“Basil Gnudi with Fresh Tomato Sauce” from “Ramsay in 10”

When we were first paging through this cookbook, Tim paused on this page and said, “Yum. This looks good.” I immediately replied, “There’s no way I’m going to give that a try.”

You see, back in October 2014, I attempted– and the verb choice is very deliberate here– to make gnudi in “Jamie’s Comfort Food” and it was, in short, an utter disaster. Though I followed the instructions nearly to the letter, it turned into a mess. There is nothing worse than spending a fair amount of time on dinner only for it to turn into a disaster. I think it’s fair to say I’ve given any recipe for gnudi a wide berth since then, which I think makes sense.

As you can see, though, Gordon’s recipe worked. Full disclosure: since I absolutely refused to try to make this again (I’m a person who learns from her mistakes), Tim volunteered to make the gnudi while I made the tomato sauce. The division of labour greatly reduced the stress in the kitchen. While we didn’t finish in 10 minutes, it still was on the table pretty quickly. I know it doesn’t look all that pretty, but the recipe actually worked and it tasted great. Most importantly of all, it didn’t collapse into a mess. Score one for Gordon.

The tomato sauce, however was utterly sublime. It’s so simple it’s laughable– fry up two sliced garlic cloves in olive oil. When they’re golden, add about 200 grams of cherry tomatoes which have all been sliced in half. Cook until soft, about three minutes. After that, you add 70 grams of butter and a few spoonfuls of the starchy pasta water. Yum. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this myself.

We have conquered the gnudi mountain. Huzzah.

“Sheet-pan Roasted Mushrooms & Greens” and “Shortcut Polenta” from “Simply Genius”

It’s a two-for-one special today at Cookbook a Month, since I wanted to post both of these, and this is the last day I can do it. Enjoy your BOGOF. (That’s Buy One, Get One Free, for those of you unfamiliar with the parlance.)

This was a Meat Free Monday special. I thought the pairing of the roasted vegetables above with the shortcut polenta below would be a winner, and I was right. It was robust enough to count as a meal, but still meat free, so win-win. I’m adding this to the list of good meals that everyone will like when our resident vegetarian returns from university.

Roasting spinach and mushrooms was a revelation. I never thought to do that before– I’ve roasted all manner of different vegetables and meats– all very robust– but it never occurred to me that I could do it with more delicate vegetables like this. It turns out, you can, and they were delicious. Regular readers will know that I’m a big fan of the sheet-pan roast– minimal fuss, minimal clean up– so I’m thrilled to have more food stuffs to add to my list of things to roast. This was a winner.

The same could not be said, however, for the Shortcut Polenta. This was a classic example of needing to read the recipe ahead of time, because when I read step one: “8 hours to 2 days ahead,” my heart sank. There was no polenta for dinner that night. How is it a shortcut to start two days ahead of time? To make a long story short, you need to soak the cornmeal for 8 to 12 hours, and then make the polenta as you normally would. Frankly, this was a lot of faff when instant polenta is available.

The polenta was fine, there was nothing wrong with it, but I would strongly recommend that you simply use instant polenta instead (and as a bonus, you don’t need to start it a full day before).

So all in all, a mixed result for “Simply Genius” today, but you can’t win them all.

“Penne with Vodka Sauce” from “Once Upon A Chef: Weeknight/Weekend”

When I was at university– which was, literally, last century– I had a friend called Jake* who could make one dinner and one dinner only, and it was penne with vodka sauce. Girlfriends would come and girlfriends would go, but one thing we knew was certainty and that was he would make his penne with vodka sauce for them. Inevitably, they would be impressed. (Contextual note: This was the ’90s and we still had some way to go with evolved thinking, so women would be impressed if they came across a man who could cook. Times have changed, thank goodness.)

(*Name changed to protect the innocent)

Knowing that we were friends, they would pull me aside at a party or the local dive bar or after class and say with some enthusiasm, “Did you know that Jake can cook?”

Reader: Jake did not know how to cook.

Being his friend, I always smiled and nodded and said, “I know! Isn’t it great!” But the fact was that he knew how to make only this one dinner, but he also knew he only had to cook for them once for them to fall for him hook, line and sinker. Eventually things would fall apart for one reason or another, and before we knew it, there would be a new girlfriend and another night of penne with vodka sauce.

Unfortunately, I lost track of Jake, so I can’t tell you if he either expanded his cooking repertoire or ended up with someone who could cook more than one dish. But damn if he couldn’t cook the heck out of penne with vodka sauce.

This is a very long-winded way of saying that penne with vodka sauce is not a complicated dish to make. (See: Jake.) However, it is delicious. It’s got double cream and lashings of cheese in it– need I say more?

This was a perfect dish to perk up a grey Monday. Jake, if you’re out there, I’ve got to say that you knew what you were doing. No wonder the women were impressed.

If you’d like to cook this, the recipe is on Jennifer’s website, and you can find it by clicking through this sentence.

