Spatzle

Ingredients 2 cups flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup milk or water.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 45 minutes

As part of the World Cup Food Challenge 2014, this recipe represents a traditional meal of Germany. Spatzle are a sort of cross between a noodle and a dumpling - thicker and fluffier than pasta - and are served tossed with butter and sausage, sometimes lentils and vegetables. I served mine with spinach and cheese because SCREW YOU IT'S MY BLOG! I should also warn you that should you have had the impression I did, that pushing something through a potato ricer or colander would make actual noodles, well you'd be wrong. Spatzle translates to "little sparrow" which (aside from being highly disrespectful to Edith Piaf in my humble opinion) apparently explains why this is supposed to look like little gobbets of chewed up bubblegum, scraped off the bottom of your Docs. Looks aren't everything though, and this tastes delicious!

1) Sift the flour and salt into a bowl if using a hand mixer, or into your stand mixer if you have a Kitchen Aid (bastard.)

2) Whisk the eggs together, make a well in the flour and add the eggs and milk/water. Get your dough hook out and let it going for about 20 minutes, until you see holes in the dough as it pulls away from the sides.

3) If you're mixing this by hand... I have no advice for you except that you're probably mad and or have terrific arm muscles.

4) Squidge the dough through a colander or potato ricer and into a pot of boiling water. Once the noodles float to the top they're done! Strain them and transfer into a bowl of ice water to cool down, then dry off and either put them in the fridge to use later or toss them in a little butter before serving with meat or cooked in the sauce of your choice!

Gnocchi with cashew & avocado sauce

Ingredients Gnocchi: Potato, pasta flour, egg, plain flour. Sauce: 4 tbs cashew cream, 100ml water, 1 avocado

Serves: 2 Preparation: 10 minutes (plus 1 hour for gnocchi, overnight for cashew cream preparation)

This is a combination of two of my recipes: gnocchi and cashew cream as a serving suggestion, but it's also a great way to use up a ripe avocado. If like me you eat them pretty much daily, there will always be one in your fruit bowl (ahem... bucket might be a more apt description in my case...) and this is a great, healthy supper with a protein-rich sauce.

1) My recipe for gnocchi here. If you would like to make this vegan, just omit the egg.

2) My recipe for cashew nut cream here.

3) Bring the gnocchi to the boil in a large pan of salted water. Once the little dumplings float to the surface, they're done.

4) Slice the avocado in half and use a tablespoon to scoop it from the shell. If the avocado is ripe enough the stone will pop out with a spoon but another good method is to prick it with a knife and pull it out. Pop into your food processor, squish through a potato ricer or mash with a fork/masher and add to the cashew cream. I like to flavour this up with a little mustard and salt sometimes but the delicate creamy flavour is lovely just as it is. Drain the gnocchi and stir into the sauce.

Gnocchi with kale & artichoke pesto

Ingredients 200g kale, 1 tbsp almond butter, 1 artichoke, olive oil, gruyere, 1 potato, 3oz pasta flour.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 1 hour

This serving suggestion for my kale and artichoke pesto is one of the lightest gnocchis that I have ever made, as I usually associate gnocchi with heavy cream sauces. I concocted this recently for a vegan friend (minus the gruyere for her of course!) and it turned out beautifully. Give it a try!

1) To make kale & artichoke pesto.

2) To make gnocchi: Bake a small potato and allow it to cool. Remove the skin and add to the blender along with the pasta flour. Blitz through and roll the mixture into balls.

3) Roll the balls in flour, score with a fork, then drop in boiling, salted water. Once the dumplings float to the surface (about 2 minutes) they're ready.

4) Drain the pan of gnocchi and stir in the pesto and grated gruyere. Serve hot

Sausage & smoked cheese lasagne

Ingredients Layer 1) 10 cherry tomatoes, 1 tsp butter. Layer 2) 4 Quorn sausages, 50g smoked cheese, 50ml buttermilk. Layer 3) 1 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp flour, 50ml milk, 1 egg.

Lasagne sheets/8 oz pasta flour, 4 eggs, 1 tsp olive oil, 10g cheddar.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 1 hour (plus 2-5 for chilling the pasta dough)

Smoked cheese is something that I rarely cook with. The heady flavour can easily overpower the other ingredients, but if you get it right it's a fabulous addition to meat dishes or in my case, being a vegetarian - Quorn!
This twist on lasagne (for my classic lasagne recipe, click here) uses the sharp freshness of cherry tomatoes to cut through the smoked cheese.

1) To make the lasagne sheets: Pour the flour, olive oil, a good pinch of salt, 3 eggs and 1 egg yolk into a bowl and kneed with your hands until you have a firm dough. Wrap this in cling film and chill in the fridge for 2-5 hours. 

