Linguine with wild garlic pesto & plum tomatoes

Ingredients 100g wild garlic, 100g fresh basil, 50ml olive oil, parmigiano, 1/2 lemon, 50g pine nuts, linguine, tomatoes.

Preparation: 5-10 minutes

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen me recently posting about foraging for wild garlic pesto but I have finally got around to actually updating here! I love wild garlic. It's so vibrantly green and though every bit as pungent as garlic bulbs, when eaten raw it does not have that same sting of heat. When I was pregnant with The Starchild I swapped garlic bulbs for wild garlic on many an occasion to avoid getting heartburn. This dish is so fresh and glorious and ridiculously quick and simple to make.

1) Put the pasta on to boil and slice the tomatoes into quarters.

2) Add the basil and wild garlic to a mortar bowl and grind to a fine pulp. You can use a blender if you wish of course.

3) Add the pine nuts, olive oil and grated parmeggian and grind thoroughly, adding lemon juice to taste, and if you wish a pinch of salt though personally I find the parmigiano and wild garlic take care of the savoury notes.

4) Drain the pasta and stir in a few spoons of pesto, then toss with the tomatoes and serve.

Linguine with artichoke cream

Ingredients Artichoke, olive oil, linguine.

Preparation: 40 minutes

This ridiculously simple pasta dish is nothing short of fabulous! Silky, luxurious artichoke cream stirred into linguine - what could be easier? If you can't be bothered cooking your own artichoke, you could probably even use a jar of antipasti!

1) Break the stem of the artichoke as close to the base as you can, then put the artichoke head first into a pan of hot, salted water and keep it submerged with an upturned pan lid (or plate). It will take 20-30 minutes to cook until tender - test the base with a knife - if it goes in smoothly it's ready!

2) Simmer the linguine in hot, salted water for 8-10 minutes then drain.
3) Slice the artichoke leaves and add to the blender along with a generous glug of olive oil. Blitz until a soft puree has formed and stir in the linguine.

Cucumber, lime & mint linguine

Ingredients Linguine, cucumber, mint, lime, passata.

Preparation: 10 minutes

Lime and mint are a magical combination. Mix it with ginger and vodka and you have a fabulous cocktail, mix it with tomato and you've got the base for a fabulous dinner. This evening, after putting my son to bed and cleaning the house I was too hot and bothered to face dinner, yet knew that I'd need some fuel if I didn't want to pass out in the middle of breastfeeding! This fresh, cool pasta was an inviting solution.

1) Drop the linguine into hot, salted water and cook for 8 minutes.

2) Finely chop the mint leaves and add to a pan along with the lime juice and passata. Slice the cucumber into centimetre thick discs and quarter each slice. Stir into the sauce and season with salt and black pepper.

3) Strain the pasta and add to the sauce, stir through and serve.

Roast pepper, tomato & mozzarella linguine

Ingredients Linguine, mozzarella pearls, basil, parsley, olive oil, plum tomatoes, red bell peppers, 1 garlic clove.

Preparation: 25 minutes, plus marinating time

I can understand the concept of convenience food - opening up a jar of something and tossing it with some pasta, but shop-bought sauces make my soul and tastebuds wither away to nothing. I quite often make pesto or pasta sauces ahead of time to keep in the fridge, ready for a quick meal - and this luscious concoction of marinated peppers and tomatoes makes a wonderful quick supper.

1) Slice the top from the bell peppers, remove the core and seeds and slice between the membranes. Cut each pepper quarter in half.

2) Slice the tomatoes into quarters and remove the seeds. Roast the tomatoes and peppers in the top of the oven for 20 minutes until the skin begins to blacken. 

3) Add to a bowl with the olive oil, mozarella pearls, crushed garlic, parsley and herbs and leave to marinate for at least 1 hour but ideally overnight.

4) Toss with cooked liguine and serve

Courgette & goats cheese linguine

Ingredients 1 courgette, 30g basil, 30g goats cheese, 1 tbsp butter, linguine.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 15 minutes

I adore courgettes. They're so versatile and are at once a juicy addition to a dish, and a perfect vehicle to soak up other flavours.

