Thursday 28 July 2011

Recipe - Pasta bake with Calabrian 'Nduja, smoked ham, Dijon mustard and Cheddar cheese


As I was having a look for some ham my eye was caught by something called Calabrian 'Nduja.

The blurb on the packaging said: "A spicy spreadable cured pork sausage. - A spreadable spicy sausage? We haven't made this up; 'Nduja is a traditional product unique to Calabria in Southern Italy. Our 'Nduja is ready to eat so you can simply spread it, but we think it comes in to its own as a cooking ingredient. Try with pasta and fresh ricotta."

Me being me - there was no doubt, I had to buy some. When I got home I tried a pinch and to me it is pretty much like a very soft chorizo. Nice.

This is what I cooked with it. Could be worth trying. Just sayin'... ;)

Ingredients (serves 4 or so)
300g pasta (I used penne)
100g smoked ham, cut or torn into smaller pieces
90g Calabrian 'Nduja, cut or torn into smaller pieces
300 ml grated cheese (I used Cheddar)
3 eggs
300ml milk
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
A good handful or two of flat parsley, semi-finely chopped
Salt
Pepper

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 225c.

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packaging. Drain well.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, mustard, parsley, salt and pepper.

Mix the cooked pasta, ham, cheese and 'Nduja in a oven-safe casserole dish. Pour over the egg and milk mix.

Cover the dish with some tin foil and pop in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Remove the tin foil and pop back in the oven until the egg mix have set and it has coloured up nicely. This should take about 10 - 15 minutes or so.

Enjoy!

Tuesday 26 July 2011

Friday 22 July 2011

Recipe - Fat Barsteward Burger


Firstly: The idea for this recipe is blatantly ripped off something I watched on telly. The guys from Grill 'em All was part of a TV show called The Great Food Truck Race.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this show and something that stuck in my memory was the burger they call the Behemoth. Their version is even more out there than what I managed to cobble together, have a look at their menu here for more details.

Although I stole the entire idea of them I didn't want to steal the name as well, that's why I'm calling this monster the Fat Barsteward Burger.

Secondly: Yes, this is well excessive. Yes, this is more unhealthy than what is healthy for you. However, it tasted great and I enjoyed eating it. Give it a go - you might even enjoy it too. As always, this is just how I cooked it. Chop and change according to your own taste and preference - freestyle it to your hearts (or heart attacks) content...

After these two disclaimers, let's just head over to the recipe...

Ingredients (makes one Fat Barsteward Burger)
Buns
4 slices of white bread
Cheese
Diced onion
Ketchup
Sliced tomato
Sliced pickled gherkin

Burger
300g beef mince
Smoked chili flakes
1 egg, beaten
Breadcrumbs
Salt

Method
Prepare the burgers by mixing all the ingredients together and make a patty that's about the size of a slice of bread. Let this sit in the fridge for a while.

Spread some ketchup onto two of the slices of bread. Top with the cheese, onion, tomato and gherkins. Finish off with some more cheese and pop the third and fourth slice of bread on top of the first two.

Grill in a sandwich grill until the cheese are melted and the bread have caught a nice colour.

In the meantime, fry the burger to your preferred doneness.

Put the burger on one of the sandwiches and top with the other. Press down to compact the tower a bit.

Enjoy!