Betty Spaghetti!

I had some pastry left over last week after a gorgeous Sunday lunch that I will tell you about soon.  I also had some cooked spaghetti in my fridge. So hoping to use up one or the other I then suddenly remembered a post I'd seen over at Michelles brilliant blog !

It was for something called Spaghetti Pie, which looked really delicious, done in the oven encased in cheese and sauce! With my leftover pastry though, I thought "I wonder if I could wrap spaghetti in pastry?" for an actual Spaghetti Pie! Only one way to find out... 

Needless to say it was delicious, pasta - good, pastry - good, cheese - good, I mean whats not to like! The leftovers the next day were even better and I would make this again for a picnic to have cold with salad, which is how I ate the leftover slice and it was delicious.

Here is the recipe in case you ever fancy a slice of Spaghetti Pie.  Take it as a rough guide only, you can do this with any combination you like!

Spaghetti Pie

You'll need

300gms cooked spaghetti

400gms minced meat

150gms chopped tomatoes

1 chilli pepper, chopped finely

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 onion, chopped

125gms parmesan

125gms Philidelphia cheese

125gms grated cheddar

Leftover Pastry, either puff or shortcrust is fine

Method

Heat the pan and add a dash of olive oil.  Fry the onions, chilli and garlic with the meat until nice and brown,  add the tomatoes and the puree.  Add the parmesan.

Remove from the heat. 

With a scissors, chop the spaghetti into small pieces, maybe 4cms.  Stir into the sauce.

Line your pie dish with pastry and spread the philidelphia cheese thickly on the bottom, cover with the spaghetti mix and top with the cheddar.  

Brush milk around the sides of the pie and cover with more pastry.  Prick this top and decorate if you wish. Brush with beaten egg and bake until golden brown.  

Chicken of Aragon...

"I believe that if ever I had to practice cannibalism, I might manage if there were enough tarragon around." 

James Beard

Picture courtesy of Google Images

Tarragon is a main component of eastern European cooking, or so I discovered when I typed it into wikipedia today.  I did not want to start another post with how much I like something, so I went in search of some facts that may take this post far away from my usual "look what I did" and in doing so I found some interesting recipes, and some interesting facts to share with you!

The first thing that I did not know, and am absolutley delighted about, is that it is known by many as "Dragons Wort". I am completely obsessed with the recent tv series The Tudors and as a result all things medieval.  Not for the first time, as a teenager and young adult I was swept away by all things Elizabethan... read everything I could on Mary Queen of Scots... and even my debs dress was an Elizabethan style gown, corset and all.  Anyway the words Dragons Wort appeals to my medieval passions, sounding much better on my shopping list than Tarragon, although I did like rhyming of Tarragon with Aragon!

Some other facts I discovered about it was that Tarragon came to France from the plains of Siberia in the 15th century by the Arabs, and was swiftly delivered to the Royal court of England... and that it was taken as medication for scurvy in the 1800s...It is a natural stomach soother, and was once thought to counteract snakebite...

This whole obsession was brought about by my eating of a very nice pie while at the Electric Picnic this year, there was chicken and a couple of vegetables in a thick gravy inside, but something else... something pungent, that I tasted with my nose, that made this pie so delicious I couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks!

Then while buying my herbs this week I spotted some Tarragon lurking at the back the basket, and I twigged it - Thats it! 

So I put it to use immediately by making a good old chicken pie, using leftovers I had in the fridge, but with a potato crust instead of pastry, the creamy chicken needing something to soak it up! It was absolutely delicious, and my love affair with Tarragon (sounds like a line from Lord of the Rings) has begun... 

Chicken of Aragon Pie

You'll need

Some leftover chicken, the equivalent of or 3 cooked breasts.

A good handful of Tarragon (try and get the french stuff!)

Two large carrots, chopped and cooked

A bunch of Scallions, chopped

A bunch of Asparagus, chopped

150mls fresh cream, use double if you like

1 Tbsp flour

About 800gms mashed potato

A beaten egg.

Method

In a small bit of olive oil, Fry the scallions and asparagus until tender.  Add the chopped Tarragon, and stir until the scent hits your nose. Start singing with Joy. Add the cream. Stir in the flour and the carrots.  Stir over a good heat until the cream begins to thicken.  You want yoghurt consistency.  Pour into a pie dish and top with the potato.  Brush the top of the potato with beaten egg, as you would for pastry.  Bung into a hot oven (180/200c) and leave until the top is golden and crisp.

For a Vegetarian option, double the amounts of carrots and asparagus, and add chopped celery and cannelini beans.

Leftovers...

I love leftovers... they allow me to find an outlet for my creativity in a day to day environment and that can be very satisfying.

You know the cheese pie I made last week, well a few days later I found a small bit of pastry left in the fridge, and decided I shouldn't let it go to waste.  So in an increasingly bare kitchen (knowing we're leaving for six weeks has been stopping me buying anything but the makings of a dinner!) I hunted out possible fillings. 

 I had watched a very entertaining episode of "Come Dine with Me!" a few days before where an eccentric anthropologist had made a dish called "Strange Thing" which I thought was hilarious! She had just made a pie with anything she had left over and there it was served to her guests! 

So I made a "Strange Thing" - filled it with spinach, pine nuts, parmesan, eggs, and cream.  It was quite nice! 

Nothing to write home about but with a bit of mustard, was welcome in my mouth! 

Pastry just makes everything taste nicer doesn't it!

The last slice of bread!

I like to do two things with leftover bread... 

Number 1

Panzanella Salad

A regular occurence on my lunch table, I'm known to hide the last few slices of bread from dinner to save for my lunch the next day.  I like it simple - plum tomatoes, stale bread, basil if I have some, and a dressing of White balsamic vinegar, Olive oil and crushed garlic cloves.  

Number 2

Fried Peanut butter bread...

Fry your left over bread in butter and then add sugar, when it gets all lovely and caramelly... add a dollop of crunchy peanut butter... some raisins and a scoop of icecream.. mmmm...!