Spaghetti with Saint Agur Blue Cheese & Hazelnuts

         

     Here I am again with a new recipe for you. I came up with this pasta sauce as we both are in love with pasta dishes, blue cheese & hazelnuts and believe us it is a match made in heaven. There are way too many blue cheese variations (this is a lie, there are never way too many cheeses) to choose from but for this particular dish we used Saint Agur Blue a French blue cheese from the province of Auvergne. This cheese is a very young one (aged only 2 months) and it has a super creamy texture due to the double cream content and also is less salty than other blue cheese. It's like a mild version of the more spicier and pungent Roquefort. Obviously, if you do not find Saint Agur Blue you can use Italian 'sweet' blue cheeses like Gorgonzola Dolce or Dolcelatte. 

         The other main ingredients for this dish are the superbly fragrant and nutty roasted hazelnuts. They add a crunchy texture to the velvety cheesy sauce. Hazelnuts are quick to roast, they only take about 12-13 minutes at 180°C/350°F. If you are roasting them yourself, always keep an eye whilst roasting as nuts can burn quickly due to their high oleic content. So give this a go and am quite sure you will love it and list it on your favourite pasta sauces!! For 2-3 hungry people you will need...

• 200g Spaghetti

For the sauce

• 100g (1 cup) Saint Agur blue cheese, crumbled
• 50g (1/3 cup) Roasted Hazelnuts, chopped/crushed
• 15g (1 tablespoon) Butter
• 15g (1 tablespoon) Plain flour 
• 230ml (1 cup) Whole milk
• 1 teaspoon honey
• Pinch grated nutmeg
• Pinch sea salt
• Pinch ground white pepper

To Garnish

• Whole hazelnuts
• Chopped parsley

How to...

1. In a small heavy based pan, make the roux (flour/butter mixture) by melting the butter then add the flour and with a balloon whisk stir until the roux turns golden. Add the milk, salt, white pepper and nutmeg and keeping stirring frequently until you get a thick bechamel like sauce. This takes about 10-15 minutes. 
2. Now lower the heat, stir in the honey and crumbled cheese and keep stirring until all the cheese has melted. In the meantime, cook the spaghetti al dente in plenty of salted boiling water.
3. Drain the spaghetti, add the sauce to the hot pasta and mix well until all the pasta is coated with the gorgeous creamy sauce.
4. Plate up and garnish with whole roasted hazelnuts and chopped parsley.
5. Serve hot.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Stuffat tal-Fenek - Maltese Style Rabbit Stew

Usually hailed as Malta's national dish, stewed rabbit is popular with most of the Maltese people, whether living on the tiny island or living all around the globe. Rabbits in Malta are famously bred for food and rabbit dishes are a staple in a traditional Maltese family. The most famous rabbit recipes are rabbit stew (Stuffat tal-fenek/fenkata - Stoo-ff-aht tahl- Fehneck/Fehn-kah-tah) and fried rabbit (Fenek moqli - Fehneck mohq-lee). Amanda's mum used to do a wonderful rabbit stew and Amanda used to love eating this so I made sure that during our last trip to the market, to get us a couple of wild rabbits. Around Maltese households, rabbit stew is also traditionally served ladled over some spaghetti. So, in this post I will tell you step by step how to prepare a traditional rabbit stew the Maltese way. It is very easy to prepare and you do not need a huge number of ingredients. For 4 hungry people you will need...

• 1 rabbit, cut up into pieces
• 5 medium potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 large onions, cut into large pieces
• 500ml (2 cups) tomato passata
• 1 heaped tablespoon tomato paste, dissolved into 250ml (1 cup) hot water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Handful frozen peas, defrosted
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• Vegetable oil

For the marinade

• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed
• 500ml (2 cups) good red wine
• Salt & pepper

To serve

• 400g spaghetti
• Grated Kefalotiri or Grana Padano cheese

How to...

