After going to bed at 2a.m., this morning was a slow start for the whole household. The last week of 2009 was marked by a cooking frenzy which included three types of bread so this mornings simple breakfast was based around the brioche bread I made. Peanut butter, Bon Maman 5 fruit conserve, a Clementine and a marzipan-stuff medjool date. The coffee is a Creme Caramel Cappuccino by Tassimo.

Brioche, peanut butter and jam

Today was one of those crystalline blue cold days which looks beautiful but feels perishing when standing outside. We braved the elements for a walk through some local woods and a chance for my man Alan to try his 500mm lens on some atmospheric shots of Glastonbury Tor in the winter mist.

To warm us up from our walk, I made Leek and Potato soup for lunch from the ham stock from yesterday’s joint. I skimmed the stock to remove the fat, added two chopped raw potatoes, three chopped leeks and simmered for about 20 minutes. I blended the soup until smooth, added a tablespoon of cream and served with a sprinkling of Stilton cheese and plenty of black pepper. I had mine with the remainder of the green olive tapenade foccacia I made yesterday.

Leek and Potato soup with Foccacia

This evening’s meal was a ‘bitsa’ meal, created from the remnants of our Christmas shop and using up all the vegetables lurking in the draws in the bottom of the fridge (I know, I’m really selling this….. ) My Vegetable Pasta bake was served with a spoonful of mini-chipolatas and hot sauce. The perfect combination! And, of course, enhanced by a glass of Blossom Hill Red.

Veg and Pasta Bake

Vegetable Pasta Bake

Ingredients

½ Tbsp Olive Oil
5 carrots finely chopped
2 sticks of celery, finely chopped
2 onions, finely chopped
1 pepper, chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
½ pint of milk
1 Tbsp corn flour mixed to a paste with ½ Tbsp of water
1 Tbsp Butter
200g of dry pasta shapes
75g of grated cheese (any type but we had Wensleydale)
20g of Breadcrumbs
2 sliced tomatoes

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add the carrots and celery and sauté for 5 minutes.
  2. Heat a large saucepan of salted water, and cook the pasta as instructed on the packet, but for 1 minute less than the minimum time. ( The pasta will continue to cook in the oven and this avoids it being soggy)
  3. Add the onions, garlic and peppers to the carrots and celery and continue to sauté for another 8 minutes
  4. Add the butter to the pan and coat the vegetables in it as it melts
  5. Add the milk and heat to a simmer. Add the corn flour and stir gently until slightly thickened
  6. Drain the pasta and stir it into the vegetable mixture, and coat with the sauce
  7. Sprinkle the top with the grated cheese and breadcrumbs, arrange the tomato slices on top and put in a hot oven for twenty minutes to brown and crisp.