2) Slice the Quorn sausages in half lengthways and roast in the top of the oven for 10 minutes at 200 degrees. Set aside.

3) Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and then into quarters and shuck the seeds with your thumb. Discard the seeds and add the tomato flesh to a pan along with a teaspoon of butter and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Spoon into your lasagne dish.

4) Dust a worktop with pasta flour and roll out the dough into a sheet 1/3 of a centimetre thick. Cut out rectangles of pasta and roll these through a pasta machine (or continue using a rolling pin if you don't have one). Add your first layer to the top of the tomatoes and press down to ensure that each part of the pasta is in contact with the tomatoes. Add the Quorn sausages, cut side down on top of the pasta.

5) Grate the smoked cheese and add to a pan with the buttermilk. Stir through until a smooth sauce has formed and pour over the Quorn sausages. Top with a layer of pasta, pressing down to ensure that each part is on contact with the sauce.

6) Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a pan and stir a tablespoon of plain flour into it to form a roux. Take off the heat and whisk the egg into the roux along with the milk. Whisk through for about 5 minutes and pour over the lasagne. Top with grated cheddar and bake the lasagne in the oven for 10 -15 minutes until the cheese is golden and bubbly.

Pumpkin ravioli with ginger butter

Ingredients 8 oz pasta flour, 4 eggs, 1 tsp olive oil, 1 pumpkin, 10 cherry tomatoes, 1 tbsp butter, 1 tsp ground ginger

Serves: 2 Preparation: 2-5 hours

Making pasta is a labour of love. There are recipes for which dried pasta is perfectly acceptable, and then there are those recipes which require getting your hands dirty... this recipe is positively filthy. The sweetness of the pumpkin, the tart, tangy combination of ginger and tomato... this is pasta perfection.

1) Pour the flour, olive oil, a good pinch of salt, 3 eggs and 1 egg yolk into a bowl and kneed with your hands until you have a firm dough. Wrap this in cling film and chill in the fridge for 2-5 hours.

2) You can buy pumpkin puree in a can if it's out of season, but to prepare from scratch: Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and pith with a spoon. Make sure all the stringiness has been removed. Peel away the skin with a chef's knife and cut the flesh into cubes. Roast in the oven for 50 minutes and blend until smooth.

3) Dust a worktop with pasta flour and roll out the dough into a sheet 1/3 of a centimetre thick. Cut out rectangles of pasta and roll these through a pasta machine (or continue using a rolling pin if you don't have one). Add a teaspoon of the pumpkin mixture to one side of the rectangle, fold in half and pinch the edges together, taking care not to leave any air trapped inside.

4) Melt a tablespoon of butter in a pan along with a teaspoon of ground ginger. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and place them cut side down in the pan.

5) Drop the pasta into a large pan of hot, salted water. The pasta will sink to the bottom initially but when it is ready (2-3 minutes maximum unless your pasta is too thick) it will float to the top. Remove the ravioli from the pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to the pan of butter. Stir through and serve.

Samphire fettuccine with champagne custard

Ingredients Samphire, 20cl champagne, 4 egg yolks, double cream, butter, 8oz pasta flour, 1 tsp olive oil, 5 eggs

Serves: 4 preparation: 15 minutes (+5 hour pasta preparation)

I adore pasta and thankfully love making it almost as much as I love to eat it - there's nothing quite like freshly made pasta, fresh from the pot. The crisp tang of champagne, the fresh, juicy and salty samphire and the creamy texture of the sauce is a luxurious combination here and for such a simple dish to make, it really does make a fantastic impression.

1) Pour 8 ounces of grade 00 flour (pasta flour), 1 teaspoon of olive oil, a good pinch of salt, 3 whole eggs and 1 egg yolk into a bowl and kneed with your hands until you have a firm dough. Wrap this in cling film and chill in the fridge for 2-5 hours.

2) Dust a worktop with pasta flour and roll out the dough into a sheet 1/3 of a centimetre thick. Cut out squares of pasta with a knife and roll these through a pasta machine (or using a rolling pin if you don't have one) until you have a thin rectangle of pasta. Slice into 1cm wide strips.

3) Pour the champagne into a pan and reduce it down on a high heat for about 5-7 minutes. Turn down the heat and quickly whisk in the egg yolks. Continue whisking until the sauce thickens and then add a splash of cream. Add the samphire along with a little butter to make the sauce glossy and leave on a low heat until the pasta is ready.

4) Drop the pasta into salted boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Once it rises to the top of the pan it's done! Strain and toss with the samphire and champagne custard.

