Seafood rigatoni

Ingredients are: a bag of mussels, clams, prawns and squid (I didn't find any :( ), garlic, site wine, parsley, extra virgin olive oil, good quality passata. All seafood should be fresh bought from your local fishmonger.

Preparation:

Pour some water on to a pot with salt and leave it on the fire until it boils.

In the mean time, tip mussels and clams into the sink or a large bowl of cold water. Swish them around with your hands to wash them thoroughly. For each single mussel pull off the beards using the knife to help you if necessary – they just need a good tug. The beard is the brown wispy bit hanging out of the join in the shells. Not all mussels will have beards. take a look at the picture below if you are not sure.

Chop garlic and put into a large pot, add some olive oil, Set the pan over a medium heat for a minute.

Drain the seafood, add it to the big pot, add a little bit of white wine and  cover tightly with a lid.

Leave it cooking for 5 or 10, shaking the pan from time to time.

Seafood is cooked when all the shells are opened.

In the mean time put chopped garlic and olive oil in a pan, heat it for a minute and add peeled washed prawns. Leave it there for a minutes on medium heat and then add passata.

When clams and mussels are cooked open them one by one and tip in the pan. Leave it on low/medium fire until the end and stir it a few times.

When pasta is cooked drain it and drop it to the pan with cooked seafood. Heat it on medium fire for a minute stirring it.

Add some parsley and enjoy.

Prawns and Salmon pasta

This is a very easy and tasty recipe.
Ingridients for two people: fresh raw grey prawns, smoked salmon, double cream, penne pasta (100grams for each person or 110 if you like pasta ;) ), half of a onion, extravirgin olive oil.



Chop half of a onion and put it in a pan with extravirgin olive oil and heat it for a couple of minutes on medium/low fire.

Add prawns and sliced smoked salmon. Leave it cooking on medium fire just for 5 minutes until all prawns become pink. 
Add cream on leave it on low fire for a few moments (10/20 seconds).




On a big pot of boiling water drop pasta and let it cook for 8-10 minutes (look at the package instruction for minutes), when pasta is ready drain it and drop it to the pan.
Put the pan with pasta and seafood on a high fire for a minute and stir it gently.
You can add fine chopped parsley if you have got some to give it some colour.

Meal ready!

Cod fillet with lemon juice

This is a fresh low calories dish which can be eaten warm or kept in the fridge for the day after and be eaten cold.
It takes 10 minutes to prepare it, the most important ingridient is fish, it has to be fresh, that means it should be bought from a fishmonger or from the supermarket and cooked on the same day. I wouldn't recommend frozen fish.
The ingridients are: cod fillet or sole seafood, a carrot, half of an onion, one celery, salt, lemon, parsley.
Put some water in a pan with carrots, celery and half of a onion and heat it for 5 minutes on medium/ high fire.

Add cod seafood or sole seafood which I actually prefer for this dish. Keep them on a medium fire for 5 to 10 minutes.

With a draining spoon drain and put it on a plate and with a knife or a fork gently remove the skin.

Chop carrots and celery, add extra virgin olive oil, fine chopped parsley and lemon juice, with a little bit if salt.

Job done. ;)

Homemade pesto alla genovese with gnocchi

Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients pesto for 4 portions:

2 handful of basil leaves

1 bag of peanuts,

10 cashew nuts or pistachio (optional)

Parmesan cheese

Pecorino cheese (optional)

1/2 piece of garlic

A little bit of salt

Ingredients for gnocchi:

500 grams of gnocchi or pasta

Description:

This is a traditional recipe from Liguria in the north west of Italy. It's very popular in summer because of its fresh flavour, and it doesn't need to be cooked. The main ingredient is basil which grows in summer.

Before starting, put a full pot of water on the hob for gnocchi or pasta and it will boil by the time pesto is ready.

Method:

Add basil, peanuts, cashewnuts into the mixer.

Add parmesan and pecorino cheese all together in a mixer, a small piece of garlic and add a little bit of salt. 

Add cashewnuts (optional).

Done

Put everything in a small bowl and add a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil is the most important ingredient, the greater the quality the better.

Oil must cover completely the paste, while you pour it you have mix gently to remove any air. Pesto last in the fridge for two weeks. You can also put it in the freezer for a couple of months and you can use it with pasta or crostini or panini.

Method for pasta or gnocchi: 

Once pesto is ready put a full hand of salt in boiling water and drop gnocchi for 2-3 minutes until they float.

Drain gnocchi, prepare a plate with some pesto on it, add gnocchi and put some pesto on the top. Mix gently and enjoy!

Light dinner: Salmon, Eggs, Avocado

This is a light, healthy, and quick dish I cooked for dinner.
The main ingredients are smoked salmon, 2/3 eggs, 1 avocado, mushroom, lemon, parsley, extra virgin olive oil and salt.

Put some chopped garlic and extra virgin olive oil in a pan on a medium-low fire for 3/4 minutes.
In the mean time wash mushrooms, cut them in thin slices and put them in the pan. Let them cook for 15 minutes until they become darker and soft.

Boil eggs for 15 minutes and in the mean time slice avocado and put it on the top of salmon on a plate.

Squeeze a lemon on it, take some parsley and chop it, I usually do it in a glass with scissors.

When eggs are ready, let them cool down, I usually put them under cold water for a few minutes. Peel, slice them and let each slice fall on the plate on the top of avocado slices. 

Add some salt and parsley on the top of it. Leave some space on the plate for mushrooms.

Enjoy.