Chicken, tomato and mushroom risotto - true comfort food

I’m not very keen on the combination of chicken and cooked tomatoes. Would never have chicken on a pizza. But I had half a tin of tomatoes left over from our favourite sausage and bean dish and thought that I’d bung them into a chicken risotto as an experiment. Risottos are so easy to make and are a great way of using up scraps that are knocking about in the fridge.

The result was really tasty and good. Danny was amazed – I hadn’t told him about the experiment just passed him his plate of food and slipped nervously into the kitchen as he took has first forkful.
“This is truly sublime! I would never have thought that tinned tomatoes would be good in risotto!”

Phew.

Chicken, mushroom and tomato risotto(for 4)
Ingredients:
2 tbsp of olive oil
275g of Arborio rice
a couple of handfuls of chopped cooked chicken pieces
1 medium red onion – chopped
1 chunky clove of garlic chopped fine (or a teaspoon of garlic granules)
380g of mushrooms (sliced)
1 x 440g tin of red tomatoes (including juice)
1 tsp of vegetable stock powder
half a tsp of dried savoury (herb)
500-750ml of vegetable stock
1 tablespoon of grated parmesan
To dress:
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp of grated parmesan
Method:
Heat the olive in a large heavy bottomed sauté pan.
Gently fry the chopped red onion until it becomes translucent.
Add the Arborio rice and stir to coat the rice with the oil.
Add the chopped garlic and stir.
Put the tinned tomatoes in a measuring jug and top up with boiling water to make 500-750 ml of liquid. Add 1 tsp of vegetable stock powder and stir well.
Add the mushrooms and savoury.
Add the hot tomatoey stock about 200ml at a time and stir until it is absorbed.
When the rice is soft but still has a bite stir remove from the heat and stir in the chopped chicken and a tablespoon of grated parmesan. Cover the pan for five minutes to allow the meat to heat through.
Add a good dash of freshly ground black pepper, sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese and serve on warm plates.

Squid in marinara sauce over spaghetti

This may sound crazy but up until the past month or so I’ve always though of squid as a starter. It’s often knocked right down in price at the supermarket but I’ve tended to avoid it – my eye being on ingredients for a main course.

When I made my yummy squid soup I suddenly realised that this seafood had enormous potential. Surely if soup could be this easy and this good there must be other ways to use squid?

I spent a couple of hours researching squid as a pasta sauce. 95% of sauces used tomatoes so I decided to go with that.

This is my version of squid in marinara sauce using ingredients that I had in the larder. It tastes fabulous, quite rich with complex notes. It is cheap to make and fairly low fat. At full price for the squid it would work out at a pound a head for three greedy people.

The main stumbling block when it comes to cooking squid is to cook it too long. I’ve discovered that there’s a simple rule for cooking squid so that it doesn’t become chewy and indigestible. Either cook it for under two minutes or over one hour – anything in between probably spells disaster. Simple.

The other guide if you are cooking your squid quickly is to watch it carefully as it cooks – it should turn from translucent to opaque when just cooked. Immediately it has done this whip it off the heat and serve.

Squid in marinara sauce over spaghetti (serves 3 greedy people)

Ingredients:

300g of prepared squid – remove any hard bits from the end of the tentacles inside the ‘white envelopes’
2 x 400g tins of peeled plum tomatoes
1 medium red onion – peeled and chopped
5 chunky garlic cloves- peeled and chopped
1 tsp of anchovy sauce or 1 anchovy (chopped fine)
1 tsp of dried Italian mixed herbs
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
3 tablespoons of finely grated Parmesan cheese to serve
Chopped fresh parsley to serve

Method:

Wash and prepare the squid. Rinsing it well and cutting it into 1cm rings. Leave to drain.

Meanwhile heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan, add the chopped onion and stir well. Gently fry the onion for ten minutes and then add the chopped garlic and herbs. After five minutes add the tinned tomatoes and anchovy sauce and stir well.

Let the sauce simmer gently for about 45 minutes, breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon and letting the sauce thicken. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.

