Rigatoni with Mushroom, Lemon, Parsley, Spinach and Prosciutto

Rigatoni with Mushroom, Lemon, Parsley, Spinach and Prosciutto












Tonights dinner was adapted from the pages of a Donna Hay magazine and for once it was tasty rather than just pretty. I added the prosciutto as the carnivore in me has problems with veg meals, they always seem incomplete. Everyone ate this with gusto.

Ingredients

• Rigatoni
• Mushrooms
• Garlic
• Parsley
• Lemon zest and juice
• Prosciutto
• Spinach

Method
Cook the pasta
Fry the prosciutto until crisp.
Chop 'shrooms and stick 'em in a baking tray with some unpeeled garlic, sprinkle with Olive oil and salt, roast in hot oven until tender. When done squeeze garlic out of skin and whack back in tray, along with the chopped parsley, lemon zest and broken up prosciutto, stir to combine. Then whack the whole lot in with the drained pasta and pour in the lemon juice and salt to taste. Serve with shaved parmeasan cheese.

Time to prepare: 30 minutes
Cost of ingredients: $25
Number of serves: 5
Recipe inspiration: July edition of Donna Hay magazine.

Lasagne with Spinach Salad and Poached Pear with Shiraz Sauce and Marscapone

Lasagne with Spinach Salad
Poached pear with Shiraz sauce and Marscapone


























I had the urge to make a lasagne today, it turned out pretty good. The three year declared, "The prosciutto (he pronounced it prosuita) makes it even yummier". So I must have done something right. The contrast of the luscious mince sauce and the salty, stringy texture of the prosciutto was great. The spinach salad with a standard lemon/olive oil dressing was tasty too, even if my wife insisted on using a prepared dressing instead. That aside, I'm firmly a convert to salting my salads now, it makes a noticable difference to the taste. I also made a desert for a change, and a very tasty one at that. Although the three year old, wouldn't have a bar of it.


Ingredients

Lasagna

• Mince Sauce
• Mozzarella
• Lasagna sheets
• Prosciutto

Mince Sauce

• Veal mince (supermarket, so I doubt it was veal)
• Pork mince
• Onions
• Garlic
• Tomatoes, tinned
• Tomato paste
• Carrot
• Salt
• Pepper
  

Lasagna sheets

• 'oo' strength flour
• Egg
  

Spinach Salad

• Spinach
• Cucumber
• Tomatoes
• Capsicum
• Lemon juice
• Olive oil
• Salt

Poached pears

• Beurre Bosc pears
• Shiraz
  
• Caster sugar
• Star Anise
• Shiraz sauce
• Marscapone

Shiraz sauce was just the poaching liquor reduced to syrup consistency.

Time to prepare: About 2 hours
Cost of ingredients: About $40
Number of serves: 8 (lasagna) 3 (pears)
Recipe inspiration: The lasagna needs no inspiration, the pears originally came from an issue of gourmet traveller.