Kinda Carbonara

This isn't really carbonara in the truest sense, it's a carbonara inspired leftover-ham-dinner, it was pretty tasty though.

The sauce is dead simple, you just need some kind of cured pork like ham or bacon for the main flavour. I used a few slices from the Christmas ham, which is still good for the moment but is probably on its last legs so it needs using up.

Fry up a little garlic and thinly sliced purple onion with a finely diced red chilli. When soft add in thickly sliced mushrooms and the pork, let them cook through.

 
Add the juice of half a lemon and a good sized slosh of single cream. Season with lots of black pepper and chopped parsley then serve mixed in with some lovely fresh pasta. Doddle.

 

Balsamic Beetroot Soup

This is an easy, warming soup which uses up a bunch of lonely beetroot from the bottom drawer of the frdge. It was inspired by a recipe in the new HFW book "River Cottage Veg Everyday", but I pretty much completely changed the character of it based on what I had available.

Roast your beetroots with a few garlic cloves in the oven at 180 for about 45 mins to an hour, coated in oil and alongside some thyme leaves, a bay leaf, salt, pepper and a slosh of water. When ready, skin them and chop into smallish pieces.

Fry up an onion in a saucepan until soft, then add the beetroot and a pint (500ml) of stock. Bring up to a boil and then keep at a simmer on a low heat for ten minutes or so.

Season well with salt and pepper, then with a small dash of worcestershire sauce *, a squirt of lemon juice and a generous drizzle of balsamic vinegar. If the brew still tastes "unfinished", try a small blob of redcurrant jelly - it worked for me.

Shove the lot into a blender and process until smooth. Pour into bowls and finish with a swirl of cream and some fresh chopped parsley.

* btw, in case you didn't know, you can now get vegetarian worcestershire sauce if you are so inclined. I found this one on the internet, but am sure I also saw one in Waitrose the other day.