Runner Bean & Fennel Seed Pasta Bake

I got the inspiration for this from Abel & Cole's cookbook, but as usual I corrupted it to fit my needs. Sadly, my poor pasta machine has broken so my plans of serving the sauce with fresh egg pasta was scuppered. Instead I was stuck with a packet of pre-made semolina shapes, which usually work best in bakes (mind you, that's just my opinion).

The first thing is to make the bechamel which is easy: warm up half a pint of milk with some bay leaves, peppercorns, mace (or nutmeg), a bit of onion and some parsley stalks - I've actually run out of parsley so I omitted them this time. Once the milk is hot to the touch, but not boiling, take it off the heat, strain into a jug and allow it to cool a little.

Finally, heat up 25g of flour and 25g of butter, constantly stirring. Once you have a roux, take it off the heat and slowly mix in the flavoured milk.Once you have mixed everything in together, put it back on the heat and stir until thickened.

Pre-cook the runners, after destringing and cutting them into small peices. Heat up some olive oil in a saucepan and add a few smashed cloves of garlic, a chopped onion, a sprinkle of chilli flakes and about 1/2 a teaspoon of fennel seeds. Give them a minute or so, then add a tin of tomatoes, a glug of red wine, salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar. Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes while you cook 175g of dried pasta.

Drain the cooked pasta and mix the tomato sauce and runners in, along with a handful of torn basil. Decant this mixture into oven safe dishes, you can do it all in a single dish or split it into two or three smaller ones.

Spoon the bechamel over the top and dot with peices of mozzarella. Top with a light grating of parmesan and a grinding of pepper. Bake at 200 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Tricolore, Milano Salami & Flower Salad

This is such a simple lunch that there isn't a great deal to write about in terms of cooking, however it was beautiful, tasty and easy to create ethically, so I thought it was still worth posting. These items could all be packed up and taken on a picnic, I think it's nicest eaten in the sun.

Tricolore, in this context, is the famous Italian salad - rather than the French flag! It's just layers of buffalo mozzarella, basil leaves and fresh, ripe tomatoes. Dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Edible flowers have always fascinated and delighted me but I've had to rely solely on being able to find unblemished flowers amongst my garden plants until recently. Now I've found a couple of suppliers who sell them, either with salad leaves or on their own. I've put links to them at the bottom of this post. I used them to garnish a mix of baby gem lettuce, rocket, nasturtium leaves and sorrel for this salad.

Milano salami, in fact any preseved meat, is delicious just as it is. I love it and have been really happy to see how many shops are now selling free range and organic versions. If you are vegetarian mixed olives would very happily take on the salami's role in this meal, as they would provide the same saltiness and fatiness.

Links (Edible Flower Suppliers)
Higgledy Garden
Abel & Cole 
Waitrose

How to fatten up your parents (Part I)

My Mum and Dad came to visit us this weekend so, as neither have been feeling well lately, I thought I'd use this visit as an excuse to cram them both full of as many heart lifting, summery foods as I could. It can be tricky making something that will appeal to both of them but, as they both love mediterranean food, I took that as my theme.

I went out and bought some very traditional Italian antipasti: parma ham, milano salami and fat sicilian olives, marinated in chilli and garlic.

With this I served a traditional tricolore salad of ripe vine tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil, salt, pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice and drizzle of first cold pressed, unfiltered olive oil.

To go with this I made fresh grissini, which are basically breadsticks but honestly nothing like the bland throat-parchers you get in plastic packs at restaurants.

I was making a loaf of fresh bread to go with the meal anyway, so I just used the other half of the dough to make grissini. The only difference in the process is the shaping - cutting them into long strips, crooks, twists, plaits and the like, which are small enough to cook through without rising very much. I brushed them with olive oil and then topped them with, variously, smoked paprika, rosemary & sea salt and pepper or sesame seeds.
They only take 20 minutes in the oven, whereas the loaf takes around 50 mins.

For the main course, and to go with the fresh bread and soft unsalted butter, I made chicken cacciatore. The one I make is really different to my Mum's, who makes hers with a thick tomato based sauce, whereas mine is browned chicken simmered, with lots of rosemary and tons of garlic, in white wine and chicken stock. 
The inspiration for it came from Angela Hartnett's "Cucina" and it really is wonderful, especially with crusty bread to mop up the sauce. 

In this instance, the one thing I regret is having deviated from usual choice of chicken thighs, the breasts were a little too lean for this dish and lack the stronger flavour of darker meat. 
However, we shredded the breasts and loaded them onto fresh, buttered bread which had been smothered in the sweet garlic, it tasted fabulous.

Finally, because my Mum is so fond of it, I roasted a load of fresh-boiled, skinned, beetroots for about 20-30 minutes, with balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and olive oil.

Everyone was so full that it was hours before pudding was mentioned! It was a simple thing to make though, fresh blueberries and raspberries, topped with greek yoghurt and honey.

The above represents my best effort to make good on my promise that, after dinner, they would be too fat  to drive home (they were, it was a good thing they'd planned to stay over)!