Pasta and rice
Creamy rice pudding. Photo: Fiona Feasey
Pasta and rice are two very economical ingredients and extremely popular staples for feeding the family in these uncertain economic times.
Quick and filling, they can accommodate a multitude of additions to make a complete, balanced meal, both hearty and warming during the winter months.
My own comforting pasta recipe, which I turn to regularly, is “Orecchiette con Broccoli” which uses pasta that originated in the Puglia area of Italy. If you visit the Mediterranean shops in Nelson or Richmond then you can stock up on some of these more unusual shapes and always have them on hand. The little ear-shape works particularly well with this sauce, as the garlicky oil becomes embedded in the “bowls” of pasta and is absolutely delicious.
The recipe contains all the necessary nutritional requirements for a healthy meal in one. Having a tin of good-quality anchovies in the pantry is handy, and all the other ingredients should be easy to come by. Don’t be tempted to omit the crunchy breadcrumbs; kids love them and they add delicious texture.
You can use broccoli or cauliflower or a combination of both. This also makes a great Sunday lunch if friends drop by and needs only a garden salad to accompany it.
Apulian pasta with broccoli
Serves 4 to 6
400g orecchiette pasta, or any short, dried pasta
500g broccoli, trimmed into small florets
50g tin of anchovies in olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 finely chopped red chillies
60ml extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
½ cup fresh breadcrumbs fried in 2 tablespoon of olive oil till golden
Cook the pasta in boiling salted water according to the packet instructions, adding the broccoli half way through the cooking time. When the pasta is al dente, drain it and the broccoli through a sieve. Meanwhile drain the oil from the anchovies into a large frying pan. Coarsely chop the anchovies and add them to the pan with the chillies, garlic and olive oil. Heat gently till the anchovies dissolve into the oil and everything is amalgamated and bubbling. Return the pasta to the frying pan and turn the pasta and broccoli over in the oil until well covered. Tip into a warmed serving dish and sprinkle with the crispy breadcrumbs, along with a good sprinkling of cheese. Serve with extra grated cheese on the side.
When it comes to nostalgia, it’s hard to go past a rice pudding. And as we plan our yearly visit to a hut at Totaranui, my daughter, who has been coming with us since she was three, will insist that we have rice pudding with tinned apricots for dessert on at least one night. This has become a yearly ritual and these ingredients are just as important to pack as the frisbee. Poached fruit is a great addition to rice pudding, and pears, rhubarb, plums and peaches all work well, as do berries in the summer.
Creamy rice pudding
1 cup of Arborio rice
1 litre of milk
½ cup caster sugar
I vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Place the rice, milk, sugar, vanilla and essence in a medium saucepan over high heat and bring to the boil, stirring often. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook and stir for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the rice is tender. This kind of stovetop pudding does require some attention, so don’t go off and leave it. If you prefer the richer, oven-baked method, which allows you to go and check out the camping ground while your dessert looks after itself, you can cook some rice the day before and then the actual rice pudding mixture is a breeze.
Oven-baked rice pudding
1½ cups cooked Arborio rice
For each ½ cup of rice put 1 cup of water into a pot and bring rapidly to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking for about 20 minutes or until rice is tender.
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
½ cup of sultanas
A strip of lemon peel
3 cups of milk
3 eggs, lightly beaten
⅓ cup of caster sugar
Good grating of nutmeg
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Butter a ceramic baking dish with a 4-cup capacity. Place the precooked rice into a mixing bowl along with the sultanas and the lemon peel. Pour this into the baking dish. Into the mixing bowl place the milk, vanilla seeds, essence, eggs and sugar and mix well. Pour this over the rice and stir to combine. Bake for about 50 minutes or until just set. This is very good with vanilla ice cream.
Fiona Feasey
