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Chicken, mushroom and spinach pasta bake

Mar 9

Posted by the editor in chicken, maltese, pasta, the recipes | No Comments

“This is a creamy pasta bake for the family to enjoy”.

  • 300 g pasta
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 400 g chicken breasts, cut into chunks
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 300 g button mushrooms, sliced
  • white wine
  • 200 g spinach leaves, fresh
  • 4 tbsp double cream
  • 30 g parmesan, grated

Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the pasta shapes according to the packet instructions, then drain.

Meanwhile, fry the chicken in the garlic and olive oil in a large pan until cooked through. Add a splash of white wine, season well, and add the mushrooms, cooking for 4-5minutes. Tear the spinach and add to the pan, stirring until the spinach shrinks a bit. Add the cream, cover and simmer for 5minutes.

Once the pasta is ready, drain and stir into the sauce. Tip into a 1.2-litre ovenproof dish, sprinkle with grated Parmesan or Grana Padano. Bake at 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4 for 25 minutes.

Source : Julian Borg Barthet

Servings/Yield : 4 servings

Rating : 4 out of 5

Difficulty : Easy

Cuisine : European : Mediterranean, Maltese

Course : Main

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Linguine with peas & mint pesto

Mar 5

Posted by the editor in pasta, the recipes | No Comments

“Make your pesto minty for this fabulous summer pasta dish”

  • 350 g Linguine
  • 200 g Peas, Fresh or Frozen
  • 40 g Mint leaves, Stalks Removed
  • 6 tbsp. Olive Oil
  • 2 Garlic Cloves
  • 50 g Pine Nuts
  • 50 g Parmesan Gran Padano, Grated

Cook the pasta according to the pack instructions.

Boil the peas for 3 minutes and drain. Whizz the rest of the ingredients in a food processor to a smooth consistency.

Drain the linguine and toss the pesto through the pasta with the peas.

Notes: Recipe extra - Add a squeeze of lemon to the pesto or replace the mint with basil or sun-dried tomatoes.  I felt that it desperately needed a sprinkling of freshly ground pepper to serve.

Source : Olive Magazine : July 2007 – Page 72

Servings/Yield : 4 servings

Rating : 5 out of 5

Difficulty : Easy

Course : Main

Preparation Times : Ready in: 15 Minutes

Nutritional notes : Per Serving: 639 kcalories, protein 20.8g, carbohydrate 73.5g, fat 31.2 g, saturated fat 6.1g, fibre 5.4g, salt 0.27 g

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Broccoli Walnut Pasta

Mar 4

Posted by the editor in maltese, pasta, the recipes | No Comments

“This creamy and hardy pasta is a tasty way to eat your veggies… and get some essential fatty acids (from the walnuts)”.

  • 300g pasta, penne
  • 5 tbsp olive oil
  • 450g broccoli, cut into florets about 1/2inch across
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • ¼ tsp chili flakes, optional
  • ½ cup walnuts, chopped
  • ¼ cup parmesan, grated

Cook pasta to packet instructions. Meanwhile start steaming the broccoli, if you don’t have a steamer, boil it in water. Steaming is tastier, as it retains all the flavour and vitamins in the broccoli. Toast the chopped walnuts by frying in a dry frying pan.

Fry the garlic and chili flakes in the 2 tablespoons of oil until golden. Add the steamed broccoli and the toasted walnuts, drizzle with 3 tablespoons of oil and stirfry until the broccoli has been browned slightly. Mix in the Pasta and stir in the Parmesan.

Source : Julian Borg Barthet

Servings/Yield : 4 servings

Rating : 5 out of 5

Difficulty : Easy

Course : Main

Preparation Times : Prep: 10 Minutes Cook: 30 Minutes

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Spinach and pancetta pasta with soya cream

Feb 25

Posted by the editor in maltese, pasta, pork, the recipes | No Comments

“A creamy spinach dish, that is quick to make, but not too rich for people that don’t like spinach”.