Fettuccini with poached egg yolk

Ingredients 8oz pasta flour, 1 tsp olive oil, 5 eggs, 1 lemon, 100g pancetta, 1 tbsp basil oil, 1 tbsp parmigiano.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour (+5 hours pasta preparation)

I adore pasta and thankfully love making it almost as much as I love to eat it - there's nothing quite like freshly made pasta, fresh from the pot. I also adore poached eggs, the creamy gold egg yolk flowing makes the most beautiful pasta sauce and recently I decided to do away with the faff of poaching a whole egg and just stick with the yolk!

1) Pour 8 ounces of grade 00 flour (pasta flour), 1 teaspoon of olive oil, a good pinch of salt, 3 whole eggs and 1 egg yolk into a bowl and kneed with your hands until you have a firm dough. Wrap this in cling film and chill in the fridge for 2-5 hours.
2) Dust a worktop with pasta flour and roll out the dough into a sheet 1/3 of a centimetre thick. Cut out squares of pasta with a knife and roll these through a pasta machine (or using a rolling pin if you don't have one) until you have a thin rectangle of pasta. Slice into 1cm wide strips.

3) Add a little basil oil into a frying pan and sizzle the pancetta for 2 minutes.

4) Drop the pasta into salted boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Once it rises to the top of the pan it's done! Strain and toss with freshly squeezed lemon juice, a glug of basil oil, the pancetta and some freshly grated parmeggian.

5) Separate an egg yolk from the white and drop it into a pan of boiling water for 45 seconds, then spoon it onto the fettuccini. Once you cut into it the yolk will mix with the pasta to form the most stunning sauce. I served this with poached chicken breast and steamed asparagus.

Lasagne

Ingredients    Quorn mince (or beef mince), passata tomatoes, 1 white onion, basil oil, butter, basil, oregano, parsley, garlic, red wine, double cream, white flour, salt, 8oz pasta flour, 1 tsp olive  oil, 6 eggs, mozarella, cheddar.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 1 hour (+5 for preparation)


Lasagne is amazing, you don't need Garfield to tell you that! Layers of delicious bolognaise and creamy bechamel, all topped with golden bubbling cheese... this is comfort food at its best.



1) Pour 8 ounces of grade 00 flour (pasta flour), 1 teaspoon of olive oil, a good pinch of salt, 3 whole eggs and 1 egg yolk into a bowl and kneed with your hands until you have a firm dough. Wrap this in cling film and chill in the fridge for 2-5 hours.


2) Put half a bulb (yes that's bulb, not clove!) of garlic into a roasting tin and roast in the oven for 30 minutes.

3) Finely dice one white onion and sautee in a tablespoon of basil oil and a teaspoon of butter until they have completely softened. Add a glass of red wine, some finely chopped basil, oregano and parsley and stir through.

4) If you are making this with meat - brown the mince and strain off all of the meat juices before adding it to the pan. If you are making this with Quorn - add the Quorn mince from frozen and stir through.


5) Stir the passata tomatoes through the Quorn mince and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.


6) Stir through on a low heat for a further 2-3 minutes and then remove the roast garlic from the oven. Once roasted, it can be squeezed from the skin like a puree and stirred through the sauce.


7) Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan and stir a tablespoon of plain flour into it to form a roux. Whisk 2 eggs into the roux and finish with a generous dash of cream or milk. Whisk through for about 5 minutes and set aside.


8) Roll out the pasta on a floured surface and level out with a rolling pin. Either feed it through a pasta machine or with the rolling pin until you are left with a thin sheet. Cut sheets to the size of your lasagne dish.


9) Spoon a layer of bolognaise into an ovenproof dish and top with a sheet of pasta. Continue to layer the bolognaise and bechamel sauce until the dish is filled. Top with grated mozarella and cheddar.


10) Bake covered for 10 minutes and uncovered for 5 to allow the top to crisp and then serve.

Spinach & asparagus ravioli with sage & pistachio butter

Ingredients  400g spinach, 20 fine asparagus    stalks, 8oz pasta flour, 1 tsp olive oil, 4 eggs, handful of pistachio nuts, 1 tbsp sage, 2 tbsp butter

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour (+5 hours pasta preparation)

I adore pasta and thankfully love making it almost as much as I love to eat it - there's nothing quite like freshly made pasta, fresh from the pot. The combination of flavours in this dish is quite frankly insane but somehow it really works. Sage butter is something that I love with pumpkin or butternut squash ravioli but in this case I made it into more of a pesto using pistachio nuts to balance out the intensity of the sage. This sweetness really brought out the flavour of the asparagus and the spinach provided a freshness that balanced everything out.

