Rainy Weather = Comfort food = Pasta Bake

It's rainy and cold outside and whenever the season's change my appetite increase. I believe that I might have been a bear in my previous life and hibernation mode kicks in every winter.

Last night we went over to Football Engineer's house for some guru assistance in compiling a killer music compilation for my office.  After work I went home to whip up dinner so long, so it's easy to take to his house and we don't have to spend too much time in the kitchen and focus more on music, drinking wine & indulging in some play station games.

Ingredients:
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 onion finely chopped
fresh basil chopped
3 can's of whole Italian tomato
5ml of tomato paste
3 Zuchini's sliced
4 pieces of skinless chicken breasts
30g butter
2 chilli's chopped (optional)
1 pack of preferred pasta
Grated Parmesan Cheese

Boil pasta in boiling water until Al Dente, drain & put aside.

Fry garlic, onion and zucchini in butter until brown,  slice chicken breast into strips and fry in remainder of butter on a high heat to seal and brown.  Turn down heat and add your garlic, onion & zucchini mix, 3 tins of Italian tomato & 5ml of tomato paste.  Stir, turn down heat & simmer for 20 to 30 minutes till reduced. Add fresh chopped basil at the end, stir well.

Mix your pasta and sauce together and scoop into oven dish.  Top with grated Parmesan cheese (now this last step I only did at Football Engineers home) & grill in oven till cheese is crispy and brown.  Serve with a BIG glass of red wine.

Football Engineer opened a gorgeous bottle of  Rustenberg Syrah 2008. Beautiful marriage between this rich pasta dish and the smooth oak, old wooden barrel Shiraz.

A must try.

Cheers Y'all!

Plump!

Wine for thought:

Plump
A plump wine has low acidity but tastes full and rich due to lots of fruit flavors and glycerol. A plump wine is often delicious, though it may not age well due to its low acidity. When there's too little acidity, the wine is criticized for being flabby: as equally unattractive in wine as it is on thighs and underarms.

via Natalie Maclean

Well, interesting lesson for the day, but if you ask me I will rather just be oblivious to the last sentence ;-)  mmm, what to make for dinner?! 

I'm really loving this video of food  extraordinaire What Katie Ate. She's so adorable and I always LOVE seeing even just a glimpse of photographers behind the scenes! :)

La Video

Tasty Tuna Pie

What a delicous dish! Quick, Easy & perfect for a chilly rainy day.

Ingredients:

1 x Tin Tuna in brine (drained)
30 ml Butter
1 x Onion
4 slices of bread (crust removed)
2 large eggs
5 ml baking powder
250ml Milk
Fresh Basil finely chopped
Fresh Chili finely chopped
300 ml Grated Cheddar Cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste

Grate the onion, add butter & fry it in a saucepan. Break bread into small pieces and add to the onion, keep frying until the onion becomes golden brown.  Add mixture, but keep a 1/4 of the cheese  and baking powder aside. Mix all ingredients together and allow to simmer for 5 minutes over a low heat.  Add the baking powder, stir, take of heat & scoop mixture into a greased dish.  Top the pie with the remainder of cheese.  Bake in oven for 15 minutes & then grill until golden brown, serve with crispy green salad.  Enjoy!