Tag: pasta

Quick Creamy Prawn and Spinach Pasta Recipe

creamyspinachandprawnpastaWe were out all day on Sunday and I wasn’t organised enough to put anything in the slow cooker in the morning so when we got home it was a bit of a scramble for dinner as we were low on groceries as well.

I raided the freezer and found a couple of bags of frozen prawns and some frozen spinach and this is what I came up with.

The added bonus of this recipes is that my 5 year old could help out and everyone devoured it.

Do you have any quick emergency meals using stuff around the house?  Please do leave them in the comments below.

 

Quick Creamy Prawn and Spinach Pasta Recipe
Recipe Type: Main
Cuisine: Pasta
Author: Mediocre Mum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
  • 400g pasta (I used Farfalle, but rigatoni, linguine, spaghetti or penne would work as well)
  • 400g cooked frozen prawns (I used a combination of large and small ones)
  • 90g frozen spinach (partially defrosted)
  • 3 TBSP
  • Crème fraîche
  • 25g grated parmesan
  • Salt and Pepper to Season
Instructions
  1. Bring a large pan of water to a boil.  Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions.  5 minutes before it’s finished add the prawns to the pan with the pasta and boiling water. Ensure they are cooked through.
  2. Strain using a colander and return to the pot. Add the spinach, cream, cheese and season with salt and pepper.  Mix well, until the spinach has fully defrosted.

 

Slow Cooker Sunday: Creamy Chicken Pasta


Yes, you can cook Pasta in a slow cooker!

I must admit that this isn’t the normal type of thing I cook.  However, it is school holidays, our daughter eats at the childminders for the majority of the week, so I was conscious of making child friendly meals.  We’ve had Sausage and Mash, Macaroni and Cheese and this Creamy Chicken Pasta.

I do wish she had a wider palate, but I have tried and it’s difficult to persuade her to eat slightly spicier food.  I’m fairly confident I couldn’t get her to eat a Lentil Dahl.

I originally, came across this recipe on Chic Pins at first I was a bit flummoxed by the measurements, I couldn’t locate the egg noodles and I prefer to use chicken thighs as I find they don’t dry out as much as breasts do.

So I’ve anglicized it a bit, even though I’m Canadian.

 

Slow Cooker Sunday: Creamy Chicken Pasta
Recipe Type: Slow Cooker
Cuisine: Child Friendly
Author: Mediocre Mum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 500 g of Chicken Thighs, skinned and cut into bite sized pieces
  • 1.2 litres of Chicken Stock
  • 2 tins (295g) Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
  • 50 g of butter
  • 320 g of tagliatelle
  • Parsley to garnish
Instructions
  1. Place the chicken, stock, soup and butter in the slow cooker. Mix well. Cook and cover on low for a minimum of 6 hours.
  2. An hour before you are going to serve put the Tagliatelle in, replace the lid and cook for another hour.
  3. It’s that easy. Serve with garlic bread and greens.

 

Don’t forget Slow Cooker Sunday is all about sharing recipes and getting inspiration from others.  Feel free to add your own recipes below.  They can be old or new and don’t even have to be your own.  Just one you’ve tried and liked.

And if you need extra inspiration, don’t forget to check out our Pinterest Board, with over a hundred recipes.

Google+ fans, we also have a Community ‘All Things Slow Cooking’ feel free to join in.  Thanks to Aly Hodge it’s now starting to grow legs.

And if you subscribe to my blog, using the form in the sidebar you can get a free copy of my first ever eBook ‘There’s More to Slow Cooking than Stews – 10 Recipes to get you going’.



Slow Cooker Sunday: Squid in Puttanesca Sauce

Now that we’re into September, I can’t believe it, it must be time to get those slow cookers out and dust them off.  Feel free to share some of your favourite recipes.

I said tentacles not….

I was a vegetarian for over 20 years but now happily eat meat in moderation.  However, there are still some things that I can’t do.  I could never select a calf for slaughter later in life, cut the head off a fish, deboning chicken makes me squeal and the mere thought of tripe makes me want to gag.

So, when I was sent squid from the lovely people at Fish is the Dish as part of their campaign to get people eating more fish, which was totally my choice as I’d never cooked it and was keen to try, I was a bit unsure of what to do with it and the thought of the tentacles made me squirm a bit.

Here is the moment, I had to touch it for the first time……yes, I squealed like school girl!

Most people would probably chop it up, bread it, deep fried it and served it with chips, but I was determined to try something in the slow cooker.  I was a bit worried, as it’s a delicate meat that it would turn rubbery in the slow cooker.  In the end, I opted for Sara Lewis’ Squid in Puttanesca Sauce served on Linguini accompanied by Caesar Salad and Garlic bread.  I would have posted the entire recipe but that would have been blatant plagiarism.

Verdict

I can assure you it wasn’t rubbery, this may be due to the fact it’s cooked on low for a shorter period of time and the tentacles aren’t added till 30 minutes before the end of cooking.

Hubby loved it and had 3 helpings, I’d definitely have it again, but sadly our daughter was a bit scared of it but this may have to do with me chasing her around the kitchen with it earlier.

Do check out the recipes below, like a few and add your own.

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Disclosure: The Squid was courtesy of Wing of St Mawes

 

Pasta in a flash!

Quick Creamy Tomato Pasta

As a busy mum, I sometimes get so wrapped up in things I forget about organising meals for Madame until she says ‘mummy I’m hungry’.  Quick check of the watch and realise, yes, it’s dinner time and I need something quick.  This is one of those recipes that you can throw together in about 10 minutes.

Ingredients

2 TBSP olive oil

½ an onion chopped

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

2 TBSP of cream cheese

1 tsp of dried basil

50g of pasta per child (any shape will do)

Method

  1. Start cooking the pasta.  I’m not going to tell you how as the instructions are on the back of the pack.
  2. To make the sauce.  Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onions until soft (approx 3-5 minutes).
  3. Tip in the chopped tomatoes, bring to a boil, turn down add the cream cheese and basil.  Heat through.
  4. Drain the pasta a mix into the sauce.

I tend to serve it with sweet corn or cucumber slices on the side.  If I have a bit more time to preheat the oven, as ours takes about 30 minutes to heat, I serve it with garlic bread.