
Meatball Pasta Bake

Recipe ideas for budget meals, everyday cooking and a little indulgence. Travel inspiration and restaurant reviews too.
I imagine that as you read sage and black pudding pasta you’ll fall into one of two camps of people; either the ‘a full English isn’t the same without it’ camp or the ‘I don’t like it’ camp. If you know what goes into making a black pudding I can understand that it doesn’t really help to sell itself: pork blood, pork fat, oatmeal and spices. The spices vary between producers so try out a local one if you can get your hands on it, it’s
There’s ragu, and then there’s proper ragu. You know the two kinds I mean; the quick one that we Brits chuck on top of a pile of spaghetti and the one that takes time, effort, care and attention to make. Don’t get me wrong, the former has its place but this recipe is for the latter; which incidentally freezes very well meaning it is perfect for cooking up a big batch and then reaping the rewards in the weeks to come. It has taken a long time
I think I’m part Italian. More likely, I like to think I’m part Italian. The reason for this recent realisation is that Italian food is the food I crave the most; when I’m looking for inspiration I invariably turn my attention to that most wonderful of countries. Pasta is the obvious Italian ingredient to inspire meals but the rice dishes, salads, marinades, stews, cheeses, meats and sauces always make me feel like I’m having a little Italian
I'm not sure quite what's happened but all of a sudden I find myself spending over £50 a week on food shopping. I know, it's not a shocking amount and it's certainly less than I know other people spend but it's twice as much as I used to spend. I didn't really notice it creeping up over time and I haven't really changed what I eat (less meat if anything) but it irritates me nonetheless. There's only so many beans and lentils one person can eat in
I'm often a bit slow on the uptake. Pulled food, more specifically pulled pork, has been doing the rounds for some time now and it's not something that I had attempted. Yet. I wanted to make an Asian coleslaw that used some spring carrots (I demoed this at Eat Reading Live) but wasn't too sure what to serve it with. It seemed an ideal time to attempt some sort of pulled pork. If, like me, you can't be bothered with pulling anything I think this would
I like to browse other people's blogs and I particularly like the posts where there has been some sort of link or challenge and lots of bloggers take part. I like to think of them as online coffee mornings. I thought it was about time I got involved and had a go at one; enter Dom from Belleau Kitchen and his challenge called Random Recipes. I love the idea of opening a random cookery book and having to cook whatever is on the page that opens.
Comfort food is wonderful. It's always the things which are full of bread, cheese, pasta, pastry and the like. Sometimes I want the comfort without the guilt, and particularly for this, without the expense. Beef wellington is as magnificent a dinner as they come; it's one of my all time favourites. However, pork fillet is about a third of the price of beef fillet and therefore makes a brilliantly cheaper alternative.
Who wouldn't like a stripy cupcake? Love the colour of these and beetroot is such a good baking ingredient.… twitter.com/i/web/status/13500…
Spurred on by the shower of compliments I received re last week’s postbox, here is my, I think you’ll agree, very r… twitter.com/i/web/status/13500…
Sausage AND bacon toad in the hole. Might as well put some stuffing in there too and make it a roast. allthatimeating.co.uk/blog/201… #comfortfood
One fiery bowl of noodle soup. I’ve had some Thai paste kicking around for a while and with some veg that needed us… twitter.com/i/web/status/13496…