Sunday Supper - 15 Minute Tuna Pasta

I'm joining in for Sunday Supper hosted by the always lovely Pip over at Meet Me at Mikes...

On tonights menu is one of my favourite "cook it up in a jiffy faster than a takeaway and fairly healthy too" suppers.

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic (chopped) or 2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 onion (chopped)
1 tin tuna in springwater (425g)
1 tin diced tomatoes (400g)
1 jar tomato based pasta sauce (500g) - use any brand you like eg. Dolmio, Raguletto etc.
1 teaspoon of sugar (optional)
Your favourite type of pasta of gnocchi

Method

Put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta or gnocchi, and cook as directed.
In a large saucepan, saute the garlic and onion in a little olive oil and butter until softened.
Add the entire tin of tuna (including the springwater) and stir until simmering.
Add the tin of chopped tomatoes and the jar of pasta sauce.
Simmer for five minutes.
Taste the sauce. If it is too acidic (from the tomatoes) then add 1 teaspoon of sugar.
Serve over your favourite pasta.

This sauce can also be used to make tuna lasagne.

Sunday Supper - Savoury Mince

I'm joining in for Sunday Supper hosted by Pip at Meet Me at Mikes....

This is another one of those recipes that is based on whatever I can find in the fridge.

Ingredients:

500g lean mince beef

1 tsp minced garlic

1 brown onion - chopped

1 green capsicum - chopped

1 zucchini - chopped

1 large carrot - chopped or grated

2 cans tomato puree

2 heaped teaspoons Smokey Tomatina spice blend or just use any spice blend that you like

This one is really simple......add the garlic and all the chopped vegies to a large frypan and saute in a little olive oil. Once the vegies have softened, add the mince and brown. Then add the two cans of tomato puree and the spice blend and simmer for 15 minutes.

Serve with rice or pasta. This would also be great as a taco or burrito filling with lettuce, diced tomato and cheese.

Sunday Supper - Chicken Fried Rice

I'm joining in for Sunday Supper hosted by Pip at Meet Me at Mikes........ this was our late dinner last Sunday night.

This is another one of those recipes that has been made up from leftovers and whatever else I can find in the fridge. In this case, I had half of a roast chicken left in the fridge that needed to be used (waste not, want not)!

Apologies to anyone looking for a proper asian style fried rice recipe....this is definitely not it!

It's best if you cook the steamed rice the day before. I just cooked it in the morning and left it in the fridge all day. To make the steamed rice, I used 1 cup of long grain rice with three cups of water in my microwave steamer and cooked it for twenty minutes on high.

Ingredients:

Cooked rice
1 teaspoon garlic
1 brown onion - chopped
4 mushrooms - chopped
10 snow peas - chopped
1 zucchini - chopped
6 rashers bacon - chopped
Roast chicken - chopped
2 eggs - beaten until just mixed

This can all be cooked in one large frypan or wok.

• Saute garlic, onion and bacon (with a little olive oil and butter) together and then remove from pan


• Add beaten eggs to pan and scramble into little eggy bits (yes, that is my technical term) and then remove from pan


• Add mushroom, snow peas, and zucchini to pan, saute and then remove from pan.


• Add the cold rice and chicken and stir fry until heated through, then add back all of the other pre-cooked ingredients until all of the flavours have combined and all ingredients are piping hot.

Serve and eat....this should be enough to serve four.

Sunday Supper........Country Lamb Curry

First of all, I'd like to apologise to anyone looking for an authentic indian curry recipe....sorry but this is NOT it!

This is one of those recipes that you make when there's not much left in the pantry but you want something hearty for dinner (perfect for a cold rainy day). This can be made in one large saucepan so there are less dishes to wash as well!

You will need:

500g diced lamb
2 potatoes
1 sweet potato
2 carrots
Gravox Traditional
Keens Curry Powder
Olive Oil

Peel vegies and cut into even size pieces.
Heat about one tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan, add lamb and brown on all sides.
Add vegies and stir.
Make up gravy mixture (approx 4 tablespoons of gravox, 1 tablespoon of curry powder mixed into 1 litre of cold water).
Add gravy mixture to saucepan, keep stirring until the gravy thickens (if too thick, add water).
Simmer for about an hour (stirring occassionally) or until the vegies are cooked through.

Can be served on it's own or with some nice fresh bread with lashings of butter.

Sunday Supper - Roasted Pumpkin & Rice Soup

This week I'm joining in for Sunday Supper hosted by Pip at Meet Me at Mikes!

Roasted Pumpkin and Rice Soup

1kg raw pumpkin
1 brown onion
3 cloves garlic
1 litre chicken stock
1/2 cup basmati rice
salt and pepper
olive oil

Peel and cut pumpkin, onion, and garlic. Toss in olive oil and then slow roast in the oven at about 160 degrees celsius for about 2 hours.....

Put cooked pumpkin in a large saucepan and mash.
Put cooked onion and garlic in the food processor and wizz, then add to mashed pumpkin.
Add chicken stock to saucepan and bring to a simmer.
Add basmati rice and simmer for approximately 20 minutes until rice is cooked through. Stir a few times and keep an eye on it so that the rice doesn't stick.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

If soup is too thick, just add more water.

Serve with toast and butter or some nice crusty bread....perfect for a chilly autumn night!