One Pot Spaghetti Bolognese

Ingredients:
  • 2 x tbsp Olive oil
  • 2 1/2 cups beef broth
  • 1 x jar pasta sauce
  • 250g spaghetti noodles
  • 1 x medium diced onion
  • 500g ground beef, veal, turkey, or chicken
  • 1 x clove minced garlic
  • 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Directions:
  1. Heat up olive oil in deep saucepan over medium heat
  2. Brown beef and onion for about 10-minutes unless onion is transparent
  3. Add minced garlic and cook for one more minute
  4. Add beef broth and pasta sauce, stir through and bring to a boil
  5. Add the pasta noodles
  6. Cook until noodles are cooked
  7. Add parmesan cheese and stir through

Creamy Chicken and Tomato Pasta

Ingredients:
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 500g chicken breast cut into 1″ pieces
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 tbsp dried basil
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  • pepper
  • salt
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1 cup mozzarella cheese
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 250g spiral pasta
Directions:
  1. Cook pasta according to package instructions.
  2. Heat oil and sauté onion until tender, salt and pepper chicken pieces and add to the pan along with the garlic, cook until cooked through.
  3. Add can of diced tomatoes, including juice, to the onion and chicken an heat until bubbling. Add butter, milk, and cheese to the pan. After it has simmered for a while to reduce the sauce, add  the basil and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes.
  4. Add the cooked pasta to the chicken pan and stir to combine.
  5. Salt the dish just enough to bring out the flavour of the basil.

Cheese, Bacon and Chives Damper Recipe

Previously I have written up the damper recipe that I usually use. I’ve experimented a bit with that base recipe by adding different herbs to it, but this cheese, bacon and chives damper recipe by the Aussie Griller looks delicious.

Here is how to make it:

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups plain white flour
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 60g melted butter
  • 200ml milk
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Handful diced bacon
  • Handful shredded cheddar cheese
  • 2 tbs chopped chives

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 200C (400F)
  2. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl
  3. Kneed the dough to form a ball for about 5 – 8 minutes until it’s nice and firm
  4. Flatten the dough ball, brush on a bit of milk and dust it.
  5. Place in on a floured baking tray.
  6. Place it in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes.
  7. Enjoy!

Cheese, Bacon and Chives Damper Recipe

I can’t wait to try this one and I have subscribed to the Aussie Griller YouTube channel as well so that I can try out more of their great recipes.

How to Make the Perfect Omlette

I am a bit embarrassed to say I have always had a hard time making omelettes. Most of the time they would turn out more like scrambled eggs than an omelette. Lately though I have finally been successful in making a good omelette thanks to watching this video by Jamie Oliver

Since watching that I have finally been able to make a three egg omelette that actually looks and folds like an omelette. I add a bit of milk to my eggs, rather than doing straight eggs like Jamie Oliver does, and with the size of pan that I have three eggs seems to be the perfect amount for it to be easy to flip at the right moment.

My wife prefers the size of a a two egg omelette though, which is a bit trickier to flip as it is thinner by the time it is ready to flip, but so far they are turning out much better than they used to before I watched Jamie’s video.

Recipe for Calzone and Home Made Pizza Pops

Tonight we tried something a bit different and decided to make our own Pizza Pops.

The good thing about this recipe is that it is very easy to make and is a good meal to be made with the kids. My kids were all for it tonight, until their eight-week old brother was brought out for some play time. I very quickly lost my co-cooks.

So, back to the recipe…

Ingredients:

  • 2 x Packs of refrigerated pizza dough (I used Pillsbury pizza dough crust as it was on sale)
  • 1 x large grated carrot
  • 4 x slices of ham, cut into small pieces
  • 1 x small can pineapple chunks
  • 1 x cup grated cheese
  • 4 x tablespoons BBQ or pasta / pizza sauce

Instructions:

  • Preheat the oven to 400F (375F if convection)
  • Unroll the pizza crust dough on a floured surface and roll them flat
  • Cut each of the the pizza crust dough in half
  • Put 1/4 of each of the ingredients in each half of the cut pizza dough
  • Fold the four halves in half and press down on the three edges to seal the pockets
  • Place the four pizza pockets on a non-stick baking tray
  • Put the baking tray in the oven for 12 – 15 minutes, until the crust is baked

And that’s it. Only about 30-minutes from start to finish for this recipe.

Each pizza pocket feeds two kids or one adult. This recipe has very quickly become a new family favourite.

I think that next time I might try this recipe from Pillsbury.

Shepherd’s Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

  • Vegetable oil
  • 400 grams (1 pound) Ground Beef / Mince
  • 1 medium brown onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 4-cups mixed vegetables (I usually use 1 cup frozen corn and three cups of mixed frozen peas and carrots, but beans are also good)
  • Pinch of salt
  • Pinch of fresh ground pepper
  • 3 teaspoons dried thyme
  • 3 teaspoons dried rosemary
  • 4 large potatoes mashed (about 3-cups)
  • Grated cheddar cheese

Instructions:

Pre-heat the oven to 180C (350F).

Brown the beef and onion in a pan with the oil.

Add the garlic and mixed vegetables. Continue to stir the ingredients until the vegetables are tender.

Mix in the salt, pepper and other herbs and stir it all together.

Pour the mixture into a 6×9” casserole dish that’s been either sprayed with oil or buttered. Cover the mixture with the mashed potato and bake it until the edges are browned, which is about 30-minutes.

Optional:

My wife’s preference for this recipe is to cover the shepherd’s pie with cheese before baking. The cheese melts and browns during baking and tastes great.

The last time I made this recipe I poured some brown gravy over the Shepherd’s Pie before serving and it added a great richness to the meal. Next time I make this I will probably add the gravy again.