Today I decided to start this blog as I am working from home due to my daughter not being well enough to go to School... quite relaxing at a busy time of year...
Lunch time arrived and she came to me saying ‘what’s for Lunch!!’ One of her favorite sentences after ‘What's for dinner!’
Being a chef and a catering manager does not always give me time to cook at home and my daughter is not the easiest one to feed which feels like a rebellion from my culture and my work...
As a French mum it is hard to satisfy her as she called herself a vegetarian who eats only the meat she wants and no fish at all!!
She does not enjoy French food or going to French restaurants at all... So lately we have been cooking together and creating recipes...
She is really keen for me to start a cooking club with her friends so that she can try new flavours and we beginning the long journey to developing her pallet...
Easy Gourmet is already starting to give some cookery classes to young children at The Tab Centre. We will be opening different evening and afternoon workshops in the Shoreditch area including Mums, Dads and Kid’s cooking for fun and healthy eating which will start in January.
So here we are... Today's lunch and first recipe of our book, a quick and healthy menu
Fresh spaghetti and mediterranean spinach
Serves 4-6
Cooking time 15MN
Ingredients
500g of fresh spaghetti
3 crushed garlic cloves
1.5 tea spoons of cumin seeds
175 g of Silken Tofu chopped into pieces
Fresh Nutmeg (to be grated on top)
1 ½ teaspoons of ground almond
3 ripe tomatoes chopped into wedges
250g of spinach –
3 tablespoons of Pesto (make your own or buy readymade)
a handful of fresh basil (reserved leaves to decorate your plate)
1 tea spoon grated lemon zest
Olive oil
Method
Cook the spaghetti in a large pan of boiling, salted water and a few drops of olive oil and simmer for about 2 minutes for aldente pasta, drain thoroughly and reserve for the end of the cooking.
In a large frying pan or wok heat up the olive oil, add the garlic and cumin seeds and fry them gently. Add the spinach but be careful not to overcook it. Add the tofu and stir well. Incorporate the tomato, grind the nutmeg (grind the nuts on top of the dish but not too much). Stir in the spaghetti; add the pesto, chopped fresh basil and the ground almonds. Gently mix all the ingredients and your meal is ready to eat...
Present your spaghetti nicely with some tomato wedges and basil leaves on the top. Drizzle a touch of pesto and serve.
Bon appétit!
Try it at home and your comments will be very welcome... We love it!!