  • 400 g pasta, we used fusilli
  • 70 g pancetta cubetti
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 garlic clove, minced
  • ½ tsp nutmeg, ground
  • 200 ml soya cream
  • 150 g ricotta cheese

Boil Pasta to packet instructions. Steam the frozen spinach, if you don’t have a steamer, just add the spinach to the pan without thawing first.

Fry the pancetta in a deep frying pan, once thoroughly cooked add oil and butter and add the garlic and nutmeg once the butter is melted. At this point you can add the steamed or frozen spinach to the pan. Cook the spinach for 5 minutes making sure it’s thoroughly cooked through, this also gives enough time to burn off any excess water from the spinach. Season well.

Once you are satisfied with the spinach, add the soya cream, and bring to a high simmer. Add the ricotta and stir until it’s melted in to the sauce.

Once the pasta is ready, add the pasta to the pan, and stir into the sauce.

Source : Julian Borg Barthet

Servings/Yield : 4 servings

Rating : 4 out of 5

Difficulty : Easy

Course : Main

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Reginette Alla Gonzales

Feb 19

Posted by the editor in chicken, italian, pasta, the recipes | No Comments

“A creamy chicken pasta with a taste of roasted peppers, this is for those people that like more bite to their pasta dish”
  • 320 g pasta
  • 1 chicken breast, diced
  • 1 yellow pepper, peeled and sliced
  • 1 green pepper, peeled and sliced
  • 250 g tomatoes, polpa
  • 3 sm onions, sliced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • dry white wine
  • 3 tablespoons brandy
  • ½ bouillon cube, crumbled
  • 4 tablespoons cream
  • salt and pepper

Char the peppers, place in a paper bag to steam, peel and cut into strips and set aside.

Place the onions in a pan with the oil and cook over low heat, adding white wine to prevent the onion from browning.

Add the chicken and stir.

Add the peppers and mix.

Pour the brandy over the mixture and allow to evaporate.

Add the tomato polpa and add the crumbled cube, season with pepper and cook for 15 minutes.

Cook the pasta al dente.

Add the cream to the sauce and adjust the salt.

Drain the pasta and pour the hot sauce over the pasta, mix and serve.

Notes : Roasting the peppers for the first time is a daunting task, but once you start cutting into the finished product, and you see how the pepper has steamed from the inside out, it’s amazing.

Source : Pasta & C.  (Translated into English from the original Italian)

Servings/Yield : 4 servings

Rating : 4 out of 5

Difficulty : Moderately Easy

Course : Main

Preparation Times : Ready in: 1 Hour

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Tuna chilli linguine

Feb 16

Posted by the editor in pasta, seafood, the recipes | No Comments

“Cheap, simple, yet utterly delicious, this pasta dish is an ideal supper for two”

  • 250 g linguine
  • 200 g tuna, from a can
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  • lemon juice, a good squeeze
  • 1 handful fresh parsley

Cook the linguine according to the packet instructions, then drain well.

Meanwhile, drain a can of tuna. Heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the chilli and cook gently for 1-2 minutes. After letting the oil slightly cool, add a good squeeze of lemon juice and a good handful chopped fresh parsley. Flake in the tuna and gently stir through.

Toss the pasta with the tuna dressing to serve.

Notes : We didn’t have fresh parsley when we made this, so we did without.  Please be very catious when adding the lemon juice to the chilli and hot oil, if it’s too hot the oil can react quite harshley and splash all over the place, which might burn you.

Wine Recommendation : Simple French vin de pays Chardonnay is good with this.

Source : Delicious Magazine : August 2008 (Slightly reworded)

Servings/Yield : 2 servings

Rating : 3 out of 5

Difficulty : Easy

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Broccoli and Courgette Pasta with Toasted Almonds

Feb 15

Posted by the editor in maltese, pasta, the recipes, vegetarian | No Comments

“A nutty pasta sauce that can be vegan as long as you leave the parmesan out. The broccoli comes out so creamy that it melts in your mouth”.

  • 300 g fusilli pasta
  • 200 g courgettes, thinely sliced
  • 200 g brocolli, broken into small floretes
  • 25 g flaked almonds
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • olive oil
  • olive oil chili infused
  • salt and pepper
  • 250 ml soy cream
  • parmesan, grated to serve as an option

Boil water for the pasta cooking to packed instructions, and start steaming the broccoli.

