As I am getting busier and busier, I realize that I don’t really have time to try and make fancy or complicated dishes like I used to before. I started to make random dishes from random ingredients out of my fridge, and some of them taste really good but only take minutes to make or prepare. To keep up with my blogging habit and allow myself to have regular posting schedule, I will be posting all of them here (of course the good ones!!!). This is a series of quick recipes what I have been creating and making daily since forever. I am still able to make up a good dinner in a short period of time with very simple ingredients by making one or more simple dishes and put them together. If I can do it, I believe you can too! Now let’s start…
FETTUCCINE WITH MINCED LAMB AND KALE
Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins
Servings: 1 person
Ingredients:
– 2 balls freshly made fettuccine (or dried)
– 1 fistful of minced lamb (1/4 cup)
– 2 strips of apple wood smoked bacon
– 1tbcp minced garlic
– 2 stalks of rosemary (1 tbsp dried)
– 2 tbsp Vodka
– 1/2 cup crushed tomato (1/2 tomato diced and crushed)
– 4 stalks of kale
– Grate Parmesan cheese
Process:
– Prepare boiling water and cook the fettuccine until almost cooked (al dente)
– Slice the bacon into small pieces
Crush and mince garlic; Finely chop fresh rosemary
Wash the kale thoroughly and finely slice up
– In a medium heat pan, fry the bacon pieces until crispy; take them out a let them rest for a bit
With the bacon fat, add the minced garlic and rosemary and stir until fragrant
Add minced lamb and stir fry until brown and crispy
Add in vodka and stir fry until the alcohol evaporates (1 min)
Add in the crushed tomato, and kale, and bacon. Cook until the kale welts and softens. Season with a bit of salt
Add in the fettuccine and stir to mix
Serve hot, with Parmesan cheese on top
Notes:
– Really if you find lamb a bit odd in your kitchen, then use any kind of minced meat you can see in your freezer. Just defrost and start cooking
– Vodka: admit it!!! You always have it somewhere in your house!!!!! Vodka and rosemary will enhance the flavor of the lamb and also eliminate the strong smell of lamb
– Tomato: You can always stock up some canned whole or diced tomatoes for quick use. Please DO NOT use tomato paste unless you don’t have any other. AND make sure when you buy tomato paste, look out for Calcium Chloride. This is not a good ingredient to have in tomato paste. It is not that it’s toxic but it gives your paste a bland and sour taste that is really hard to season later. Also Calcium Chloride is usually added to give the tomato paste the thick texture which we don’t really need
– If the bacon gives out too much fat, make sure you keep only 2 tbsp back in the pan and just pur the rest out. Bacon fat is also good to add flavour to the dish so do not discard them. Also fat softens the vegetables wayyyyy better than oil
– I don’t use much salt for this recipe because the Parmesan at the end will add saltiness and creaminess to it
BON APPETIT
