I think this would be a quite hearty meal. The polenta would be quite filling and the mushroom sauce has half a can of chickpeas in it – so not a lightweight dish. It’s gluten free and if you substitute vegetable stock for the beef stock in the sauce, it could work for vegetarians as well.
Meatballs and pasta are a great combination and this is one of those recipes you can prepare beforehand. With a cooking time of only around 40 minutes you can put in the oven when the family or friends are almost ready to eat.
If your family groans at the idea of heavy plum pudding after a large Christmas lunch, this might work for you. It’s easy to prepare, you can use any fruit that you like, you can make it alcoholic or non-alcoholic and prepare it in advance. Served with ice cream, custard or cream it’s a great alternative.
You might have to go to a specialty pasta store to get these large shells, I don’t think they’re readily available at my local supermarket, but it would probably be worth the trouble. Smaller noodles would work, but the large ones look terrific and set the dish above the average pasta bake.
I’ve never been very good at making toffee, but thankfully this peanut brittle looks a little easier, especially if you have a candy thermometer. I can remember dropping lots of trial drops of toffee onto a saucer of cold water, just hoping that it was finally done. A thermometer would be sooooo much easier.
I had coconut prawns at a restaurant recently and it reminded me just how good they are. That sent me looking to see if I had a recipe in my collection and unsurprisingly I found this 1990s version, which even comes with a tangy mango sauce. So now I have no excuse not to make them myself.
There’s nothing very complicated about this salad, but the combination of sundried tomatoes, spinach, pasta and pine nuts works really well. It looks good and tastes even better.
These are great, either served as a biscuit with coffee or as an addition to a dessert like chocolate mousse.
I love scallops, but cooking them can be a bit tricky. If you’re pan frying them you need to cook them just before eating and you need to make sure they’re not overcooked. Not everyone will like this recipe as between the marinade and the bacon the scallop flavour is altered, but it does make cooking them easier and appealing to serve with drinks.
This is a great recipe for using up leftover pasta. A good combination of vegetables, pasta, cheese and ham. A terrific easy weekend meal.
Beb's Recipe Drawer 