes quite while, about 40 minutes) , add salt to taste

- At the same time cook the pasta in well salted water

- Add the pesto and mix well – remove from heat

- Add yoghurt and mix well

- Put the cooked pasta in a baking dish

- Pour over the sauce

- Top with aubergine and cheese

- Cover and bake for 30 minutes

- Cook uncovered for another 10 minutes until cheese is bubbling and the aubergine is cooked through

Since I live in the Southern Hemisphere, you would imagine that hot chocolate is not the best choice for the time of year being as it is hot and humid. However it is also the rainy season and when it rains it definitely cools down and then hot chocolate doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.
I’d also heard that really good quality hot chocolate is a great pick me up and is filling, as well as tasting wonderful.

The first time I tried this it was very satisfying and stopped me snacking all afternoon, however in the morning I was hungry a couple of hours after (but I also didn’t use quite enough chocolate that time, maybe that’s why). Either way, make this with low fat milk or soy milk and your calorie intake can’t be massively high. I also imagine almond milk would be really good too.

Use a chocolate bar high in coco solids, a standard large one should last about 4 cups.

2 heaped dessertspoons of grated chocolate (or break into chunks) *
¼ tsp each of dry ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg
1 couple of drops of vanilla
2 tsps of golden cane sugar
½ mug of milk

Heat all the ingredients together in a small saucepan until the chocolate has completely melted. Make sure you stir well to blend everything together – enjoy!

*Experiment with amounts of chocolate because everyone's taste is different*

Potatoe Salad Without Mayonnaise but still good!

THIS IS A BLUE RECIPE

This potato salad is a lovely alternative to the usual mayonnaise drenched one. It is simple to prepare and probably much better for you. We ate it with salty fried halloumi and it was the perfect accompaniment. Boil lots of potatoes so you can keep it for a few days and add it to packed lunches – we made the mistake of not doing this!


-500grams of baby new potatoes or small waxy ones that will keep their shape when cooked, halved or quartered depending on size
- 1 large clove of garlic minced or grated
- 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar (or experiment with other less sweet types of vinegar)
- 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon mustard powder
- salt and pepper
- large handful of chopped flat leaf parsley

- Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender
- Meanwhile combine the vinegar, oil, garlic, mustard. Salt and pepper – a good grinding of each. Taste for seasoning.
- Drain potatoes when cook through, return to the warm pan, add the vinaigrette combine well and cover pan with a lid to keep the potatoes warm and allow the heat to take the edge of the garlic – stand for 5 mins or so
- Before serving add the parlsey

Pancake Breakfast

For years we’ve been eating pancakes at weekends for breakfast and the recipe has changed much, but I think I finally have the best version down. The vanilla makes the pancakes so tasty and the milk powder adds richness. I like to use a mixture of butter and oil because you get that buttery taste without it burning, plus if you use something like Canola oil you are cutting down on the butter while still getting some of the taste. I like them with honey and fruit (mango, banana or berries) so I don’t feel totally unhealthy!

- 2 cups of white flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon of golden cane sugar (or normal white)
- 1 tablespoon of milk powder
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 500 mls of milk

- Butter and oil for frying

- Sift all the dry ingredients together
- Add milk and egg and beat well until smooth
- Heat a small mixture of oil and butter in a small frying pan (just enough grease to cover the bottom, no more)
- Pour in a ladle or so of batter – keep the heat moderate
- Fry until the top bubbles, flip and do other side
- Keep cooked pancakes in a warm oven while you do the other

Fish Fried Rice

A great way to use up cooked rice – we always boil more than we need and freeze the rest for quick meals like this one. To keep this as healthy as poss I used canola oil which has omega oils in it. Choose a firm fish that will keep its shape when cooked – I used Nile perch (one of the few types of fish we can get here) but any thick white fish should do like cod or haddock though it may flake a little.

