Home-made Pesto

It's cheaper and more delicious than the store-bought stuff. East to make too :) Recipe from somewhere on the internet, but I haven't written down the source.

Ingredients (for about 1 cup pesto):
~ 2 cups fresh basil leaves (one bouquet of store-bought basil)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts (or walnuts)
3 garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

Separate basil leaves from stems.
Wash leaves in a collander under running cold water.
Put nuts, olive oil and garlic in food processor and chop them.
Add basil leaves, little by little and process them until you get a somewhat smooth paste.
Blend in the parmesan cheese.

You can store it in a glass jar in the fridge for 1-2 weeks (oil acts as a conservant), but better make as little as you need for one use.

Smoked Salmon Pasta

This is a light, tasty, Weight Watchers friendly meal I threw together on impulse yesterday, and it turned out rather nice. Unfortunately I didn't think to take a photo!

 

This amount serves one person.

 

Ingredients:

 

100g (3.5 oz) uncooked pasta (I used spaghetti, anything would work)

100g (3.5 oz) thinly sliced smoked salmon, sliced into strips

~8 grape tomatos or cherry tomatos, halved

1 whole spring onion (green onion / eschalot), chopped

1 metric (20mL) tablespoon light sour cream (I used the Weight Watchers branded sour cream)

 

Method:

1. Cook pasta according to instructions on packet.

2. While the pasta is cooking: in a non-stick frypan (or an ordinary frypan with a spray of cooking oil) fry the tomatos and the spring onion until the spring onion begins to brown and the skin is coming off the tomatos.

3. Add the smoked salmon and fry until the salmon turns opaque and separates into small bits. Remove from heat.

4. When the pasta is cooked, strain and discard water before returning cooked pasta to the saucepan.

5. Add the salmon fried mixture to the pasta in the saucepan and stir thoroughly until the pasta is coated with the salmon mixture.

6. Add a tablespoon of sour cream and stir until it forms a sauce with the salmon.

7. Garnish with a bit of fresh spring onion if you're feeling creative; otherwise, serve and enjoy!

Tomato Cream Sauce

I adapted a recipe from "The Pioneer Woman Cooks!" this week and it turned out scrumptious. Here is an easy sauce to toss on pretty much anything... especially ravioli. :)

1 small white onion
as much garlic as you can stand
1/2 c. low-sodium chicken broth OR white wine
16 oz. tomato sauce - not chunky. I prefer Hunts because it's thin.
1 1/4 c. heavy cream
fresh parsley
fresh basil (lots)
pepper
bit of flour (optional)

I'm so precise, aren't I?

So chop the onion and mince the garlic if you're using fresh, pretty finely unless you don't mind your sauce with onion chunks. (I don't mind, and I'm lazy so you can guess how much chopping I do.) Put a saucepan on medium heat and add a bit of olive oil and a bit of butter, allow to melt, swirl around pan, then toss in your onion and garlic. Let cook until soft and starting to color, then add your wine/broth. Stir occasionally and let that evaporate off for a few minutes until reduced a bit. In the meantime, chop and/or chiffonade your herbs. Then add your tomato sauce, stir, and slowly add in your cream, stirring the whole time. Add in the parsley and basil and pepper to taste. If you don't like a thin sauce, add the flour now and allow to cook for a few minutes longer to blend the flavors a bit and to thicken the sauce.

Pour over pasta or whatever you're eating. This will make enough to coat a full pound of rotini.

Christine's Salmon Pasta Topping

I invented this recipe about half an hour ago, but it's based on many previous recipes I've done along similar lines.

It may not find favour with your household's eaters if they're not fond of gooey, not-very-chewy food. I made it tonight because I had a sore throat! But if you like soft foods, it's pretty nice.

Ingredients:

210g (7.5oz) can salmon (or you could use tuna, or even cold diced roast chicken)
125g (4.5oz) can corn kernels
White end of 1 spring onion (green onion / scallion)
Small stick of celery (about 15cm / 6 inches long)
1x heaped 20mL tablespoon cornflour (cornstarch)
100mL milk
1x 20mL tablespoon sour cream
2x 20mL tablespoons cream cheese (Philadelphia cream cheese, Philly cheese)
2x 20mL tablespoons grated (shredded) cheese - I used mozzarella but any hard yellow cheese would work
Water
NOTE: I used low-fat milk, light sour cream and light Philly cheese to bring down the calorie count. You could also use a light grated cheese, or you could make them all full-fat if you’re not counting calories!

Method:

1. Drain the tin of salmon and remove any vertebrae or other large bones.

2. In a small bowl, mash the salmon to break up any large lumps.

3. Finely slice the celery across the end, to make thin rainbow-shaped slivers.

4. Remove the roots from the spring onion, and starting from the white end, finely slice the first ~10 centimetres or up to the edge of the very green part. Don't use the green part.

5. Place salmon, celery, drained corn kernels and spring onion in a hot frying pan (oiled if it’s not a non-stick pan) and fry for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking or burning.

6. While the other ingredients are frying, place the milk in a small mixing bowl and add the sour cream and Philly cheese. Using a fork, mash the sour cream and Philly cheese into small lumps.

7. Add the grated cheese to the milk mixture and stir briskly.

8. In a small glass or cup, place the cornflour and enough water to cover the cornflour. You MUST add the cornflour first or it will form a hard lump. Stir thoroughly until the cornflour is dissolved.

9. At the end of the 10 minutes’ frying time, add the milk and cheese mixture to the frying pan and stir thoroughly until it is evenly mixed with the salmon mixture.

10. Allow the milk to heat almost to boiling point, then give the cornflour a final stir and add it to the frying pan (try to pour it around instead of all in one place). Stir briskly until the milk has thickened, then remove from the heat immediately.

I had half of this with some penne pasta (half a 250mL cup of pasta when uncooked) and that made a very satisfying meal, so this amount of salmon mixture with 1 cup of pasta would make a good meal for two.