I have wanted to make this recipe since I got Bill Granger's, Simply Bill cookbook many years ago. The picture looked like something I could happily live on, and a good variation from the tradition beef bolognese.

The recipe is really quite easy, you could easily make it after a day at the office. Once you have done the basics and everything is in the pan simmering away; just cook the pasta and you'll have dinner in no time.
I found I had to add a bit of sugar to the sauce as it was quite salty. The parsley really cuts through and adds a lovely freshness to the sauce. Be sure to add the parsley in at the end to ensure the fresh flavour.

We now have a rule in our house; no seconds. With summer on it's way, it's time to shed some of the winter fat we have accumulated for hibernation. So we can only have the seconds as another meal the day after or later on in the week. We were both really wanting seconds of this pasta, but the best thing is we are looking forward to the leftovers tonight for dinner!

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Woot! I'm back baby! Picked up my laptop from the apple store today after hearing good news from Genius Simon that it was back up and running.

I've been trying a whole lot of recipes from the Masterchef website. Not always the ones they feature on the show, but also the ones the sponsors put up. And now that I have my own kitchen, I can cook whatever I want, and as many meatballs as I want! Om... ah nom nom nom nom!!



I had never made meatball mix with stock before. I was a little hesitant at first wondering if the mixture would even combine with liquid. But the breadcrumbs did an excellent job of soaking them up. For a mixture with not that many ingredients, it should did smell fantastic as I was rolling them into little balls of delicious-ness.

The end result, juicy, flavoursome packed meatballs, with pasta and a rich tomato sauce, all in done in less than an hour.


3. Stir in risoni & tomatoes. Cook for 8 mins, uncovered, stirring occasionally, or until pasta is al dente. Garnish with parsley & serve with steamed vegetables and parmesan.

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We are trying to empty the meat from Hamsley's freezer before the move. This weekend he pulled out 1kg of turkey mince for me to cook with. I'd never used turkey mince before, but Hamsley suggested a turkey pasta as his housemate had a recipe for it in the kitchen. I went to check it out and discovered it came from the Ingham Turkey's website, which had a range of great recipes to try.

When browning the mince, I found the smell to be rather weird. But after seasoning the sauce with added tomato paste and sugar, which the original recipe did not call for; I found the turkey mince added a fantastic flavour that you wouldn't get with just beef mince.
About to attempt turkey sausage rolls. Stay tuned for more turkey!

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It's the first meatballs of 2010!
As many of you may know, I have a meatball obsession. So when I was in the mood for meatballs just recently, I decided to pull Bill Granger off the shelf to see if he had the goods.

This recipe is a fantastic mid-week meal. I thought it was a little strange that there was no egg in the mixture to keep it all together. I also found it weird that I baked the meatballs instead of pan frying them. This in fact made it super easy as most of the recipe is just bunged in the oven, then finished off on the stove.

I added more pancetta than required, but no one complained. I would easily make these again.

Check out my new cookbook stand. It has a splash cover so I don't make a mess of my cookbook! Not bad for $20 from the General Trader!


3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 teasponn ground coriander
1 red chilli, thinly sliced
500g (1 lb 2 oz) minced (ground) chicken
3 tablespoons fresh breadcrumbs
50g (1 3/4 oz) pancetta, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
Sea salt
500g (1 lb 2 oz) cherry tomatoes, halved
Freshly ground black pepper
125ml (4 fl oz / 1/2 cup) chicken stock

500g (1 lb 2 oz) wholewheat fusilli, cooked
Parmesan shavings

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F / Gas 6). Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring for 5 minutes, or until the onion is soft. Add the coriander and chilli and cook for 1 minute.

2. Put the chicken in a bowl with the breadcrumbs, pancetta, parsley and salt. Add the spiced onion and mix well with your hands. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm the mixture. Wet your hands with cold water to stop the mixture sticking and roll into small meatballs.

3. Put the cherry tomatoes on a baking tray lined with baking paper, drizzle with 1 tablspoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Put the meatballs on a second lined tray and drizzle with the remaining oil. Roast the tomatoes and meatballs in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the meatballs are golden and the tomatoes start to pucker.