1. Start by marinating the rabbit into the red wine, garlic and salt & pepper. Mix well by hand so as all of the meat is covered in marinade (add more wine if you want to). Put in the fridge to marinate for at least an hour.
2. Remove the rabbit pieces from the marinade and discard the marinade). In a large frying pan heat some vegetable oil and fry the rabbit pieces until slightly brown. 
3. Now transfer the rabbit pieces into a large pot and add the passata, tomato paste, potatoes, onion, sugar, salt & pepper. Give it a good stir and simmer on medium heat for about an hour or so, stirring occasionally.
4. Now add the peas and cook for another 10 minutes. If you are serving it with spaghetti now it is time to cook your spaghetti. Turn off the heat and let it rest for a while until the spaghetti are done. 
5. Plate up the spaghetti and ladle the rabbit stew on top.
6. Serve with grated Kefalotiri or Grana Padano cheese.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia - Spaghetti with Cuttlefish

Hello all, I know I have not blogged any recipes lately but I was quite busy working towards a career change! Oh yes...quite happy and excited about the new job starting in January but until then I have two weeks off and hopefully I will post some delicious recipes that we have prepared lately. One recipe that we made and loved is the classic Italian recipe Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia which basically is spaghetti in a black sauce!! Yes a black sauce which is the result of the addition of the cuttlefish's ink to the cuttlefish sauce. Try it out, if you have not got a fishmonger close-by, you can buy sachets of cuttlefish ink online...I do! They are very cheap as well. This pasta sauce is very fast and easy to prepare...just make sure that cuttlefish you are using is fresh. So for 2-3 people you will need...

• 200g spaghetti
• 600g cleaned cuttlefish (including tentacles), cut into small pieces
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 100ml (½ cup) white wine
• 2 sachets cuttlefish ink or 1 fresh cuttlefish ink sac
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tablespoon dried parsley)
• Extra virgin olive oil

How to...

1. Heat about 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil together with the garlic in a small pan. Cook until the garlic is aromatic and golden.
2. Now add the cuttlefish and parsley and stir well. Cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes. Increase the heat on high and add the wine and cook until the wine has evaporated (at this point you can cook the pasta and drain it). Reduce the heat to medium again and add the cuttlefish ink sachets. Stir well. If using the fresh cuttlefish ink sac, add the whole and break it carefully with a wooden spoon. Heat thoroughly.
3. Add the sauce to the pasta and serve with extra chopped parsley and extra virgin olive oil.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Stuffat tal-Qarnit - Maltese Octopus Stew

Well here is another classic from the Maltese islands which is one of Amanda's favourites...oh and mine as well!! Not everyone like octopus because of its rubbery texture but try and cook it this way and you will definitely love it. It is absolutely gorgeous served on some freshly cooked spaghetti (that is how this stew is usually served in Malta). Octopus in the Maltese islands is very common and is quite easily caught as they lurk around the rocky seashores of the islands. I remember going to the very famous Marsaxlokk market (do check it out if you ever visit Malta) on a Sunday morning and having a peek at these creatures that used to be still alive, crawling around the fish trays of the fishmonger. I also remember that every time we bought a huge octopus to cook at home, my mother used to put it in the kitchen sink with some salty water before cooking it and it was not the first time that we saw the octopus crawling out and attaching its tentacles to my mother's kitchen tiles. It was hilarious. Any way, do try this recipe as it is delicious. For 4-5 people you will need...

• 500g spaghetti
• 1 kilo octopus, cleaned and cut into bite size pieces
• 2 medium onions, roughly diced
• A handful of frozen peas, defrosted
• 6 small potatoes, cut in half or thirds
• 500ml tomato passata
• 250ml boiling water
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• A handful of green olives
• ½ cup red wine
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Salt & pepper, to taste

How to,,,

1. In a heavy based pot heat the oil and cook covered on medium heat until soft and transparent.
2. When onions are cooked add the octopus and increase the heat, cook for about 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally. Sometimes it releases a lot of water so make sure all the water is evaporated.
3. Add the wine and stir until all the wine has evaporated. 
4. Now add the passata, water, tomato paste, olives, potatoes, sugar and season well with salt and pepper. Stir well bring to the boil and simmer on medium heat for about 45 minutes stirring occasionally so it does not stick.
5. In the meantime cook the spaghetti al dente.
6. After 45 minutes, add the peas to the octopus sauce and simmer gently for another 15 minutes.
7. Drain the spaghetti. Serve in a bowl or plate and spoon some octopus stew/sauce on top.
8. Serve hot.

Enjoy!!

R&A