Pescatarian – Page 2 – The Food Wife

One-pot Penne Puttanesca

2nd April 20242nd April 2024
by thefoodwife

Serves 2 (but easily scaled up)

Iâ€™ve become a big fan of one-pot pasta cooking. Essentially the pasta cooks in the sauce and the end result is a wonderfully flavoured pasta in about 20 minutes. And only one pan needs to be washed upâ€¦ result!

This sort-of Puttanesca can easily be adapted to be gluten-free and suitable for vegetarian or vegan diets (by omitting the anchovies/cheese).

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

4 anchovy fillets (leave out if making this vegetarian or vegan)

3 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely chopped

1/2 – 1 tsp dried chilli flakes

2 tbsp tomato purÃ©e

1 tin of cherry tomatoes

150g penne (gluten-free if required)

3 tbsp pitted olives

2 tbsp capers

Chopped parsley and grated Parmesan/Grana Padano to serve

Step 1: Heat the oil in a large pan (which also has a lid) over a medium heat. Add the anchovies and cook for one minute, moving around the pan so they break up. Add the garlic and lower the heat slightly. Continue to stir. After another minute add the chilli.

Step 2: Add the tomato purÃ©e and cook for a further 30 seconds and then the tinned tomatoes. Add the dried pasta and 300ml of recently boiled water. Stir, bring to a simmer, lower the heat and cover with a lid. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Step 3: After 10 minutes add the olives and capers. Stir well, and replace the lid. Continue to cook, stirring and checking the pasta every 3-4 minutes. When the pasta is cooked (for me it took 18 minutes with the gluten-free pasta I was using) sprinkle with chopped parsley and then serve. Top with the grated cheese if you like.

Garlic and Chilli Prawns

20th July 202220th July 2022
by thefoodwife

Serves 2 as a main course/4 as a starter

This may be a messy meal but itâ€™s also delicious. If youâ€™re not a fan of peeling prawns then you can of course use ready peeled raw prawns (about 250g). But they wonâ€™t have as much flavour.

Serve with crusty bread to mop up all the oil and juices or with some fries.

Ingredients:

500g raw, shell on, king prawns

3 tbsp olive oil

2 spring onions

4 fat cloves of garlic, crushed or finely diced

1 tsp chilli flakes (or more if you like it spicy)

1 lemon, cut into wedges

Step 1: Finely slice the spring onions, reserving the green ends as a garnish. Add the sliced white ends to a large frying pan or wok along with the olive oil. Heat over a medium high heat, as they start to sizzle add the garlic and chilli flakes along with the prawns. Stir frequently to avoid burning and cook until the prawns turn pink (a few minutes).

Step 2: Remove from the heat and sprinkle over the reserved slices of green spring onion and serve with wedges of fresh lemon. Eat immediately.

Pad Thai

9th April 20229th April 2022
by thefoodwife

Serves 2 as a main meal or 4 as a side

One of my favourites! The garnishes really make the flavour of this and you can control the heat by adding the chilli to your own taste. If making this gluten-free ensure you the oyster sauce you use is – Lee Kum Kee do one.

You can easily scale this recipe up, and add any extra protein you like; prawns or chicken work well. You can make the sauce up in advance of the final cooking the dish, the same goes for the frying of the tofu and the egg. Doing so makes the final cooking quick and easy.

Ingredients:

Sauce:

3 tbsp fish sauce

2 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce (gluten-free if required)

2 1/2 tbsp tamarind purÃ©e

4 1/2 tbsp packed/heaped light soft brown sugar

Stir fry:

2 handfuls of Stir fry vegetables of your choice (onion/pepper/baby corn/carrot ribbons work well)

3 handfuls of bean sprouts

225g firm tofu, pressed and cut into cubes

2 eggs, beaten

200g wide flat rice noodles, cooked according to the packet instructions (then run through with cold water to stop them from sticking. You could also add a few drops of sesame oil to help keen them separate too)

Garnish:

1 lime cut into wedges

Fresh coriander leaves

Crushed chilli flakes

Crushed roasted peanuts

N.b. Steps 1-3 can be done in advance and stored in the fridge. If adding extra protein, stir fry before adding the vegetables in step 4.

