We Love Cooking!:
spaghetti

I have a few winter warming dishes coming up but this recipe is actually taken from the book and was featured on Georgina Campbell's Ireland Guide website. Plus I got a request in the comments section so I just couldn't resist!

Hearty Minestrone Soup
This is a perfect winter meal solution, full of tasty vegetables, and filling thanks to the
pasta. I use wholewheat spaghetti, but feel free to add other shapes like fusilli or pasta elbows instead. If you don’t have any paprika, you can get a bit of spice by adding a dash of tabasco sauce, or a good pinch of dried chilli flakes.

Serves 4
1 courgette, chopped into small chunks
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 x 410g tins cannellini beans
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped into small chunks
2 litres/4 pints homemade chicken stock
75g/3oz wholewheat spaghetti, broken into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons of olive oil
A good pinch of paprika
A good pinch of sea salt

In a large pot, heat the olive oil and fry the garlic cloves and onion for 2 minutes or until they become soft.
Stir in the celery, carrots and courgette and cook for five minutes. Add the
chopped tomatoes and chicken stock, and bring to the boil, then reduce the
heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the wholewheat spaghetti, paprika and cannellini beans. Give the
soup a good stir and cover. Cook gently for a further 10 minutes or until
the pasta is cooked.
Season with a little sea salt and serve straightaway with a good chunk of wholemeal bread and enjoy!

Gizzi Erskine may be a new name to you, she was for me, but her book, "Gizzi's Kitchen Magic" cover totally caught my eye while I was browsing through the amazon cookery section the other day. This is possibly one the coolest cookbook covers I have seen for a while and it's even cooler when you get your hands on it as it's embossed in gold! Now not being one to judge a book by it's cover I took my copy with me on my travels to have a good nose through it and get a good feel for Gizzi's writing. To give you a brief bit of back ground Gizzi is one of the "Cook Yourself Thin" girls and was orignally a food stylist before she got into the tv side of things, so has a huge knowledge of food! The one thing I do have to point out is that the book is quite girly, and I know quite a few potential domestic goddesses who could definitely be encouraged into the kitchen with a present of "Gizzi's Kitchen Magic" wrapped up in a bow! The book is absolutely jam packed with really fantastic tips on everything from what meat cuts to buy to choosing the best pastry to make. The lovely folks at Virgin books have provided me with a few recipes from the book to share with you this week and on Friday there will be 3 copies up for grabs, so stick around for that. Gizzi will also be stopping in for a quick interview aswell so if there are any questions you want answered, leave a comment below.

Gizzi Erskine's Creamy Smoked Salmon
& Pea Spaghetti
Spaghetti carbonara is a classic for a reason, but it is laden with cream and, therefore, also very guilt-inducing. So I decided to halve the cream content and replace the rest with Greek yoghurt. Having done this, it seemed natural to replace the smokiness of the bacon with smoked salmon. I then decided to add some green colour with the summery addition of broad beans and green peas, my favourite veggies, and fi nished with a hint of lemon to lift the dish.

Serves 4
Preparation time 15 minutes
Cooking time 10 minutes
350g dried spaghetti
150g podded and shelled broad beans
150g fresh or frozen garden peas
200ml double cream
200ml Greek yoghurt
2 large free-range egg yolks
35g Parmesan cheese
zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
180g smoked salmon (about 8 slices), sliced into short ribbons
A small bunch of fresh chives, snipped

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet. For the last 3 minutes of the cooking time add the broad beans and peas.
Meanwhile mix together the cream, yoghurt, egg yolks, Parmesan, lemon zest, salt and pepper.
Drain the cooked pasta, beans and peas, leaving a few tablespoons of water in the bottom of the pan. Return the pan to a low heat and pour in the sauce.
Toss the pasta in the sauce, then add the smoked salmon and chives, giving it all a good mix round until it’s evenly incorporated and the salmon has cooked through. Serve piping hot.

(Taken from Gizzi’s Kitchen Magic by Gizzi Erskine published by Virgin Books, price £20)

Christmas has well and truly started for me and I am already addicted to Christmas FM which plays non stop Christmas tunes 24 hours a day! Last year I was Peter Pan in a panto in Dublin, which meant I was working right the way up until the big day, so I kinda missed out on the Christmas cooking. This year I have some time off so I'm going to be cooking up a storm, I have mince pies, christmas pudding, traditional glazed ham, and cheats Christmas dinner recipes to put up on the blog which got me thinking- Is there any Christmas recipes you would like to see up on the blog? If so leave me a comment below or say hello on twitter or facebook!

While all this festive food is fine, I have been taking a break and finally got a chance to try the amazing Lor from my favourite Irish blog Italian Foodies' recipe for Carbonara. It's such a simple recipe which is so easy to throw together and you just have to try it! She nearly killed me when I told her I used cream, but sure it was in the fridge, it would have gone to waste! I also added a little garlic but don't tell her! :)
Check out the recipe on Lor's blog: Italian Foodies.

I have a few winter warming dishes coming up but this recipe is actually taken from the book and was featured on Georgina Campbell's Ireland Guide website. Plus I got a request in the comments section so I just couldn't resist!

Hearty Minestrone Soup
This is a perfect winter meal solution, full of tasty vegetables, and filling thanks to the
pasta. I use wholewheat spaghetti, but feel free to add other shapes like fusilli or pasta elbows instead. If you don’t have any paprika, you can get a bit of spice by adding a dash of tabasco sauce, or a good pinch of dried chilli flakes.

Serves 4
1 courgette, chopped into small chunks
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 x 410g tins cannellini beans
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped into small chunks
2 litres/4 pints homemade chicken stock
75g/3oz wholewheat spaghetti, broken into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons of olive oil
A good pinch of paprika
A good pinch of sea salt

In a large pot, heat the olive oil and fry the garlic cloves and onion for 2
minutes or until they become soft.
Stir in the celery, carrots and courgette and cook for five minutes. Add the
chopped tomatoes and chicken stock, and bring to the boil, then reduce the
heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the wholewheat spaghetti, paprika and cannellini beans. Give the
soup a good stir and cover. Cook gently for a further 10 minutes or until
the pasta is cooked.
Season with a little sea salt and serve straightaway with a good chunk of
wholemeal bread and enjoy!

I thought I would post one last recipe for the week before we head off to Galway. We've decided to head towards The Burren for a bit of tourist style exploring, and then on to the cliffs of Moher, so you can expect some pictures next week!

This is one of the quickest little dishes I make when I'm stuck for time, but am in need of a big bowl of comfort without skimping on the nutrition. It's not exactly the most decadant uses of Asparagus, but when I first made it, I was trying to use them up before they went off. Doesn't that make this recipe sound appealing?! But honestly you can have this whole dish cooked in the time it takes to boil the pasta.

Aparagus and Garlic Pasta (Serves 2)

1. 225g of Wholemeal Spaghetti.
2. 400g of Aspargus Spears.
3. 1 Clove of Garlic.
4. A Squeeze of Lemon Juice.
5. One handful of Fresh Parsley.
6. Pinch of Salt and Pepper.
7. Parmesan Cheese.

Once the spaghetti is cooked, drain the water and return to the pot. Tip in the vivid green asparagus paste and mix through, serve in two bowls, topped with grated Parmesan and a generous sprinkling of black pepper. A quick fix for any hungry belly!