Meanwhile cook the spaghetti following the manufacturers instructions. When the spaghetti is ready, drain well and set aside while you cook the squid in the sauce. Make sure that the sauce is bubbling and add the squid. Stir the squid through the sauce until it becomes opaque – this should take under two minutes. Whip the sauce off the stove and pour over warmed plates of spaghetti. Garnish with Parmesan and parsley and serve immediately.

Prawn, Pak Choi and gnocchi recipe

When I first noticed Pak Choi (bok choy or Peking cabbage) twinkling on the supermarket sheves, I wasn’t exactly sure what it was or how it would taste. Even though it seemed rather expensive it was attractive so I invested in a pack and rushed home. Simmered gently for a couple of minutes it was a revelation. Wilted upper leaves with crunchy fleshy ends. Clean tasting and yummy. We ate it as a vegetable on the side and later in stir fries. Surely in the right place this vegetable could really shine? This thought was put on the back burner.

Later I discovered that Pak choi is really easy to grow – especially towards the end of summer when it’s less likely to bolt. I’ve sown some in the seedbed in the allotment – the doll sized plants will soon be ready to be planted on.

We like pak choi but have never really experimented with it as a key ingredient until last week. I couldn’t find spinach in the shops. My aim was to cook this delicious recipe – prawn, gnocchi and spinach. Hmm.

Then I spotted some really fresh pak choi – the result of substituting Pak Choi for spinach was glorious, far, far better than the spinach version. By simmering the pack choi for just 2 minutes – it retained its crunch and was the perfect foil for the chunky gnocchi. The parmesan and breadcrumb topping was good too – giving a very satisfying different sort of crinkle and crunch.

Sometimes scarcity results in a whole new recipe treat.

Gnocchi is a great store cupboard ingredient. It’s the easiest of all pasta to cook. When it rises to the surface it’s cooked. No humming and haaing about the correct degree of al dente. Easy peasy pasta.

Easy and deluxe recipe: Prawn, Pak Choi and gnocchi supreme
6 as a starter or 2-3 greedy people as a main course.

Ingredients:
500g of gnocchi (I bought mine ready made)
200g of cooked prawns (frozen are fine but defrost before use)
200ml crème fraiche
2 heads of Pak Choi
5 tbsp of finely grated parmesan cheese
2-3 handfuls of homemade dried bread crumbs
Freshly ground white pepper to taste. I use lots – much more delicate and zingy than black.
Method:
Bring lightly salted (a large pinch) water to boil in a large saucepan. When it’s bubbling furiously throw the gnocchi into the saucepan. After 2 or 3 minutes they will rise to the surface. Remove with a slotted spoon to a warm entrée dish.
Wash and chop the Pak Choi roughly. Leaving the upper part of the leaf whole and cutting the fat lower stems into 2cm slices. Toss into boiling salted water for just 2 minutes. Drain immediately and leave the saucepan (lid on) in a warm place.
Meanwhile heat the crème fraiche gently. When it starts to bubble, add 1 tbsp of the grated parmesan and stir until the crème fraiche starts to simmer and thicken slightly. Remove to a warm place and, when the gnocchi and Pak Choi are cooked, bring gently back to simmering point and add the prawns to heat through – stir for a minute or so and move to a warm place (lid on).
Set your grill to medium/high and put your dish together as fast as you can.

Add the Pak Choi to the cooked gnocchi in the entree dish. Pour over the prawns in crème fraiche. Add a good dash of ground white pepper. Scatter two tbsp of grated parmesan over the surface, sprinkle 2-3 handfuls of dried homemade bread crumbs over the surface and end with a final layer of grated parmesan. Place the dish under the preheated grill until the top turns golden brown.
Serve on warm plates with some warm crusty bread and prepare for tumultuous applause.
N.B. We buy prawns when they are on offer and freeze them for a treat meal every now and then.
Dry breadcrumbs are very easy to make at home. Just dry the  sliced bread at the bottom of the oven when you cook something else. Then grind when cold and store in an airtight jar. It keeps for months!