Salmon, Mushrooms & Aglio Olio

Seared fillet of salmon, on top of aglio olio with carrot, chives and mushrooms.

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1. Get the linguine boiling away in a pot of water.
2. Meanwhile, cut carrots up to a brunoise, chop up some chives, quarter a couple of mushrooms and minced garlic.
3. Toss a knob of butter into a hot skillet and once foaming subsides, toss in garlic, carrots and mushrooms.
4. Once that’s done, move it to the side of the pan and sear the fillet of salmon, skin-side down. Flip and cook briefly when skin is crisp.
5. Remove salmon as soon as its done, and let it rest while you drain the pasta.
6. Add pasta to mushroom and carrot mixture. Toss in chives.
7. Add basil and oregano, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Mix.
8. Serve with a small squeeze of lemon.

I will never get sick of the basil-oregano combination.

Chicken, Tomato, Olives, Capers

This is a brilliant combination if you’re craving that tomatoey flavour of bolognese but don’t want it too rich and beefy.

Chicken linguine in tomato sauce, with carrots, olives and capers.

1. Set your pasta to boil.
2. With some oil in a hot skillet, toss in minced shallots, carrot brunoise, chopped tomatoes, and maybe a bit of minced chilli if you want the spicy kick.
3. Add in the chicken cubes, olives (best if pitted and sliced), and capers.
4. Use a small blob of tomato puree and water to make a sauce, so everything holds together.
5. Season well with freshly ground sea salt and black pepper.
6. Garnish generously with carrot top leaves.

Salmon, Mint, Fennel & Sour Pasta

Seared salmon with sauteed carrot and fennel, on linguine dressed with balsamic vinaigrette, served with a mint and garlic sauce.

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1. Set the linguine away to cook in a pot of boiling water. Drain once cooked, and toss in a balsamic vinaigrette.
2. With a small knob of butter and a little splash of olive oil, saute the julienned carrot and fennel. Season with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. Remove once vegetables are cooked.
3. Prepare your salmon fillets, cutting them into small rectangular pieces. Salt the skin generously with seasalt and lay them skin side down on a piece of kitchen towel.
4. Chop up a handful of mint leaves and mince it together with a small clove of garlic. Transfer to a mortar and pestle, add a little drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil and pound away till everything comes together as a sauce.
5. As soon as the vegetables are out of the pan, sear the salmon fillets skin side down till golden. Flip the fillets after the skins are nicely browned, and remove once they are done. The pieces of salmon should be firm not hard, nor soft. Let them rest on a fresh piece of kitchen towel before plating up.

Long Lemony Pasta

I slept in today and was inexplicably lazy to get food. This was sort of a suggestion from a friend this morning, and it came at the perfect time.

Lemon Linguine

It’s a segment off Nigella Bites, so watch it here, from 0:45 onwards. Saves me the trouble of attempting to transcribe the goddess’ every word.

Here’s about what you’ll need:

• a single serving of long pasta, depending on how much you can slurp at a go
• two egg yolks
• 70g of parmesan, or as much as you want
• 100ml of cream, or just enough to make the sauce perfectly creamy
• zest of half a lemon
• juice of half a lemon
• 50g of butter
• parsley

I made a few changes and came up with this; I can’t do without my meat. Plus, the peas added a lovely burst of sweetness in every bite. (;

Pasta Stir-Fry

If you wanna make a Chinese Stir-Fry and have no Asian egg noodles in your kitchen cupboard, then spaghetti or linguine works just as well. Just make sure you have all the essential ingredients:

• chopped garlic
• a slice of ginger
• dark soy sauce
• light soy sauce
• oyster sauce (bonus)

Pork is usually my meat of choice for stir-fry ‘cos for some reason, I think it tastes the most Chinese. Onions, mushrooms, shrimps, egg, spinach, beansprouts, chillies, even cheese is up to you. Whatever makes you happy.

 

Garlic and ginger, almost like the yinyang of Chinese Stir-Fry.