1) Bring the pasta to the boil in a pan of salted water and simmer for 8-10 minutes.

2) Cut the courgette into centimetre thick slices, then quarter. Add to a pan with the butter and freshly chopped basil and sautee for 10 minutes, stirring regularly.

3) Strain the linguine in a colander and pour in with the courgette. Stir in the goats cheese until it has coated the pasta and courgette, then serve.

Courgette & avocado linguine

Ingredients 1 courgette, 1 avocado, 1 lemon, coriander, parmigiano, linguine.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 15 minutes

I was just plating up this meal when my waters broke, leading to the premature birth of my Starchild, but please don't blame the food! This dish is full of spring freshness - juicy courgette, creamy avocado and citrus notes of lemon and coriander make wonderful company for pasta.

1) Bring the pasta to the boil in a pan of salted water and simmer for 8-10 minutes.

2) Cut the courgette into centimetre thick slices, then quarter. Toss in freshly squeezed lemon juice and coriander, then roast in the oven at 200 degrees for 10 minutes.

3) Halve the avocados and scoop the fruit from the shell, discarding the stone. Pulse in the blender until smooth and creamy, then stir in the courgette and linguine. Serve with shavings of parmigiano.

Avocado linguine

Ingredients Linguine, 1 avocado, baby plum tomatoes, vintage cheddar or parmigiano

Serves: 2 Preparation: 10 minutes

For bringing this recipe into your lives, I would bet my shiny red Doc Martin boots that you will feel compelled to forever love, adore and shower me with gifts - such as your first born children. It is not only quick, cheap and healthy - it is also stunningly, inconceivably delicious. Think thick, smooth, creamy, buttery textured avocado, the fresh sharp sweetness of tomato and the rich tang of cheddar. This is quite simply stunning.

1) Put the linguine on to boil in hot salted water for 8 - 10 minutes.

2) Halve the avocado around the stone and twist it apart. Remove the stone and scoop the avocado flesh from the shell. Add to a blender and blitz thoroughly.

3) Halve your baby plum tomatoes and place under the grill for 5 minutes.

4) Stir the grated cheddar or parmeggian into the sauce - this shouldn't need any seasoning so it's great for those on low-sodium diets or children. If you don't eat cheese, then do season the avocado with salt and pepper.

5) Strain the pasta and stir into the avocado. Serve immediately with the grilled tomatoes.

Pasta with lamb & mint pesto

Ingredients Linguine, 400g lamb mince, 20g mint, 5g parsley, 5g pea shoots, olive oil, 1 garlic clove, lemon, 2 tbsp parmigiano, 5g walnuts.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 20 minutes

First of all, apologies for the dreadful quality of the photo but I had no light due to Impending Construction Of New Kitchen. You'll also notice that I have controversially used pasta shells instead of a linguine... this is again due to Kitchen mayhem - I was using up what little stocks I had left!
Despite the tragic image before you, I can assure you that mint pesto tastes incredible, and that it's the perfect partner for lamb mince.
Despite being fanatical about preparing pesto properly (in a mortar and pestle), I have no compunctions about getting creative with it. I've shared recipes for pistachio pesto, olive pesto, pistou (almond), sage pesto and walnut pesto... so it was only a matter of time before the mint came out. Give it a try!

1) Put the pasta on to boil in hot salted water for 10 minutes and strain.

2) To make the pesto - add the mint, parsley and pea shoot leaves to a mortar and pestle and grind to a fine pulp. Add a crushed garlic clove to the mortar bowl along with a pinch of salt and the chopped walnuts. Grind thoroughly, adding a squeeze of lemon juice, olive oil and the parmeggian.

3) Fry off the mince and drain away the fat, toss with the pasta and mint pesto and serve.

Linguine with burnt butter‏, broccoli stem & parmeggian

Ingredients Broccoli stem, 20g butter, parmigiano, linguine

Serves: 2 preparation: 10 minutes


Following on from my recent recipe using broccoli stem, I wanted to create something a bit lighter and cleaner tasting as a platform for the full flavour of the parmeggian. Broccoli stem has a slightly cabbagey flavour, sweet and nutty which makes it the perfect accompaniment to the burnt butter sauce.


