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"I" - Italy - Baked Fusilli

Baked Fusilli recipe
 
Our little “Around the World for £4 or less” experiment took us to Italy this evening. What else would you cook on a budget from Italy? It had to be pasta really....
 
The Pasta should really have been Ziti which is a tubular pasta and would have held the sauce better. But we're tight, it's bitterly cold out and the local supermarket don't be a Gluten Free version anyway. Enough excuses, Fusilli did the job fine!
 
This is a recipe Sue created from two traditional recipes combined to keep it within of £4 budget. It's as traditional as possible.
 
Ingredients:-
 
Pasta of your choice ( We're not shapist here.....)
Oil (Olive if you have it. We didn't and used Vegetable Oil)
2 Onion chopped – 1 large, 1 small
3 cloves of Garlic minced
500g Minced Beef (Or Pork and Beef if you prefer)
2 tbsp Tomato Purée
1 tbsp dried Origano
1 tsp Dried Rosemary
½ tsp Chilli Flakes
1 tin chopped Tomatoes
5 tbsp Butter or Margarine
200g Cream Cheese (Philadelphia or shop own brand)
2 tbsp Basil, part to garnish
50 g Grated Italian style Cheese
100g Grated Mozzarella
1 Egg
Salt to season
 
Method:-
 
Making the Mariana Sauce
 
(1) Heat the tin of chopped Tomatoes and add the Butter, ½ tsp of Salt and an Onion sliced in half.
(2) Stir then let simmer for 15 minutes. 
(3) Remove the Onion and set the sauce aside.
 
Meat Sauce:-
 
(1) In a large frying pan add chopped Onion and Garlic to the Oil and fry until translucent.
(2) Add the Chilli flakes and Herbs and simmer.
(3) Add the mince and cook through until browned.
 
Pasta:-
 
(1) In a separate pan boil salted water, ad the Pasta and cook until Al Dente.
(2) Drain the Pasta.
(3) Add the mince mixture to the Mariana Sauce, add the Tomato Puree and a few spoonfulls of the Pasta water.
(4) Simmer for a further 10 minutes.
 
Cheese Sauce:-
 
(1) Mix the Cream Cheese and half of the grated Italian style Cheese, 1 Egg and a pinch of Salt.
 
Bringing it all together:-
 
(1) Drain the Pasta and add to the mince and sauce mixture. Stir and make sure the Pasta is well coated.
(2) In an ovenproof dish layer the Pasta mix then the Cream Cheese mix and repeat.
(3) Top off with Mozzarella and the remaining half of the Italian style grated Cheese.
(4) Bake at 180c until the topping is slightly browned and the whole disk is piping hot.
 
We served ours with a little dress salad and home-made Garlic bread.
 
 

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Piquant Monkfish recipe, eat well on universal credit

This intact fish should have been £14.38 but I happened upon it with a yellow sticker price of £5.76. Probably the best £5.76 we’ve spent for a long time. Breaking it down into 2 fillets was a bit of fun for an old ‘Butchers Boy’, but we got there in the end and totally boneless it was one of the best meals we’ve had for ages!

Ingredients:-

1 Monkfish Tail de-boned. It’s not a very complex fish to de-bone but ask you fishmonger if you’re not confident with a sharp knife
2 Anchovies, chopped
2 Sun-dried Tomatoes, chopped
2 Tsp of Capers, chopped
The Zest of a Lemon, and wedges to garnish
Slices of Parma Ham, to wrap
A handful of Flat Leak Parsley, finely chopped
1 Tbsp of Olive Oil
2 Tbsp of Balsam Vinegar
A selection of Vegetables of your choice to tray bake, including Vine Tomatoes
Rocket leaves to garnish
Salt & Pepper to season

Method:-

(1) In a bowl mix the Anchovies, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Capers, Parsley, Lemon Zest and season with Salt & Pepper.
(2) Slightly overlap slices of Parma Ham and spread this mixture down the middle. You are aiming to be able to wrap each fillet entirely.
(3) Add the Monkfish Fillet.
(4) Wrap tightly to enclose and seal.
(5) Place your vegetable and Vine Tomatoes in an oven tray, drizzle with Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar and season with Salt & Pepper.
(6) Roast in a preheated oven at 170c for 10 minutes.
(7) Remove from the oven and add the Monkfish parcels.
(8) Return to the oven for 15 minutes, or until the Fish is cooked through.
(9) Remove from the oven and set the Fish aside for a moment.
(10) Plate the vegetables and slice the Fish parcels diagonally.
(11) Place the Monkfish over the roasted vegetables and drizzle with a little of the remaining juices.

We garnished ours with Lemon wedges and Rocket. This was one of those meals which we didn’t want to end!

 

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