Spicy Chorizo and Olive Pasta

Don't you just love it when a recipe comes together and it seems to take no effort at all? I had a picture in my head and I created it. This recipe came about because I was trying to use up random ingredients in my fridge such as half packets of used pasta, half tins of tomatoes, one or two fresh tomatoes etc.

Tuna, Spinach & Tomato Pasta

When I moved out of the house, my mother bought me one of those Ina Paarman Mini Cookbook's. I tried out literally every recipe in the book and one of my very favourites was her Tuna and Tomato Tagliatelle with Rocket. I've made the recipe a thousand times since then, but I have changed the recipe a little bit every time I've cooked it.

Looking back now, my version of this pasta is far from the original Ina Paarman recipe I started with. The rocket has been replaced with spinach (and lots of it) and I make my own tomato-based sauce instead of purchasing the bottled kind. I also like to add cherry tomatoes to get some chunky bits to the pasta sauce and one day I discovered that its even better when I take the time to pre-grill them in the oven with a splash of balsamic vinegar.

Trinchado

I love a good Trinchado. We used to go to the Portuguese Festival (Lusito Land) every year and the first thing I would do when we arrived, was sniff out a big fat bowl of steaming Trinchado and a crunchy roll to dip in that delicious sauce. It is no surprise then that Trinchado was one of the first things I taught myself to cook. I remember going onto the internet and looking over about 4 or 5 Trinchado recipes and looking at what ingredients all the recipes had in common and then I just made it up as i went along.

I've made Trinchado so many times since then and every time the recipe changes because I keep tasting the sauce and adding ingredients depending on my mood. I'm pretty sure I've completely deviated from what a traditional Trinchado should be but frankly my Trinchado is the shizz (amazingly delicious) and traditional or not it has become the best Trinchado on the planet in my opinion (modesty and all that).

Cheesy Baked Seafood Curry

On Tuesday evening I went for dinner with some of my girlfriends at an Italian restaurant. One of the girls told me that I "have to try the baked calamari." The menu read as follows: "Oven Baked Calamari (Cheese Optional)". In my mind I envisioned this scrumptious lasagne style dish filled with saucy calamari covered in deliciously-melted oozy cheese, what arrived was a white dinner plate with calamari tubes in sauce. Eventhough it was very nice and had good flavour I was disappointed because it was nothing like I had imagined. So yesterday I decided to try to conjure up what I had imagined when I read the menu.

Cashew Nut StirFry

A good Thai Curry is definitely one of my all-time favourite meals. I also love a good stirfry full of different brightly coloured vegetables. Meatless Monday had me on my toes again and I was running low on ideas so  what started off as a good old stir-fry (but looking a bit dull) soon got doused in some Thai curry flavours and became something very unusual but totally delicious. This recipe could be a bit time consuming with all the batch cooking but the end result is definitely worth it. Prawns or Chicken could be added in place of the Cashews.

Saucy Strips and Veg!

Nando's has a meal on their menu that rocks my world, namely: Strips and Rice! Recently they have come out with a strips, veg and rice that is also so delicious. Inspired by this, I conjured up my own strips, veg and rice and it was deeeeeeelish. The whole recipe from start to finish probably takes half an hour so it makes a nice week-night meal.

Oven Baked Kingklip

I often find myself faced with the scenario where I need to quickly use up groceries in my fridge before they get old or expire. Its at these times that some of my best recipes are born because I find myself throwing random food items together. This recipe is easy, simple and delicious: perfect for a lazy weeknight dinner.

Best Ever Seafood Pizza

On Sunday I was on a mission to attempt making a Vegetarian Pizza when Brendan asked me to try making him a Marinara one instead (his snack hunting eye had spied some seafood going in my freezer). I agreed to the challenge and although I hate to admit it, whereas my veggie pizza was yummy his seafood pizza was amazingly divine and won its spot on my blog instead of the vegetarian one as per my original plan.

Vegetable Lasagne

I've started doing a Meatless Monday every week now, much to my boyfriend's dismay. To hide the fact that there is no meat in his food, I tend to get quite creative but every now and then I create a real winner of a meal and this vegetable lasagne is definitely that. He loved this lasagne and it is so easy and so delicious. This recipe is dedicated to my cousin Colleen who is currently my blogs biggest fan and a dedicated vegetarian.

Creamy Beef and Mushroom Pot Pie

My Dad and I have always been huge fans of a good old pot pie, especially a creamy chicken one. So the other day when I spied some leftover puff pastry in the freezer I couldn't help myself. I've never tried making anything other than a chicken pot pie before and this was deeeeeeelish. I will definitely be making this again.

Creamy Peri Peri Chicken Livers

I LOVE chicken livers. To be honest, I think its more the Peri Peri sauce than the actual livers that I am in love with and it was the sauce that got me hooked on them 2 years ago. A couple of months ago I tried out a creamy version of Peri Peri Chicken Livers at a restaurant and it was delicious. So naturally I tried to recreate it at home and the result was the most delicious Creamy Peri Peri Chicken Livers ever!!!