Step 1: Mix all the sauce ingredients into a smooth sauce. Set to one side (if making in advance store, sealed in a tub, in the fridge).

Step 2: In a wok, fry the tofu in vegetable oil over a medium high heat, turning until nicely coloured and slightly crisped. Remove from the pan. Set to one side (if making in advance store, sealed in a tub, in the fridge).

Step 3: In the same wok, using the residual oil, scramble the eggs and cook until it is in dry pieces. Remove from the pan. Set to one side (if making in advance store, sealed in a tub, in the fridge).

If you have done steps 1-3 in advance remove from the fridge 20 minutes before cooking to allow them to come up to room temperature.

Step 4: Heat a little oil in the wok over a high heat. Stir fry the vegetables, moving them about the pan. Add the cooked rice noodles and keep tossing or stirring them, then add the fried tofu, egg and sauce, keep tossing everything so that it is all is coated in the sauce and heated through.

Step 5: Once everything is piping hot, serve, with fresh coriander, wedges of lime, crushed peanuts and chilli flakes. Delicious.

Puttanesca

23rd July 2019
by thefoodwife

Serves 2

Puttanesca, a Neapolitan pasta dish that originates from the last century, means lady of the night. Why? There are various theories, one is said that because it is so quick to make it can be eaten between customers. It has become a classic dish, and here it is made with store cupboard ingredients, making it perfect for a weeknight meal.Â Â

It is a quickly made sauce, packed with punchy flavours, which can pretty much be cooked in the time it takes to cook your pasta.

It can easily be adapted to be gluten-free and suitable for vegetarian or vegan diets (by omitting the anchovies).Â Â

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

4 anchovy fillets (leave out if making this vegetarian or vegan)

3 cloves of garlic, finely choppedÂ

1/2 tsp dried chilli flakesÂ

1 tin of cherry tomatoes

160g pitted black olives (half kept whole the other half sliced)

2 tbsp capers

Pepper

To serve: 150g dried pasta, cooked according to the packet instructions (gluten-free if required)

Step 1: Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium high heat. Add the anchovies and cook for one minute, moving around the pan so they break up. Add the garlic and lower the heat slightly. Continue to stir. After another minute add the chilli.

Step 2: Add the tinned tomatoes, along with the olives and a pinch of ground black pepper. Cook out for five minutes. Add the capers and cook for another couple of minutes. Check the seasoning and serve, tossed through freshly cooked pasta.

Prawn Summer Pasta

1st August 20181st August 2018
by thefoodwife

Serves 1

The Food Husband went out for the evening which called for seafood for me!

The hotter weather weâ€™ve been having recently means I want something lighter than my Prawn Linguine with its rich tomato sauce. Instead I want the pasta to be coated more in a dressing and this is achieved from the peppery olive oil and lemon juice. Using fresh tomatoes and spring onion gives a speedy and simple base to this dish and the fennel enhances the prawns beautifully.

Ready from start to finish in 15 minutes this is fresh fast food and whilst this serves one, you can just scale-up as required.

Ingredients:
75g pasta (the shape of your choice, I chose gemelli. If making this gluten-free make sure you choose a suitable pasta)
2 medium tomatoes, diced or 2 small handfuls of cherry tomatoes, halved or a mix of the two
2 spring onions, sliced
1 tsp of fennel seeds
150g raw prawns, peeled and deveined (I used tiger prawns)
1 fat clove of garlic, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
1/2 lemon, juiced (zest optional)

Step 1: Cook your pasta according to the packet instructions.

Step 2: Whilst your pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a frying pan on a medium heat and add the fennel seeds, tomatoes and spring onion.

Step 3: After 2 minutes add the garlic and stir and then add your prawns. Stir or toss the pan every so often until the prawns are just cooked through.

Step 4: Add your drained pasta, along with a little of the cooking water and toss in the sauce along with salt and pepper to taste.

Step 5: Finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice (and a little of the zest if you like).

You could also add a little fresh or dried chilli in step 3. I also threw in a few freshly torn basil leaves as I served which complements the anniseedy fennel seeds. This is nice served with a green salad.