Papardelle Bolognese

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach - that's why I want to learn to make kick-ass bolognese.  The husband is Mr Pasta himself - he said to me once before we were married, that I will need to learn to make good pasta dishes.  It may even have been a condition of our marriage.  But who knows - i generally have the memory of a goldfish, and in the 1 year and 8 months that we have been married, he hasn't bugged me once about making pasta - although I suddenly recall that in our first month of marriage, we had lots and lots of pasta.  All because we had much leftover xmas ham which we needed to eat up and pasta was just so easy.

When it comes to pasta, I really believe that sauces out of jars are good stuff -  you can never go wrong with them.  I swear by them, and generally have at least one bottle sitting around somewhere.  Having said that, I know there are supposed health benefits of eating homemade stuff and frankly nothing really beats the satisfaction of having a made-from-scratch pot of meat sauce simmering away on the counter (when that happened yesterday, I felt almost Italian what with my Mario Batali wooden spoon in hand.)

The great thing about this pasta sauce is that it's not just tomato and meat.  It is full of veggie goodness.  Stuff that the husband would not eat otherwise (like celery).  I think I have found a way to make him eat more vegetables! Just puree and add it into a meaty sauce.

I really wanted this recipe from Women's Weekly to be a kick-ass sauce but I think it still lacks a certain oomph.  I can't tell what yet - so I will keep experimenting with other recipes.  

But meanwhile, until I find that perfect kick-ass sauce, this will be my go-to recipe for days when I want a winner.

(Oh, how I wish the weekend could go on forever)

Chicken Pappardelle and Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Man oh man oh man - my pregnant friend just announced her weight on Facebook.

And I am, erm, not too far away from being the same weight as a woman carrying a 5 month old baby. That doesn't make me feel good at all. In fact, that makes me feel bad. And sad. And fat. (Hey, that rhymes)

Oh, and about that box of heart cookies I wrote about yesterday? We finished them. With the help of the husband, I demolished them after dinner. That was some serious sugar. Please don't judge us.

I don't see an end to this. I am making a sweet and salty chocolate cake this weekend.

Oh, and yes - back to why I logged on. My cooking attempt. Not too bad. Can't be good for the weighing machine considering the amount of cream that went it. But I like the crunch of the walnuts and the chicken was quite juicy!

Pappardelle chicken and creamy mushroom sauce

Adapted from the Australian Women’s Weekly The Complete Book of Modern Classics

Preparation time 15 minutes

Cooking time 15 minutes

Serves 2

1 tbp olive oil

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 small red onion (80g), chopped finely

125g swiss brown mushrooms, sliced thinly

1/2 cup cream

1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

10g butter

250g fettucine

1 1/2 cup coarsely shredded cooked chicken

1/4 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts

1/8 cup coarsely chopped fresh italian parsley

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan

Heat oil in large frying pan and cook garlic and onion, until onion softens. Add mushroom and cook until just tender. Add cream and rosemary to pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until sauce thickens slightly. Add butter and stir until butter melts.

Cook pasta until tender and drain.

Add hot cream sauce, chicken, nuts, parsley and half of the cheese to the hot pasta. Toss gently and serve, sprinkled with remaining cheese

There are two things about me that salespeople really shouldn't know of. First, I am easy to persuade. I mean, REALLY easy. And I fall for every trick in the book - hook, line and sinker. Second, I like buying things. The thrill of swiping my card and the awesome presence of a one-hour old belonging in my house really makes buying things tops in my list of favourite things to do.

So, it was really no surprise to my husband when, after a cooking class at Shermay's a year back, I carted home a box containing a pizza machine.

What's that you ask?

Well, it's a super duper pizza machine, one that is guaranteed to churn out freshly baked hot pizzas in 5 minutes! It's perfect not just for a quick dinner for two at home, it's also perfect for a dinner party. Just lay out the ingredients, and let your guests do the work!

(By the way, an oven works equally well but don't tell my husband that)

Anyway, in order for this little red pizza maker not to turn into a white elephant, I have been making and baking pizzas from scratch using a recipe from Shermay. So that was great!

Problem was, I was getting more and more dissatisfied with my creature of habit of a husband who when asked, will without fail request for a ham and mushroom pizza. I think I've made ten pizzas using my little red, and I think all ten are ham and mushroom pizzas.

So, in an effort to persuade the creature of habit of a husband that there are other things in life that are just as yummy as a ham and mushroom pizza, I flipped to my Women's Weekly Book of Modern Classics, plag 56 and pointed.

And said -

Look, I have to try ALL recipes in ALL my books before I can buy a new cookbook. I have no choice. We HAVE to put olives and anchovies in our pizza tonight.

And implied -

If you want to make me happy, eat some olives! (I knew the husband really doesn't like olives but I thought I could persuade him to acquire the taste for olives, the same way I acquired mine...)

Verdict? Creature-of-habit-husband really doesn't like olives. He doesn't like basil leaves. And he doesn't like anchovies. Back to ham and mushroom then.