“No Waste Whole Cauliflower and Macaroni Cheese” from “Cook As You Are”

Ah, January. We’ve reached peak Cheesy Comfort Food Season. One of the best seasons of all. The sky might be grey, the Christmas bills might be due and we might all be sick of taking lateral flow tests, but the sadness any of those things might evoke can easily be erased by a Cheesy Comfort Food dinner. Like this dish.

The thing that makes this recipe different from all the other cauliflower macaroni and cheese recipes I’ve made was the use of absolutely all of the the cauliflower. Not one bit was wasted (other than the very end of the stem, which looked dodgy, and one part of the leaves, which had discoloured). Although I’ve consistently cut up the stalk to go with the florets when I make cauliflower, I had not idea that you could also eat all of the leaves, including the ribs, with the right preparation.

Be aware, however, that all the prep means this macaroni and cheese takes longer to make than your standard macaroni and cheese, but it’s worth it. At a time when we’re trying to lessen our food waste and make a lighter impact on the world, it’s good to be able to use up the entire head of cauliflower, leaves and all.

I know I’ve tested several cauliflower macaroni and cheese recipes for this blog, so I took an enjoyable dive into the archives to revisit the other ones I’ve made. In 2012, I made this cauliflower macaroni and cheese from Gordon Ramsay, and we very much enjoyed it. In 2011, I nearly had a nervous breakdown making three courses from Jamie Oliver’s 30 Minute Meals, and one of those courses was a variation on this dish. I know that we liked it, but I also had a harsh flashback to the cleanup after making anything from that cookbook. Would not recommend (the cookbook, the recipe in particular, and the cleanup involved). Almost 10 years ago exactly, I made another macaroni cheese, although without cauliflower, which was good, but did not supplant our favourite version from the New York Times. It’s funny to note that all of these recipes were tested in the month of January. It truly is peak Cheesy Comfort Food Season.

“Spinach and Stichelton Pie” from “A Cook’s Book”

Nigel Slater is such a good writer.

This is obvious to anyone who’s ever read his work. But my experience of making this pie took it to a whole new level. I say this because as I was browsing this book, looking for something easy to make after a long day of work, I chose to make this pie.

Sure, you say, that’s what cookbooks are all about.

But what I need to mention is that I found his description of the beauty of pie, and this pie in particular, so seductive that I was persuaded that this would be the perfect dinner after a non-stop, pretty intense, 10-hour working day.

Let me repeat that: I made this pie after a 10-hour working day.

Was it delicious? Absolutely. Was a hearty combination of cheese and spinach just what we needed after a long day? Again, absolutely.

I should add this caveat, however. This is not a quick dinner. We found ourselves finally eating dinner at 8.30 p.m., watching the week’s episode of “Succession”. It was a perfectly happy time, to be sure, but also a bit late to be eating dinner.

The pie was even better three days later when we reheated the second half to have for dinner. I think it gave the blue cheese enough time to really come to its own, so it had a much bigger kick.

Would I make this again? Absolutely. Perhaps not after a 10-hour day, but I definitely will make it again. I’m also keen to try it with other cheeses. Feta instead of blue cheese would turn it into an almost spanakopita, which I’m certain will be delicious.

Damn you, Nigel Slater. I wish I could be resistant to your writerly charms.

“Cavolo Nero & Ricotta Conchiglioni” from “Crave”

I shall open this post with an anecdote. As I was stuffing each of these shells with the cavolo nero-ricotta stuffing, Tim walked into the kitchen and said, “Wow. Now that is a labour of love!”

To be sure, it’s always nice to have my culinary efforts appreciated. But honestly, the effort involved of stuffing the shells was only a fraction of the effort I had expended the week before, when I had to pod and de-skin broad beans for a risotto. It took forever and it was a very low-yield job (though to be fair, the incredibly fresh beans were delicious.)

These stuffed shells do require a bit more work than your average pasta dish, but it was worth it, and in the end, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The recipe, which comes from the “Cheesy and Creamy” section of the cookbook, did not disappoint when it came to delivering said cheese and cream, because there’s a cheese-cream sauce, a cheese-cream stuffing, and more cheese on top. Cheese. Cheese. Cheese. What a winning combination.

Also, I know this doesn’t seem like the sort of dish we’d fall upon during the hot and summery month of August, but let me tell you about our English August in the year of our lord 2021. It has been the very opposite of hot and summery. Try cold and rainy. I know it’s great for our English gardens, but honestly, it’d be nice to have a few more days where I didn’t have to wear a jumper, or a jacket, or socks. (In short, our summer weather has been PANTS, aside from a few random days in July and August, which felt like summer.)

However, I’m sure we can agree that cheese makes everything better, and that is true again with this dish. Cheese for the win.

“Preserved Lemon & Herb-Baked Orzo” from “One Pot, Pan, Planet”

One of the ways I’ve changed, during this past year and all the ensuing madness, frustrations and complications, is that I no longer worry if I don’t have that unique ingredient called for in recipes.

