This is a fast and fabulous dinner — put the pasta water on to boil as soon as you get home, keep your wits about you and in under 30 minutes you will be sitting down to eat.
SERVES 4
PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES
COOK TIME: 15 MINUTES
Ingredients:
400g dried penne pasta
120g butter
500g fresh asparagus, ends trimmed, cut into penne-sized lengths
freshly grated zest and freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
2 handfuls of fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
freshly grated pecorino or Parmesan cheese, or crumbled feta, for serving
Method:
Cook the penne in a large pot of boiling salted water until just al dente— about 11 minutes. Drain, reserving about 1/3 cup of the cooking water.
While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a large, heavy frying pan. Add the asparagus and stir-fry until it turns bright green. Remove the asparagus and set aside. Keep the pan on the heat and let the butter continue to cook until it is golden brown and smells nutty (about 5–8 minutes).
Add the cooked penne to the pan along with the asparagus, a splash or two of the pasta cooking water and a squeeze of lemon juice. Toss together over the heat until well combined. Divide between four warmed bowls and scatter the lemon zest and parsley over. Serve immediately, and let everyone add grated or crumbled cheese to taste.
Sweet beetroot, perfumed nectarine, peppery watercress and creamy burrata — don’t take this to your next BYO barbecue or people will fight over it. Save it for home instead.
This recipe, from my wonderful sister-in-law Jenny Corry, is world famous in my family. Stick rigidly to the instructions to end up with perfectly cooked lamb. The varying thickness of the joint means that some bits will be well done while others are delectably pink.
Here we’re jazzing up a handy grain packet, meaning you get big flavour, fast.
Growing up in Germany, Verena remembers two camps when it came to potato salad: camp mayo and camp oil/broth.
What better way to welcome the weekend than with the smell and sound of frying herb-loaded ijeh?
These festive pavlovas are dipped in white chocolate and topped with toasted hazelnuts, cream and berry sauce to make an impressive dessert.
I don’t remember much about the circumstances of my first cherry clafoutis. But I must have loved the classic French farmhouse dessert, because I’ve been trying to reproduce that first custardy, almond-scented pancake ever since.
‘I always think that canapés should box slightly above their weight – in other words, they need to be vividly flavoured to succeed. Here, the combination of crisp brioche, salty feta, pickled walnuts, figs, honey and thyme is just that. If you like, there’s a recipe for pickling your own green walnuts on page 275 of Rick Stein’s Christmas. You can also make this with slices of goat’s cheese from a log instead of the whipped feta.’
While I’ve always been a fan of the old camp song “On Top of Spaghetti,” I firmly believe that’s the very last place a meatball belongs.
Shrubs pair beautifully with soda water (and gin), and are perfect for using up seasonal fruit — wild, homegrown or store-bought.
