The Silver Spoon
provided us with this treasure.
We cooked Spaghetti with Broccoli as the main for our weekly dinner party and it was so, so, good!
Spaghetti with Broccoli
- 500g of broccoli
- 3 tables spoons of olive oil
- 25g of margerine
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup cashews soaked for half an hour then blended
- 350g spaghetti
- 25g vegan parmesan(optional)
- salt and pepper
- Parboil the broccoli in salted water for 10 minutes.
- Heat the oil and butter in frying pan.
- Add the onion and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
- Drain the broccoli, add to the skillet and mix well
- Stir in the cashew cream and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Transfer the mixture to a food processor and process to a puree.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in a large pan of salted, boiling water until al dente, then drain, toss with broccoli mixture.
- Sprinkle with Parmesan if using and serve.
Now is the time, Now is the season. It is the fresh scallop time of year.
For our first scallop dish we made a fettucine, aioli and dill pasta. We made it the easy way, just added a bit of “Cotterill and Rouse” aioli and dill sauce (4 tablespoons) to the pasta before serving.
The scallops were fried lightly in oil and a little bit of butter.
It took about 10 minutes and worked really well, the light sauce was a nice highlight without being so strong that it overwhelmed the subtle scallop flavours.
Scallops are still expensive though. This meal cost $7 per person (7 scallops each).
If you’re afraid of lentils but intrigued by them at the same time, then now might be the time to give cooking them a go.
Red lentils give this pasta sauce a nice thick, smooth taste. Best of all it’s extremely quick and simple to make.
(Thanks to Healthy Food Magazine for the recipe).
Red Lentil Pasta Sauce
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- red lentils, 1 mug, uncooked
- one onion
- oil, 2 tablespoons
- garlic, 2 cloves, chopped
- tinned tomatoes, 2 x 400g tins, chopped
- tomato paste, 2 tablespoons
- sugar, 1 teaspoon
- dried basil, 2 teaspoons – add more or less to your taste
- Salt and pepper
Bring a large saucepan of water to boil. Pour in the lentils and stir to ensure they do not stick to the base of the saucepan. Boil the lentils for 8-10 minutes or until soft.
Heat the oil in a medium pan and saute the onion and garlic until soft.
Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, and herbs. Stir in the lentils.
Season with salt and pepper to taste, and simmer until flavours develop, around 15 minutes.