4. Put the stock and tomatoes in a saucepan and add the the meatballs. Simmer for 5 mintues and season to taste before spooning over pasta and serving with parmesan shavings.

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For those of us following Masterchef in Australia, you would have been familiar with the "Guess the ingredients in the bolognaise" challenge where the vegetarian cook cried because she didn't want to have to taste it to guess what was in it.

There were 17 ingredients they had to guess, by both smelling and tasting the sauce. Once all the ingredients were revealed, there were some things I would have never considered putting in a bolognaise sauce. I've been hanging out to try it since I saw it, and I finally made time to make it.
I also made a tarte tatin that was in one of the pressure test challenges, so I had a very Masterchef inspired night! Photos of that in my next post!

It is definitely a more interesting sauce than what I'm used to. We could all pick up different flavours. For me the cinnamon stood out, for my mum she could really pick the bayleaf, for Rob, it was more the cloves. I should have added more nutmeg, but overall it was quite a lovely sauce.

George Calombaris' "Best Bolognaise Sauce"
An adaption by "Stephsmail" on the Masterchef forums (Thank you!)

a good splash of olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
300g minced beef
300g minced pork
300g minced veal
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 cups white wine
2 heaped teaspoons ground nutmeg
2 heaped teaspoons ground cinnamon
5 bayleaves
5 cloves
425g tin crushed tomatoes
200g tomato paste
salt to taste
pepper to taste

1. Put olive oil in a large hot saucepan. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook for a few minutes.

2. Add the beef, pork and veal and cook until browned. Add the carrots and celery. Add the white wine.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer over a low heat for as long as possible.
I left mine over night off the heat to develop more flavour, and slow cooked it for about 2 hours before serving.

Serves 5.

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I LOVE my pasta. Hence why my waistline isn't what I'd like it to be, but as my aunty once said "I'm here for a good time, not a long time", so I'll enjoy my pasta and then go work some of it off at the gym.

So it's no surprise I wanted to try this recipe from the latest Donna Hay magazine.
I haven't used eggplant before believe it or not! Was never really a fan, but since starting cooking, I've been eager to try new flavours and all the things I've been missing out on!

I couldn't find any pappardelle pasta, so I settled on curly fettuccine. It almost looks like squid instead of pasta!

So I peeled the eggplant and was starting to chop it up when my dad comes over and goes "What's THAT?!" I couldn't help but laugh because I also thought it looked weird when it was naked, almost like a melon or something!

The sauce didn't taste all that fantastic, so I seasoned it with salt, pepper and sugar. It was still a bit runny and didn't look that great to I added in a tub of tomato paste and BAM! It looked much better and tasted amazing!

The torn bocconcini and basil add a lovely finishing touch. Better than your average bolognese. Luckily there were leftovers so I can enjoy it again today!


Eggplant and Beef Bolognese
Donna Hay with alterations by Iron Chef Shellie

400g pappardelle pasta, or fettuccine
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 eggplant, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
500g beef mince
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
1 tub tomato paste
1/2 cup basil leaves
240g bocconcini, torn

1. Cook the pasta as per instructions on the packet. Drain and keep warm.

2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Add the eggplant and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes or until golden.

3. Add the beef and cook, breaking up any lumps with a wooden spoon, for 5 minutes or until browned. Add the tomato and cook for 5 minutes or until thickened. Add 1 tub of tomato paste and stir through.

4. Add the pasta and toss to combine. Top with basil and bocconcini to serve.

Serves 4.

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Ok, so I've been swamped with stuff and finally found some time to post something.
I've done beef stroganoff before, but this recipe looked delicious from Valli Little's new book "Faking It".


Simple, easy to impress if you have someone coming around and very tasty. Yum!

New Beef Stroganoff
Valli Little

4 x 180g beef fillet steaks
1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil, plus extra to brush
2 tablespoons mixed dried peppercorns, crushed
250g swiss brown mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons brandy
1 1/4 cups (310ml) beef stock
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra to serve
1/2 cup (125ml) thickened cream
400g pappardelle or fettucine

1. Brush the steaks with a little oil, then season with salt. Sprinkle all over with the crushed peppercorns, gently pressing into the steaks. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a frypan over medium-high heat. Add the steaks and cook for 2-3 minutes each side until well-seared but still rare in the centre (or until cooked to your liking). Set aside and cover loosely with foil to keep warm.