For 2

- 1 tablespoon of canola, vegetable or light olive oil
- 1 tsp on cumin
- 1 tsp or ground coriander seeds
- 1 large cup of cooked rice
- 1 medium sized onion finely chopped
- 1 large clove of garlic finely chopped
- 2 stalks of celery finely chopped
- 1 large ripe tomatoe finely sliced
- 2 white fish fillets cut into large bite sized chunks
- 1 small chilli finely chopped – optional
- 1 heaped teaspoon of ginger
- 1 dessertspoon of rice vinegar or lime juice
- 1 dessertspoon of fish sauce
- ½ dessertspoon of tamarind or pad thai sauce
- 1 dessertspoon of soy sauce (depending on how salty/sweet you like it)

- Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan over a medium hear

- Fry the spices for minute or so

- Add the onion and soften

- Add the garlic and celery and fry until the celery is fairly soft

- Add the tomato and chilli if using and cook until tomatoes are liquid

- Add the fish and ginger and fry fish on all sides

- Add the rice and the rest of the ingredients

- Cook until fish is tender

· You could also add any of the following – cashew or peanuts, beaten egg, fresh coriander , tuna or crab meat, bean sprouts etc, etc, etc!

In Search of the perfect Nshima

Currently this a favourite place of mine for nshima. They are really friendly and are just opposite the gallery where I spend a lot of my time these days.

The nshima was not as good as the first time, when it was soft and yielding with no dryness, but they give you a huge piece of chicken and 2 relishes. This huge meal costs K15,000 which is about $4 I think!

But the search for good places to eat nshima in Lusaka continues!

Quick Tip - How to re-heat rice without a microwave

I remember when my parents first got a microwave. EVERYTHING was cooked in it. Then as time went on, and the novelty wore off it was condemned to heating milk for hot chocolate and reheating leftovers, the odd can of baked beans, my favourite instant noodles from China town.

Then there was the cancer when we all thought we would get cancer from using a microwave. Nowadays we realise that they are no worse than cell phones (and FAR less annoying!). I miss having a microwave, they saved time and saved electricity but I have at least found an effective way of re-heating rice on the cooker and you don’t need to really stir like you do with a microwave.

- Put your rice in a sieve
- In a saucepan only slightly larger than the serve pour a couple of inches of boiling water
- Place the sieve over the water and cover
- Steam until piping hot all the way through – about 4 or 5 minutes for cold rice.

Zam Eats: The Nshima Obsession

It is shameful that I have been back in Zambia so long and not really given traditional Zambian fare some coverage. To be honest, the cuisine is far from varied as things go, outside of the capital it is difficult to get more than meat pies, sausages and of nshima!

Nshima is a commone food staple throughout sub-Saharan Africa and has other names such as gari or foo foo. If you are familiar with polenta then it is more or less the same thing, except that nshima is white and is made with water only - no butter, cream or anything else. Like polenta, nishima is made from maize and particularly now during the rainy season, maize can be seen growing eeverywhere. It is stiff and comes in a large hot mound that you then break pieces from and roll into a ball. This ball is then dipped into sauce or vegetables. It's hard work to make and I confess I have never really cooked it myself because it requires so much elbow grease to mix it well!

Despite its blandness it is surprisingly addictive, both my husband and I love it and most Zambians will eat nshima twice a day. With nshima usually comes some vegetables like cabbage, rape (a type of kale), pumpkin leaves or eggplant and this is called relish. In addition might be some protein like chicken or beans and sometimes there is beef or fish.

Many people in the Lusaka area complain that it is difficult to find nshima restaurants and when you do find it, it's very expensive. This is usually because people are looking at lodges and hotels. We have found that if you are prepared to do a little searching, you will find lovely nshima and usually less than $4.

Power Salsa

I call this power salsa because it is full of healthy foods, avocados are packed full of protein and good fats, mangoes are great antioxidents, onion helps boost your immune system and stringent ginger is also a good anti oxidant and helps digestion. I ate this in a pitta with some grilled white fish and it was wonderful.

1 medium size avocado

1 large mango

1 large ripe tomato

2 spring onions

1 heaped teaspoon of grated ginger

The juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon of chopped fresh coriander

Salt and pepper

Finely chop the spring onion.

Chop everything else so that it is quite small but still a little chunky.

Mix all ingredients to together.

That's it!

Fringilla Farm and Butchery

Fringilla Farm and Lodge is about 40 km from Lusaka out on the Great North Road, a decent enough distance to make us feel like we are escape the big smoke for a while but not too far.

We were told about this farm by a friend and we were very impressed, the complex is very big, with beautifully kept grounds, a restaurant with excellent service and a well maintained farm. We were especially excited by the butchery that sells everything from beef to game meat and the staff were attentive. Unfortunately they were out of pork spare ribs but we did leave with a leg of lamb – lamb is very rare in Zambia, and some lovely free range chicken. We can't wait to go back and stock up, the meat is of such good quality because the animals clearly live happy lives, being allowed to roam free and are well fed.

