Penne Julie

This is named in honour of my big sister Julie, as I first made it on her birthday on April 10th last year.  We had been down to Yarrawonga, on the NSW/Victorian border to spend time with Phill who was working away down there.  One night the kids and I went to an Italian restaurant and I had this amazing pasta dish which they called Pasta Paglia.  When I Googled it "Paglia" was nothing like what I had eaten and I set about trying to recreate the recipe.  The restaurant would give me the basic ingredients but not the exact recipe, which is understandable, so this is really my own recipe.  I am still tweaking it but this is how I made it last night.

300g penne pasta

200g shortcut bacon, chopped

4 large button mushrooms, chopped

20g butter

4 cloves garlic, crushed (we love garlic, adjust to suit your taste)

1/3 cup dry white wine

good handful fresh basil, shredded

1 tin tomato puree

2/3 cup cream (I prefer Bulla Cooking Cream)

2 eschallots or 1 small onion, chopped

 

 

Cook bacon in a non stick frying pan for 3 to 4 minutes, it doesn't need to be crispy, add butter, then eschallots and garlic and cook for 2 minutes.  Add mushrooms and cook until softened, about 3-4 minutes, stirring.

Add wine and increase the heat till wine evaporates. 

Add tomato puree, bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer till the sauce thickens, season with salt and pepper, add cream and heat through, add basil and serve over cooked penne.

Top with grated parmigiano reggiano cheese.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serves 4.

Blueberry Muffins

Low fat, easy, healthy, these blueberry muffins can be whipped up in minutes for breakfast or to pack in the school lunch.

2 cups self raising flour
3/4 brown sugar
1 cup fresh blueberries (you could use frozen in a pinch but fresh is better)
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup olive oil

Coat a 12 hole muffin pan with cooking spray.  Preheat oven to 200c.

Sift flour and sugar into a large bowl.  Stir in the remaining ingredients until just combined, don't overmix or the muffins will be tough.

Bake for 15 minutes.

A nice touch which I didn't do with these muffins is to sprinkle some raw sugar over the uncooked muffins before baking.  Gives them a sweet crunch without adding too much extra sugar.