1) Put the pasta on to boil in hot, salted water for 8-10 minutes


2) Slice the stem from the broccoli and peel away the tough outer layer of skin. Slice the stem into thin pieces and set aside.


3) Melt the butter in a pan and keep on a medium heat for at least 5 minutes, until the butter begins to turn brown. Add in the broccoli and sizzle for a further 2-3 minutes on a lower heat.


4) Strain the pasta and stir into the butter, then serve with shaved parmeggian.

Roast pepper & spinach linguine

Ingredients Linguine, 2 bell peppers, 200g spinach, butter, basil, tomatoes, olive oil, vintage cheddar

Serves: 2 preparation: 20 minutes

I don't know where this myth began that pasta is a heavy dish with rich sauces - this meal is feather light and makes a WONDERFUL pasta salad served cold. The melting soft pepper, fresh spinach and sharp crumbles of cheddar are absolutely delicious but there's really no sauce to speak of, just a  gloss of butter.

1) Slice the tops from the peppers and remove the cores. Remove slices of fruit from between the membranes (discarding these) and slice into strips. Roast in the oven at 200 for 10 minutes, drizzled with olive oil and finish under the grill for 5 minutes or until the skin begins to blacken.

2) Add the linguine to hot, salted water and bring to the boil for about 8 minutes.

3) Finely dice the basil and add, along with the spinach to a wok with a little butter. Stir through until the spinach is just coated, then remove from the heat.

4) Strain the linguine and add to the spinach along with the roast pepper strips and a little grated cheddar. Stir through and serve hot or cold.

Serving suggestion: try adding some roast tomatoes on the vine

Linguine with pesto & poached egg yolk

Ingredients Linguine, 1 egg, basil, basil oil, pine nuts, parmigiano, lemon juice, garlic

Serves: 2 Preparation: 10 minutes

In Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals, I once heard him say that it was perfectly acceptable not to make your own pesto, that the stuff in a jar was no different. Now I expect that kind of laziness from the gorgeous Nigella, but from Jamie? Not so much. And excuse me, a humble cook for daring to contradict a celebrated chef but he's wrong. Dead wrong. Wrong in the head if he believes that. There will never be anything like fresh pesto. Grinding the basil into the pine nuts releases a sweet perfume, further enhanced with notes of citrus which is then brought down to earth with the earthiness of the garlic and tang of parmeggian. As the kitchen fills with the scent I become giddy with the anticipation of it, and it's short lived because it's so quick and simple to make. Don't buy it, celebrate it.

1) Add the linguine to hot, salted water and bring to the boil for about 8 minutes.

2) To make the pesto - add a good handful of fresh basil leaves to a mortar bowl and grind to a fine pulp. Sautee 1 crushed clove of garlic in basil oil and add to the mortar bowl along with a pinch of salt and a handful of pine nuts. Grind thoroughly, adding lemon juice, basil oil and parmeggian to taste.

2) Strain the linguine from the water (don't discard) and add the pasta to the pesto. Toss, adding extra pine nuts until it is coated in pesto.

3) Using the remaining boiling water, drop in an egg yolk for about 30 seconds and then remove with a teaspoon, transferring it to sit on the pasta.

Break the egg yolk immediately and stir the creaminess through your pasta. Heaven... and far less than 30 minutes Jamie *winks*

Turkey orange & stilton meatballs

Ingredients 400g turkey mince, 170g white stilton with orange, 1/2 small white onion, passata tomatoes, juice and zest of 1 orange, linguine

Serves: 3 Preparation: 20 minutes

This recipe evolved as a result of a twitter conversation. I was asked what kind of sauce I'd serve with a stilton-based meatball, creamy or tomatoey and I explained that stilton LOVES fruit. Whether cranberry, orange, apricot or ginger - the more tart the flavour, the better. So for me, the only solution would be a simple sauce of orange juice, zest and the rich warmth of tomato. I made these meatballs with lean turkey mince, all the better to balance the naughty addition of cheese!

1) Peel and slice half the onion and add to a blender. Pulse for a few seconds and then add the turkey mince and crumbled stilton.

