Yesterday I went to the official launch of MFEST which is a family festival taking place this July at Harewood House near Leeds and promises to be a ‘Feast of British Music and Food’. I’ll let you know more about MFEST in a later post as it really does sound like a great family weekend but for today, I just wanted to share this with you:
It’s a signed copy of one of Aldo Zilli’s cookbooks, signed by the man himself after the surprise cooking masterclass we got from him. He showed us how to make Spaghetti Carbonara without using cream and I can honestly say that it was one of the most delicious meals I’ve ever tried as well as being (or looking) quick and simple to make.
It’s also a much healthier version of the dish because it doesn’t use cream which means that it’s very easy to adapt to the Slimming World diet that I’m following at the moment (16lbs down so far).
Saturday – Spaghetti Carbonara, I’m going to use ham though instead of pancetta as I have a gammon joint in the slow cooker so I might as well use that rather than buying pancetta.
Sunday – Toad in the Hole (by special request of Miss Frugal) with mash and roasted vegetables.
Monday – Christine’s Baked Bean Curry, using her recipe published on Thinly Spread.
Tuesday – Cod wrapped in bacon with boiled potatoes and HM parsley sauce.
Wednesday – HM burgers with sweet potato wedges and salad.
Thursday – Sausage and bean casserole with mash.
Friday – Out for tea.
Aldo Zilli’s Spaghetti Carbonara (serves 4)
- 400 g spaghetti
- 1 banana shallot, chopped
- 100 g pancetta, diced
- 8 egg yolks
- 100 g parmesan, finely grated
- a pinch of grated nutmeg
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- In one pan, add the spaghetti to some boiling salted water.
- In another pan heat some olive oil and cook the shallot and pancetta over a medium heat for about 10 minutes.
- In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the parmesan cheese, the nutmeg, some black pepper and the chopped parsley.
- Drain the pasta, reserving a ladleful of the cooking water, and add to the pancetta in the frying pan with enough cooking water to moisten.
- Add the pasta mixture into the cheesy beaten eggs and mix everything together. The heat from the pasta will cook the egg mixture.
- Serve straight away with a sprinkling of black pepper and extra parmesan shavings.
For more meal plans pop over to At home with Mrs M
You going to MFest this weekend? Got some tickets lined up half price on Harrogate's mumblers – but have 3 kids – aged 6 months, 1.5 yrs and 3.5. Not sure whether I have to pay for the baby….anyone know? I'll phone them up and find out and post back here
These are great line ups of a healthy meal for one family, a perfect balance diet, I am just wondering what is the ingredient of Toad in hole? can you please tell me, cause I am curious about this.
baby eagle
Toad in the hole is Yorkshire Pudding batter poured over sausages and cooked x x
Fish and bacon? Does it combine nicely? I'm a vegetarian so can't imagine it.
I thought that too but I saw a similar (much more complicated) recipe in the cook book and asked on Twitter what everyone else thought and apparently it's a really good combination – it tasted delicious x
I like the sound of the toad in the hole.
Today I am going to cook fish pie.
Hope it was nice x
8 egg yolks! Blimey I only use about 2 when I do it, bet it's lovely and creamy! That's one of madam's favourites at the moment, although she makes me do it with cream, cheese and a bit of chopped up turkey or ham (take about a minute to make though so I can't complain!). You really need to tell me how to cook a gammon joint in the slow cooker! I used mine for the first time yesterday but that was to make a stew, it was delicious though – so glad you tempted me into buying one!
Well done on the 16lb weight loss that's brilliant! You'll have to remind me I'm supposed to be dieting as I can't stop eating cake and chocolate!
Do you think 8's too many? It feels like such a waste to throw all the egg whites away but I never got around to doing anything with them. I might try half next time although Aldo's version was quite possibly the nicest thing I've ever eaten.
I just put the gammon in the slow cooker and add a cup of water to the cooker, I leave it all day and it's delicious. I tried the coca cola version last week where you add a can of coke (full fat) to the cooker instead of water and it was delicious not nearly as weird as it sounds.
x x x