Tagliatelle with Meatballs

Here' s another classic which at first might sound difficult to prepare but is very easy and tasty.

Ingredients for 2

250g minced meat
1 spring fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 clove garlic chopped.
1 egg lightly beaten or breadcrumbs
plain flour for dusting
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion sliced
1 celery stick chopped
1 carrod chopped
1 spring small fresh rosemary chopped
350 ml passata
250g rigatoni
Parmesan cheese freshly grated
salt and pepper.

Method

Mix together the minced meat, parsley and garlic in a bowl, then stir in the egg and seaons with salt and pepper.

Shape the mixture into small meatballs, dust with flour and set aside. 

Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the onion, celery carrot and rosemary and cook over a low heat stirring occasionaly for 5 minutes, then add the meatballs and increase the head to medium.

Cook until the meatballs are lightly browned all over, then add teh passata and season.
reduce the heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for about 40 minutes.

Cook the rigatoni in a large pan of salted water until al dente, then drain and tip into the main with the meatballs. 

Mix well and heat through for 2 mintues. 

Serve with parmesan.

Jerusalem Arthichokes Soup

Ah!!! this is one of my favourites...Jerusalem Artichokes are so tasteful. If you never used them in your kitchen before, give them a try and if you did but not for a soup, you should really try this recipe out.

You will need the following ingredients

Serves 3-4

Jerusalem Artichokes

500g Jerusalem artichokes

1 onion, roughly chopped

4 celery sticks roughly chopped

2 carrots roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves

3 tbsp olive oil

1.2 litre vegetable or chicken stock

4 tbsp double (heavy cream)

salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat oven to 200C / 400 F.  Scrub the artichokes well and half them lengthways.

Toss the arthicokes, onion, celery, carrots and garlic together in a rosting tin.  Add the olive oil, mix well and spread the vegetables out in the pan.

Roast the vegetables in the hot oven for 30-40 minutes, until they are soft and golden brown.  Stir them once during cooking so that the edges brown evenly.

Tip the roasted vegetables into a larger pan, scraping any bits from the roasting pan.

Add the stock and bring to the boil.  Reduce the heat, cover and simmer the soup for 15 minutes.  Process or blend until smooth, then return the soup to the rinsed out pan.

Add the cream and reheat the soup gently, stirring to prevent it from sticking.  Do not boil.  Season to taste and serve seasoned with freshly ground black pepper.