Recipes: Pasta perfection
Quick chicken & veg cannelloni (see above)
• Ready in 40 minutes• Serves 4
Ingredients
1 tbsp oil
350g mini breast fillets, halved lengthways
1 red pepper, sliced
1 onion, sliced
350g Tomato and basil pasta sauce
8 fresh lasagne sheets
25g Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200˚C, gas mark 6. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken, pepper and onion for 7-8 minutes, add 2 tbsp of the tomato and basil sauce with 2 tbsp water and cook for 1 minute.
2. Divide between the 8 lasagne sheets, roll up and place in an ovenproof serving dish.
3. Mix 3 tbsp water into the remaining tomato and basil sauce and spoon over the cannelloni, sprinkle with the cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.
Seafood Pasta with Roasted Garlic Butter
Use frozen scallops and prawns to make this quick and easy dish that's ideal for a midweek supper.
• Preparation time:5 minutes
• Cooking time:10 minutes
• Serves: 4
Ingredients
• 300g dried spaghetti
• 75g Markus Somerset Butter with Roasted Spanish Garlic
• 1 bunch salad onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 200g scallops
• 200g king prawns
• ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
• 20g pack fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Method
1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the spaghetti and cook for 8-10 minutes until just cooked.
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium frying pan, add the sliced salad onions and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the scallops and prawns, and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until just cooked and piping hot.
3. Drain the spaghetti then tip it over the scallops, prawns and the buttery juice. Mix well and season with cracked black pepper. Sprinkle the chilli flakes on top and garnish with the fresh parsley. Serve with warmed focaccia bread to mop up the juices.
Cook's tips
The scallops and prawns can be cooked straight from frozen: increase the cooking time to 5½-6 minutes and make sure they are cooked through before serving. Try other seafood with this recipe, such as a 400g pack frozen Waitrose Fruits de Mer.
Drinks recommendation
A high quality rosé, from the South of France will go well with this dish.
Heston's crab and cod lasagne
What could be more romantic than an Italian dish on Valentine's Day? In Italy, lasagne often includes all sorts of ingredients other than ground beef. So surprise a loved one with this beautifully light and flavoursome version made with crab and cod. Heston
• Preparation time:30 minutes
• Cooking time:25 minutes
• Serves: 2
Ingredients
For the tomato sauce
650g fresh vine tomatoes, de-seeded and chopped (reserving the juices)
1 bouquet garni
690g bottle passata sauce
2 drops Tabasco
6g Worcestershire Sauce Salt and black pepper
For the crab filling
500g vegetable stock
115g cod fillet
200g cooked white crab meat, checked for bits of shell
For the white sauce
Grapeseed oil
130g shallots, peeled and finely sliced
½ clove garlic
¼ tsp fennel seeds
1 bay leaf
100g white wine
Reserved cooking liquid from above
50g whipping cream
50g whole milk
10g cornflour
Salt and pepper
Grated nutmeg to taste
6 sheets fresh pasta lasagne
30g Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
3 basil leaves
2 tarragon leaves
Method
1. Start by making the tomato sauce. In a large pan on a medium heat, cook the fresh tomato and juices with the bouquet garni for 10-15 minutes until soft and broken down, add the passata and cook for a further 20 minutes until the mixture has thickened and reduced by half, approximately, remove the bouquet garni. Using a hand blender, blitz the mixture until smooth, add the Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce, then season.
2. For the crab filling, place the vegetable stock in a saucepan over a medium heat and allow to come to 50°C. Place the fish in the warmed stock and allow to stand for approximately 15 minutes or until cooked through. Remove the fish from the liquid using a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper, reserve this liquid for later use in the sauce. When cooled, flake the fish with a fork and mix with the cooked white crab meat. Place in a covered bowl in the fridge.
3. For the white sauce, heat a thin layer of oil in a saucepan over a medium heat and sweat the shallots, garlic, fennel seeds and bay leaf for 10 minutes. Add the wine, increase the heat to high and allow the liquid to reduce in volume by two thirds. Add the reserved cooking stock from the fish and reduce by half, strain through a fine sieve discarding the shallots, garlic and aromatics. Return the liquid to the pan and add the whipping cream and milk. Place over a medium heat and when the liquid is warm, add the cornflour blended with a little cold water and whisk over the heat until the sauce thickens, approximately 5 minutes. Season with salt, freshly ground white pepper and nutmeg to taste.
4. Assemble the lasagne, preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Pour a thin layer of tomato sauce into the base of a square oven proof baking dish, approximately 24cm, followed by a layer of lasagne sheets followed by a thin layer of the tomato sauce, white sauce and half the crab and cod mixture. Sprinkle over some of the freshly chopped herbs and cheese. Place another layer of lasagne sheets on top and repeat the same layers starting with the tomato sauce. Repeat with the remaining ingredients, finishing up with a layer of white sauce and grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
5. Place the lasagne in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until the edges begin to bubble, just before serving, sprinkle any leftover herbs on top, if you like.
Discover more recipes form Heston Blumenthal at Waitrose.com