Lamb & Peas Pasta

Did you know that animals (at least those meant for culinary uses) are classified as "babies" up until the age of 2? In other words, "lamb" meat is not necessarily that of a new born lamb, still wiggling on its tiny legs, suckling on his momma's teat, but could be from a grown lamb up to the age of 2. (Whew, thank heavens, I was always a bit taken aback by the term "lamb", would rather by meat classified as "sheep" than "lamb", but now I know!)

This dish didn't come out exactly the way it shouldv'e, probably because we didn't use lamb, but sheep. And probably because I didn't slow cook it to soften it well enough. The taste, however, is exactly what I wanted. The lamb meat is supposed to be cooked to be soft, so it can be shredded into the pasta.

Nonetheless, here is the recipe:

Ingredients
250g mushrooms, sliced
2 onions, cubed
50g butter + 30g butter
500g shell pasta
2tbl sugar
2 tb worsecershire sauce / soya sauce
1 tb balsamic vinegar
1kg lamb, cut into small chunks
1 tb rosemary
1 cup red wine
1 cup peas (fresh or frozen, not canned)

Method
1. Bring enough water for the pasta to a boil. Add 1tbs salt. Add the pasta and cook till al dente. Once done, pour off any excess water.
2. While the pasta is busy, melt 50g butter in a pan. Fry onion till just soft. Add balsamic vinegar and sugar. Fry until lightly caramelised. Remove from pan into separate dish.
3. Fry the mushrooms in the same pan. Add 30g butter. The mushrooms are very quick - do not fry until it starts to water and shrink! Remove from pan into separate dish.
4. Fry the lamb meat in the same pan. Brown on all sides. Add worcestershire sauce and rosemary. Fry until nicely browned. Add the wine, turn down the heat and simmer.
5. Add the mushrooms, onion and peas to the pasta. Mix well.

6. Serve the pasta with the lamb chunks, or shred the lamb in a blender and mix with the pasta.
7. Serve warm and enjoy!!

Yours in oil and veggies
Risch

Pea & Mushroom Spaghetti

In my garden, I have a small selection of veggies growing. Spinach, cauliflower (which flopped – thanks white fly!), brussel sprouts and peas. I love peas. I love growing them and I love picking them and I love eating them. Mostly I love eating them straight from the shell after picking. They are so sweet…  but usually my pea harvest is just enough for me to eat, and never enough for a meal. 

Well, this time I did something right. I harvested enough peas for a whole meal – and you wouldn’t even think I plucked anything, as there are still so many left!!

The best thing about fresh peas, is that they really don't require a lot of cooking. A little heat just to match the heat of the meal, is sufficient, because their taste is so sweet and so fresh.

Preparation time: 15min

Cooking time: 30min

Difficulty Level: Very Easy

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

500g mushrooms, sliced (2 punnets)

150g bacon bits

2tbs coconut oil

400g spaghetti

250g fresh peas

Water

Salt & Pepper

Method

Melt 1tbs coconut oil and fry the onion till soft. 

 Add the bacon and fry till lightly browned. 

Melt the other tbs coconut oil and fry the mushrooms. 

Boil enough water for the spaghetti. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the spaghetti and cook until el dente. Pour off the water. Add the bacon, onion, mushrooms and peas and mix well.

Dish up with a little grated parmesan.

And enjoy!

Yours in oil and veggies

Risch

Chicken Fettuccine a la Creme

The name sounds exotic and delicious - and it is!! Although much easier than it sounds. It is a combination between Chicken a la King and Fettuccine Al Fredo, and it is soft and creamy and just perfect. Do try this at home!!

Preparation Time: 20min
Cooking time: 3 hours
Difficulty Level: Very easy
Serves: 6

Ingredients

4 pieces of chicken breast or thigh
2 star anise
2 bay leaves
1/2t freshly ground black pepper
1/2t salt
1/4cup red wine vinegar
water
2tbs butter
1 onion, chopped
1 punnet mushrooms, sliced
250ml cream
25g grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup peas
500g Fettuccine

Method

Place the chicken pieces, star anise, bay leaves, pepper, salt and red wine vinegar in a pot. 

  
 Add some water, I would recommend starting off with half a cup. You need to check as the chicken cooks, if the water is still enough so that the chicken doesn't burn. Not only does this cooking cook the chicken and flavour it, it makes a little stock that will be added to the dish later (and it is super delicious as a chicken stock!!) This needs to cook for about 2 hours until the chicken is cooked through. You don't want a watery stock, so try not to add too much water without burning the chicken of course. If you did add too much water, you can just cook it down until you have about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of stock. 

Melt the butter and fry the onion and the mushrooms until lightly browned. 

Remove from heat and add the cream and parmesan. 

Mix. Place back on heat to thoroughly melt and combine the cream and parmesan, but don't let it cook down too much. Remove from heat. 

Now, my husband knows me so well!! He bought me a wonderful Pasta Maker for Christmas. Not just the machine the rolls it out, this one mixes the dough and then gives you what you want: spaghetti, macaroni, fettuccine... So I made my own pasta for this dish, and it was about 500g of uncooked, shop fettuccine. 

If you can, I would highly recommend getting your own pasta machine. Home made pasta is much more filling than shop bought pasta and just tastes better!! Cook the Fettuccine in salted water until al dente. Add the peas (I used from frozen) and cook till done.

Remove the skin from the chicken pieces and remove the meat from the bones. Cut the chicken meat into strips and add to the mushroom mixture. 

Reheat if necessary. Mix the mushroom mixture with the chicken and the fettuccine together.

And Serve!! 

Goes very well with a glass of light white wine...

Yours in oil and veggies

Risch