Pasta Primavera

With recent high pressure systems over the UK bringing unseasonably warm weather, Spring has most definitely sprung. The trees are very nearly green, the flush of cherry blossom is blowing away, and spring flowers are blooming everywhere. With the British asparagus season just starting, I'm in nearly the perfect location to take advantage of some of the best spears in the country - I'm just down the road from Evesham.
Now the weekend before last I tried my hand at making fresh pasta - it worked well, but I didn't roll it out thinly enough and it *really* didn't look pretty enough to share pics. Fortunately I froze some of the dough, which meant tonight I had fun rolling it out really thinly. Result? pretty damn good pasta, even if I do say so myself - will share the recipe another time.

The sauce recipe is loosely based on one I saw on the BBC's Saturday Kitchen show, but makes more use of the seasonal, spring vegetables I have to hand. Oh yeah, and guess who's still trying to finish up the purple sprouting broccoli? ;-)

Enough fresh spaghetti for one person
6 Asparagus Spears (chopped into 1" lengths)
4 Purple Sprouting Broccoli Spears (chopped into 1" lengths)
1 large handful Frozen Peas (fresh would have been better, but I didn't have any)
3 slices Prosciutto Ham (cut into small pieces)
2 tbsp Grated Parmesan (plus a little more to serve)
50g Butter
1/2 clove Garlic (crushed)
2 tsp mint (I used the freeze-dried stuff because I didn't have any fresh)
Salt and Pepper


1) Melt the butter in a small pan and fry the garlic for a few seconds.

2) Add the asparagus, broccoli and peas and stir in a little water. Continue to cook for a couple of minutes, stirring regularly.

3) Stir through the mint, parmesan, salt, pepper and ham and remove from the heat.

4) Cook your pasta in salted, boiling water; drain and toss with the sauce until well-covered.

Serve immediately with a little more parmesan and black pepper on top.

Chicken and Pesto Lasagne

Another recipe inspired by delicious Magazine's Italian special!
Any GF'er knows that shop-bought, gluten free pasta is a really hit-or-miss affair - I've been cooking and eating gluten free since January now and in that time have come across some real winners and losers insofar as pasta is concerned. Delicious Magazine had a recipe for making your own fresh egg pasta and I had intended to make my own lasagne sheets for this recipe that I dreamt up. Unfortunately we had scrambled eggs for breakfast and guess who forgot to buy more... As a result I was forced to use 'quick' pasta sheets which resulted in a rather chewy lasagne because there's not a lot of liquid in it. Note to self - remember to buy lots of eggs next time! Other than that, this recipe tasted *really* good - again, shop-bought green pesto can either be really good or really bad. Fortunately it's really easy to make although my basil plant's looking a little sorry for itself now :-)

Serve the lasagne with fresh salad leaves - I dress mine with my favourite Honey and Balsamic Vinegar Dressing

30g Fresh Basil Leaves
100g Pine Nuts
2 Cloves Garlic
100ml Olive Oil

2 Chicken Breasts (chopped into small chunks)
1/2 Smoked Sausage (Matthesons (Kielbasa-style), chopped into half-rounds)
1 Small Onion (chopped finely)

1/2 Pint Milk
200g Cheddar (grated)
100g Mozzarella (sliced)
20g Parmesan
1 Bay Leaf
1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
2 tbsp Cornflour

12 - 15 Fresh Lasagne Sheets
Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven to 180 Celcius

1) Make the pesto first; blend all ingredients together in a food processor or with a hand blender, to a creamy consistency.

2) Fry the onion in a little oil until golden. Add the chicken and sausage and fry until cooked through and slightly crispy. Set aside.

3) Make the cheese sauce; mix the cornflour in a little of the milk until smooth, before adding the rest of the milk. Heat gently in a saucepan and stir in the nutmeg, bay leaf, parmesan and half of the Cheddar. Stir until thickened and set aside, removing the bay leaf just before use.

4) Assemble the lasagne; place the chicken and sausage mixture evenly over the bottom of a 9" square oven dish. Place alternate layers of lasagne sheets and pesto, finishing with a layer of pasta. Top with the cheese sauce followed byt he mozzarella slices and the remainder of the Cheddar.

5) Bake for approximately 30 minutes until the pasta is tender and the cheese is browned on top.

Gnocchi With Sausage and Sweet Chilli Tomato Sauce

I remember eating gnocchi in a restaurant years ago and being completely put off by the plate of dense, slimy blobs. Now, many years later I felt that I ought to give the humble potato pasta another try. Inspired by Delicious Magazine's Italian month, the gnocchi here were adapted from one of their recipes to be gluten free. I also made a different sauce using my favourite Matthesons sausages (the British version of kielbasa (I think), which I recently discovered were gluten free), in a tomato and sweet chilli sauce.

The results?
Beautiful, light and fluffy diamonds, half eaten straight away and the other half stored in the freezer for another day. Brilliant!

Gnocchi
These take a little planning in advance as the potatoes need cooking and then ricing / mashing.
I baked my potatoes as it helps dry them out a little.

500g Baking Potatoes
150g GF Flour (or '00' pasta flour for non GF people)
2 Medium Eggs (lightly beaten)
1/2 tsp Salt

1) Prick the potato skins and bake until cooked - time depends on the size of the potatoes.

2) Using a spoon, scoop out the insides and pass through a potato ricer (or do as I do, and press through a sieve).

3) Add the eggs, flour and salf and combine into a pliable dough. Divide into quarters, rolling each quarter into a 1" 'tube'. Flatten slightly and cut into even diamond-shaped pieces.

4) To cook, cook in salted, boiling water for 2 - 3 minutes. Drain and melt a little butter into the gnocchi before serving.


Sausage and Sweet Chilli Tomato Sauce

1 Small Tin Chopped Tomatoes
1 tbsp Tomato Puree
1 Small Onion (chopped finely)
1 tsp Chilli Flakes
2 tsp Sugar
1/2 Smoked Sausage / Kielbasa (chopped into 1/4" rounds)
1 Handful Basil Leaves (rouchly chopped)
Oil
Salt & Pepper


1) Lightly fry the Onions in a little oil until golden. Add the sausage and heat through until the sausage has nice crispy edges.

2) Lower the heat and stir through the tinned tomatoes, puree, chilli flakes and sugar. Simmer until the liquid content has reduced by about half.

3) Stir in the basil and seasoning to taste.


Serve the sauce over the gnocchi and finish with fresh parmesan and basil leaves.