pasta with asparagus, pesto & poached egg

Another early day but monkey seems much chipper and what spots he had are fading, which is just as well because we've got a full day of shopping in Richmond planned.

Having pillaged the Early Learning Centre closing down sale, and looked at the geese and heron in the rain on the riverside we repair to The Duke for a late-ish lunch. Naturally as soon as we step out of the rain, the sun comes out but monkey was on good form so we're not too bothered.

I had tuna nicoise, instantly doubling my anchovy intake for the year in two meals, and the anas had chicken breast on a chorizo rosti. Both of which were lovely; it does pretty good food really, and the staff are very cheeky baby friendly, which is always useful.

For tea we have another vegetarian (because I forgot the pancetta) pasta dish which neatly balances anas likes - poached egg - and dislikes - pesto. It's pretty successful though.


Food of the Milos
His pox seems to be waning so his appetite has returned; porridge with apricots and maple syrup for breakfast, sausage and mash in the pub, and last night's pasta for dinner, plus his now daily intake of babycino's and fruit.

Despite being a bit grizzly this weekend, we did finally luck out on the weather with our afternoon walk to the pond, which cheered him up no end.

Incidentally I realise the photos over the past week are a bit blurry, further investigation has revealed very small, yoghurty fingerprints on the lens so I'll clean that and hopefully we'll be back to normal.

sources
pasta with asparagus, pesto and poached egg - Delicious, May 2005, p110

this week's recipe(s)
As I'm catching up, I'm going to do two recipes first up:

pasta with asparagus, pesto and poached egg
For the Good Lucys, seeing as she asked so nicely last time...

Serves 2, takes about 15 minutes

250g pasta
2 eggs
packet of pancetta
250g asparagus spears
tablespoon pesto
grated parmesan
black pepper

1. Cook the pasta in boiling water according to the instructions. Add the asparagus spears to the pan for the last four minutes of cooking time.

2. Meanwhile grill the pancetta for about 1-2 minutes so it's crispy and put to one side.

3. Poach the eggs for 3-4 minutes. As they're poaching drain the pasta and asparagus, and mix in the pesto. Grind in some salt and pepper and plate it up.

4. Crumble over the pancetta, sprinkle over the parmesan and top with the egg.

I tend to use fresh pasta so it's a matter of doing it all in four minutes really: Boil up two pans of water, put the asparagus in first, then the pasta and set the timer for 4 minutes. As soon as you've done that put the eggs in. When the timer goes drain the pasta/asparagus, mix in the pesto, plate it and hoik out the eggs onto some kitchen roll. Crumble the pancetta over the top, add the parmesan and then add the eggs. Sorted, although I broke my yolk tonight...

recipe 2: chicken with tomatoes, peppers and cous cous
Mrs white - pour vous rx

Serves 4, takes about 25 minutes

4 chicken breasts cut into chunks
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 hot red chilli
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
olive oil
cous cous
500g cherry tomatoes - 250g yellow and 250g red
280g jar of roasted peppers in oil
basil leaves

1. Put the chicken into a bowl and add the lemon zest, the juice, chilli, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper and 2 tbsp of the pepper oil. Mix well and set aside to marinade. I leave it in the fridge all day.

2. Place cous cous in bowl and add boiling water, cover with tea towel and leave to fluff up.

3. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large frying pan or wok until hot, add the chicken and it's marinade, and fry till golden brown all over and cooked through. Add the peppers, tomatoes and basil and cook until the tomatoes have softened.

4. fluff up the cous cous - you could add pine nuts, I do occasionally, and top with the chicken and marinade.

enjoy

r
x