“Conchiglie with Yogurt, Peas and Chilli” from “Jerusalem”

Stop the presses. In the 12+ months I’ve had “Jerusalem,” this is the first recipe that elicited the response, “Meh.”

I know! A Meh! From this book, which has been hit-after-hit-after-hit. But not today. Up until now, the dishes I’ve made had evoked universal approval (for the most part). This was not one of those days.

What was the problem? I’m not quite sure. In theory, with feta, peas and yogurt over pasta, it should have been delicious. In practice, it was just a bit bland. Other reviewers of this recipe said they thought it was great, so maybe there was some operator error involved. However, given that it was just a simple pasta dish, I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the case.

It was all just a bit Meh. The leftovers sat in the refrigerator for days and didn’t tempt anyone.

Will I make it again? Obviously not. Life is too short for “Meh.”

If you want to try this (though reading the above, why would you want to?), the Guardian had the recipe. Click through this paragraph to find it– it’s the second recipe featured in the Ottolenghi column that weekend.

“Sea Bass & Crispy Pancetta, Sweet Potato Mash, Asian Greens, 1-Minute Berry Ice Cream, Sparkling Lemon Ginger Drink” from “Jamie’s 30-Minute Meals”

Time Taken: 49′ 11″

Mitigating Circumstances: At 9’41”, while chopping the garlic (my crusher isn’t as good as Jamie’s), a piece of garlic and/or chilli flew up into my eye and lodged into my contact lens. Despite my devotion to getting to 30 minutes uninterrupted, I had to turn the timer off and go scream due to the excruciating pain wash my eye out with cold water. However, my devotion to trying to beat the 30-minute marker is now apparent. I returned to the kitchen, and worked through the pain, but I believe the accident slowed me down for the remainder of the meal.

This link takes you to a copy of this recipe.

Tim: I think it’s all pretty good. As you know, I’m not a huge fan of sweet potatoes, but sweet potatoes are all the rage these days.

Maureen: Would you eat the sweet potatoes again?

Tim: If I had to. But I like the vegetables quite a lot. It’s a nice Asian combination.