Spaghetti vongole

Who is up for some italian food? I thought it might be a good idea to add a bit of summer sea fleur into these cold autumn rainy days and therefore sharing this full of flavors italian recipe with you.

 Ingredients
yields 4 portions
1 kg small clams (scrubbed and clean)
3 cloves garlic
12 cherry tomatoes
200 ml white wine
400 g dried spaghetti
salt and pepper
1-2 tbsp olive oil

Boil the water for spagetti. Meanwhile check your clams and if there are any not closed through them away. Put a large pan with a lid on a high heat and pour some olive oil into it. Peel and chop the garlic.

Add the pasta to the boiling water with a generous pinch of salt. Cook asper instructions until al dente. Meanwhile start preparing your sauce. Pour some olive oil into the hot pan and add the garlic. Season it with salt and pepper. Stir everything constantly and when garlic begins to get color, add the clams and pour in the wine. Put the lid on the pan and shuffle it a bit. Wait for couple of minutes and keep shuffling the pan around until all of them have opened. Turn off the heat. 

As soon as pasta is ready drain it. Then add it to the pan of clams. Toss for a further minute in order to let the sauce and juices from the clams be absorbed into the pasta. Serve right away with a touch of cherry tomatoes. You can also add them into the sauce together with garlic but I decided to have then freshly served. 

Enjoy your wonderful time and eat just like italians - slowly, in a friendly company and with good wine.

 

Wok Root Veggies with Seafood and Coconut Milk

Hello February! A magic month when you already hope that spring will come very soon, yet spend your time enjoying your favourite winter attractions like skating, skiing, drinking hot wine.

Some time ago we visited Italian supermarket and apart from ricotta, mascarpone and variety of italian cheese we discovered there a wide range of different pasta types, shapes, colours and forms. And when I saw black spaghetti I knew I can make a special dish out of it. In combination with some seafood that both of us love...mmm... 

And here I was in the kitchen... checking my veggie supply in the fridge. And I thought why not make it really simple yet very interesting flavour-combinationwise. And I chose root vegetables for it. Simple and easy. Yet veeeery special!

Ingredients:

yields 4 portions

1 big white onion

100 g red beets (1 big or 2 middle sized)

100 g carrots (2 middle sized)

100 g parsnips (2 middle sized)

250 g seafood mix (I had prawns and mussels)

100 ml coconut milk

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp curry powder

1 lemon

salt and pepper

oil

spaghetti al nero di seppia

First of all wash and peel the veggies. Then vut them into pieces. The size is up to you. But remember that for smaller ones the cooking time has to be cut down. I chose medium.

Cook spaghetti as per instructions on the package al dente.

Meanwhile prepare the sauce: pour some oil and grated ginger into a big wok, in a minute add and fry onions until they soften a bit. Then put vegetables into the pan. You will notice how red beet colours the rest of the veggies. And that is absolutely fine. Adds some nice bright colour. Stir for about 5-7 minutes and then pour coconut milk. Season with salt and pepper. In the end add curry powder and mix well. In another preheated pan in a little amount of oil lightly fry the seafood mix. Do not overcook because prawns might get chewy.

Before serving directly on a plate mix spaghetti with root veggies and seafood. Sprinkle of pepper on top will make it even more spicy. A fresh side salad goes along incredibly good.

Voila! Enjoy a nice evening or lunch in a good company with good food.

Because good food is always a good idea.

 

Spirali with chick'n chilli con carne

Pasta-pasta-pasta!
Some people would say "And so what?! Its just pasta...Nothing special". NO WAY! And I can prove this if you try the next recipe.

There are days when I just have to eat something hot'n'spicy. On one of those days I decided to make a chilli con carne version of pasta with chicken. Chilli con carne (a spanish dish) is usually made of beef and has a lot of variations nowadays. Therefore I thought :"Why not to cook it with chicken?!".
And here is the result of my experiment.

To try this you should prepare:

125g spirali or any other kind of whole wheat pasta of your choice
250g chicken breast, cut into small cubes
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 cloves garlic
3/4 cup canned Kidney Beans
1/2 cup canned sweet corn
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp chili powder (or 1 chopped chilli)
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp olive oil
fresh parsley and black olives to serve

In one pot boil the needed amount of salted water and cook pasta according to the instructions on the package. Mine was cooked al dente.

Meanwhile heat a saucepan with some olive oil and fry chicken cubes until they are golden all over. Add chopped onion and carrot, reduce the heat and cook for about 4 minutes. Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, beans and sweet corn, pour water and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat, add the spices and cook another 20-30 minutes. In the end add chopped garlic, mix it all and cover the saucepan with a lid.

Serve spirali al dente with chick'n chilli con carne, some fresh parsley and black olives.

A protein-energy bomb is ready.

By the way did you know that the main benefits of chilli are:*Prevention of cancer spread

*Weight loss assistance

*Anti-bacterial property

*Immunity boost

*Pain relief

*Prevention of diabetes

*Prevention of stomach ulcers 

But remember the main rule - everything in moderation!

I wish you a good'n'spicy day. Take care :)