Add sliced Courgettes to the olive oil and garlic, frying for 10 minutes or until soft.

Once the broccoli is softened by steaming, add it to the courgettes along with a splash of chilli infused olive and season well with salt and pepper. Toast the almonds in a dry frying pan and add to the broccoli and courgettes.

Ingredients frying prior to the soya cream being added

After 10 minutes add the Soya Cream to the Broccoli and courgette mix, and keep at a very low heat stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.

Source : Julian Borg Barthet

Servings/Yield : 2 servings

Rating : 5 out of 5

Difficulty : Moderately Easy

Course : Main

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Basil Pesto

Feb 2

Posted by the editor in italian, pasta, the ingredients, the recipes, vegetarian | No Comments

“Basil is so easy to grow on a window sill, and if you seem to have outgrown your window make some pesto to cut back the growth”.

  • 40 g basil leaves, Stalks Removed
  • 6 tbsp. Olive Oil
  • 2 Garlic Cloves
  • 50 g Pine Nuts
  • 50 g Parmesan Gran Padano, Grated

Whizz the ingredients in a food processor to a smooth consistency.  Serve as a pasta sauce, or as an ingredient for other recipes, Basil Pesto is a great base ingredient for other dishes.

Source : The Editors Recipe, with ideas from different sources and advice.

Servings/Yield : 4 servings

Rating : 4 out of 5

Difficulty : Easy

Course : Main depending on what you use it with.

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Asparagus cream pasta

Jan 29

Posted by the editor in italian, pasta, the recipes, vegetarian | No Comments

“Making a cream out of the stalks means that every mouthful of pasta will have a delicious taste of asparagus”

  • 1 bunch asparagus
  • 142 ml double cream
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 50 g parmesan, half grated, half shaved
  • 250 g tagliatelle

To prepare the asparagus, cut off and discard the woody ends, then neatly cut the tips away from the stalks. Keep the tips and stalks separate. In a small saucepan bring the cream and garlic to the boil. Take off the heat, remove the garlic, then set the pan aside.

Cook the stalks in boiling salted water for about 4-5 mins until tender, drain, then tip into the cream with the grated parmesan. Blitz with a hand blender until smooth.

Cook the pasta according to pack instructions, then throw in the tips 2 mins before the end of cooking time. Gently reheat the cream, drain pasta, then tip into a bowl with the cream. Toss, divide into pasta bowls, top with parmesan shavings and serve.

Source : Good Food : May 2007

Servings/Yield : 2 servings

Difficulty : Easy

Preparation Times : Prep: 10 Minutes, Cook: 30 Minutes, Ready in: 40 Minutes

Nutritional notes : Per Serving: 931 kcalories, protein 28g, carbohydrate 100g, fat 47 g, saturated fat 26g, fibre 5g, salt 0.53 g

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Pennette With Pink Sauce And Zucchini

Jan 7

Posted by the editor in italian, pasta, the recipes, vegetarian | No Comments

Verdura : Pennette With Pink Sauce And Zucchini

“A creamy alternative to the norm, quick and easy while not being as rich as most cream based dishes, try the Soya alternative”

  • 30 g butter
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 small courgette, thinly sliced
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 250 ml cream (We used Soya Cream alternative)
  • 12 small basil leaves
  • salt and pepper
  • 300 g pasta
  • 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Place butter and oil in medium saute pan and turn heat to high.

Add zucchini and toss until they turn dark gold.

Sprinkle with garlic and toss.

Add tomatoes, basil, cream and salt and pepper to taste.

Cook over high heat until cream sauce thickens slightly.

Cook pasta, add to sauce, sprinkle with parmesan, toss and serve.

Source : Verdura : Page 213 (Slightly adapted from the original)

Servings/Yield : 2 servings

Rating : 5 out of 5

Difficulty : Easy

Cuisine : European : Mediterranean : Italian

Course : Main

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