2. Add the remaining oil t the steak pan. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes until they start to soften. Add the brandy and stock, then bring to the hoil. Decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes or until reduced by half. Stir in the mustard, parsley and cream. Cook for a further minute, stirring, until heated through.

3. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a saucepan of boiling salted water according to packet instructinos. Frain, then add to the pan with the sauce and toss to combine.

4. Slice the steak 1cm-thick on an angle, then divide among plates with the pasta. Drizzle with any sauce left in the pan, then serve garnised with parsely.

Serves 4.

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Mid-week cooking this week changed location. My boy, Iron Chef Rob got hit by a car when he was out on his new bike. Whilst he is ok for now, just bruised up and stiff, I went over to his place and cooked for him and his family instead of mine!


This recipe was ripped out of an old issue of Notebook magazine, but it can also be found on the taste website here. It was a huge hit with the family. A very simple and fresh pasta. Usually I only like my pasta dripping in rich tomato sauce, but the fresh vegetables and balsamic vinegar was just as good. In fact I'd go as far as saying it was one of the most amazing pastas I've had in my life! That's quite a statement to make I know, but I will be looking forward to the next time I make it.


Marinated Tomato, Zucchini, Pine Nut & Ricotta Pasta

2 x 250g punnets grape tomatoes, halved
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbs shredded basil
2 tbs balsamic vinegar, plus extra to drizzle
1/4 cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil
2 large zucchini, trimmed, thinly sliced diagonally
400g spaghetti
1/3 cup (50g) toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup basil leaves extra, torn
1/2 cup (125g) fresh ricotta, crumbled, to serve

1. Place the tomatoes, garlic, shredded basil, balsamic and 2 tbs of the oil in a small bowl. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set aside for 20 minutes to marinate.2

2. Meanwhile, place the zucchini in a bowl with remaining oil and season with salt and pepper. Gently toss in the oil to coat. Preheat a char-grill pan on high. Add zucchini and cook for 2 minutes each side or until lightly charred and tender. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

3. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of lightly salted boiling water following packet directions until al dente. Drain well.

4. Return pasta to the saucepan. Add the tomato mixture, zucchini, pine nuts and remaining basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper and toss to combine. Divide pasta among serving bowls, serve topped with ricotta and a drizzle of balsamic.

Serves 4

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The main course of the 3 course meal/present was a recipe I had been wanting to try for some time but just seemed like too much work for a mid-week meal. But since I had the whole day to prep for it I thought I'd give it a go.


I don't know why I didn't try it sooner, it's as delicious as it looks. I'm looking forward to leftovers for lunch!
A different variation to your normal red tomato pasta sauce, this one has the lovely taste of the roasted capsicum and semi-dried tomatoes. Feta is just the icing on the cake when it comes to this pasta, an absolute must.
Omit the chicken for falafel for vegetarians for a lovely dish.


Spaghetti with Chicken & Semi-Dried Tomato Pesto
Taste Website

2 single chicken breast fillets, excess fat trimmed
1 red capsicum, quartered, deseeded
80g fat-free semi-dried tomatoes
20g shredded parmesan
1 garlic clove, finely crushed
60ml (1/4 cup) fresh lemon juice
2 tsp olive oil
400g dried thin spaghetti pasta
80g reduced-fat feta
1/3 cup chopped fresh continental parsley

1. Bring a large frying pan of water to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Add the chicken and reduce heat to low. Cook for 10 minutes. Set aside for 30 minutes or until cooked through. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the chicken to a clean work surface. Coarsely shred.

2. Meanwhile, preheat grill on high. Place the capsicum, skin-side up, on a baking tray and cook under grill for 8-10 minutes or until charred and blistered. Transfer into a sealable plastic bag and set aside for 5 minutes (this helps lift the skin). Peel the skin from the capsicum.

3. Place the capsicum, semi-dried tomatoes, parmesan and garlic in the bowl of a food processor and process until coarsely chopped. With the motor running, gradually add the lemon juice and oil in a thin, steady stream until combined.

4. Cook the pasta in a saucepan of salted boiling water following packet directions or until al dente. Drain. Return to the pan.

