Summer Pasta

Everyone likes pasta don't they?  Ok, maybe not everyone, but I think most people do and certainly I have never met a child that won't eat pasta.
The thing is it can get a bit repetitive, so this a a nice light summer alternative to the basic tomato pasta that most children seem to eat by the truck load!

Ingredients:

• Spaghetti for 4 people
• 1 courgette
• 1 lemon (juice and zest)
• 1-2 cloves garlic crushed or chopped
• 300ml Single cream

Method:

• Put spaghetti on to boil in a large pan
• Grate the courgette and add to a frying pan with the crushed garlic and the zest of half a lemon.
• Heat the courgette, garlic & lemon gently being careful not to let the garlic burn.
• Once the pasta is almost cooked, add the cream to the courgette and stir in well. add the juice of half a lemon stir well again and leave on a low heat.
• Drain the pasta and add to the cream & courgette and toss gently until the pasta is well coated in sauce.
• Serve into bowls and garnish with zest from the other half of the lemon.

This is perfect on a warm summer day with fresh bread and extra virgin olive oil in a dipping bowl and a chilled glass of crisp white wine.

Pizza

Everyone likes pizza right?  Ok, well in our house they do - but there is something about shop bought pizza that I just don't like, so I started to make my own and I'll tell you, it doesn't last long that's for sure!

You can have so many different topping combinations that you wouldn't find in the shops too - which is always fun!
Here are a few pics of the more popular ones in our house:

Mozarella, fried red onion, pineapple and sweetcorn

Mozarella, scottish cheddar, tomato & black pepper

Mozarella & white cheddar

One of my personal favourites:

Mozerrella, tomato & fresh basil

Pepperoni, pepperoni and ham, tuna and sweetcorn, haggis, hot dog, chargrilled veggies, sweet chilli chicken and several others are also popular here, however they tend to get demolished before pictures can be taken!!

It really is a free reign - you can put anything on a pizza - in any combination. I generally use tomato pasatta or strained tinned tomatoes as a base mixed with some dried oregano, but BBQ sauce is fantastic - I love bbq sauce with sweetcorn, pineapple and fried red onion.

Regge Regge sauce is also a fantastic base sauce as an alternative to tomato or BBQ.

The possibilities are endless and you can make a pizza in any shape - I usually make a round and a rectangle for one meal, it just so happens I tentd to take pictures of the rectangle ones!

It's also fabulously easy for the kids to join in and make their own pizzas - all you have to do is make the dough and then put several different toppings on bowls on the table and let them do the rest!

Ingredients: For the dough

•  500g strong white  '00' flour
• 1 packet dried yeast
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Aprox 300ml warm water
• 1/2 tsp salt

Ingredients: For the topping

• 1 carton tomato pasatta or 2-3 tins of tomatoes strained OR BBQ sauce OR Regge Regge sauce
• Dried oregano to taste (I only use this in the tomato/pasatta sauce)
• Your choice of toppings - as much or as little as you like

Method:

• Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl
• Add the water and oil
• Mix together well, but don't over work the dough
• Tip onto a well floured surface
• Knead for 10 mins or until the dough is nice and smooth
• Lightly cover the dough with oil and place back into the bowl.
• Cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place for an hour to rise
• After an hour tip the dough onto a well floured surface and spread by hand or carefully using a rolling pin to desired shape and size
• Add your chosen sauce base and top the dough
• Place in a very hot oven (Gas 9) for 5-10 minutes until the dough is almost cooked*
• Remove from oven and add toppings**
• Return to oven and leave until the cheese has melted
• Serve with salad, chips wedges or pasta

*/** combine these two stages if letting kids make this. Just top the raw dough with sauce and add the toppings then put in the oven until the dough looks cooked and the cheese has melted.