Tagliatelle With Prawns, Bacon and Courgette...

Tagliatelle With Prawns, Bacon and Courgette

Yesterday there was a lonely courgette in the fridge and a bag of prawns defrosting on the counter. I was unsure of what to make for dinner, but bringing these two ingredients together seemed like a good plan. With plenty of pasta in the pantry, I was thinking along the lines of a big bowl of penne or linguine in a rich creamy sauce.

Looking for inspiration on the Internet I came across a fabulous site called Drizzle and Drip. Sam’s recipe for Chilli and Garlic Prawn Linguine with Bacon, Zucchini and Lemon caught my eye straight away. Of course I needed to pick up some bacon but as our local butchers has the best smoked bacon I have ever tasted, I was more then happy to make the journey. The fresh air made me even hungrier (I must confess one of their freshly made sausage rolls found it’s way into my belly).

I didn’t follow Sam’s recipe exactly but it still tasted great. This is a recipe I will make time and time again. It is light, refreshing and makes a nice change from the heavy cream sauces I tend to favour (butter, cream and cheese are the holy trinity of my sauce making).

What also appealed to me was the way the courgette / zucchini was prepared. I have grated it in pasta before but the long ribbons worked really well with the tagliatelle. I was also skeptical about adding the courgette ribbons to the pasta water toward the end of cooking fearing they would be extra watery and bland. They weren’t.

So here is my version of the recipe but please do check out Sam’s website, she has a wide range of yummy looking recipes I can’t wait to try.

Tagliatelle With Prawns, Bacon and Courgette (serves 2 with enough left over for a tasty lunch the next day)

Ingredients

350-400 grams of tagliatelle

225 grams of frozen king prawns

3 rashers of smoked streaky bacon (and one sausage roll to eat on the way home!)

1 medium sized courgette / zucchini

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 tsp of crushed chilli flakes

2 Tbsp of double cream

2 Tbsp of lemon zest

Juice of 1/2 a lemon (you might want to do this to taste)

3 Tbsp of chopped flat leaf parsley

Splash of olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste (I only salted the pasta water – the bacon is quite salty)

Directions

Cook the tagliatelle in salted water according to the directions on the pack (go for al dente)

Using a peeler, peel the courgette into ribbons

When the pasta is almost done, but not quite, add the courgette ribbons to the water and cook with the pasta for 1-2 minutes before draining

While the pasta is cooking cut the bacon rashers into small bite sized pieces and add to a pan

Cook the bacon through and then add the drained, frozen prawns and mix well so the prawns soak up some of the bacon fat

After 2-3 minutes when the prawns are heated through and the bacon is crispy, add the crushed garlic, 1/2 tsp of dried chilli flakes, lemon juice and zest

Mix everything together well before adding a splash of double cream and the chopped parsley

The pasta (and courgette) should be cooked and drained at this point

Simply add the pasta and courgette to the pan with the bacon and prawn mixture

Toss well and serve immediately

Enjoy!

A Very Trying Week But We’re Finally Feline Fine...

The past 10 days has been a very trying time for my husband and I. We noticed our beloved moggy Nutmeg was drinking much more water then usual. We also thought she was sleeping more then normal and wasn’t her usual busy body self.

I took her to the Vets where they did some tests and after a few days it was confirmed that she has diabetes. Over the next few days I brought her back for more tests and to be shown how to inject her with insulin. At this point I want to give a big shout out to the wonderful veterinarian who has made time for all my many questions, who has helped ease my worries and anxieties and who patiently showed me how to handle the medication. The vet visits are only just beginning as we need to get her stabilized but after 2 days on insulin she is already showing huge improvements.

Diabetes has affected many members of my family so although I wasn’t overly thrilled with the news about Nutmeg, I did take some comfort in the fact that it is something I know a bit about. I won’t lie and say that I didn’t cry or have moments of complete despair and fear, but once I calmed down and spoke to my mom and sister (who by the way has been successfully managing her diabetes for over 30 years), I felt much more positive. There are many great websites with lots of information on the subject of feline diabetes as well as supportive forums where you can go when it all gets a bit too overwhelming. At this point I would also like to thank the lovely Jules who has been working with me on this site, as soon as she heard about Nutmeg she sent me the following link to this very helpful website. Another site I found has a great forum and I have been getting some good pointers there.

It is still early days with Nutmeg but I am feeling much more hopeful about things. She is such a special little girl and we immediately fell in love with her the moment our local Cats Protection League brought her into our lives. Not a day goes by that I don’t thank the Universe for sending her our way. If you notice your animal companion acting strangely then please don’t wait – go the vets immediately.

Things to look out for are:

• Excessive thirst.
• Excessive urination. They may urinate outside of their litter box.
• Weight loss. Going off their food.
• Extreme lethargy.
• Eating more than normal.
• Any behaviour that seems out of character.

Well during this time I must confess that cooking and eating were not really top of my list of priorities. This was a mistake as by not eating properly I wasn’t able to handle stress effectively. I know that in order to properly care for Nutmeg I need to properly look after myself. Tonight was the first night we actually felt like eating a meal. We hadn’t been shopping for ages so the cupboards and fridge were pretty barren.

Fortunately we had some turkey mince in the freezer which I defrosted. I then put it in a pot with a few other ingredients I found and made a very warming and comforting chilli. In honour of everything we have been through these past few days I have called this recipe Luna’s Finally Feline Fine Chilli. So here it is:

Luna’s Finally Feline Fine Chilli

Ingredients

1 package of turkey mince (500 grams)
½ Spanish onion chopped finely
1 drizzle of maple syrup.
2 Tablespoons of olive oil.
4 cloves of garlic.
1 pinch of salt.
½ teaspoon of oregano.
½ teaspoon of thyme.
½ teaspoon of chilli flakes.
1 pinch of Nutmeg (the spice not the moggy!)
1 ½ cups of vegetable stock.
1 can organic plum tomatoes.
1 can organic cannellini beans, rinsed.
Parmesan cheese.

Directions

Sautee the chopped up onion in olive oil and maple syrup, until soft and translucent.

Add the turkey mince and mix in with the onions until the mince is completely cooked.

Add the garlic. You can mince the cloves but I like to chop them in chunkier pieces. You also don’t have to use as many cloves but as we were feeling run down we thought we would give ourselves a boost of garlic power!

Once garlic is mixed in add the herbs, salt and pinch of nutmeg. Mix well.

Add the vegetable stock and allow it to simmer for 15 minutes.

Then add the can of tomatoes and mix in well, adding the beans at the end.

Allow everything to simmer and stir occasionally. I let mine bubble away for 45 minutes.

Grate some parmesan cheese over top.

Serve with steamed rice or crusty bread and enjoy!

Luna's Finally Feline Fine Chilli

A little pinch of Nutmeg.

I also just wanted to say that if you are considering welcoming an animal companion into your home please do think about adopting from a local shelter.