5. Add the semi-dried tomato mixture and chicken to the pasta. Transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle over the feta and parsley. Season with pepper to serve.

Serves 4.

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Mid week cooking so nice and simple this week, I wish it could always be that simple!

Taken from my favorite source of the moment, the Taste website, I wanted something easy and quick so I didn't have to fluff around in the kitchen. Turned out well since I have been free-lancing the last two weeks and getting home a bit later than I'm used to.

Dinner was on the table within 30 minutes. Everyone enjoyed it.
I'm not a huge capers fan but I have to agree with mum and say that the capers really add a nice taste to the dish.
If you are not a tuna fan, I'm sure this dish would taste great with smoked chicken.

Creamy Tuna Pasta

350g fettuccine or spaghetti
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup (250ml) thin cream
2 tbs sundried tomato paste
425g can tuna in oil, drained
1 cup (150g) frozen peas
1 tbs chopped flat-leaf parsley
100g semi-dried tomatoes
2 tsp capers, rinsed, drained

1. Cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and toss with half the oil.

2. Heat remaining oil in a large frypan over medium heat, add onion and cook 2-3 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in cream and paste, add tuna and peas. Heat gently for 1-2 minutes. Stir in half the parsley with the tomatoes and capers, add pasta and season. Stir until just heated through. Serve sprinkled with remaining parsley.

Serves 4

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On the weekend, Iron Chefs David, Jason, Rob and myself got together for a bit of cooking before a night out at the movies. We wanted something pretty basic so we could just prepare it, chuck it in the oven and relax a little. I thought some kind of pasta bake or cannelloni would be the best option for that. We choose a recipe on Taste.com.au for roast vegetable cannelloni.

This looked a little more interesting that your standard spinach and ricotta cannelloni, and it seemed pretty basic to make. However, what may seem simple actually took us 2.5 hours to make! We were having a good old laugh when we saw that the recipe preparation time stated 20 mins and cooking time 30 mins! The main thing that stuffed us up was the char-grilling of the vegetables. We didn't have a BBQ or grill, so we had to oven roast them which took longer.

Iron Chef Rob did most of the work, and they were a great success. So deliciously tasty accompanied by Iron Chef David's lovely garden salad. Another successful cook off complete!

Roast Vegetable Cannelloni Bake
Taste Website

1 medium zucchini, sliced thinly
150g chargrilled red capsicum, thinly sliced
80g chargrilled eggplant, drained and chopped
1/3 cup semi-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
100g ricotta cheese
12 instant cannelloni tubes
570g jar pasta sauce
3/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese

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It's mid-week cooking time again folks!
This week I was tossing up between meatballs and cannelloni. It was a tough decision, but this recipe sold me. Who would have thought to put salami in meatballs? It's genius!

I altered the recipe a bit and added double the quantity of tomatoes as I love lots of sauce with my pasta. I also slow cooked the balls throughout the day so they could absorb the sauce. The key to this recipe is to season the tomato sauce to your taste. I added basil, sugar, salt, pepper and some beef seasoning. This all adds a bit more depth to the flavour.

The meatballs themselves were amazing! The salami really made them stand out to your traditional boring old meat balls. The house was filled with the delicious scent of a home cooked meal, mum even requested she get a big serving! Everyone loved it, and I will definitely be keeping this recipe.

Italian Meatballs with Pasta & Tomato Sauce
Taste Website

1/4 cup (60ml) Colavita olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup (250ml) dry white wine, chicken or beef stock
400g can Italian chopped tomatoes
400g dried short pasta
Flaked parmesan, to serve

meatballs:
500g minced beef
25g sliced salami, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
50g parmesan, finely grated
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup (35g) dried breadcrumbs

1. For meatballs, place all ingredients in a bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix well to combine. Form tablespoonfuls of mixture into balls.

2. Heat oil in a large frying pan or saucepan over high heat. Add meatballs and cook, turning occasionally, for 5 minutes or until well browned. Remove from pan and set aside.

3. Add onion to pan and cook, stirring, over medium heat for 5 minutes or until tender. Add wine or stock and simmer until reduced by 1/2. Return meatballs to pan with tomatoes and bring to the boil. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until sauce is thickened.

4. Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and return to pan. Add meatballs and sauce and toss to combine, then serve scattered with flaked parmesan.

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Mid-week cooking was back this week! My parents arrived safely back into the country on the weekend with mountains of Swiss chocolate for me to eat! I also got a new camera but I'm still working out all the kinks, so hopefully my photos on here will be a bit better soon.

So, yet again Donna Hay helped provide me with a delicious dish for mid-week cooking. From one of her old magazines this dish looked so yummy with the grainy mustard I was interested to try.

Fairly simple to make, the taste was a sensation. You could taste every single ingredient, the leek was a nice change to that of a simple onion. It wasn't too creamy or over powering. The only thing I'd warn people about is don't overcook your broccoli. There is nothing worse than soggy broccoli!



Fettuccine with Bacon, Mustard & Broccoli

400g fettuccine
300g broccoli, trimmed into florets
6 rashes bacon, sliced
1 leek, sliced
1 cup cream
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons grain mustard
1 tablespoon lemon thyme
parmesan cheese to serve

1. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain and return to the saucepan to keep warm. While the pasta is cooking, blanch the broccoli in salted boiling water, then drain and set aside.

2. Heat a frying pan over high heat. Add bacon and leek and cook for 5 minutes or until golden. Add the cream, sour cream, mustard and lemon thyme and cook for 3 minutes.

3. Add the broccoli and cook for a further minute or until warmed through. Toss the sauce through the pasta and serve immediately sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

Serves 4.

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This weekend has been a milestone; my first official dinner party as hostess. And luckily for me it went extremely well!!
The original plan was for everyone to bring a dish and we would all share, but in the end I said I'd just bang a pasta bake in the oven and everyone else would bring along other complimentary foods to with the pasta.
I wanted a dish that could suit everyone: 5 meat eaters, 1 vegetarian, 1 vegetarian who must have gluten free goods and no dairy. It was a bit of a challenge but 3 separate pasta bakes were made: 1 with wholemeal pasta no cheese, 1 with pasta and cheese, 1 with cheese and bacon.

The table was set, complete with place cards and menu:


Iron Chef David brought along a lovely selection of dips, unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of them for here as I was too busy tinkering away in the kitchen. Made favorite dip would have to be the spicy pumpkin as I had never seen a pumpkin dip before I was intrigued to try it.

Iron Chef Kiran made some Indian vegetarian dumplings served with sweet chilli sauce. I also forgot to take a photo of this as I was busy organising the pasta! Must learn my lesson for next time!!

Iron Chef Alana brought along an adapted version of a Donna Hay Greek Salad and 2 amazing garlic breads:


Iron Chef Rob made some delicious meat balls that he slow cooked overnight. I'm so glad there were leftovers so I could have them again for dinner!

My pasta bake was taken from my favourite source at the moment; the taste website.
As I mentioned earlier I made a few alterations here and there to suit everyone. I left out the celery and added mushrooms instead which helped to enhance the flavour. Had to season the sauce a bit more and added some tomato paste for extra richness.
Rave reviews from everyone, this recipe is a keeper!
Here is the original recipe:

Tomato & Basil Pasta Bake

300g dried wholemeal fusilli pasta
2 tsp olive oil
1 leek, pale section only, halved, washed, thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped
1 celery stick, ends trimmed, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 x 400g cans diced tomatoes
2 tbs shredded fresh basil
120g (1/2 cup) fresh low-fat ricotta, crumbled
Shredded fresh basil, extra, to serve

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water following packet directions or until al dente. Drain. Return to pan.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the leek, carrot and celery, and cook, stirring, for 6 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

3. Add the tomato and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Stir in the basil. Season with pepper.

4. Add the tomato mixture to the pasta and toss to combine. Transfer to a 1.5L (6-cup) capacity ovenproof dish. Top with ricotta. Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until golden. Top with extra basil to serve.

Serves 4.

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Then of course, what dinner party is complete without dessert?
Iron Chef Tristan brought along some chocolates, lollies and marshmallows.

I made the famous chocolate cheesecake slice from Donna Hay (recipe has already been blogged here). I also attempted an "Apple Crumble Slice" from the taste website. Although rather crumbly it was delicious! I would definitely make that again too!

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