Creamy Blue cheese and Red onion Pasta (with a Quercy Twist)

This is a dish I have developed from various recipes that I've tried, but the addition of walnuts give it more of a local South West France feel. Once you've prepared your onions it's a very quick and easy supper dish.

Ingredients for 4 people

400 gms of penne pasta (or any pasta you like)
150 gms of crumbled gorgonzola or similar mild blue cheese
3 large red onions
6 tbsp of olive oil
2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
A good handful of roughly chopped flat leaf parsley
About 70 gms of toasted chopped walnuts
Salt & ground black pepper to taste

Method

First prepare the red onions which will go into the sauce for the dish. Peel and slice them into rings about 1 cm thick. Toss them into a roasting tin with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar, add a sprinkling of salt and ground pepper then roast at 190 degrees centigrade
for 30-40 minutes. Give the tin an occasional shake during the cooking to make sure the onions cook evenly. They should be tender but slightly caramelised when ready.

Cook the pasta as per the instructions on the packet. Drain and return to the pan, with a little of the cooking liquid retained.

Add the crumbled blue cheese, onions with all their juices, walnuts and chopped parsley.

Stir quickly and serve immediately.

Le Cake

Here’s a wonderful savoury ‘apero’ snack often referred to in France as ‘Le Cake’. During our “Draw it, paint it, cook it, eat it” weekend this proved to be a huge success particularly when consumed with a sparkling kir!

Ingredients

200g plain flour
150g grated Comté cheese (Cheddar works fine too)
100g melted butter
150g Lardons (smoked or unsmoked)
50g chopped pitted black olives
3 large eggs
7g sachet of quick action dry yeast
A few sprigs of thyme & rosemary, stripped & chopped
Salt & pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of milk

Butter & line a 2lb loaf tin & preheat your oven to 200°c /gas mark 6.

Mix the cheese, flour, yeast, lardons, olives, herbs all into the melted butter. Then add the whisked eggs & milk plus a little salt & pepper.

Mix well and pour into the prepared tin. Bake in the oven for 10 mins at 200° then turn down to 180° and cook for a further 20 minutes or until risen and browned.

Don’t worry if there is a little bubbling butter on the top at this stage because it should be absorbed during cooling.

Leave in the tin on a wire rack to cool for about 20 minutes, then turn out and eat warm.

It's also very tasty cold and keeps for a few days.

Zingy, crunchy Flapjacks

Ingredients

180g unsalted butter

180g dark brown soft sugar

160g golden syrup

1 x tbs of black treacle

340g porridge oats

250g chopped walnuts

Grated zest of 1 large orange

1 x tsp powdered ginger

Method

Melt the butter in a saucepan then add the golden syrup, treacle and sugar.

When the sugar is completely dissolved in the butter remove the pan from the heat and stir in the porridge oats, chopped walnuts, ginger powder and grated zest of orange.

Line a 20 cm square greased baking tin with greaseproof paper.

Pour the mixture into the tin, squashing down evenly.

Bake in a preheated oven 150° c for 30-40 minutes until firm to the touch but don’t let it go too hard.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool for about 10-15 minutes.

Take out of the tin and cut into squares – it’s easier to do this before it gets too cold.

As an alternative to the walnuts I sometimes use chopped up dried apricots which give you a chewier version.

Stuffed mushrooms with walnuts, goats cheese & bacon

This makes a lovely starter for 6 people:

Ingredients

12 x medium sized mushrooms (about 6cm diameter)

2 tbs cooking oil (don’t waste olive oil)
1 stick finely chopped celery
1 finely chopped red onion
100g bacon lardons – I use smoked ones

150g soft goats cheese
About 10 chopped walnut halves
Salt & pepper to taste

Method

Remove the stalks from the mushrooms and reserve to use for another day/dish – I use the chestnut brown ones which I buy in our local market, but any good sized mushrooms will be fine

Gently sauté either side of the mushrooms in a non stick pan using a tablespoon of hot oil. Cook for a few minutes to soften slightly then place them open side up in a greased ovenproof dish ready for stuffing.

Sauté the celery and onion in the rest of the oil until soft then add bacon & walnuts and continue cooking for about 5 minutes until the bacon is cooked.

Take off the heat and leave for a few minutes to cool a little before putting all of this mixture into a blender along with the soft goat’s cheese. Blitz the mixture to make a rough paste which you can use to stuff the mushrooms, adding salt & pepper to taste – you probably won’t need much salt if you have used smoked bacon.

Place the stuffed mushrooms in a preheated oven (180° C) for half an hour.

Serve two mushrooms per person with a few sprigs of water cress or mixed salad leaves of your choice and drizzle with a simple vinaigrette dressing.

Didn't have any pictures of mushrooms so thought as it's Valentine's day this "heart" jug would be appropriate.