1) Pour 8 ounces of grade 00 flour (pasta flour), 1 teaspoon of olive oil, a good pinch of salt, 3 whole eggs and 1 egg yolk into a bowl and kneed with your hands until you have a firm dough. Wrap this in cling film and chill in the fridge for 2-5 hours.

2) Steam the asparagus and 200g of the spinach for 4 minutes, strain as much of the water from the spinach as possible and then completely pulverise in the blender, leaving a thick puree.


3) To prepare the "pesto" finely chop the sage and stir into some gently warmed butter. Finely chop the pistachio nuts/ grind in a mortar and pestle or pulse in the blender. Stir the nuts through and set aside for the flavours to infuse.

4) Dust a worktop with pasta flour and roll out the dough into a sheet 1/3 of a centimetre thick. Cut out squares of pasta with a knife and roll these through a pasta machine (or using a rolling pin if you don't have one) until you have a thin rectangle of pasta. Add a teaspoon of the spinach and asparagus mixture to the centre of the rectandle and fold in half, pinching the ends together firmly like a cornish pasty until each piece is completely sealed.


5) When all the pasta shapes are stuffed, drop them into a large pan of hot, salted water. The pasta will sink to the bottom initially but when it is ready (2-3 minutes maximum unless your pasta is too thick) it will float to the top.

6) Remove the ravioli from the pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl. Stir through the pesto and serve on a bed of steamed spinach with additional asparagus if you wish.

Gnocchi

Ingredients Potato, pasta flour, egg, plain flour Sauce 1) Onion, red wine, bell pepper, basil, passata, butter Sauce 2) Garlic, vodka, marscapone, cream, cheddar, butter

1) Bake 2 large potatoes in their skins, remove the skins and then allow to cool.
Add them along with 4oz of pasta flour to a blender and mix thoroughly - adding 1 beaten egg part way through the process until it forms a ball of dough.
2) Prepare a large surface area by dusting it with plain flour and dropping the dumpling dough into the centre. Roll the mixture out into a sausage and divide into even sections with a knife. Roll up each section into a ball and drop into a pan of boiling salted water. When the dumplings rise to the top of the water and float (rather than bob up and down) they are ready to be removed with a slotted spoon.
Gnocci is equally divine when served with zingy or creamy sauces - here I have combined the two because I'm in an indulgent mood!
3) Vodka sauce
Mince 4 cloves of garlic and sautee with butter in a pan. Add a shot of vodka and stir through. As the vodka begins to cook off add 2 tablespoons of marscapone, grate a generous knob of cheddar into the pan and finish with cream or milk.
4) Tomato and pepper sauce
Finely dice half a white onion and sautee with butter in a pan. Add a good glug of red wine and stir through. Remove the core from 3 bell peppers, slice into small pieces and roast in the oven. Blend the peppers and then pass through a sieve to separate the flesh from the skin. Add this to a pan along with some chopped basil and passata tomatoes.

Spinach & goats cheese ravioli

Ingredients Pasta flour, 4 eggs, salt, olive oil, spinach, goats cheese, nutmeg, basil, oregano, red wine, passata tomatoes, garlic, basil oil, cherry tomatoes, parmigiano.

1) Pour 8 ounces of grade 00 flour (pasta flour), 1 teaspoon of olive oil, a good pinch of salt, 3 whole eggs and 1 egg yolk into a bowl and kneed with your hands until you have a firm dough. Wrap this in cling film and chill in the fridge for 2-5 hours.

2) Combine spinach leaves and goats cheese with freshly grated nutmeg in a blender and set aside.

3) Crush 3 garlic cloves into a pan and pour in 2 tablespoons of basil oil. As the garlic sizzles add in a generous slosh of red wine, some dried basil and the tomato passata. Add some whole cherry tomatoes to poach in the sauce and simmer on a low heat.

4) Dust a worktop with pasta flour and roll out the dough into a sheet 1/3 of a centimetre thick. Cut out circles of pasta with a biscuit cutter (a champagne flute should do in a pinch!) and roll these through a pasta machine (or using a rolling pin if you don't have one) until you have a thin elipsis of pasta.
Add a teaspoon of the spinach mixture to the centre of the elipsis and fold in half, pinching the ends together firmly like a cornish pasty.
In the picture below you'll see the circles of pasta to the left and to the right, a finished piece of stuffed pasta.

5) When all the pasta shapes are stuffed, drop them into a large pan of hot, salted water. The pasta will sink to the bottom initially but when it is ready (2-3 minutes maximum unless your pasta is too thick) it will float to the top.

6) Remove the ravioli from the pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl. Spoon over some of the pasta sauce and sprinkle with dried basil and shaved parmeggian.