Pasta with Pancetta and Fennel

Rather than ordering takeaway, a few handy ingredients transform into a delicious, homey relaxing dinner.  This is my take on a Three Blue Ducks recipe.  
Simple, no stress, maximum flavour, comfort food.
We thoroughly recommend visiting The Farm Cafe Byron Bay and visiting Handmade Uki in the beautiful Uki township nearby.             Enjoy!     Colleen

Pasta Pancetta Fennel by Feed Your Inner Cook

Preparation and cooking time  approx 20 minutes
Serves 4   depending on amount of pasta cooked

Ingredients
400 to 500 gram Pasta (depends on appetite)  have fun with the shapes.
I like to use Casarecce, Fusilli or Tagliatelle - just cook to packet time

2 tablespoons Pine Nuts (optional)
1  1/2  teaspoons Fennel Seeds  

splash Olive Oil  
1 red onion - finely sliced

100 gram to 200 gram pancetta - finely chopped   (I find 100 gram is enough)
OR  some Italian pork and fennel sausages - remove casing and roughly chop

1/2 to 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes (to your taste)
1 cup Salt reduced chicken stock (or make it from Massel chicken style stock powder)
1 cup baby Peas (frozen is fine - allow to defrost a little)
80 - 100 ml cream
50 gram grated parmesan
Freshly ground black pepper - to taste
Some fresh dill - chopped  OR  parsley OR chives
PS  ingredients are quite salty so unlikely you need to add any more salt

Method 
Cook your pasta according to packet directions in a large saucepan.  I allow 15 minutes for water to boil and pasta to cook.  Most pastas take approx 10 minutes.

As soon as you start boiling the pasta water:
Heat a large deep pan and dry toast pine nuts.  Remove for later.
Then dry toast fennel seeds til fragrant.  Remove and crush seeds.
Now the water should be boiling so start cooking the pasta in your saucepan.

Using the frypan - 
heat a splash of oil and fry the onion, fennel, chilli and pancetta well. 
Add chicken stock and allow to reduce slightly
Stir through peas, cream and most of the parmesan. (reserve some for garnish)
Check pasta - should be almost cooked.  When ready - drain pasta.
Add the cooked pasta to the creamy pancetta sauce.  
Stir through the pine nuts, dill and cracked pepper to taste.
Serve with a scattering of reserved parmesan

Handmade Uki . full of handmade treasures. near Mt Warning. NSW 

     

The Farm at Byron Bay

The Farm at Byron Bay

Enjoy!    Colleen

Spice up your steak dinner

As much as we all enjoy a nice steak from the BBQ or grill, let's face it, it can be a little boring. Well take a tip from the Argentinians and stack a little punch of flavour on top.  This Chimichurri sauce is also packed with goodness from the fresh herbs and garlic.

Ingredients

1 cup washed and dried flat leaf parsley, firmly packed (no thick stems)
3-4 cloves of garlic
2 Tablespoons fresh oregano (2 teaspoons of dried oregano)
1/3 cup EVOO (Oil)
2 Tablespoons of Red Wine Vinegar
1/2 Teaspoon salt
Ground of black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried chilli flakes.

Method

Place parsley, oregano and garlic in a food process, blitz until finely chopped.

Place in a small bowl. Add olive oil, vinegar, chilli flakes, salt and pepper, stir and taste and adjust seasoning.

Use at room temperature or refrigerate for future use (keeps for a day or two).

Perfect on beef , chicken or prawns

Unctuous!

Mamma Marmalade

Ginger Ginger Biscuits

Homemade biccies always taste better. My biscuits with Ginger and more Ginger are simple, delicious and challenge you to stop at just one! A double rainbow of ginger! 
Whether you nibble, dunk or scoff - you will love serving your visitors these Retro gingery ginger biscuits!   Enjoy!   Colleen

Ginger Ginger Biscuits by Feed Your Inner Cook

Preparation   15 minutes
Baking           12 - 15 minutes
Makes            36 - 40 biscuits  (medium size)

Ingredients
90 gram butter 
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup golden syrup
2 - 3 tablespoons of ginger chunks - diced very small - winds up about 1 tablespoon
You can leave out if you are not a ginger addict - the ground ginger will still give a nice ginger flavour to the biscuit mixture.
 (I like Buderim Ginger "Naked Ginger") local Queensland product - not crystallised. 

1 1/3 cup plain flour (sifted with the following)
3/4 teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda
3/4 to 1 tablespoon ground ginger (to your taste - I use 1 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Method
Prepare 3 biscuit trays
Preheat oven to 170 Celsius (180 if not using fan)

In a small saucepan  (or in microwave jug)  - gently melt the butter, sugar and syrup.
Stir in the finely diced ginger and remove from heat.

In a large bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together.
Stir in the (slightly cooled)  melted butter mixture and combine well.

Gently roll teaspoon sized mixture into small walnut sized balls with a little room to spread.
I usually have 12  on a tray
Very lightly, flatten slightly with fork tines.
Bake approx 12 minutes until golden. If needed, pop in for another minute and check again. Remove from oven, loosen but leave on tray to cool.
Store in an airtight container.
                                Enjoy!  Colleen

Tomato soup in 10 minutes

Confession time! I have never made Tomato soup, I envisaged that it would require loads of over ripe field grown tomatoes that would be troublesome to source.  So what a delight to stumble on Mary Berry's foolproof, "easy as" recipe.  This soup is very tasty and freezes well, so with Autumn supposedly in full swing, whip up a batch today. All you need,is virtually in your pantry or fridge right now.

Ingredients

6 Sundried Tomatoes in oil
2 crushed cloves of garlic
3 x 400g tin of crushed tomatoes
500 ml chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 Tablespoon of caster sugar
150 ml milk
150 ml cream
 Salt & Pepper to taste

Garnish - Basil Pesto

Method

Place a large deep saucepan on the stove, add 1 Tablespoon of Oil from the Sun dried tomato jar.
Add garlic and stir for a few minutes.
Add the sun dried tomatoes, tin tomatoes, stock and sugar stirring until it starts to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and place a lid on the saucepan.'
After 10 minutes, remove from the heat and using a stick blender, whiz to combine.
Stir in milk and cream and adjust seasoning.

Serve warm with a teaspoon of pesto.

Yum

Mamma Marmalade