2) Keep pulsing until the mixture is thoroughly combined - you will see it form a large ball in the blender when it is ready. Remove and form into meatballs.

3) Using a little splash of oil, fry off the meatballs in a hot pan for about a minute - tossing them to ensure they keep their shape and are evenly coloured. Transfer to an ovenproof dish and set aside.

4) Zest the orange and squeeze out the juice. Add the juice and zest to a pan with about 250g passata and warm through. Season and pour over the meatballs, then transfer to the oven and bake for about 20 minutes at 180 degrees.

5) Boil the linguine in salted water for about 10 minutes and strain. Add the meatballs and sauce to the linguine and toss until the sauce has coated the pasta. Serve with black pepper and a sprinkle of basil or parsley.

Olive & tomato pasta

Ingredients    kamalata olives, baby plum     tomatoes, mozarella pearls, honey, basil oil, peas, linguine

Serves: 2 Preparation: 15 minutes


I know that my cooking seems to be absurdly diverse, but you may notice that there is a distinct pattern to my posts. Almost every flavour combination that I discover winds up being tossed with pasta when I have leftovers - I should change the name of this blog to Everything Goes With Pasta! When I made the  tomato and olive bruschetta earlier this week, I knew exactly how the remaining tapenade-like mixture would meet its fate though it did give me pause. When I was a child there was a trend in the post-Thatcher days to mix peas and sweetcorn with EVERYTHING to bulk out a spaghetti bolognaise or some rice and quite honestly I see peas mixed with a tomato-based sauce and want to run screaming from the room with a petulant "not again mummy!". The truth is that peas do go so wonderfully with pasta because the freshness cuts through a heavy cheese based sauce. In this cause I'm using cheese with the peas as a method to cut through the heavy olive-based sauce - mozarella pearls are wonderful here.



1) Put the linguine on to boil. A smooth linguine will take 8 - 10 minutes in salted water, if the linguine is dusted with polenta it will more likely take 11-12 minutes to become soft and pliable.


2) Add the peas during the last 2 minutes (if cooking from frozen - if cooking with shelled peas, 5-7 minutes should do, once they turn colour you only need another minute).


3) Once the pasta has been cooked (either taste a strand, or chuck it at the wall - if it sticks, it's done!), strain and toss in a pan with a few spoons of the remaining olive and tomato sauce and some mozarella pearls. Warm through in the pan, stirring continually until the pasta has become coated.


And serve!

Olive & goats cheese linguine

Ingredients Fine beans, goats cheese, kamalata olives, honey, linguine

Serves: 2 Preparation: 20 minutes


I know that my cooking seems to be absurdly diverse, but you may notice that there is a distinct pattern to my posts. Almost every flavour combination that I discover winds up being tossed with pasta when I have leftovers - I should change the name of this blog to Everything Goes With Pasta! When I made the  goats cheese and olive bruschetta earlier this week, I knew exactly how the remaining tapenade-like mixture would meet its fate and truly, combined with the freshness of fine beans this really was a superb dish.


1) Put the linguine on to boil. A smooth linguine will take 8 - 10 minutes in salted water, if the linguine is dusted with polenta it will more likely take 11-12 minutes to become soft and pliable.


2) Trim the ends from the fine beans and put them on to boil for 6 minutes, then strain and plunge them into ice water.


3) Once the pasta has been cooked (either taste a strand, or chuck it at the wall - if it sticks, it's done!), strain and toss in a pan with the beans and a few spoons of the remaining olive and goats cheese sauce. Warm through in the pan, stirring continually until the pasta has become coated.


I like to serve this with a little extra goats cheese crumbled on top but this is purely gluttony, the dish doesn't require any extra cheese - it's gorgeous with a little balsamic glaze drizzled over it too.

Olive Pesto with roast aubergine

Ingredients   Basil oil, 30g basil, 30g kamalata  olives,1/2 clove garlic, 30g parmigiano, salt, baby aubergines, pasta

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes


Today I treated myself to some Lingue di Suocera squid ink pasta by Pastificio Marella. These long twisted ribbons with "sharp" edges are named Mother in Law's tongues in Italian which always makes me smile - mainly smugly because my MIL to be is so lovely. I couldn't think of a more perfect way to serve this than smothering it with olive pesto and succulent roasted baby aubergines. This Genovese style pesto would go just as beautifully with linguine but if you can get hold of Pastificio Marella products they really are worth a try.