In the past, if a recipe called for, say, pomegranates, I would then dutifully search around my local stores until I could find it. (In this case, I found them at the local petrol station after failing to find them at my traditional shops.) All that changed when we were living under Stay At Home orders and the queues at the local food stores stretched down the block. I did not have the luxury of hunting for things, so I either found a workaround or we just did without.

For this recipe, I was certain, *certain*, that I had a jar of preserved lemons in the back of the refrigerator. You know the place– in the dark reaches of the shelves, where all the half-used jars of chutney, jams and condiments live. (Or is that just our refrigerator?) In any case, as I was cooking this, I went to hunt for our preserved lemon, and wouldn’t you know it, there was no jar to be found. I’ve done a good job of working through all the random food we had kicking around in the past year, and the preserved lemons were one of those ingredients.

But rather than panic, which is what 2011 me would have done, I just rolled with it, and instead just added a lot more lemon zest to the dish. I know it was not exactly as it was intended, but needs must. It was still delicious, and everyone liked it. I will make it again.

Guess what? The next time I make it I won’t even need to buy any more preserved lemons. Over the weekend, I was hunting for something in our cupboard and you’ll never believe what I found. (Well, you might, I’m building up to this punchline.) Preserved lemons! So we are good to go the next time we have this.

“Halloumi, Asparagus and Green Bean Salad” from “Quick and Delicious”

You can be sure that I will happily test any recipe that requires me to eat half a block of halloumi cheese. This, friends, was that recipe.

I will readily admit that I am a stress eater, so you can imagine what it’s been like for the last 10 days. But this– aside from the aforementioned half block of cheese– is pretty good for me. Look at all those vegetables! It’s a plate full of goodness, I tell you.

But a plate full of goodness, even with all that cheese, is exactly what we all need right now. So please proceed with eating whatever is going to make you feel better.

“Cheater’s Tortilla Española” from “Repertoire”

It had been a long day. It was Monday. We’d just come off having two (unrelated) guests for the weekend, who were the last of 12 guests who’d stayed with us this summer. I spent six hours on the train for a round trip to Sheffield to transport Andrew, our oldest son, back to university for the year. I had to shop, unpack and help organise him once we got up there. Then I had to sadly leave him behind, which made me more emotional than I expected. When I got to London Bridge at 9 p.m.– the final leg of my journey home– it was crammed with irate people because many of the trains weren’t running.

Needless to say, when I collapsed on the sofa once I returned home, I was pretty tired. And hungry. My plan was to rustle up some scrambled eggs, chopped spinach, feta and sriracha sauce (my Go To Meal when I don’t know what to cook). But those plans quickly changed when my lovely husband told me he’d made this for dinner, even took photos for the blog, and there was plenty left over for me to enjoy.

If that’s not true love, then I don’t know what is.

He did go into a detailed explanation of how he cooked this meal, but I’ve got to be honest– after the aforementioned day I can’t remember now what he said. I do recall that he said it was relatively easy, and that the most notable part of the recipe was the fact that it took 10 eggs. (Luckily, we had eggs to hand. See above.)

The introduction said that this dish is good hot or cold, and I can confirm that’s true. I put some warmish tortilla straight in my gob when I realised what good food awaited me in the kitchen, but I also reheated some in the microwave. It was delicious both times.

This is an excellent addition to our Meat Free Monday rota.

“Rigatoni with Roasted Tomatoes” from “Repertoire”

One of the things that Jessica Battilana encourages people to do in this cookbook is not to be afraid to alter the recipes to fit their needs. The whole point of “Repertoire” is to create your own dishes for your own repertoire that will work for your family. For this recipe, I followed her advice, partly because I altered the recipe to make it what our family would like, and partly because our local supermarket didn’t have the ingredients I needed when I went shopping at 6:30 pm for dinner that night. Life is all about being adaptable.

In the first instance, I changed the recipe a little bit to fit what we would like. I was fairly sure that the rest of the pack would not be keen on mint in their pasta, no matter how good it might be. So I subbed out mint and replaced it with basil. (This is in the spirit of full disclosure, since you’d never be able to tell either way in the picture above.) I also didn’t have rigatoni, but I figured this pasta was just as good, so that’s what happened there.

Now on to the 6:30 pm supermarket sweep. Usually, I can count on our local Sainsbury’s to have ricotta, but alas, on this night it did not. I didn’t have time to get to the other local supermarkets since it was already so late, so I decided to sub in a mild goat’s cheese for the ricotta. I’ve got to say, that was a result. I’m sure the ricotta would have been good too, but this was delicious. Add to the fact that she recommends you warm it up a bit in the oven, and it really was spectacular.

One final suggestion that she made that I will definitely do again: presenting it all on a big platter. Usually for pasta dinners on Meat Free Monday, I’ll just load up the food on to each individual plate. But by putting it on the big platter and allowing everyone to dig in, it really made dinner more convivial and communal.

All in all, it was an excellent Meat Free Monday.