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Pasta Al Forno

Pasta al forno is baked pasta. Probably the most famous is lasagne, this recipe is kind of a deconstructed lasagne inspired by the Greek baked pasta dish pasticcio. It is less time consuming than lasagne, and would be great for a dinner party with a green salad.

Serves 4

375 grams of short pasta – macaroni, elbows, rigatoni

Meat Sauce

1 bottle of passata (about 690gram or 720 ml)

1 large onion finely chopped

500 grams of minced beef

A large bunch of fresh oregano roughly chopped or a couple of teaspoons of dried

White sauce:

1 large dessertspoon of butter

1 large dessertspoon of white flour

2 bay leaves

300 - 500 mls of milk

1 large egg beaten

½ teaspoon of fresh grated nutmeg

2 ½ cups of strong cheese

Salt and pepper

First make the meat sauce:

Fry the onion until soft and transparent

Add the beef and brown

Add the passata and oregano and simmer for about 2 hours

Test for salt and pepper

The sauce should be thick and with very little extra liquid.

When this sauce is ready, preheat the oven to 150 c and start on the white sauce and pasta.

Melt the butter with the flour and cook the paste for a couple of minutes.

Add the bay leaves

Dribble in the milk a little at a time, don't rush as you will get lumps

When the sauce is the consistency of single cream, cook until thick, stirring all the time.

While your sauce is thickening, cook the pasta until a little soft but still quite hard in the middle – about 4 or 5 minutes.

When the white sauce has thickened, remove from heat and leave to cool a little, add the beaten egg and nutmeg

In a large bakind dish or pan add the pasta and sprinkle half the cheese over the pasta, then add a layer of meat sauce – you may need to use all, you want to cove the pasta but not drown it.

Spread over the white sauce and the rest of the cheese,

Bake for 30 minutes until sizzling and cheese is melted.

Spicy Orzo

When we have people round for dinner, rather than trying to impress them with fancy cookery, I tend to stick with simple and tasty. I don't want to spend all night in the kitchen sweating and stressing over stacking vegetables and adding just the right amount of jus. That's not really my style anyway.

I prefer simple things that are no more effort for six as they would be for two – roast chicken say, or a kind of one pot dish if it's something really relaxed.

 

On New year's Eve we had some friends around and I made this great orzo dish. I had never used orzo before (therefore breaking my rule of not doing something you have never cooked before for a party!) but it was really easy to use and the dish looked smelled wonderful on the table where people helped themselves. I didn't have any olives but I reckon they would be really good in it.

 

Serves 4 – 6 people

 

• 1 pack of orzo
  
• 1 small tin of tomato paste (about a tablespoon)
  
• 3 large ripe tomatoes roughly chopped
  
• 2 large aubergines (egg plants) cut into small pieces or cubes
  
• 4 large garlic cloves
  
• 2 teaspoons of fennel seeds
  
• 1 heaped teaspoon of paprika
  
• 1 rounded teaspoon or cinnamon
  
• 4 – 6 large spicy sausages like bockwurst or chorizo
  
• 3 – 4 large dried red chillies
  
• A large handful or chopped fresh oregano
  
• The same of fresh basil
  
• About ¾ pint of water
  
• A little oil
  
• Salt and pepper
  

 

• Pre-heat your oven to about 160c
  
• Oil a shallow baking dish or tin
  
• Empty the orzo into the tin
  
• Add the vegetables
  
• Slacken the tomato paste with water and pour over the orzo
  
• Bash the fennel seeds and chillies with a pestle and mortar until quite fine
  
• Add to the pasta with the paprika, cinnamon and whole cloves of garlic
  
• Cut the sausages into 2 inch pieces on a slant and add
  
• Add 2/3 of the oregano
  
• Add about ½ pint of water
  
• Salt and pepper to taste
  
• Mix well
  
• Cover and bake for about 30 minutes
  
• Check after 20 minutes to see if the pasta needs more water
  
• The pasta should not be liquid but have a thick sauce just clinging to it
  
• Check for seasoning and add more salt if desired
  
• When the pasta is cooked remove and add 2/3 of the basil and mix well
  
• Scatter the rest of the fresh herbs on top just before serving