1) Remove the stalk and cut the baby aubergines in half, lengthways. Set them skin side down in an ovenproof dish and sprinkle with salt to draw out the bitter juices. Drizzle with a generous slosh of oil and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 20 minutes.


2) Put the pasta on to boil in hot salted water whilst you make the pesto.


3) Genovese style pesto is incredibly fine and involves pulverising the basil literally one leaf at a time in your mortar and pestle - if you don't have the patience then you could use a blender but nothing will release the basil juice and create that silky Genovese texture like the traditional method. 


4) Once the basil is crushed to a fine pulp, add finely diced kamalata olives, minced garlic and parmeggian. Add a glug of basil oil until it has reached the desired consistency. If you can manage not to eat most of it before the pasta is cooked you're made of stronger stuff than I!


5) Once the aubergines have baked, slice them in half again lengthways and stir them into your pesto. Strain the pasta and stir into the pesto, ensuring that the ribbons are thoroughly coated and serve.

Courgette linguine with pistou

Ingredients Linguine, 1 courgette, 50g parmigiano, basil oil, 50g toasted almonds, 50g basil, salt, 1 lemon

Serves: 4 Preparation: 15 minutes

Pistou is a French version of pesto, traditionally spooned onto soup - I happen to also think it is pretty fabulous stirred into pasta as a change from pesto.

1) To make pistou; Roughly chop some basil and then grind in a mortar and pestle thoroughly, adding a pinch of salt, the toasted almonds and a squeeze of lemon to taste.


2) Cook the linguine in hot, salted water for 10 minutes , then strain.


3) Using a vegetable peeler, peel strips from the courgette and add to the pasta along with a squeeze of lemon juice and a little basil oil. Stir through the pistou and serve with freshly grated parmeggian.

Green bean pistou

Ingredients Linguine, green beans, toasted almonds, basil oil, basil, lime, parmigiano.

Pistou is a French version of pesto, traditionally spooned onto soup - I happen to also think it is pretty fabulous stirred onto pasta as a change from pesto.


1) Roughly chop some basil and then grind in a mortar and pestle thoroughly, adding a pinch of salt, the toasted almonds and a squeeze of lime to taste.


2) Cook the linguine in hot, salted water for 10 minutes, adding the green beans after 2.


3) Strain in a colander and add back to the pan. Stir through the pistou and serve sprinkled with parmeggian.

Chicken & mushroom linguine

Ingredients    Chicken breast, linguine, mushrooms,   double cream, sherry, white onion,dill, garlic, butter.

1) Finely dice a small white onion and sautee with butter and a little finely chopped dill until soft. Add a tablespoon of sherry and cook off.


2) Slice wafer thin pieces of mushroom and razor thin slices of garlic and stir through the butter, take off the heat and pour through some double cream. Pour the sauce over a chicken breast and bake in the oven.


3) Serve over linguine.

Creamed Kale with pork balls

Ingredients Kale, sausage meat, double cream, butter, 1 whisked egg, parmigiano, linguine

This makes a great side dish but it's also fantastic if you stir through some linguine or spaghetti and have it as a main course. 

1) Melt a tablespoon of butter in a pan and stir through the kale.

2) Form the sausage meat into small meatballs and add into the pan

3) Stir through, adding cream as the kale begins to soften and continue to cook for about 15 minutes. I like to also add a little whisked egg to thicken the sauce and sprinkle with parmeggian.

Pesto stuffed chicken

Ingredients Linguine, garden peas, pea shoots, basil, garlic, basil oil, pine nuts, cream cheese, chicken, bacon.

Following from my previous recipe - Linguine with pea pesto, this is a good serving suggestion, using the same creamy pesto to stuff the chicken.

1) Slice a pocket into the side of the chicken breast with a paring knife and stuff with two teaspoons of the pesto mix.

2) Seal the chicken with 2 - 3 slices of thin smoked bacon (or parma ham) and bake in the oven for 25 minutes.